Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Rednecks? What rednecks?
What they are talking about are rednecks. But in their political correctness, media types cannot bring themselves to utter the word "redneck." So I'll say it for them: redneck-redneck-redneck-redneck.
The fact is that we American rednecks embrace the term in a sort of proud defiance. To us, the term redneck indicates a culture we were born in and enjoy. So I find it very interesting that politically correct people have taken it upon themselves to protect us from what has come to be one of our own warm and light hearted terms for one another.
On the other hand, I can quite imagine their concern, given what's at stake in the upcoming election. We represent at least a third of all voters and no US president has ever been elected without our support. More...
See also:
Stressed-up Indians no longer lured by call centres jobs...
He works at a call centre in Mumbai
Alarmed?
His colleagues at the call centre where he works are. Says one of his best friends and colleague: "I'm leaving. Have been planning to for sometime.
"As soon as I get another job, even if it's less paying, I will leave this industry for good."
The youth of India seem to have fallen out of love with the call centre industry.
Even before the impact of the economic crisis could be felt on India's $11bn business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which gets 70% of all the outsourced work from the US, it was in the grip of a crisis of its own.
Several companies, mostly smaller ones unable to maintain international standards, have shut down in Mumbai and Delhi. More...
See also:
Singapore bloggers pay last respects to JB Jeyaretman...
The passing on of Mr. JB Jeyaratnam is a sad day for all Singaporeans.
JBJ, as he is affectionately known, is one man who believes in sticking resolutely to his principles to the very end.
To JBJ, the Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy is the only one worth emulating.
To JBJ, the many tweakings of our political model are at best compromises, at worse these are serious attempts to unfairly entrench the ruling party.
To some JBJ is a hero, to others a failure. There are yet others who feel that he could have played a greater role in the history of this proud little red dot, called Singapore. If only he would yield a little.
History will be the ultimate judge.
Mr. JB Jeyaratnam, May you rest in peace.
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
See also:
India: the strange case of the girl who bleeds for no reason...
A girl who spontaneously bleeds from her pores has baffled doctors.
Twinkle Dwivedi, 13, has a disorder which means she loses blood through her skin without being cut or scratched.
The teenager has had to undergo transfusions after pints of it seeped through her eyes, nose, hairline, neck and the soles of her feet.
Sometimes her condition is so bad she wakes up with her entire body covered in dried blood.
Her frantic family have sought help from numerous doctors as well as preachers without success.
'I am desperate to help my daughter,' said her mum Nandani Diwedi, 42.
'We are not superstitious people but we became so desperate. We've been to temples, mosques, churches and sufi saints, but nothing has cured her.' More...
See also:
Lew Rockwell: Yesterday was one of the worst days in decades for the power elite. It was one of the best for liberty...
I'm fully aware that Paulson and Bernanke have some nefarious scheme in mind to reverse the thrilling defeat of their criminal bailout package, a package shot down by independent members of Congress on both sides. But reflect for a few minutes on what it means that the House did this. It was a revolutionary act in the best sense of that term.
The entire establishment was united in favor of what was surely the most horrible and outrageous bill to ever come before Congress. The Fed, the Treasury, leadership of the Democrats and Republicans, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, all the major think tanks, most talking heads, the wealthiest corporations, important academics – in short, the whole of the power elite – were united in favor of this awful thing that proposed the following: Americans were to be stripped of their earnings and their future to prop up failed enterprises.
(...)
In any case, no matter how you look at it, the defeat of the bill is a victory for freedom. The defeat of the power elite is essential for liberty to thrive. For the free market to function, we need the government/corporate cabal to lose its capacity to get its way in every area of life. They need to feel fear. They need to lose security. They need to have a sense of uncertainty as to whether their every wish is our command. The House defeat of the bailout is a magnificent rebuke in that sense.
(...)
The failure of the bailout bill was the precondition for economic recovery. It should make believers in liberty realize that we can change history, that tyranny is not our fate, that the leviathan state can be beaten back. Full story...
See also:
India: another temple stampede...
Officials told the BBC that at least 150 more were injured in the incident at the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur.
A wall near the temple is said to have collapsed, causing panic among thousands of gathered devotees.
There have been a number of deadly stampedes in India's temples recently - last month 140 people were killed in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.
Before dawn, thousands of people had made their way to the hill-top temple in a huge 15th Century fort overlooking Jodhpur. More...
See also:
Singapore's opposition stalwart, J.B. Jeyaretnam, dies...
Veteran Singapore politician JB Jeyaretnam has died of heart failure in a Singapore hospital, aged 82.
He was the first to break a government monopoly on power in Singapore when he won a seat in parliament in 1981.
He had been forced into bankruptcy over defamation cases won by the government but was planning a new run for office.
Dubbed the Grand Old Man of opposition politics, analysts said Mr Jeyaretnam was a thorn in the side of Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan-yew.
Born in 1926 in Jaffna, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mr Jeyaretnam trained as a lawyer in Britain before making his home in Singapore. More...
See also:
Asian markets in turmoil after bail-out failure...
Japan's Nikkei index dropped more than 550 points to 11,183.71 in the first 45 minutes of trading, while the Australian Securities Exchange fell more than 240 points to 4,560.9.
South Korea's KOSPI dropped more than 120 points to 2,918.9.
Asian markets reacted to the U.S. Dow, which plunged 777 points at closing, or just under 7 percent, in the worst single-day point loss ever, topping even the loss after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Oh boy! Peggy the horse banned from pub!!!
A Tyneside pub has called time on one of its regular visitors after the premises were refurbished.
Peggy, a 12-year-old mare, used to enjoy a pint of beer and a packet of crisps alongside her owner at the Alexandra Hotel in Jarrow.
However, she is no longer allowed to prop up the bar following a refit which included new carpets.
The horse still accompanies her owner, Peter Dolan, on his trip to the pub but has to stay tethered outside.
Landlady Jackie Gray said: "Although she is probably cleaner than some of my customers, I had to put my foot down and show her the door."
Mr Dolan, a 62-year-old retired oil rigger, said: "People come into the pub and the first thing they say is 'Where's Peggy?'
"I tell them she's kicked the habit and is teetotal now."
See also:
Bail-out: House gives Wall Street the finger...
In a stunning vote that shocked the capital and worldwide markets, the House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive without it.
Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was officially announced on the House floor.
As a digital screen in the House chamber recorded a cascade of "no" votes against the bailout, Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley of New York shouted news of the falling Dow Jones industrials. "Six hundred points!" he yelled, jabbing his thumb downward. The decline was about 530 points shortly before the close of the trading day.
Bush and a host of leading congressional figures had implored the lawmakers to pass the legislation despite howls of protest from their constituents back home. Not enough members were willing to take the political risk just five weeks before an election.
"No" votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle. More than two-thirds of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed the bill. More...
See also:
Dutch Christian naturists forced to cancel naked mass...
"I don't understand what all the fuss is about," said a spokesman for the Gan Eden or Garden of Eden group.
"We are just a group of Christians and we want to hold a church service."
The Dutch naturist Christians, part of a global movement, held their first service in June, when a clothed priest presided over a nude congregation of 80 people in Zeewolde, a town in the Flevoland region of the Netherlands.
But such was the barrage of hostile public opinion, the second religious event was cancelled and Gan Eden's website shut down.
"Because of the negative publicity and the lurid curses in the guest book we have been obliged to close the site temporarily," says the group's website. More...
See also:
China's tainted milk scandal hits Cadbury ...
British chocolate maker Cadbury on Monday became the latest foreign company to be hit by China's tainted milk scandal, ordering a recall of its Chinese-made products after saying tests "cast doubt" on their safety.
Two U.S. food makers were meanwhile investigating Indonesian claims that high traces of the industrial chemical melamine had been found in Chinese-made Oreos, M&Ms and Snickers, but stressed the same goods had tested negative in other Asian countries.
They said they were looking into all possibilities, including counterfeiting.
The milk scandal erupted earlier this month when China's public learned that melamine, which is used to make plastics and fertilizer, had been found in milk powder and was linked to kidney stones in children. Contamination has since turned up in liquid milk, yogurt and other products made with milk.
Four deaths have been blamed on the bad milk and some 54,000 children have developed kidney stones or other illnesses after drinking tainted baby formula.
Countries across Asia have removed items from shelves or banned them outright. More...
See also:
Nepal has a new "living goddess..."
Nepal's new Maoist-led government has appointed a 6-year-old girl as a "living goddess" in a town near Kathmandu, for the first time snapping the link between the ancient ritual and the ousted monarchy.
For centuries, the head priest of the Nepali monarchy appointed the "Kumaris" in several towns in the Kathmandu valley. But with the abolition of the monarchy in May, that position has also disappeared.
Instead, officials at the state-run Trust Corporation overseeing cultural affairs appointed Shreeya Bajracharya as the new Kumari of the temple-town of Bhaktapur near Kathmandu, Deepak Bahadur Pandey, a senior official of the agency said.
"The government authorised us to appoint the Kumari and we have done that for the first time," Pandey said. More...
See also:
Black Dog Syndrome, or "racism" in the world of pets...
But Julian, as happy a dog as you're likely to see, faces life with a couple of huge impediments. He's big. He's black. And that means he's likely to wait far longer to be adopted than a smaller, light-colored dog.
In the world of animal rescue, they call this phenomenon Black Dog Syndrome. For those that spend weeks and months on adoption lists. For the dogs that head off week after week to pet fairs and return unclaimed when they're over.
For Julian, home for now is a dusty property at the edge of a gravel road in Celina, home base for Animal Guardians of America and its leader, Annette Lambert.
Ms. Lambert, soft-spoken and a little shy, speaks passionately for her charges, many of which are rescues from city pounds on their way to being euthanized.
