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OTTAWA Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau apologized Tuesday after he suggested on Twitter that a parliamentary reporter who wrote a story about his poor attendance record was a bitch.

Brazeau, best known to Canadians for losing a boxing match to Liberal MP Justin Trudeau this spring, was reacting to a story written by Canadian Press reporter Jennifer Ditchburn that said Brazeau had the poorest attendance record for this session of parliament.

Taking to Twitter, Brazeau called the story one-sided.

"Change the D to a B in your last name and we're even!" Brazeau tweeted at Ditchburn Tuesday afternoon.

"Don't mean it but needs saying."

Brazeau was absent for 25 per cent of the 72 sittings between June 2011 and April 2012, the Senate attendance register shows. By the end of that period, the Quebecer was four days away from being fined, Ditchburn reported.

"The very simple answer to your question with respect to my attendance or lack thereof is for personal matters," Brazeau is quoted as saying in Ditchburn's story.

Ditchburn defended herself on Twitter, noting that she called Brazeau's office twice and exchanged emails prior to the story being published.

"Dear Senator: Many a person has made fun of my name and (the) word 'Bitch.' But never a Canadian senator. That's a first," Ditchburn tweeted.

Brazeau isn't the first parliamentarian to use intemperate vocabulary on social media. President of the Treasury Board Tony Clement has twice called someone a "jackass," interim Liberal leader Bob Rae tweeted "what bullshit is this?" in response to a spat between young Liberals last winter, and NDP MP Pat Martin raised a few eyebrows after an F-bomb-filled Twitter tirade in response to the Tories' move to end debate on a budget-related bill.

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Brazeau apologizes after B-word gets him beaten up on Twitter

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Kayt Sukel, an author who writes about neuroscience and sexuality, has given lectures around the country on the issue. And there's one word, she finds, that never fails to get her audiences squeamish.

"There's just something about the word 'vagina' that startles people - I don't know what it is," says Sukel. "I find it especially at universities. People sit back a little bit. Sometimes they start giggling. I end up using euphemisms just to make them more comfortable, and more receptive to what I am saying. And we don't seem to have the same problems with the word 'penis.'"

In a much different setting, Judy Gold has similar experiences. The popular standup comic and actress, who last year starred in her own successful off-Broadway show, focuses her routines on being gay, Jewish, a New Yorker and a mother. Her audiences presumably know what they're getting into. Yet she, too, hears gasps in the audience when she says the V-word.

And so neither woman was particularly surprised when they heard about the recent incident in Michigan, where a lawmaker was temporarily barred from speaking in the House after using the word "vagina" during debate over anti-abortion legislation.

It all began when Lisa Brown, a Democrat, was speaking about proposed legislation requiring doctors to ensure that abortion-seekers haven't been coerced into ending their pregnancies. "I'm flattered you're all concerned about my vagina," Brown said. "But no means no." Brown believes she was censured because of the word she used, though her Republican opponents later said it was the "no means no" part, which they claimed likened the law to rape. The lawmaker denies she was doing anything of the kind.

But politics aside, there's no question in the minds of many that in 2012, for whatever reason, the V-word retains shock value - much more than its male counterpart - even though it is finally beginning to surface regularly in mainstream entertainment, popping up in several network TV shows as well as in much bolder references in advertising.

"I mean, you can say 'penis,'" says Gold. "You can say 'erection,' 'erectile dysfunction,' even 'vaginal probe.' But 'vagina'? Suddenly it's a dirty word. And it's the correct anatomical term!"

Can an anatomical term really be a bad word? Even the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that tracks what it sees as objectionable content on TV, acknowledges that difficulty.

"I've got a toddler, and when you read potty-training books, they discourage the use of euphemisms for body parts," says Melissa Henson, the group's director of communications. But what troubles the PTC, she says, is "the use of this language in the context of cheap sex jokes. It's dumbed-down humor that's in no way respectful of the audience."

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Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather SportsP-word? OK. The V-word? That's trickier

NEW YORK Kayt Sukel, an author who writes about neuroscience and sexuality, has given lectures around the country on the issue. And there's one word, she finds, that never fails to get her audiences squeamish.

"There's just something about the word 'vagina' that startles people I don't know what it is," says Sukel. "I find it especially at universities. People sit back a little bit. Sometimes they start giggling. I end up using euphemisms just to make them more comfortable, and more receptive to what I am saying. And we don't seem to have the same problems with the word 'penis.'"

In a much different setting, Judy Gold has similar experiences. The popular standup comic and actress, who last year starred in her own successful off-Broadway show, focuses her routines on being gay, Jewish, a New Yorker and a mother. Her audiences presumably know what they're getting into. Yet she, too, hears gasps in the audience when she says the V-word.

And so neither woman was particularly surprised when they heard about the recent incident in Michigan, where a lawmaker was temporarily barred from speaking in the House after using the word "vagina" during debate over anti-abortion legislation.

It all began when Lisa Brown, a Democrat, was speaking about proposed legislation requiring doctors to ensure that abortion-seekers haven't been coerced into ending their pregnancies. "I'm flattered you're all concerned about my vagina," Brown said. "But no means no." Brown believes she was censured because of the word she used, though her Republican opponents later said it was the "no means no" part, which they claimed likened the law to rape. The lawmaker denies she was doing anything of the kind.

But politics aside, there's no question in the minds of many that in 2012, for whatever reason, the V-word retains shock value much more than its male counterpart even though it is finally beginning to surface regularly in mainstream entertainment, popping up in several network TV shows as well as in much bolder references in advertising.

