Since they don't want to work in Greece:
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis yesterday invited striking teachers for talks today as pupils’ parents protested outside the Education Ministry, calling for schools to reopen after more than six weeks of industrial action.
....Sources told Kathimerini that Karamanlis will express the government’s willingness to channel a significant portion of the next tranche of European Union funding into education but will also stress that state cash is restricted.
....government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos was more direct. “The prime minister will ask the teachers straight out to return to their schools,” he said. ....
Teachers, for their part, were yesterday cautiously optimistic. “This meeting is a very significant initiative which we intend to use to set out our demands, for which we expect solutions,” the president of the Primary School Teachers’ Federation (DOE), Dimitris Bratis, told Kathimerini.
“We are going to insist on free, state education,” he added.
“We expect essential steps toward fulfilling our demands,” said Grigoris Kalomiris, general secretary of the Federation of Secondary School Teachers (OLME), whose members have been striking on and off for the past month. DOE members have been striking for six consecutive weeks. The main demands teachers are due to press today are a 45 percent rise in starting salaries (to 1,400 euros) and a hike in education sector funding to the tune of 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
A tempo debito
Even the Italian socialists have to admit the obvious:
Rome, October 24 - The government will reform Italy's pension system next year, in a move to resolve structural problems which are slowing down the economy, Premier Romano Prodi said on Tuesday.
....In the multi-year economic blueprint released in July the government announced that the pension reform would have been included in the 2007 budget.
But Prodi was forced to scrap the idea amidst strong resistance from trade unions and leftist members of his coalition.
The premier said on Tuesday he was confident that the reform would be implemented by March 31.
But comments by trade union leaders and even from some cabinet members indicated that he may face an uphill battle.
....Trade unions are already protesting plans to raise the retirement age from 57 to 60 starting in January 2008 under a controversial reform passed by the previous government. The minimum retirement age is then set to rise to 61 in 2010.
....International organisations are also pressuring the government to push ahead with structural pension reforms, noting that the country's 'grey army' has swelled to some 11.5 million, or almost 20% of the population .
Rome, October 24 - The government will reform Italy's pension system next year, in a move to resolve structural problems which are slowing down the economy, Premier Romano Prodi said on Tuesday.
....In the multi-year economic blueprint released in July the government announced that the pension reform would have been included in the 2007 budget.
But Prodi was forced to scrap the idea amidst strong resistance from trade unions and leftist members of his coalition.
The premier said on Tuesday he was confident that the reform would be implemented by March 31.
But comments by trade union leaders and even from some cabinet members indicated that he may face an uphill battle.
....Trade unions are already protesting plans to raise the retirement age from 57 to 60 starting in January 2008 under a controversial reform passed by the previous government. The minimum retirement age is then set to rise to 61 in 2010.
....International organisations are also pressuring the government to push ahead with structural pension reforms, noting that the country's 'grey army' has swelled to some 11.5 million, or almost 20% of the population .
Monday, October 23, 2006
Found in Translation?
The Don Rickles of Diplomacy performs a second act:
Rome, October 23 - Italian politicians stewing over a new gaffe by Vladimir Putin urged the Russian President on Monday to brush up his manners and resolve the human rights issue in his country before commenting on the mafia. ....
Reacting to criticism by European Parliament President Josep Borrell over Russia's human rights record, Putin allegedly struck back, saying that Italy was "the cradle of the mafia" and that "a lot of Spanish mayors were in jail for corruption." According to El Pais, Spanish Prime Minister Jose' Louis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi "were left speechless" by the president's quips and apparently just sat there .
Prodi's spokesman Silvio Sircana attempted to play down the incident, telling reporters that Putin was simply trying to address Borrell's criticism with a bit of irony.
What Putin really said was: "mafia is not a Russian word," said Sircana.
....Another of Putin's remarks created diplomatic shock waves last week. He was reportedly overheard discussing the sexual assault charges against Israeli President Moshe Katsav with visiting Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert at the Kremlin .Russia's Kommersant daily quoted Putin telling Olmert that Katsav was "a powerful guy. He raped ten women."
"We all envy him," the daily quoted Putin as saying.
According to a Kremlin spokesman, Putin's comments were mistranslated .
Rome, October 23 - Italian politicians stewing over a new gaffe by Vladimir Putin urged the Russian President on Monday to brush up his manners and resolve the human rights issue in his country before commenting on the mafia. ....
Reacting to criticism by European Parliament President Josep Borrell over Russia's human rights record, Putin allegedly struck back, saying that Italy was "the cradle of the mafia" and that "a lot of Spanish mayors were in jail for corruption." According to El Pais, Spanish Prime Minister Jose' Louis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi "were left speechless" by the president's quips and apparently just sat there .
Prodi's spokesman Silvio Sircana attempted to play down the incident, telling reporters that Putin was simply trying to address Borrell's criticism with a bit of irony.
What Putin really said was: "mafia is not a Russian word," said Sircana.
....Another of Putin's remarks created diplomatic shock waves last week. He was reportedly overheard discussing the sexual assault charges against Israeli President Moshe Katsav with visiting Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert at the Kremlin .Russia's Kommersant daily quoted Putin telling Olmert that Katsav was "a powerful guy. He raped ten women."
"We all envy him," the daily quoted Putin as saying.
According to a Kremlin spokesman, Putin's comments were mistranslated .
Emulate the Ostrich
Otherwise the French might discover a problem they have:
PARIS, Oct 21, 2006 (AFP) - The agency in charge of Paris-region hospitals on Saturday confirmed that the husband of a Muslim woman examined by a male gynecologist had physically attacked the doctor, but refused to confirm allegations that the assault was motivated by religious extremism.
....However the agency refused to endorse a statement by the professional association of French gynecologists and obstetricians, who described the assault as a manifestation of "Muslim fundamentalism."
The statement by the CNGOF professional association mentioned a similar incident that occurred in a Paris-region hospital in 2003.
In both attacks, gynecologists were "physically attacked and injured by the husbands of patients on the grounds that as male doctors they should not examine their wives," the statement said.
However the hospital authorities said they had "not at this stage confirmed any religious motivation" behind the latest incident.
French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand on Friday condemned the September incident, but also said he could not confirm that it was related to "religious or cultural motives."
"Hospitals must remain absolutely neutral from the religious and ideological point of view," he said.
The hospital agency said that a total of 185 violent incidents had been recorded in the 38 Paris-region public hospitals in 2005, up from 145 in the previous year.
However the hospital authorities did not record whether there was any religious motive to any of the attacks, because "such records would be discriminatory, and we have a neutral position," the statement said.
PARIS, Oct 21, 2006 (AFP) - The agency in charge of Paris-region hospitals on Saturday confirmed that the husband of a Muslim woman examined by a male gynecologist had physically attacked the doctor, but refused to confirm allegations that the assault was motivated by religious extremism.
....However the agency refused to endorse a statement by the professional association of French gynecologists and obstetricians, who described the assault as a manifestation of "Muslim fundamentalism."
The statement by the CNGOF professional association mentioned a similar incident that occurred in a Paris-region hospital in 2003.
In both attacks, gynecologists were "physically attacked and injured by the husbands of patients on the grounds that as male doctors they should not examine their wives," the statement said.
However the hospital authorities said they had "not at this stage confirmed any religious motivation" behind the latest incident.
French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand on Friday condemned the September incident, but also said he could not confirm that it was related to "religious or cultural motives."
"Hospitals must remain absolutely neutral from the religious and ideological point of view," he said.
The hospital agency said that a total of 185 violent incidents had been recorded in the 38 Paris-region public hospitals in 2005, up from 145 in the previous year.
However the hospital authorities did not record whether there was any religious motive to any of the attacks, because "such records would be discriminatory, and we have a neutral position," the statement said.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Pas libérez pour choisir
Remember when Paul Krugman was extolling French family values of no work, all play:
....the main story is that full-time French workers work shorter weeks and take more vacations than full-time American workers.
The point is that to the extent that the French have less income than we do, it's mainly a matter of choice.
Except when they choose to work more, that is:
PARIS, Oct 19, 2006 (AFP) - A French court ruling that the 35-hour working week must apply in hotels, bars and restaurants triggered uproar in the hospitality industry Thursday, amid dire warnings that it will impoverish staff and jeopardise many struggling businesses.
....For many cafe-owners and restaurateurs, the ruling was a third blow — coming on top of President Jacques Chirac's failure to win from the European Union a cut to 5.5 percent of valued added tax, as well as an upcoming ban on smoking in public places.
"Have they got it in for us, or what? We feel like we're the outcasts of the state. There are going to be heavy, heavy repercussions — insurmountable ones," said Jean Pournin who employs four people at the Restaurant d'Angleterre in the Mediterranean port of Nice.
Under the 2004 decree hotels, restaurant and bars enjoyed a dispensation from the 35-hour week on the grounds that the industry needs a flexible labour structure. Staff were not paid at overtime rates for hours after the 35th, but instead had an extra week of holiday that could be exchanged for more pay.
But responding to an appeal from the CFDT union, the state council said the arrangement is illegal because there is no reason in law to regard the catering trade as an exception.
