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Jim Barber for Lithium Magazine recently conducted an interview with David Ellefson. "Although not related by blood, there is a profound connection and genuine affection and appreciation between the two Daves that comprise the heart, soul and musical majesty of one of the most popular and influential heavy metal bands of all time - Megadeth." Read the interview at lithiummagazine.com.
In this new episode of Metalhead To Head, self-described "gear heads" Chris Broderick and George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob, KXM) sit down to talk influences, what's coming up in their careers and more. Watch part 1 and part 2 below.
Earlier this year, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine unveiled a very special Dean guitar for his "Symphony Interrupted" performance with the San Diego Symphony at Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego, California: the StradiVMNT. At the time it was a one-off special item for Dave to play at the show, but now you'll be able to own a StradiVMNT of your very own (if you're quick): Dean has announced that they're building 50 limited edition StradiVMNTs which are available for preorder now. shop.deanguitars.com
New 20th Anniversary Youthanasia merchandise is now available for purchase in the Official Megadeth Shop. Check out the new Youthanasia Tee, Youthanasia Raglan, and a new Megadeth Baseball Jersey and Megadeth Vic Tee all at Megadeth's online store! smarturl.it/megadethstore
Megadeth will perform at Artpark's "First Niagara Presents Tuesday in the Park" concert series at the Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater in Lewiston, NY on July 15. For tickets and more information, visit artpark.net.
Megadeth is featured in the USA West Playlist in the World Music Challenge. The more you listen the further USA West will advance! Get in on the game now www.worldmusicchallenge.com.
David Ellefson's autobiography, "My Life With Deth", which was originally made available last October via Howard Books (a division of Simon & Schuster), will be issued as a paperback on July 8. You can order the hardcover edition at mylifewithdethbook.com.
Hola! Bonjour! Guten Tag! Ohayou gozaimasu! Ni hao! Good Day, Eh! Greetings Motorboaters around the world! You are invited to be a part of Motorhead's Motorboat, scheduled to depart Miami, Florida on September 22-26, 2014, on a four-night journey to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico! In an effort to make it even easier for you to join us and enjoy the LOUDEST BOAT IN THE WORLD this September we are very pleased to offer you this special INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL CREDIT! MotorheadCruise.com
Dean Guitars' USA Dave Mustaine Signature Stradi VMNT - Limited to only 50 pieces - is now available to preorder. Dave Mustaine performed using this model at "Symphony Interrupted" with the San Diego Symphony. An absolute gem to own! Preorder yours today at shop.deanguitars.com.
RIO DE JANEIRO — In the neighborhood of Laranjeiras, in the South zone of Rio De Janiero, a black van with a silver "Megadeth" nameplate on its Volkswagen emblem pulled up to the side of Praca Sao Salvador (Sao Salvador Square), opened its doors and pulled out a speaker, a flatscreen, a grill and a keg. It was a one-stop party. Read the entire article at sports.yahoo.com.


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It was Latin night on 'DWTS' and the teams danced their hearts out during the second week of competition! Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to one of the pairs. See who went home below.
Dancing With The Stars turned up the heat for Latin night on September 23. See who came out on top and who had to pack their sequins in our full recap below!
'Dancing With The Stars' Has First Elimination — All The Couples Dance Again
Elizabeth Berkley and Val Chmerkovsky kicked off the night. Len Goodman called their samba "fantastic," while Bruno Tonioli said he was coming down with "scarlet fever" to Elizabeth in her sexy, red dress! This week they got a 25, making their score a 49/60. The judges scores count for half while fan votes count for the other half.
Christina Milian danced the paso doble with Mark Ballas to Lady Gaga's "Applause." Carrie Ann Inaba called it "insane" while Len said it was "terrific." The judges gave them a score of 25, bringing their total to 47.
Bill Engvall danced the jive with partner Emma Slater. Carrie Ann said it "was the most entertaining routine" of the night so far. They got a 21 and a total score of 39/60.
Jack Osbourne and Cheryl Burke danced the rumba as Jack's mom Sharon, dad Ozzy and sister Kelly watched from the audience. They got a 24 for a total score of 47/60.
Keyshawn Johnson danced with partner Sharna Burgess. Bruno commended him for going for it but said he seemed "overwhelmed." That was just before Keyshawn almost started crying. Carrie Ann said it was a "little rough around the edges." They got an 18 for a total score of 35.
More Sexy Latin Dances From The Stars
Snooki danced the rumba with Sasha Farber. Carrie Ann said there "wasn't a lot of fluidity. I wanted more dimension." Len said it was "pretty, neat and nice." Bruno said Nicole has great potential. They got a score of 20 for a total of 43.
Leah Remini danced the samba with partner Tony Dovolani. During the rehearsal, Leah admitted that she is scared the Church of Scientology is waiting for her to fail. Her super sexy dance got her a standing ovation! Len said it was "terrific!" Bruno asked "who is this saucy Latin beauty?" They got a score of 24 and a total score of 45/60.
Bill Nye danced the paso doble with Tyne Stecklein. They not only got a standing ovation but the crowd was chanting "Bill! Bill! Bill!" Bruno said he "definitely stepped it up." Carrie Ann said they have to work on his feet. They got a 17 and a total score of 31.
Corbin Bleu danced the jive with Karina Smirnoff to One Direction's "Kiss You." The screams were so loud, you couldn't even hear the judges! Carrie Ann begged them to do it again! Len said "I loved your performance and your energy." Bruno asked, "Are you kidding me?" (In a good way!) They got a 26 for a total of 50.
Valerie Harper danced the paso doble with Tristan MacManus. Len said she seemed a bit nervous. Bruno said she had just a few mistakes on the footwork. Carrie Ann said she seemed lost at points but admired her "attack." They got a score of 19 and a total of 40.
Brant Daugherty danced the sexy rumba with Peta Murgatroyd as Brant's cast-mates Ashley Benson and Shay Mitchell watched! Bruno said "you have to caress the floor with your feet." Carrie Ann said they have amazing chemistry. They got a score of 23 and a total score of 45.
Amber Riley jived with partner Derek Hough. Carrie Ann said there were some technical difficulties. Len said it was "terrific." Bruno loved the "performance value." They got a score of 24 and a total score of 51.
Amber and Derek stayed on top, while Bill N. and Tyne remained at the bottom of the leader board.
A Couple Is Sent Home
At the end of the show, Elizabeth and Val, Bill and Emma and Keyshawn and Sharna were the bottom three.
Ultimately, we had to say goodbye to Keyshawn and Sharna.
Do you think the right couple was eliminated tonight, HollywoodLifers? Vote below!
WATCH: DWTS Week 2 Highlights
– Dory Larrabee
More 'Dancing With The Stars' News:
- Andy Says: 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 17: Elizabeth Berkley Deserves To Win
- Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi Reveals Her Biggest Competition On 'DWTS'
- 'DWTS' Season 17 Premiere: See The Early Front-Runners
View Comment
Posted at 9:26 AM on September 25, 2013
Posted at 6:30 AM on September 24, 2013
Pm turk
Posted at 1:34 AM on September 24, 2013
Posted at 12:56 AM on September 24, 2013
Posted at 1:26 AM on September 24, 2013
Posted at 11:01 PM on September 23, 2013
I think the chubby black girl should have gone home.It's SUPPOSE to go by how they MOST IMPROVE! SHE DID NOT! People were voting on tv BEFORE the show even started saying who they were voting for. Didn't even see them dance yet! (ONE TALK SHOW HOST I WON'T WATCH ANYMORE) Voting is so NOT FAIR!
Posted at 11:26 PM on September 23, 2013
Posted at 9:27 AM on September 25, 2013
Caitlin K
Posted at 10:31 PM on September 23, 2013
As much as I absolutely love Bill Nye, I can help but admit he probably should have been the one to go home this week. He was quirky and fabulous and the routines were entertaining, but the execution was just not there. This week was better than last week, but I don't really think that much will change. He will keep getting the audience vote and other, more talented people will go home before their time. Keyshawn Johnson had the following in the sports fan husbands being forced to watch. However, his is unfortunately not the ill owing to make the effort to vote for him to stay. In this regard, he was basically doomed from the start. I'll still look forward to seeing what shows Bill Nye puts on in the coming weeks, but I don't think he will win the coveted Mirror Ball with such a talented pool of stars.

subset: commoncrawl


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Whether your loyalty lies with a particular hotel chain, airline or car mechanic, if someone gives you good service, you keep coming back. On the other hand, if the cable company keeps you waiting past the two-hour window, you may be shopping around.
When you have a problem with a flight, you don't want to sit on hold for 20 minutes. You want to talk to someone — someone helpful — about how to get the situation resolved.
But before you pick up the phone, try to remember that customer service is a two-way street. When you take a calm approach, you seem to get a better response.
What else could you do to ensure you're getting the best possible service?
- Be nice. Maintaining a calm and professional demeanor does help to get results. Remember the three Ps: Be polite, professional and persistent. You don't want to give them any reason to write you off as unreasonable. Yelling and screaming — and particularly cursing — will get you nowhere. You want to be firm, of course, but also rational. Before you pick up the phone, make an outline for yourself, detailing what the situation is and how you want it to be resolved. You want to be able to state your problem in about two sentences, and offer a solution. Most call centers run on metrics — the longer the call goes on, the worse the representative looks — so by being clear and cutting to the chase, you may get him or her on your side. One note: Threats, like saying you're never going to do business with the company again, don't go as far as you might think. When you do that, you're blowing your leverage; if they think they're going to lose you as a customer anyway, why would they want to go out of their way to help?
