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SAN ANTONIO (AP) It's a catchphrase likely coming soon to fan T-shirts, Internet memes and the lexicon of the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future.

''I want some nasty!''

Gregg Popovich didn't just coin it. He snarled it, and the way his San Antonio Spurs obliged has the Western Conference finals off to a thrilling start.

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row - tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs - by rallying in the fourth quarter on the orders of their furious coach to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

It was a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didn't last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich - the NBA's Coach of the Year - huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to ''get nasty.''

''I said that?'' Popovich said afterward.

A nationally television audience heard it.

''The heat of the game, stuff comes up,'' Popovich said. ''So I talked to them about they've got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it.''

And when they did, the Thunder couldn't keep up.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right - face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard.

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'Nasty' Spurs strike first against Thunder

Because it's a wonderful day. It's Tax Freedom Day, according to the Adam Smith Institute.

Tax Freedom Day is special for the free-marketeers. It marks the point in the calendar when Britons supposedly stop working for the Treasury and begin to earn for themselves.

In the words of institute director Dr Eamonn Butler, the 149 days at the start of the year "is the time the average person must labour for the tax collectors."

Now before all of you start filling in your application forms for a job in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, we should point out that Dr Butler is being less than exact here.

This is, of course, much to the disappointment of all the hardworking civil servants who, on reading the good doctor's words, have already started packing their buckets and spades.

Sorry chaps, that's not it at all.

What he really meant is that 149/365ths of the average income goes on tax.

So all of you with visions of sun-drenched tropical islands packed with filthy rich tax officials in aloha shirts and casual sandals enjoying a long vacation at our expense will have to think again.

The overstretched officials at HMRC will have to resign themselves to continuing to pin down obscenely rich tax-dodgers despite being 3,300 short of staff thanks to the Tory cuts.

Free-marketeers from the Tory Party right will have to look elsewhere for something to justify their vindictive hatred of public officials in general and tax inspectors in particular.

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Shove off into a corner

Weak rupee may bring cheer to NRIs, expats Windfall for those sending money from abroad to families in India, expats in India earning in dollars but spending in rupees Press Trust of India / New Delhi May 27, 2012, 14:23 IST

A sharp plunge in rupee value to near Rs 55-56 levels against the dollar may be bad news for the markets and the economy, but the currency's depreciation may bring cheer to some including, NRIs remitting money from abroad and expats drawing salaries in dollars.

Amid a fall in rupee and stock markets, concerns are rife about a slowdown in economic growth momentum. However, a weaker rupee could mean good news for the Non-Residential Indians (NRIs) and others remitting money from abroad to their families back in India, experts said.

The rupee has not only lost sheen against the US dollar but also against other currencies. One dollar gets a little over Rs 55 now, which is nearly 12.67 per cent more than what it did on March 1. Similarly, a British pound brings Rs 86.73, (up 10.62%), euro brings Rs 69.30 (up 5.83%) and Australian dollar Rs 54.02 (up 1.75%), a forex expert said.

India has one of the largest NRI diaspora in the world after China estimated to be around 30 million. According to World Bank data, India received remittance worth USD 64 billion in 2011 - the top recipient among developing nations.

Windfall gains could also be reaped by expats working in India with income in foreign currencies like the US dollar but incurring expenses in rupee, they added.

This is because in the short term, these employees are set to gain from a weaker rupee as they earn more rupees from their dollar-denominated salaries, an HR expert said. The rupee on Thursday hit a record low of Rs 56.38 against the US dollar. While some recovery was seen on Friday but the rupee remained above the 55-level. The rupee has slid by a whopping 13 per cent since March 1, while market barometer Sensex has tanked by nearly 8 per cent in this period. Besides, for those people who are planning a visit to India now, have a lot to cheer about as they will get good bargain for their home country currencies now. This translates to having more spending power in India as compared to other favourite destinations like Singapore and Thailand. Each US dollar now costs 1.28 Singapore Dollar, and 31.63 THB (Thai Bhat). Commodity analysts also say that a weaker rupee could also lead to a rise in gold prices, as investors tend to shift their focus away from riskier assets like stocks to the bullion market in such scenarios. If this scenario plays out, it could result in gains for the existing gold investors.

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Weak rupee may bring cheer to NRIs, expats

SINGAPORE - Expatriates in Singapore rank second in the world for income, with half earning over US$200,000 ($254,973) a year, a recent survey found.

The 2011 Expat Explorer Survey by HSBC also revealed that expat wealth remained widely immune to global economic troubles.

Expats in Singapore ranked top in Asia and third in the world for expat wealth and finances in areas such as earning levels, disposable income, spending, saving, investing patterns and the impact of the current global financial climate.

However, the survey also found that expats in Singapore faced higher cost of living such as accommodation, food and bringing up of children.

The survey sought the opinions of nearly 3,400 expats from over 100 countries across the globe on their experiences working and living overseas.

This year, for its 5th annual survey, HSBC is calling for expats to take part in its latest survey.

This year's survey will be focusing on emerging issues on how expats have fared after the global economic turmoil and social unrest faced in some countries, as well as tips and tricks on how to best live in a foreign country.

yamadak@sph.com.sg

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S'pore expats have second highest incomes globally

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greek stock markets rebounded strongly on Monday from a 22-year low on hopes a pro-bailout party will win crucial national elections next month, which would avoid a catastrophic rift with international creditors and keep the struggling country within the euro currency union.

The main stock index in Athens soared 6.5 percent in mid-afternoon trading, with the battered bank sector chalking up solid gains.

Four polls published Sunday reversed previous trends to indicate that conservative New Democracy could come first in the June 17 vote, slightly ahead of the anti-austerity radical left Syriza party. Although the conservatives would still fall short of a governing majority, the surveys suggested they could form a coalition government with socialist PASOK, which have also pledged to stick to Greece's austerity commitments.

The debt-crippled country is being kept afloat by huge international rescue loans, granted on condition of harsh cutbacks and reforms that slashed living standards. The austerity, however, also caused huge popular resentment toward New Democracy and PASOK, the two parties that accepted the terms. Voters expressed that anger clearly in May 6 elections, giving a boost to anti-bailout parties. But the election proved inconclusive, with none of the parties able to form a coalition government, leaving Greece to hold another ballot next month.

Greece's bailout creditors the other countries in the 17-nation eurozone and the International Monetary Fund insist that if the country reneges on its austerity commitments, the rescue loans will stop.

That would unleash chaos. The government would be unable to pay hospital workers, police and teachers, pensions would dry up and a potential panic run on bank deposits would destroy the tottering financial system. Eventually, the country could be forced to abandon the 17-member eurozone, reverting to a vastly devalued form of its old drachma currency.

Fears of such an outcome have battered Greek financial markets for weeks, pushing the Athens General Index to close at a 22-year low of 485.18 points on Friday. The latest polls, however, helped it claw back some of those losses, rising to 516.61 points.

"This is clearly due to the polls," said Sergios Melahrinos, analyst at Solidus Securities.

He noted that if the two pro-bailout parties manage to win the election and have Greece honor its austerity commitments, banks would gain access to rescue money needed to avoid collapse. Under the country's latest international bailout, domestic banks that took huge losses from a bond swap that more than halved Greece's privately-held debt will receive billions of euros to boost their capitalization. If a new government in Athens unilaterally tears up the bailout deal as Syriza has threatened to do the recapitalization would fall through.

"A potential win by the parties that back their recapitalization would be extremely good for lenders."

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Greek stocks soar on pro-bailout party's poll gain