India's BlackBerry users are holding their breath as they wait to see if the government carries out a threat this week to ban encrypted messages sent on the phones due to fears of misuse by militants.The government, worried that militants could use BlackBerry's heavily encrypted services to plan attacks, warned earlier this month it would start blocking emails and instant messages sent on the smartphones unless the company comes up with a way for security agencies to decode the traffic by August 31.There were indications late last week the deadline might be pushed back beyond Tuesday's deadline as BlackBerry's Canadian makers, Research in Motion (RIM), scrambled to satisfy the authorities.Minister of state for communications Sachin Pilot said he was "hopeful" a plan could be worked out with RIM.The government -- keen to project India as a fast-growing, investor-friendly economy -- is "not in the business of shutting down services", Pilot said, but stressed New Delhi was also not ready to sacrifice its security interests."These concerns have been addressed in other parts of the world. I see no reason why the government and (security) agencies should take any risk at all as far as technology (is concerned)."Analysts have noted other security-conscious nations such as China and Russia appear to be satisfied over their intelligence agencies' level of access to BlackBerry communications. Moncler StoreG.K. Pillai, the top bureaucrat in the home ministry, was due to hold a department meeting Monday to take a call on India's next step. Officials have suggested RIM might be given a one or two-month extension of the deadline.BlackBerry users said they hoped a shutdown could be averted."It?s as essential as food, water and shelter. A BlackBerry is a necessity for all the corporate guys, and the government can't afford to do that (a ban), that?s for sure," said marketing manager Amit Deshmukh.But the government has already told cellular operators to be prepared to shut off BlackBerry's corporate messaging services. Non-corporate emails are less heavily encrypted and can already be accessed by Indian security agencies.For RIM, whose shares closed at a 52-week low on Friday of 45.99 dollars in New York, striking a deal with India is crucial and would help ensure the company is not shut out of the world's fastest-growing cellular market.India, which has 1.1 million BlackBerry users, would be the first country to curb its services. But RIM is also facing a threatened ban by the United Arab Emirates and is negotiating with Saudi Arabia on security issues. Ugg ClearanceIn a bid to head off a showdown, RIM offered Thursday to set up an "industry forum" to look at how to prevent misuse of the encrypted service while safeguarding corporate privacy.RIM and analysts insist the company is unable to comply with demands to hand over codes allowing interception by security agencies. RIM says it has no "master key" to unlock encryption codes of clients which are set at the user level and argues the issue is an industry-wide concern."The industry forum would work closely with the Indian government and focus on developing recommendations for policies and processes aimed at preventing the misuse of strong encryption technologies," RIM said."Banning one solution, such as the BlackBerry solution, would be ineffective" and also "severely limit the effectiveness and productivity of India?s corporations," RIM added."They are essentially trying to educate the government so it can stay ahead of the technology -- militants are not going to be going around using corporate emails, there are more sophisticated methods," Kunal Bajaj, director India of telecom consulting firm Analysys Mason, told AFP. "I honestly do not think India will shut BlackBerry services down, it's just taking a bit of time to see what are the options and how to get what they're looking for," he added. Moncler Down Jackets for menNareshchandra Singh, principal research analyst at Gartner global consultancy, said there "could be some extension, but ultimately if the government doesn't get what it wants it could come to a ban."

