American Buzz

Matches

See also: 2010 FIFA World Cup schedule

All times are South African Standard Time (UTC+2)

Group stage

In the following tables:

• Pld = total games played
• W = total games won
• D = total games drawn (tied)
• L = total games lost
• GF = total goals scored (goals for)
• GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
• GD = goal difference (GF−GA)
• Pts = total points accumulated

The teams placed first and second (shaded in green) qualified to the round of 16.

Tie-breaking criteria

For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following criteria to rank teams in the Group Stage.[54]

1. greatest number of points in all group matches;
2. goal difference in all group matches;
3. greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
4. greatest number of points in matches between tied teams;
5. goal difference in matches between tied teams;
6. greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams;
7. drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee or play-off depending on time schedule.

Group A

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group A

Group B

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group B

Group C

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group C

Group D

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group D

Group E

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group E

Group F

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group F

Group G

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group G

Group H

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group H

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place play-off

Final

Next Football World Cup Match

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa beat Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. Italy are the defending champions. The draw for the finals took place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town.

11 June – 11 July FIFA World Cup™ will be held in South Africa

List of qualified teams

The following 32 teams qualified for the final tournament.

This is the first World Cup with no debutant associations, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have previously appeared only as parts of former competing nations. In both cases FIFA considers these teams to have retained the earlier nations’ records.

Based on the October 2009 rankings used for the main draw, South Africa at 86 were the lowest ranked team in the tournament.[2]

Groups

• A RSA MEX URU FRA
• B ARG NGA KOR GRE
• C ENG USA ALG SVN
• D GER AUS SRB GHA
• E NED DEN JPN CMR
• F ITA PAR NZL SVK
• G BRA PRK CIV POR
• H ESP SUI HON CHI

Venues

In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane/Pietersburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria (two venues), and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues[17] which were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006:

Matches Schedule

This is a chronological list of fixtures for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. All times local (UTC+2). Group-stage kickoff times are subject to change for television or scheduling reasons.

American actress Brittany Murphy died on Sunday, December 20 at the age of 32; it is very shocking news for the people who are fans of her. Brittany Murphy death reason is yet to be revealed thus Brittany Murphy Funeral Arrangements is not announced.

Here the information is mentioned about IRS Tax Rates 2010. The divisions at tax rates change in a progressive tax system are the Tax brackets. Explicitly Tax brackets are regressive tax system but this is rare. Basically, Tax brackets are the cutoff values for taxable income. Tax bracket is also said to be marginal tax rate in an easier way.

IRS Tax Rate Schedule Updates for Tax Year 2010:

Year to year change for the 2010 federal tax brackets are being predicted very little by the associated experts and the Tax Foundation. The good thing considered about global economic recession is, the combination of low gas prices, depressed consumer spending, and high jobless numbers with so many people who are filling for unemployment. That’s why the inflation rates have been enabled to stay quite low during the span of 2009 – at a mere 0.19%.

IRS Tax Rates 2010:
Tax Bracket Married Couples Filing Jointly
10% Not over $16,750 Not over $8,375
15% $16,750 – $68,000 $8,375 – $34,000
25% $68,000 – $137,300 $34,000 – $82,400
28% $137,300 – $209,250 $82,400 – $171,850
33% $209,250 – $373,650 $171,850 – $373,650
35% Over $373,650 Over $373,650

As some slight numerical shuffling of the taxable income ranges are given above, there will not be important changes from 2009 into 2010. A breakdown of the projected changes (if any) for 2010, compare to previous year is given below,

Personal Exemption: (No change): The standard exemptions will not going up and will stay unchanged at $3,650.
Standard Deduction: No change, except for Head Of Household filers. The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly will remain unchanged at $11,400 as well as the standard deduction for filing as single will remain at $5,700 as 2009. Head of Household filers will see a slight increase by $50 – from $8,350 (year 2009) to $8,400 (year 2010).
Overall Tax Bracket Thresholds: Overall Tax Bracket Thresholds will increase the board for all tax filing statuses, albeit at a significantly lower amount compared to past tax year increases.
Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Amount: No change: the current gift tax exclusion limit of $13,000 will stay the same for tax year 2010.
Traditional and Roth IRA Contribution Limits: No change. For more information, see here.

Rhydian Roberts’ X Factor advice

Classical singer Rhydian Roberts reckons you have to be focused and keep your eyes firmly on the prize to win The X Factor. Skip related content

The 26-year-old came fourth on the talent show in 2007.

Now he is just about to release his second album O Fortuna.

When it comes to this season’s hopefuls he says the most important things are consistency and picking the right songs to sing.

He doesn’t know who will win as he thinks there is no clear winner as all the contestants are talented.

