August 14, 2008:  China now leads in both the overall number of Gold Medals won and the total medal count.  The US is in second place.  A total of 51 countries have now won medals.  South Korea continues its strong performance and remains in third place.  Both Germany and Italy have won six Gold Medals each.

The medal tally table follows.

A proposal to increase the rail network in Northern Ireland could see trains return to the town of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh.   The proposal includes service from Enniskillen to Strabane through Omagh and second line from Omagh to Portadown through Dungannon.   New lines would also link Armagh to Portadown and Belfast International Airport to Antrim.

The proposals were made by Brian Guckian, a campaigner for sustainable transportation.  The proposed program, known as Northern Ireland Network Enhancement of NINE, examines nine major towns in the six counties, which no longer have rail service.

Translink, the rail service in Northern Ireland, is considering the proposal.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. [NYSE:WMT] reported its sales and earnings for the quarter ended July 31, 2008. Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 were approximately $101.6 billion, an increase of 10.4 percent from $92.0 billion in the second quarter last year. Earnings grew by 17% from 72 cents per share in 2007 to 87 cents in the most recent quarter.  The results beat analysts' expectations.

Income from continuing operations for the second quarter was $3.385 billion, an increase of 9.3 percent from $3.097 billion in the second quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 increased to $0.86 from the previous year’s second quarter result of $0.75 per share (after reclassifying for discontinued operations, as noted below). The prior year included a net benefit of $0.04 per share from three items: the net impact of a reduction of general liability and workers’ compensation claim accruals, gains from the sale of certain real estate properties, and charges for legal and other contingencies.

“For the third quarter of fiscal year 2009, we estimate the Company’s comparable store sales increase in the United States to be between one and two percent, which continues to reflect some sales volatility from week to week,” said Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We expect the Company’s earnings per share from continuing operations for the third quarter to be between $0.73 and $0.76 and are raising our current forecast for earnings from continuing operations for the full fiscal year to a range of $3.43 to $3.50 per share.”

After this earnings release has been furnished to the SEC, a pre-recorded call offering additional comments on the quarter will be available to all investors. Callers may listen to this call by dialing 203-369-1090. The information included in this release and the pre-recorded phone call are available in the investor information area on the Company’s Web site at www.walmartstores.com/investors.

August 14, 2008: After state officials ordered dogs in his kennel checked for flea and fly bites, Elmer Zimmerman shot seventy of the dogs, following a July 24th inspection of his kennel.  His brother Ammon shot a further ten dogs in a neighboring clinic.  The Zimmerman's apparently feared that the state was going to cease the dogs and close the kennel.  He claimed that a local veterinarian told him that the best course of action was to destroy the animals.

As brutal as these actions seem, there is nothing illegal in Pennsylvania about carrying out such slayings.  The shooting has been criticized by both government officials and dog lovers in the Keystone State.   The Zimmerman brothers have apparently surrendered their kennel owner permits and have pled guilty to charges of violating four counts of Pennsylvania dog laws.