From January12 1999 to January 15 2002 Dr

Soaries, Jr., Elected to Serve asIndependent DirectorsNEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ The Federal Home Loan Bank of NewYork ("FHLBNY") announced today that Ms C Cathleen Raffaeli, Rev Edwin C.Reed, and Dr DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., have each been elected by the FHLBNY'smembers to serve as Independent Directors on the Board of Directors of theFHLBNY commencing on January 1, 2009.This election marks the first time thatthe FHLBNY's members were able to vote for open independent director seats onthe FHLBNY's Board; previously, these directors were selected by the FHLBNY'sregulator.The terms of Ms Raffaeli and Rev. Reed will each be for four years, and Dr.Soaries' term will be for three years.Ms Raffaeli and Rev. Reed presentlyserve on the Board; their current terms expire on December 31, 2008.Inaddition, Rev. Reed will serve as a public interest director; public interestdirectorships are a subset of the independent directorship.C.

Cathleen Raffaeli has been the President and Managing Director of theHamilton White Group, LLC, since 2002.The Hamilton White Group is anadvisory firm dedicated to assisting companies grow their businesses andpursue new markets.From 2004 to 2006, she was also the President and ChiefExecutive Officer of the Cardean Learning Group.Additionally, she served asthe President and Chief Executive Officer of Proact Technologies, Inc., from2000 to 2002 and Consumer Financial Network from 1998 to 2000.Ms. Raffaelialso served as the Executive Director of the Commercial Card Division ofCiticorp and worked in executive positions in Citicorp's Global TransactionServices and Mortgage Banking Divisions from 1994 to 1998.She has also heldsenior positions at Chemical Bank and Merrill Lynch.Ms. Raffaeli serves onthe Board of Directors of ETrade, American Home Mortgage Holdings, Inc., andIndecomm Global, a privately held company.Rev Edwin C. Reed has served as CEO of the Greater Allen DevelopmentCorporation ("Allen Corporation") since July 2007.The Allen Corporation,with funding of more than $31 million, annually rehabilitates communities bysponsoring affordable housing, developing and managing 14 commercial stores,operating a community service center, and providing quality education for over500 students.Rev. Reed was previously the Chief Financial Officer of GreaterAllen AME Cathedral, located in Jamaica, Queens, New York, from 1996 to July2007.From 1986 to 1995, Rev. Reed served as the campaign manager and Chiefof Staff for Congressman Floyd Flake.Prior to becoming involved in publicpolicy, Rev.

Reed gained his initial financialexperience as a banker at First Tennessee Bank in Memphis, Tennessee.Hecurrently serves on the following organizations:Commission Member, New YorkCity Traffic Mitigation Congestion Commission; Vice Chairman of Board ofTrustees, Hofstra University; Chairman, Jamaica Business Resource Center;Treasurer, Outreach Project; and Board Member, JP Morgan Chase Bank NationalCommunity Advisory Board; Board Member, Wheelchair Charities; Board Member,Allen Transportation; Board Member, Allen Women's Resource Center; and BoardMember, Allen Housing Development Corporation.Dr DeForest B. Soaries has led First Baptist in the constructionof a new $20 million church complex and the formation of many not-for-profitentities to serve the community surrounding the church.Dr. Soaries'ministry's initiatives include recruiting 325 families to become fosterparents to 500 children; helping 200 children find adoptive parents;constructing 124 new homes for low- and moderate-income residents to own;redeveloping 150,000 square feet of commercial real estate; operating theCentral New Jersey STRIVE program for job readiness; serving hundreds of youthin an after- school center and homework club; forming a youth entrepreneurshipprogram; and organizing a community development credit union.From January12, 1999, to January 15, 2002, Dr. Soaries served as New Jersey's 30thSecretary of State.In 2004, he also served as the first chairman of theUnited States Election Assistance Commission, having been appointed by thePresident and confirmed by the United States Senate.The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a Congressionally chartered, $130billion, wholesale Bank.It is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, anational wholesale banking network of 12 regional, stockholder-owned banks. The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York serves 307 community lenders in NewJersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.The mission ofthe Home Loan Bank is to advance housing opportunity and local communitydevelopment by maximizing the capacity of community-based member-lenders toserve their markets.CONTACT:Eric Amig(212) 441-6807Brian Finnegan(212) 441-6877SOURCEFederal Home Loan Bank of New YorkEric Amig, 1-212-441-6807, or Brian Finnegan, 1-212-441-6877, both ofFederal Home Loan Bank of New York. Upon hearing the news that Jimmie Johnson won the AP Male Athlete of the Year award, I have to admit that I was perplexed. I thought he retired years ago to his yacht after leaving the Miami Dolphins in the "good hands" of his buddy Dave Wannstedt.And besides, is a coach considered an athleteBut then I realized this Jimmie Johnson was a race car driver and that the spelling of his first name was different.It turns out he's won the NASCAR Sprint Cup points championship four years in a row.

