HEADLINE HERE.

Byline: John Schmeltzer

Shares of Northwest Airlines soared 22 percent Friday amid reports that it was in talks to be acquired by Fort Worth, Tex.-based American Airlines.

A spokesman for Northwest Airlines Corp., the parent of the Eagan, Minn.-based airline, and AMR Corp., the parent of the nation's second-largest carrier, declined to comment on the reports, which were first aired by a St. Paul, Minn., television station.

AMR Chairman and Chief Executive Don Carty is said to have discussed a possible merger of the two carriers with John Dasburg, the chairman and chief executive of Northwest.

Shares of Northwest closed at $35.44, up $6.44, on the Nasdaq stock market, while shares of AMR closed at $28.25, down $1.19, on the New York Stock Exchange.

The report comes as no surprise. Industry observers have anticipated that American or Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines would be forced to merge with another carrier because of last week's surprise announcement that UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines, was seeking to acquire US Airways, the nation's sixth-largest airline.

"Doing nothing is not a tenable option for American and Delta," said Samuel Buttrick, airline analyst at PaineWebber.

But Buttrick said the talks, if they were held, may be just "exploratory," while the industry attempts to digest the effect of the pending US Airways acquisition.

A Northwest-American combination would allow American to keep up with United in size. It also would allow American to leapfrog United's strong Pacific network by adding Northwest's dominant Asian service. Northwest is the nation's fourth-largest carrier.

But it would saddle American with four Midwest hubs_Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis_in addition to its largest hub at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The US Airways deal will allow United to complete a northeast U.S. network that it has lacked for decades. But it will saddle United with three East Coast hubs_Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C._two of which are being sharply challenged by competitors.

Buttrick and other analysts said both deals have only a 50 percent chance of being approved.

Meanwhile, United pilots, who oppose their airline's merger, reiterated on Friday that they "are unhappy with this deal as it is presently structured...and cannot at this time support the transaction," said Captain Herb Hunter, the spokesman for the United unit of the Air Lines Pilots Association.

Hunter said a "very strong" majority of the union's 27-member master executive council voted to express opposition to the merger on Friday after three days of meetings.

While pilots don't have veto power over the merger, United could find it nearly impossible to carry out the plan effectively without their support.

Pilots said they now are looking for James E. Goodwin, chairman and chief executive officer of UAL, to "put something substantive" on the table when negotiations resume on Monday with the help of the National Mediation Board.

Hunter said United pilots failed to agree about how to proceed with the merging the seniority lists of pilots from United and US Airways.

"It seems like our pilots could lose in this deal," Hunter said. US Airways pilots are older and more experienced than United, which has been hiring hundreds each year for the past decade.

However, discussions over the merging of seniority lists could be delayed for some time.

Rodney Slater, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, on Thursday questioned whether an industry merger study needs to conducted by his department before considering any applications. Requiring a study would likely delay any consideration of the deal until next year.

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PUKKA prophets.(Features)

Byline: Claire Hill

A new album; a new single and a new tour - the Lostprophets are the latest Welsh band to hit the headlines, charts and Australia as 2004 promises to be their most successful year yet. Claire Hill infiltrated the six who like to break the rules of rock 'n' roll but still rank Gran and Mam among their greatest influences

APPARENTLY band member Jamie Oliver gets annoyed whenever journalists make some joke about him sharing his name with the famous pukka chef.

He should consider himself lucky he does not share his name with 'H' from Steps - Lostprophets' lead singer is called Ian Watkins, you see.

But the case of mistaken identity does not end there.

If you put a space between the band's name, as many people have been want to do, you end up with Lost Prophets, a husband and wife duo from San Francisco.

The husband-and-wife duo describe their music as 'as a fine eclectic blend of country-flavoured progressive folk with a dash of acoustic rock thrown in for extra spice'. Using themes of social consciousness, humour, heartaches and love, they frankly sound 'great'.

However, Lostprophets is a six-piece from Pontypridd and boy do they sound like it. Well, they try to defy description.

Taking them to the pub was probably a bad move as half of the band do not drink - not very rock and roll, but this lot do not feel the need to conform to any stereo- types.

They dress the way they like, and, no, they don't have a stylist.

They make the music they like and they openly say what they like and don't like.

For introduction the six are: Ian Watkins (vocals), Mike Lewis (guitar), Lee Gaze (guitar), Stuart Richardson (bass), Mike Chiplin (drums), Jamie Oliver (programming/decks).

It's a bit hard at first to break through the tight-knit group's defences as they talk about their finances, working out taxes and how much money they will get paid this week.