Like every Chinese child, Li Hanwei spent her schooldays memorising thousands of the intricate characters that make up the Chinese writing system.Yet aged just 21 and now a university student in Hong Kong, Li already finds that when she picks up a pen to write, the characters for words as simple as "embarrassed" have slipped from her mind."I can remember the shape, but I can?t remember the strokes that you need to write it," she says. "It?s a bit of a problem."Surveys indicate the phenomenon, dubbed "character amnesia", is widespread across China, causing young Chinese to fear for the future of their ancient writing system.Young Japanese people also report the problem, which is caused by the constant use of computers and mobile phones with alphabet-based input systems.There is even a Chinese word for it: "tibiwangzi", or "take pen, forget character". DoudouneA poll commissioned by the China Youth Daily in April found that 83 percent of the 2,072 respondents admitted having problems writing characters.As a result, Li says that she has become almost dependent on her phone."When I can?t remember, I will take out my cellphone and find it (the character) and then copy it down," she says.Zeng Ming, 22, from the southern Guangdong province, says: "I think it's a young people's problem, or at least a computer users' problem."One notoriously forgettable character, Zeng says, is used in the word Tao Tie -- a legendary Chinese monster that was so greedy it ate itself.Still used as a byword for gluttony, the Tao Tie is one of many ancient Chinese concepts embedded in the language."It?s like you?re forgetting your culture," Zeng says.Character amnesia happens because most Chinese people use electronic input systems based on pinyin, which translates Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. Uggs OutletThe user enters each word using pinyin, and the device offers a menu of characters that match. So users must recognise the character, but they don't need to be able to write it.In Japan, where three writing systems are combined into one, mobiles and computers use the simpler hiragana and katakana scripts for inputting -- meaning users may forget the kanji, a third strand of Japanese writing similar to Chinese characters."We rely too much on the conversion function on our phones and PCs," said Ayumi Kawamoto, 23, shopping in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district."I've mostly forgotten characters I learned in middle and high school and I tend to forget the characters I only occasionally use." Tokyo student Maya Kato, 22, said: "I hardly hand-write anymore, which is the main reason why I have forgotten so many characters. "It is frustrating because I always almost remember the character, and lose it at the last minute. I forget if there was an extra line, or where the dot is supposed to go." Character amnesia matters because memorisation is so crucial to character-based written languages, says Siok Wai Ting, assistant professor of linguistics at Hong Kong University. Forgetting how to write could eventually affect reading ability. Moncler T-shirt"There is no way we can learn the writing systematically because the writing itself is not systematic -- we have to memorise, we have to rote learn," she says. "Through writing, we memorise the characters. Reading and writing are more closely connected in Chinese." Chinese reading even uses a different part of the brain from reading the Roman alphabet, Siok?s research has found -- a part closer to the motor area, which is used for handwriting. Chinese characters are so complex that the country's revolutionary leader Mao Zedong told the US journalist Edgar Snow in 1936: "Sooner or later, we believe, we will have to abandon characters altogether if we are to create a new social culture in which the masses fully participate." Instead, Mao eventually chose to simplify many characters into forms now the standard in mainland China. Victor Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, said character amnesia is part of a "natural process of evolution". "The reasons why characters are innately difficult to enter into computers and mobile phones are innate to the character-based writing systems themselves," he said. Moncler T-shirt for men"There are no magic bullets that will make it easy to input characters," he added. The Wubi input system -- available on some Chinese computers and backed by the government -- uses character strokes as handwriting does. But the system itself is so difficult to learn that it has failed to gain mass appeal. However, iPhones and other smartphones now offer an option in which users can input characters by drawing them onto the touch screen. And in Japan, kanji kentei -- a character quiz with 12 levels -- has become a widespread craze among schoolchildren, housewives and retirees, according to Yoshiko Nakano, associate professor of Japanese at the University of Hong Kong. Some argue that the perceived decline in character knowledge is, in fact, nothing to worry about. A survey by the southern Chinese news portal Dayang Net, found that 80 percent of respondents had forgotten how to write some characters -- but 43 percent said they used handwritten characters only for signatures and forms. "The idea that China is a country full of people who write beautiful, fluid literature in characters without a second thought is a romantic fantasy," wrote the blogger and translator C. Custer on his Chinageeks blog. Moncler Polo shirt"Given the social and financial pressures that exist for most people in China... (and) given that nearly everyone has a cellphone, it really isn?t a problem at all." The explosion of internet and phone technology has itself led to the creation of new words and forms of writing. In 2008 Chinese people were sending 175 billion text messages each quarter, according to the Xinhua state news agency. Still, both Li Hanwei and Zeng Ming have become so concerned about character amnesia that they keep handwritten diaries partly to ensure they don?t forget how to write. If it weren?t for this, would they actually need to remember how to write characters with a pen? Li is almost stumped, but says she uses one "when I have to sign the back of my new credit card". "That?s almost all," she says.

