By the age of 18, Redding had earned her first film credit, appearing in a 2005 independent film called “Kathy T Gives Good Hoover,” about college students and the graffiti culture.
In 2006, she moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica, California, with her pet Yorkshire terrier.
She was also taking college courses while working part-time in a trendy Venice Beach bar.
Friends grew worried in March when they couldn’t reach Redding for a few days. They called her mother in Redding’s hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Her mother called the Santa Monica police.
Police found Redding dead inside her apartment. “The manner of death is homicide,” said Sgt. Rinaldi Thruston of the Santa Monica Police Department.
Although there are unconfirmed reports that the cause of death was blunt force trauma, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office denies that. “Those media reports are not accurate. The cause of death was not blunt force trauma. The file has been sealed by police, so we cannot disclose the actual cause of death.”
Police also would not disclose whether a weapon was used or whether Redding’s apartment had been broken into, which would give clues as to whether she knew her assailant and opened the door for him or her.
Thruston also refused to say whether Redding had been sexually assaulted.
“We have made no arrests in this case nor do we have any suspects or persons of interest at this time,” Thruston said.
He said police have collected evidence from the crime scene that could link a potential suspect to the crime. Police are hoping they will continue to get tips and leads from the public.
According to friends, Redding had been dating another actor for two years and they had broken up about six months before her slaying, but remained friends.
It is unclear whether she had a new boyfriend, but police have been interviewing all of Redding’s known friends and neighbors.
“We believe the police are doing what they can to solve this case, but we really prefer no media attention,” her mother said.
Early in the investigation, there were reports of blood found on the sidewalk or wall outside Redding’s apartment.
Police will not comment on the forensic results of that blood or any specific evidence at the crime scene. They also will not reveal whether any of Redding’s neighbors heard screams or other sounds of a struggle.
At this point, there are more questions than answers.
If anyone has any information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Juliana Redding’s death, please call the Santa Monica Police Department tip line at (310) 458-8449.
Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2009 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Robert Allen Stanford and three of his companies for orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme centering on an $8 billion CD program.
Stanford’s companies include Antiguan-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), Houston-based broker-dealer and investment adviser Stanford Group Company (SGC), and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. The SEC also charged SIB chief financial officer James Davis as well as Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group (SFG), in the enforcement action.
Pursuant to the SEC’s request for emergency relief for the benefit of defrauded investors, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor entered a temporary restraining order, froze the defendants’ assets, and appointed a receiver to marshal those assets.
“As we allege in our complaint, Stanford and the close circle of family and friends with whom he runs his businesses perpetrated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors,” said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “We are moving quickly and decisively in this enforcement action to stop this fraudulent conduct and preserve assets for investors.”
Rose Romero, Regional Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office, added, “We are alleging a fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world.”
The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Dallas, alleges that acting through a network of SGC financial advisers, SIB has sold approximately $8 billion of so-called “certificates of deposit” to investors by promising improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates. These rates were supposedly earned through SIB’s unique investment strategy, which purportedly allowed the bank to achieve double-digit returns on its investments for the past 15 years.
According to the SEC’s complaint, the defendants have misrepresented to CD purchasers that their deposits are safe, falsely claiming that the bank re-invests client funds primarily in “liquid” financial instruments (the portfolio); monitors the portfolio through a team of 20-plus analysts; and is subject to yearly audits by Antiguan regulators. Recently, as the market absorbed the news of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, SIB attempted to calm its own investors by falsely claiming the bank has no “direct or indirect” exposure to the Madoff scheme.
According to the SEC’s complaint, SIB is operated by a close circle of Stanford’s family and friends. SIB’s investment committee, responsible for the management of the bank’s multi-billion dollar portfolio of assets, is comprised of Stanford; Stanford’s father who resides in Mexia, Texas; another Mexia resident with business experience in cattle ranching and car sales; Pendergest-Holt, who prior to joining SFG had no financial services or securities industry experience; and Davis, who was Stanford’s college roommate.
The SEC’s complaint also alleges an additional scheme relating to $1.2 billion in sales by SGC advisers of a proprietary mutual fund wrap program, called Stanford Allocation Strategy (SAS), by using materially false historical performance data. According to the complaint, the false data helped SGC grow the SAS program from less than $10 million in 2004 to more than $1 billion, generating fees for SGC (and ultimately Stanford) of approximately $25 million in 2007 and 2008. The fraudulent SAS performance was used to recruit registered investment advisers with significant books of business, who were then heavily incentivized to reallocate their clients’ assets to SIB’s CD program.
The SEC’s complaint charges violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act, and registration provisions of the Investment Company Act. In addition to emergency and interim relief that has been obtained, the SEC seeks a final judgment permanently enjoining the defendants from future violations of the relevant provisions of the federal securities laws and ordering them to pay financial penalties and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest.