You could be offended by this but it just seems proof that the six really are friends. They are in a band because they want to be - not because some record exec thought, 'Let's make a rock band from the Valleys'.

They formed in 1997 as group of school friends who wanted to make music they liked, which subsequently they did.

As we meet, the band have had two weeks of interviews discussing their new album Start Something so, slightly sickened, they start our chat with a random spiel about He-man and bionic arms.

Unlike the bland pop bands of the day, each one of the band is an individual with their own quirks.

Mike Chiplin seems happy to play the silent drummer role.

Slumped in the corner, he is quiet and with folded arms is content to listen to the rest of his mates ramble on from one stream of consciousness to another.

Stuart, tall and intense looking, is acting like the sensible one in the band - that means he was the one to get the conversation back on track when the rest of band had drifted into dangerous or rambling territories.

His interjections of 'Anyway, next' or 'move on' were frequent throughout, but that is not to say he is too sensible, 'Kiss my Ferndale a***' was the stand-out quote with which he wished to be represented.

Lee, who according to internet articles is the one that all the ladies fancy because of his blue eyes, is happy to chip in with one-liners throughout the hour.

Mike Lewis, who appeared on BBC2's Never Mind the Buzzcocks last night, is possibly the most chirpy member of the band, but you still can't help but warm to his straightforward, no-nonsense way with a sarcastic edge, while reluctant lead singer Ian is the one who does most of the talking.

He is also not averse to publicising himself to the ladies also, well he did appear in New Woman magazine as an eligible bachelor to date.

'That was a mistake, it's all a sham I reckon. My publicist said do you want to do an interview so I said all right.'

'The next thing he knew he was a hunk, well he was already a hunk,' confirms Stuart.

But appearing in a women's magazine was not as much as a mistake as Ian saying the 'f' word live on breakfast television, and for that his mum and gran were not too chuffed.

'It was frustrating, 'cos I am usually really good and usually in interview mode but it was because we were so tired. My mind was not switched on and I said it, I saw it come out of my mouth and was trying to bring it back.

'My gran and my mother told me off. They said, 'I knew that mouth would get you into trouble.'

'I never ever swear in the live interviews.'

It makes a change that Ian makes the mistakes, as Jamie, is the one who generally gets into trouble with his mouth.

Sitting in the corner at the start he is like a disinterested child, sizing up the conversation but once he decides it's OK to join in he proves his reputation.

'I just say stupid stuff, my voice goes on auto drive and my brain is just somewhere else sometimes.'

Just to prove that point he launches into a story about burning his bum, after going on the sun bed twice in one day.

'I've got a square scar on my a***. We conned this suntan salon into giving us free sun beds twice and then we got really burnt. It was the stupidest thing that I have ever done.'

Unsurprisingly, Ian, who was in on the suntan con, now has his head in his hands, full of disbelief that Jamie is telling this story.

Yet again it is time for Stuart to announce, 'anyway, moving on', as they all continue laughing at the shared joke.

When I ask them about the new album, the answer from Lee Gaze is straightforward, 'It's all right, it is. It's all right.'

It's up to Ian to explain a bit more.

'This album is our album. The first was just an idea of us. We did it in a week; we went in, had a laugh and just wanted something to sell at gigs.

'It just sold and sold.'

Released in November 2000, Thefakesoundofprogress , spawned hits such Shinobi VS Dragon Ninja and the band won Kerrang Best British Newcomers 2001 and NME Best New Metal Band 2002.

The band originally thought they would tour with the album for six months and then get a chance to write new songs.

So the new album, released on February 3, is a chance for the band to sort out their style.

'Fakesound had cool bits and cool ideas but it didn't really have songs and none of it was fully realised. It was all like hints of stuff, bits and bobs.

'This time around we had a lot more time and a lot more experience so we were able to do the album that fully represents us,' says Ian.

'I would say this is the best rock album of 2004 and if that does not make them listen to it then they are out of their ******* minds.'

Before they were tempted to mash all of the musical styles they liked into one song, making the songs a cacophony of noise instead of one decipherable tune.

Stuart explains that they have become more confident now: 'We have always liked varied music, every song had a jazz bit, a metal bit and anything else but this time we focused more on putting the album together than everything into one song.'

Now it's Lee's turn to add, 'If we have a mellow song we have a mellow song, it does not have a crazy bit in between.'

But if you're still not convinced, Lee's gran loves it.

After four months writing and six months recording the band certainly had more time to put it together and the money they blew on it, well that was just exorbitant.

'Eight quid', states Mike Lewis, convincingly, 'No eight fifty a song.'