- Keep records. You know how it goes — you call a toll-free number, you get passed around from person to person or department to department. Sometimes you get disconnected and you have to start the whole process all over again. That's why it's really important to document all of the steps you've taken. When you call the cell phone company, note that it's 1:02 on Thursday, April 8. When you're put on hold, jot down when the hold started, and when the line is picked back up. And when someone answers, note their name. In most cases, the person will give you their name, but if they don't, you should ask for it, complete with proper spelling. That sends the signal that you're serious, you're taking notes and you're paying attention to detail.
- Pick the best form of communication. In most cases, that's by phone, particularly if you're dealing with a large corporation or your situation is really detailed and you need to explain all the moving parts. If you encounter a problem in person, like when you're shopping at a retail store, you can ask to speak to a manager, but if you don't get the help you want, write down his or her name and call corporate headquarters. These days, some larger companies have online chat interfaces that allow you to skip the phone all together. Anything that helps you avoid being on hold is worth a try.
- Take it to the top. It goes without saying that if a customer service agent is less than helpful, you should ask to speak to his or her supervisor. But you may run into a wall there too, and if that happens, it's time to take some drastic measures. Consumerist.com has a tactic they call the Executive E-mail Carpet Bomb or EECB. You gather up the e-mails of high-ranking executives, and send a carefully worded letter of complaint. One of them will have a heart, forward it to their secretary and get it solved for you. A lot of times, executives are separated from the front lines by so many layers of management. How do you find their e-mails? Try Googling the name of the company — say Kraft or Verizon — and the word "contact," or try going to the company's website and looking for old news releases, which will usually be under the heading of "news" or "media relations." What you're looking for is the structure of the company's email addresses; usually its email@example.com or the first initial followed by the last name @companyname.com. Follow the format and you can get an e-mail address of pretty much anyone at the company. But again, remember those three Ps when drafting your note.
- Get loud. A few months ago, we all heard about how Kevin Smith, the writer of the movie "Clerks," was kicked off a Southwest flight because he was deemed "too fat" to fly. He Twittered up a storm about the incident, suddenly it was all over the news, and — surprise! — Southwest was beyond apologetic. Sometimes, you have to take drastic measures. Companies are constantly monitoring what's said about them on the Internet, and many have Twitter accounts. If that's not your thing post on websites like getsatisfaction.com and planetfeedback.com.
Related Trek Side Trips
- A Costly Credit Card Situation: A Balance and a Two-Cycle Card
- Assisting Older Children – Stopping Assistance to Save More for Retirement
- How to Reduce Cell Phone Costs
- Lower Your Home Maintenance Costs
- One Phone Call to Lower Your Credit Card Interest Rate
- Reduce Entertainment Costs: Ideas to Lower Entertainment Expenses
- Travel Problems: After the Trip
- Travel Problems: On the Trip


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Go to m.barnard.edu for the Mobile Barnard web app or download it from the App Store or Google Play.
Go to m.barnard.edu for the Mobile Barnard web app or download it from the App Store or Google Play.
Department: Information Technology
Employment Group: Administration
Date: 8/27/12
The business analyst / project manager will serve a dual role. The incumbent will be responsible for managing all phases of an assigned project from inception through completion. The business analyst / project manager will work with key stakeholders to elicit and document business requirements and will also be responsible for managing all activities of an assigned project to insure overall success of the project.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Required Qualifications:
Preferred Qualifications:
Interested candidates should send a cover letter including salary requirements, and a resume to Employment Manager at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Barnard is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women and from individuals of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.
Copyright © 2015 Barnard College | Columbia University | 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027 | 212.854.5262


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The Blood Type Diet Archives Volume 12
Posted By: Gordon Langston O+ INTJDate: Wednesday, 1 December 1999, at 4:38 p.m.
In Response To: What are all of you doing on 12.31.99.? (THOMAS DEKANY A(1)+ISFJ-FFYB)
reach the false millenia.
Actually, we will be in Mammoth, drinking a little bubbly if we are awake.
Soy Program Lecture Schedule


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That's it for Markets Live today.
Thanks for reading and your comments.
See you all again tomorrow morning from 9.
A negative mood in global equity markets saw Australian shares post a modest fall, despite the release of some better than expected retail sales data.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each fell 0.3 per cent on Monday to 5540.9 points and 5533.3 points respectively. While the market overall was weak, merger and acquisition activity gave some stocks, notably Treasury Wine Estates, a boost.
Local shares fell as much as 0.5 per cent in early trade after the United States' S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average declined, despite the release of a solid jobs report on Friday night.
"Australian shares trended lower as investors reacted to further falls in US and European bourses on Friday. Volumes were on the light side, affected by Monday's NSW bank holiday," Patersons Securites chief investment strategist Tony Farnham said.
Asian markets provided mixed cues in the afternoon session. When the ASX closed Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite Index were both stronger while Japan's Nikkei had slipped.
In local economic news, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed retail sales rose 0.6 per cent, seasonally adjusted, in June. The result reversed two months of declining sales amid weak consumer sentiment in the wake of the federal budget announcement and an unseasonably warm start to winter.
A survey by ANZ Bank showed total job advertisements rose 0.3 per cent in July. That followed June's 4.4 per cent increase and left ads up 4.2 per cent on July last year.
A private inflation gauge indicated price pressures are subsiding. The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute's monthly consumer price index edged up just 0.2 per cent in July against seasonal expectations for a much stronger rise.
The better than expected retail sales data helped the biggest food and liquor sellers outperform the market. Woolworths and Wesfarmers, owner of Coles, each edged up 0.1 per cent to $36.49 and $43.35 respectively.
Declines in the big four banks pulled the index lower. Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 0.3 per cent to $82.58, while Westpac Banking Corporation dropped 0.6 per cent to $33.85. ANZ Banking Group lost 0.7 per cent to $33.34, and National Australia Bank fell 0.5 per cent to $34.77.
And here they are - the best and worst among the top 200.
Best and worst performers among the ASX 200 today.
Anyone remember the market's panic attack when people realised they had been warned by the Federal Reserve that it couldn't keep printing money forever and that one day it would have to start "tapering" its quantitative easing?
That realisation of the obvious happened to coincide with a couple of emerging markets having problems of their own.
The combination lead to all manner of speculation about capital flight, soaring rates and general disaster.
But the headlines passed and, somewhat bemusingly, when the Fed did start tapering, markets took it pretty much in their stride.
Similarly, after all the scaremongering about an Argentine default, the actual failure to cave in to a rapacious hedge fund last week hasn't done much either.
My suspicion is that we're seeing a bit of the same in Wall Street 's knee jerk reaction last week to the idea that US interest rates won't be able to stay extremely low forever, that at some stage the price of money will have to start getting back to normal.
There's plenty of time for Wall Street to get its head around the idea of less stimulatory monetary policy and a good chance that by the time the Fed actually lifts rates off the floor, it again won't matter.
Markets are not known for being rational. Photo: AFP
Banks and energy stocks were the biggest drag on the market, after shares sold off early and then failed to regain any real momentum into the afternoon following a brief rally on better than anticipated retail sales figures.
The ASX 200 dropped 16 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5540.9, while the All Ords lost 14 points to close at 5533.3.
Energy stocks were among the worst performing groups, with Origin down 1 per cent, Santos 1.1 per cent, and Oil Search 1.3 per cent. Woodside recovered from early losses to finish flat for the day.
The Big Four weighed heaviest on the benchmark index, while BHP dropped 0.3 per cent and CSL 0.6 per cent.
Consumer stocks enjoyed some love, with shopping centre owner Scentre Group up 1.8 per cent.
Fortescue jumped 1.3 per cent, while Atlas Iron surged 9.2 per cent and Arrium leaped 4.4 per cent.
Consumer staples also enjoyed a reasonable session, with Woolies and Wesfarmers both climbing by less than 1 per cent.
Macquarie Group says it has investigated claims a cheat-sheet, known as the ''Penske File'', was circulated among advisers in its troubled Macquarie Private Wealth (MPW) division.
In a response to Fairfax Media posted on its website on Sunday night, Macquarie said it had ''examined the claim and found no evidence of it''.
However, Fairfax Media believes the ASIC is aware of the existence of the document.
Macquarie said it would be referring articles published by Fairfax Media on Saturday to the Australian Press Council ''given the inaccurate, unattributed and unsubstantiated claims they contain''.
It complained that in 45 questions put to it last week, Fairfax Media did not ask about the claim that MPW management circulated the Penske File.
However, the first seven questions put by Fairfax Media directly related to whether the Penske File was circulated within MPW and by whom.
Macquarie has yet to directly answer the 45 questions, which Fairfax Media publishes today. It did provide a limited initial response, from which Fairfax Media quoted on Saturday.
In its new response, Macquarie also alleged that Fairfax Media published a claim ''that Macquarie wrongly sent letters to clients'' that was ''without foundation''.
