In Russia, 'Hey, that's my car!':
People were relaxing at a river beach when a Toyota SUV stopped by and three beautiful girls got out of it. Eyewitnesses report that the girls fully undressed went knee-deep in the water and played there for a while.
Naturally, all attention was drawn to the girls who were later described by the victims as the complete resemblance of adult magazine models. Suddenly, the naked bathers got back into the SUV and quickly drove away. Only then did the people on the beach realize that four cars had been stolen. Other cars were broken into and various valuables were stolen as well.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
All things considered...
we'd rather be in Philadelphia:
The mayor of a remote Russian Arctic city that was home to some of the most feared Soviet prison-camps plans to build a replica forced-labor camp and charge tourists hundreds of dollars for a few nights of incarceration, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Igor Shpektor, the mayor of Vorkuta, is looking for investors for his proposal to reconstruct one of the Stalin-era labor camps — complete with watchtowers, barbed wire, guard dogs and gruel.
He believes that there are plenty of extreme tourists who would be willing to fork over at least $450 for a three-day stay.
“I want to make a camp like those that existed in the times of the Gulag,” the mayor said... “The same regime will be followed as it was in those camps.”
....Shpektor’s proposal doesn’t stop with the recreated camp: he also suggests building a five-star hotel where those who suffer through the camp can be pampered afterwards.
“It’s definitely way off the grid of the beach-cruise, Las Vegas-type of circuit, which I think is fantastic,” says Shannon Stowell, the president of the Seattle-based Adventure Travel Trade Association.
“I think the smartest thing for them would be to make sure there are other things there for people — not many people would go clear out of their way just to stay at a concentration camp.”
The mayor of a remote Russian Arctic city that was home to some of the most feared Soviet prison-camps plans to build a replica forced-labor camp and charge tourists hundreds of dollars for a few nights of incarceration, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Igor Shpektor, the mayor of Vorkuta, is looking for investors for his proposal to reconstruct one of the Stalin-era labor camps — complete with watchtowers, barbed wire, guard dogs and gruel.
He believes that there are plenty of extreme tourists who would be willing to fork over at least $450 for a three-day stay.
“I want to make a camp like those that existed in the times of the Gulag,” the mayor said... “The same regime will be followed as it was in those camps.”
....Shpektor’s proposal doesn’t stop with the recreated camp: he also suggests building a five-star hotel where those who suffer through the camp can be pampered afterwards.
“It’s definitely way off the grid of the beach-cruise, Las Vegas-type of circuit, which I think is fantastic,” says Shannon Stowell, the president of the Seattle-based Adventure Travel Trade Association.
“I think the smartest thing for them would be to make sure there are other things there for people — not many people would go clear out of their way just to stay at a concentration camp.”
Show Jerry the Money
It's no longer C-Note Brown:
A year after Jerry Brown was elected mayor of Oakland, San Francisco publisher Phil Bronstein introduced him at a luncheon of the American Society of Newspaper Editors as a politician who was trying to get big money out of politics.
...“In ‘92 he ran for president again, beating Bill Clinton in six state primaries, and was the only other candidate to make it all the way to the convention. In those races, as in his run for mayor of Oakland last year, he refused contributions over $100.”
....the Sacramento Bee quoted Brown as saying. “I’m the guy who limits my contributions to $100. I’m definitely concerned about the political process and how it’s become profoundly distorted by money.”
Running in the November general election for California attorney general, these distortions no longer seem to bother Jerry Brown. ....
An analysis reveals that in the two months between June 10 and Aug. 10, Brown collected $658,000 in contributions of $5,000 or more. Of those, 55 came from individuals contributing between $5,000 and the legal individual limit of $5,600 to Brown’s attorney general campaign. In the same period, Brown’s Republican opponent collected $167,525 in contributions of $5,000 or more.
....The analysis shows that Brown’s financial support is broad-based, with large contributions coming from unions, corporate interests, law enforcement associations and law corporations, and casino interests, as well as individuals. ... Brown received $5,600 apiece from Oakpac, the Oakland political fund that promotes business interests, and the Los Angeles County Council on Political Education, an AFL-CIO-based fund which said its purpose was “promoting working families issues” in its filing papers with the state as a political action committee.
Brown’s single largest interest group support in the last two months was from unions, from which he took in $192,300, the largest coming from labor organizations connected with the building trades industry. Brown has led a residential building boom in Oakland during his two terms as mayor, a policy that has benefited building trades unions.
A year after Jerry Brown was elected mayor of Oakland, San Francisco publisher Phil Bronstein introduced him at a luncheon of the American Society of Newspaper Editors as a politician who was trying to get big money out of politics.
...“In ‘92 he ran for president again, beating Bill Clinton in six state primaries, and was the only other candidate to make it all the way to the convention. In those races, as in his run for mayor of Oakland last year, he refused contributions over $100.”
....the Sacramento Bee quoted Brown as saying. “I’m the guy who limits my contributions to $100. I’m definitely concerned about the political process and how it’s become profoundly distorted by money.”
Running in the November general election for California attorney general, these distortions no longer seem to bother Jerry Brown. ....
An analysis reveals that in the two months between June 10 and Aug. 10, Brown collected $658,000 in contributions of $5,000 or more. Of those, 55 came from individuals contributing between $5,000 and the legal individual limit of $5,600 to Brown’s attorney general campaign. In the same period, Brown’s Republican opponent collected $167,525 in contributions of $5,000 or more.
....The analysis shows that Brown’s financial support is broad-based, with large contributions coming from unions, corporate interests, law enforcement associations and law corporations, and casino interests, as well as individuals. ... Brown received $5,600 apiece from Oakpac, the Oakland political fund that promotes business interests, and the Los Angeles County Council on Political Education, an AFL-CIO-based fund which said its purpose was “promoting working families issues” in its filing papers with the state as a political action committee.
Brown’s single largest interest group support in the last two months was from unions, from which he took in $192,300, the largest coming from labor organizations connected with the building trades industry. Brown has led a residential building boom in Oakland during his two terms as mayor, a policy that has benefited building trades unions.
Do they call on TV's Day?
T is for the total hold you have on them:
Sometimes the numbing effect of TV can be helpful. Especially if you're a kid being stuck with a needle at the hospital.
Researchers confirmed the distracting power of television - something parents have long known - when they found that children watching cartoons suffered less pain from a hypodermic needle than kids not watching TV.
....The study involved 69 children, ages 7 to 12, who were separated into three groups and then asked to rate their pain on a numerical scale when they were stuck with needle used to take a blood sample. The children's mothers also rated the kids' pain.
Those watching TV cartoons reported half the pain as those who were being soothed by Mom. When compared with children who just sat in a hospital room with mothers who didn't try to soothe them, the TV watchers reported one-third the pain.
Sometimes the numbing effect of TV can be helpful. Especially if you're a kid being stuck with a needle at the hospital.
Researchers confirmed the distracting power of television - something parents have long known - when they found that children watching cartoons suffered less pain from a hypodermic needle than kids not watching TV.
....The study involved 69 children, ages 7 to 12, who were separated into three groups and then asked to rate their pain on a numerical scale when they were stuck with needle used to take a blood sample. The children's mothers also rated the kids' pain.
Those watching TV cartoons reported half the pain as those who were being soothed by Mom. When compared with children who just sat in a hospital room with mothers who didn't try to soothe them, the TV watchers reported one-third the pain.
Why he's an ex-Seahawk
More than 15 yards for a head slap:
The wife of a former Seahawks football player has been arrested by King County deputies in response to a domestic-violence complaint.
Tina Eaton, 33, was arrested at her home near Redmond on Sunday after officers responded to a report of a dispute.
Officers found former Seahawks tackle Chad Eaton with a bloody nose from a punch or slap to the face.
Under state domestic-violence laws, officers are required to make an arrest of the aggressor in such disputes if the offense occurred within four hours of the report, said Sgt. John Urquhart, sheriff's public-information officer.
The woman weighs more than 100 pounds less than her husband....
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Don't Show Me the Money
Russian math nerds don't party, we guess:
Dr. Grigory Perelman, who has solved one of the most complicated math problems, is going to refuse the $1 million reward from a U.S. institute next Tuesday, claiming the prize was the solution of the problem. The Russian genius has found a solution to the century-old problem set by the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Jules Henri Poincare in 2002. The conjecture, which is difficult for most non-mathematicians even to understand, exercised some of the greatest minds of the 20th century. No one has been able to find a mistake in Perelman’s solution and there is a growing consensus that he has cracked the problem.
Next Tuesday Perelman is tipped to win a Fields medal. But even by the standards of troubled maths virtuosos such as John Nash, portrayed in the film A Beautiful Mind, Dr. Perelman is described as “unconventional”.
.... He has also refused a major European math prize, supposedly on the grounds that he did not believe the committee awarding the prize was sufficiently qualified to judge his work.
“I just don’t see him turning up in a stretch limo with four over-endowed women and waving his cheque in the air. It’s not his style,” said Jeremy Gray, a math historian at the University of Oxford.
“I think he’s a very unconventional person. He’s against being involved in pageantry and idolatry,” said Arthur Jaffe at Harvard University. “But he carries it to extreme which people might describe as a little crazy.”
Dr. Grigory Perelman, who has solved one of the most complicated math problems, is going to refuse the $1 million reward from a U.S. institute next Tuesday, claiming the prize was the solution of the problem. The Russian genius has found a solution to the century-old problem set by the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Jules Henri Poincare in 2002. The conjecture, which is difficult for most non-mathematicians even to understand, exercised some of the greatest minds of the 20th century. No one has been able to find a mistake in Perelman’s solution and there is a growing consensus that he has cracked the problem.
Next Tuesday Perelman is tipped to win a Fields medal. But even by the standards of troubled maths virtuosos such as John Nash, portrayed in the film A Beautiful Mind, Dr. Perelman is described as “unconventional”.
.... He has also refused a major European math prize, supposedly on the grounds that he did not believe the committee awarding the prize was sufficiently qualified to judge his work.
“I just don’t see him turning up in a stretch limo with four over-endowed women and waving his cheque in the air. It’s not his style,” said Jeremy Gray, a math historian at the University of Oxford.
“I think he’s a very unconventional person. He’s against being involved in pageantry and idolatry,” said Arthur Jaffe at Harvard University. “But he carries it to extreme which people might describe as a little crazy.”
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Won't you please come to Chicago
We can always eat in the suburbs:
CHICAGO — These are dangerous times for waterfowl in Chicago.
With the city's ban on foie gras — a delicacy made of duck and goose liver — days away from going into effect, upscale restaurants in the city are serving it up like never before. They've put together special menus featuring it in course after course — searing it, chilling it, tossing it into salads and turning it into sauce.
...."There are other things I might have ordered, but I thought, I'm on the clock," said Ben Goldhirsh, a mortgage banker who recently enjoyed the extensive "Foie Gras, Farewell To Our Good Friend" menu at the restaurant MK.
....More than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, have banned production of the delicacy.
....That helps explain why a group of distributors, producers, processors and others in the business have formed the North American Foie Gras Association and hired a lobbyist to make their case as other cities, including Philadelphia, contemplate following Chicago's lead. And why Durand helped found Chicago Chefs for Choice to raise money to fight the ban.
....many Chicago chefs say that in their world of four-star restaurants, the ban will have an effect.
"When things like this happen, it makes the city look silly," said Jean Joho, the chef at Everest.
"Colleagues around the world are laughing. They definitely make jokes about Chicago."
CHICAGO — These are dangerous times for waterfowl in Chicago.
With the city's ban on foie gras — a delicacy made of duck and goose liver — days away from going into effect, upscale restaurants in the city are serving it up like never before. They've put together special menus featuring it in course after course — searing it, chilling it, tossing it into salads and turning it into sauce.
...."There are other things I might have ordered, but I thought, I'm on the clock," said Ben Goldhirsh, a mortgage banker who recently enjoyed the extensive "Foie Gras, Farewell To Our Good Friend" menu at the restaurant MK.
....More than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, have banned production of the delicacy.
....That helps explain why a group of distributors, producers, processors and others in the business have formed the North American Foie Gras Association and hired a lobbyist to make their case as other cities, including Philadelphia, contemplate following Chicago's lead. And why Durand helped found Chicago Chefs for Choice to raise money to fight the ban.
....many Chicago chefs say that in their world of four-star restaurants, the ban will have an effect.
"When things like this happen, it makes the city look silly," said Jean Joho, the chef at Everest.