Lee, thankfully, is there to tell the truth, 'There was a lot more money spent on this album which was good because it gave us the time to make the album we required sound good.'

Convinced that the album is good, they are desperate to get out there and show people their new songs. Having spent a frustrating four months last year sitting on the album, they are ready for action.

As my shorthand is discussed and Stuart tries to bring the subject back to the band, Jamie is off talking about buying all The Cure albums. The band are a pleasant handful who can be tamed with a few sarcastic comments and a swift kick under the table.

They are currently preparing for the Big Day Out in Australia - with a set of concerts beginning this month in Auckland, New Zealand, then the second single of their second album, Last Train Home gets its release on January 26, featuring a cover of Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River.

Their last single Burn, Burn charted at number 17 and they were quite chuffed with that - well, Stuart wasn't.

'We, were gutted, we thought it was going to get to number one, let's be honest with you.'

But they know that is unlikely to happen in the current climate of Pop Idols and boy bands, so Mike was pleased that they were the only rock band in the Top 20.

'We were rock surrounded by pop and that was OK.'

'The four highest entries were Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Blazin' Squad and us, that's not bad,' adds Lee.

Last year was topped off by supporting Linkin' Park on tour. They have gone down a storm in festivals such as Ozzfest. Their current UK tour starts in Glasgow on February 7 and ends in Cardiff on February 20.

One of their dates in London has already sold out, with an extra date added due to 'phenomenal public demand'.

The plan this year is to write 'the album' - to follow their confused logic, their first album was really a demo, their second album is really their first album and their third will be the second.

If that is too confusing the band try to explain their theory through the medium of film trilogies.

'Let's just hope this one is not The Matrix and the others are the s****y sequels,' says Stuart.

'This is the real start to the saga,' adds Ian, which pleases Stuart with his hopes that the next album will be like Empire Strikes Back or Aliens.

'This album is Alien, which was pretty good, then next will be Aliens ,' according to Ian, but Mike does not want to follow that with Alien 3.

Stupidly I decided to enter the conversation by adding, 'Return of the Jedi', but Mike is incredulous, 'She's talking down Return of the Jedi, you are talking it down, Love.'

Chirpy as ever while the band descend into discussions on Indiana Jones and Freddy Kruger, Stuart decides the fifth album will be 'game over', by that time they will be 'dead or rich'.

At the heart of it the band are a group of lads in their mid-20s from Pontypridd onto a good thing and having fun with it.

The egos are fleeting and they are all dedicated to working for each other as much as themselves. As Jamie explains, 'We work extra hard because we don't want to mess it up for the rest of the band.'

As they all agree, Ian has the final words, 'It's a real privilege to be doing this and to act like an idiot would be disgraceful, it would be disgraceful in the eyes of the law.'

Before the band took off, lead singer Ian Watkins was a graphic designer and Jamie Oliver was an artist;

Ian produces all of the band's artwork and designs all of the merchandise;

Mike Lewis's grandfather used to live on the same street as Tom Jones;

At 16 Mike Lewis and Ian, as a drummer, were in a band called Public Disturbance, but when Lee Gaze and Mike Chiplin joined the band, Ian was thrown off the drums to make way for Chiplin;

The band's first demo got 10/10 in Metal Hammer magazine;

Stuart and the rest of the band are really into the Justin Timberlake album, hence their version of Cry Me a River when Radio 1 asked them to perform a cover;

The band always make sure they allow for a pre-arranged meet and greet with fans after each gig.

Obama Speaks to Jewish Voters on Israel

Barack Obama wooed Jewish voters and skeptical Israelis in interviews published Tuesday, voicing support for key Israeli demands in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Winning over Israel could help the Democratic presidential candidate gain favor with American Jews, who make up large voting blocs in key states like New York and Florida.

But he faces a difficult task. Israeli officials say privately they would prefer Obama's main rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, due to her experience and the backing her husband, Bill Clinton, gave Israel during his two terms as president in the 1990s. In contrast, Obama is relatively unknown here.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office declined comment.

In a conference call with Israeli and Jewish reporters from Florida on Monday, Obama sought to put such concerns to rest, backing Israeli positions on key issues in its dispute with the Palestinians. He also took aim at a "virulent smear campaign" on the Internet that has depicted him as an observant Muslim.

The interview was published in two Israeli dailies, The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz.

Obama said he opposes the "literal" return of Palestinian refugees to homes they fled in Israel. This position is similar to Israel's stance in the talks, which were renewed after a U.S.-hosted peace conference in November.