It means that employers will be obliged to pay overtime rates for supplementary hours worked — at an increase of 25 percent for establishments with more than 20 staff and 10 percent for the rest. On the other hand the extra week of holiday disappears.
In addition, as the ruling is retrospective staff could be entitled to nearly two years of back payments.
...."This is a unique situation because for the first time ever a union has actually acted to bring down the buying power of its members, especially those in small establishments who will see their pay cheques get smaller," said Andre Daguin, who heads the Union of Hospitality Trades (UMIH).
....However supporters said that if employers "play the game" and strictly apply the 35 hour week, then new jobs will be created.
....the main story is that full-time French workers work shorter weeks and take more vacations than full-time American workers.
The point is that to the extent that the French have less income than we do, it's mainly a matter of choice.
Except when they choose to work more, that is:
PARIS, Oct 19, 2006 (AFP) - A French court ruling that the 35-hour working week must apply in hotels, bars and restaurants triggered uproar in the hospitality industry Thursday, amid dire warnings that it will impoverish staff and jeopardise many struggling businesses.
....For many cafe-owners and restaurateurs, the ruling was a third blow — coming on top of President Jacques Chirac's failure to win from the European Union a cut to 5.5 percent of valued added tax, as well as an upcoming ban on smoking in public places.
"Have they got it in for us, or what? We feel like we're the outcasts of the state. There are going to be heavy, heavy repercussions — insurmountable ones," said Jean Pournin who employs four people at the Restaurant d'Angleterre in the Mediterranean port of Nice.
Under the 2004 decree hotels, restaurant and bars enjoyed a dispensation from the 35-hour week on the grounds that the industry needs a flexible labour structure. Staff were not paid at overtime rates for hours after the 35th, but instead had an extra week of holiday that could be exchanged for more pay.
But responding to an appeal from the CFDT union, the state council said the arrangement is illegal because there is no reason in law to regard the catering trade as an exception.
It means that employers will be obliged to pay overtime rates for supplementary hours worked — at an increase of 25 percent for establishments with more than 20 staff and 10 percent for the rest. On the other hand the extra week of holiday disappears.
In addition, as the ruling is retrospective staff could be entitled to nearly two years of back payments.
...."This is a unique situation because for the first time ever a union has actually acted to bring down the buying power of its members, especially those in small establishments who will see their pay cheques get smaller," said Andre Daguin, who heads the Union of Hospitality Trades (UMIH).
....However supporters said that if employers "play the game" and strictly apply the 35 hour week, then new jobs will be created.
Pas libérez pour choisir
Remember when Paul Krugman was extolling French family values of no work, all play:
....the main story is that full-time French workers work shorter weeks and take more vacations than full-time American workers.
The point is that to the extent that the French have less income than we do, it's mainly a matter of choice.
Except when they choose to work more, that is:
PARIS, Oct 19, 2006 (AFP) - A French court ruling that the 35-hour working week must apply in hotels, bars and restaurants triggered uproar in the hospitality industry Thursday, amid dire warnings that it will impoverish staff and jeopardise many struggling businesses.
....For many cafe-owners and restaurateurs, the ruling was a third blow — coming on top of President Jacques Chirac's failure to win from the European Union a cut to 5.5 percent of valued added tax, as well as an upcoming ban on smoking in public places.
"Have they got it in for us, or what? We feel like we're the outcasts of the state. There are going to be heavy, heavy repercussions — insurmountable ones," said Jean Pournin who employs four people at the Restaurant d'Angleterre in the Mediterranean port of Nice.
Under the 2004 decree hotels, restaurant and bars enjoyed a dispensation from the 35-hour week on the grounds that the industry needs a flexible labour structure. Staff were not paid at overtime rates for hours after the 35th, but instead had an extra week of holiday that could be exchanged for more pay.
But responding to an appeal from the CFDT union, the state council said the arrangement is illegal because there is no reason in law to regard the catering trade as an exception.
It means that employers will be obliged to pay overtime rates for supplementary hours worked — at an increase of 25 percent for establishments with more than 20 staff and 10 percent for the rest. On the other hand the extra week of holiday disappears.
In addition, as the ruling is retrospective staff could be entitled to nearly two years of back payments.
...."This is a unique situation because for the first time ever a union has actually acted to bring down the buying power of its members, especially those in small establishments who will see their pay cheques get smaller," said Andre Daguin, who heads the Union of Hospitality Trades (UMIH).
....However supporters said that if employers "play the game" and strictly apply the 35 hour week, then new jobs will be created.
....the main story is that full-time French workers work shorter weeks and take more vacations than full-time American workers.
The point is that to the extent that the French have less income than we do, it's mainly a matter of choice.
Except when they choose to work more, that is:
PARIS, Oct 19, 2006 (AFP) - A French court ruling that the 35-hour working week must apply in hotels, bars and restaurants triggered uproar in the hospitality industry Thursday, amid dire warnings that it will impoverish staff and jeopardise many struggling businesses.
....For many cafe-owners and restaurateurs, the ruling was a third blow — coming on top of President Jacques Chirac's failure to win from the European Union a cut to 5.5 percent of valued added tax, as well as an upcoming ban on smoking in public places.
"Have they got it in for us, or what? We feel like we're the outcasts of the state. There are going to be heavy, heavy repercussions — insurmountable ones," said Jean Pournin who employs four people at the Restaurant d'Angleterre in the Mediterranean port of Nice.
Under the 2004 decree hotels, restaurant and bars enjoyed a dispensation from the 35-hour week on the grounds that the industry needs a flexible labour structure. Staff were not paid at overtime rates for hours after the 35th, but instead had an extra week of holiday that could be exchanged for more pay.
But responding to an appeal from the CFDT union, the state council said the arrangement is illegal because there is no reason in law to regard the catering trade as an exception.
It means that employers will be obliged to pay overtime rates for supplementary hours worked — at an increase of 25 percent for establishments with more than 20 staff and 10 percent for the rest. On the other hand the extra week of holiday disappears.
In addition, as the ruling is retrospective staff could be entitled to nearly two years of back payments.
...."This is a unique situation because for the first time ever a union has actually acted to bring down the buying power of its members, especially those in small establishments who will see their pay cheques get smaller," said Andre Daguin, who heads the Union of Hospitality Trades (UMIH).
....However supporters said that if employers "play the game" and strictly apply the 35 hour week, then new jobs will be created.
If you license them they will not come...
...if they aren't going to be paid:
BRUSSELS - Liberalisation of the energy market in Brussels is getting off to a surprisingly slow start as Electrabel's competitors hold back.
After a bill was passed, which liberalised the energy market in Wallonia and Brussels, many expected a fierce fight between energy suppliers but privatization is taking a different turn in Brussels. According to Le Soir's sources only three of the five newly licensed energy suppliers will try their luck in Brussels.
Electrabel, Brussels's leading energy supplier - the only one until 2007, can rest easy. Its newly licensed competitors do not seem anxious to enter Brussels' liberalised energy market. Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports that Essent, Luminus and Nuon will sell neither natural gas nor electricity in Brussels.
Might there be a reason?
....As Alexander Dewulf, the CEO of the Belgium branch of Dutch multinational Nuon, says "we will not be present in Brussels because of risks relating to unpaid bills."
The new law includes an article that is unacceptable in the eyes of the suppliers.
In Brussels suppliers will be obliged to provide electricity and gas to customers for a period of three months even if the customer in question fails to pay their bills.
Evelyne Huytebroeck, Minister of Energy and author of the new law says that she is determined to protect the rights of the poorest consumers.
Also, licensed suppliers may be liable and have to pay fines should they refuse to supply energy.
BRUSSELS - Liberalisation of the energy market in Brussels is getting off to a surprisingly slow start as Electrabel's competitors hold back.
After a bill was passed, which liberalised the energy market in Wallonia and Brussels, many expected a fierce fight between energy suppliers but privatization is taking a different turn in Brussels. According to Le Soir's sources only three of the five newly licensed energy suppliers will try their luck in Brussels.
Electrabel, Brussels's leading energy supplier - the only one until 2007, can rest easy. Its newly licensed competitors do not seem anxious to enter Brussels' liberalised energy market. Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports that Essent, Luminus and Nuon will sell neither natural gas nor electricity in Brussels.
Might there be a reason?
....As Alexander Dewulf, the CEO of the Belgium branch of Dutch multinational Nuon, says "we will not be present in Brussels because of risks relating to unpaid bills."
The new law includes an article that is unacceptable in the eyes of the suppliers.
In Brussels suppliers will be obliged to provide electricity and gas to customers for a period of three months even if the customer in question fails to pay their bills.
Evelyne Huytebroeck, Minister of Energy and author of the new law says that she is determined to protect the rights of the poorest consumers.
Also, licensed suppliers may be liable and have to pay fines should they refuse to supply energy.
Ralph Harris, RIP
One of England's free market heroes, who paved the way for Margaret Thatcher to begin the reclamation of the UK's economy, passes:
The Lord Harris of High Cross, who died yesterday aged 81, was, with Arthur Seldon, one of the founders of the Institute of Economic Affairs, and perhaps the most successful polemicist of the second half of the 20th century, retrieving and advancing free-market ideas which were initially deeply out of favour and providing the intellectual basis for Margaret Thatcher's reforms of the 1980s.