"We have a lot of great dogs out here," she said, "and a preponderance are black dogs, because they're so difficult to adopt out. More...
See also:
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Is internet porn breaking up families?
Paula, a university researcher, works on it during the evenings, while her five-year-old daughter, Daisy, is just getting the hang of the user-friendly icons. Their son, Angus, who's eight, enjoys watching Dr Who on BBC iPlayer.
As they grow older, Rob will probably install some sort of filter to screen out unwanted images. Except that now, if Angus were to stumble upon anything sleazy, it would be less likely to be something "out there" in the internet ether, but rather more connected with his father's recreational interests.
Rob has never hidden what he calls his "moderate" interest in internet porn, but it is already cropping up uncomfortably in family life. "Daisy recently got as far as typing in B for BBC CBeebies and a site for 'best blow jobs' instantly appeared in the search window," grimaces Paula. "There's certainly no such thing as secrecy with Google's predictive typing. I'm not sure if that's reassuring or not."
Two or three times a fortnight, usually when Paula is out, Rob will surf his favourite soft porn websites. It's not a habit that has escalated in the past two years and he certainly doesn't consider it to be a problem. "I wouldn't think of opening a separate account with different passwords because I don't see what I do as offensive," he says. "I would never pay for it, I only look at the stuff that's free." More...
See also:
Autriche :un supermarché pour les pauvres?
Au Vinzimarkt de Vienne, ouvert par une association catholique, le pain est gratuit et les autres produits sont vendus au tiers de leur prix.
En pleine campagne électorale, il y a des inaugurations qu’un ministre des Affaires sociales se doit de ne pas rater. Le social-démocrate Erwin Buchinger, a donc fait son boulot en coupant le cordon du tout nouveau Vinzimarkt, à Vienne, le 18 septembre.
« Gut und billig » (« Bon et pas cher »), titre la devanture de ce qui ressemble, vu du trottoir, à un supermarché comme les autres. Pourtant, il n’y a pas partout, comme ici, une queue qui se forme à chaque ouverture du rideau de fer.
C’est qu’ici, on ne fait pas de profit : on vend le chou, les gaufrettes et les lames de rasoir à 30% de leur prix classique… de quoi attirer le chaland. Suite...
Voir aussi:
Italian blogs are ... newspapers??? No kidding...
What was this newspaper that Carlo Ruta was running? His blog. The judge ruled that since his blog had a headline, that qualified it as a newspaper and since he hadn’t registered it, he was guilty of “stampa clandestina”. Simple. Guilty as charged. He was fined and told to take down his blog. Next case.
Ruta simply took down the blog and put up a new one. But now he is a convicted criminal and he has lost all his original blog material which is obviously a big deal. More...
See also:
China in Africa; certainly NOT a love affair...
They have just started to smash the windows. Next, they will pull us out and, well, let's not think about that ...
I am trying not to meet their eyes, but they are staring at me and my companions with rage and hatred such as I haven't seen in a human face before. Those companions, Barbara Jones and Richard van Ryneveld, are - like me - quite helpless in the back seats.
If we get out, we will certainly be beaten to death. If we stay where we are, we will probably be beaten to death.
Our two African companions have - crazily in our view - got out of the car to try to reason with the crowd. It is clear to us that you might as well preach non-violence to a tornado.
At last, after what must have been about 40 seconds but that felt like half an hour, one of the pair saw sense, leapt back into the car and reversed wildly down the rocky, dusty path - leaving his friend behind. More...
See also:
Lait frelaté: l'Europe ne veut plus des produits chinois...
La commission européenne a décidé d'interdire l'importation de tous les produits laitiers venant de Chine.
Le scandale du lait frelaté chinois a franchi un nouveau cap. En effet, la commission Européenne a décidé samedi après-midi d'interdire l'importation de tous les "produits laitiers, originaires ou expédiés de Chine et destinés à l'alimentation particulière des nourrissons et des enfants en bas âge".
L'europe a également décidé de mettre en place des contrôles automatiques pour tous les produits importés de Chine qui contiennent "plus de 15% de produits laitiers, ainsi que pour tous les lots de produits dont la teneur en produits laitiers ne peut être établie", c'est à dire du chocolat, des bonbons ou des biscuits.
Depuis deux semaines, ce scandale inquiète les différents gouvernements.
En France, certains produits ont d'ailleurs été retiré des supermarchés français. Et vendredi, on apprenait que des bonbons chinois étaient également retirés de la vente en Grande-Bretagne.
La Chine tente de rassurer l'Europe et a promis un "grand nettoyage".
Voir aussi:
Egypt: prisoners allowed to order restaurant food...
The state-run Al Ahram newspaper reported that prison authorities have been placing orders with restaurants and then handing them to prisoners about to break their fast.
Muslims fast from dawn to dusk in Ramadan, which started this year on September 1. The security official told Reuters the permission to order food would continue beyond Ramadan.
He said the prisoners were paying for the food. Asked about the favourite meals prisoners have ordered, he said they included meat Kebab and pizza.
The official asked not to be named, citing department policy.
It is not uncommon for prisoners in Egypt to receive meals from their visiting families. Egyptian human rights activists say conditions inside jails in the most populous Arab country are bad, with unclean cells and low-quality food.
Human rights groups also say torture is systematic inside Egyptian jails and police stations. The government denies this and says it prosecutes any officer who tortures detainees.
See also:
Tattoo artist and human canvas make a strange deal...
It was an art deal that would create strong bonds between all involved – the artist, his human canvas, the gallery and the buyer.
On a Friday in September, Tim Steiner signed over the life-long exploitation rights to a tattoo that adorned his back to a German art collector for €150,000 (SFr240,000). He also agreed to leave the skin to him when he died.
The deal was facilitated through the Zurich gallery de Pury & Luxembourg, which had been instrumental in pairing up Tim as a human canvas with Belgian artist Wim Delvoye's tattoo project, and later the buyer Rik Reinking.
Steiner was already a fan of Delvoye's work and when he heard about the chance to take part in his latest venture to create, sell and bequest a tattoo, he did not hesitate to come forward.
"I had been looking for an extreme experience and I realised that this was something I would like to take part in," the 32-year-old Zurich musician told swissinfo. "And I was a big fan of tattoos." More...
See also:
Bank giant HSBC axes 1,100 jobs...
About half of the cuts, which will affect back room jobs at its global banking and markets operation, will take place in the UK.
HSBC employs about 335,000 people around the world.
Last month, HSBC said half year profits fell 28% to $10.2bn (£5.2bn), as it was forced to write-off $14bn from bad debts in the US and asset write-downs.
Meanwhile, pre-tax profits fell 35% to $2.1bn during the same period.
An HSBC spokesman said the firm had opted to reduce its workforce, "because of market conditions and the economic environment, and our cautious outlook for 2009".
Many of the job-losses will be at the headquarters of HSBC's investment banking division, which are in London's Canary Wharf.
Banks around the world have been coming under increased pressure from the credit crisis currently affecting financial markets.
The problems have forced governments to step in and boost money markets as well as bail out a number of companies.
Earlier this year, the UK government had to buy mortgage lender Northern Rock, while in the US lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been rescued as well as insurer AIG and investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.
See also:
- Bailout backlash: Americans are waking up...
- Safe and sound, maybe, but bank customers are understandably nervous...
- The monarchs of money have been exposed as arrogant fools...
- Huge bonuses paid to City bankers was a factor in the credit crunch...
- Laxmi Das, the Indian beggar who has opened a bank account. Wow!
Switzerland: human breast-milk dishes banned from "stork" restaurant!!!
The Storchen restaurant, in Iberg on the outskirts of Winterthur, had advertised for mothers to sell their breast milk for the special menu. But breastfeeding counsellors had labelled the project unethical.
The idea was eventually scrapped after canton Zurich food inspectors said it broke regulations, and threatened to take action. "Humans are not on the list of authorised milk suppliers such as cows or sheep," said department head Rolf Etter.
(...)
Locher had planned to serve up human milk in dishes of soup, antelope steak with sauce and the classic dish of Zürcher Geschnetzeltes – bite sized pieces of meat in a creamy sauce. The Storchen, which coincidentally means Stork in English, would have served up these delicacies during a series of special offer weeks. More...
See also:
Les bunkers suisses: à quoi servent-ils?
Vingt ans après la fin de la guerre froide, entourée d'Etats amis, la Suisse se retrouve avec un problème: que faire des fortifications cachées dans les montagnes? La plupart sont connues et celles qui sont censées restées secretes ne le seront plus longtemps, curiosité médiatique oblige.
Le bunker qui devait servir de centrale de commandement au gouvernement suisse en temps de guerre vient ainsi de céder à la pression médiatique. Les coordonnées exactes de la «Centrale de commandement K20» ont été publiées sur internet fin août, à l'étranger et en Suisse. Suite...
Voir aussi:
Saturday, September 27, 2008
What Nature magazine thinks of Obama and McCain!!! Hilarious!
Has the American presidential campaign gone to the dogs?
One could be forgiven for thinking so after seeing the latest issue of Nature magazine.
The world's leading scientific journal has featured a powerful image of John McCain and Barack Obama on its front cover. The pair radiate statesmanlike-authority, the image is suitably sombre for the weighty interview inside.
Then, however, you see the back cover.
In an unfortunate choice, advertisers placed there an image of two labrador pups - one black, one golden, in an uncanny mirror image of the grave image on the front.
The dogs strike eerily similar poses to Barack Obama, the first black American presidential candidate for a major political party, and his Republican rival John McCain, tanned golden brown from the Arizona sun.
The journal swears it is horrified by the coincidence.
"We didn't know until the issue landed on our desks," Nature pleaded to the media.