Palestinians insist that the refugees from fighting in 1948 and their descendants _ who by U.N. estimates now number more than 4 million _ be allowed to return to their original homes. Israel fears such a flood of Palestinians into its borders would endanger its existence as a Jewish state. Instead, it says refugees should be resettled in a future Palestinian state.

"The outlines of any agreement would involve ensuring that Israel remains a Jewish state," Obama said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Last spring, Obama said while he is committed to protecting Israel's security, he would also reach out to Arab leaders who are committed to recognizing Israel and renouncing violence.

President Bush hopes to get the sides to agree, by the end of 2008, on a final deal that includes the formation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

In the interview, Obama insisted that Palestinians set up a security force that can ensure militants cannot attack Israel, The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz reported. A future Palestinian state must be able "to provide the security apparatus that would prevent constant attacks against Israel from taking place," Obama said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Obama said he opposes talks with the Islamic militant Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian moderates in June, until it recognizes Israel's right to exist, Haaretz said.

In addition to their lack of familiarity with Obama, Israeli officials could be concerned by Obama's commitment to offer Iran "carrots and sticks" on its efforts to produce nuclear weapons. Obama told the reporters that he believed there should be diplomatic contacts between low-level U.S. and Iranian officials, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel has strongly backed the Bush administration's efforts to impose tighter sanctions on Iran to persuade it to drop its nuclear program. Israel fears Iran, whose president has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, is developing nuclear arms. Iran insists its program is for energy-producing purposes only.

You vs. temptation: Why self-control has gotten so hard.(Opinion)

Byline: Daniel Akst

The latest grim news in our battle with our waistlines is that the problem is going global: A new report in the medical journal The Lancet has found that the rate of obesity worldwide has doubled since 1980. Some 500 million people now qualify, and three times that number are "merely" overweight.

That individuals the world over increasingly find themselves in such straits is in its way good news, despite the dire medical implications. Traditionally, after all, the world's difficulty with hunger was that there was never enough food. Perhaps someday, if we are fortunate, obesity will supplant famine altogether in the catalog of the world's problems.

If it does, it will only provide further evidence that in the future, for more and more of us, our greatest challenge will be managing our own appetites and addictions in an environment of expanding freedom and affluence. Meeting this challenge won't be easy. Humans evolved to cope with an environment of relative scarcity and respond powerfully to stimuli - fats and sweets, for example - that were vastly less common in our ancestral landscape than they are today.

Human nature hasn't changed, but the landscape of temptation sure has. Technology is a leading culprit. From refrigeration to credit cards to automobiles to the Internet, technology makes it possible for more and more people to live surrounded by "supernormal" stimuli. Technology goes hand-in-glove with capitalism, which plays a large but complex role as well.

Seduction at every turn

In our work lives, the discipline and demands of commerce have typically been effective at inculcating moderation. But it's a very different story when we get off duty; in our lives as consumers, capitalism beckons and seduces us at every turn to indulge.

In the future, self-control is only going to get harder. People across the world are more affluent, more mobile, and less tradition-bound. Behaviors that were once taboo or outlawed are gaining acceptance, and so can be indulged stigma-free. In this country, where casinos were once legal only in Nevada but are now found all over the place, it's only a matter of time before marijuana is decriminalized or made legal. Other drugs may someday follow.

But let's face it. Legalizing drugs; permitting gambling; making cheap, high-calorie foods instantly and effortlessly available - these developments will require ever more effective self-regulation if people are going to avoid running into trouble. Our track record with food - talk about substance abuse! - is not encouraging.

The good news is that the problem of self-control is hardly a new one, and we can learn a lot both from those who've wrestled with it before and from a new generation of scholars who've devoted themselves to the topic.

Self-control - the ability to override impulses in favor of a longer-term goal - is a burgeoning field of academic study, with psychologists, economists, philosophers, and marketing experts probing willpower and its failings.

We now know that small children who can refrain from seizing a treat grow up into more successful adults in almost every way. Among students, self-control is a better predictor of academic success than IQ. Women tend to be better at self-control than men, and older people better than younger. To a significant extent, it appears to be hereditary - but there's also plenty of room for playing a better game with the hand we are dealt.

From time immemorial, the crux of the problem has always been the same: the conflict between short-term rewards, which we seem hard-wired to value disproportionately, and longer-term goals. A pan of just-baked chocolate brownies sitting right in front of us, in other words, is simply a lot more compelling than a long-term desire to be slim. And we understand, perhaps instinctively, that one brownie - or one cigarette, or one more drink, or just one hour of procrastination - will have no material effect in the long run. Except to the extent that one leads to another, and we find ourselves someplace we never intended to be.