"Colleagues around the world are laughing. They definitely make jokes about Chicago."
'Enlever l'intermédiaire' doesn't exist in french
But it should, if the French Consulate in Moscow is any indication:
Three officials pocketed between 10 and 20 times the official 35-euro (44-dollar) cost of a French visa in exchange for speeding up delivery, which had slowed due to increased demand, an embassy source told AFP.
"The consulate has asked the three officials to leave because there are strong suspicions of corruption surrounding them," said another embassy source, adding that an enquiry was under way and that other officials might be found to be culpable.
Last year France issued more visas in Russia than any other European country, 272,000 in all -- a 10-percent increase from the previous year and double the number in 2000.
Obtaining a visa at the consulate currently takes from two to three weeks. The consulate is looking into ways of improving the service, including registering applications on the internet or engaging a subcontractor.
Guys, you just told the subcontractors to get out of town.
Three officials pocketed between 10 and 20 times the official 35-euro (44-dollar) cost of a French visa in exchange for speeding up delivery, which had slowed due to increased demand, an embassy source told AFP.
"The consulate has asked the three officials to leave because there are strong suspicions of corruption surrounding them," said another embassy source, adding that an enquiry was under way and that other officials might be found to be culpable.
Last year France issued more visas in Russia than any other European country, 272,000 in all -- a 10-percent increase from the previous year and double the number in 2000.
Obtaining a visa at the consulate currently takes from two to three weeks. The consulate is looking into ways of improving the service, including registering applications on the internet or engaging a subcontractor.
Guys, you just told the subcontractors to get out of town.
Swingers
Turn-ons include bananas and brachiating:
Zookeepers in the Netherlands are planning to hook up Dutch and Indonesian orangutans over the Internet and believe the link could at some stage be used as an online dating service where apes could get to know one another and keepers could work out whether they would be compatible mates.
...."We are going to set up an Internet connection between Indonesia and Apeldoorn so that the apes can see each other and, by means of pressing a button, be able to give one another food, for example," said Anouk Ballot, a spokeswoman for the Apenheul ape park in the central Dutch city of Apeldoorn.
She said the chance of two orangutans actually mating as a result of the online interaction was small due to the problem of transporting them between the Netherlands and Indonesia. "But I wouldn't rule it out completely," she told The Associated Press.
....She stressed that only orangutans who show a natural interest and aptitude will take part. The Apenheul park has 13 orangutans among its collection of apes.
There is still work to be done to set up the Internet connection. "We need to find ape-proof cables and screens," Ballot said, adding that the zoo hopes to have the orangutans online by the end of this year or early 2007.
Zookeepers in the Netherlands are planning to hook up Dutch and Indonesian orangutans over the Internet and believe the link could at some stage be used as an online dating service where apes could get to know one another and keepers could work out whether they would be compatible mates.
...."We are going to set up an Internet connection between Indonesia and Apeldoorn so that the apes can see each other and, by means of pressing a button, be able to give one another food, for example," said Anouk Ballot, a spokeswoman for the Apenheul ape park in the central Dutch city of Apeldoorn.
She said the chance of two orangutans actually mating as a result of the online interaction was small due to the problem of transporting them between the Netherlands and Indonesia. "But I wouldn't rule it out completely," she told The Associated Press.
....She stressed that only orangutans who show a natural interest and aptitude will take part. The Apenheul park has 13 orangutans among its collection of apes.
There is still work to be done to set up the Internet connection. "We need to find ape-proof cables and screens," Ballot said, adding that the zoo hopes to have the orangutans online by the end of this year or early 2007.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Keep the Queu Orderly, Lass
Muddling through to your grave in Britain's National Health Service:
A Woman who was told that she had just six months to live has been forced to spend the past four months battling to get funding for the only treatment that could save her. Helena Simpson, from Backwell, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the beginning of May.
Due to the severity of her illness she has not been able to receive either radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Her only hope of survival is treatment with a drug called Tarceva (Erlotinib) which can destroy some types of cancer cells. But exceptional funding is needed from North Somerset Primary Care Trust (PCT) for the drug.
....She has already been turned down for the drug twice and says delays in setting a date to appeal the decision could cost her her life.
...."They have taken away the best part of four months of the six months they said I had left. It feels so unjust."
....In a letter from Dr Max Kammerling, the director of public health and health improvement at the PCT, Lena was told: "We are aware of some weaknesses in our administration procedures for requests such as yours and we are working to improve them. I do apologise for the distress and confusion caused by this and I can assure you that are moving to address your concerns as quickly as possible."
A Woman who was told that she had just six months to live has been forced to spend the past four months battling to get funding for the only treatment that could save her. Helena Simpson, from Backwell, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the beginning of May.
Due to the severity of her illness she has not been able to receive either radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Her only hope of survival is treatment with a drug called Tarceva (Erlotinib) which can destroy some types of cancer cells. But exceptional funding is needed from North Somerset Primary Care Trust (PCT) for the drug.
....She has already been turned down for the drug twice and says delays in setting a date to appeal the decision could cost her her life.
...."They have taken away the best part of four months of the six months they said I had left. It feels so unjust."
....In a letter from Dr Max Kammerling, the director of public health and health improvement at the PCT, Lena was told: "We are aware of some weaknesses in our administration procedures for requests such as yours and we are working to improve them. I do apologise for the distress and confusion caused by this and I can assure you that are moving to address your concerns as quickly as possible."
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Lazy Faire?
Paris, the City of Light Hours:
Seoul has the highest, Paris the lowest working hours
....With a mean annual working time of 2088 hours, people work longest in the Asian cities. Based on a 42-hour work week, Asian workers labor about 50 days a year more than their peers in Paris, where a working year is just 1480 hours, or Berlin, where a years' work equals 1610 hours.
An analysis of the historical data produced by the UBS Study of Prices and Earnings, shows that Europeans have reduced their working hours in the last 30 years in favor of more leisure time.
Seoul has the highest, Paris the lowest working hours
....With a mean annual working time of 2088 hours, people work longest in the Asian cities. Based on a 42-hour work week, Asian workers labor about 50 days a year more than their peers in Paris, where a working year is just 1480 hours, or Berlin, where a years' work equals 1610 hours.
An analysis of the historical data produced by the UBS Study of Prices and Earnings, shows that Europeans have reduced their working hours in the last 30 years in favor of more leisure time.
Just Go Eat Worms
'Cause you can't sell them in Connecticut:
CROMWELL, Conn. — For the past three summers, Joey Cadieux has headed outside with his flashlight on rainy nights to collect night crawlers from his yard.
Purchased by passing fishermen for $2.50 a dozen, the worms brought him $7 to $10 in a good month, just enough for bike trips to his favorite neighborhood pizza joint.
But when a Cromwell official recently objected to his stenciled black-and-white "nite crawlers" yard sign, Cadieux's business got the hook.
....Cadieux, 13, who starts high school in a few weeks, is uncomfortable with the controversy and just wants to start earning some pizza money again.
....The brouhaha started in July when Al Diaz, a town Planning and Zoning Commission member, said the sign did not conform with Cromwell's rules and should come down.
...."In a residential zone, if you want to put up a business and work out of your home you really need a special permit," Diaz told The Hartford Courant in a story published Friday.
CROMWELL, Conn. — For the past three summers, Joey Cadieux has headed outside with his flashlight on rainy nights to collect night crawlers from his yard.
Purchased by passing fishermen for $2.50 a dozen, the worms brought him $7 to $10 in a good month, just enough for bike trips to his favorite neighborhood pizza joint.
But when a Cromwell official recently objected to his stenciled black-and-white "nite crawlers" yard sign, Cadieux's business got the hook.
....Cadieux, 13, who starts high school in a few weeks, is uncomfortable with the controversy and just wants to start earning some pizza money again.
....The brouhaha started in July when Al Diaz, a town Planning and Zoning Commission member, said the sign did not conform with Cromwell's rules and should come down.
...."In a residential zone, if you want to put up a business and work out of your home you really need a special permit," Diaz told The Hartford Courant in a story published Friday.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Break a Leg
In one Hungarian city, good luck:
VESZPRÉM residents need to pay particular care in coming times so as to not break any bones, as the city's hospital does not have sufficient funds and has sent several patients home as it ran out plaster for casts, Magyar Rádió online (radio.hu) reported last week. According to Dr.Jenô Rácz, director general of the hospital, the coming month is going to be even worse, as the hospital has no money.
He said that in July, every third patient's attendance was financed by the National Health Insurance Office.
.... Hungarians... visit their doctor over twenty times a year, twice as often as the average number of surgery appointments in developed countries.
VESZPRÉM residents need to pay particular care in coming times so as to not break any bones, as the city's hospital does not have sufficient funds and has sent several patients home as it ran out plaster for casts, Magyar Rádió online (radio.hu) reported last week. According to Dr.Jenô Rácz, director general of the hospital, the coming month is going to be even worse, as the hospital has no money.
He said that in July, every third patient's attendance was financed by the National Health Insurance Office.
.... Hungarians... visit their doctor over twenty times a year, twice as often as the average number of surgery appointments in developed countries.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Why pay for the milk...
...when the cow is stupid, and you're broke:
Matthew Bushell, 33, was quite happy to have Tracy Harper make a 100-mile journey to his home in Southport, Merseyside, and even happier to spend six hours in bed with her.
But when it came time to settle up he suddenly became a little reticent.
His first thought was to stall by inviting her out for a post-coital drink. Then he panicked, driving to a pub car park and speeding off as soon as she got out of the passenger door.
Later he sent her a text message saying: "Sorry Tracy. Had to do it. Did not have a penny at the time. Hope you got home safely."
Miss Harper, who had to return to Bradford, West Yorkshire, minus her £120-an-hour fee, was so angry that she lodged an official complaint with police.
Bushell was promptly arrested and charged with dishonestly obtaining sexual favours by deception.
....[Miss Harper] said last night: "I thought escorting wouldn't just be about sex - I thought it would be going out to events and maybe a bit glamorous.
"But Bushell didn't even give me a cup of tea, even though I asked him twice."
Miss Harper added: "I realise now that I was too trusting and naive. I just hope I can warn other girls who possibly think the escort industry isn't all about sex. Well, it is - and it's not worth it."
Matthew Bushell, 33, was quite happy to have Tracy Harper make a 100-mile journey to his home in Southport, Merseyside, and even happier to spend six hours in bed with her.
But when it came time to settle up he suddenly became a little reticent.
His first thought was to stall by inviting her out for a post-coital drink. Then he panicked, driving to a pub car park and speeding off as soon as she got out of the passenger door.
Later he sent her a text message saying: "Sorry Tracy. Had to do it. Did not have a penny at the time. Hope you got home safely."
Miss Harper, who had to return to Bradford, West Yorkshire, minus her £120-an-hour fee, was so angry that she lodged an official complaint with police.
Bushell was promptly arrested and charged with dishonestly obtaining sexual favours by deception.
....[Miss Harper] said last night: "I thought escorting wouldn't just be about sex - I thought it would be going out to events and maybe a bit glamorous.
"But Bushell didn't even give me a cup of tea, even though I asked him twice."
Miss Harper added: "I realise now that I was too trusting and naive. I just hope I can warn other girls who possibly think the escort industry isn't all about sex. Well, it is - and it's not worth it."
Even his wooden shoes were plastic
Euro Rappers? The idea deserves to be taken for a ride:
AMSTERDAM — Dutch rap stars Lange Frans and Baas B. have fallen victim to a bogus manager who organised fictional concerts in their names to get the unwitting venues to part with money.
The suspected conman has fled abroad, real manager Willem van den Brandt told RTL Nieuws on Tuesday.
His bogus counterpart has been masquerading as the manager, while in actual fact he had only worked as a touring assistant for Lange Frans and Baas B. on a freelance basis for over two years.
"As things stand now I know of three instances where he presented himself as the manager," Van der Brandt said. Using this ploy, the man spent months negotiating with Snoepy's disco in Salou, Spain about a performance there.
"Lange Frans and Baas B. were supposed to come to Spain, and the disco lodged EUR 12,500 in the man's private bank account as an advance, Van den Brandt said.
The performance was scheduled for June but at the end of May the owner of the disco was informed the duo probably would not be coming because they had received a "more attractive offer".
"So he also made Lange Frans and Baas B. look like real jerks," their manager said.
Real rappers not needing the help, he means?
AMSTERDAM — Dutch rap stars Lange Frans and Baas B. have fallen victim to a bogus manager who organised fictional concerts in their names to get the unwitting venues to part with money.