"It just goes to show that editorial and advertising aren't working in cahoots."
See also:
India: Police ordered to book people who poop in public...
Even while Maharashtra is on tenterhooks fearing where the next blast might take place and the state police force is trying to thwart terrorists, the 1.75 lakh policemen have been told to take up another responsibility, that of booking people who defecate in open places.
The order, officials say, was issued to ensure that Maharashtra [population: 11 crore] maintains its numero uno position in the Nirmal Gram Swachchata Abhiyaan, a cleanliness drive launched by the Central government about three years ago to protect citizens from diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.
Toilet blocks are being set up across the state as part of the campaign, which is being implemented by the department of water supply & sanitation held by Ajit Pawar. But, the circular issued by the state home department says, despite efforts to create awareness about cleanliness, people continue to use open spaces for morning ablutions, ignoring the toilet blocks set up for the purpose. More...
See also:
Making ice-cream from ... mama's breast milk???
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the ice cream maker to begin using breast milk in its products instead of cow's milk, saying it would reduce the suffering of cows and calves and give ice cream lovers a healthier product.
The idea got a cool reception Thursday from Ben & Jerry's officials, the company's customers and even La Leche League International, the world's oldest breast-feeding support organization, which promotes the practice — for babies, anyway.
PETA wrote a letter to company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday, telling them cow's milk is hazardous and that milking them is cruel.
"If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits," wrote Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of the animal rights advocacy group. She said dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies and obesity. More...
See also:
Six years in Guantanamo ... for refusing to be a spy
The TV cameraman, 38, was never charged with any crime, nor was he put on trial; his testimony makes it clear that he was held in three prisons for six-and-a-half years – repeatedly beaten and force-fed – not because he was a suspected "terrorist" but because he refused to become an American spy. From the moment Sami al-Haj arrived at Guantanamo, flown there from the brutal US prison camp at Kandahar, his captors demanded that he work for them. The cruelty visited upon him – constantly interrupted by American admissions of his innocence – seemed designed to turnal-Haj into a US intelligence "asset". More...
See also:
Did you hear about the Cock, the Hen and the Fox?
Stephen Crane of Elmhurst filed the lawsuit in Will County Circuit Court against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet and Christopher Floss, a former priest at the Elmhurst Visitation Parish.
The suit seeks damages relating to his divorce and the breakup of the family. Crane accuses Floss of professional negligence, infliction of emotional distress and alienation of affection. The church is charged with negligent supervision and retention of the priest.
According to the suit, Stephen and Maureen Crane sought marriage counseling from Floss in the spring of 2006 at the church rectory. But in October 2006, at Floss' suggestion, Maureen Crane began individual counseling with Floss, both at the church and in the family home, the suit claims.
Those sessions occurred almost daily, and Floss also began E-mailing Maureen Crane regularly, the suit claims.
In December 2006, the church choir arranged a pilgrimage to Rome, and Floss advised the couple to take the trip, where he would renew their marriage vows, the suit claims. However, while in Rome in January 2007, Maureen Crane asked her husband for a divorce. More...
See also:
Sleeping in tents and in cars, welcome to the American Nightmare...
Of course there's a hefty price tag: nestled between the gentle Santa Ynez mountains and the inviting Pacific Ocean are multi-million dollar homes.
But in this sun-washed haven of wealth, many live far from the American dream.
In a car park across the street from luxury mansions, the evening brings a strange sight.
A few cars arrive and take up spaces in different corners. In each car, a woman, perhaps a few pets, bags of possessions and bedding.
Across the street from homes with bedrooms to spare, these are Santa Barbara's car sleepers.
Homeless within the last year, they are a direct consequence of America's housing market collapse. More...
See also:
Burma: one year ago, the Safrron Revolution...
They pledged to "wipe the military dictatorship from the land of Burma", and as the days went by increasing numbers of civilians joined their cause.
Hope began to flicker that the repressive military regime, which had been in power for more than 40 years, would finally be overthrown.
Then, on 26 September, the military's patience ran out. It launched a brutal crackdown, shooting and beating the protesters into submission.
By the end of 27 September at least 30 people were dead and thousands of monks were imprisoned or fled the country. The dream of a revolution was over. More...
See also:
Le porno s'en va-t-en guerre...
Après les auteurs, compositeurs, interprètes, producteurs, réalisateurs du monde de la musique et du septième art, c'est un monde dont on parle moins qui rattrape son retard, voire qui dépasse ses homologues en terme de lutte contre le piratage: le porno!
Allons bon, que se passe-t-il cette fois ?
Selon les Echos du Net, le méga éditeur de porno allemand Magma Film a obtenu du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris une ordonnance obligeant les Fournisseurs d'Accès Internet Français à fournir sous les 72 heures les données d'identification de plusieurs centaines d'internautes suspectés de piratage d'"oeuvres" couvertes par le droit d'auteur. Suite...
Voir aussi:
France: Scientology vs the State --- heads I win tails you lose...
The Church of Scientology faces trial on deletion fraud charges in Paris, with the possibility that the organization, which claims around 5,000 active members in France in addition to a bevy of Hollywood celebrities such as Tom Cruise, could be banned in France if it loses.
While it enjoys an active presence in the U.S. -- it has been recognized as a religious organization by the I.R.S. since 1993 -- Scientology has faced strong opposition from French authorities.
France has refused to acknowledge Scientology as a religion, and Miviludes, the French government agency in charge of protecting its citizens from sectarian manipulations, has warned French citizens against participating.
"Scientology is a dangerous movement," Milivudes president Jean-Michel Roulet told ABCNews.com. "It puts pressure on its victims, it tries to intimidate them and blackmails them."
More...
See also:
Friday, September 26, 2008
Paul McCartney in Israel: Give peace a chance...
After a 43-year wait, Paul McCartney performed his first concert in Israel on Thursday, kicking it off with the familiar Beatles' song "Hello, Goodbye" to the joy of tens of thousands of cheering fans.
McCartney billed the concert "Friendship First," saying he is on a mission of peace for Israel and the Palestinians.
Singing "Give Peace a Chance," he stopped and let the audience sing the chorus alone. He told his fans, "Here tonight you sang it, you want it." He dedicated the song to his fellow Beatle, John Lennon, who was killed in New York in 1980.
Fireworks lit the sky as he sang "Live and Let Die." More...
See also:
Japan: 86-year old Buddhist nun writes a cell-phone novel!!! Wow!
Japan's best-known Buddhist nun is reaching out to a new audience by writing a mobile phone novel at the age of 86.
Jakucho Setouchi, a prolific writer and translator of 11th century epic romance "The Tale of Genji," is latching on to a publishing revolution -- short works of fiction distributed piecemeal by cellphone often become best-sellers in book form.
"At this age, there are few things that interest me. But it was the first time I had written a cellphone novel, and it was exciting," Setouchi was quoted by a local newspaper as saying.
The story, entitled "Tomorrow's Rainbow," is about a high-school girl who is deeply hurt by her parents' divorce, but finds the love of her life in a boy named Hikaru. More...
See also:
Bailout backlash: Americans are waking up...
Five Surprising Things That Happened on Thursday:
Protests on Wall Street ... White House pow-wow flops ... Bailout plan implodes ... Obama will attend debate ... McCain's suspended campaign stunt.
Even news junkies had a hard time keeping up with a flurry of events on September 25 on Wall Street, Washington and the presidential campaigns. Here's a round-up of what happened: Full story...
See also:
Josef Fritzl returns to his infamous cellar...
Mr Fritzl was taken there under heavy police guard on Thursday to give investigators a tour of the cellar.
Officials say the visit is to help see if the cell can be opened from outside.
Mr Fritzl is accused of keeping his daughter for 24 years in a cellar he built, sexually abusing her and fathering seven children with her.
Lawyers for Mr Fritzl insist that an electronic timer would have unlocked the door in time for the occupants to free themselves if anything had happened to him, but investigators think the door could have been sealed off with metal bars.
Prosecutors say he has confessed to keeping his daughter Elisabeth captive in a cell at his home.
See also:
- Fritzl-like case in Poland: man accused of raping his daughter and holding her captive for 6 years...
- Poland to castrate sex offenders...
- Amstetten: Elisabeth Fritzl tells her mother to get out...
- Amstetten: police involved in the Fritzl case traumatised and in need of counselling...
- Josef Fritzl, the monster of Amstetten, living it up in Thailand while his daughter Elisabeth...
Sometimes you may have to push your car but ... push your plane???
Anyone who has ever used budget airlines know only too well how uncomfortable it can be: long queues, cramped seats and every tiny extra costs you.
But at least they are never told to get out and help push their plane.
That is exactly what happened to a group of passengers in China were after their jet broke down just after landing.
The CRJ7 plane, which had just flown some 500 miles from Guilin in the south of the country with 69 passengers and seven crew members on board, conked out before it could taxi to the arrivals terminal at Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province. More...
See also:
Zimbabwe: children eating toxic roots, rats...
Save the Children said the most vulnerable faced starvation unless they get food aid in the next couple of weeks.
"The rising malnutrition and the rise in diseases are going to mean that children will die and we have to act very fast," said Sarah Jacobs, a spokeswoman for the relief group.
The United Nations had said previously that more than 5 million people in Zimbabwe would need food aid by early next year after a poor harvest compounded by economic turmoil.
Jacobs said many people in the Zambezi Valley, the poorest and driest area, were now surviving on a vile-tasting, fibrous root called makuri.
"It's got no nutritional value whatsoever. It tastes disgusting and it also has a parasite which attaches to it which is toxic," said Jacobs, who has just returned from the region.
"This is all they have to eat. You see babies eating it and toddlers eating it, and it's not digestible. It creates terrible stomach pains."