More than a dozen apparently coordinated car bombs targeting Iraqi police and other attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda killed 53 people on Wednesday, just days before the US military ends its combat mission.The trail of bloodshed started in the capital Baghdad before stretching to the north and south of the country, hitting 10 cities and towns in quick succession in tactics that bore the hallmark of the jihadist network.Some 250 people were also wounded, security officials said, as a total of 14 car bombs wrought havoc for police and soldiers whose ability to protect the country is under close scrutiny as US forces have drawn down.In the deadliest attack, a car bomb at a passport office in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, killed 20 people, including 15 police, and wounded 90 others, most of them police, Lieutenant Ali Hussein told AFP.In Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle at a police station in the northeastern suburb of Qahira, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more, security and medical officials said.The attack in the mixed Sunni-Shiite neighbourhood took place at around 8 am (0500 GMT), according to an interior ministry official who gave the toll. "The victims included policemen and civilians," he said. Moncler JacketsA doctor at Medical City Hospital said they had received the bodies of two women, two children and two police officers, and that 44 other people were receiving treatment.A spike in unrest over the past two months has triggered concern that Iraqi forces are not yet ready to handle security on their own, especially with no new government formed in Baghdad since a March 7 general election.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed Wednesday's attacks on Al-Qaeda and remnants of the Baath party of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein, who he said wanted "to shake people's confidence in the security forces.""They (the security forces) are ready to bear the responsibility after US (combat) forces withdraw at the end of August," Maliki said in a statement.The US army announced on Tuesday that troop levels were below 50,000 in line with President Barack Obama's directives as part of a "responsible drawdown" of troops, seven years on from the invasion which ousted Saddam.The reduction has raised fears that Qaeda-linked insurgents will step up their attacks. Ugg SaleA separate car bomb in Baghdad killed two police and wounded seven civilians in the city centre, while two other police were shot dead in Al-Amel, a southern district, the interior ministry official said.In the north of the country, a car bomb in the ethnically divided, oil hub of Kirkuk killed one person and wounded 11, said Colonel Adel Zain al-Abideen, the city's acting chief of police.In Iraq's main northern city of Mosul, a car bomb killed four civilians and gunmen killed a lieutenant colonel at a police checkpoint.In Muqdadiya, northeast of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded as a police patrol passed, killing three civilians. When troops arrived to investigate, a second bomb exploded, wounding six soldiers.In western Iraq, three people, two of them police, were killed and 16 wounded in two car bombs, one of them at a police checkpoint in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, a security official said. Moncler Down JacketsAnd in Fallujah, also in Anbar, two soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber who blew up a car by their checkpoint. America now has 49,700 troops in Iraq -- less than a third of the peak figure of around 170,000 during the US military "surge" of 2007 when a brutal Shiite-Sunni sectarian war cost thousands of lives. Obama is to deliver a speech from the Oval Office on Tuesday at 8:00 pm (0000 GMT, marking the end of the US combat mission, a senior White House official said. Tens of thousands of US soldiers have been withdrawn in recent months and the last American unit designated as a "combat brigade" crossed into neighbouring Kuwait on August 19. The remaining troops will be deployed on an "advise and assist" mission until all US forces leave at the end of 2011. July was the bloodiest month in Iraq since May 2008, according to government officials, who said 535 people were killed. US military officials have disputed the figure. Moncler Down Jackets for menIn other attacks on Wednesday, a car bomb in the main southern city of Basra wounded 12 people, including four police, a security official said. Near the central Shiite shrine city of Karbala, a car bomb wounded 29 people, including police, another security official said.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called on Israelis and Palestinians Tuesday to bring serious proposals to a new round of peace talks set to start on Sept. 2.Blair's comments come amid moves by both sides to lay out their starting positions since the new U.S.-backed talks were announced last week. Speaking at an Israeli academic conference, Blair said peace talks would only work if they address the main sticking points."There will be no successful negotiations unless all the final status issues are on the table," he said. "Proposals on these issues will be a litmus test of seriousness."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be negotiating with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who holds sway only in the West Bank, the territory squeezed between Israel and the Jordan River, excluding the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.Earlier this week, Netanyahu demanded that any future Palestinian state be demilitarized and recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland. Prezzi MonclerHe did not, however, spell out his position on the conflict's most intractable elements — borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem, often called "final status issues."Netanyahu has previously said that he will not allow Jerusalem to be divided.The Palestinians want the city's eastern sector as the capital of their future state, along with the West Bank and Gaza.The militant Hamas group's exiled leader Khaled Mashaal slammed the talks in remarks to reporters in Damascus, Syria."These negotiations are taking place by force of coercion and with an American summons," he said, adding that the talks are "illegitimate and do not commit our people to anything."Even Abbas has expressed some trepidation about the new round of face-to-face discussions and in a letter to President Barack Obama said he will withdraw if Israel does not extend a 10-month construction slowdown in its West Bank settlements. Ugg ClearanceThe current slowdown, which bans the building of new homes, is set to expire on Sept. 26, after talks start.Blair has been assisting the U.S.-led effort to restart peace talks as the special representative of the "Quartet" of Mideast peacemakers — the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia.Many have met the new talks with skepticism, doubting the will of the Israeli prime minister and the ability of the Palestinian president to reach a settlement.At the Tuesday conference, Blair dismissed this view, telling his audience that a Palestinian state need not jeopardize Israel's security."I think if Israel can receive real and effective guarantees about its security, then it is willing and ready to conclude the negotiation of a viable, independent Palestinian state," he said.Also on Tuesday, an Israeli military court convicted prominent Palestinian activist Abdullah Abu Rahmeh for incitement for leading demonstrations against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank.His lawyer Gaby Lasky said Abu Rahmeh will be sentenced next month. Moncler Down JacketsAbu Rahmeh led marches from the Palestinian village of Bilin to the nearby barrier that slices off 60 percent of the village's land. Israel says the barrier is crucial to keep out Palestinian attackers. Palestinians call it a land grab as it juts into large chunks of the West Bank which they claim as part of a future state.