In fact, though Ralph Harris was the first life peer appointed under the Thatcher government, and declared his admiration for her, he hotly denied being a Thatcherite. "But I count it fortunate for Britain… that she was something of an 'IEA-ite'," he wrote. He took his place on the crossbenches, to the approval of his intellectual mentor, Friedrich von Hayek. He decided, too, against obtaining a coat of arms because heraldry could not represent Adam Smith's "invisible hand".
...."A lot of our thinking was deliberately intended to affront [the establishment] and to wake them up," Harris conceded. The IEA had been set up as an educational charity by a Sussex farming entrepreneur named Antony Fisher from the profits of the Buxted Chicken company, and had been inspired by Hayek's Road to Serfdom, which Fisher had read in condensed form in the Reader's Digest.
From the beginning, it made no attempt to put forward proposals which had been devised according to what was "politically possible", but attempted to convince intellectuals and journalists of the case for the market, reasoning that politicians would follow.
The Tories' landslide victory in 1979 brought to the fore many of the policies for which Harris and the IEA had been arguing since the 1950s. Privatisation and cuts in income tax, which had been dismissed as mad by bien-pensant opinion when Harris and Seldon began to publish, became popular and successful planks of government policy.
And no Telegraph obituary would be complete without a mention of its subject's idiosyncracies:
With his centre parting and toothbrush moustache, Harris exuded a gentle, old-fashioned charm which made him excellent company, as well as proving an effective tool for promoting his beliefs.
He was an accomplished amateur conjuror and was fond of bathing in the sea (he took regular dips off Eastbourne).
Harris's favourite dinner was lamb chops with roast potatoes, followed by apple pie, and he always travelled with a portable pepper grinder, in case black pepper could not be found on the table.
The Lord Harris of High Cross, who died yesterday aged 81, was, with Arthur Seldon, one of the founders of the Institute of Economic Affairs, and perhaps the most successful polemicist of the second half of the 20th century, retrieving and advancing free-market ideas which were initially deeply out of favour and providing the intellectual basis for Margaret Thatcher's reforms of the 1980s.
In fact, though Ralph Harris was the first life peer appointed under the Thatcher government, and declared his admiration for her, he hotly denied being a Thatcherite. "But I count it fortunate for Britain… that she was something of an 'IEA-ite'," he wrote. He took his place on the crossbenches, to the approval of his intellectual mentor, Friedrich von Hayek. He decided, too, against obtaining a coat of arms because heraldry could not represent Adam Smith's "invisible hand".
...."A lot of our thinking was deliberately intended to affront [the establishment] and to wake them up," Harris conceded. The IEA had been set up as an educational charity by a Sussex farming entrepreneur named Antony Fisher from the profits of the Buxted Chicken company, and had been inspired by Hayek's Road to Serfdom, which Fisher had read in condensed form in the Reader's Digest.
From the beginning, it made no attempt to put forward proposals which had been devised according to what was "politically possible", but attempted to convince intellectuals and journalists of the case for the market, reasoning that politicians would follow.
The Tories' landslide victory in 1979 brought to the fore many of the policies for which Harris and the IEA had been arguing since the 1950s. Privatisation and cuts in income tax, which had been dismissed as mad by bien-pensant opinion when Harris and Seldon began to publish, became popular and successful planks of government policy.
And no Telegraph obituary would be complete without a mention of its subject's idiosyncracies:
With his centre parting and toothbrush moustache, Harris exuded a gentle, old-fashioned charm which made him excellent company, as well as proving an effective tool for promoting his beliefs.
He was an accomplished amateur conjuror and was fond of bathing in the sea (he took regular dips off Eastbourne).
Harris's favourite dinner was lamb chops with roast potatoes, followed by apple pie, and he always travelled with a portable pepper grinder, in case black pepper could not be found on the table.
To each according to their #1 Seed
'Let them eat grass, I get lobster', might be the bumper sticker on his Mercedes:
From imported lobsters to cognac and Mercedes-Benz cars, the expensive tastes of North Korea's secretive leader, Kim Jong-il, have never failed to stagger those who have witnessed his conspicuous consumption.
However, his love of the finer things in life, in a country where his people have been allowed to starve, is now being challenged by the United Nations sanctions imposed at the weekend.
They include a clause banning the export of luxury goods to North Korea and aim to cut off or at least greatly diminish the dictator's supplies, which he is believed to use to reward senior officials for their loyalty.
.... At one stage, Kim was reported to be the world's biggest single customer for Hennessy's Paradis cognac, although he was later forced to cut down his intake, acting on medical advice, and took up fine French red wine.
From imported lobsters to cognac and Mercedes-Benz cars, the expensive tastes of North Korea's secretive leader, Kim Jong-il, have never failed to stagger those who have witnessed his conspicuous consumption.
However, his love of the finer things in life, in a country where his people have been allowed to starve, is now being challenged by the United Nations sanctions imposed at the weekend.
They include a clause banning the export of luxury goods to North Korea and aim to cut off or at least greatly diminish the dictator's supplies, which he is believed to use to reward senior officials for their loyalty.
.... At one stage, Kim was reported to be the world's biggest single customer for Hennessy's Paradis cognac, although he was later forced to cut down his intake, acting on medical advice, and took up fine French red wine.
Penny for your thoughts...
Considerably more for your feelings, in the UK:
A Muslim teaching assistant who was suspended for refusing to remove her veil during lessons has been awarded £1,100 for "injury to her feelings"
Aishah Azmi, 24, lost her claims that she was discriminated against because of her religious beliefs and that she had suffered harassment.
But an employment tribunal ruled that she had been victimised through the environment created as a result of her stance.
Making the irony piquant is who her employer is:
Mrs Azmi was suspended when she insisted on retaining her niqab while working at Headfield Church of England School, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
A Muslim teaching assistant who was suspended for refusing to remove her veil during lessons has been awarded £1,100 for "injury to her feelings"
Aishah Azmi, 24, lost her claims that she was discriminated against because of her religious beliefs and that she had suffered harassment.
But an employment tribunal ruled that she had been victimised through the environment created as a result of her stance.
Making the irony piquant is who her employer is:
Mrs Azmi was suspended when she insisted on retaining her niqab while working at Headfield Church of England School, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Germany to Berlin; 'Drop Dead'
Great Abe Beame's Ghost:
Berlin (dpa) - Germany's top court Thursday refused to sanction a government-funded multibillion dollar bailout for the nation's bankrupt capital.
The court dismissed a suit filed by Germany's largest city, which is saddled with a 60-billion-euro (75-billion-dollar) debt.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said the city cannot repay the debt by itself and invoked a constitutional solidarity clause in a bid to win a bailout ruling from Germany's highest court.
The capital had argued that it had got into debt because the government had slashed subsidies after German unification in 1990.
But the federal constitutional court ruled that the massive debt was largely of the city's own making, but "in all probability" could be reduced if spending was brought under control.
....There have been allegations that Berlin's government - a coalition of Social Democrats with the former East German communists now called The Left Party - has not done enough to cut spending and privatize massive state holdings.
The court said the city could earn at least 5 billion euros if it sold the 270,000 apartments - 15 per cent of Berlin's total residential living space - that are under public ownership.
Berlin (dpa) - Germany's top court Thursday refused to sanction a government-funded multibillion dollar bailout for the nation's bankrupt capital.
The court dismissed a suit filed by Germany's largest city, which is saddled with a 60-billion-euro (75-billion-dollar) debt.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said the city cannot repay the debt by itself and invoked a constitutional solidarity clause in a bid to win a bailout ruling from Germany's highest court.
The capital had argued that it had got into debt because the government had slashed subsidies after German unification in 1990.
But the federal constitutional court ruled that the massive debt was largely of the city's own making, but "in all probability" could be reduced if spending was brought under control.
....There have been allegations that Berlin's government - a coalition of Social Democrats with the former East German communists now called The Left Party - has not done enough to cut spending and privatize massive state holdings.
The court said the city could earn at least 5 billion euros if it sold the 270,000 apartments - 15 per cent of Berlin's total residential living space - that are under public ownership.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Take Sean Penn...Please!
They ought to be counting their blessings in Holland:
AMSTERDAM — Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said he is disappointed in the nation's intellectuals, artists and writers, accusing them of a lack of social engagement.
Balkenende said the nation's intellectuals had failed to make their voice heard in the current debate about the problems in Dutch society.
"Where is the social engagement of intellectuals, writers and artists? Why is there an almost frightening silence?" Balkenende wrote in a letter to writer Harry Mulisch.
The Christian Democrat CDA leader said Dutch intellectuals should represent a mirror of Dutch politics.
Of course what happened to Theo Van Gogh might have something to do with it:
AMSTERDAM — Research has indicated that more than 1,400 young Muslims in Amsterdam, or 2 percent of the capital's Islamic population, are potential extremists.
AMSTERDAM — Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said he is disappointed in the nation's intellectuals, artists and writers, accusing them of a lack of social engagement.
Balkenende said the nation's intellectuals had failed to make their voice heard in the current debate about the problems in Dutch society.
"Where is the social engagement of intellectuals, writers and artists? Why is there an almost frightening silence?" Balkenende wrote in a letter to writer Harry Mulisch.