However, Fairfax Media made no such allegation. Instead, Fairfax Media reported that accountants and financial planners were bemused as to why MPW needed to contact clients who did not know they had a problem.
Macquarie also complained that Fairfax Media claimed that a former client was misclassified as a sophisticated investor.
However, Fairfax Media did not make such a claim. Instead, Fairfax Media reported that he ''may have been'' misclassified.
In addition, Macquarie did not answer nine questions relating directly to clients being misclassified as sophisticated.
Macquarie claims to have found no evidence of the existence of the 'Penske file.'. Photo: Tamara Voninski
One week after wrapping up its $130 million mid-year sale, Myer is trying to clear stock worth another $50 million to make way for new spring and summer products.
Analysts said Myer's decision to hold a $50 million clearance sale so soon after wrapping up its six-week end-of-season stocktake sale on July 27 suggested that fourth-quarter sales had been slower than expected and that the retailer had been left with excess winter inventory.
"They're effectively extending [the mid-year clearance]," said one analyst, who declined to be named.
"That it's over one-third of the size of the mid-year clearance sale suggests it's quite significant.
"This is about ensuing they're clean on inventory, which is a sensible strategy."
Myer might be paying the price for postponing the launch of the mid-year stocktake sale by two weeks to June 18 in an attempt to take advantage of colder winter weather.
The delay followed a warm autumn and a slump in consumer confidence following the May budget.
Myer lost sales to rivals such as David Jones, Target and specialty retailers, which started discounting stock in the first week of June.
"It was a risk they took and on one level, it made sense," one analyst said.
"But unfortunately, the clothing market is very competitive – they weren't on sale but the other 80 per cent of the retailers they compete against were on sale."
Analysts believe Myer's same-store sales for the three months ending July could fall by more than 1 per cent and total sales could fall by more than 2 per cent, countering growth in the first and second quarters and dragging full-year sales down about 0.6 per cent to around $3.12 billion.
Myer shares are 0.9 per cent higher at $2.37.
Warm weather forced Myer to postpone its winter stocktake sale by two weeks. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Treasury Wine Estate shares are up 4.2 per cent at $5.16 as investors look to be betting that Australia's biggest winemaker could receive higher bids after private equity firm KKR ups its offer to $5 per share (see post at 9:07).
Coal markets are awash with the dark combustible as supply rises and demand comes under pressure, although economists are optimistic on a longer-term view.
These conditions are driving down prices for coking and thermal coal, and undermining the share prices of Australian producers such as Wesfarmers, Whitehaven Coal and New Hope Corporation.
Rising stockpiles and price weakness were also factors in the write-down and eventual sale last week by Rio Tinto of its disastrous $3.9 billion Riversdale Mining coal project in Mozambique for a mere $53 million.
ANZ research shows that the forecast average price of coking coal, which is burned in blast furnaces to make steel, for this calendar year is $US125 a tonne, compared with $US159 last year.
The prognosis for thermal coal, which is used mainly for energy generation, is not much better. ANZ forecasts an average price this year of $US74 per tonne, against $US84 last year. ANZ says the situation is "unlikely to improve in the near, or medium, term" and has downgraded price estimates for the next three years.
It says the main driver of oversupply has been China, whose coal production has risen by 3.3 billion tonnes – or 400 per cent – since 2000. Australian coal suppliers have been contributing to oversupply, too. Exports from Australia rose by 13.5 per cent year-on-year in 2013, to a record 360 million tonnes. So far this year, exports are up by more than 10 per cent on a comparable 2013 period, ANZ says.
Australia has the world's fourth-largest proven reserves of coal, and accounts for more than half the world's exports of coking coal, the Minerals Council of Australia says.
Companies with coal operations are feeling the pinch of price weakness in their shares prices. Despite good news from conglomerate Wesfarmers' retail operations this year, weaker coal prices have held back its share price.
Dumped: oversupply in coking and thermal coal markets is putting pressure on mining stocks. Photo: Robert Rough
Stock analysts at Morgan Stanley have produced something for everybody – the bulls, the bears, and those in between – in their latest crystal balling of the ASX 200.
The MS team have a 12-month target of 5800 for the benchmark index, which assumes 8 per cent earnings per share growth and a P/E of 14.4.
But that's the weighted target including the base, bull and bear case.
The most likely scenario – 60 per cent probability - is "a modest upgrade cycle from consensus 7 per cent earnings growth, given early-cycle cost-outs and operational leverage from pockets of top line growth" under their "East Coast recovery thesis". That implies a target of 5900, 9 per cent EPS growth, and a P/E of 14.5.
The stocks to watch under this scenario are Lend Lease, Macquarie Group, CSR, Brambles, and Worley Parsons.
The bull case – with a 20 per cent chance of eventuating – is a target of 7200 for the ASX 200, with 19 per cent EPS growth and a P/E of 16.3. The investment case for that is a "broad-based non-mining recovery combined with stronger resource export volumes delivers above-trend GDP and 19 per cent EPS growth".
Stocks to watch for the bulls are Wesfarmers, JB Hi-Fi, Asciano, Boral, and Arrium.
The bear case is a index target of 4200, EPS contracts by 4 per cent, with a P/E of 11.9. Here's the scenario: "A deeper China slow down and a faltering growth transition domestically impacts earnings. Multiples de-rate as policymakers explore macro-prudential policies to insulate the housing market from further rate cuts."
The names to watch under this outcome are the defensive names: InvoCare, Tabcorp, Woolworths, CSL and SAI Global.
With the sharemarket looking close to fully valued on a forward P/E, Morgan Stanley analysts see modest returns over the year ahead.
The People's Bank of China warned that the country's credit and money supply have increased rapidly and indicated that it will refrain from broader monetary easing to support growth.
"The total debt level has been rising relatively quickly," the PBOC said in its second-quarter monetary policy report on Aug. 1. "Our existing money supply and credit are already relatively large and their growth is also high."
The International Monetary Fund said last week that China's reliance on debt and investment has created "rising vulnerabilities" and that failure to change its growth pattern increases the likelihood of a sharp economic slowdown. The Washington-based lender urged the nation's leaders to lower the country's annual expansion target, rein in credit and speed up reforms.
"Restructuring and reform of the economy remains an arduous task," the central bank said in its 54-page report. "It's not appropriate to expand overall liquidity sharply to solve structural problems."
The PBOC reiterated its "prudent" monetary-policy stance and pledged to "keep overall liquidity stable while improving its structure." It said it will explore resolving local-government debt problems in "market-oriented" ways.
The central bank reiterated it will use tools including open market operations, reserve requirement ratios, relending, standing lending facilities, and short-term liquidity operations to adjust liquidity, according to the report.
Governor Zhou Xiaochuan is trying to balance implementing Communist Party orders to protect this year's 7.5 per cent economic-growth goal without resorting to broader monetary easing that stokes debt and inflation risks. The central bank has turned to unconventional tools including relending and selective cuts to banks' reserve requirement ratios to channel credit to areas highlighted by Premier Li Keqiang, including public housing and small companies.
Targeted measures have become a "new trend of major central banks" since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the PBOC said in its report.
Tough sanctions on Russia's banks over Moscow's support for rebels in Ukraine are likely to have an unexpected effect – higher wheat prices.
Some traders had feared that Russia, which is expecting a bumper crop this year of about 50 million tonnes, would flood the market ahead of any sanctions. This would put further pressure of wheat prices, which have plunged to four-year lows.
But ANZ agriculture economist Paul Deane said markets have so far shrugged off the Ukrainian-Russian tensions. Instead, he said most of the concern was focused on next season's crop, particularly after the European Union imposed sanctions aimed at stopping Russian banks raising capital on Western capital markets.
Mr Deane said this would most likely tighten access to credit for Russian farmers when they begin planting next season's crop in October.
"The concern is the wheat planted in that region might be pulled back significantly because of the difficulty in farmers getting finance and higher input costs with their currency as well is an issue," Mr Dean said.
"That's going to be one of the factors that will potentially support the market next year. Once we get into the first half of 2015, we'd expect to see higher wheat prices."
Russia is expecting a bumper crop this year of about 50 million tonnes, but analysts are concerned about next year's levels. Photo: Tanya Lake
Annual growth in margin lending has turned positive recently for the first time in almost four years. Source: Fairfax Media, RBA
As margin debt hovers at all-time highs in the United States, local investors remain wary of borrowing to invest.
As the top chart shows, the total value of margin lending - in millions of dollars - remains at subdued levels - a mere $11.6 billion against over $40 billion in December 2007 - around the height of market euphoria before the GFC.
The RBA, which tracks the data, defines "margin lending" as the aggregate value of outstanding loans that are backed by approved securities (usually Australian equities and managed funds).
The "value of underlying security" is the market value of all security backing the margin lending at the end of the quarter.
The loan-to-value ratio as at March 2014 was 25 per cent. The peak for the LVR was in December 2008, when it hit 51 per cent as asset values plummeted.
But while the headline figures look benign, the last two quarters have seen margin lending grow in annual terms for the first time in almost four years, suggesting that, from a low base, investors may be starting to grow more confident and willing to bet borrowed money on the sharemarket and managed funds.
Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, a subsidiary of Sydney-based soft drink producer Coca-Cola Amatil, aims to boost production capacity to 2.1 billion litres per year by 2015, said Wilson Siahaan, head of corporate affairs. The company expects double-digit business growth in 2014, he added.
Coca Cola currently owns nine factories in Sumedang, Bekasi, Medan, Padang, Lampung, Semarang, Surabaya and Bali. The company also plans to open a new distribution centre in Semarang, Central Java, on Aug. 27, adding to its 85 distribution centres in the country.
CCA shares are up 0.4 per cent at $9.29.
SMH economics editor Ross Gittins explains why no one is backing the budget.
A big reason Joe Hockey isn't getting much support from independent observers like me in his battle to get the budget through the Senate is that so few of his contentious measures are worth fighting for.
If he were facing opposition from vested interests struggling to protect their privilege, or even just unthinking populism from the punters, it would be a different matter.
For a bit I thought I'd be in the trenches with him defending a plan to impose a temporary deficit levy on individuals with incomes above $80,000 a year but, as we now know, his boss insisted on lifting the threshold to a far-less-contentious $180,000 a year.
What would have made the lower threshold defensible is the inconvenient truth that so much of our present distance from budget surplus is explained by the folly of eight tax cuts in a row, the savings from which were skewed in favour of higher income-earners. This would have clawed back a bit of it.
It's remarkable anyone could put together a budget at once so unpopular and so lacking in Paul Keating's "quality cuts". Who did Hockey imagine would join him at the barricades apart from the mindlessly partisan commentators? (Even they haven't been particularly vociferous – although the government hasn't raised much of a banner to rally behind.)
In my initial assessment I said "I give Joe Hockey's first budgetary exam a distinction on management of the macro economy, a credit on micro-economic reform and a fail on fairness".
Nothing wrong with the F, and the D on macro management has stood up well.
On closer inspection, my C for micro reform was badly astray. Should have been an M for missed opportunity.
Illustration: Michael Mucci.
James Packer's Crown Resorts has acquired a prime site on the famous Las Vegas strip and will create a new resort and casino company through a deal with hedge fund giant Oaktree Capital Management.
The 34.6-acre site, which was to be occupied by the New Frontier Hotel & Casino, will be developed through a new resort company run by Andrew Pascal, a former president and chief operating officer of the Wynn Las Vegas casino and resort.
Oaktree, which owns half of the loan to the abandoned New Frontier project, will provide "financial support" to the new company.
Mr Packer said in a statement that the project brought together a "great local partner in Andrew, a leading financial investor in Oaktree, and the perfect piece of property".
"You can't be in the gaming industry and not have a special reverence for Las Vegas – that's where is all began," Mr Packer said.
"As we have built Crown Resorts into a thriving international company with successful casino ventures in Australia, Macau, and London, we've always kept our eye on Las Vegas.
Sin City: James Packer is making a return to Las Vegas. Photo: AFP
The strong open of Chinese sharemarkets is likely contributing to a rebound in local stocks.
Hong Kong stocks are up, rebounding from the biggest drop in three weeks on Aug. 1, as energy producers lead gains.
The Hang Seng Index has gained 0.4 per cent. The measure dropped 0.9 per cent on Aug. 1 in its first loss in nine days. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in the city, also known as the H-share index, has jumped 0.6 per cent.
The H-share gauge entered a bull market last week after rising more than 20 per cent from its March low as policy makers took steps to bolster China's economy by cutting reserve requirements for some banks and loosening property curbs. The gauge traded at 7.6 times estimated earnings at the last close compared with multiples of 11.4 for the Hang Seng Index and 16.1 for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
China's non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.2 in July from 55 in June, a report showed yesterday. The data highlights the danger a correction in the property market poses to China's economic growth and contrasts with a government report last week that showed manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years.
Retail sales rose 0.6 per cent, seasonally-adjusted, in June, as consumers reversed two months of falls or flat sales linked to the warm start to winter and an unpopular May budget.
The ABS said that the seasonally adjusted estimate for Australian turnover rose 0.6 per cent in June following a fall of 0.3 per cent in May and a relatively unchanged April.
In current prices, the trend estimate for Australian turnover rose 0.1 per cent in June following a rise of 0.1 per cent in May 2014.
For the year, in trend terms, retail turnover rose 5.3 per compared with June 2013.
The ABS said food retailing (0.1 per cent), goods retailing (0.3 per cent), other retailing (0.2 per cent) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.1 per cent) all posted month-on-month increases in trend terms.
However, clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing and department stores fell in trend terms in June 2014.
Australian job advertisements in newspapers and on the internet crept higher in July to be up moderately on the same month last year in a sign of a gradual pick up in the labour market.
A survey by ANZ showed total job advertisements rose 0.3 per cent to 133,292 per week on average in July. That followed June's 4.4 per cent increase and left ads up 4.2 per cent on July last year.
"Labour demand has continued to improve this year," said ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan. "Over the past six months, each of the main job ads measures has strengthened, although the pace of the upswing remains quite moderate compared to previous turnarounds in the labour market."
Ads on the internet rose by 0.4 per cent in July, while those in newspapers fell 2.8 per cent to continue a long running trend toward online advertising.
Official employment figures for July are due on Thursday and analysts are generally looking for a rise of 12,000. The jobless rate is seen holding at 6 per cent.
The ANZ job ads survey's correlation with employment has weakened over the last couple of years, in part due to firms using other methods of reaching job seekers such as social media.
Portugal's central bank has taken control of Banco Espirito Santo, once the country's largest lender by market value, in a 4.9 billion-euro ($US6.6 billion) bailout that will leave junior bondholders with losses.
The Bank of Portugal's Resolution Fund will move Banco Espirito Santo's deposit-taking operations and most of its assets to a new company, Novo Banco, which it will own outright. The fund will finance the rescue with a Treasury loan to be repaid by Novo Banco's eventual sale.
Espirito Santo shareholders and junior bondholders will be left with the most "problematic" assets, including loans to other parts of the Espirito Santo Group and the lender's stake in its Angolan operation, according to a central bank statement yesterday.
"Shareholders, subordinated debt holders as well as board members or former board members directly involved in the more recent events, and not the taxpayers, will be called to shoulder the losses incurred by a banking business they failed to adequately oversee," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Banco Espirito Santo has been forced to take public money after regulators uncovered potential losses on loans to other companies tied to Portugal's Espirito Santo family and ordered the lender to raise capital. Bank of Portugal Governor Carlos Costa had sought to find private investors to inject the cash, and said government funds would only be a last resort. The Portuguese government has about 6.4 billion euros remaining from its European Union-led bailout in 2011 to fund the capital injection.
Shares of the lender plunged 73 per cent in Lisbon last week to 12 euro cents, for a market value of 675 million euros, before the stock was suspended on Aug. 1.
A private gauge of Australian inflation showed price pressures subsided in July, a welcome development for policy makers after official figures surprised on the high side in the second quarter.
The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute's monthly measure of consumer prices edged up 0.2 per cent in July, following a flat outcome in June. That was a subdued result given July usually sees seasonal increases in many government charges, from rates to utilities.
As a result the annual pace of inflation slowed to 2.6 per cent, from 3.0 per cent in June, taking it back toward the middle of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) long term target band of 2-3 percent.
The RBA holds its July policy meeting tomorrow and is considered certain to leave interest rates at 2.5 per cent, where they have been since it last cut in August 2013.
"Ongoing caution from RBA in recent weeks speak to us that the Board can pause for another month and assess the improving global economic outlook as well as more mixed data news closer to home," said Annette Beacher, TD's head of Asia-Pacific research.
Monday's survey showed seasonal price rises for electricity, gas and other household fuels, property rates and charges. These were partly offset by falls in water and sewerage, clothing and footwear, and alcohol and tobacco.
Various measures of underlying inflation also moderated in July. Annual growth in the trimmed mean fell back to 2.6 percent, from 3.0 percent, while inflation excluding fuel, fruit and vegetables slowed sharply to 1.9 per cent.
Prices for tradable goods and services fell by 0.2 per cent in the month to drag the annual pace down to 2.3 per cent. Even the non-tradables sector, where inflation has been stubbornly high, saw some improvement with prices up 2.8 per cent for the year compared with 3.3 percent in June.
The slowdown suggested that a high reading recorded for the RBA's trimmed mean measure of inflation in the second quarter might have been an aberration and not the start of a trend.
A private measure of inflation for July suggests the strong CPI gain over the June quarter may have been an aberration. Source: TD Securities/Melbourne Institute
Despite the defeat suffered at last week's investor meeting over the $2.7 billion selective buyback of shares from Shell, Woodside Petroleum remains unaffected by any "overhang", according to Goldman Sachs.
The investment bank argues an equal access buyback would be highly valued by many Australian investors but would not reduce Shell's interest in Woodside to the same extent.
Instead, Goldman Sachs claims another placement by the Anglo Dutch energy giant might be necessary.
Shell owns 13.6 per cent of Woodside following the decision by share holders to reject a buyback, which represented 9.5 per cent of its stake.
A 75 per cent majority was needed to ratify the transaction but only 72 per cent was obtained after Australian investors objected about the loss of franking credits.