Philippine security forces stormed a bus packed with Hong Kong tourists to end a dramatic hostage crisis that unfolded live on global television, leaving eight people and the gunman dead.The day-long ordeal on Monday began when a disgruntled ex-policeman armed with an M-16 assault rifle and dressed in combat pants hijacked the bus in Manila's tourist district in a desperate bid to get his job back.Negotiations broke down after nightfall when the gunman, former senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, began shooting and commandos were forced to storm the bus, firing dozens of bullets of their own into the vehicle."I shot two Chinese. I will finish them all if they do not stop," Mendoza told a local radio station as the police assault was about to get under way.Police said a sniper shot Mendoza dead after he used his captives as "human shields" in the final moments of the 12-hour standoff. Moncler JacketsPhilippine President Benigno Aquino said eight tourists were confirmed killed, while the Red Cross reported another seven were in hospital with unspecified injuries. Nine hostages, including children, were freed at various times throughout the day from the bus that was parked at Rizal Park, a popular tourist destination just a few blocks from police headquarters.The Filipino bus driver jumped out of a window and escaped moments before police stormed the vehicle, with his escape and the rest of the crisis broadcast live on television.One of the survivors hit out at the Philippine authorities, saying they acted too slowly."There were so many people on the bus -- no one came to our rescue. Why?" the woman, who identified herself as Mrs Leung, said at the scene in comments broadcast on Hong Kong's Cable TV. Ugg Sale"We were in fear for so many hours. I find it really cruel."Aquino defended the actions of the police, saying authorities had initially believed Mendoza would surrender, suggested by the release of some of the hostages, but the situation later deteriorated. After waiting more than 10 hours to launch their assault, police were then unable to get inside the bus for another 90 minutes.They encircled the bus, smashed its windows and fired at it, but Mendoza held them off by shooting back.The crisis eventually ended when police threw tear gas inside the bus, and fired again."He used the tourists as human shields. But he panicked and retreated to the front of the bus. He was then met with a volley of gunfire," the assault team's leader Superintendent Nelson Yabut told reporters.A former commander of France's elite hostage rescue unit criticised the police assault as "badly prepared and risky". Moncler T-shirtThe officers who stormed the bus did not have specialist training and "visibly lacked adequate equipment and tactical competence," said Frederic Gallois, the former head of France's National Gendarmerie Intervention Group. Mendoza, 55, was honoured by police chiefs in 1986 as one of the top 10 officers in the country. But he was discharged in 2008 for his alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion and hijacked the bus in a bid to clear his name, according to police. "He wants to be reinstated in the service," Manila district police chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay said early in the day. Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, said the tourists, aged between four and 72, were on a three-day tour with Hong Thai Travel due to end on Monday. The Hong Kong government warned all its citizens to avoid travelling to the Philippines, and expressed grief over the killings. Air Jordan"It is a tragedy because a pleasure trip has ended up with casualties and injuries," Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang told a press briefing. Flags on Hong Kong government buildings will fly at half mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect for the victims. The Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, telephoned his Philippine counterpart Alberto Romulo to express Beijing's shock and demand a thorough investigation, China's official Xinhua news agency said. China is to send a team to the Philippines to help deal with the aftermath, Xinhua said. The killings added to a fast-growing number of attacks of foreigners in the Philippines. Gunmen shot dead a South Korean man in a separate attack on Monday in another part of Manila. Police said the incidents were not related. Air Jordan ShoesLast month an American, a South African, a Briton and their Filipina partners were killed in spate of murder-robberies in Angeles City north of Manila. The alleged killer was arrested.