The Christian Democrat CDA leader said Dutch intellectuals should represent a mirror of Dutch politics.
Of course what happened to Theo Van Gogh might have something to do with it:
AMSTERDAM — Research has indicated that more than 1,400 young Muslims in Amsterdam, or 2 percent of the capital's Islamic population, are potential extremists.
If you're reading this...
...you're sick, say the shrinks:
The US could be rife with "internet addicts" who are as clinically ill as alcoholics, according to psychiatrists involved in a nationwide study.
....Most disturbing, according to the study's lead author Elias Aboujaoude, is the discovery that some people hide their internet surfing, or go online to cure foul moods – behaviour that mirrors the way alcoholics behave.
"In a sense, they're using the internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude says. "And, obviously, something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their internet activity."
Nearly 14% of respondents said they found it difficult to stay away from the internet for several days and 12% admitted that they often remain online longer than expected.
More than 8% of those surveyed said they hid internet use from family, friends and employers, and the same percentage confessed to going online to flee from real-world problems.
Approximately 6% also said their personal relationships had suffered as a result of excessive internet usage.
The US could be rife with "internet addicts" who are as clinically ill as alcoholics, according to psychiatrists involved in a nationwide study.
....Most disturbing, according to the study's lead author Elias Aboujaoude, is the discovery that some people hide their internet surfing, or go online to cure foul moods – behaviour that mirrors the way alcoholics behave.
"In a sense, they're using the internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude says. "And, obviously, something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their internet activity."
Nearly 14% of respondents said they found it difficult to stay away from the internet for several days and 12% admitted that they often remain online longer than expected.
More than 8% of those surveyed said they hid internet use from family, friends and employers, and the same percentage confessed to going online to flee from real-world problems.
Approximately 6% also said their personal relationships had suffered as a result of excessive internet usage.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Fore!
Play it as it lays, Comrade:
Golf lessons are going to be made compulsory for some students at one Chinese university, reports say.
The president of Xiamen University in south-east China was quoted as saying it would help produce "socially elite people with the best education".
....Zhu Chongshi, president of Xiamen University in Fujian province, said golf lessons would be on offer to all students in the next two months.
But he said those majoring in management, law, economic and software engineering courses would "be required" to take the course, the China Daily newspaper reports.
"Golf is not only good exercise, but will teach students communication skills and benefit their future careers," he was quoted as saying.
Golf lessons are going to be made compulsory for some students at one Chinese university, reports say.
The president of Xiamen University in south-east China was quoted as saying it would help produce "socially elite people with the best education".
....Zhu Chongshi, president of Xiamen University in Fujian province, said golf lessons would be on offer to all students in the next two months.
But he said those majoring in management, law, economic and software engineering courses would "be required" to take the course, the China Daily newspaper reports.
"Golf is not only good exercise, but will teach students communication skills and benefit their future careers," he was quoted as saying.
Better Wining Through Chemistry
Raise a glass to oenology in France:
The French winemaker's mantra has always been "grow good grapes and the wine will make itself," but for all save the most prestigious estates letting nature take its course is no longer good enough.
.... While often loath to admit it, many French producers are now crafting their wares to suit consumer tastes rather than expecting consumers to adapt to the product.
....There is no better measure of this profound change than the growing influence and importance of wine chemists — also called oenologists — in Bordeaux, France's premier wine producing region.
"In 10 years, oenologists have evolved from vine doctor to winemaker," said the president of association representing Bordeaux's wine chemists, Nicolas Guichard.
.... "The tilting point was economic — all production is for naught as soon as it is disconnected from the market," said Jean-Philippe Gervais, head of the vine-and-wine services department of the Gironde region's Chamber of Agriculture. "The oenologist today has a better understanding of marketing, and the imperatives of supply and demand."
The French winemaker's mantra has always been "grow good grapes and the wine will make itself," but for all save the most prestigious estates letting nature take its course is no longer good enough.
.... While often loath to admit it, many French producers are now crafting their wares to suit consumer tastes rather than expecting consumers to adapt to the product.
....There is no better measure of this profound change than the growing influence and importance of wine chemists — also called oenologists — in Bordeaux, France's premier wine producing region.
"In 10 years, oenologists have evolved from vine doctor to winemaker," said the president of association representing Bordeaux's wine chemists, Nicolas Guichard.
.... "The tilting point was economic — all production is for naught as soon as it is disconnected from the market," said Jean-Philippe Gervais, head of the vine-and-wine services department of the Gironde region's Chamber of Agriculture. "The oenologist today has a better understanding of marketing, and the imperatives of supply and demand."
Never on Sunday
In modern Europe don't you dare try renting a video:
A court in Germany has stopped a company from operating automated video and DVD rental machines on Sundays, saying they violate Sunday shopping laws.
.... "The operation of an automated video library on Sundays and public holidays represents an overt and clearly visible work practice and as such violates Sunday peace," the judges said.
....Shopping hours are strictly regulated in Germany, with most stores allowed to open only on a handful of Sundays in the run-up to Christmas.
A court in Germany has stopped a company from operating automated video and DVD rental machines on Sundays, saying they violate Sunday shopping laws.
.... "The operation of an automated video library on Sundays and public holidays represents an overt and clearly visible work practice and as such violates Sunday peace," the judges said.
....Shopping hours are strictly regulated in Germany, with most stores allowed to open only on a handful of Sundays in the run-up to Christmas.
Nice work, if you can get it
And you can get it if you threaten to cry:
The Orlando Magic paid a political consultant and frequent tax critic $200,000 not to oppose plans for a recently announced new arena, the club has disclosed.
The payments were made at two different points to Doug Guetzloe, who also hosts a local radio show billed as "The Voice of the People." The Magic gave him $100,000 to support a similar stadium push in 2001 and another $100,000 this year.
....The Magic's payments were made in support of a $1 billion downtown overhaul - delivering a new arena, renovated Citrus Bowl and new performing arts center.
"We were told that there was an offer by those in the minority that oppose the three community venues to hire him if we did not," Magic chief operating officer Alex Martins said in a written statement.
.... The Magic weren't the only ones paying Guetzloe. A Kissimmee resort gave him $87,000 when it pursued public money to expand a convention center, and the local expressway authority has paid him $107,500 to evaluate opposition to toll increases despite his heavy criticism of the agency.
The Orlando Magic paid a political consultant and frequent tax critic $200,000 not to oppose plans for a recently announced new arena, the club has disclosed.
The payments were made at two different points to Doug Guetzloe, who also hosts a local radio show billed as "The Voice of the People." The Magic gave him $100,000 to support a similar stadium push in 2001 and another $100,000 this year.
....The Magic's payments were made in support of a $1 billion downtown overhaul - delivering a new arena, renovated Citrus Bowl and new performing arts center.
"We were told that there was an offer by those in the minority that oppose the three community venues to hire him if we did not," Magic chief operating officer Alex Martins said in a written statement.
.... The Magic weren't the only ones paying Guetzloe. A Kissimmee resort gave him $87,000 when it pursued public money to expand a convention center, and the local expressway authority has paid him $107,500 to evaluate opposition to toll increases despite his heavy criticism of the agency.
Monday, October 16, 2006
We don't think this means what you think it means
Italian women earn less than men for pretty much the same reason as everywhere else, but you have to read to nearly the end to find out why:
(ANSA) - Rome, October 16 - Italy's working women earn about three quarters of what men earn on average, according to new statistics from ISFOL, the government-funded research institute.
For salaried workers women the difference is about 23%, or 3,800 euros a year, while for the self-employed the difference can be as much as 40%....
Self-employed women pay themselves 40% less, because....
The startling difference between the pay received by self-employed men and women was mainly the result of women working fewer hours, the report said .
Which fact seems not to have penetrated with the author of this article who explains the smaller difference in pay for employees with the usual suspects:
"There is a tendency to avoid giving roles with more responsibility to women basically because employers are afraid that childcare duties will be a distraction," said Emiliano Mandrone.
He said this was particularly common in the private sector, where bosses were concerned that women would either underperform or disappear for a year to have a baby.
As a result, men tend to get the top jobs and the fat salaries that go with them .
(ANSA) - Rome, October 16 - Italy's working women earn about three quarters of what men earn on average, according to new statistics from ISFOL, the government-funded research institute.
For salaried workers women the difference is about 23%, or 3,800 euros a year, while for the self-employed the difference can be as much as 40%....
Self-employed women pay themselves 40% less, because....
The startling difference between the pay received by self-employed men and women was mainly the result of women working fewer hours, the report said .
Which fact seems not to have penetrated with the author of this article who explains the smaller difference in pay for employees with the usual suspects:
"There is a tendency to avoid giving roles with more responsibility to women basically because employers are afraid that childcare duties will be a distraction," said Emiliano Mandrone.
He said this was particularly common in the private sector, where bosses were concerned that women would either underperform or disappear for a year to have a baby.
As a result, men tend to get the top jobs and the fat salaries that go with them .
T'Okay, We'll Surrender...We're French
It will have to be by any other name, but the wine will still be dry:
PARIS, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) - The French wine-growing area of Alsace on Monday officially surrendered to Hungary the label "Tokay" which has been used for several hundred years to designate a local variety of white.