The suspected conman has fled abroad, real manager Willem van den Brandt told RTL Nieuws on Tuesday.
His bogus counterpart has been masquerading as the manager, while in actual fact he had only worked as a touring assistant for Lange Frans and Baas B. on a freelance basis for over two years.
"As things stand now I know of three instances where he presented himself as the manager," Van der Brandt said. Using this ploy, the man spent months negotiating with Snoepy's disco in Salou, Spain about a performance there.
"Lange Frans and Baas B. were supposed to come to Spain, and the disco lodged EUR 12,500 in the man's private bank account as an advance, Van den Brandt said.
The performance was scheduled for June but at the end of May the owner of the disco was informed the duo probably would not be coming because they had received a "more attractive offer".
"So he also made Lange Frans and Baas B. look like real jerks," their manager said.
Real rappers not needing the help, he means?
Homage by Catalonia?
The Official Gang of Barcelona:
BARCELONA – The infamous urban gang the Latin Kings has been legalised in Catalonia, according to the newspaper El Periodico de Cataluna.
The Latin American gang has been the centre of a number of police investigations for street violence and clashes with its rival gang the Ñetas.
However, the regional government in Catalonia, the Generalitat, has approved the gang’s naming as a cultural association.
From now on, it will be called the Cultural Association of the Latin Kings and Queens of Catalonia.
.... The legalisation means the Latin Kings are now eligible for the benefits associated with being a legally registered body, such as financial aid, grants and subsidies.
BARCELONA – The infamous urban gang the Latin Kings has been legalised in Catalonia, according to the newspaper El Periodico de Cataluna.
The Latin American gang has been the centre of a number of police investigations for street violence and clashes with its rival gang the Ñetas.
However, the regional government in Catalonia, the Generalitat, has approved the gang’s naming as a cultural association.
From now on, it will be called the Cultural Association of the Latin Kings and Queens of Catalonia.
.... The legalisation means the Latin Kings are now eligible for the benefits associated with being a legally registered body, such as financial aid, grants and subsidies.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
There must be fifty ways to leave your...
...love for the French, at the companion site to the book 50 Reasons to Hate the French:
Want to know France's ten greatest military defeats? They're listed inside.
Want to know just how safe the Citroen 2CV is?
Inside.
Want to understand how Jean Paul Sartre used existentialism to prove that bathing was unnecessary?
Inside.
Click on a category on the site, and you're invited to pile on:
To add your experience in this category of the French BLOG, fill in your details below.
Your Experience Details
Name:
Email:
Comment:
(Thanks to This French Life.)
Want to know France's ten greatest military defeats? They're listed inside.
Want to know just how safe the Citroen 2CV is?
Inside.
Want to understand how Jean Paul Sartre used existentialism to prove that bathing was unnecessary?
Inside.
Click on a category on the site, and you're invited to pile on:
To add your experience in this category of the French BLOG, fill in your details below.
Your Experience Details
Name:
Email:
Comment:
(Thanks to This French Life.)
Gather No Moss, but...
They're hell on the grass:
STUTTGART - The Rolling Stones might remain one of the most popular bands in the world, but officials at German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart are not singing their praises at the moment.
The turf of the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium was ruined during a concert the aging rockers gave in the city on Friday, team manager Horst Heldt said on Monday. "The condition of the lawn is a catastrophe. Our worst fears have materialized," he said.
STUTTGART - The Rolling Stones might remain one of the most popular bands in the world, but officials at German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart are not singing their praises at the moment.
The turf of the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium was ruined during a concert the aging rockers gave in the city on Friday, team manager Horst Heldt said on Monday. "The condition of the lawn is a catastrophe. Our worst fears have materialized," he said.
Being an anti-Israeli bigot means...
...never having to abase yourself ala Mel Gibson. Just ask Tom Ricks and Hugh Hewitt:
HH: ....I want to spend the vast bulk of our time on Fiasco and Iraq, but first, yesterday, you were on with Howard Kurtz' Reliable Sources, CNN, and in response to a question, you said that some military analyst had told you that Israel had, "purposefully left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon." That was reported on Powerline, Rush Limbaugh read it on the air today, quite a controversy. Anything to add to it, Thomas Ricks?
TR- Yeah, I wish I'd kept my mouth shut. What I said was accurate, that in an off-the-record conversation with some military analysts, a couple had said to me that they thought it was a smart strategy to leave some rocket pockets in place to help the Israelis shape public perceptions, and give their forces more freedom of maneuver in Lebanon. They weren't saying it was a bad strategy. They thought it was pretty intelligent, if it were the case. But I've since heard today from some very smart, well-informed people, that while such a strategy might be logical, and even morally defensible, that they thought the Israeli public just wouldn't stand for it, and they also expressed personal dismay to me that I had passed on the thought, which they thought was irresponsible.
HH: Do you want to name any of the analysts?
TR: No, it was an off-the-record conversation, and I want to honor that confidence.
HH: Okay, last question. Do you think they were leading you on at that point, or just telling you what they honestly meant?
TR: No, I think...I know from the context of the conversation, it was about many different things. That came up as a part of the conversation. These are very good, smart, retired U.S. military officers.
HH: Okay, Thomas Ricks, let's get to Fiasco, because that's really what I want to talk about, the Iraq war.
HH: ....I want to spend the vast bulk of our time on Fiasco and Iraq, but first, yesterday, you were on with Howard Kurtz' Reliable Sources, CNN, and in response to a question, you said that some military analyst had told you that Israel had, "purposefully left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon." That was reported on Powerline, Rush Limbaugh read it on the air today, quite a controversy. Anything to add to it, Thomas Ricks?
TR- Yeah, I wish I'd kept my mouth shut. What I said was accurate, that in an off-the-record conversation with some military analysts, a couple had said to me that they thought it was a smart strategy to leave some rocket pockets in place to help the Israelis shape public perceptions, and give their forces more freedom of maneuver in Lebanon. They weren't saying it was a bad strategy. They thought it was pretty intelligent, if it were the case. But I've since heard today from some very smart, well-informed people, that while such a strategy might be logical, and even morally defensible, that they thought the Israeli public just wouldn't stand for it, and they also expressed personal dismay to me that I had passed on the thought, which they thought was irresponsible.
HH: Do you want to name any of the analysts?
TR: No, it was an off-the-record conversation, and I want to honor that confidence.
HH: Okay, last question. Do you think they were leading you on at that point, or just telling you what they honestly meant?
TR: No, I think...I know from the context of the conversation, it was about many different things. That came up as a part of the conversation. These are very good, smart, retired U.S. military officers.
HH: Okay, Thomas Ricks, let's get to Fiasco, because that's really what I want to talk about, the Iraq war.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Now it's personal
Crime doesn't pay when the police are motivated:
Moments after the theft of the Viera's Bakery van was reported early Friday in Kennewick, police issued an all-points bulletin.
A Benton County sheriff's deputy quickly spotted the truck. After a chase at 30 to 35 mph, Richland police got it to stop and arrested the driver, Steve Swoboda, 19, for investigation of auto theft and felony escape.
Still intact was the entire load of glazed, sugar and cream doughnuts, as well as apple fritters, bear claws.
"In 24 years in law enforcement I've never had a call like that," Richland police Capt. Randy Barnes said. "To steal a bakery truck, how clever is that?"
Moments after the theft of the Viera's Bakery van was reported early Friday in Kennewick, police issued an all-points bulletin.
A Benton County sheriff's deputy quickly spotted the truck. After a chase at 30 to 35 mph, Richland police got it to stop and arrested the driver, Steve Swoboda, 19, for investigation of auto theft and felony escape.
Still intact was the entire load of glazed, sugar and cream doughnuts, as well as apple fritters, bear claws.
"In 24 years in law enforcement I've never had a call like that," Richland police Capt. Randy Barnes said. "To steal a bakery truck, how clever is that?"
Out with the old. In with the teens.
The One Bench Geezers lose even that in Holland:
AMSTERDAM — The official meeting place for senior citizens in the town of Oude Pekela in the north of the Netherlands has been taken over by the local youth.
Jan Romme, director of the national senior citizens fund, confirmed on Monday that the hang-out is in a run down state. Piles of rubbish and cigarette butts are building up and the bench has graffiti on it, with texts such as 'geile beer' (lecher).
The meeting place was announced in March with much fan fair to enable older people to socialise after the local supermarket introduced a general ban on groups gathering there.
After it was unveiled, a number of shopkeepers moved the 'hang-out' bench to a darker and less
attractive corner of the shopping centre.
Despite this, it was originally a great success. But as the weather became warmer the seniors made less and less use of the bench as a meeting place. This was a cue for teenagers to claim the place as their own.
AMSTERDAM — The official meeting place for senior citizens in the town of Oude Pekela in the north of the Netherlands has been taken over by the local youth.
Jan Romme, director of the national senior citizens fund, confirmed on Monday that the hang-out is in a run down state. Piles of rubbish and cigarette butts are building up and the bench has graffiti on it, with texts such as 'geile beer' (lecher).
The meeting place was announced in March with much fan fair to enable older people to socialise after the local supermarket introduced a general ban on groups gathering there.
After it was unveiled, a number of shopkeepers moved the 'hang-out' bench to a darker and less
attractive corner of the shopping centre.
Despite this, it was originally a great success. But as the weather became warmer the seniors made less and less use of the bench as a meeting place. This was a cue for teenagers to claim the place as their own.
Fight Club
In China, they encourage barroom brawling:
The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing lets customers smash glasses, rant and even hit specially trained workers, state media reported.
The owner, Wu Gong, told China Daily that he was inspired to open the bar by his experiences as a migrant worker.
Most of his customers were women working in the service or entertainment industries, he said.
The bar employs 20 men who have been given protective gear and physical training to prepare them for the job.
Clients can ask the men to dress as the character they wish to attack.
The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing lets customers smash glasses, rant and even hit specially trained workers, state media reported.
The owner, Wu Gong, told China Daily that he was inspired to open the bar by his experiences as a migrant worker.
Most of his customers were women working in the service or entertainment industries, he said.
The bar employs 20 men who have been given protective gear and physical training to prepare them for the job.
Clients can ask the men to dress as the character they wish to attack.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
At least Mel Gibson was drunk...
...when he slandered Jews. It didn't appear that the WaPo's Thomas Ricks had that excuse when he said the following on CNN's Reliable Sources today:
[HOWARD] KURTZ: Tom Ricks, you've covered a number of military conflicts, including Iraq, as I just mentioned. Is civilian casualties increasingly going to be a major media issue? In conflicts where you don't have two standing armies shooting at each other?
THOMAS RICKS, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think it will be. But I think civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some U.S. military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.
KURTZ: Hold on, you're suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of it's fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?
RICKS: Yes, that's what military analysts have told me.
KURTZ: That's an extraordinary testament to the notion that having people on your own side killed actually works to your benefit in that nobody wants to see your own citizens killed but it works to your benefit in terms of the battle of perceptions here.
RICKS: Exactly. It helps you with the moral high ground problem, because you know your operations in Lebanon are going to be killing civilians as well.
Speaking of Fiasco.
[HOWARD] KURTZ: Tom Ricks, you've covered a number of military conflicts, including Iraq, as I just mentioned. Is civilian casualties increasingly going to be a major media issue? In conflicts where you don't have two standing armies shooting at each other?
THOMAS RICKS, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think it will be. But I think civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some U.S. military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.
KURTZ: Hold on, you're suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of it's fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?
RICKS: Yes, that's what military analysts have told me.
KURTZ: That's an extraordinary testament to the notion that having people on your own side killed actually works to your benefit in that nobody wants to see your own citizens killed but it works to your benefit in terms of the battle of perceptions here.
RICKS: Exactly. It helps you with the moral high ground problem, because you know your operations in Lebanon are going to be killing civilians as well.
Speaking of Fiasco.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Fore!
Golf balls; the latest terror threat:
Bangalore, Aug. 4: Swinging iron on the fairways of the 128-year-old Bangalore Golf Club could soon be history since a neighbour, chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, has taken umbrage.
Last week, a stray golf ball came bouncing down the fairway, cleared the high protective nets and ricocheted off the road straight into a policeman’s face.
....The police immediately swung into action, identified the offending golfer and gave him a dressing down. “What if it had hit the CM?” they asked him.
It almost did, a few days later. Two days ago, another ball flew off the 18-hole course and slammed into the chief minister’s official car, denting the bonnet.