The Commission acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in connection with this matter. FINRA independently developed information through its examination and investigative processes that contributed significantly to the filing of this enforcement action.
The SEC’s investigation is continuing.
The GSMA World Mobile Congress, which is being held in Barcelona this week, is sure to be packed with lots of surprises from the different mobile manufacturers and their partners and one of the first announcements to come from the event is that Adobe will be bringing the full PC version of its Flash player to most smartphones from 2010.
Flash Player 10 will work with smartphones including Google's Android, those running Nokia's Symbian OS and Windows Mobile, as well as the newer Palm OS smartphones.
Unfortunately, and not so unexpectedly, Flash Player 10 will not be on Apple's iPhone.
According to Cnet News, Murarka, director of Technology Strategy and Partner Development for Adobe said: "We would love to see it on the iPhone, too.
"But it's Apple's decision on when and how they support any new technology. So we will continue to work on it."
Currently many smartphones use Flash Lite, made especially for the mobile platform to play rich media content from site like YouTube.
By Marie Boran
The Miracle Fruit plant Synsepalum dulcificum produces berries that when eaten first causes sour foods like lemons, oranges and limes to taste sweet. The berry, also known as Miracle Berry, Magic Berry, Miraculous Berry or Flavour Berry. It was first documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa.
It contains a molecule called miraculin that binds to the tongue’s taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. It is now being told to be a hope to fight against obesity, I hope so.
Today, we're announcing our second annual Doodle 4 Google contest in the U.S. Google doodles are the special "dressed-up" logos we run on our homepage for holidays and other events, and Doodle 4 Google is an opportunity for one child to have his/her artwork displayed on our homepage as a doodle for hundreds of millions of people to see. This year's theme is "What I Wish for the World," as we really want to tap into not only children's creativity but also what they want their future to look like.We're very excited this year to be partnering with the Smithsonian's, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Since Cooper-Hewitt is focused on design and education and fostering the brightest design minds of tomorrow, they were a natural partner for Doodle 4 Google. Their partnership also means that this year's prizes not only include having your artwork on the Google homepage for a day, a college scholarship, and a technology grant for your school, but also having your work (and that of all 40 finalists) exhibited at a Smithsonian museum!
Most of this year's contest remains the same as last year's. (For inspiration, you can see Grace Moon's beautiful winning doodle "Up In the Clouds" in our Doodle Gallery). However, there are a few changes. First, we've increased the college scholarship prize for the national winner to $15,000. We've also added a $10,000 prize for the school district that submits the most high-quality entries. Finally, in partnership with Cooper-Hewitt, we'll be celebrating the 40 finalists and announcing the national winner in New York City, to coincide with the opening of the exhibit. Please visit the official competition website for a full listing of all contest rules and requirements.
Only students from registered schools can enter, so teachers, if you want to participate please register your school by March 17, 2009. All doodles must be submitted by March 31, 2009.
Google has launched a new feature in Google Maps called Latitude that allows users to share their location with friends and family. The service won't pinpoint the exact location but it offers a good idea of where your friends are, says Google.
Location aware services are becoming increasingly popular among smartphone users. For instance iPhone users can download Loopt, a map sharing application for cellphones that pretty much works along the same lines as Google Latitude.
Google users have to opt in to use the Latitude feature and invite friends to join. If accepted, users can spot friends in the same neighborhood through the maps and text, IM or email them.
Naturally, all this raises questions about privacy. Google says it has plenty of settings in its latest feature to take care of privacy concerns. Once you've shared your location, you can hide it from individual friends or all of your friends at once, says Google. Users can also turn off Google Latitude completely at any time.
Google Latitude is available for Android phones, the iPhone and iPod Touch, most color BlackBerry phones, Windows Mobile and Symbian users.
Monday February 2nd is Groundhog day, and here are some facts about Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day you should know.
WHO IS PHIL?:Punxsutawney Phil has been making weather prognostications every Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, Pa., since 1886.
THE ORIGINS: Groundhog Day grew out of what had essentially been a German superstition. German settlers brought with them the idea that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
WHERE IT HAPPENS: Punxsutawney is a town of about 6,100 people located about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
MORE INFORMATION: http://www.groundhog.org/
WATCH PHIL LIVE?
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is offering a web cast from Gobbler’s Knob so you can see if Phil feels lucky live from your computer. Users will be able to control three cameras so they can zoom and pan over the action.
Go to the tourism office’s website for live pictures as well as the history of Groundhog Day and how it evolved from its European roots.
Live footage of Phil’s appearance will be show beginning at 7 a.m.