Premier League – United fall to defeat at Chelsea

Manchester United’s barren run at Stamford Bridge continued, as John Terry’s late header handed Chelsea a 1-0 win over their title rivals.

The Red Devils have failed to carve out a win at Stamford Bridge for seven seasons and Terry’s header with 14 minutes remaining handed the Blues the victory and a five-point cushion in the title race.

United came with a game plan to stifle Chelsea’s midfield stars and they executed it to perfection. The visitors were the better side and carved out the better chances, but they were left with nothing thanks to the intervention of Terry.

Both sides were clearly aware of the importance of the occasion as it was an extremely cagey start, akin to two boxers sizing each other up.

Chelsea were the first to go on the front foot with Branislav Ivanovic, ever willing to aid the attack on the right, cutting inside and firing low at Edwin van der Sar.

With Dimitar Berbatov absent and Michael Owen on the bench, Wayne Rooney carried the attacking threat for United and he appeared to time his run on to Anderson’s pass to perfection. The linesman begged to differ but replays suggested Rooney was on when the ball had been played.

Sleepless nights of parenthood do not appear to be affecting Rooney as he came close to opening the scoring on 11 minutes but his shot was deflected wide by Ricardo Carvalho.

Chances were at a premium although United had fair claims for a penalty when Terry appeared to take a chunk out of Antonio Valencia’s shirt but it was on the blind side of the referee.

With Chelsea’s midfield stifled by Darren Fletcher, Anderson and Michael Carrick, Nicolas Anelka took it upon himself to fashion his own chances and he had a low drive gathered by Van der Sar and later forced a better save out of the Dutchman with a curling effort with his right foot.

United threatened at the start of the second half with Rooney fashioning chances for Fletcher and Ryan Giggs, but both failed to do justice to the build-up work.

Rooney seemed to play with a real spring in his step and was not fazed by ploughing a lone furrow. Twice he went close inside a minute, shooting just wide from the edge of the box and forcing a fine diving save from Petr Cech with a snap-shot from 25 yards.

United had by far the better of the second half, but Chelsea often find a way of grinding out a result and they got their noses in front 14 minutes from time.

The Blues were handed a cheap free kick on the left, Fletcher adjudged to have fouled Ashley Cole, and Frank Lampard whipped the ball into a dangerous area. Terry climbed high and although he did not make the cleanest of contact, it could well have flicked off Anelka as well, it was enough to divert the ball into the far corner.

The pattern of play continued with United dominating the ball, but they were unable to carve out a clear chance despite the introduction of Owen and Chelsea held on to lay down a big marker with their 11th successive home win in the league.

source: Eurosport.yahoo.com

Courtesy: nj.com

Top New Jersey Races Latest Results From The Associated Press Updated Every 10 Minutes: Reload for latest information.   U.S. House  U.S. House District 5   464 of 464 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Scott Garrett GOP 23,729 86.38% Michael Cino GOP 3,743 13.62%  U.S. House District 2   500 of 500 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Viola Thomas-Hughes Dem 7,785 82.47% Henry David Marcus Dem 1,655 17.53%  U.S. House District 5   464 of 464 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Paul Aronsohn Dem 6,848 66.27% Camille Abate Dem 3,486 33.73%  U.S. House District 13   435 of 439 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Albio Sires Dem 24,355 72.13% Joseph Vas Dem 9,409 27.87%  U.S. House District 13-Unexpired Term   435 of 439 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Albio Sires Dem 23,773 90.04% James Geron Dem 2,629 9.96% U.S. Senate  U.S. Senate   6,316 of 6,320 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Bob Menendez Dem 158,092 83.99% James Kelly Dem 30,139 16.01%  U.S. Senate   6,316 of 6,320 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Thomas Kean GOP 129,333 75.16% John Ginty GOP 42,753 24.84% State Assembly  State Assembly District 28   148 of 148 Precincts Reporting  Winner  Candidate  Party  Votes  % of Total  Oadline Truitt Dem 3,807 80.28% Anton Wheeler Dem 935 19.72% Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

From the FDIC: East West Bank, Pasadena, California Assumes All the Deposits of United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, California
United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. …

As of October 23, 2009, United Commercial Bank had total assets of $11.2 billion and total deposits of approximately $7.5 billion. …

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $1.4 billion. … United Commercial Bank is the 120th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the 14th in California. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Pacific National Bank, San Francisco, which closed on October 30, 2009.

United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, California, becomes FDIC deadbeat number 120 of 2009 as the agency closed the zombie bank at an estimated cost of $1.4 billion o the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).

United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with East West Bank, Pasadena, California, to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. This agreement included all U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank, the Hong Kong branch of United Commercial Bank, and the subsidiary of United Commercial Bank headquartered in Shanghai, China, United Commercial Bank (UCB-China).