Hungary -- where the Tokay wine region is a UNESCO-designated world heritage site -- has been pressing for decades for the sole right to use the name....
As long ago as 1926 France agreed to phase out the trade-name in return for a Hungarian commitment to stop making "cognac" -- but the deal met insuperable resistance in Alsace where reportedly since the 16th century "Tokay d'Alsace" has referred to wine made from the "pinot gris" grape.
.... Hungary has also won agreement from Italy to stop use of the name "Tocai Friulano" for a variety of grape grown in the north of the country, and under a deal with neighbouring Slovakia "Tokay" can only be used for wine produced in a small area along the Hungarian border.
Hungarian Tokay was made famous in France at the start of the 18th century when King Louis XIV was sent a supply by the Prince of Transylvania. He reportedly described it as a "wine of kings, and a king of wines" -- a slogan used in marketing campaigns ever since.
PARIS, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) - The French wine-growing area of Alsace on Monday officially surrendered to Hungary the label "Tokay" which has been used for several hundred years to designate a local variety of white.
Hungary -- where the Tokay wine region is a UNESCO-designated world heritage site -- has been pressing for decades for the sole right to use the name....
As long ago as 1926 France agreed to phase out the trade-name in return for a Hungarian commitment to stop making "cognac" -- but the deal met insuperable resistance in Alsace where reportedly since the 16th century "Tokay d'Alsace" has referred to wine made from the "pinot gris" grape.
.... Hungary has also won agreement from Italy to stop use of the name "Tocai Friulano" for a variety of grape grown in the north of the country, and under a deal with neighbouring Slovakia "Tokay" can only be used for wine produced in a small area along the Hungarian border.
Hungarian Tokay was made famous in France at the start of the 18th century when King Louis XIV was sent a supply by the Prince of Transylvania. He reportedly described it as a "wine of kings, and a king of wines" -- a slogan used in marketing campaigns ever since.
Ain't gonna happen, no how?
China energizes the English police as the Olympics loom:
China has launched a fresh drive to clamp down on bad English in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Previous attempts to wipe out Chinglish - the mistranslated phrases often seen on Chinese street signs and product labels - have met with little success.
Emergency exits at Beijing airport read "No entry on peacetime" and the Ethnic Minorities Park is named "Racist Park".
....A road sign on Beijing's Avenue of Eternal Peace warns of a dangerous pavement with the words: "To Take Notice of Safe; The Slippery are Very Crafty".
Menus frequently list items such as "Corrugated iron beef", "Government abuse chicken" and "Chop the strange fish".
The mistranslations arise because many Chinese words express concepts obliquely and can be interpreted in multiple ways, making translation a minefield for non-English speakers.
China has launched a fresh drive to clamp down on bad English in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Previous attempts to wipe out Chinglish - the mistranslated phrases often seen on Chinese street signs and product labels - have met with little success.
Emergency exits at Beijing airport read "No entry on peacetime" and the Ethnic Minorities Park is named "Racist Park".
....A road sign on Beijing's Avenue of Eternal Peace warns of a dangerous pavement with the words: "To Take Notice of Safe; The Slippery are Very Crafty".
Menus frequently list items such as "Corrugated iron beef", "Government abuse chicken" and "Chop the strange fish".
The mistranslations arise because many Chinese words express concepts obliquely and can be interpreted in multiple ways, making translation a minefield for non-English speakers.
Running Guns to the Khmer Rouge II
The Senator from Massachusetts must have thought it would sound good--the way he told Tim Russert on Meet the Press; 'Was too in Cambodia'--but, who is it who is trying to gain partisan political advantage here:
KERRY: It's a bomb that has been developed because of the unwillingness of this administration to engage in opportunities that every expert says have been there all the time.
President Carter went over there in 1994 and President Carter negotiated an agreement. Now, rather than continue that agreement in 2002, this administration just arbitrarily decided, out of ideological whatever - - anything but Clinton -- they proceed down a different road.
And things have gotten worse. Things have gotten worse in Afghanistan. Things have gotten worse in Iraq. They're not telling the truth to the American people about a civil war in Iraq.
They don't listen to the generals on the ground in Iraq. The generals have said it's a debacle. They've said Rumsfeld doesn't have credibility. They're not standing down while the Iraqis supposedly stand up.
In every aspect of our foreign policy, this administration has misled Americans and misled the world. And they don't have credibility. Chris, this is not political. This is not political.
WALLACE: Well, it's a little political.
KERRY: No, it's not political. No, it's not political. It used to be that foreign policy was something that was done on a bipartisan basis. It used to be that the politics ended at the water's edge.
KERRY: It's a bomb that has been developed because of the unwillingness of this administration to engage in opportunities that every expert says have been there all the time.
President Carter went over there in 1994 and President Carter negotiated an agreement. Now, rather than continue that agreement in 2002, this administration just arbitrarily decided, out of ideological whatever - - anything but Clinton -- they proceed down a different road.
And things have gotten worse. Things have gotten worse in Afghanistan. Things have gotten worse in Iraq. They're not telling the truth to the American people about a civil war in Iraq.
They don't listen to the generals on the ground in Iraq. The generals have said it's a debacle. They've said Rumsfeld doesn't have credibility. They're not standing down while the Iraqis supposedly stand up.
In every aspect of our foreign policy, this administration has misled Americans and misled the world. And they don't have credibility. Chris, this is not political. This is not political.
WALLACE: Well, it's a little political.
KERRY: No, it's not political. No, it's not political. It used to be that foreign policy was something that was done on a bipartisan basis. It used to be that the politics ended at the water's edge.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Not exactly a ringing endorsement
Of one's own policies, when you receive the Nobel Peace Prize for financing poor entrepreneurs, you turn around and use the money to create a non-profit entity with a large French agri-business:
DHAKA: Muhammad Yunus yesterday said he would donate his share of the $1.4-million (BD527,757) prize money to good causes.
Yunus said he would use his share to fund a project to produce low-cost, nutritious food for the poor, an eye hospital, a drinking water project and a health care scheme.
"I will donate all my money to these enterprises. These will be purely social business enterprises, ie not-for-profit organisations," he said.
"I will use the money to finance our joint-venture food company with Danone so that the poor can eat high nutrition food at an affordable price," he said. ....
The French company is the world's biggest producer of fresh dairy products and bottled water with total sales of around $16 billion in 2005.
DHAKA: Muhammad Yunus yesterday said he would donate his share of the $1.4-million (BD527,757) prize money to good causes.
Yunus said he would use his share to fund a project to produce low-cost, nutritious food for the poor, an eye hospital, a drinking water project and a health care scheme.
"I will donate all my money to these enterprises. These will be purely social business enterprises, ie not-for-profit organisations," he said.
"I will use the money to finance our joint-venture food company with Danone so that the poor can eat high nutrition food at an affordable price," he said. ....
The French company is the world's biggest producer of fresh dairy products and bottled water with total sales of around $16 billion in 2005.
He sleeps with the Trout Quintet?
On the Musicfront, in Seattle:
The past six months represent some of the most divisive and troubled moments in the history of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, with some orchestra members expressing bitter opposition to Gerard Schwarz, music director for more than two decades, as well as internecine battles among the musicians.
Stimulated by the renewal of Schwarz's contract in the spring, the conflict became increasingly nasty and violent: instruments were vandalized, cars keyed, anonymous phone calls made, mail stolen from backstage mail slots and doorbells at musicians' homes rung anonymously at night.
....John Cerminaro, principal French horn since 1995, is the main target, with Scott Goff, principal flute for more than 35 years, a secondary one. Both are regarded as prime allies of Schwarz.
In late September, Cerminaro found in his Benaroya mail box a razor in a magazine and, in a separate episode, a cup of hot coffee, both of which could have caused serious damage to his hands.
Friday morning at an orchestra rehearsal, Mary Ann Champion, interim executive director, addressed the musicians on what she termed, in an earlier interview, "a safe work environment and incidents backstage." She said she did not plan to mention any names but would tell musicians that management "will not accept inappropriate behavior" and promised "increased security."
The reaction by orchestra members was mixed, sources said. One key player gave Champion the finger as she left the podium.
Cerminaro's comments were subdued. "I have been the principal French horn with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and the American Symphony Orchestra, and I have never seen anything like this. Beyond that I will not comment."
Next; checking to see just what's in those violin cases?
The past six months represent some of the most divisive and troubled moments in the history of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, with some orchestra members expressing bitter opposition to Gerard Schwarz, music director for more than two decades, as well as internecine battles among the musicians.
Stimulated by the renewal of Schwarz's contract in the spring, the conflict became increasingly nasty and violent: instruments were vandalized, cars keyed, anonymous phone calls made, mail stolen from backstage mail slots and doorbells at musicians' homes rung anonymously at night.
....John Cerminaro, principal French horn since 1995, is the main target, with Scott Goff, principal flute for more than 35 years, a secondary one. Both are regarded as prime allies of Schwarz.
In late September, Cerminaro found in his Benaroya mail box a razor in a magazine and, in a separate episode, a cup of hot coffee, both of which could have caused serious damage to his hands.
Friday morning at an orchestra rehearsal, Mary Ann Champion, interim executive director, addressed the musicians on what she termed, in an earlier interview, "a safe work environment and incidents backstage." She said she did not plan to mention any names but would tell musicians that management "will not accept inappropriate behavior" and promised "increased security."