Isolation is the enemy of self-regulation. In one interesting study, lonely people ate more cookies and rated them as more delicious. In the absence of strong families and healthy communities, our battles with ourselves are much more likely to end in defeat.

To the Greeks, who were obsessed with the subject, the problem was akrasia, or failure of the will, and it's from the Greeks that we get the first great hint of a solution.

A successful strategy - from Odysseus

It happens in "The Odyssey," when Odysseus is en route home from the Trojan War and his ship is approaching the Sirens. He desperately wants to hear their singing. But he's been warned it could be fatal. So he stops up the ears of his crew with wax and has the men tie him to the mast, literally binding him against the future preference-reversal he anticipates. If I command you to release me, he warns, just tie me tighter.

This is the kind of thing we do today all the time instinctively, as when we say to a spouse, "Don't let me have more than one piece of cake at the party." Using such techniques can take self-control out of the realm of willpower and make it a much simpler problem of skill. Note also that Odysseus relied on his men - just as we'll have to rely on one another.

The support of others will always be essential to our self-control, but technology is increasingly allowing us to rely on our better natures. Progressive Insurance offers a device that drivers can choose to install in their cars. If it shows that you don't act like Dale Earnhardt Jr. - by making jack-rabbit starts and slamming on the brakes - you'll save up to 30 percent on your insurance. You'll also be acting to tame your own behavior by raising the price of recklessness.

Precommitment techniques

Progressive's transmitter is an example of the "precommitment device," a technique that people use to bind themselves to their preferred desires.

Most of us really ought to make more use of such techniques, as Dean Karlan and John Romalis did. The two economists each agreed to lose 38 pounds in six months or forfeit half his annual income to the other. They made a similar deal to keep the weight off afterward. This all worked well enough that Mr. Karlan later went on to found stickK.com, a website that allows you to provide a credit card number and make a legally binding agreement to do (or not do) a certain thing. If you fail, you forfeit the money. If you're a Democrat trying to stop gambling, for instance, you might pledge to donate $1,000 to Sarah Palin's political action committee in case you give in. Talk about incentive!

Technology can't solve all our self-control problems, of course. We can't avoid or neglect the battle against self-destructive impulses. But struggling with self-control is better than the alternative, which is struggling with someone else who tells us what to do.

Daniel Akst is an editorial writer and columnist at Newsday. He is also the author of "We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess."

Coggan: US is just putting off the evil day.

Byline: Philip Coggan

The North African crisis may have halted the stockmarket rally for a little while. But as March began, equities were recovering, with the FTSE 100 back at 6,000 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 12,000.

However much investors worry about expensive oil, they are more enthused about cheap money. Cash yields virtually zero as far as institutional investors are concerned. Government bonds yield 3-4 per cent at the 10-year maturity, offering little in the way of protection against inflation or the failure of politicians to solve their fiscal crises.

In the meantime, most mornings seem to bring news of good results from the corporate sector. With a third of European companies reporting results, annual profits growth, excluding the financial sector, was around 51 per cent.

The big question is how much of this growth is bought from the future. Most of us are familiar with the concept from Christmas shopping - a spending spree in November and December followed by belt-tightening in January and February. That is why the authorities go to so much trouble to seasonally adjust the retail sales data.

Something similar can be said about government stimulus measures. A huge budget deficit may add to total demand one year but at the expense of belt-tightening in subsequent years, as Britons are now discovering.

The policies of central banks have followed a similar process. For the past 25 years, they have cut interest rates when equity markets faltered. Speculation has been encouraged.

As more debt was taken on, it became even more imperative to cut rates. But easing the pain now means that even more pain will be suffered when rates eventually do have to rise, since those higher rates will be payable on a bigger debt total. Dylan Grice of Societe Generale points out the average rate on US government debt over the past 200 years has been 5.8 per cent.

Thanks to the low rates currently prevailing, the US government is only paying out 10 per cent of its revenues on interest payments - the figure would be 15 per cent if some jiggery-pokery with the Social Security fund were properly accounted for. If interest rates were to revert to the long-term average, that ratio would jump to 30 per cent.

An even more startling analysis comes from Mary Meeker, the former internet guru who is now at KPCB. She looked at the relationship between US GDP and entitlement spending (such as social security and medicare), plus interest payments.

At the moment, the latter make up roughly 11 per cent or so. But on unchanged policies, they will hit 20 per cent of GDP by 2025.

At that point, they will absorb all the US government's revenues. Don't even think about the situation in 2050 when they will hit 40 per cent of GDP.