....Red-faced, the police top brass decided that they ought to swing the iron at the club. They have written to the Bangalore urban district deputy commissioner to close down the club because it’s a “security threat”.
....The club’s captain, K.N. Shanth Kumar, told The Telegraph it was too early for him to comment as he had yet to get the full picture. “I really can’t say anything till next week.”
Club members are aghast that an institution where genteel folk have been indulging in a gentle sport since the days of the Raj was being labelled a security threat. “We already have protective nets, we need to raise them a bit. They should give us some time,” an old-timer said.
Some members say certain bureaucrats had lost club elections and might be retaliating.
Bangalore, Aug. 4: Swinging iron on the fairways of the 128-year-old Bangalore Golf Club could soon be history since a neighbour, chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, has taken umbrage.
Last week, a stray golf ball came bouncing down the fairway, cleared the high protective nets and ricocheted off the road straight into a policeman’s face.
....The police immediately swung into action, identified the offending golfer and gave him a dressing down. “What if it had hit the CM?” they asked him.
It almost did, a few days later. Two days ago, another ball flew off the 18-hole course and slammed into the chief minister’s official car, denting the bonnet.
....Red-faced, the police top brass decided that they ought to swing the iron at the club. They have written to the Bangalore urban district deputy commissioner to close down the club because it’s a “security threat”.
....The club’s captain, K.N. Shanth Kumar, told The Telegraph it was too early for him to comment as he had yet to get the full picture. “I really can’t say anything till next week.”
Club members are aghast that an institution where genteel folk have been indulging in a gentle sport since the days of the Raj was being labelled a security threat. “We already have protective nets, we need to raise them a bit. They should give us some time,” an old-timer said.
Some members say certain bureaucrats had lost club elections and might be retaliating.
Sober Russians to Stink
In the land of bureaucracy you can't buy a drink nor, soon, deodorant:
[Moscow] On July 1, the government rolled out an elaborate [Federal Security Bureau]-designed computer system intended to eliminate the danger of tainted alcohol and to improve transparency and accountability in the wine and spirits market.
One month later, the malfunctioning database at its heart has brought the alcohol industry to its knees. Millions of bottles of alcoholic beverages are stuck in customs warehouses awaiting new excise stamps. The selection of wines and spirits at restaurants, bars and liquor shops has been decimated.
...."No one realized that there would be this volume," said Alexei Khlebnikov, a manager for Atlas, the state-owned firm under the jurisdiction of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, that is running the Unified State Automated Information System, or EGAIS. "There were no statistics for all the wine."
....Retailers and distributors were required to send all bottles with the old excise labels to customs warehouses for relabeling.
....Wine World, one of the country's largest importers, with a total volume of some 60 million bottles per year, was forced to cease operations almost entirely in the first three weeks of July, general director Peter Kanygin said.
"The company's activities were paralyzed. We imported nothing and there was no distribution," Kanygin said. "Every one of the big players is losing hundreds of millions of rubles."
The company will now have to put new excise labels on most of the roughly 4 million bottles of wine sitting in the Selyatino customs station, said Wine World's dedicated EGAIS manager, Dmitry Ionkin. Many will have to be relabeled by hand, a task that would take a single employee more than six years, according to Ionkin's estimates.
And wine isn't the only product that contains alcohol:
...new regulations intended to tighten government control of alcoholic beverages are threatening to cripple the country's $7 billion cosmetics industry.
Personal care products that contain at least 1.5 percent alcohol, including perfumes, hair sprays and deodorants, could soon begin to disappear from store shelves, industry insiders warned this week.
....The new regulations, which came into effect July 1, require all manufacturers and distributors of products containing alcohol -- including ethyl alcohol -- to enter information about their products in the Unified State Automated Information System, or EGAIS.
....Cosmetics companies must first create a database containing detailed information about all of their products, including the name, a list of ingredients, alcohol content and volume. Industry experts say, however, that Atlas, the state-owned company in charge of EGAIS, has never provided comprehensive guidelines for how this information should be entered into the central government data bank, or even what information is required.
Next, companies must report individual shipments of cosmetic products to an Atlas employee, who manually enters the information about each shipment into EGAIS. The shipments, rather than individual items, are tracked by the system.
....Under the new regulations, cosmetics companies are also required to obtain a license covering the production and distribution of all products that contain alcohol.
....The Perfumery and Cosmetics Association of Russia projects that if the State Duma does not exempt the cosmetics industry from the new alcohol regulations, production and turnover, which have already begun to decline, will plummet by nearly 60 percent.
[Moscow] On July 1, the government rolled out an elaborate [Federal Security Bureau]-designed computer system intended to eliminate the danger of tainted alcohol and to improve transparency and accountability in the wine and spirits market.
One month later, the malfunctioning database at its heart has brought the alcohol industry to its knees. Millions of bottles of alcoholic beverages are stuck in customs warehouses awaiting new excise stamps. The selection of wines and spirits at restaurants, bars and liquor shops has been decimated.
...."No one realized that there would be this volume," said Alexei Khlebnikov, a manager for Atlas, the state-owned firm under the jurisdiction of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, that is running the Unified State Automated Information System, or EGAIS. "There were no statistics for all the wine."
....Retailers and distributors were required to send all bottles with the old excise labels to customs warehouses for relabeling.
....Wine World, one of the country's largest importers, with a total volume of some 60 million bottles per year, was forced to cease operations almost entirely in the first three weeks of July, general director Peter Kanygin said.
"The company's activities were paralyzed. We imported nothing and there was no distribution," Kanygin said. "Every one of the big players is losing hundreds of millions of rubles."
The company will now have to put new excise labels on most of the roughly 4 million bottles of wine sitting in the Selyatino customs station, said Wine World's dedicated EGAIS manager, Dmitry Ionkin. Many will have to be relabeled by hand, a task that would take a single employee more than six years, according to Ionkin's estimates.
And wine isn't the only product that contains alcohol:
...new regulations intended to tighten government control of alcoholic beverages are threatening to cripple the country's $7 billion cosmetics industry.
Personal care products that contain at least 1.5 percent alcohol, including perfumes, hair sprays and deodorants, could soon begin to disappear from store shelves, industry insiders warned this week.
....The new regulations, which came into effect July 1, require all manufacturers and distributors of products containing alcohol -- including ethyl alcohol -- to enter information about their products in the Unified State Automated Information System, or EGAIS.
....Cosmetics companies must first create a database containing detailed information about all of their products, including the name, a list of ingredients, alcohol content and volume. Industry experts say, however, that Atlas, the state-owned company in charge of EGAIS, has never provided comprehensive guidelines for how this information should be entered into the central government data bank, or even what information is required.
Next, companies must report individual shipments of cosmetic products to an Atlas employee, who manually enters the information about each shipment into EGAIS. The shipments, rather than individual items, are tracked by the system.
....Under the new regulations, cosmetics companies are also required to obtain a license covering the production and distribution of all products that contain alcohol.
....The Perfumery and Cosmetics Association of Russia projects that if the State Duma does not exempt the cosmetics industry from the new alcohol regulations, production and turnover, which have already begun to decline, will plummet by nearly 60 percent.
Faster Than a Speeding Czech Cop
A journalist has to be to keep up with the country's Police President on his way to the office:
Police want to bring charges against three journalists who tracked Police President Vladislav Husák driving at excessive speeds on his way to work recently.
"We have received numerous complaints from citizens calling for the journalists to be punished as well," Police Presidium spokesman David Kubalák said. "We cannot rule out that there was a violation of the traffic rules committed by the journalists."
Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD) reporters Zuzana Janečková and Jan Gazdík, along with photographer David Port, followed Husák to work July 18 and 19, and the following day published a report that said the police president hit speeds upward of 190 kmh (118 mph) during his commute.
The story followed the recent implementation of strict new driving regulations nationwide that signaled a renewed government crackdown on reckless driving. Since then, fatalities on roads have dropped significantly, but the regulations remain unpopular.
In response to the MfD report, Husák admitted to speeding, agreed to have his license suspended for three months and gave 10,000 Kč ($440) to charity.
Police want to bring charges against three journalists who tracked Police President Vladislav Husák driving at excessive speeds on his way to work recently.
"We have received numerous complaints from citizens calling for the journalists to be punished as well," Police Presidium spokesman David Kubalák said. "We cannot rule out that there was a violation of the traffic rules committed by the journalists."
Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD) reporters Zuzana Janečková and Jan Gazdík, along with photographer David Port, followed Husák to work July 18 and 19, and the following day published a report that said the police president hit speeds upward of 190 kmh (118 mph) during his commute.
The story followed the recent implementation of strict new driving regulations nationwide that signaled a renewed government crackdown on reckless driving. Since then, fatalities on roads have dropped significantly, but the regulations remain unpopular.
In response to the MfD report, Husák admitted to speeding, agreed to have his license suspended for three months and gave 10,000 Kč ($440) to charity.
Friday, August 04, 2006
$126 for your thoughts
In China, Professors who don't get no respect, sue:
SHANGHAI, China — A Chinese journalism professor has won a lawsuit against a blog hosting site that refused to remove remarks criticizing him by one of its users, state media said Friday.
It was believed to be the first time that a person in China has sued a blog host for defamation. Winning shows "personal dignity outweighs freedom of speech," the professor, Chen Tangfa, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
The site, Blogcn.com, was ordered to pay Chen 1,000 yuan ($126) in damages and post a formal apology on its home page in a ruling handed down Wednesday by a court in the eastern city of Nanjing, Xinhua said.
....The posted comments, apparently written by a student of Chen's who remained anonymous, had criticized his teaching style and the materials used in his class.
....Blogs are thriving despite strict rules on content enforced by a special Internet police force.
China has pressured Internet firms such as Microsoft to close down popular Chinese blogs touching on sensitive topics such as press freedom.
SHANGHAI, China — A Chinese journalism professor has won a lawsuit against a blog hosting site that refused to remove remarks criticizing him by one of its users, state media said Friday.
It was believed to be the first time that a person in China has sued a blog host for defamation. Winning shows "personal dignity outweighs freedom of speech," the professor, Chen Tangfa, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
The site, Blogcn.com, was ordered to pay Chen 1,000 yuan ($126) in damages and post a formal apology on its home page in a ruling handed down Wednesday by a court in the eastern city of Nanjing, Xinhua said.
....The posted comments, apparently written by a student of Chen's who remained anonymous, had criticized his teaching style and the materials used in his class.
....Blogs are thriving despite strict rules on content enforced by a special Internet police force.
China has pressured Internet firms such as Microsoft to close down popular Chinese blogs touching on sensitive topics such as press freedom.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Sound As a Euro
A monetary phenomenon inflates in Europe:
After the introduction of the euro in 12 countries on 1 January 2002, police detected a fall in the amount of counterfeit notes and coins in circulation in euroland. The notes were claimed to be the most advanced in the world, incorporating anti-faking devices from holograms to special inks.
Now Europe's counterfeiters - and some elsewhere in the world, including Colombia - appear to have overcome the problems. A determined faker can buy a machine which reproduces the holograms in euro notes for €50,000 (£34,000) - which would be covered by a print run of a few minutes.
The amount of counterfeit currency found in the 12 euroland countries is 600,000 notes a year - about the same as before the single currency was introduced. There has been an even sharper rise in recent months of fake euro coins.
After the introduction of the euro in 12 countries on 1 January 2002, police detected a fall in the amount of counterfeit notes and coins in circulation in euroland. The notes were claimed to be the most advanced in the world, incorporating anti-faking devices from holograms to special inks.
Now Europe's counterfeiters - and some elsewhere in the world, including Colombia - appear to have overcome the problems. A determined faker can buy a machine which reproduces the holograms in euro notes for €50,000 (£34,000) - which would be covered by a print run of a few minutes.
The amount of counterfeit currency found in the 12 euroland countries is 600,000 notes a year - about the same as before the single currency was introduced. There has been an even sharper rise in recent months of fake euro coins.
Can we talk?
Oh, they can. They can:
BRUSSELS - When the bodies of Stacy Lemmens, aged 7, and Nathalie Mahy, 10, were found by a railway line in Liège on 28 June, after the pair had gone missing during a street festival earlier in the month, the spectre of convicted paedophile killer Marc Dutroux was raised once again in the Belgian public consciousness.
....But observers believe that the reaction to the murders of Stacy and Nathalie also show that Belgium has changed the way it deals with crimes against children.
"We have made an improvement in getting rid of the taboo of talking about violence against children," Children Rights' Commissioner Ankie Vanderkerckhove told Reuters.