In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m."We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez earlier this week.Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase. Muslims and many other Christians -- including some evangelicals -- are fighting the initiative.The church launched a YouTube channel to disseminate its messages. Moncler Outlet"I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts."No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims and others to host "Share the Quran" dinners to educate the public during the monthlong fast of Ramadan beginning in August. In a news release, the group announced a campaign to give out 100,000 copies of the Quran to local, state and national leaders."American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper in the release.The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions. Ugg Clearance"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement.Dove's Facebook page, set up for the September event, has more than 1,600 fans."Eternal fire is the only destination the Quran can lead people to, so we want to put the Quran in it's [sic] place -- the fire!" the page says.But another Facebook group with more than 3,100 fans says it stands "against the disrespect and intolerance that these people have for the Muslim people" and encourages people to report Dove's page to Facebook.Targeting another group it calls "godless," the Dove center is also hosting a protest against Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe, who is openly gay, on Monday at Gainesville's City Hall. The group previously fought -- unsuccessfully -- to derail Lowe's election campaign. Moncler Polo shirt"We protest sexual perversion because the Bible protests it. ... What is acceptable to today's leadership becomes acceptable to tomorrow's society," the church says in its blog entry about the event.Lowe and other government figures and media outlets received e-mails from the church about the event, The Gainesville Sun reported. Lowe isn't concerned with Monday's event."I've got other things to do," he said, The Sun reports.On the outreach center's front lawn, alongside a sign reading "Aug. 2 Protest, No Homo Mayor, City Hall," stands not just one, but three signs bearing the slogan "Islam is of the Devil." One of the signs -- one reading "Islam" on one side, "Devil" on the other -- was vandalized. On its blog last week, the church said the sign will be replaced. Mbt Shoes"This is private property and vandalism is a crime here in America," the blog says. "In Islam, many actions that we consider to be crimes are encouraged, condoned or sheltered under Islamic teaching and practice, though. Another reason to burn a Quran."

Eight people were missing in Vietnam today as the tail end of Typhoon Conson blew ashore after battering the Philippines and China and killing dozens.The storm made landfall on Vietnam's northern coast last night. Six fishermen remained missing after their boat sank as they sought shelter at the Paracel islands off Vietnam's central coast, said disaster official Pham Thi Kim Tuyen in central Quang Ngai province. . Tuyen said naval ships and fishing boats were searching for those missing. Before making its way to Vietnam as a tropical storm, the typhoon slammed the Philippines and China last week. Sale MonclerThe bodies of three missing Filipino fishermen were recovered, raising the country's death toll to 68 with 84 missing, the Philippines' National Disaster Coordinating Council reported today.Conson then grazed China, killing two there. In Vietnam's northern province of Quang Ninh, a man was reported missing after his small boat sank in the picturesque tourist attraction of Ha Long Bay, said disaster official Nguyen Tri Thai.More than 100 vessels were ordered to anchor before the storm struck.A female Vietnamese tourist was missing after she was swept away by high waves while swimming, said another disaster official, Le Duy Thanh of Thanh Hoa province. Provincial authorities called off plans to evacuate 137,000 people because the weakened storm was not as severe as expected, said Thanh. The national floods and storms control department said today nearly 20,000 people had been evacuated from four coastal provinces. Ugg SaleSome 300 homes were damaged and 27 boats destroyed. Meteorologists said Conson was now a tropical depression and will fade away later the day.Rain was forecast for some northern Vietnamese provinces today, though it was unlikely to cause major flash floods and landslides that authorities initially feared.