Of course, policies will have to be changed, entitlements will have to be cut and taxes raised. But the political parties aren't even close to tackling the issue.

The last fiscal deal saw Obama agree to extend the Bush tax cuts in return for a fall in the payroll tax - in short, they added to the deficit, not subtracted from it.

There is much talk of eliminating "wasteful" spending and no agreement on entitlement reform, the only thing that will make a significant difference. That is because cutting entitlements is an invitation to electoral suicide.

So while the British economy is already starting to splutter in the face of austerity, the US government is still motoring. But that is just postponing the evil day when austerity will arrive on the other side of the pond. The stock market won't look so perky when that day arrives.

Philip Coggan is Buttonwood columnist for The Economist

CONGRESSMAN MURPHY, STATE REPRESENTATIVE COOK ANNOUNCE FEDERAL DRUG AUTHORITIES WILL REGULATE SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA PRODUCTS.

WASHINGTON -- The following information was released by the office of Connecticut Rep. Christopher Murphy:

Within months of Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) and State Representative Michelle Cook (D-Torrington) bringing the danger of synthetic marijuana products to the attention of the public and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the federal agency has announced it will immediately regulate the chemicals in the products.

"Taking these products off the shelves is a no-brainer. The chemicals in these synthetic marijuana products are a public health threat to our kids, and so I'm thrilled that the federal drug authorities have moved quickly to address this problem," said Murphy.

"They have become increasingly popular, particularly among students and young adults, and are simply 'synthetic marijuana'. The chemicals have not been approved for human consumption by the FDA and there is no government oversight of the manufacturing process," said Cook. "I'd like to thank the Torrington Police Narcotics Unit for their advocacy and initiative in getting these products pulled off store shelves. These substances are labeled as incense products and pose a danger to the public when burned and inhaled."

Recently, smokeable herbal products marketed as being "legal" and as providing a marijuana-like high have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults. These products consist of plant material that has been coated with chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and are sold at a variety of retail outlets and over the internet. These chemicals, however, have not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for human consumption, and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process.

Murphy and Cook learned about the dangers of these products, marketed under names like "Spice," "K2," "Blaze," and "Red X Dawn," after a number of local reports of teens and young adults being treated after taking the substance. Cook co-sponsored S.B. No. 761, An Act Prohibiting The Sale or Possession of Synthetic Cannabinoids. Murphy sent a letter to the DEA in December requesting that the agency act quickly to regulate the chemicals in these products.

Reactions to "fake pot" include elevated blood pressure, a racing heartbeat, anxiety, agitation and nausea. In fact, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, U.S. poison centers have received over 2,000 calls regarding adverse reactions to synthetic marijuana over the past year alone. Some retailers, including USA Food Mart in Torrington, have voluntarily stopped selling these products.

The DEA has chosen to use its authority to immediately regulate the five chemicals used to make so-called "fake pot" products, which makes possessing and/or selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the United States. This emergency action puts these chemicals in the most restrictive category and will remain in effect for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services further study whether these chemicals should be permanently controlled.

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HAWK, NEOM, RELM, GENE, MDEA, GTXO, Removed From Naked Short Lists Today.

M2 PRESSWIRE-February 24, 2011-BUYINS.NET: HAWK, NEOM, RELM, GENE, MDEA, GTXO, Removed From Naked Short Lists Today(C)1994-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

RDATE:24022011

BUYINS.NET, www.buyins.net , announced today that these select companies have been After the NASDAQ, AMEX, NYSE, OTCBB and Pinksheet naked short threshold lists. SEAHAWK DRILLING INC (NASDAQ:HAWK), NEOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES INC (OTCBB:NEOM), RELM HOLDINGS INC (OTC:RELM), GENETIC TECH LTD-SP ADR (NASDAQ:GENE), MEDIA 100 INC (OTC:MDEA), GTX CORP (OTCBB:GTXO). For a complete list of companies on the naked short lists please visit our web site. To find the SqueezeTrigger Price before a short squeeze starts in any stock, go to http://www.buyins.net .