BRUSSELS - When the bodies of Stacy Lemmens, aged 7, and Nathalie Mahy, 10, were found by a railway line in Liège on 28 June, after the pair had gone missing during a street festival earlier in the month, the spectre of convicted paedophile killer Marc Dutroux was raised once again in the Belgian public consciousness.
....But observers believe that the reaction to the murders of Stacy and Nathalie also show that Belgium has changed the way it deals with crimes against children.
"We have made an improvement in getting rid of the taboo of talking about violence against children," Children Rights' Commissioner Ankie Vanderkerckhove told Reuters.
30 Years Without a Bath
Ending soon for England's famous spa, but at a cost:
Almost unbelievably, the "national embarrassment" that is Bath Spa is about to open. Again. On Monday, residents of the city will be able to take the waters for the first time in 30 years.
.... when the doors of Thermae Bath Spa open to 2,500 booked customers next week - and the owners promise that they will - frayed tempers can finally seek solace in mineral-rich whirlpools, massages, or perhaps an "aromatic moor mud wrap".
For the £45 million spa is not, as in Roman times, a place simply to take a soak ....
"The Romans would not have come here if it wasn't for the springs, and for 1,200 years residents were able to use them. They have been deprived for so long and now they are reunited."
But not everyone is so romantic about a project that began in 1996, when the council secured an £8 million grant from the Millennium Commission for the project, which it said would cost only £13.5 million.
It hopes to recoup some of the losses, as well as defend its own actions, in a £20 million court battle with the sacked contractor, Mowlem. And the local government minister Phil Woolas is to ask the Audit Commission for an official inquiry.
...."Admittedly the Romans had slaves, but my constituents are going to be slaves to council tax because of this for years to come. The spa is not only a local embarrassment, it is a national and international embarrassment."
Almost unbelievably, the "national embarrassment" that is Bath Spa is about to open. Again. On Monday, residents of the city will be able to take the waters for the first time in 30 years.
.... when the doors of Thermae Bath Spa open to 2,500 booked customers next week - and the owners promise that they will - frayed tempers can finally seek solace in mineral-rich whirlpools, massages, or perhaps an "aromatic moor mud wrap".
For the £45 million spa is not, as in Roman times, a place simply to take a soak ....
"The Romans would not have come here if it wasn't for the springs, and for 1,200 years residents were able to use them. They have been deprived for so long and now they are reunited."
But not everyone is so romantic about a project that began in 1996, when the council secured an £8 million grant from the Millennium Commission for the project, which it said would cost only £13.5 million.
It hopes to recoup some of the losses, as well as defend its own actions, in a £20 million court battle with the sacked contractor, Mowlem. And the local government minister Phil Woolas is to ask the Audit Commission for an official inquiry.
...."Admittedly the Romans had slaves, but my constituents are going to be slaves to council tax because of this for years to come. The spa is not only a local embarrassment, it is a national and international embarrassment."
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Handwriting on Czech (Wall)
Prague bows to the inevitable:
Prague, Aug 1 (CTK) - The increase of the age when people get retired will be necessary in the future otherwise enormous debts would accumulate in the pension system, the Labour Ministry states in a report on social insurance available on its website today.
....In general, women got retired at the age of 57, while men at the age of 61.
The five parties in parliament discussed a pension reform in the previous election term. All parties but the Communists (KSCM) wanted the retirement age to rise to 65 years. An agreement was not reached. The retirement age will gradually increase to 63 years, for men in 2016 and women in 2019.
The authors of the ministry´s report say that the retirement age increase is not reform, but a necessary natural reaction to population ageing and low birth rate.
Prague, Aug 1 (CTK) - The increase of the age when people get retired will be necessary in the future otherwise enormous debts would accumulate in the pension system, the Labour Ministry states in a report on social insurance available on its website today.
....In general, women got retired at the age of 57, while men at the age of 61.
The five parties in parliament discussed a pension reform in the previous election term. All parties but the Communists (KSCM) wanted the retirement age to rise to 65 years. An agreement was not reached. The retirement age will gradually increase to 63 years, for men in 2016 and women in 2019.
The authors of the ministry´s report say that the retirement age increase is not reform, but a necessary natural reaction to population ageing and low birth rate.
Zero Tolerance
Robert Mugabe continues to deny economic reality:
Banks in Zimbabwe were swamped by customers yesterday after the central bank announced that three zeros were being taken off the Zimbabwe dollar to counter the 1,200 per cent inflation rate, the highest in the world.
Confusion about the effective devaluation of the currency prompted hundreds of savers to rush to deposit millions of banknotes, believing that they had to "legalise" their hoards of cash within the day. Several banks closed their doors intermittently to avoid the rush of depositors.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe also devalued the
....The country's rampaging inflation has obliged Zimbab-weans to carry large blocks of currency for the most basic commodities. A loaf of bread, for instance, can cost more than a million Zimbabwe dollars - around £5.
Banks have also struggled to keep pace as their standard computer software strains to deal in 14-digit trillions and even larger quadrillions in commercial dealings. Everyone will now ignore the last three zeros on paper money.
The new official exchange rate will be 250 Zimbabwean dollars to one US dollar instead of 250,000.
Banks in Zimbabwe were swamped by customers yesterday after the central bank announced that three zeros were being taken off the Zimbabwe dollar to counter the 1,200 per cent inflation rate, the highest in the world.
Confusion about the effective devaluation of the currency prompted hundreds of savers to rush to deposit millions of banknotes, believing that they had to "legalise" their hoards of cash within the day. Several banks closed their doors intermittently to avoid the rush of depositors.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe also devalued the
....The country's rampaging inflation has obliged Zimbab-weans to carry large blocks of currency for the most basic commodities. A loaf of bread, for instance, can cost more than a million Zimbabwe dollars - around £5.
Banks have also struggled to keep pace as their standard computer software strains to deal in 14-digit trillions and even larger quadrillions in commercial dealings. Everyone will now ignore the last three zeros on paper money.
The new official exchange rate will be 250 Zimbabwean dollars to one US dollar instead of 250,000.
Monday, July 31, 2006
How are ya' gonna keep 'em on in Paree...
...when they've seen the Cote d'Azur? Pruderie en Paris:
In a country where going topless on real beaches is almost de rigueur, incredulity has greeted news that city hall officials and police have been moving among sunbathers, warning them of the ban on "indecent" dress.
What is especially embarrassing for Bertrand Delanoë, Paris's openly homosexual mayor, is that Paris Plage, now in its fifth year, is intended to reproduce the ambience of a Mediterranean beach.
"Sand, sunbeds, parasols," sighed the tabloid daily Le Parisien. "On the beach along the Seine, Bertrand Delanoë has deployed the full panoply of the perfect seaside postcard. ...."
The riverside highway is closed to traffic and covered by 2,000 tons of fine sand. The beach stretches for more than two miles and is dotted with palm trees and cafes.
But the order forbidding the exposure of flesh declares: "Behaviour must conform to good morals, tranquillity, safety and public order."
The penalty for going nude, topless or in a thong is 38 euros (£26). No fines have yet been imposed but the beach does not close until Aug 20.
In a country where going topless on real beaches is almost de rigueur, incredulity has greeted news that city hall officials and police have been moving among sunbathers, warning them of the ban on "indecent" dress.
What is especially embarrassing for Bertrand Delanoë, Paris's openly homosexual mayor, is that Paris Plage, now in its fifth year, is intended to reproduce the ambience of a Mediterranean beach.
"Sand, sunbeds, parasols," sighed the tabloid daily Le Parisien. "On the beach along the Seine, Bertrand Delanoë has deployed the full panoply of the perfect seaside postcard. ...."
The riverside highway is closed to traffic and covered by 2,000 tons of fine sand. The beach stretches for more than two miles and is dotted with palm trees and cafes.
But the order forbidding the exposure of flesh declares: "Behaviour must conform to good morals, tranquillity, safety and public order."
The penalty for going nude, topless or in a thong is 38 euros (£26). No fines have yet been imposed but the beach does not close until Aug 20.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Damages Are a Girl's Best Friend
Rome, July 28 - Pouting Italian celebrity Anna Falchi's bee-kissed lips are entirely a gift from Mother Nature, a court has ruled here .
The court awarded damages of 15,000 euros against the Conde' Nast publishing group, one of whose magazines claimed Falchi's lips had been surgically enhanced .
Well, They Are a Funny Race
So, why shouldn't their wine also be to laugh:
WHAT do Arrogant Frog and Elephant on a Tightrope have in common? Faced with a slump in consumption and increasing competition from abroad, the French are suffering the indignity of having to pick funny names for their wine in order to sell it abroad.
....“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said one disgruntled wine-maker from Languedoc in southern France.
The movement is gathering steam. “Bread is branded,” said Pierre Courbon, international marketing director of a French company set up to sell a new brand called Chamarré, or “richly coloured”. “Why not wine?”
.... The [Arrogant Frog] label shows an imperious looking frog in an overcoat. It is available in “ribet red” and “ribet white”. This sort of marketing is not the only thing calculated to set some French oenophiles ranting about the end of civilisation.
It might “leap out of the glass with panache and élan”, in the words of the advertisements, but it is also sealed with — quelle horreur — a screw cap “designed to preserve freshness and youthful appeal”.
Jean-Claude Mas, the creator, is said to be still getting on with his neighbours. The chances are that they, too, are trying to come up with a funny label.
WHAT do Arrogant Frog and Elephant on a Tightrope have in common? Faced with a slump in consumption and increasing competition from abroad, the French are suffering the indignity of having to pick funny names for their wine in order to sell it abroad.
....“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said one disgruntled wine-maker from Languedoc in southern France.
The movement is gathering steam. “Bread is branded,” said Pierre Courbon, international marketing director of a French company set up to sell a new brand called Chamarré, or “richly coloured”. “Why not wine?”
.... The [Arrogant Frog] label shows an imperious looking frog in an overcoat. It is available in “ribet red” and “ribet white”. This sort of marketing is not the only thing calculated to set some French oenophiles ranting about the end of civilisation.
It might “leap out of the glass with panache and élan”, in the words of the advertisements, but it is also sealed with — quelle horreur — a screw cap “designed to preserve freshness and youthful appeal”.
Jean-Claude Mas, the creator, is said to be still getting on with his neighbours. The chances are that they, too, are trying to come up with a funny label.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Limp Upper Lip II
Well, knock us over with a feather; there are more wimps in Britain:
A charity game in which people try to knock each other over with a 5ft conger eel has been banned after animal rights activists complained that it was "disrespectful" to the dead fish.
Conger cuddling has been staged annually for more than 30 years at the harbour in Lyme Regis, Dorset, as a fund-raising event for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Teams stand on 6in high wooden blocks and others take it in turns to swing a 25lb eel at them. The team with the most people left standing at the end wins.
....Rob Michael, the chairman of the Lyme Lifeboat Guild, said: "We have been advised by the RNLI headquarters at Poole to abandon the conger cuddling event following a local complaint from animal rights activists.
"The RNLI is not prepared to be involved in an event that may be seen by some to be a barbaric throwback due to its use of a dead animal."
A rubber buoy may be now used instead of an eel.
A charity game in which people try to knock each other over with a 5ft conger eel has been banned after animal rights activists complained that it was "disrespectful" to the dead fish.
Conger cuddling has been staged annually for more than 30 years at the harbour in Lyme Regis, Dorset, as a fund-raising event for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Teams stand on 6in high wooden blocks and others take it in turns to swing a 25lb eel at them. The team with the most people left standing at the end wins.
....Rob Michael, the chairman of the Lyme Lifeboat Guild, said: "We have been advised by the RNLI headquarters at Poole to abandon the conger cuddling event following a local complaint from animal rights activists.
"The RNLI is not prepared to be involved in an event that may be seen by some to be a barbaric throwback due to its use of a dead animal."
A rubber buoy may be now used instead of an eel.
Friday, July 28, 2006
My kind of town...
Chicago isn't.
Now that the City Council has voted to destroy any hope of profitability to Wal-Mart stores located within the city limits, maybe they'd like to see what happened in Deutschland:
FRANKFURT - The world biggest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc said Friday it was pulling out of Germany and selling its stores to Metro AG after it battled for to make a profit in Europe's biggest economy.
...."We have not achieved a turnaround," A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said. In a statement Michael Duke, Wal-Mart vice chairman said: "As we focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact on our growth and return on investment strategies, it has become increasingly clear that in Germany's business environment it would be difficult for us to obtain the scale and results we desire."