Goldman Sachs points out investors pressure will probably compel Woodside to launch an equal access buyback. It said such a move "would be highly valued by many Australian investors (particularly those on superannuation tax rates of 0-15 per cent), it will not be able to reduce Shell's interest to the same extent".
"Nevertheless, we believe, given investor pressure, that there is a possibility that Woodside pursues this (for up to 10 per cent of its shares which wouldn't require shareholder approval; eg similar in size to the Shell 9.5 per cent proposal). Another placement from Shell may also be necessary."
The investment bank stresses Woodside's shares are not discounted by the overhang, partly due to the anticipation of capital management as well as a "sector-leading dividend yield".
Woodside shares are down a further 0.9 per cent today at $41.55, after slumping 1.4 per cent on Friday.
Roc Oil has received a 69¢-per-share, all-cash offer from Chinese giant Fosun Group, with Roc Oil's board recommending the proposal.
The offer comes after The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported that Fosun and Tamarind Energy were both understood to have been in the dataroom for the Roc takeover.
Vodafone Hutchison Australia chief executive Inaki Berroetta says his company has spent almost $1 billion on its network alone over the past 12 months as part of its plan to fix the business and catch its rivals, Telstra and SingTel-Optus.
Mr Berroetta also said he was working on a five-year plan that would guide the company back to profitability.
"We have seen the investment we've made on 4G and the product we're bringing to the market around mobile in Australia so we have a commitment to continue that level of investment," he said. "[We invest] close to $1 billion ... and it's very similar to our competitors really.
"I don't think that so many people are still thinking of [Vodafone Australia's problems] and people know when businesses are able to recover."
It is the first time Vodafone Australia has provided any firm indication of how much it has spent on improving its mobile network. By comparison Telstra spends $1.2 billion every year while SingTel-Optus plans to spend $1.2 billion on both its mobile and fixed-line networks.
Mr Berroetta also hit out at Telstra for sending jobs overseas, claiming it showed the telco giant was "putting profits against customer satisfaction".
"We have increased the size of our Tasmanian call centres [and] to have a contact centre here costs about four times what it would cost in India so it's a big commitment to service," he said. "You see companies in this market that are extremely profitable and even getting profits from the government that are destroying jobs and going outside for the sake of cost.
"[Telstra's cuts were] very surprising. I think that many companies are making a lot of money and putting profits against customer satisfaction."
He also hit out at Telstra's market strength and accused it of acting like a monopoly.
By comparison Telstra spends $1.2 billion every year while SingTel-Optus plans to spend $1.2 billion on both its mobile and fixed-line networks.
Shares have followed Wall St and lost ground at the open, with most stocks recording falls.
The ASX 200 is 21 points lower, or 0.4 per cent, to 5535, and the All Ords is down a similar amount to 5528.
Gold miners are the only corner of the market showing gains, with Newcrest 0.9 per cent higher.
All the big banks and miners are lower, as are Telstra and Wesfarmers, while Woollies is flat. Fortescue is busking the broader mining trend, up 0.6 per cent.
Gas prices are forecast to rise steeply in eastern Australia in the wake of the launch of gas exports from Queensland later this year, which will undermine much of the energy source's competitive position when compared with electricity.
Forecasts included in an application lodged by gas distributor Jemena to the Australian Energy Regulator includes data which points to the steep price rises anticipated as domestic wholesale gas prices rise towards international levels.
Jemena, which is controlled by Chinese and Singapore government entities, has indicated it is willing to trim its charges, which make up to half of the quarterly gas bill, in a bid to limit a possible slide in gas demand as wholesale prices surge.
Projections included in Jemena's application signal the wholesale gas price will double to $8 a gigajoule between 2014 and 2018. Adding in transportation and other charges, this will push the price to around $10 a gigajoule.
This is around double the domestic US price for gas of around $US4.50 a gigajoule. The surge in gas produced from so-called unconventional sources such as shale, has pushed down gas prices in the US, resulting in many companies seeking to export surplus production to Europe and Asia.
Reflecting the imminent start to gas exports from eastern Australia, household gas prices in NSW rose 17 per cent from the beginning of July, with concerns that prices will continue to rise over the next few years.
These rises are expected to be mirrored in other states.
Gas prices are tipped to explode. Photo: Steve Baccon
Class-action lawyers are sizing up Macquarie, writes BusinessDay columnist Michael West:
Macquarie Group is motoring along in top gear again but it can now see John Walker, chief executive of litigation funder IMF Bentham, looming in its rear vision mirror.
The class lawsuit fraternity has been tailing Macquarie, and indeed all the banks for years, but Walker has now drawn fully into view:
"IMF is aware of the issues raised in the enforceable undertaking in respect of Macquarie Private Wealth and is interested in talking to more people who were clients of MPW and who may have been subject to breaches of standards for financial services," he told Fairfax last week he is talking to victims.
The challenge for Walker is not so much getting victim numbers. These are legion, as evidenced again in the weekend story by Adele Ferguson and Ben Butler over the widespread compliance breaches at Macquarie Private Wealth (MPW).
Nor is the pot of money at issue. Macquarie is a rich target, even if it fights every case tooth and nail. Rather, the conundrum for Walker is in coalescing the myriad claims for faulty financial advice and the consequent client losses into one representative action.
Losses span an array of financial products and Macquarie will seek to defend each case separately, effectively taking Walker and the plaintiff law firms out of the picture.
The critical question for the bank and its shareholders is the size of the liability. What is the overall exposure here?
Macquarie Private Wealth may be in the cross hairs of class action litigators.
A Chinese services-industry index declined to a six-month low in July, dragged down by a weaker property market.
The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.2 from 55.0 in June, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Sunday in Beijing. A reading over 50 indicates expansion.
Today's report highlights the danger a correction in the property market poses to growth in the world's second-biggest economy and contrasts with a government report last week that showed manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years. The International Monetary Fund's China mission chief warned last week that real estate is the biggest near-term risk to the economy.
"Real estate continued to soften, reflecting a thin market in the low season, while the range of price discounting widened," Cai Jin, a vice chairman at the logistics federation, said in the statement. "The decline in the index isn't large and overall, markets are stable."
A gauge of business expectations in the survey rose to 61.5 in July from 60.4 in June, today's report showed.
Services accounted for 46.6 per cent of gross domestic product in the first half of 2014, 1.3 percentage points higher than the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said last month when it released second-quarter GDP data.
Expansion in services quickened to 8 per cent in the first half from 7.8 per cent in the first quarter, and compared with a 7.4 per cent pace in manufacturing, mining and construction industries, the agency's data show.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's view that there's plenty of room for gains in the labour market was confirmed by Friday night's jobs report, economists said, bolstering the case for maintaining monetary stimulus.
While the Labor Department report showed employers added more than 200,000 jobs for the sixth straight month in July, there were also indications of fragility. A broad measure of unemployment that includes people working part-time because they can't find full-time jobs rose, while wages stagnated.
The data support the Fed's statement this week that a range of indicators suggests there's "significant underutilization of labour resources," according to Millan Mulraine, deputy head of US research and strategy at TD Securities.
"This is what the Fed was hoping for," Mulraine said. "There is sufficient slack in the labour market that there would be no urgency for them" to raise the benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2006.
A measure of underemployment rose to 12.2 percent last month from 12.1 per cent in June. Average hourly earnings were unchanged in July after advancing 1.1 per cent in the first half of the year.
The jobs report puts Fed officials "exactly where they wanted to be" after their July 30 policy announcement, said Aneta Markowska, chief US economist at Societe Generale in New York. The Fed's guidance on the future path for interest rates now "rests on the lack of wage growth," she said.
The headline unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 6.2 per cent from 6.1 per cent as more people sought jobs. The share of Americans employed or looking for work, known as the participation rate, increased to 62.9 per cent in July from 62.8 per cent in June, which matched the lowest level since 1978.
The 209,000 advance in non-farm payrolls last month followed a 298,000 June increase that was stronger than initially reported. The last time payrolls grew by 200,000 or more for at least six months in a row was in 1997.
Still, the increase in payrolls lagged the median forecast for a 230,000 increase in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
US buyout firm KKR has capitulated in its long takeover play for Treasury Wine Estates, sweetening its offer to more than $5 per share for Australia's largest winemaker, reports the AFR's Street Talk column.
The move is expected to propel KKR into the data room.
In May, the private equity firm's $3.05 billion – or $4.70 per share – approach was rebuffed after Treasury's board judged it too low.
Since, then there has been constant speculation about potential rival bidders though a counter offer is yet to materialise.
News of KKR's revised bid follows the emergence last month of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board as a partner in the takeover push.
CPPIB's involvement with the private equity firm mirrors its co-investment strategy in other parts of the world.
However, the absence of any development on KKR's earlier bid led to predictions the buyout firm would have to bed down for a lengthy fight as management at Treasury vowed to pursue a turnaround plan.
The company, which controls the Lindeman's, Wolf Blass and Penfolds brands, is due to publish its latest results soon amid persistently abysmal trading conditions in Australia and New Zealand, where the winemaker generates half its sales.
In May, the private equity firm's $3.05 billion – or $4.70 per share – approach was rebuffed. Photo: Tamara Dean
Local shares are poised to extend their losses, though the pace of selling appears to be far slower than on Friday.