People were eating anything to survive, she said. She had come across one child who had died after eating a poisonous root and young children eating tiny rats they caught in their huts. More...
See also:
- As Zimbabweans suffer under ridiculous inflationary levels, Mugabe gives Olympic medalist US$100,000!!!
- Indian minister urges poor to eat rats to combat food prices!!!
- Cambodia: As prices go up, rat meat hits the menu...
- Why are they eating mud in Haiti?
- What a waste... my family is throwing away £1,800 worth of food a year...
Fusion Man Yves Rossy flies across the Channel!!! Wow!
Yves Rossy landed safely after the 22-mile (35.4 km) flight from Calais to Dover, which had been twice postponed this week because of bad weather.
The former military pilot took less than 10 minutes to complete the crossing and parachute to the ground.
The 49-year-old flew on a plane to more than 8,200ft (2,500m), ignited jets on a wing on his back, and jumped out. Source + video...
See also:
China faked rocket launch story!!!
On Thursday morning, Xinhua posted a story on its website saying the Shenzhou capsule had been successfully tracked flying over the Pacific Ocean even though the rocket and its three astronauts had not yet been launched.
The article, dated September 27, described the rocket in flight, complete with a sharply detailed dialogue between the three astronauts.
Excerpts are below: More...
See also:
Poland to castrate sex offenders...
Although the plan has drawn overwhelming public support -- 84pc of Poles approve, according to a survey conducted for 'Dziennik' newspaper -- it has also sparked criticism from liberal politicians and doctors who argue that forced castration violates fundamental human rights and debases the medical profession.
"I don't think you can call such individuals -- such creatures -- human beings," said Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, in an emotional outburst after the incest case came to light. "Therefore I don't think you can talk about human rights in such a case."
A 45-year-old man was arrested in Poland a fortnight ago after being accused of fathering two children by his young daughter; the Polish press compared it with the case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian who kept his daughter prisoner for two decades, abusing her and creating a secret family. More...
See also:
Orléans: le maire porte plainte contre un blogueur...
Le blogueur Fansolo est accusé de diffamation pour avoir utilisé l'identité, les photos et l'image du maire d'Orléans sans son accord.
A la demande de Serge Grouard, maire d'Orléans, qui, d'après les échos qu'on en a, ne saurait plus bien s'il lance les poursuites uniquement en son nom propre, ou aussi en tant que maire d'Orléans. "Il y a eu utilisation frauduleuse de mon identité et de mes photos pour me discréditer", a déclaré l'élu, repris dans le Figaro. "C'est à l'évidence de la manipulation, qui plus est dans une période électorale. Il y a volonté de nuire et l'anonymat renforce encore la gravité des faits".
Le juge aura à se prononcer sur le fameux blog "Les amis de Serge Grouard" (inaccessible aujourd'hui), responsable de fuites urinaires chez quelques lecteurs âgés, et de crises de fou-rire chez les plus jeunes. Personne n'avait pris ce blogicule (22 articles seulement!) au sérieux; personne, sauf Serge Grouard. Suite...
Voir aussi:
Is it possible to confuse a bear's claw with a child's foot?
Police in Russellville spent two days searching surrounding wooded areas for a small child after a family dog brought the foot to its home late Saturday.
Chief Chris Hargett says the structure of the bear's foot was close enough to a human's to fool an orthopedic surgeon who examined it. But forensic tests later found its origin.
See also:
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Very hot sex bomb doing ninja kicks!!! Enjoy!
Une fille très sexy, une véritable "sex bomb" fait la danse des ninjas!!! Quelle classe!
WTF! Women going in for designer vaginas???
Professor Linda Cardozo, of King's College Hospital, London, says little evidence exists to advise women on the safety or effectiveness of procedures.
These include operations to make the external appearance more "attractive" and reshaping the vagina to counter laxity after childbirth, for example.
She discussed the issues at a medical meeting in Montreal, Canada. More...
See also:
Cliif Richard and the Shadows to regroup for one last tour?
Sir Cliff Richard has revealed he is set to reunite with The Shadows for one final world tour.
The 67-year-old said that he had been in discussion with the band - Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett - for some time and was hopeful plans would come together in the next two years.
He said: 'We have been talking about it for quite a while. It is not confirmed but it is looking pretty good.
'It is almost certainly going to be the last time we will all perform together. We just wanted to get together and just do one last goodbye for all the fans.'
Sir Cliff made his name in the 1950s performing with The Shadows. The band enjoyed success with hits such as Move It, Summer Holiday and The Young Ones but split in 1968.
He built up his solo career but reunited with The Shadows for a string of concerts in 1978, 1984 and 1990. More...
See also:
Paedophile vicar and his "57,000 images of ‘vile and stomach-churning’ child pornography."
The Reverend Richard Hart even showed the pictures to his wife before having sex with her.
The 59-year-old admitted collecting the paedophile images ‘like a magpie’ over more than 17 years in the village vicarage.
Today he was jailed for three and a half years after admitting 21 charges.
A court heard his wife, Julie Hart, 41, knew he collected indecent images of children and she told police the pair looked at them in their bedroom.
The mother of five told officers: ‘We occasionally looked at images of teenage girls, sometimes leading to sexual intercourse.’ More...
See also:
China: tainted milk? No worries for The Big Boys; they have their own exclusive food supply...
After reading the article, one reader commented, “Certain leaders will never have to risk drinking poisonous milk formula, because of their rank and position.”
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that on September 21 (Sunday), Internet forums in mainland China reprinted a speech from Shandong Ke’er Biomedical. It included a speech made by Zhu Yonglan, Director of the Special Food Supply Center for State Council Party and State Organizations at the licensing ceremony. She mentions that special food suppliers catering to the nation’s leaders have spread to 13 provinces and municipalities across the country. These facilities supply senior cadres safe foods that do not have any chemical additives or preservatives. These foods do not employ genetic engineering technology, and they are more nutritious and richer in fiber, trace elements and minerals than the food consumed by the populace at large. More...
See also:
Chine: lait frelaté? Pas de problème pour les "big boys!". Ils mangent sain, eux...
« Notre lait a été mille et une fois vérifié puisque c'est le lait des astronautes chinois. » C'était le slogan publicitaire du géant laitier chinois Sanlu. La Chine s'apprête, en effet, à envoyer jeudi son premier homme dans l'espace. Mais pour Sanlu, à l'origine du scandale du lait contaminé, le retour sur terre a été beaucoup plus rapide que prévu. En Chine, l'expression « mille et une fois » est désormais devenue une blague détournée pour désigner les mensonges des autorités.
Et en matière de mensonge, les dirigeants chinois en connaissent un rayon. Ainsi, sans doute conscient des faiblesses du système de sécurité alimentaire chinois, le conseil des affaires d‘État a créé, en avril 2005, dans la plus grande discrétion, un nouveau réseau interne de production et de distribution de produits alimentaires. Son nom? «Le centre de la distribution spéciale des produits alimentaires du conseil des affaires d'État» comme le révèle sur son blog le dissident Cai Chongguo. Son rôle? Abreuver les seuls hauts fonctionnaires en denrées sécurisées. Le centre dispose de bases de production spéciales dans les 13 provinces et les exigences de sécurité alimentaire y seraient autrement plus rigoureuses que celles appliquées aux produits qui alimentent les masses populaires. Etonnamment, le site web de l'entreprise est fermé depuis le 19 août. Soit peu après la découverte par les autorités chinoises de l'existence de lait contaminé à la mélamine (un composé chimique utilisé, sous forme de résine, pour fabriquer des colles et des plastiques). Suite...
Voir aussi:
End of the world postponed!!! LHC out till next spring...
Physicists had hoped that the tremendous circular hadron motorway - which is arranged rather as though the M25 was set up with the opposing streams of traffic having to drive through each other every so often - would by now be spraying sub-particulate roadkill wreckage like zillionfold femto-entrail hail into vast detector collectors. These would pass their data to tremendous hypercomputer arrays, which would sift the riven hadron guts for auguries into the very essence of the cosmos.
It was expected, once the LHC seriously got running, that the Nobel people would eventually be compelled to install some kind of automated prize-dispensing machine in the CERN cafeteria; on busy days, this would give the appearance of a fruit machine paying out a jackpot. More...
See also:
Barack Obama has a Swiss ancestor??? Apparently he has roots everywhere...
Six generations back, in 1749, one of Obama's ancestors, named Christian Gutknecht, emigrated from the village of Bischwiller in Alsace in eastern France and settled in America.
But the Bischwiller archivist, Christian Gunther, says the Gutknecht parents probably came from canton Bern at the very beginning of the 18th century. They lived in a street specially built for immigrants from Zurich and Bern.
Christian, who was born in 1722, changed his name to Goodnight in America.
According to the Swiss family name handbook, the name Gutknecht is native to villages in the cantons of Zurich and Fribourg.
See also:
Yves Rossy flight postponed ... again!
Yves Rossy aimed to make the 22-mile (35.4 km) flight from Calais to Dover on Thursday, but his attempt was postponed because of bad weather.
The former military pilot plans to repeat the attempt on Friday. More...
Daring cyclist completely outwits cops!!!
Un cycliste « fou » malmène les flics… Voir aussi/See also...
28 year ban on Monty Python's Life of Brian lifted!!!
There was a huge controversy when the silly burghers of Torbay in Devon slapped an X-rating on the Life Of Brian movie.
They accused the Python team of blasphemy and mocking the story of Christ.
But a local film festival asked for permission to show the 1979 classic on Sunday and officials in Torbay — the setting for John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers — lifted the restriction.
The Life Of Brian — starring Python legends Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle — tells the story of Brian Cohen who is mistaken for the Messiah.