Wiedersehen.
Now that the City Council has voted to destroy any hope of profitability to Wal-Mart stores located within the city limits, maybe they'd like to see what happened in Deutschland:
FRANKFURT - The world biggest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc said Friday it was pulling out of Germany and selling its stores to Metro AG after it battled for to make a profit in Europe's biggest economy.
...."We have not achieved a turnaround," A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said. In a statement Michael Duke, Wal-Mart vice chairman said: "As we focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact on our growth and return on investment strategies, it has become increasingly clear that in Germany's business environment it would be difficult for us to obtain the scale and results we desire."
Wiedersehen.
Limp Upper Lip
Not your father's Britain anymore:
A woman has been told by police that she must remove a sign on her garden gate that reads "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses" because it is "distressing, offensive and inappropriate".
Jean Grove, a pensioner, has displayed the sign for 32 years. Her late husband, Gordon, put it up after members of the Church banged on their door on Christmas Day 1974.
Mrs Grove, from Bursledon, Hants, said that police officers had taken her details and insisted that she remove the sign.
Though not everyone wilts in front of the Thought Police
Once they had left, she put it back.
A woman has been told by police that she must remove a sign on her garden gate that reads "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses" because it is "distressing, offensive and inappropriate".
Jean Grove, a pensioner, has displayed the sign for 32 years. Her late husband, Gordon, put it up after members of the Church banged on their door on Christmas Day 1974.
Mrs Grove, from Bursledon, Hants, said that police officers had taken her details and insisted that she remove the sign.
Though not everyone wilts in front of the Thought Police
Once they had left, she put it back.
Buy her a nice dinner, and avoid the Missionary Position
Not advice from Doctor Ruth, but good ideas for guy mantids:
Female praying mantids are notorious for eating males after they mate.
Now for the first time, scientists have experimentally shown that the males are hip to the risk and not too keen on being food.
The researchers toyed with the physical position of females and how hungry they were, then noted how males responded. "We know that hungry females are more likely to cannibalize and a head-on orientation makes it easier for her to attack the male with her predatory front legs," explained William Brown of SUNY-Fredonia.
The guys responded to greater risk by slowing their approach, increasing courtship behavior, and mounting from a greater—and possibly safer—distance, the scientists say.
Female praying mantids are notorious for eating males after they mate.
Now for the first time, scientists have experimentally shown that the males are hip to the risk and not too keen on being food.
The researchers toyed with the physical position of females and how hungry they were, then noted how males responded. "We know that hungry females are more likely to cannibalize and a head-on orientation makes it easier for her to attack the male with her predatory front legs," explained William Brown of SUNY-Fredonia.
The guys responded to greater risk by slowing their approach, increasing courtship behavior, and mounting from a greater—and possibly safer—distance, the scientists say.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Happy As a Pig in Beer
Australia has found a way to increase sales of Foster's:
Visitors to "Pub in the Paddock" in the island-state of Tasmania are invited to pour bottles of beer down the willing throats of resident pigs Priscilla and P.B.
Pub owner Anne Free said Wednesday she was outraged that the tourist attraction had been attacked as cruel in the latest edition of a magazine published by animal welfare group Choose Cruelty Free.
Free said the pigs liked beer. She also watered the beer down to ensure they never got drunk.
....The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals often investigates complaints about the pigs' drinking but have found the porkers unharmed.
"Whilst it is a difficult pill to swallow ... it's certainly not cruelty, unfortunately," RSPCA state chief executive Rick Butler told the ABC.
Choose Cruelty Free office manager Liz Jackson disagreed.
"It's not natural to give a pig beer," Jackson told The Mercury newspaper.
Visitors to "Pub in the Paddock" in the island-state of Tasmania are invited to pour bottles of beer down the willing throats of resident pigs Priscilla and P.B.
Pub owner Anne Free said Wednesday she was outraged that the tourist attraction had been attacked as cruel in the latest edition of a magazine published by animal welfare group Choose Cruelty Free.
Free said the pigs liked beer. She also watered the beer down to ensure they never got drunk.
....The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals often investigates complaints about the pigs' drinking but have found the porkers unharmed.
"Whilst it is a difficult pill to swallow ... it's certainly not cruelty, unfortunately," RSPCA state chief executive Rick Butler told the ABC.
Choose Cruelty Free office manager Liz Jackson disagreed.
"It's not natural to give a pig beer," Jackson told The Mercury newspaper.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Barbare!
Thailand has had enough. Of the French:
BANGKOK, July 26, 2006 (AFP) - Thailand on Wednesday warned its citizens against non-essential travel to France, after its diplomats suffered a number of violent robberies around Paris.
"The ministry has received reports of four robberies in the last month. In the most recent incident, a Thai commercial officer attached to the embassy was attacked while travelling in an embassy car," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The ministry urges all Thais, both those who reside in Paris and those who want to travel to France, to exercise increased vigilance over their property. Any unnecessary travel should be postponed or cancelled this summer," it said.
BANGKOK, July 26, 2006 (AFP) - Thailand on Wednesday warned its citizens against non-essential travel to France, after its diplomats suffered a number of violent robberies around Paris.
"The ministry has received reports of four robberies in the last month. In the most recent incident, a Thai commercial officer attached to the embassy was attacked while travelling in an embassy car," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The ministry urges all Thais, both those who reside in Paris and those who want to travel to France, to exercise increased vigilance over their property. Any unnecessary travel should be postponed or cancelled this summer," it said.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Crimine
The Gold Standard of Italy:
Almost one in 10 members of the Italian parliament is either on trial, awaiting an appeal, or has a conviction, only a decade after the political classes were purged by anti-corruption prosecutors.
Italy is also served by 25 MPs who have criminal convictions, the highest number ever recorded.
Research by the authors of a new book shows that another eight politicians have been sentenced but are awaiting appeal, a process that can take years, while 17 are on trial and 19 under investigation.
Italians believe that most of the people involved in running the state are furbi, or cunning, and politicians are sometimes described as diversamente onesti, or "differently honest".
Almost one in 10 members of the Italian parliament is either on trial, awaiting an appeal, or has a conviction, only a decade after the political classes were purged by anti-corruption prosecutors.
Italy is also served by 25 MPs who have criminal convictions, the highest number ever recorded.
Research by the authors of a new book shows that another eight politicians have been sentenced but are awaiting appeal, a process that can take years, while 17 are on trial and 19 under investigation.
Italians believe that most of the people involved in running the state are furbi, or cunning, and politicians are sometimes described as diversamente onesti, or "differently honest".
Monday, July 24, 2006
The Russians are Coming. The Russians are Coming
As soon as they can get the toll road built:
Federal authorities hope to ease traffic congestion in Moscow by constructing a toll road around the city that will be used primarily by truckers, the state company responsible for the project said Monday.
But drivers weary of traffic jams have little reason to rejoice. The first section of the road is only expected to open in five years.
....The road is also expected to attract 70 percent of European cargo traffic now bypassing Russia via Ukraine, Belarus and Poland and to create 200,000 new jobs, said Roads of Russia, the state-owned enterprise that has commissioned the project.
....The road would circle the Moscow Ring Road at a distance of 30 kilometers to 50 kilometers, the spokeswoman said.
The company report puts the cost at 262.9 billion rubles ($9.7 billion). The region is expected to provide from 25 percent to 50 percent of investment in cash or land for the construction. Private companies are expected to invest the rest in exchange for the right to collect toll fees.
Federal authorities hope to ease traffic congestion in Moscow by constructing a toll road around the city that will be used primarily by truckers, the state company responsible for the project said Monday.
But drivers weary of traffic jams have little reason to rejoice. The first section of the road is only expected to open in five years.
....The road is also expected to attract 70 percent of European cargo traffic now bypassing Russia via Ukraine, Belarus and Poland and to create 200,000 new jobs, said Roads of Russia, the state-owned enterprise that has commissioned the project.
....The road would circle the Moscow Ring Road at a distance of 30 kilometers to 50 kilometers, the spokeswoman said.
The company report puts the cost at 262.9 billion rubles ($9.7 billion). The region is expected to provide from 25 percent to 50 percent of investment in cash or land for the construction. Private companies are expected to invest the rest in exchange for the right to collect toll fees.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Now About Your Expenses...
The international investor consortium that leases Chicago's Skyway toll road reports increased useage and revenues:
The Chicago Skyway looks to be doing well from its transition to investor ownership with revenues up one third in a year. First quarter 2006 data released by Macquarie, the Australian partner in Skyway Concession Company show toll revenues running at an annual rate of $52m v. $38.5m first quarter 2006 v Q1-2005, a 35% rise.
Toll increases helped but traffic was also up strongly. ....
The increase in traffic accompanying a strong toll rate increase on a mature toll facility is extraordinary. It suggests motorists appreciate aggressive efforts by the new management to reduce delays at the toll plaza. This includes satellite toll lanes and introduction of transponder tolling 17th June 2005.
....Costs of operation are not being reported as yet but must be down substantially. Maintenance and operations are conducted by a team of non-union all-rounders who can be deployed in whatever activity is most urgent whereas under the city everything was unionized and demarkated between different departments. Toll collectors were paid over $20/hour by the City versus $12/hr now.
Interest expense on the $ 1.8 billion up front lease payment being well over $100 million dollars (we would surmise) they'll need every economy they can find to make this a wise investment.
The Chicago Skyway looks to be doing well from its transition to investor ownership with revenues up one third in a year. First quarter 2006 data released by Macquarie, the Australian partner in Skyway Concession Company show toll revenues running at an annual rate of $52m v. $38.5m first quarter 2006 v Q1-2005, a 35% rise.
Toll increases helped but traffic was also up strongly. ....
The increase in traffic accompanying a strong toll rate increase on a mature toll facility is extraordinary. It suggests motorists appreciate aggressive efforts by the new management to reduce delays at the toll plaza. This includes satellite toll lanes and introduction of transponder tolling 17th June 2005.
....Costs of operation are not being reported as yet but must be down substantially. Maintenance and operations are conducted by a team of non-union all-rounders who can be deployed in whatever activity is most urgent whereas under the city everything was unionized and demarkated between different departments. Toll collectors were paid over $20/hour by the City versus $12/hr now.
Interest expense on the $ 1.8 billion up front lease payment being well over $100 million dollars (we would surmise) they'll need every economy they can find to make this a wise investment.
You Know Who You Are
From an interview with Milton and Rose Friedman in the Wall Street Journal:
...I made a reflexive apology for not being an economist myself. "You mean you're not a trained economist," was Mr. Friedman's comeback. "I have found, over a long time, that some people are natural economists. They don't take a course, but they understand--the principles seem obvious to them. Other people may have Ph.D.s in economics, but they're not economists. They don't think like an economist. Strange, but true."
...I made a reflexive apology for not being an economist myself. "You mean you're not a trained economist," was Mr. Friedman's comeback. "I have found, over a long time, that some people are natural economists. They don't take a course, but they understand--the principles seem obvious to them. Other people may have Ph.D.s in economics, but they're not economists. They don't think like an economist. Strange, but true."
Friday, July 21, 2006
Perdant
In France the candidates are vying with each other to lament that they're not cut from better cloth, like the English:
Sarkozy: speak English and work harder
THE French need to work harder and display less arrogance, if they are to recapture former glories, Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, tells his countrymen in a highly personal 281-page book published yesterday.
....[it is] a tough political message on the cardinal value of work, a value that he says the French have abandoned in favour of such measures as the 35-hour working week.
Hailing modern Britain as an example, M Sarkozy urges voters to remove their heads from the sand, accept that France is in decline and embrace the market economy as the path to revival.
....Although he denies personal animosity for his rival, President Chirac, he makes no attempt to hide their fundamental political differences.
He criticises almost every significant decision that M Chirac has taken, including the threat to veto a UN resolution on the war in Iraq and approval of Turkey’s entry into the EU.
And in a comment that will infuriate traditionalists, he says that the French should no longer insist on speaking their own language in international negotiations and instead should use English.
Sarkozy: speak English and work harder
THE French need to work harder and display less arrogance, if they are to recapture former glories, Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, tells his countrymen in a highly personal 281-page book published yesterday.
....[it is] a tough political message on the cardinal value of work, a value that he says the French have abandoned in favour of such measures as the 35-hour working week.
Hailing modern Britain as an example, M Sarkozy urges voters to remove their heads from the sand, accept that France is in decline and embrace the market economy as the path to revival.