General Motors Co took a big step toward repaying a controversial taxpayer-funded bailout by declaring plans for a landmark stock offering that represents a critical test for the Obama administration.The automaker said it planned to list the shares on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange in an initial public offering that comes amid a still-weak global market for cars that is vulnerable to a further downturn.Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc have been selected as the lead underwriters for what is expected to mark one of the biggest global IPOs.The long-running confidential preparations for the IPO were dubbed "Project Dawn" by the group of bankers, Treasury officials and GM executives led by Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell.GM's initial filing with U.S. securities regulators did not say how many shares would be sold or give an expected price range for the IPO. The IPO could raise up to $20 billion, though analysts cautioned that its size depends on still-untested investor demand for a restructured automaker with only two consecutive quarters of profits."I don't think this is a good time to be going public," said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group. "It's more political than practical." Moncler JacketsTrading in GM shares is expected to start between late October and the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on November 25, according to people involved in the process. A stock offering in late October would mean trading would start just before the November congressional elections.Government officials and GM executives have repeatedly denied any link with the elections.The Obama administration wants to be able to cast the $50 billion GM bailout as a financial success in the face of public skepticism and Republican political opposition.The 102-year-old onetime blue chip is expected to return to the NYSE under the "GM" ticker symbol it had before the government-funded bankruptcy.Adding a stock listing in Toronto underscores the role the governments of Canada and Ontario played as junior partners to the U.S. Treasury in keeping GM from liquidation. Ugg OutletGM Chief Executive Ed Whitacre, who steps down at the start of September, has said the automaker needs to distance itself from government ownership and the label "Government Motors" to build momentum in its turnaround."I just think that the risk of failure with the IPO is bigger than the risk of being known as Government Motors," said Brad Coulter, a restructuring specialist at O'Keefe & Associates.PART OF IPO TO RAISE CAPITALTreasury said it would not include any of its preferred shares in the IPO and did not indicate how long it would take to shed its stake.The U.S. Treasury plans to sell about 20 percent of the 304 million GM shares it holds, reducing its stake in the top U.S. automaker to under 50 percent, sources have said.GM does not plan to sell new common stock in the IPO but plans to issue preferred stock that would generate proceeds for the automaker. Such an offering is a less-risky form of equity that could attract dividend and growth fund investors.Although bankruptcy eliminated about $40 billion in unsecured debt and other obligations for GM, the automaker still needs funds to restructure its money-losing Opel unit in Europe and address a pension shortfall of about $26 billion. Moncler T-shirtGM has posted two consecutive quarters of profit after slashing costs and debt in bankruptcy and dropping the Pontiac, Saab, Hummer and Saturn brands. The U.S. government currently owns almost 61 percent of GM after converting $43 billion of the $50 billion in funding to the automaker into equity. The total value of the GM stock offering would be critical. For U.S. taxpayers to recover the $43 billion invested in GM, the market value of the automaker would have to be near $70 billion. After the offering, the U.S. Treasury and Canada will no longer have the right to designate board nominees. Treasury named four directors in July 2009, including Dan Akerson, who was named as Whitacre's replacement earlier in August. However, GM also said the U.S. Treasury would continue to influence executive appointments and compensation, its business strategy, employee and union decisions and debt and equity issuances after the IPO. GM said risks for potential investors included a still-weak global market for cars that could be vulnerable to a further downturn and the pressure it faces to roll out new models after cutting back on development spending in recent years. Borrowing a page from the turnaround strategy that helped lift Ford Motor Co, GM said in its filing that it aimed to shift more than half of sales volume to global platforms by 2014. Moncler T-shirt for menThat would mark an increase from about 17 percent now and allow GM to slash costs and reduce complexity in its manufacturing operations. Republican Senator Charles Grassley has asked a special Treasury Department watchdog for an analysis of the GM IPO and how much money would be returned to taxpayers. Bankers and credit analysts have offered a case for valuing GM as high as $80 billion, given projections from expected 2011 cash flow and comparisons with rival Ford. Ford, the only U.S. automaker to have avoided bankruptcy, has a market capitalization of just over $40 billion. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, which tops GM in global sales, has a value of about $121 billion. Analysts see GM as being in the early stages of a turnaround, helped by sharply lower costs, recovering sales in the United States and growth in overseas markets, led by China. Despite the company's progress, it still faces hurdles restructuring its money-losing Opel unit, which is struggling in a slack European auto market. Moncler Polo shirtGM's 8.375 percent bonds due in 2033 were little changed after the filing at 35.375 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess data. Those bonds issued by the pre-bankruptcy GM are being traded as a speculative play on the equity in the post-IPO GM. Bondholders who had been owed $27 billion received a 10 percent equity stake in the restructured GM through the bankruptcy.