What you need2know:
• SPI futures down 26 pts, or 0.5%, at 5473
• AUD at 93.11 US cents, 95.49 Japanese yen, 69.35 Euro cents and 55.33 British pence.
• On Wall St, S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.4%
• In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 -1.4%, FTSE -0.8%, CAC -1%, DAX -2.1%
• Spot gold rose 0.8% to $US1293.33 an ounce
• Iron ore slips 0.4% to $US95.20 per metric tonne
• Brent oil down 1.1% to $US104.84 per barrel.
What's on today
• Australia June retail sales, ANZ jobs advertisements
• UK construction PMI; Euro zone producer price index; US ISM New York
Stocks to watch
• KKR ups offer for Treasury Wine Estates to $5/share from $4.70
• Alacer raised to overweight v neutral at JP Morgan with a price target of $3
• Pact Group rated new buy a BBY; PT $4.19.
• Steadfast agrees to buy 72.3% of Ausure Group
• JPMorgan has downgraded Australia's biggest annuities provider, Challenger, to "underweight" following concerns about investment spread margins, capital intensity and default risk concerns.
• Hartleys Research maintains an "accumulate" on Independence Group, but said while "nice and profitable" it was looking for growth now. It holds a $4.26 a share price target.
• Deutsche Bank has a "hold" recommendation on OceanaGold and a target price of $3.10 a share after its June quarter report was weaker than expected.
Good morning and welcome to the Markets Live blog for Monday.
Your editor today is Patrick Commins.
This blog is not intended as investment advice.
BusinessDay with wires.


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Exclusively published to the Touchstone website each week, these Daily Reflections are brief commentaries on the lectionary readings contained in the St. James Daily Devotional Guide. The reflections are penned by Patrick Henry Reardon, editor of the Daily Devotional Guide and a senior editor of Touchstone. Father Reardon provides here a very brief directional clue for one of the texts each day. Long-time readers of the Daily Devotional Guide will find these reflections an additional help to their reading of Holy Scripture which they can print and keep with their Guide. The Daily Reflections will be updated weekly. Please report any problems with Daily Reflections here. |
Saturday, March 18
Matthew 18:10-14: This parable of the lost sheep, found both here and in Luke 15:3-7, carries a very different emphasis in each setting. In Luke's setting the parable comes first in a series of thee parables about lost-and-found and serves to illustrate God's compassion toward sinners and answers the challenge thrown at Jesus in Luke 15:2, �This man receives sinners.� Accordingly, in Luke the parable of the lost sheep is followed by two other parables illustrating the identical theme of the divine compassion, the account of the woman and her lost coin and the story of the father and his lost son. In Matthew the parable tells us directly about Jesus and the mercy of God. Since Jesus' compassionate regard for and merciful behavior toward sinners is the root of what theologians call soteriology (�the study of salvation�), the major point and burden of this story of the lost-and-found sheep in Matthew is Christological and soteriological. That is to say, it is directed toward the questions, �Who is Jesus?� and �What does He do?� In Matthew, on the other hand, the parable of the lost sheep is placed in an ecclesiological setting. It pertains to Matthew's fourth great discourse, which is concerned with the Church. Bear in mind that in this chapter we have two of the three times that the word �Church� appears in the Gospels. The link verse in this story is verse 10, a negative command that ties the parable back to the section on scandal (verses 6-9). The �little one� in this context--henos ton micron--can be a child, but it can also include any �little person,� whom we are tempted to overlook, to neglect, perhaps even to despise. Here is Matthew's difference from Luke's version of the parable. In Luke this is story of Jesus' regard and behavior with respect to the sinner, whereas here in Matthew it is concerned with the attitude and behavior of Christians. Let us further observe that this ecclesiological and moral accent in Matthew's version is muted or even lost in the manuscript tradition by a copyist's insertion of verse 11, which is missing in the older, more reliable manuscripts of Matthew. Some later copyist evidently borrowed it from Luke's story of Jesus and the publican Zacchaeus. The insertion of this verse significantly alters the flavor and nuance of the text, changing it into a Christological story rather than an ecclesiological and moral exhortation. The text, then, should be read without verse 11. Thus read, then, the parable is not about Jesus seeking the sheep that was lost. It is an illustration of the command not to despise one of these little ones. It is an exhortation to the Church to let no one �fall between the cracks.' It is an order to seek and find that which was lost. Each of these little ones, who (we observe) are no longer just children, has a guardian angel that contemplates the face of God. This is one of the �proof texts� for the Church's belief in the guardian angels (cf. Acts 12:15. The Church must exercise, then, a certain stewardship over the sheep, a theme that follows the prophetic criticism (cf. Ezekiel 34:6,15-16 for instance) of the shepherds of Israel, who neglected to go out and bring back the sheep that were lost. These sheep have not only �strayed�; they have been �led astray� or �deceived� (planao), an expression that Matthew sees as a sign of the last times (cf. 24:5). They have separated themselves from the flock, because they have followed a �deceiver� (24:11). In Matthew's context, then, to stray means to be led astray for a false teacher (24:24). In these texts it is evident that the danger of straying is great, because the false teachers are described as numerous. We are not, says our parable, to despise those who have been led astray. They still have their guardian angels, and the Father still loves them. Hence, the people of God are never to despise those that wander and become lost, to treat such persons as negligible and beyond the solicitude of the Church Nonetheless, Matthew phrases the admonition in such a way as to suggest that the stray sheep may not be found (verse 13). Such searches for the wandering are not invariably successful. Still, the loss of such a sheep is never God's will (verse 14). No sheep is predestined to be lost. The Bible knows nothing about predestination to hell; indeed, the very concept is contrary to the mind of the God who wills all men to be saved. The �wandering� in Matthew, in short has to do with becoming separated from the flock, the Church. There are no insignificant sheep in this flock. There are no �nobodies� in the Church, no unimportant souls for whom Christ died. In Matthew, then, this is a parable about life in the Church. Reconciliation in Matthew always means reconciliation with the Church. There is no such thing as reconciliation with God apart from the Church. Reconciliation always means restoration to the flock, and the Church is to go after the �stray.� This parable will be followed by instructions on how to do this-how to bring back the erring brother. Sunday, March 19 Matthew 18:15-20: This section continues the theme of life in the Church, specifically how to bring back the stray sheep. That is to say, these verses illustrate how Christians are to fulfill the mandate implied in verse 14 - God's will that no one of the little ones should perish. The burden of these verses is not that we should expose sinners, but that we endeavor to save them. The message, then, is identical to the parable of the lost sheep. Once again we perceive Matthew's conviction that the Church is a house of redemption and reconciliation. To be redeemed, for Matthew, and to be reconciled, means to be at peace with the Church. This message, once again, is obscured by copyist's insertion of the words �against you� (eis se in verse 15, an insertion that makes the offense appear to be a private matter between two Christians. This insertion, unknown to Origen in the third century and missing in the two oldest codices of the Sacred Text, seems to have been made under the influence of Peter's question in verse 21, �How often shall my brother sin against me?� This insertion alters the sense of the passage rather dramatically. If the reading �against you� were original, the sense of the text would indicate a private offense involving only me and my brother. Without that insertion, however, the text refers to any sin that I see my brother committing, any sin that I hear he is committing. In all such cases, he remains my brother, for whom I am responsible, and his sin is my business. I have an obligation in charity to consult with my brother on thee matter. The case proposed here concerns sins that are not general knowledge, sins not commonly known. If a sin is blatant, open, and public, there is no need for this graduated approach indicated in the Sacred Text. Public sins, by their nature, come directly to the attention of the whole Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5; Philippians 4:2). The reprimand of public sins may be just as public as the sin itself. This is not the case here in Matthew, where clearly the sin that the brother has committed is not public knowledge. In such a case, what is the believer's charitable obligation toward the erring brother? He is commanded to �reprove� (elegxson). This would probably not be just any kind of sin. The context suggests, rather, the sort of sin that might affect the life of the congregation itself. That is to say, a serious sin, of the sort that, were it known, might prove harmful and scandalous to the Church. This kind of sin cannot be overlooked. If in this case the sinning brother accepts the reproof-if he hears the one that corrects him-then the sin goes no further. It is not to be shared with others. The people of God have no �right to know.� If a sin can be dealt with privately, it is supposed to be dealt with privately, and it would be sinful to share such information with others. There are two words especially to be noted in this passage: The first word is �brother.