The reaction by orchestra members was mixed, sources said. One key player gave Champion the finger as she left the podium.
Cerminaro's comments were subdued. "I have been the principal French horn with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and the American Symphony Orchestra, and I have never seen anything like this. Beyond that I will not comment."
Next; checking to see just what's in those violin cases?
Friday, October 13, 2006
Borrring!
Belgian childcare, say the kids:
Brussels - A large-scale investigation into the quality of Belgian childcare shows that although children feel comfortable in their crèches, they often lack focus in their activities.
....The investigation was unique in that it focused on how the 8,000 participating children themselves perceived the day care.
....We specifically noticed that children sometimes tend to be a bit bored", says professor Ferre Laerens of the Catholic University of Leuven. "Although they are involved in some activity or other, the children lack moments of real intensity and are not always that focused", he adds.
It appears that 40 percent of the childcare initiatives do not come up to 'normal' standards on this criterion.
Brussels - A large-scale investigation into the quality of Belgian childcare shows that although children feel comfortable in their crèches, they often lack focus in their activities.
....The investigation was unique in that it focused on how the 8,000 participating children themselves perceived the day care.
....We specifically noticed that children sometimes tend to be a bit bored", says professor Ferre Laerens of the Catholic University of Leuven. "Although they are involved in some activity or other, the children lack moments of real intensity and are not always that focused", he adds.
It appears that 40 percent of the childcare initiatives do not come up to 'normal' standards on this criterion.
She's Scary Allright
Unemployment in France not high enough for you? Vote for la fille:
(AFP) - France should tax businesses that move jobs outside of the country, and then tax their products when they are imported back into the country, French presidential election frontrunner Ségolène Royal said in an interview published in The Times on Friday.
Speaking from the town of Poitiers, western France, in the Poitou-Charentes regional council where she is the socialist head, Royal told the newspaper: "We have to prevent this wildcat outsourcing."
"The workers have no power. We need to tax businesses who want to move out jobs and tax their products when they re-import them," she said.
"The capitalists have to be frightened ... There is no alternative. They can't just dispose of people as they wish. They have to be held accountable."
(AFP) - France should tax businesses that move jobs outside of the country, and then tax their products when they are imported back into the country, French presidential election frontrunner Ségolène Royal said in an interview published in The Times on Friday.
Speaking from the town of Poitiers, western France, in the Poitou-Charentes regional council where she is the socialist head, Royal told the newspaper: "We have to prevent this wildcat outsourcing."
"The workers have no power. We need to tax businesses who want to move out jobs and tax their products when they re-import them," she said.
"The capitalists have to be frightened ... There is no alternative. They can't just dispose of people as they wish. They have to be held accountable."
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Shall We Dance?
What with all this harmony:
PARIS, Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that restructuring at plane maker Airbus should be "distributed harmoniously" between plants at Hamburg in Germany and Toulouse in France, at the end of a Franco-German ministerial meeting.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel then said that "France and Germany must remain on a equal footing" within EADS, the parent aerospace group behind Airbus.
Though not three (or more) part harmony, it seems:
MADRID — The delays over the Airbus 380 Project have claimed its first victims in Spain, with the loss of 180 jobs from a company which supplies parts for the motor.
Turbo Propulsores, based in the Basque Country, announced the job losses on Wednesday.
....Spain, a minority partner in Airbus parent EADS, had said it wants to raise the country's stake to safeguard jobs.
Spanish economy minister Pedro Solbes said he wanted to protect the EADS and Airbus work carried out in Spain....
The country owns 5.4 percent of EADS through state holding company SEPI.
.... France has paid more attention to the Spanish shareholding since Russia unexpectedly grabbed a 5 percent stake in EADS via a state bank and hinted it could buy more.
Nor is there unanimity even within countries:
Paris/Hamburg (dpa) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday the German government had not taken any decision yet on whether to buy a stake in EADS, the parent company of the troubled planemaker Airbus.
....Merkel's remarks came after Mayor Ole von Beust of Hamburg - where Airbus has one of its main plants - announced after talks with the new CEO of Airbus, Louis Gallois, that he welcomed a federal German government "decision" to buy a holding in Airbus.
Von Beust, who is one of Germany's 16 state premiers and a Christian Democrat ally of Merkel, later backtracked, but said, "I remain convinced that the federal government must act if industry does not do its patriotic duty."
The later comment was an attack on DaimlerChrysler, the German-US automotive company that holds 22.5 per cent of EADS and said Wednesday it aims to reduce its holding to 15 per cent but no lower.
The French government owns 15 per cent of stockmarket-listed EADS, which was created to unite western Europe's disparate aerospace companies so that they can compete with big US corporations.
But, to do so successfully, Airbus needs to replace a little harmony with efficiency. And when someone choreographed with that in mind, he was asked to resign:
Before being forced to step down earlier this week, former Airbus head Christian Streiff had recommended moving the task of fitting the A380 interior from Hamburg to Toulouse, where Airbus has its headquarters.
PARIS, Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that restructuring at plane maker Airbus should be "distributed harmoniously" between plants at Hamburg in Germany and Toulouse in France, at the end of a Franco-German ministerial meeting.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel then said that "France and Germany must remain on a equal footing" within EADS, the parent aerospace group behind Airbus.
Though not three (or more) part harmony, it seems:
MADRID — The delays over the Airbus 380 Project have claimed its first victims in Spain, with the loss of 180 jobs from a company which supplies parts for the motor.
Turbo Propulsores, based in the Basque Country, announced the job losses on Wednesday.
....Spain, a minority partner in Airbus parent EADS, had said it wants to raise the country's stake to safeguard jobs.
Spanish economy minister Pedro Solbes said he wanted to protect the EADS and Airbus work carried out in Spain....
The country owns 5.4 percent of EADS through state holding company SEPI.
.... France has paid more attention to the Spanish shareholding since Russia unexpectedly grabbed a 5 percent stake in EADS via a state bank and hinted it could buy more.
Nor is there unanimity even within countries:
Paris/Hamburg (dpa) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday the German government had not taken any decision yet on whether to buy a stake in EADS, the parent company of the troubled planemaker Airbus.
....Merkel's remarks came after Mayor Ole von Beust of Hamburg - where Airbus has one of its main plants - announced after talks with the new CEO of Airbus, Louis Gallois, that he welcomed a federal German government "decision" to buy a holding in Airbus.
Von Beust, who is one of Germany's 16 state premiers and a Christian Democrat ally of Merkel, later backtracked, but said, "I remain convinced that the federal government must act if industry does not do its patriotic duty."
The later comment was an attack on DaimlerChrysler, the German-US automotive company that holds 22.5 per cent of EADS and said Wednesday it aims to reduce its holding to 15 per cent but no lower.
The French government owns 15 per cent of stockmarket-listed EADS, which was created to unite western Europe's disparate aerospace companies so that they can compete with big US corporations.
But, to do so successfully, Airbus needs to replace a little harmony with efficiency. And when someone choreographed with that in mind, he was asked to resign:
Before being forced to step down earlier this week, former Airbus head Christian Streiff had recommended moving the task of fitting the A380 interior from Hamburg to Toulouse, where Airbus has its headquarters.
A Bridge Too Far...
...and possibly too crooked for Italy's government:
Italy has abandoned controversial plans to build a bridge between the country's mainland and the island of Sicily.
The structure would have crossed the Messina Straits, forming the world's longest single-span suspension bridge.
But Italian MPs voted to scrap the proposed construction, saying they had other priorities for Italy's impoverished southern island.
There were also concerns that organised crime networks could hijack the lucrative project.
But that wouldn't stop a profit seeking company.
Italy has abandoned controversial plans to build a bridge between the country's mainland and the island of Sicily.
The structure would have crossed the Messina Straits, forming the world's longest single-span suspension bridge.
But Italian MPs voted to scrap the proposed construction, saying they had other priorities for Italy's impoverished southern island.
There were also concerns that organised crime networks could hijack the lucrative project.
But that wouldn't stop a profit seeking company.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Spare the Rod...Spoil the CEO
Everyone responding to the question admitted to not being pain free growing up:
The debate over whether CEOs are born or made remains unresolved, but there is one thing they overwhelmingly have in common.
As children, they were paddled, belted, switched or swatted.
Child psychologists wince at such a finding. They warn that spanking slows mental development and hinders achievement. They say the last thing parents need in the back of their minds is a suggestion or justification that the rod is the road to vision, ruthless drive and other leadership traits common to CEOs.
But USA TODAY interviewed about 20 CEOs over three months and, while none said they were abused, neither were any spared.
....Eve Tahmincioglu interviewed 55 CEOs about their backgrounds for her book From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top, which went on sale Friday. The book includes chapters on such things as how CEOs attacked their first jobs and how they overcame bad bosses, but Chapter One is called "Parents: Less Carrot, More Stick."
She found that most CEOs had tough disciplinarians as parents.
....Sara Blakely....says she was "spanked and spanked often," so much that she would wear all of her days-of-the-week underwear at the same time to soften the blow.
Today, she is the founder and owner of a women's undergarment manufacturer that has passed $100 million in retail sales this year.