It was voted best British movie ever by Radio Times readers last year. More...
See also:
How tobacco companies influenced Hollywood...
Tobacco firms paid huge amounts for endorsements from the stars of Hollywood's "Golden Age".
Industry documents released following anti-smoking lawsuits reveal the extent of the relationship between tobacco and movie studios.
One firm paid more than $3m in today's money in one year to stars.
Researchers writing in the Tobacco Control journal said "classic" films of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s still helped promote smoking today.
Virtually all of the biggest names of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were involved in paid cigarette promotion, according to the University of California at San Francisco researchers. More...
See also:
War-torn and impoverished countries the most corrupt in the world. Surprise, surprise...
The index is based on perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories.
The high levels of corruption amount to a humanitarian disaster said Huguette Labelle, chair of the watchdog.
At the bottom of the transparency table, along with Somalia and Iraq, are Burma, Haiti, Afghanistan and Sudan.
While Iraq remains in the same bottom-three position in the table as last year, the level of perceived corruption in the country collated by the Berlin-based organisation has increased.
See also:
"Chaque procès que je gagne, c'est une victoire pour les blogueurs"
Christophe Grébert, militant Modem et journaliste radio, tient le blog Monputeaux.com, sur lequel il parle de sa ville, Puteaux, et de ce qu'il s'y passe. Il y a quelques mois, trois policiers ont porté plainte contre lui pour "atteinte à l'image" parce que Christophe Grébert avait mis sur son blog une photo d'une manifestation sur laquelle on voyait, en arrière plan ces trois policiers.
Ce mercredi, les trois policiers ont été déboutés par la 17ème chambre du tribunal de Paris, celle où se déroule tous les procès pour la presse. Suite...
Voir aussi:
Oh boy! Man gets hit by train and car within six hours!!!
Police said it was the second trip to the emergency room in six hours for the unlucky man, who had been hit by a car Tuesday night.
Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said Robert Evans, 46, was found in a creek, about 4:45 a.m., 10 feet under the bridge, and was taken to Boulder Community
Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Evans is recovering from injuries to his head and leg after he was clipped by the empty Burlington Northern Santa Fe coal train.
Valmont Road and Pearl Street had to be closed for several hours, but have since reopened.
The bridge, which is about 50 feet long, is only wide enough to accommodate the train tracks. It is intended for trains only and is marked with warning signs to deter pedestrians from using it.
Evans is facing a possible ticket for trespassing, according to police.
Earlier, he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle at the intersection of Folsom Street and Canyon Boulevard in Boulder. It happened at about 10 p.m., Tuesday, and police are looking for the driver who left the scene.
Evans was released from the hospital at 3 a.m. and was heading back to his camp outside town when he was hit by the train.
See also:
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Are you a Picky Eater? Fear not! You're not alone...
The 28-year-old computer salesman is so disgusted by the idea of marrying gooey cheese with tangy condiments, meat and bread that he can't sink his teeth into one without retching.
He gets nauseous at the thought of biting into a juicy tomato, and has yet to work up the nerve to find out how a potato chip tastes.
"If I think I'm going to gag off of it, I'm not going to stick it anywhere near my mouth," Mr. Haselden said. "It has mainly to do with textures and smells."
For as long as he can remember, he has been able to tolerate only a few foods, including dry chicken or well-done steak and plain, sauce-free vegetables. None of the components can touch each other on the plate.
On evenings when his wife makes herself pasta, Mr. Haselden eats his own chicken dinner at the far end of the table to distance himself from the aroma of her dish. More...
See also:
India in pictures! Is India truly a photogenic country or has the photographer done an excellent job?
Safe and sound, maybe, but bank customers are understandably nervous...
After weeks of global market turmoil, lines of people quickly formed outside the bank's branches in Hong Kong.
In a statement, the bank said the rumours were malicious and untruthful, and they had informed the police.
The speculation was believed to have been spread by mobile phone, and drove the bank's share price down by 11%.
The rumours started earlier this week and customers descended on branches on Wednesday, despite bank staff handing out leaflets to the crowds denying that the bank was in financial difficulty. More...
See also:
Turkish singer, Bulent Ersoy, defies the State...
Bulent Ersoy made her comments at a court hearing in Istanbul, after being charged with attempting to turn the public against military service.
The transsexual singer also suggested that if she had a son she would not send him to fight.
If found guilty, she faces up to four-and-a-half years in prison.
Ms Ersoy made her comments about Turkey's powerful military on television last February.
The Turkish army was conducting a major operation against the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq at the time.
Some 40,000 people have died since the conflict with the PKK began in 1984. More...
See also:
Here it comes! MALINTENT, the airport scanner that reads your mind! Brave new world, huh?
But experts say a new scanner which can read minds is the next step in fighting terrorism.
Inventors also claim it will slash queuing times at airports - and bring an end to a ban on liquids.
The device, dubbed MALINTENT by inventors, uses sophisticated sensors to read body temperature, heart rate and respiration.
Analysed together, these factors can lead security services to potential terrorists.
Any suspects are pulled aside for questioning and then subjected to a second scan, which involve micro-facial scanning.
This equipment is able to read minute muscle movements which give further indications of criminal intent.
So far it can recognise seven primary emotions and emotional clues and will eventually have equipment which can analyse body movement, an eye scanner and a pheromone-reader. More...
See also:
It doesn't matter who gets elected, says Lew Rockwell, the State always wins...
The moment is complicated by the upcoming election, so some people are distracted by the circus of McCain vs. Obama and all the characters associated with that silly little battle. What they are looking at is really the veneer. It is a covering designed to prevent you from seeing what the state is and why it matters.
(...)
The U.S. has never hosted a personal state. The president was always to be the manager and overseer of a tiny state that ruled with the permission of the people and the lower orders of government: the people and government are one, and this would serve as a check on power. Of course this was a mistake, a reflection of the naïveté of the classical liberal position.
In time, the U.S. took on all the features of an impersonal nation state. It developed a permanent bureaucracy, especially after the tragic end of the "spoils system." It developed a money machine and monopolized and created its own currency. It began to host its own unelected military that was a "professional" fighting force and not a citizen militia. It became home to a million hangers-on who made the state their careers and their source of economic security. Full story...
See also:
Bruce the pig hassles woman for food!!!
Caroline Hayes fed and watered the animal after it came into her garden, but it became aggressive when more food was not forthcoming.
Ms Hayes said she had to barricade herself inside her home until the pig, named Bruce by neighbours, calmed down.
Authorities plan to catch the pig and take it to a local piggery, respecting the wishes of vegetarian Ms Hayes that its life be spared.
See also:
Yves Rossy cross-Channel adventure postponed...
Swiss adventurer and pilot Yves Rossy - known as "Fusionman" - was due to make the flight from Calais to Dover but the bid was put back after rain was forecast in the Channel.
Rossy plans to jump from a plane 8,200ft (2,500m) above Calais, then fire up jets on the home-made wings strapped to his back and head 22 miles across the Channel.
He will reach speeds of up to 125mph, and the journey is scheduled to take around 12 minutes.
The carbon wings have no steering capability, so Rossy must control his movement using his head and back.
Rossy is tracing the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in an aircraft 99 years ago.
National Geographic Channel will be broadcasting the flight live across 164 countries.
See also:
6 Brainwashing Techniques They're Using On You Right Now...
Now I know what you're thinking. "Sure, just make an ad with some big ol' titties on there! That'll convince people!"
While that's certainly true ...
... they've got a whole arsenal of manipulation techniques that go way beyond even the most effective of titties. Techniques like ... More...
See also:
What nobody's saying: the bailout will kill the dollar...
What nobody in the corporate media is mentioning amid all the blather about the $700-billion Paulson bailout proposal is the impact it will have on the US dollar.
We are told that this huge gift to the financial sector—the assumption, at top dollar, of all the bad debt they’ve piled up--will be at taxpayer expense, but that’s only the half of it. (Really only the quarter of it because since the US government is technically bankrupt already, spending more than it takes in each year, all that money will be borrowed, and will be added to the national debt, meaning that just as the real cost of the $500-billion Iraq War is closer to $2 trillion, the real cost of the $700 billion bailout will be more like $1.5-2.5 trillion.)
But besides the direct bill handed to taxpayers for this gigantic con, there is the fact that adding that much to the national debt is also going to drive the dollar down precipitously against foreign currencies. We’re already seeing that happen, even while they’re just talking about the bailout. The dollar is falling against all major currencies—the Euro, the Yen, the Renminbi and the British pound. And it will continue to fall as the details of the bailout come out. More...
See also:
La fin du monde n'est pas pour demain!!! Le LHC hors service jusqu'au printemps...
Déjà en panne une première fois après sa mise en route le 10 septembre, le LHC avait été remis en service vendredi. Quelques heures plus tard, un second incident avait provoqué une forte fuite d'hélium dans le tunnel.
Les premières investigations ont confirmé que la cause la plus probable était la fonte d'une connexion électrique entre deux aimants, a indiqué l'Organisation européenne de recherche nucléaire (CERN).
L'objectif de l'accélérateur de particules est de faire entrer en collision des protons circulant en sens inverse, faisant ainsi jaillir des particules élémentaires encore jamais observées. Par ce moyen il devrait recréer, durant une fraction de microseconde, les conditions qui prévalaient dans l'univers juste après le Big Bang, avant que les particules élémentaires ne s'associent pour former les noyaux des atomes.
Voir aussi:
India: dismissed workers beat CEO to death...
In one of the worst instances of industrial violence in recent times, the MD-cum-CEO of the India unit of Italian MNC, Graziano Trasmissioni, was bludgeoned to death by a 200-strong armed mob of dismissed workers which had barged into the company premises and indulged in largescale violence.