� This means that the Church is a family (cf. 12:46-50). The reproof, consequently, takes place in an atmosphere of love and concern, not enmity nor hostility. It is necessarily a kindly reproof, motivated by concerned charity. The second word is �reprove,� which indicates that the Church is a house of common discipline, not a convention of lone rangers. In the Church it is imperative that no person turn himself into a mere individual. Therefore, where there is an obligation to reprove, there is a corresponding obligation to listen to reproof. Both are acts of charity. Both are also difficult. Hardly anyone relishes receiving a reproof. Likewise, we are disposed to avoid giving reproof, because these things are awkward and uncomfortable. It is only charity that compels us to give and receive reproof. If this reproof fails, and only if it fails, we go to the second stage, in which one or two others are brought into the conversation (verse 16; cf. Deuteronomy 19:15). Once again, the accent is on charitable solicitude for the erring brother. From rabbinical literature we also know that the progressive procedure of fraternal correction elaborated here in Matthew was common in the synagogues of that day. We also find a specific application of it in 1 Timothy 5:19. Finally, if forced to it, the situation arrives at the third stage, in which the sin is brought to the attention of the Church. In this case the sinner is facing no longer a quiet, pastoral reprimand, but the discipline of an institution authorized to speak for God and address consciences. The sanction imposed for not listening to the Church is excommunication (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; 2 John 10). Earlier in Matthew (16:19), Peter had received this authority, as representing the Church. In the verses that follow this instruction (verses 19-20), the literary context, determined by the instruction itself (verses 15-18) is still largely �juridical,� in the sense of having to do with the judgment of the Church. However, two new elements are introduced: common petitionary prayer and the presence of Christ. The mention of petitionary prayer seems to indicate the context in which the disciplinary decisions of the Church are to be reached. With respect to the presence of Christ in the midst of His people, this theme is found at both the beginning (1:23) and the end (28:20) of Matthew. It is reminiscent of a saying in the Mishnah ('Aboth 3.2): �If the words of the Torah pass between two sitting together, the Cloud of the Presence [the Shekinah] abides between them.� Monday, March 20 Matthew 18:21-35: The foregoing theme of forgiveness by the Church now introduces the subject of personal forgiveness by members within the Church. This latter aspect is introduced by Peter's use of the word �brother.� The question still has to do with family relationships in the Holy Spirit. The Church, then, is still the context. This passage also has to do with real offenses, such theft, cheating, or lying. Peter does not ask, �How many times must I permit my brother to annoy me or get on my nerves.� Some more serious offense is envisioned in this mandate to forgive. The response of Jesus can be translated as either �seventy-seven� or seventy times seven.� The point of the mandate is not the precise number, whether 77 or 490. It means, rather, that there must be no limits to our forgiveness. Forgiveness cannot be allowed to become a quantitative commodity in limited supply. After all, how does God forgive? He does not limit His mercy to our first seven offenses. He forgives us at our repentance, no matter how often we fall. We too, then, are called to forgive in the same measure. Such abundance of mercy will become the burden of the parable that follows (verses 23-35). Jesus' response to Peter alludes to Genesis 4:24-� If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,/ Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.� This line from Lamech is a sort of culmination of the growing violence that followed man's fall in the Garden. That fall led immediately to the murder of Abel (4:8), which led immediately to the prospect of vengeance (4:14) and then greater vengeance (4:15), leading in Lamech's case to the equivalent of total warfare. Jesus' response to Peter indicates that the Gospel must go in the opposite direction, placing no limits on forgiveness. The parable that follows, which is proper to Matthew, does not exactly illustrate the mandate to forgive without limits. It indicates, rather, that we are to forgive in the measure that our heavenly Father forgives us. Thus, the parable advances the Lord's argument with a new consideration-the massive disproportion between the debt that one man may owe to another and the incomparable debt that every man owes to God. This ridiculous disproportion is the basis of the parable's irony. The debt that the servant owes to the master is calculated at ten thousand talents, a figure that would amount to billions of dollars in today's money. Consequently, the payment of the debt was beyond the servant's ability to repay; the debtor would be in debtors' prison forever. This is an image of eternal loss. The proposed selling of the wife and children is a metaphor. This could not happen in Jewish Law in Jesus' time. Even if it could, the sale price would not pay the debt. Hence, the servant's resolve to pay the whole debt (verse 26) was futile on its face. In this parable, then, we discern two aspects of God. The first is His mercy, His compassion for man's distress. God forgives the repentant. The debt is absolved because of the master's compassion (splangchnistheis--verse 27). The second aspect is God's anger (orgistheis--verse 34), prompted by man's refusal to copy the divine compassion. The servant is condemned for not imitating his master's mercy. Instead he declines to forgive the piddling liability of a fellow servant. In this parable Matthew returns to the message already contained in the Lord's Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount (6:14-15). It is important likewise to observe the intervention of the �fellow servants,� an act that continues this chapter's theme of the Church. We remark that the master reacts to the situation at the behest of the Church, the two or three fellow servants who are gathered in his name. Indeed, the irony of the story is disclosed by the intervention of the Church. The master in the parable listens to the case made by the Church. What was retained on earth was retained in heaven. The wicked servant's condemnation to torture (basanisais--verse 34) is eternal, because his debt is beyond payment. No one can pay it. This is an image of eternal damnation (cf. 25:41,46). In short, it should be easy for a Christian to forgive seventy times seven times, knowing that God has forgiven him so much more. Tuesday, March 21 Matthew 19:1-12: At this point Matthew rejoins the narrative sequence in Mark, which he will follow for the rest of the book. However, as this section begins with Jesus' move from Galilee, in the north, to Judea, in the south, Matthew and Luke begin to follow separate sequences, Luke inserting many stories that have no parallel in the other gospels (cf. Luke 9:51-18:14). Matthew introduces his own narrative by mentioning the end (etelesen--verse 1) of Jesus' previous discourse-namely, the preceding chapter on life in the Church. Each of Jesus' five large discourses in ended in the same way (cf. 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 26:1). Jesus, moving south, goes somewhat eastward across the Jordan, avoiding a trip through Samaria. He is followed by �large� crowds (contrast with Mark 10:1), �to follow� being the normal word for discipleship. In Mark's parallel account (10:1), it is said that Jesus taught these crowds, whereas Matthew says that He �healed� them (etherapeusen--verse 2). The significance of this change is to be found in the light it sheds on the teaching that immediately follows. The following section deals with matters that we may call �domestic,� in the sense of having to do with the home (domus in Latin). This subject will include sex, children, and money, and on these matters Jesus will �heal� the people of common but fallacious opinions. These subjects-sex, child-raising, and finances-are the ones on which the views of the world are likely to be sick and in want of healing. Each of these three subjects is introduced by certain individuals that approach Jesus: the Pharisees, the mothers bringing their children, the wealthy inquirer. It would seem that Matthew has arranged this material in a sequence that was usual in the catechetical practice of the Christian Church. In fact, these three subjects are likewise treated together likewise by St. Paul (cf. Ephesians 5:22-6:9; Colossians 3:18-25). The similarity of order between Matthew and Paul suggests these dominical sayings have been organized according to a standard and recognizable format. There immediately follows, then, a teaching about sex, which includes marriage, divorce, and celibacy (verses 3-12), for which there is a partial parallel section in Mark 10:2-12. The treatment of marriage and divorce comes in response to the question that the Pharisees put to Jesus, which question Matthew (alone) says was meant to �try� Him (peirazontes--verse 3). The context of the teaching, that is to say, was one of controversy. It is well known that the various rabbinical schools were distinguished from one another by what restrictions they place on divorce, some stricter, some not so strict. Jesus as being invited to enter that controversy. Instead, He went straight to the creation account in Genesis, using it to forbid all divorce (cf. also 5:32). Jesus mentions no exceptions. Even the expression �not including fornication� (me epi porneia), which is often taken as a reason for divorce, is no exception to the rule. It simply means, �I am not talking about fornication.� That is to say, the prohibition against divorce applies only to a true marriage, not cases where a man and woman are living together in sin. What is most striking about Jesus' prohibition is that our Lord thereby abrogates the application of Deuteronomy 24:1, which did provide for divorce. Jesus would have none of it. Divorce for the purpose of remarriage with someone else is adultery. It is unfortunate that many readers find in this text only another species of legalism with respect to marriage. In fact, this biblical passage has as much to say on the subject of Christology as of marriage. However, when this page is consulted, some question about marriage is usually the reason for the consultation, so the important Christological weight of the text is simply overlooked. Inspected more carefully, however, the Christological significance of the passage would hardly be weightier. Jesus, boldly abrogating a concession given in the Mosaic Law, laid claim to immense authority-truly, �all authority"--pasa exsousia, as He will say at the end of Matthew (28:18). This authority is nothing less than divine, and it is in recognition of this total authority that we find so many people in Matthew's stories falling prostrate before Jesus. It is curious to observe, nonetheless, that it was not His enemies that objected to this prohibition given by Jesus. It was the disciples themselves who wondered, if divorce was not permitted, whether remaining celibate might not be a more attractive option (verse 10). (We wonder why the prospect of a happy marriage did not cross their minds!) Perhaps to their surprise, Jesus agreed with them, not because of the indissolubility of marriage, but as a superior expression of the Kingdom of Heaven (verse 12). Nonetheless, Jesus declared, celibacy is a gift from God, a grace not accorded to all men (verse 11). Most Christians recognize that in this passage the reference to self-castration is a metaphor of irony, akin to the amputation of a hand or the gouging out of an eye mentioned in the previous chapter. This section on celibacy is proper to Matthew, but its content is consonant with the general New Testament thesis of the superiority of consecrated celibacy over marriage (cf. Luke 14:20; 18:29; 1 Corinthians 7:25-35). Wednesday, March 22 Matthew 19:13-22: From a discussion about marriage Jesus passes to the subject of children, in which He repeats the injunction indicated in 18:1-4. The subject arises when children are brought to Jesus to receive His blessing (verse 13), a scene found in all the Synoptics (Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17). All of them likewise include the objection of the disciples against what they evidently regarded as an unwarranted intrusion on the Lord's time and attention. It has been suggested that the early (pre-Scriptural) Church preserved the memory of this scene because it answered a practical pastoral question abut infant baptism. Read in this way, Jesus is affirming the practice of infant baptism: �Let the little children come to Me.