....Although he denies personal animosity for his rival, President Chirac, he makes no attempt to hide their fundamental political differences.
He criticises almost every significant decision that M Chirac has taken, including the threat to veto a UN resolution on the war in Iraq and approval of Turkey’s entry into the EU.
And in a comment that will infuriate traditionalists, he says that the French should no longer insist on speaking their own language in international negotiations and instead should use English.
Second Prize is a Two Week Vacation...
...in Turkey. While First Prize is a one week vacation there?
The beaches of Turkey, crowded with women in bikinis or sunbathing topless, are witnessing a new phenomenon: neck-to-ankle swimwear worn by increasingly confident Muslim women.
....Religiously conservative women have traditionally shunned the beaches. If they did visit, they were unable to swim as they were unwilling to bare their flesh in public.
But more than 25,000 of the Islamic swimsuits have been sold in the past year and their leading maker, Hasema, is struggling to cope with demand. ....
The swimsuits come in a range of colours and patterns and the latest versions let the sun through, allowing the wearer to obtain a tan.
....Women's clothing is a question of politics in Turkey well as fashion. Since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the modern state as a secular country, headscarves have been banned in schools and universities and for civil servants. That has resulted in some religious female students wearing wigs instead of scarves to enable them to complete their studies. For some young women, wearing a headscarf has become associated with teenage rebellion.
....As well as the growing enthusiasm for the full body swimsuits, Muslim camping sites, spas and beach resorts that do not sell alcohol and segregate men and women have sprung up. For example, the Caprice Hotel, on the Aegean coast, advertises "a modern vacation complex... where the sound of prayer is heard five times a day".
The beaches of Turkey, crowded with women in bikinis or sunbathing topless, are witnessing a new phenomenon: neck-to-ankle swimwear worn by increasingly confident Muslim women.
....Religiously conservative women have traditionally shunned the beaches. If they did visit, they were unable to swim as they were unwilling to bare their flesh in public.
But more than 25,000 of the Islamic swimsuits have been sold in the past year and their leading maker, Hasema, is struggling to cope with demand. ....
The swimsuits come in a range of colours and patterns and the latest versions let the sun through, allowing the wearer to obtain a tan.
....Women's clothing is a question of politics in Turkey well as fashion. Since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the modern state as a secular country, headscarves have been banned in schools and universities and for civil servants. That has resulted in some religious female students wearing wigs instead of scarves to enable them to complete their studies. For some young women, wearing a headscarf has become associated with teenage rebellion.
....As well as the growing enthusiasm for the full body swimsuits, Muslim camping sites, spas and beach resorts that do not sell alcohol and segregate men and women have sprung up. For example, the Caprice Hotel, on the Aegean coast, advertises "a modern vacation complex... where the sound of prayer is heard five times a day".
Thursday, July 20, 2006
A fool for a client...
...deserves a fool for a lawyer. Hugh Hewitt finds that Joe Wilson is getting what he's paying for with Duke Law School professor Erwin Chemerinsky:
HH: Please tell me you're getting paid, Erwin.
EC: I'm not. I'm doing this pro bono.
HH: Unbelievable. Now Erwin, of course it's all nonsense, and Joe Wilson...what are you going to do when he gets on the stand and people try and reconcile his eight different versions of what he said and did?
EC: Oh, I don't think there's eight different versions. I think we have an extremely strong case. Here's what we all know at this point. Joseph Wilson wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, in which he showed that there were falsehoods in President Bush's State of the Union address. As a result of that, the Vice President, his top aide, Lewis Libby, and the President's key political advisor, Karl Rove, decided to reveal that Valerie Plame was a secret CIA operative. They did so by telling journalists like Robert Novak this, and was reported by Robert Novak in a column published three weeks ago Friday.
The problem being that (1) Wilson himself had to admit to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that he had not debunked the '16 words' in the 2003 SOTU.
And, (2) they did not decide to leak Valerie Plame's name to Robert Novak--someone else did that, and there is no evidence it was anything other than an inadvertent revelation that shed light on Wilson's deceitfulness in claiming he'd been sent by Dick Cheney to Niger.
This is a genuinely frivolous lawsuit, and Federal courts take a dim view of lawyers who file them.
HH: Please tell me you're getting paid, Erwin.
EC: I'm not. I'm doing this pro bono.
HH: Unbelievable. Now Erwin, of course it's all nonsense, and Joe Wilson...what are you going to do when he gets on the stand and people try and reconcile his eight different versions of what he said and did?
EC: Oh, I don't think there's eight different versions. I think we have an extremely strong case. Here's what we all know at this point. Joseph Wilson wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, in which he showed that there were falsehoods in President Bush's State of the Union address. As a result of that, the Vice President, his top aide, Lewis Libby, and the President's key political advisor, Karl Rove, decided to reveal that Valerie Plame was a secret CIA operative. They did so by telling journalists like Robert Novak this, and was reported by Robert Novak in a column published three weeks ago Friday.
The problem being that (1) Wilson himself had to admit to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that he had not debunked the '16 words' in the 2003 SOTU.
And, (2) they did not decide to leak Valerie Plame's name to Robert Novak--someone else did that, and there is no evidence it was anything other than an inadvertent revelation that shed light on Wilson's deceitfulness in claiming he'd been sent by Dick Cheney to Niger.
This is a genuinely frivolous lawsuit, and Federal courts take a dim view of lawyers who file them.
This is rich
You can be too thin?
LONDON — Actress Kate Hudson has accepted libel damages from a supermarket tabloid that claimed she was dangerously thin, her lawyer said Thursday.
Lawyer Simon Smith said the British edition of the National Enquirer had agreed to pay undisclosed damages and print an apology for an October 2005 article that claimed Hudson was "way too thin" and looked "like skin and bones."
The magazine's U.S.-based publisher, American Media Inc., apologized for "the deep distress and acute embarrassment" caused by the allegations, which it acknowledged were false.
...."The allegations that I sued over were blatantly false and I felt I had no choice but to set the record straight by challenging them in court," Hudson, 27, said in a statement.
LONDON — Actress Kate Hudson has accepted libel damages from a supermarket tabloid that claimed she was dangerously thin, her lawyer said Thursday.
Lawyer Simon Smith said the British edition of the National Enquirer had agreed to pay undisclosed damages and print an apology for an October 2005 article that claimed Hudson was "way too thin" and looked "like skin and bones."
The magazine's U.S.-based publisher, American Media Inc., apologized for "the deep distress and acute embarrassment" caused by the allegations, which it acknowledged were false.
...."The allegations that I sued over were blatantly false and I felt I had no choice but to set the record straight by challenging them in court," Hudson, 27, said in a statement.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Booker Tse?
Restoration of the MGs underway, thanks to the Chinese:
April 2005: the Phoenix Consortium puts MG Rover group into administration and the factory's 6,000 workers are asked to go home. Later that month the MG Rover group goes into receivership
July 2005: Chinese automobile corporation Nanjing Automotive buys MG Rover with the hope of re-starting car production at Longbridge by 2007
July 2006: Nanjing Automotive announces plans to start limited production of the MGF sports car at the factory and that around 250 workers could initially be employed on the project
Friday, July 14, 2006
Blonde Joke
[Update: One of the causes for action claims, in the lawsuit, is that the Wilsons suffered a 'Violation of Fifth Amendment Right to Equal Protection of the Laws'! Which guarantee Blondie and Beau will find in the 14th Amendment, not the Fifth.]
Made for each other:
WASHINGTON – Former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, said today they decided to sue Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove because they engaged in a "whispering campaign" to destroy her career.
Plame told a news conference that "I and my former colleagues trusted the government to protect us in our jobs" and said it "betrayed that trust. I'd much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than as a plaintiff in a lawsuit."
....In the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Plame and her husband said that Cheney, Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, leaked her CIA status to reporters to punish Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame, who left the CIA in January and is writing a book about what's happened to her.
The FLUBA Committee on Narcissistic Personalities wonders if the Wilson's are aware of the fate that befell Alger Hiss when he unwisely sued Whittaker Chambers for telling a Meet the Press panel that he'd known Hiss as a Communist in the 1930s?
Made for each other:
WASHINGTON – Former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, said today they decided to sue Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove because they engaged in a "whispering campaign" to destroy her career.
Plame told a news conference that "I and my former colleagues trusted the government to protect us in our jobs" and said it "betrayed that trust. I'd much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than as a plaintiff in a lawsuit."
....In the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Plame and her husband said that Cheney, Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, leaked her CIA status to reporters to punish Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame, who left the CIA in January and is writing a book about what's happened to her.
The FLUBA Committee on Narcissistic Personalities wonders if the Wilson's are aware of the fate that befell Alger Hiss when he unwisely sued Whittaker Chambers for telling a Meet the Press panel that he'd known Hiss as a Communist in the 1930s?
Blonde Joke
Made for each other:
WASHINGTON – Former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, said today they decided to sue Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove because they engaged in a "whispering campaign" to destroy her career.
Plame told a news conference that "I and my former colleagues trusted the government to protect us in our jobs" and said it "betrayed that trust. I'd much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than as a plaintiff in a lawsuit."
....In the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Plame and her husband said that Cheney, Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, leaked her CIA status to reporters to punish Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame, who left the CIA in January and is writing a book about what's happened to her.
The FLUBA Committee on Narcissistic Personalities wonders if the Wilson's are aware of the fate that befell Alger Hiss when he unwisely sued Whittaker Chambers for telling a Meet the Press panel that he'd known Hiss as a Communist in the 1930s?
WASHINGTON – Former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, said today they decided to sue Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove because they engaged in a "whispering campaign" to destroy her career.
Plame told a news conference that "I and my former colleagues trusted the government to protect us in our jobs" and said it "betrayed that trust. I'd much rather be continuing my career as a public servant than as a plaintiff in a lawsuit."
....In the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Plame and her husband said that Cheney, Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, leaked her CIA status to reporters to punish Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame, who left the CIA in January and is writing a book about what's happened to her.
The FLUBA Committee on Narcissistic Personalities wonders if the Wilson's are aware of the fate that befell Alger Hiss when he unwisely sued Whittaker Chambers for telling a Meet the Press panel that he'd known Hiss as a Communist in the 1930s?
If You Can't Stand the Heat
And, you work in Holland, whine about it:
AMSTERDAM — Trade union confederation FNV expressed shock on Thursday at the number and nature of calls it has received from workers who are suffering in the unusually warm weather.
The FNV said there have been 350 calls to a special telephone line in the last four days about the distress being caused by the 25 degree [Celsius, about 80 degrees F] plus conditions.
"Many of the situations reported to us were simply dangerous and it is disgusting to hear that employers are not allowing people to go home," FNV's health and safety expert Jan Verhagen said.
High temperatures can cause loss of concentration, headaches and in some cases breathing difficulties and fainting, he said.
....The union group is also advising its members on what can be done to compel employers to take measures to combat the heat in their work environments. Employees should be allowed to stop work if a company fails to act while the temperature rises about 35 degrees, the FNV said.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Being There
At the All Star Game, with Ichiro Gardener:
When asked what the Mariners needed to do to rid themselves of the tough times, Ichiro — who hit several balls over the right-field bleachers during batting practice — went deep.
"If there is a problem," he said, "we need to notice it, what creates the problem. The problem usually isn't just on the cover. You need to look much deeper.
"For example, if we're taking about a tree, and the tree has a problem, you need to look at the root. But you cannot see the root. The mistake is to keep watering the fruit. That's not going to solve anything. You need to find where the problem is first."
Unfortunately, Ichiro offered no revelations on the source of Mariners' woes en route to a 43-46 record that has left them last in the AL West, albeit just 2-½ games out of first place.
...."I didn't even know that number, 2.5," he said. "If you just look at the numbers, you can think that way. But until your team reaches a certain level and becomes a winning team, those numbers are not important.
"You need to look past that and care more about being a winning team. For a team that's not going good, the order is wrong, to look at the 2.5. You need to take care of other things, and then look at the numbers. That's actually related to the root thing I was talking about."
....Anticipating the expiration, after next season, of the four-year, $44 million contract Ichiro signed after the 2003 season, he was asked if there is anything he would like to see the Mariners do before he began talking about a new deal.
"No way I can answer that," he said. "No matter what I see, you guys [the media] will make it into a problem, make it bigger and bigger, and create a big mess."
The reporter replied that he was just trying to find the roots under the tree.
"If I answer that, basically, what I'm doing is ruining the fruit," he replied.