Blakely says she thought of a name for her company while sitting in Atlanta traffic. It's a name that nobody seems to forget.
Spanx.
The debate over whether CEOs are born or made remains unresolved, but there is one thing they overwhelmingly have in common.
As children, they were paddled, belted, switched or swatted.
Child psychologists wince at such a finding. They warn that spanking slows mental development and hinders achievement. They say the last thing parents need in the back of their minds is a suggestion or justification that the rod is the road to vision, ruthless drive and other leadership traits common to CEOs.
But USA TODAY interviewed about 20 CEOs over three months and, while none said they were abused, neither were any spared.
....Eve Tahmincioglu interviewed 55 CEOs about their backgrounds for her book From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top, which went on sale Friday. The book includes chapters on such things as how CEOs attacked their first jobs and how they overcame bad bosses, but Chapter One is called "Parents: Less Carrot, More Stick."
She found that most CEOs had tough disciplinarians as parents.
....Sara Blakely....says she was "spanked and spanked often," so much that she would wear all of her days-of-the-week underwear at the same time to soften the blow.
Today, she is the founder and owner of a women's undergarment manufacturer that has passed $100 million in retail sales this year.
Blakely says she thought of a name for her company while sitting in Atlanta traffic. It's a name that nobody seems to forget.
Spanx.
Remember the Maginot Line!
Let the Franco-Prussian War of the 21st Century begin (and the best man will probably be Boeing, winning):
BERLIN — Germany's economy minister pledged Wednesday that his government will do all it can to protect Airbus sites in the country and ensure that the burdens of a restructuring drive are divided fairly.
Airbus parent EADS' announcement of a further delay to the flagship A380 superjumbo and a cost-cutting drive was followed by concerns in Germany that production work could be moved to France, putting jobs at risk.
Economy Minister Michael Glos said the German government "will work with all its strength for the German sites."
Meanwhile, Jacques Chirac laid down covering fire from Paris:
PARIS, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) - The sole objective for Airbus is to "correct structural faults" that have been responsible for the difficulties plaguing the aircraft manufacturer, a source close to French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday.
"The sole and unique objective is to correct the structural faults to allow delays (in deliveries) to be overcome," the source said.
While the Russians remained coyly neutral:
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a visit to the southern German state of Bavaria, meanwhile held out the prospect of increased Russian investment in EADS.
But Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber played down Russia's designs on the company, whose German arm is based in Bavaria.
"In certain strategic sectors of the economy there are some limits to mutual participation," he said.
BERLIN — Germany's economy minister pledged Wednesday that his government will do all it can to protect Airbus sites in the country and ensure that the burdens of a restructuring drive are divided fairly.
Airbus parent EADS' announcement of a further delay to the flagship A380 superjumbo and a cost-cutting drive was followed by concerns in Germany that production work could be moved to France, putting jobs at risk.
Economy Minister Michael Glos said the German government "will work with all its strength for the German sites."
Meanwhile, Jacques Chirac laid down covering fire from Paris:
PARIS, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) - The sole objective for Airbus is to "correct structural faults" that have been responsible for the difficulties plaguing the aircraft manufacturer, a source close to French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday.
"The sole and unique objective is to correct the structural faults to allow delays (in deliveries) to be overcome," the source said.
While the Russians remained coyly neutral:
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a visit to the southern German state of Bavaria, meanwhile held out the prospect of increased Russian investment in EADS.
But Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber played down Russia's designs on the company, whose German arm is based in Bavaria.
"In certain strategic sectors of the economy there are some limits to mutual participation," he said.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Stop the bleeding...puhleaze!
Interesting coincidence that newly minted Nobel prize winner Edmund Phelps has an Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (thanks to Greg Mankiw), in which he contrasts the English speaking world's system of capitalism with its less dynamic cousin:
Wasn't the Continental system designed to stifle dynamism?
Not only in the midst of the Airbus fiasco, which demonstrates nicely Phelps' point:
Late on Monday Frenchman Christian Streiff was replaced as chief executive of Airbus by Gallois, who also retains his functions at EADS. This was seen as strengthening the influence of France over Airbus.
"We must stop everything becoming French" at Airbus, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel earlier this week.
Many analysts say that the complicated management and production structure, and political interference are the main causes of the crisis at EADS.
But also this from New Scientist that couldn't be better designed to stifle creative destruction:
...members of the European Parliament (MEPs) insisted that chemical manufacturers must be held legally responsible for the safety of their products, and must replace hazardous chemicals if there are safer alternatives.
.... Called REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals), the proposed EU law could affect thousands of chemical products. It will oblige companies to register all chemicals they use and provide information about them as well as any potential hazards.
....The new regulations will apply retroactively to many of those chemicals. The proposed assessment and licensing could have an enormous impact on the European chemicals sector....
As amended today, the proposed law requires industry to prove chemicals are safe.
Which is itself justaposed at New Scientist with this marvel from the United States:
Swab a clear liquid onto a gaping wound and watch the bleeding stop in seconds. An international team of researchers has accomplished just that in animals, using a solution of protein molecules that self-organise on the nanoscale into a biodegradable gel that stops bleeding.
.... In the course of [their] research they discovered one material's dramatic ability to stop bleeding in the brain and began testing it on a variety of other organs and tissues. When applied to a wound, the peptides form a gel that seals over the wound, without causing harm to any nearby cells.
.... Some surgeons are already excited about the material. "I see great potential in the eye field, the gastro-intestinal field, and in neurosurgery," says Dimitri Azar, head of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, US.
.... Ed Buchel, who teaches general and plastic surgery at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, sees equal potential for treating trauma and burns. "If this works as well on humans as it does on rats, it's phenomenal," he says.
That is, a chemical that in Europe would be held to be guilty until proven innocent (i.e 'safe').
Wasn't the Continental system designed to stifle dynamism?
Not only in the midst of the Airbus fiasco, which demonstrates nicely Phelps' point:
Late on Monday Frenchman Christian Streiff was replaced as chief executive of Airbus by Gallois, who also retains his functions at EADS. This was seen as strengthening the influence of France over Airbus.
"We must stop everything becoming French" at Airbus, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel earlier this week.
Many analysts say that the complicated management and production structure, and political interference are the main causes of the crisis at EADS.
But also this from New Scientist that couldn't be better designed to stifle creative destruction:
...members of the European Parliament (MEPs) insisted that chemical manufacturers must be held legally responsible for the safety of their products, and must replace hazardous chemicals if there are safer alternatives.
.... Called REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals), the proposed EU law could affect thousands of chemical products. It will oblige companies to register all chemicals they use and provide information about them as well as any potential hazards.
....The new regulations will apply retroactively to many of those chemicals. The proposed assessment and licensing could have an enormous impact on the European chemicals sector....
As amended today, the proposed law requires industry to prove chemicals are safe.
Which is itself justaposed at New Scientist with this marvel from the United States:
Swab a clear liquid onto a gaping wound and watch the bleeding stop in seconds. An international team of researchers has accomplished just that in animals, using a solution of protein molecules that self-organise on the nanoscale into a biodegradable gel that stops bleeding.
.... In the course of [their] research they discovered one material's dramatic ability to stop bleeding in the brain and began testing it on a variety of other organs and tissues. When applied to a wound, the peptides form a gel that seals over the wound, without causing harm to any nearby cells.
.... Some surgeons are already excited about the material. "I see great potential in the eye field, the gastro-intestinal field, and in neurosurgery," says Dimitri Azar, head of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, US.
.... Ed Buchel, who teaches general and plastic surgery at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, sees equal potential for treating trauma and burns. "If this works as well on humans as it does on rats, it's phenomenal," he says.
That is, a chemical that in Europe would be held to be guilty until proven innocent (i.e 'safe').
Kill the Messenger?
The message will remain the same, it's bad news to mix politics and business:
PARIS, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - New Airbus chief Louis Gallois cleared his predecessor's rescue plan for take-off on Tuesday but warned that months would be needed to streamline "baroque" practices behind the crisis.
Gallois was to meet Airbus managers two days before a Franco-German summit at which President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to confront problems at Airbus, which some say has fallen victim to political pressure.
Meanwhile Christian Streiff, replaced by Gallois late Monday after just 100 days into his rescue mission, told the French newspaper Le Figaro that Airbus was still a European patchwork that "must become a real European enterprise".
....Gallois acknowledged that the management of EADS, which has dual chairmen and chief executives representing France and Germany, and production at Airbus was somewhat "baroque" and "a little complicated".
....Morgan Stanley analyst Eric Chaney commented in a research note that the plan, on which the future of the company depended, "has a name...but it does not have much substance".
The crisis was largely the result of "excessive political interference" he told AFP Tuesday.
Although governments might now have a short-term role to play, "to secure the long-term sustainability of this company, governments will progressively have to move out".
Otherwise, "the very future of the company could be jeopardised", his note warned.
PARIS, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - New Airbus chief Louis Gallois cleared his predecessor's rescue plan for take-off on Tuesday but warned that months would be needed to streamline "baroque" practices behind the crisis.
Gallois was to meet Airbus managers two days before a Franco-German summit at which President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to confront problems at Airbus, which some say has fallen victim to political pressure.