So let me ask the question again: Is a race car driver an athleteIf it's shown on ESPN, does that mean the participants are athletesI love those poker players with their visors and dark sunglasses playing for big bucks. They look so cool.They also look so athletic sitting around the table manipulating the cards between their fingers. They have such amazing manual dexterity.How about Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky back in the dayWas that a heavyweight slugfest or what Two cerebral minds going mano to mano to checkmate each other into submission.Oh, the humanity.That was chess for those who don't go back that far.I can even question whether golf is really a sport; or is it just a game with very skilled players competing against each other, though not directly.In golf you can only stop yourself. Your opponent has no say over how you perform.In poker, part of it is the hand you're dealt, and part of it is knowing how to play that hand.But in NASCAR, there are actually a bunch of lunatics tailgating you and trying to stop you from achieving your goalbeing the first to cross the finish line.That somewhat meets my criteria for a sport, someone trying to stop you from winning.But is sitting behind the wheel driving a car really a sportI live in Chicago and drive over sixty miles a day on I-94; locally known as the Dan Ryan Expressway. Anyone driving the "Ryan" at night knows you're taking your life into your own hands when cruising that highway.I consider myself a pretty good driver.I can usually anticipate when someone is going to change lanes before they do and I constantly check out my mirrors so I know what I need to do in case the inevitable happens.I don't watch NASCAR, so I'm not sure if they signal when they change lanes, but I have to think they probably don't.Your reflexes have to be incredible, and with someone on your bumper at anytime, it has to be white-knuckle driving.I imagine your heart is racing the whole time.AndYOU CAN DIE.The possibility of that exists in the four major sports, mainly in football or hockey, but it is highly unlikely. You can get shot for pulling a card from your sleeve in poker, but that's probably not on ESPN.In golf, you could get a club wrapped around your head, but that's because you strayed from the course you were supposed to be playing on.So I'm trying to figure out if the AP knows something that I don't.Should I give credence to Jimmie Johnson and recognize him as "Athlete of the Year"I'm really fighting with it, but I just can't see a race car driver as an athlete.They are incredibly skilled with tremendous reflexes as I previously mentioned, but for me to recognize somebody as an athlete, you can't be sitting behind the wheel of a car when you do what you do.. LONDON(Business Wire) FUND db x-trackers DJ EURO STOXX 50 SHORT ETF DEALING DATE 02-Jan-09NAV PER SHARE EUR45.5261 NUMBER OF SHARES IN ISSUE 8,300,000CODE DB X-Trackers - DJ EURO STOXX 50 SHORT ETFCopyright Business Wire 2009. As much as I cant (and wont) overlook another pair of ridiculously sick games by the Blue Devils (Dukes 10-point deficit comeback in a miracle minute against Maryland in 2001 and Mike Krzyzewskis Blue Devils capturing the NCAA Championship that same season), one sticks out in my mind even above those two.Trust me, the aforementioned 01 games are also very fond memories as a Duke fan (and I have to say that I completely agree with Tyler Lamberts Duke Top Ten Moments of the Decade ), but Sean Dockerys three-point heave to lift the Blue Devils to a wild win over the Hokies in 2005 had me bouncing of the walls literally!Tell me yall remember this.Its December 2005, a little over four years ago to the day.Duke is playing Virginia Tech at Cameron Indoor and after a brief delay fixing the game clock, the Blue Devils find themselves down by one, 75-74, with 1.6 seconds remaining in the game.On top of having a limited amount of time to score, Duke is also having to go the full length of the court on the ensuing play.Those final 1.6 seconds and final buzzer sounding were one of the biggest sports highs of my entire life, and I vividly remember literally jumping off the sides of my wall while watching the games conclusion in my apartment in Alpine, Texas.Upon taking a long pass from Josh McRoberts, Dockery drained a half-court three-pointer at the buzzer as Duke defeated Virginia Tech, 77-75 at Cameron Indoor.Not only does Dockery wins it for Duke ring through my ears as I reflect back on that moment, but I also get goose bumps every time I watch the comeback clip.Its got to be the best, if not one of the best, college basketball come-from-behind victories ever.I love it; and with 2009 quickly coming to a close, I just had to take a minute to remember that awesome 2005 Duke victory over Virginia Tech.McRoberts to Dockery for a half-court swish at the buzzer; Duke wins: what a game! Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at .