� Indeed, the verb that Matthew uses here, koluein, �forbid them not,� is identical with the expression used with respect to the baptisms of the Ethiopian eunuch and the friends of Cornelius (Acts 8:36; 10:37; 11:17). I do not think this interpretation of the passage to be likely, because there is simply no evidence in the New Testament that infant baptism was a problem. On the contrary, as the Christian replacement for circumcision, we should presume that baptism was available to infants, just as circumcision was. In each case it was admission to the covenant. It would be strange indeed, if Jewish children could belong to the Mosaic covenant, while Christian children could not partake of the Christian covenant. Moreover, the baptism of entire households in the New Testament (Acts 11:14; 16:15,31-33) indicates that it was normal to baptize infants in Christian families. Although the pastoral practice of the Christian Church varied in this matter, the �validity� of infant baptisms was not challenged for well over a thousand years. Consequently, to see a reference to a �controversy� about infant baptism in these lines of Matthew seems to me an unlikely interpretation. The third subject, money, is introduced by a man that comes to our Lord, seeking counsel on how to attain eternal life (verse 16). This scene is paralleled in Mark 10:17-22 and Luke 18:18-23. If we are to look for another link between this section and the preceding theme of children, perhaps we find it in the fact that the question is asked by a �young person� (neaniskos). Indeed, this feature is unique to Matthew. Both Mark and Luke suggest, in fact, that the man may not be young, because he claims to have kept all the commandments �from my youth,� an expression that Matthew's account does not contain. In authentic Deuteronomic style the man is told to �keep the commandments� (less explicit in Mark and Luke) if he wishes to enter into life (verse 17; Deuteronomy 4:10; 30:6). This hypothetical clause is proper to Matthew, as is the next hypothesis, �if you would be perfect� (verse 21). From this hypothesis regarding perfection, the Church in due course came to distinguish the monastic vocation from the vocation of other Christians. This was a reasonable inference drawn from the Sacred Text. Just as not everyone is called to consecrated celibacy (verses 11-12), not everyone is called to consecrated poverty, and these two things have always been recognized as pertaining to the monastic dedication. The literary and theological relationship between these two passages in Matthew was noted back in the 4th century by St. John Chrysostom, On Repentance 6.3.12-13. While neither celibacy nor poverty is commanded to all Christians, their double consecration indicates a special calling extended to some Christians whose charismatic way of life will stand as a prophetic witness to the Church and to the world. As a point of history, therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that this chapter of Matthew is one of the biblical texts most responsible for the institution of Christian monasticism. It was on hearing this text read in his parish church in Egypt back in the 3rd century that young Anthony, determined not to follow in the footsteps of the rich man, sold all his possessions and went into the desert to spend the rest of his life in celibacy, poverty, and prayer. As for the man who declined the Lord's invitation to be �perfect,� he left himself vulnerable, nonetheless, to a great deal of sadness (verse 22). His failure to accept the Lord's challenge now leads to a series of teachings on the dangers of wealth (verses 23-29). Thursday, March 23 Matthew 19:23-30: Let alone not attaining perfection, says Jesus, it is only with great difficulty that a rich man can even enter the Kingdom of Heaven (verse 23). Thus begins this section of Matthew, paralleled in Mark 10:23-31 and Luke 18:24-30. Over the centuries of Old Testament history we can discern a deep transformation in Israel's thinking about wealth. The ancient Wisdom tradition had associated the accumulation of wealth with the virtuous life, as we see in Proverbs. That earlier literature, while not unaware of the spiritual dangers associated with wealth, had spend little space expounding on those dangers. It was Israel's prophetic voice, rather, beginning with Elijah's denunciation of Ahab in the 9th century, that began to elaborate the theme of the dangers posed by too much preoccupation with wealth. This was a major theme, of course, in the great social prophets of the 8th century. Gradually it found its way more explicitly in the Wisdom literature as well, Sirach 31:3-5 being one of its more eloquent expressions. Jesus' approach to the subject in the present text is of a piece with what we find in Sirach. Matthew omits the initial wonderment of the disciples mentioned by Mark (1):24), but he does include the Lord's elaboration of the theme in the hyperbole of the camel and the eye of the needle. As an image of �great difficulty,� this seems an unlikely hyperbole. It strikes the reader, rather, as a simple metaphor for impossibility. Indeed, there is a clear parallel to it in rabbinical literature, which speaks of the impossibility of passing an elephant through the eye of a needle (Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 55b). Does Jesus mean, then, ��very difficult� or �utterly inconceivable�? Since there appear to be no circumstances in which it is humanly possible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, various fanciful interpretations have been advanced to explain away the toughness of the text. One of these, manifestly invented by someone who had no idea what he was talking about, refers to a small gate in the wall of Jerusalem. There is not the faintest evidence of such a gate. On the other hand, since the Lord's hyperbole contains a bit of metaphor-mixing, others have tried their hand at �correcting� Him. After all, why would anyone try to pass a camel, to say nothing of an elephant, through the eye of a needle? What purpose would it serve? You can't sew with an elephant. It was apparently to address this difficulty that a tenth century copyist devised a very slight textual change in Luke's version of the parable. He altered kamelos (camel) to kamilos (rope). A rope, after all, has some affinity to a thread, whereas camel obviously does not. This reading of �rope� for �camel,� first found in a manuscript penned in A.D. 949 and copied into a few other manuscripts, is rather clever, even ingenious, but it is also too late to be taken seriously. One should be very cautious about biblical interpretations, much less biblical readings, that don't appear in the first thousand years of Christian history! What, then, about the impossibility implied in the Lord's saying? The subsequent verse, in fact, confirms it. Yes, says Jesus, the salvation of the rich man is humanly impossible. This does not mean, however, that there is an impossibility on God's side. God can pass a camel through the eye of the needle (verse 26). Let the rich man take care, however. Let him reflect that he is asking God for a miracle. This metaphor of the camel and the needle, therefore, is something of a parallel with the moving of mountains. Both parables have to do with the power of faith in the God. Salvation is ever a gift of God, not a human achievement. Peter's response to this teaching (verse 27) may seem somewhat to exaggerate the size of his own abnegation. Just how successful was the fishing business that he gave up. After all, every time he catches a fish in the New Testament, the event is regarded as a miracle. �Giving up everything� in Peter's case may not appear, at first, to involve all that much. Looks are deceptive, however. Peter's commitment to our Lord would eventually lead him to witness the martyrdom of his wife (cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 7.11.63) and then be crucified upside down on Vatican Hill (cf. Tertullian, Scorpiace 15.3). Moreover, the Lord Himself honored what Peter had to say, and He promised to reward Peter's self-sacrifice (verse28). He extends this promise to all the Twelve. This is an important text in the ecclesiology of Matthew. The Apostles here, the institutional Twelve, become the new patriarchs, as it were, of the People of God. Their foundational role in the Church was so important that the Church took care to preserve even the exact number after the defection of Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15-26). The Lord's promise of recompense is then extended to all those who, in imitation of the Twelve, would devote their lives to the closer following of Christ and the ministry of the Gospel along the road of self-abnegation (verse 29). These too will attain eternal life, the quest about which the rich man recently inquired (verse 16). More than Mark, Matthew emphasizes the rewards of the world to come, omitting Mark's inclusion of the rewards promised during the present age (cf. Mark 10:30). The final verse in this chapter (verse 30), which is easily detachable from the present context, is apparently placed here because it prolongs the theme of reversal found in the previous verse-as the poor become rich, so the last become first, and the first last. This theme of reversal, in fact, appears to account for Matthew's insertion of the next parable at this point. In that parable, as we shall see, the theme of reversal appears again (20:8). Inadequate space obliges us to join Friday's Daily Reflection with the coming week. |
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Benefits of Pomegranate – New Recipe!
April 6, 2011 in Health Information, Juicing Recipes, Juicing Tips
Pomegranates are relatively new to the world of discovered healthy fruits. But they are indeed very good for you to juice with your Power Juicer. Pomegranates are a red fruit that can be as small as an orange or as big as a grapefruit. The real benefits lay inside the pomegranate in the form of 700-800 tiny seeds. This is where the juice is and this is what you put inside your Power Juicer, just the seeds. By pushing firm with the Pusher, you will get the beauty of this red juice.
Pomegranate Punch
1 pineapple spear (rind removed)
1 pomegranate (seeds only)
1 orange (peeled)
Pomegranates are a good source of vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium and phosphorus. This mixture may prevent certain diseases. Among the list of possible health benefits, pomegranates may aid in the fight against hardening arteries, prostate cancer, anemia, anti-aging, asthma, cholesterol problems, morning sickness and sore throat.
Selection & Storage
When you buy pomegranates, be sure to choose heavy ones without splits in the skin. They can stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to six months, but it is always better to eat them fresh.
It's important to consult a doctor before regularly consuming pomegranate juice or any other juice.
Will you be juicing pomegranate in your Power Juicer?
Photo Credit graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net