"I mean, you can say 'penis,'" says Gold. "You can say 'erection,' 'erectile dysfunction,' even 'vaginal probe.' But 'vagina'? Suddenly it's a dirty word. And it's the correct anatomical term!"

Can an anatomical term really be a bad word? Even the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that tracks what it sees as objectionable content on TV, acknowledges that difficulty.

"I've got a toddler, and when you read potty-training books, they discourage the use of euphemisms for body parts," says Melissa Henson, the group's director of communications. But what troubles the PTC, she says, is "the use of this language in the context of cheap sex jokes. It's dumbed-down humor that's in no way respectful of the audience."

The PTC studied the appearance of "penis" and "vagina" in scripted shows on five networks, comparing the 2010-2011 season to 2001-2002. Not surprisingly, it found a large increase, largely in the last year or two.

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The Vagina Dialogues: In 2012, are we still scandalized by the V-word?

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TAG Immobilien AG launches a convertible bond offering

Hamburg, 25 June 2012: The Management Board of TAG Immobilien AG, Hamburg, (TAG) resolved today, with the approval of the supervisory board, to issue unsubordinated, unsecured convertible bonds (the Bonds) convertible into no par value ordinary bearer shares of TAG. The Bonds (each with a denomination of EUR 100,000) will be offered only to institutional investors outside of the US. The pre-emptive rights of shareholders of TAG to subscribe to the Bonds are excluded.

The offering size will be around EUR 95 million with up to 9,642,825 underlying shares. The Bonds will have a maturity of seven years and will be issued and redeemed at 100% of their principal amount. The initial conversion price will be set at a conversion premium of 20.0% - 25.0% above the reference share price, VWAP (volume weighted average price) of the shares on XETRA on the pricing date.

The coupon will be between 4.50% - 5.50% p.a. payable semi-annually in arrear and will also be determined during the bookbuilding process. Holders of the Bonds will be entitled to require an early redemption of their Bonds on the fifth anniversary, after the issue date, at the principal amount together with accrued interest. Pricing is expected to be announced later today and settlement is expected on or around 28 June 2012.

TAG intends to apply for inclusion of the Bonds in the Open Market (Freiverkehr) segment on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt am Main, is acting as sole Bookrunner in relation to the transaction. Close Brothers Seydler Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main and Kempen & Co N.V., Amsterdam, are acting as Co-Managers.

TAG intends to use the proceeds from the issue of the Bonds for the repayment of a vendor loan resulting from the acquisition of DKB Immobilien AG, future acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

The acquisition of DKB Immobilien AG in March 2012 increased TAGs residential property inventory from some 32,000 units to approx. 57,000 units, and increased the groups investment property to approx. EUR 3 billion. The acquisition was financed by a capital increase as well as by long term bank financing supplemented by a vendor loan which will be repaid following the issuance of the Bonds.

Apart from this vendor loan TAG has approximately EUR 30 million of other debt with higher interest costs than these Bonds. As such, these Bonds will reduce TAGs financing expenses by roughly EUR 1 million per annum going forward and therefore effectively be FFO-accretive. In addition, the early repayment of the vendor loan will lead to interest cost savings of EUR 2 million.

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DGAP-News: TAG Immobilien AG launches a convertible bond offering

WASHINGTON Its the biggest secret in a city known for not keeping them.

The nine Supreme Court justices and more than three dozen other people have kept quiet for more than two months about how the high court is going to rule on the constitutionality of President Barack Obamas health care overhaul.

This is information that could move markets, turn economies and greatly affect this falls national elections, including the presidential contest between Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. But unlike the Congress and the executive branch, which seem to leak information willy-nilly, the Supreme Court, from the chief justice down to the lowliest clerk, appears to truly value silence when it comes to upcoming court opinions, big and small.

No one talks, and thats the way they like it.

Contrast this with the rest of the government, which couldnt keep secret President Barack Obamas direct role in supervising an unprecedented U.S. cyberattack on Irans nuclear facilities or the existence of a double agent inside al-Qaidas Yemen branch who tipped the U.S. to a new design for a bomb to put on a jetliner.

As Republicans air their suspicion that the leaks might be deliberate to enhance the Obama administrations stature, Attorney General Eric Holder has appointed two U.S. attorneys to investigate those two disclosures and probably additional recent national security leaks. Because far more people, of necessity, know about such secret national security operations, those investigators must examine hundreds, even thousands, of federal workers who might have known at least a chunk of the guarded information.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the law in the upcoming week or so. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking to a lawyers convention June 15, noted a steady stream of rumors and fifth-hand accounts in the media about what the high court was likely to do.

My favorite among the press pieces wisely observed: At the Supreme Court ... those who know dont talk, and those who talk dont know, she said.

The justices, of course, know, having officially voted on the results the same week they heard arguments. But they are not the only ones in the loop: Each of the nine justices has four clerks who know not only how their justice voted but also how the other justices stand because these clerks help research and craft the majority opinions and dissents that are circulated for justices to sign if they agree.

In addition these 45 people surely in the know, there are an assorted number of secretaries, aides, security guards, janitors, support staff and family members keenly attuned to the inner workings of the Supreme Courts upper floors where the justices keep their chambers. At the last moment possible, printers who prepare the paper opinions to be handed out will know.

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Mum really is the word on Obama health care ruling