According to Graziano employees, the sacked workers rushed into the premises around 12.20pm when the gates were opened to let in a car. "They smashed each one of the approximately 20 cars inside the compound. Hearing the commotion, our CEO, Lalit Kishore Chaudhary, came out to the building entrance. He was abused while trying to reason with the protesters. And, when he objected, the beat him to death with a hammer," said production supervisor, Udaivir.
Chaudhary, 44, was rushed to Greater Noida's Kailash Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. The violence left at least 50 executives and workers of the unit injured. Of the 44 staffers taken to hospital, 34 of them were yet to be discharged until Monday night. Of these, 10 executives of the company remained in the intensive care unit. More...
See also:
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tués pour avoir tirer un coup sur la voie d’un chemin de fer…
Un couple en Afrique du sud qui faisait l’amour sur la voie d’un chemin de fer dans la province de Mpumalanga a été tué par un train de marchandises, dit la police.
Le porte-parole Abie Khoabane a déclaré que l’accident s’est produit vendredi soir et les victimes n’ont pas encore été identifiées.
Apparemment, le couple ignorait les cries du conducteur du train qui avançait sa machine vers une gare hors service.
Ils continuaient avec leur « business » a-t-il déclaré au journal Sowetan.
Selon le journal Beeld, l’endroit était déserté sans voitures ni maisons.
L’homme est mort sur place pendant que la femme est décédée à l’hôpital un peu plus tard, d’âpres le Sowetan.
La police a fait appel aux gens qui n’ont pas de nouvelles de leurs proches de les aider avec l’enquête.
Voir aussi:
The day 300 people were arrested for no reason...
Now that we've had a few weeks to settle, a look back at Labor Day in the Twin Cities. Labor Day was of course also Day One of the Republican National Convention. Video was released today of an apparent mass arrest of utterly peaceful concert goers at the SEIU Labor Day concert.
My personal favorite moment in the tape is an off-camera exchange. Police in riot gear have surrounded loungers in a waterfront park. They announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen, You're Under Arrest" and you hear one young woman say incredulously "Are you serious?"
Yep, I'm afraid they are. (Source)
Téléphonie fixe par le câble: réduction des prix chez Cityphone...
En réduisant de plus de 20% le prix de l’abonnement mensuel de téléphonie fixe CityPhone, qui passe désormais de CHF 19.– à CHF 12.– TTC, les SIL répondent aux souhaits de la clientèle, tout en répercutant la diminution des coûts de la téléphonie et en poursuivant leur politique de prestations commerciales à la portée de tous.
Autre avantage, et non des moindres pour les utilisateurs de la téléphonie fixe: la suppression des frais d'établissement des conversations (soit 8 cts pour chaque appel abouti) permet désormais la gratuité totale de l’ensemble des coups de fil passés en soirée et durant les week-ends sur le réseau national fixe. Si l’on y ajoute des conversations facturées à 3 cts/min. pendant les jours de semaine sur le même circuit, l’offre Cityphone se place en bonne position face à celle des grands opérateurs du marché. Elle affiche également une transparence des prix, alors que le coût de chaque prestation n’est pas toujours facilement identifiable dans les offres combinées proposées par ailleurs.
Lancée en janvier 2007 sous le label Cityphone, la téléphonie fixe est un des produits du téléréseau de la capitale vaudoise, au même titre que Citycable (Internet) et CityTV (radio-TV). Outre Lausanne, les habitants des communes desservies par le téléréseau lausannois (Prilly, Jouxtens-Mézery, Morrens, Bretigny s/Morrens, Bottens, Froideville, Cugy, Le Mont, Epalinges et Savigny) peuvent en bénéficier.
Voir aussi:
John Le Carré blasts the Big Brother State...
The 76-year-old author and former MI6 agent, who rarely speaks publicly, slammed ministers for voting to extend the 42-day limit that terror suspects can be held without charge.
Le Carré, who admitted he had been labelled an 'angry old man', said: 'Partly I'm so angry that there is so little anger around me at what is being done to our society, supposedly to protect it.
'We have been taken to war under false pretences, and stripped of our civil liberties in an atmosphere of panic.
'Our lawyers don't take to the streets as they have in Pakistan. Our MPs allow themselves to be deluded by their own spin doctors, and end up believing their own propaganda.' More...
See also:
Burmese democracy veteran freed in "loving kindness" gesture...
He was reportedly one of 9,000 prisoners amnestied by the Burmese military in a gesture of what state media describe as "loving kindness".
"I will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country," he said after his release.
Now 79 years old, Win Tin was among the founders of the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The NLD party won elections in 1989, but was prevented from taking power by Burma's generals.
Win Tin was Burma's longest-serving political prisoner, according to the UN and human rights groups which had repeatedly called for his release.
A poet, editor and close aide to Ms Suu Kyi, he was originally arrested in July 1989. More...
See also:
Hari Puttar gives Warner Bros the finger and can now be released...
A court in India has dismissed a lawsuit by Hollywood studio Warner Brothers against the makers of Bollywood film "Hari Puttar".
Warner Bros, which owns the rights to the Harry Potter franchise, had argued the Indian film sounded too similar to the name of JK Rowling's wizard hero.
But lawyers for both sides have said the case has now been dismissed.
The New Delhi court said Warner Bros could have brought the case three years ago and said readers could easily distinguish Hari Puttar from Harry Potter.
The decision means the film can now be released in India.
Warner Bros said in a statement on Monday it was assessing the ruling adding it believes the film's title "unfairly sought to confuse consumers and benefit from the well-known and well-loved Harry Potter brand."
"Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors" was due to open earlier this month, but producers delayed its release after some television networks refused to air trailers due to the legal dispute.
The film follows the adventures of a 10-year-old Indian boy whose family moves to England. It is scheduled to premiere in Mumbai on Wednesday and will be on general release from Friday.
The makers of the film stressed the film "bears no resemblance to the Hollywood film Harry Potter and it is a completely different story."
Producers argued Hari was a common Indian name while Puttar is Hindi for son.
Harry Potter films have grossed more than $4.47 billion (£2.42 billion) since 2001, making it one of the most lucrative franchises of all time.
Its next instalment "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is due for worldwide release next summer.
See also:
Having sex on a railway track is not a very good idea...
Spokesman Abie Khoabane said it took place on Friday evening and the victims were yet to be identified.
He told local newspapers that the couple ignored the driver's shouts as he moved the train into the disused station in Kinross town.
"They continued with their business," he told the Sowetan paper.
According to South Africa's Beeld newspaper, the area was deserted with no cars or houses nearby.
The man died at the scene and the woman died later at hospital, the Sowetan reports.
The police have appealed for those with missing relatives to come forward to help with their investigation.
See also:
- Turkish hotel manager sacks ENTIRE male staff ... for having affairs with British chicks!!!
- Italian model, Raffella Fico, plans to sell virginity for 1m euros!!!
- Creepy: cops film man having sex with his comatose wife...
- Malaysian nut gets nut stuck around his penis!!!
- How India promotes condoms and safe sex!!!
Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin detained for two years...
A prominent anti-government blogger in Malaysia has been detained for two years on charges of insulting Islam.
Raja Petra Kamarudin has been held without trial under controversial internal security laws which could see him detained indefinitely.
He was arrested on 12 September as part of a crackdown on dissent by the Malaysian government, which is facing a mounting challenge from the opposition.
Raja Petra's lawyer said the order was "a big blow" to civil liberty.
The BBC's Robin Brant in Kuala Lumpur said the well-known blogger had been a thorn in the side of the Malaysian government, using his blog to become one of its most vociferous critics.
Raja Petra was accused of insulting Islam and inciting racial tensions through an article he published on the Malaysia Today website.
The charge is highly sensitive in multi-ethnic Malaysia.
The arrest came shortly after he used his blog to accuse Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, of involvement in the 2007 murder of a Mongolian woman - a charge Mr Razak strongly denies. More...
See also:
Ethos dénonce toujours les salaires excessifs...
Ethos constate qu'en 2007, le patron de Novartis Daniel Vasella était une fois de plus le mieux payé, de même que Walter Kielholz, en tant que président du conseil d'administration de Credit Suisse.
La fondation note une amélioration de la transparence mais adresse des résolutions d'actionnaires aux assemblées générales du printemps prochain d'ABB, du Credit Suisse, de Nestlé, de Novartis et d'UBS.
Objectif: une modification des statuts donnant la compétence aux actionnaires de voter de manière consultative sur le rapport de rémunération.
Cette revendication est aussi au centre de l'initiative populaire «contre les rémunérations abusives», déposée le 2 avril dernier, soit le jour de l'assemblée générale de Novartis et la veille de celle d'UBS. Elle demande que les actionnaires votent chaque année la somme des rémunérations des administrateurs et des cadres.
L'initiative est soutenue par la gauche et certains secteurs de la droite nationaliste.
Voir aussi:
Un perroquet lance des "fuck you" aux visiteurs d'un zoo!!!
L'oiseau, âgé de 5 ans, a été confié au zoo par son ancien propriétaire qui ne supportait plus ses insultes à répétition. En plus des traditionnels "hello" ou "bye", l'animal a en effet pris l'habitude de gratifier les personnes qui s'approchent de sa cage d'un vigoureux "fuck you", que nous ne traduirons pas ici.
L'animal serait également capable d'imiter des bruits d'alarmes de voitures et des sonneries de téléphones portables. Le soigneur Peter Hansom, précise qu'un de ses jeux favoris est d'enfouir sa tête dans son écuelle pour jurer, amplifiant ainsi le volume de ses obscénités.
Voir aussi:
Monday, September 22, 2008
RIAA rejects damage award, forces trial, looks hypocritical...