SEAHAWK DRILLING INC (NASDAQ:HAWK) - Seahawk Drilling, Inc. engages in a jackup rig business in the United States, Gulf of Mexico, and offshore Mexico. The company offers rigs and drilling crews on a day rate contractual basis. Its Jackup rigs are mobile and self-elevating drilling platforms equipped with legs that can be lowered to the ocean floor and provide shallow water drilling services. Its customers include independent oil and natural gas producers and drilling service providers, as well as the national oil company in Mexico. As of February 23, 2010, the company had a fleet of 20 jackup rigs. Seahawk Drilling, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Houston, Texas.There is a failure to deliver in shares of HAWK

NEOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES INC (OTCBB:NEOM) - NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. provides a suite of software and hardware for processing 2D barcodes in the mobile environment, and enabling applications in mobile marketing, mobile couponing, mobile ticketing, and mobile payment primarily in the Americas and Europe. Its barcode ecosystem includes NeoReader, a barcode scanning application that transforms mobile camera phones into barcode readers; NeoReader Enterprise & Lavasphere Enterprise software solutions, which equip mobile devices to read 1D and 2D barcodes for commercial applications; NeoSphere, a Web-based campaign management system for users to develop, launch, and manage a mobile barcode campaign; NeoMedia Code Routing service to retrieve and deliver various forms of Internet content to mobile phones; and NeoMedia MSS, a system supporting third-party ticketing/couponing systems and databases. The company also provides hardware products to read, interpret, and transmit barcodes and barcode information. Its hardware products include EXIO II, a multi-application smart scanner for mobile couponing and ticketing applications for customers to redeem mobile tickets and coupons; and XELIA, a versatile desktop scanner that enables reading of 2D codes from mobile phone displays, as well as automatically recognizes 2D codes sent as text messages, and printed 1D barcodes. The company sells its products and services through direct sales personnel, affiliates, and business development personnel. NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.There is a failure to deliver in shares of NEOM

RELM HOLDINGS INC (OTC:RELM) - Relm Holdings, Inc., a holding company, focuses on information technology and financial services, as well as real estate acquisitions. The company acquires other businesses through the use of its stock portfolio and intends to serve a vertically integrated family of companies that would provide solutions for its affiliates and clients, such as underwriting, servicing, raising capital, and commercialization, while securitizing and guaranteeing its products in the marketplace. Relm Holdings, Inc. was organized on May 3, 1994 and has its principal executive office in Wilmington, Delaware.There is a failure to deliver in shares of RELM

GENETIC TECH LTD-SP ADR (NASDAQ:GENE) - Genetic Technologies Limited operates as a life science company, specializing in the fields of genetics and genomics primarily in Australia. The company provides genetic testing services to human beings for disease susceptibility, parentage, individual identity, forensics, and sports performance; animals, such as dogs, horses, birds, alpacas, exotics, and zoo animals for parentage, pedigree, traits, and disease susceptibility; and plants for traits and disease susceptibility. It also offers canine reproductive services, as well as involves in licensing its non-coding DNA patents. In addition, the company offers BREVAGen, a diagnostic test that informs clinicians and patients about individual, non-familial, sporadic risk of breast cancer for women where a breast biopsy outcome is indeterminate. The company was formerly known as Duketon Goldfields N.L. and changed its name to Genetic Technologies Limited in August 2000. Genetic Technologies Limited was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Fitzroy, Australia.There is a failure to deliver in shares of GENE

MEDIA 100 INC (OTC:MDEA) - Media 100, Inc. engages in the design, development, and sale of media systems for content design. Its product lines consist of 844/X, a system for content design; Media 100 i, a family of dual-stream video editing systems that uses Macintosh; and iFinish, a family of dual-stream video editing systems that uses Windows. The companys products are personal computer-based workstations configured with proprietary software and hardware for performing video, audio, graphics, and metadata processing functions in real time. Media 100 also offers technical support, software upgrades, and maintenance contracts. The company sells its products worldwide through direct sales force, value-added resellers, and distributors to broadcast designers, visual effects artists, and video editors of professional television and post-production establishments. Media 100 is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.There is a failure to deliver in shares of MDEA

GTX CORP (OTCBB:GTXO) - GTX Corp. develops and integrates two-way global positioning system (GPS) technologies that integrate with consumer products and enterprise applications. It provides personal location solutions through hardware devices, platform licensing, and smart phone applications. The company, utilizing the miniaturized GPS tracking and cellular location technology, offers a GPS and cellular location platform that enables subscribers to track in real time the whereabouts of people, pets, or high valued assets through its customizable transceiver module, wireless connectivity gateway, middleware, and viewing portal. It owns and operates LOCiMOBILE, Inc., which develops applications that transform smart phones into real time 2-way GPS personal location transceivers, letting people know where the user is, where the user has been, how fast the user is moving, and what direction the user is heading. The company also offers Code Amber News Service that focuses on the recovery of missing persons and operates as the U.S. and Canadian syndicator of online Amber Alerts reaching an audience of 1.8 billion through its Web site ticker and point of display feeds presented by retail merchants, Internet service providers, corporate sponsors, affiliate partners, and federal, state, and local agencies. In addition, it embeds a micro GPS device in shoes, and creates various geo-specific and proximity alerting applications that help people know the location of someone or something at the touch of a button. The company has a portfolio of patents, patents pending, registered trademarks, copy rights, and URLs. GTX Corp. was founded in 2002 and is based in Los Angeles, California.There is a failure to deliver in shares of GTXO