All deposit accounts, excluding certain brokered deposits, have been transferred to East West Bank, Pasadena, CA. For more information on East West Bank, visit us at www.eastwestbank.com.

The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your relationship with United Commercial Bank. Besides a checking account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a business checking account, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships with the institution.

The 63 U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank will reopen during their normal business hours beginning tomorrow as branches of East West Bank. All locations in Hong Kong and China will reopen on Monday, according to normal business hours. In addition, UCB-China, the Shanghai, China, subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, which was also part of today’s transaction, will continue its regular banking operations without interruption with the full support of its parent company, East West Bank, whose qualification has already passed the preliminary review by the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

Depositors of United Commercial Bank will automatically become depositors of East West Bank. Domestic deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, and the Hong Kong deposits will continue to be covered by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Scheme and the full deposit guarantee currently in force in Hong Kong. The FDIC continues to be in close cooperation with the Chinese banking regulatory authority regarding regular operations of UCB-China.

Customers should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from East West Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other East West Bank branches to process their accounts as well.

This evening and over the weekend, depositors of United Commercial Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

As of October 23, 2009, United Commercial Bank had total assets of $11.2 billion and total deposits of approximately $7.5 billion. East West Bank paid the FDIC a premium of 1.1 percent for the right to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, East West Bank agreed to purchase approximately $10.2 billion in assets of the failed bank. As part of the purchase and assumption agreement, the FDIC transferred to East West Bank all qualified financial contracts to which United Commercial Bank was a party and those contracts remain in full force and effect.

The FDIC and East West Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $7.7 billion of United Commercial Bank’s assets. East West Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.

U.S. customers who have questions about today’s transaction can call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-238-8209. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (PST); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PST; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., PST; and thereafter from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., PST.

“United Commercial Bank”:Toppled by loan losses and misstated financial reports, San Francisco’s United Commercial Bank was shut down by regulators Friday night and immediately sold to Pasadena’s East West Bancorp, creating by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market.
The combination also will be the largest bank based in Southern California, surpassing City National Bancorp.
East West agreed to assume all of United Commercial’s deposits, so no depositors will lose money, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. The bank’s 63 U.S. branches, including 17 in Southern California, will reopen Saturday as branches of East West Bank.
United Commercial, a unit of UCBH Holdings Inc., was the fourth-largest bank to fail this year. That position was formerly occupied by California National Bank of Los Angeles, which failed last week and was acquired by U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis.
Regulators also seized on Friday one bank each in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri, bringing to 120 the number of failures this year.
United Commercial’s collapse may cause a greater-than-usual stir because a year ago the federal government invested $299 million in bailout funds in the bank in exchange for preferred stock, which was made worthless by the failure.
In addition, the FDIC said the collapse would cost the federal deposit insurance fund an estimated $1.4 billion.
East West raised $500 million in new capital to support the takeover, most of it from mutual funds and other existing shareholders, said Dominic Ng, chairman of the Pasadena-based lender.
The privately placed stock sales will enable East West to proceed slowly as it integrates the two banks, then have plenty of capital later next year to consider additional expansion by adding branches or making more acquisitions.
The takeover will greatly expand the reach of East West, which has concentrated on Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to 69 California offices, East West has full-service branches in Houston and Hong Kong.
United Commercial not only has dozens of branches in California but also has locations in key Chinese American areas, including New York, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston.
What’s more, because of its 2007 acquisition of a Shanghai bank, United Commercial also has a banking license in China — a “rare and hard-to-come-by” asset that makes it easier to operate and expand in that country, , said RBC Capital Markets analyst Joe Morford. It has full-service offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shantou, China.
United Commercial, East West and Cathay General Bancorp of Los Angeles have vied for years to become the largest of the banks focused on the Chinese American market.
East West, which had $12.5 billion in assets at last report, agreed to acquire $10.2 billion of United Commercial’s $11.2 billion in assets. That would put the combined bank, at almost $23 billion in assets, ahead of L.A.-based City National as the largest bank based in Southern California. At last report, City National had $18.4 billion in assets.
The FDIC agreed to absorb most of the expected losses on about $7.7 billion of the United Commercial assets acquired by East West.
Like its Chinese American rivals, United Commercial was burned by commercial lending losses, especially loans to developers and home builders during the housing boom. But it also was tainted by a financial scandal that resulted in a shake-up of its top management.

more details:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-failure7-2009nov07,0,2745693.story

20 20 Interview With Rihanna, 20/20 Rihanna: In a tremendously moving and eloquent interview with 20/20, Rihanna gave her first full-length statements about his assault by Chris Brown in February. Description of the beating he suffered in a car with Brown, the singer said that when he hit her, “had no soul in their eyes … It was almost like he had nothing to lose.” Speaking with Diane Sawyer, Rihanna said after Brown’s remorse, “He’d say,” You hate me, right? “and I would lie and say, ‘No.’”