Harper was 16 when MediaSentry discovered and downloaded a number of tracks from what proved to be her shared folder on KaZaA. The record labels sued her father, but he was dropped from the suit once Whitney admitted to using KaZaA for downloading and sharing music. Her admission was enough to convince Judge Xavier Rodriguez to hand the RIAA a summary judgment this past August, but he ruled that damages be capped at $200 per song, not the $750 at minimum sought by the RIAA.
The reason for the $200 limit was Harper's innocent infringement defense. More...
See also:
Whitman: To a pupil...
IS reform needed? Is it through you?
The greater the reform needed, the greater the personality you need to accomplish it.
You! do you not see how it would serve to have eyes, blood, complexion, clean and sweet?
Do you not see how it would serve to have such a Body and Soul, that when you enter the crowd, an atmosphere of desire and command enters with you, and every one is impress’d with your personality?
O the magnet! the flesh over and over!
Go, dear friend! if need be, give up all else, and commence to-day to inure yourself to pluck, reality, self-esteem, definiteness, elevatedness;
Rest not, till you rivet and publish yourself of your own personality.
See also:
If you are a black farmer in England, you can be easily accused of being a thief as you harvest your crop...
A police force sent four squad cars to question a black farmer in his field after receiving reports that a thief was stealing maize - the third time in less than a week that officers had questioned the man.
David Mwanaka, 42, told yesterday how he was reported to the police by people 'who are not used to seeing a black man working in a farmer's field', after he was repeatedly quizzed at the farm where he rents land.
Mr Mwanaka, who is originally from Zimbabwe, was quizzed for half an hour and searched, while officers also checked his van.
He also had to call the white farmer, from whom he rents his field in Rothley, Leicestershire, before police were finally satisfied that he wasn't stealing food.
On the third occasion, four patrol cars arrived to quiz the farmer as he was picking maize from his crop. More...
See also:
Why are cats so damn funny and adorable? Hilarious...
Pourquoi les chats sont-ils si marrants et adorables? Mort de rire...
OMG! Man wearing women's underwear on a panty robbing spree!!!
When Ceres police took Daniel Ramos to jail, they discovered he was wearing five more pairs of women's underwear, some of them string bikinis, said Sgt. Patrick Sullivan.
The underwear had to be cut off Ramos, Sullivan said. One of the burglary victims, a 20-year-old woman, identified the underwear as hers.
A relative who lives with Ramos said she did not know any details about the burglary because she was out of town Saturday night. Police said Ramos may have been drinking. More...
See also:
More women in the U.K. are having boob jobs...
Britain's biggest-ever look at breast augmentation surgery found that members of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) carried out 6 497 breast enlargements in 2007 compared to 2 361 in 2002.
BAAPS secretary Rajiv Grover, a plastic surgeon in London, collated the information and studied the data, which was presented at the association's annual conference in Chester, northwest England.
"The reason why we have this enormous increase is down to a number of factors, including improvements in surgery, shorter stays in hospital and shorter scar periods," he said.
"People used to think that breast augmentation was open only to celebrities and film stars - whereas they are now aware that the procedure is open to all members of the public, should it be right for them."
The study of 26 852 wider BAAPS operations found an average rate of infection of 0.53%, while 1.2% in haematoma (bleeding).
See also:
CDs to be replaced by slotMusic memory cards?
Perhaps not entirely, but SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) (SNDK), four major record labels and retailers Best Buy Co. (BBY) (BBY) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) (WMT) are hoping that albums sold on microSD memory cards will at least provide an additional stream of sales. The companies were expected to unveil plans Monday to sell memory cards loaded with music in the MP3 format, free of copy protections.
Called "slotMusic," the new format is meant to address two intertwined trends. Most albums are still sold in a physical format - 449 million were sold on CDs in 2007, while 50 million were sold digitally, according to Nielsen SoundScan - yet CDs are decreasingly popular. Albums sold on CD dropped almost 19 percent last year.
Given this, the record labels - Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG) (WMG) and EMI Group PLC - are hoping slotMusic can be another physical revenue source - and one that is more versatile than CDs, given the kinds of gadgets people carry around these days. More...
See also:
Le Président de Microsoft ( France) admet que Vista est décevant…
"2008 a été un bon cru au niveau mondial avec un chiffre d'affaires en hausse de 18% (sur l'exercice clos fin juin, ndlr), ainsi que pour la France qui a connu une croissance à deux chiffres à la fois dans le monde professionnel et grand public", a déclaré M. Boustouller lors d'une conférence de presse.
"Quelques déceptions" sont à noter toutefois, a-t-il ajouté, concernant notamment le système d'exploitation Windows Vista, qui s'est vendu à plus de 180 millions d'exemplaires dans le monde depuis son lancement en janvier 2007.
"On aurait pu faire un peu mieux en France et au niveau mondial", a-t-il estimé. Le groupe a expliqué ces difficultés par "quelques problèmes de performance et une compatibilité qui n'était pas parfaite" dans les premiers temps. Suite...
Voir aussi:
Prisoners in Britain become eco-friendly...
Some of the important habitats are on land that is outside the prison walls, but in many cases threatened species such as barn owls, kingfishers, adders and slow-worms also reside at Her Majesty's pleasure within prison grounds.
Dr Phil Thomas, sustainable development manager for the prisons estate, said the organisation is stepping up its work on biodiversity. 'It's really paying dividends, because many SSSIs on our estate are really in good condition,' he said. This is partly to meet the Prison Service's obligations under the 2006 Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, which requires it to consider the impact of its operations on plant and animal life. But Thomas says the work also benefits the community and makes prisoners less likely to reoffend. More...
See also:
Japan: OMG! Japanese chicks go for virtual boyfriends (Webkare)...
The site is a huge hit over here. Girls sign up and become members of a social network but also users of a dating simulation in cartoon style. They have to try to hook up with one of four male Anime characters (who are the “stars” of the site) through “conversations” and must collaborate with other Webkare members in order to move on in the game. Eventually they conquer the heart of the chosen cartoon boy.
It’s pretty weird but clever. Dating simulations have been popular in Japan for quite a while now, but Webkare marks the first time the concept has been brought online and combined with social networking functionality. More...
See also:
Why the Beatles were banned from Israel 42 years ago...
Still reeling from the sight of Israeli teenagers swooning to the tunes of Cliff Richard in 1963, Israel's publicly appointed guardians of good taste and morality, the interdepartmental committee for authorising the importation of foreign artists, refused their entry.
Determined to prevent another outbreak of mass hysteria, the 13 member committee of politicians and civil servants whose job it was to assess the artistic merit of foreign acts resolved to be "vigilant".
(...)
At the conclusion of its inquiry, the committee wrote, in resolution 709, that it would refuse entry because "the band has no artistic merit" and its performances "cause hysteria and mass disorder among young people". Full story...
See also:
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Global warming? What global warming?
What is scary about the picture is that there is only one tiny sunspot.
Disconcerting as it may be to true believers in global warming, the average temperature on Earth has remained steady or slowly declined during the past decade, despite the continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, and now the global temperature is falling precipitously.
All four agencies that track Earth's temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California) report that it cooled by about 0.7C in 2007. This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record and it puts us back where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over.
There is also plenty of anecdotal evidence that 2007 was exceptionally cold. It snowed in Baghdad for the first time in centuries, the winter in China was simply terrible and the extent of Antarctic sea ice in the austral winter was the greatest on record since James Cook discovered the place in 1770. More...
See also:
Police Nationale Francaise chasse une caravane ... et oops!!!
French police chase a caravan driven by a plucky driver!
Uganda: banning mini-skirts for the "dignity of Africa?"
Nsaba Buturo told journalists in Kampala that wearing a miniskirt was like walking naked in the streets.
"What's wrong with a miniskirt? You can cause an accident because some of our people are weak mentally," he said.
The BBC's Joshua Mmali in Kampala, the capital, said journalists found the minister's comments extremely funny.
Wearing a miniskirt should be regarded as "indecent", which would be punishable under Ugandan law, Mr Buturo said. More...
See also:
Tents go up in U.S. cities as economy slumps...
Then others appeared - people who had lost their jobs to the ailing economy, or newcomers who had moved to Reno for work and discovered no one was hiring.
Within weeks, more than 150 people were living in tents big and small, barely a foot apart in a patch of dirt slated to be a parking lot for a campus of shelters Reno is building for its homeless population. Like many other cities, Reno has found itself with a "tent city" - an encampment of people who had nowhere else to go.
From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation. More...
See also:
Milk scandal:Singapore detects melamine in China-made candy...
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said in a statement its laboratory tests detected the toxin in "White Rabbit Creamy Candy," which has been sold in many stores in Singapore for decades and is popular with children.
The authority, which has banned all milk and milk products from China on Sept. 19, clarified the products banned include not only milk, ice cream and yogurt, but also confectionery such as chocolates, biscuits and sweets made in China.
It also stressed that "any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient" are banned.
It also urged consumers not to consume milk or milk products from China.
The authority has so far found three milk or milk products from China contaminated with the toxin.
The other two are Yili Brand "Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection" and "Dutch Lady" brand strawberry flavored milk.
Retailers and importers have been ordered to recall the products and withhold them from sale and the authority warned it "will not hesitate" to prosecute any retailer or importer who fails to remove the products from their shelves.
Under Singapore law anyone found selling unwholesome food can be fined up to S$10,000 (US$7,000) or sentenced to three months jail, or both.
See also:
Le magazine Julie offre un film porno gay aux fillettes!!!