BUYINS.NET, www.buyins.net , monitors trading in all US stocks in real time and maintains massive databases of short sale and naked short sale time and sales data, short squeeze SqueezeTrigger prices, market maker price movements, shareholder data, statistical data on earnings, sector correlation, seasonality, hedge fund trading strategies, comparable valuations. Reports include:

REGULATORY & COMPLIANCE NEWS

Friction Factor -- market maker surveillance system tracking Level II market makers in all stocks to determine Price Friction and compliance with new "Fair Market Making Requirements".

RegSHO Naked Shorts -- tracks EVERY failure to deliver in all US stocks and tracks all Threshold Security Lists daily for which stocks have naked shorts that are not in compliance with Regulation SHO.

INVESTMENTS & TRADING

SqueezeTrigger -- 29 billion cell database tracks EVERY short sale (not just total short interest) in all US stocks and calculates volume weighted price that a short squeeze will begin in each stock.

Earnings Edge -- predicts probability, price move and length of move before and after all US stock earnings reports.

Seasonality -- predicts probability, price move and length of move based on exact time of year for all US stocks.

Group Trader -- tracks sector rotation and stock correlation to its sector and predicts future moves in ALL sectors and industry groups.

Pattern Scan -- automates tracking of every technical pattern and predicts time and size of move in all stocks.

GATS (Global Automated Trading System) -- tracks all known trading strategies and qualifies and quantifies which are working best in real time.

About BUYINS.NET

WWW.BUYINS.NET is a service designed to help bonafide shareholders of publicly traded US companies fight naked short selling. Naked short selling is the illegal act of short selling a stock when no affirmative determination has been made to locate shares of the stock to hypothecate in connection with the short sale. Buyins.net has built a proprietary database that uses Threshold list feeds from NASDAQ, AMEX and NYSE to generate detailed and useful information to combat the naked short selling problem. For the first time, actual trade by trade data is available to the public that shows the attempted size, actual size, price and average value of short sales in stocks that have been shorted and naked shorted. This information is valuable in determining the precise point at which short sellers go out-of-the-money and start losing on their short and naked short trades.

BUYINS.NET has built a massive database that collects, analyzes and publishes a proprietary SqueezeTrigger for each stock that has been shorted, www.buyins.net/squeezetrigger.pdf. The SqueezeTrigger database of nearly 2,750,000,000 short sale transactions goes back to January 1, 2005 and calculates the exact price at which the Total Short Interest is short in each stock. This data was never before available prior to January 1, 2005 because the Self Regulatory Organizations (primary exchanges) guarded it aggressively. After the SEC passed Regulation SHO, exchanges were forced to allow data processors like Buyins.net to access the data.

The SqueezeTrigger database collects individual short trade data on over 7,000 NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ stocks and general short trade data on nearly 8,000 OTCBB and PINKSHEET stocks. Each month the database grows by approximately 50,000,000 short sale transactions and provides investors with the knowledge necessary to time when to buy and sell stocks with outstanding short positions. By tracking the size and price of each montha'a"s short transactions, BUYINS.NET provides institutions, traders, analysts, journalists and individual investors the exact price point where short sellers start losing money.

All material herein was prepared by BUYINS.NET, based upon information believed to be reliable. The information contained herein is not guaranteed by BUYINS.NET to be accurate, and should not be considered to be all-inclusive. The companies that are discussed in this opinion have not approved the statements made in this opinion. This opinion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities. BUYINS.NET is not a licensed broker, broker dealer, market maker, investment banker, investment advisor, analyst or underwriter. Please consult a broker before purchasing or selling any securities viewed on or mentioned herein. BUYINS.NET may receive compensation in cash or shares from independent third parties or from the companies mentioned.

BUYINS.NET affiliates, officers, directors and employees may also have bought or may buy the shares discussed in this opinion and may profit in the event those shares rise in value. Market commentary provided by Thomas Ronk.

BUYINS.NET will not advise as to when it decides to sell and does not and will not offer any opinion as to when others should sell; each investor must make that decision based on his or her judgment of the market.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a companies' annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and BUYINS.NET undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

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