Where is Rihanna from? How old is Rihanna? How tall is Rihanna? These are the questions on everybody’s mind after the singer appeared on ABC’s 20/20 this evening, to talk about being beaten by Chris Brown.Robyn Rihanna Fenty aka Rihanna was born February 20, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados,but moved to the United States at the age of 16 to become a singer.Brown released the following statement before the interview even aired:
“While I respect Rihanna’s right to discuss the specific events of February 8, I maintain my position that all of the details should remain a private matter between us. I do appreciate her support and wish her the best. I am extremely sorry for what I did, and I accept accountability for my actions. At this point, I am taking the proper steps to learn about me and grow from my mistakes. I only hope that others in similar situations can learn from our experience as well. Abuse of any kind is always wrong. The rest I leave it to God.”

That was a chilling moment, one among many. Sawyer showed Rihanna videos online of people – the fans? – Saying he should have led Brown. Sawyer paraphrased his feelings: “They say, ‘Do you bait him? Rile him?” ”

Rihanna said bluntly of these issues, “is ignorance.”

Demonstrating maturity and reflection on their experience, Rihanna noted, “With fame comes a lot of things, and most dangerous is the freedom … no limits.”

At the same time, said that when she shows pictures of his battered face that night, “I feel very embarrassed, angry … ashamed … You start lying to yourself, blame yourself … I did not want people looked at me. I felt very alone. ”

She never said she heard the song supposedly recorded for Brown called “Changed Man”. When Sawyer showed him the internet apology and asked Brown issued the reaction of the singer, Rihanna said simply: “Sounds like we may be reading off a teleprompter … I do not know if he understood the magnitude of what he did. ”

Rihanna explained the source of the struggle: “I caught him in a lie” when he saw a text message from another woman. “I did not drop, and could not accept that.” She describes her love as “dangerous … It was a bit of an obsession.”

The tremendous pressure placed on celebrities to be role models made it clear when he said: “My selfish desire for love might be in a young girl was killed. It could not be easier with that responsible for that.” How terrible that this woman should have to bear the weight, plus what happened. That is one of the major flaws of the current pop culture – the notion that celebrities should be an example to others.Rihanna went so far as to tell Sawyer, “I’m glad it happened to me, because now I can help girls when it happens to them.

The Slender Man was created at the Something Awful Forums in a thread entitled “Create Paranormal Images.” He is described as wearing a black suit strikingly similar to the visage of the notorious Men In Black, and as the name suggests, appears very thin and able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his prey. Once his arms are outstretched, his victims are put into something of a hypnotized state, where they are utterly helpless to stop themselves from walking into them. He is also able to create tendrils from his fingers and back that he uses to walk on in a similar fashion to Doc Ock, the Spider-Man villain in the Marvel Universe. The superhuman stretching ability could also be seen as a similiarty between himself and Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. Whether he absorbs, kills, or mearly takes his victims to an undiclosed location or dimension is also unknown as there are never any bodys or evidence left behind in his wake to deduce a definite conclusion.

Slender Man just recently appeared on the net. For those of you that haven’t heard of it, the whole thing started on somethingawful forums (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3#post361861415 Slender Man starts on Victor Surge’s post and continues on to the last page) and has grabbed the attention of numerous people. Just last month this man (http://www.youtube.com/user/MarbleHornets) posted a mini-series of Slender Man. Even though they’re made by an amateur, they catch that creepy feeling that Slender Man offers. The whole thing seems to prey on your primordial fears. The very embodiment of what terrified you as a child, yet seemingly so normal it almost seems like it could be real. Read the entire thread in the somethingawful link, watch the videos by MH, and discuss. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve found the next big thing in horror.

You already know it was suppertime, so you know the sun was setting and it was hard to see. But when I looked out over that field at the back of the house, the whole thing was lit up orange, and there was a row of big black trees that was the edge of the woods, you know? And I swear to you that I saw one of them trees moving, like a man walking away. But it couldn’t have been a man, ‘cause there ain’t no man that tall and skinny.

Pap seen it, too, I think. He took us inside and locked all the doors, and he made us keep still while he got out his rifle. We waited like that all night, Ma crying the whole time. When the sun come up we took a wagon into town and told folks what happened, though as I recall nothing much came of it. John ran off a few weeks later, and we got a new house closer to the mill where Pap worked. I still can’t manage to look at trees during sunset though, especially not on windy days when they all move back and forth, like a man walking away.