Car, au lieu de l’innocente tecktonik, le DVD en question contenait un film porno, gay de surcroît. Comme le dit 20 minutes, « C’est raté pour le cours de tecktonik. » Mais peut-être pas pour le cours d’anatomie. Ce DVD porno aurait été hétéro, la morale aurait été sauve. Et les fillettes auraient au moins eu droit, en cadeau, à un de ces cours d’éducation sexuelle qui font tant défaut à l’école…
Mais enfin, 9 000 exemplaires de cette livraison du magazine Julie ont tout de même déjà été vendus. Une seule plainte paraît-il a été enregistrée. On a donc échappé au pire. Suite...
Voir aussi:
Suisse: confiance aux banques, maglré tout...
Le sentiment de confiance, dans un contexte de grave crise financière internationale venue des Etats-Unis, recueille les trois quarts des réponses, selon le sondage mené auprès de 602 personnes.
Sans surprise, l'UBS, établissement helvétique le plus touché par le phénomène, réalise le plus mauvais score. La grande banque ne jouit de la confiance, ou de la relative confiance, des sondés qu'à hauteur de 35%. Quelque 40% affichent une confiance moindre et 20% affirment carrément n'avoir plus confiance du tout.
Quant au rôle à jouer par la Confédération en cas d'approfondissement de la crise, les avis apparaissent partagés. Pour 47% des sondés, l'Etat fédéral se devrait alors d'intervenir, tandis que 45% écartent d'emblée la perspective de recourir à l'argent public pour assainir le secteur.
Voir aussi:
Led Zeppelin to go on tour ... with or without Robert Plant?
Zep guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham have been busy recently rehearsing in West London’s Ritz Studio and using stand-in vocalists.
And one American singer has been so impressive the other band members are confident they could hit the road next year WITHOUT their iconic frontman.
Brummie-born belter Plant has refused to take part in any practice sessions as he is currently committed to his side project with country singer Alison Krauss.
A source said: “Jimmy, Jason and John are determined a tour will go ahead next year. More...
See also:
Two guys on guitars and drums having fun! Enjoy...
Deux gars avec des guitares et une batterie s’amusent ! Cool…
Bragging on MySpace is not a very good idea...
Oklahoma college students who bragged on MySpace that their party business had served thousands of revelers have been hit with a state tax bill of $320,000.
The Oklahoman reported Sunday that 2007 tax documents indicate that the party business Kegheadz hosted more than 100 events over nearly five years.
But co-founder Julius Baroi estimates his business hosted just over 20 parties in 1 1/2 years, netting less than $2,000. Another co-founder, Jordan Glover, says tax officials were misled by “hype” on the business’ MySpace site that was designed to attract more partiers.
The site boasts that Kegheadz has “over 1 billion served.”
Tax Commission spokeswoman Paula Ross says she cannot comment.
See also:
Woman arrested for bar-tending ... naked!!!
The Jersey County State's Attorney's office says sheriff's deputies were doing a routine check at the Cabin Tavern one afternoon this week when they found something not-so-routine. Authorities allege Janet Brannon of East Alton was naked as she served patrons.
She was arrested, and because no other bar employees were available, the tavern was closed down.
Brannon has been charged with misdemeanor public indecency, and her bond has been set at $8,000.
No published telephone listing could be found for Brannon, and it was not clear whether she has an attorney.
See also:
Saturday, September 20, 2008
La fin du monde est repoussée!! Le LHC en cale sèche pour 2 mois...
Le CERN a annoncé samedi que son accélérateur de particules, le plus puissant jamais construit, avait subi des dégâts plus importants que prévus et serait hors service pendant au moins deux mois.
Le grand collisionneur de hadrons (LHC), un anneau de 27km de circonférence à 100m sous terre à la frontière franco-suisse, à côté de Genève, avait été mis en route le 10 septembre. Mais le LHC avait dû être arrêté 36 heures après, en raison d'une panne électrique.
Après examen, il apparaît que le problème n'est pas dû à la défaillance d'un transformateur comme on le pensait. Les dégâts sont en fait plus importants, a expliqué le porte-parole du CERN, James Gillies.
Le LHC est conçu pour propulser les protons à une vitesse proche de celle de la lumière, grâce notamment à des aimants supraconducteurs, maintenus à très basse température (-273 degrés) par de l'hélium liquide. «Il semble qu'une connexion électrique défectueuse entre deux aimants ait interrompu la superconduction», a précisé M. Gillies.
«Nous devons maintenant réchauffer progressivement tout le secteur (endommagé) avant de pouvoir y accéder et réparer», ce qui va prendre du temps, a-t-il ajouté.
Le LHC est destiné à percer les mystères de la physique et aider les scientifiques à mieux comprendre l'univers. A terme, les chercheurs espèrent faire d'importantes découvertes grâce à cette machine de 2,6 milliards d'euros, notamment détecter des traces de l'invisible «matière noire».
Voir aussi:
Pat Buchanan: The party's over...
The Crash of 2008, which is now wiping out trillions of dollars of our people's wealth, is, like the Crash of 1929, likely to mark the end of one era and the onset of another.
The new era will see a more sober and much diminished America. The "Omnipower" and "Indispensable Nation" we heard about in all the hubris and braggadocio following our Cold War victory is history.
Seizing on the crisis, the left says we are witnessing the failure of market economics, a failure of conservatism.
This is nonsense. What we are witnessing is the collapse of Gordon Gecko ("Greed Is Good!") capitalism. What we are witnessing is what happens to a prodigal nation that ignores history, and forgets and abandons the philosophy and principles that made it great.
A true conservative cherishes prudence and believes in fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets and a self-reliant republic. He believes in saving for retirement and a rainy day, in deferred gratification, in not buying on credit what you cannot afford, in living within your means.
Is that really what got Wall Street and us into this mess — that we followed too religiously the gospel of Robert Taft and Russell Kirk?
"Government must save us!" cries the left, as ever. Yet, who got us into this mess if not the government — the Fed with its easy money, Bush with his profligate spending, and Congress and the SEC by liberating Wall Street and failing to step in and stop the drunken orgy?
For years, we Americans have spent more than we earned. We save nothing. Credit card debt, consumer debt, auto debt, mortgage debt, corporate debt — all are at record levels. And with pensions and savings being wiped out, much of that debt will never be repaid.
Our standard of living is inevitably going to fall. For foreigners will not forever buy our bonds or lend us more money if they rightly fear that they will be paid back, if at all, in cheaper dollars.
We are going to have to learn to live again without our means.
The party's over
Up through World War II, we followed the Hamiltonian idea that America must remain economically independent of the world in order to remain politically independent.
But this generation decided that was yesterday's bromide and we must march bravely forward into a Global Economy, where we all depend on one another. American companies morphed into "global companies" and moved plants and factories to Mexico, Asia, China and India, and we began buying more cheaply from abroad what we used to make at home: shoes, clothes, bikes, cars, radios, TVs, planes, computers.
As the trade deficits began inexorably to rise to 6 percent of GDP, we began vast borrowing from abroad to continue buying from abroad.
At home, propelled by tax cuts, war in Iraq and an explosion in social spending, surpluses vanished and deficits reappeared and began to rise. The dollar began to sink, and gold began to soar.
Yet, still, the promises of the politicians come. Barack Obama will give us national health insurance and tax cuts for all but that 2 percent of the nation that already carries 50 percent of the federal income tax load.
John McCain is going to cut taxes, expand the military, move NATO into Georgia and Ukraine, confront Russia and force Iran to stop enriching uranium or "bomb, bomb, bomb," with Joe Lieberman as wartime consigliere.
Who are we kidding?
What we are witnessing today is how empires end.
The Last Superpower is unable to defend its borders, protect its currency, win its wars or balance its budget. Medicare and Social Security are headed for the cliff with unfunded liabilities in the tens of trillions of dollars.
What we are witnessing today is nothing less than a Katrina-like failure of government, of our political class, and of democracy itself, casting a cloud over the viability and longevity of the system.
Notice who is managing the crisis. Not our elected leaders. Nancy Pelosi says she had nothing to do with it. Congress is paralyzed and heading home. President Bush is nowhere to be seen.
Hank Paulson of Goldman Sachs and Ben Bernanke of the Fed chose to bail out Bear Sterns but let Lehman go under. They decided to nationalize Fannie and Freddie at a cost to taxpayers of hundreds of billions, putting the U.S. government behind $5 trillion in mortgages. They decided to buy AIG with $85 billion rather than see the insurance giant sink beneath the waves.
An unelected financial elite is now entrusted with the assignment of getting us out of a disaster into which an unelected financial elite plunged the nation. We are just spectators.
What the Greatest Generation handed down to us — the richest, most powerful, most self-sufficient republic in history, with the highest standard of living any nation had ever achieved — the baby boomers, oblivious and self-indulgent to the end, have frittered away.
Source
Nick Leeson of Baring Banks infamy talks about the current crisis...
The world's financial markets remain at the eye of a perfect economic storm. The architects of this almighty financial sell-off? The banks themselves. The markets are in complete disorder, yet they remain unable to solve the situation themselves, and so go looking for a public sector bailout. Risk management, the buzz word of the financial markets since the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995, is clearly an oxymoron.
(...)
Who is responsible? Those same bankers that convinced you that another loan was not a bad thing. Those same bankers that convinced every wannabe property developer that they should leverage their portfolio and increase their volume of business. And unquestionably culpable were the investment bankers who wrapped up the sub-prime debt in exotic parcels and visited your offices to sell you this most fantastic investment vehicle. The property market has collapsed and probably still has further to go, the tremors from the sub-prime crises are still being felt, and the combination of the two sees the whole financial system in peril.
(...)
For my role in the collapse of Barings I was pursued around the world, and ended up being sentenced to six and half years in a Singaporean jail. Who is going to go after the reckless individuals responsible for this financial catastrophe? Apparently no one. Who is going to bail