When asked what the Mariners needed to do to rid themselves of the tough times, Ichiro — who hit several balls over the right-field bleachers during batting practice — went deep.
"If there is a problem," he said, "we need to notice it, what creates the problem. The problem usually isn't just on the cover. You need to look much deeper.
"For example, if we're taking about a tree, and the tree has a problem, you need to look at the root. But you cannot see the root. The mistake is to keep watering the fruit. That's not going to solve anything. You need to find where the problem is first."
Unfortunately, Ichiro offered no revelations on the source of Mariners' woes en route to a 43-46 record that has left them last in the AL West, albeit just 2-½ games out of first place.
...."I didn't even know that number, 2.5," he said. "If you just look at the numbers, you can think that way. But until your team reaches a certain level and becomes a winning team, those numbers are not important.
"You need to look past that and care more about being a winning team. For a team that's not going good, the order is wrong, to look at the 2.5. You need to take care of other things, and then look at the numbers. That's actually related to the root thing I was talking about."
....Anticipating the expiration, after next season, of the four-year, $44 million contract Ichiro signed after the 2003 season, he was asked if there is anything he would like to see the Mariners do before he began talking about a new deal.
"No way I can answer that," he said. "No matter what I see, you guys [the media] will make it into a problem, make it bigger and bigger, and create a big mess."
The reporter replied that he was just trying to find the roots under the tree.
"If I answer that, basically, what I'm doing is ruining the fruit," he replied.
Monday, July 10, 2006
By any other name, you're just as drunk?
It's the Global War Over Vodka:
Finland is to wage an emotionally-charged vodka battle over the next six months as it seeks to purify the definition of vodka.
The Finns have promised to use their presidency to try to ban alcohol from using the name vodka if it is not made from potatoes or grains.
Many European vodkas made from molasses, sugar beet or grapes would have to be re-named 'spirit drink' if an amended EU law on stricter alcohol definitions is passed in the autumn.
....Finland can count on the support of Germany and the so-called 'vodka belt' of Nordic and Baltic states and Poland in its mission to protect the integrity of its national drink.
Finnish MEP Alexander Stubb said the matter was "an issue of national pride".
....British companies warned last week that changing the definition of vodka would either force up the price of certain brands as they switched raw ingredients or require producers to change their labels.
....The European Commission dismissed the claim as "ludicrous" and said it did not want to change the definition of existing vodkas.
But the final decision lies in the hands of the European Parliament and 25 national governments, all with their own vested interests at heart.
"The Nordics and their allies are waging a European vodka war," argued British Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson.
"This is blatant protectionism aimed at ring-fencing their own brands and seizing the market share enjoyed by the non-grain and potato based vodkas."
Stevenson — who staged a blind vodka challenge in the European Parliament — said only one in 10 MEPs and eurocrats had been able to tell the difference between 12 grape and potato-based vodkas.
Finland is to wage an emotionally-charged vodka battle over the next six months as it seeks to purify the definition of vodka.
The Finns have promised to use their presidency to try to ban alcohol from using the name vodka if it is not made from potatoes or grains.
Many European vodkas made from molasses, sugar beet or grapes would have to be re-named 'spirit drink' if an amended EU law on stricter alcohol definitions is passed in the autumn.
....Finland can count on the support of Germany and the so-called 'vodka belt' of Nordic and Baltic states and Poland in its mission to protect the integrity of its national drink.
Finnish MEP Alexander Stubb said the matter was "an issue of national pride".
....British companies warned last week that changing the definition of vodka would either force up the price of certain brands as they switched raw ingredients or require producers to change their labels.
....The European Commission dismissed the claim as "ludicrous" and said it did not want to change the definition of existing vodkas.
But the final decision lies in the hands of the European Parliament and 25 national governments, all with their own vested interests at heart.
"The Nordics and their allies are waging a European vodka war," argued British Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson.
"This is blatant protectionism aimed at ring-fencing their own brands and seizing the market share enjoyed by the non-grain and potato based vodkas."
Stevenson — who staged a blind vodka challenge in the European Parliament — said only one in 10 MEPs and eurocrats had been able to tell the difference between 12 grape and potato-based vodkas.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Do You Know the Way in San Jose?
Bribery, but the right kind, says the mayor:
Until recently, most of San Jose associated scandal with [Ron] Gonzales due to his soap opera-like affair with a young intern. Now Gonzales has been indicted on charges of felony bribery, conspiracy and misuse of public funds for a deal he made with Norcal Waste Systems, a garbage company.
... in the late ‘90s, our new Latino mayor was addressing the Democratic National Convention and being talked about to succeed Gray Davis as governor of California.
After the [dot com] crash, our economic and political blueprint lost its allure, and so did our mayor. But once famous, it’s hard to go back to being known as a San Francisco suburb (as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom called us at a mayors’ conference earlier this year). We have been desperate to save face ever since.
The Norcal deal with Gonzales was a result of the obsession with appearances that has become a strategy for governance in San Jose. In 2000, Gonzales and his aide struck a private deal with Norcal Waste Systems—the mayor would help get the city to pay an extra $11.25 million to Norcal to cover Teamster wages. Investigations say that Gonzales later convinced the city council, which did not know of his agreements with Norcal, to raise garbage rates to cover the cost.
Gonzales originally denied any previous talks with Norcal, but acknowledged last summer that he made the agreement to support a future pay increase. But even after having been indicted by a grand jury, Gonzales refuses to leave office. What the district attorney’s office is calling bribery, he calls an attempt at “labor peace.” According to Gonzales, he was doing what he could to avoid the most publicly embarrassing of labor conflicts—a garbage strike.
People seemed shocked by his audacity, but I can see why Gonzales feels justified in staying on as mayor. He got caught reaching for an end he and the rest of the city’s leadership has been pushing since the dot-com bust—maintaining San Jose’s appearance as utopian and conflict-free, regardless of the means or the cost.
Take, for example, our new City Hall. A $380 million Star Wars-esque monstrosity planted in the heart of downtown....
That construction was marked by a scandal similar to the current one—city officials worked a secret deal with Cisco Systems to ensure that Cisco would win an $8 million dollar contract for the telephone and wireless systems used in the building.
But even after that initial hiccup, San Jose got back on track to build the most futuristic City Hall/Death Star replica it could. Now the city council is trying to approve a $300,000 subsidy to build a Starbucks inside its walls.
[Emphases in the above, the FLUBA Committee on It Couldn't Have Happened to a Nicer Guy]
Until recently, most of San Jose associated scandal with [Ron] Gonzales due to his soap opera-like affair with a young intern. Now Gonzales has been indicted on charges of felony bribery, conspiracy and misuse of public funds for a deal he made with Norcal Waste Systems, a garbage company.
... in the late ‘90s, our new Latino mayor was addressing the Democratic National Convention and being talked about to succeed Gray Davis as governor of California.
After the [dot com] crash, our economic and political blueprint lost its allure, and so did our mayor. But once famous, it’s hard to go back to being known as a San Francisco suburb (as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom called us at a mayors’ conference earlier this year). We have been desperate to save face ever since.
The Norcal deal with Gonzales was a result of the obsession with appearances that has become a strategy for governance in San Jose. In 2000, Gonzales and his aide struck a private deal with Norcal Waste Systems—the mayor would help get the city to pay an extra $11.25 million to Norcal to cover Teamster wages. Investigations say that Gonzales later convinced the city council, which did not know of his agreements with Norcal, to raise garbage rates to cover the cost.
Gonzales originally denied any previous talks with Norcal, but acknowledged last summer that he made the agreement to support a future pay increase. But even after having been indicted by a grand jury, Gonzales refuses to leave office. What the district attorney’s office is calling bribery, he calls an attempt at “labor peace.” According to Gonzales, he was doing what he could to avoid the most publicly embarrassing of labor conflicts—a garbage strike.
People seemed shocked by his audacity, but I can see why Gonzales feels justified in staying on as mayor. He got caught reaching for an end he and the rest of the city’s leadership has been pushing since the dot-com bust—maintaining San Jose’s appearance as utopian and conflict-free, regardless of the means or the cost.
Take, for example, our new City Hall. A $380 million Star Wars-esque monstrosity planted in the heart of downtown....
That construction was marked by a scandal similar to the current one—city officials worked a secret deal with Cisco Systems to ensure that Cisco would win an $8 million dollar contract for the telephone and wireless systems used in the building.
But even after that initial hiccup, San Jose got back on track to build the most futuristic City Hall/Death Star replica it could. Now the city council is trying to approve a $300,000 subsidy to build a Starbucks inside its walls.
[Emphases in the above, the FLUBA Committee on It Couldn't Have Happened to a Nicer Guy]
Friday, July 07, 2006
Is 'nuance' the word you're looking for?
Mark Thoma isn't convinced that Richard Rahn is on to something with his Commentary piece on the importance of language in economics:
What nonsense. It's also funny that he thinks nobody can use a word in France and elsewhere until it's officially approved. If a researcher in France reads a new word in a science journal on the internet, I guess they have to close their brains until the word is approved.
I think it would be safe to say that I'm not convinced by these arguments.
But, the Government of France (the guys who fined Georges DuBouef for improving his wine, ha ha) apparently agree:
France hopes to soften hostile attitudes towards capitalism by promoting financial know-how and greater enterprise through the media.
A new body will try to boost financial literacy and communicate the benefits of wealth creation more effectively.
The rejection of an unpopular labour contract earlier this year is seen to have reinforced prevailing sceptical attitudes toward business in society.
Ministers want people to get a clearer understanding of France's economy.
....They are worried about what they see as an over-reliance on the state and a lack of entrepreneurial dynamism.
The Council for the Diffusion of Economic Culture will operate under the auspices of the finance ministry when it launches later this year.
.... A survey earlier this year revealed widespread ignorance of financial terminology including the meaning of issues such as debt and output.
What nonsense. It's also funny that he thinks nobody can use a word in France and elsewhere until it's officially approved. If a researcher in France reads a new word in a science journal on the internet, I guess they have to close their brains until the word is approved.
I think it would be safe to say that I'm not convinced by these arguments.
But, the Government of France (the guys who fined Georges DuBouef for improving his wine, ha ha) apparently agree:
France hopes to soften hostile attitudes towards capitalism by promoting financial know-how and greater enterprise through the media.
A new body will try to boost financial literacy and communicate the benefits of wealth creation more effectively.
The rejection of an unpopular labour contract earlier this year is seen to have reinforced prevailing sceptical attitudes toward business in society.
Ministers want people to get a clearer understanding of France's economy.
....They are worried about what they see as an over-reliance on the state and a lack of entrepreneurial dynamism.
The Council for the Diffusion of Economic Culture will operate under the auspices of the finance ministry when it launches later this year.
.... A survey earlier this year revealed widespread ignorance of financial terminology including the meaning of issues such as debt and output.
The Love of Money...that dare not speak its name
In Russia:
Russia’s lower house of parliament passed in second reading Friday a bill that would ban lawmakers and other officials from using the terms “dollar” and “euro” in domestic economic debates, the RIA Novosti news agency reports.
“When speaking in public, including to the media, members of the government must not use foreign currency terms ... to give information about the cost of goods, work, services, property, the sums of closed deals, budget indexes at any level of the Russian budget system, state and municipal borrowings, or state and municipal debts,” the bill said.
....Following parliament’s first initiatives to promote the national currency, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the government was unlikely to look on the bill favorably, adding that customs statistics and duties in Russia had been fixed in euros and its foreign debt was counted in foreign currency.
Kudrin rubbished the original idea, saying it would be ridiculous to talk about global economic matters in rubles. “This issue is absolutely unreasonable and absolutely absurd in its current form,” he said in May.
Russia’s lower house of parliament passed in second reading Friday a bill that would ban lawmakers and other officials from using the terms “dollar” and “euro” in domestic economic debates, the RIA Novosti news agency reports.
“When speaking in public, including to the media, members of the government must not use foreign currency terms ... to give information about the cost of goods, work, services, property, the sums of closed deals, budget indexes at any level of the Russian budget system, state and municipal borrowings, or state and municipal debts,” the bill said.
....Following parliament’s first initiatives to promote the national currency, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the government was unlikely to look on the bill favorably, adding that customs statistics and duties in Russia had been fixed in euros and its foreign debt was counted in foreign currency.
Kudrin rubbished the original idea, saying it would be ridiculous to talk about global economic matters in rubles. “This issue is absolutely unreasonable and absolutely absurd in its current form,” he said in May.
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