Meanwhile Christian Streiff, replaced by Gallois late Monday after just 100 days into his rescue mission, told the French newspaper Le Figaro that Airbus was still a European patchwork that "must become a real European enterprise".
....Gallois acknowledged that the management of EADS, which has dual chairmen and chief executives representing France and Germany, and production at Airbus was somewhat "baroque" and "a little complicated".
....Morgan Stanley analyst Eric Chaney commented in a research note that the plan, on which the future of the company depended, "has a name...but it does not have much substance".
The crisis was largely the result of "excessive political interference" he told AFP Tuesday.
Although governments might now have a short-term role to play, "to secure the long-term sustainability of this company, governments will progressively have to move out".
Otherwise, "the very future of the company could be jeopardised", his note warned.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Not Your Father's La Dolce Vita?
Italy's electorate finds out that H.L. Mencken was right to say that Democracy is the political theory that the people know what they want, and deserve to get it...Good and hard:
Bologna, October 9 - Premier Romano Prodi and Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa Schioppa defended their budget plans on Monday after a weekend of criticism from industrialists and even some centre-left mayors.
Speaking at a conference of entrepreneurs in Bologna, Prodi expressed determination to press ahead with the 34-bn-euro budget package he and Padoa Schioppa have devised to bring the budget deficit below 3% of GDP.
"The government's duty is not, at the moment, a duty to make people happy. It is a duty to give the country a direction," he said .
Bologna, October 9 - Premier Romano Prodi and Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa Schioppa defended their budget plans on Monday after a weekend of criticism from industrialists and even some centre-left mayors.
Speaking at a conference of entrepreneurs in Bologna, Prodi expressed determination to press ahead with the 34-bn-euro budget package he and Padoa Schioppa have devised to bring the budget deficit below 3% of GDP.
"The government's duty is not, at the moment, a duty to make people happy. It is a duty to give the country a direction," he said .
Baby, You Can Put Out My Fire
She just loves a man in uniform, we guess:
(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - A Roman bride has made her fiance's dream of becoming a fireman come true as a gift for their wedding.
"I've always felt a special thrill watching fire engines speed by and I'm mad about films with firemen in them," said Pierluigi, 31, as he started his Fireman For A Day package, secretly arranged by bride Simona with Rome's fire service.
"I was so pysched," he said later in the day after helping the professionals put out a short circuit in a Rome apartment building.
"Simona, you've made me so happy," Pierluigi gushed after the Rome 'pompieri' gave him an honorary uniform.
....Pierlugi said he'd never forget his wedding present and would be putting the uniform next to his scale model of a New York fire truck .
(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - A Roman bride has made her fiance's dream of becoming a fireman come true as a gift for their wedding.
"I've always felt a special thrill watching fire engines speed by and I'm mad about films with firemen in them," said Pierluigi, 31, as he started his Fireman For A Day package, secretly arranged by bride Simona with Rome's fire service.
"I was so pysched," he said later in the day after helping the professionals put out a short circuit in a Rome apartment building.
"Simona, you've made me so happy," Pierluigi gushed after the Rome 'pompieri' gave him an honorary uniform.
....Pierlugi said he'd never forget his wedding present and would be putting the uniform next to his scale model of a New York fire truck .
Give Peace a Chance
Or at least a few more bucks:
A major fight has broken out between the board of the private foundation that runs the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) and Norway's government minister for cultural affairs, Trond Giske.
Geir Lundestad, who leads the Nobel Peace Center's board, admits that the funding the center received from private sponsors, and which was supposed to last until 2008, is nearly used up. The board had hoped to receive NOK 30 million (about USD 4.6 million) in state funding, but only NOK 17.3 million was earmarked in the government's budget proposal released on Friday.
Most of that amount, NOK 14 million, must be paid back in rent to the state real estate manager Statsbygg, which formally controls the former train station where the Nobel Peace Center is housed. That leaves just NOK 3.3 million for operations, meaning much of the center's staff will have to be let go.
A major fight has broken out between the board of the private foundation that runs the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) and Norway's government minister for cultural affairs, Trond Giske.
Geir Lundestad, who leads the Nobel Peace Center's board, admits that the funding the center received from private sponsors, and which was supposed to last until 2008, is nearly used up. The board had hoped to receive NOK 30 million (about USD 4.6 million) in state funding, but only NOK 17.3 million was earmarked in the government's budget proposal released on Friday.
Most of that amount, NOK 14 million, must be paid back in rent to the state real estate manager Statsbygg, which formally controls the former train station where the Nobel Peace Center is housed. That leaves just NOK 3.3 million for operations, meaning much of the center's staff will have to be let go.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Beggars can be choosers...
...in France.
Though it does beggar the imagination:
CRETEIL, France, Oct 8, 2006 (AFP) - A dozen immigrants returned to a Paris-area gymnasium they have occupied for weeks after refusing to accept new housing located far from their places of work, their supporters said Saturday.
"The families refused to get off the bus after they realized that the housing center was located more than 50 km (30 miles) by highway from Cachan" where the families previously squatted, supporter Delphine Nakache told AFP.
"It's impossible for them to go to work."
....Issofou Somahoro, a representative of the squatters, said the families who boycotted their new shelters, located in the Paris suburb of Porcheville, would be relocated.
Though it does beggar the imagination:
CRETEIL, France, Oct 8, 2006 (AFP) - A dozen immigrants returned to a Paris-area gymnasium they have occupied for weeks after refusing to accept new housing located far from their places of work, their supporters said Saturday.
"The families refused to get off the bus after they realized that the housing center was located more than 50 km (30 miles) by highway from Cachan" where the families previously squatted, supporter Delphine Nakache told AFP.
"It's impossible for them to go to work."
....Issofou Somahoro, a representative of the squatters, said the families who boycotted their new shelters, located in the Paris suburb of Porcheville, would be relocated.
Going Negative
We can't wait to see the attack ads:
Paul Herold does not want to hold public office, but voters in the town of Blaine [Minn.] have catapulted him into the final stage of the municipal election.
Mr Herold originally signed up to run for City Council but landed a new job that he said would not allow him enough time to devote to his constituents.
The father-of-two is now campaigning for his opponent - and hoping to lose.
The ambivalent candidate was told by City Hall officials that he had missed the deadline to remove his name from the primary ballot list. They suggested that he simply not campaign for next month's poll.
Mr Herold did more than that - he phoned friends and neighbours asking them to vote for anyone but him.
He also took his plight to local media pleading for non-support.
"I tried my best not to get any votes," he told Associated Press news agency.
Unfortunately for Mr Herold, he still got enough votes to advance to the next stage against incumbent Katherine Kolb.
Paul Herold does not want to hold public office, but voters in the town of Blaine [Minn.] have catapulted him into the final stage of the municipal election.
Mr Herold originally signed up to run for City Council but landed a new job that he said would not allow him enough time to devote to his constituents.
The father-of-two is now campaigning for his opponent - and hoping to lose.
The ambivalent candidate was told by City Hall officials that he had missed the deadline to remove his name from the primary ballot list. They suggested that he simply not campaign for next month's poll.
Mr Herold did more than that - he phoned friends and neighbours asking them to vote for anyone but him.
He also took his plight to local media pleading for non-support.
"I tried my best not to get any votes," he told Associated Press news agency.
Unfortunately for Mr Herold, he still got enough votes to advance to the next stage against incumbent Katherine Kolb.
About that delay on the line...
India's Call Centre's are getting a reputation:
With employees who are young, usually single, and on starting salaries much higher than those of doctors or lawyers, India's booming call centre industry has been responsible for a social revolution.
"Women come to work with condoms in their handbags," said Alkesh Dua, a call centre worker in Noida, just outside New Delhi. "Everyone is doing it. You're together all night in this cool, hip atmosphere and you end up getting intimate."
Employers have tried to compensate for the monotonous nature of the work itself by creating an informal, American-style college campus atmosphere, where there is plenty of après-shift drinking and partying. Since many staff work night shifts, after which normal socialising is impossible, office friendships - with accompanying sexual liaisons - have blossomed.
In the southern city of Bangalore, a call centre hub, the rising number of abortions – up 50 per cent in two years – is blamed on the licentious lifestyles of the call centre workers. So entrenched is their reputation for dating, drinking and partying that many middle class parents are now reluctant to let their daughters take up such jobs.
With employees who are young, usually single, and on starting salaries much higher than those of doctors or lawyers, India's booming call centre industry has been responsible for a social revolution.
"Women come to work with condoms in their handbags," said Alkesh Dua, a call centre worker in Noida, just outside New Delhi. "Everyone is doing it. You're together all night in this cool, hip atmosphere and you end up getting intimate."
Employers have tried to compensate for the monotonous nature of the work itself by creating an informal, American-style college campus atmosphere, where there is plenty of après-shift drinking and partying. Since many staff work night shifts, after which normal socialising is impossible, office friendships - with accompanying sexual liaisons - have blossomed.
In the southern city of Bangalore, a call centre hub, the rising number of abortions – up 50 per cent in two years – is blamed on the licentious lifestyles of the call centre workers. So entrenched is their reputation for dating, drinking and partying that many middle class parents are now reluctant to let their daughters take up such jobs.
Friday, October 06, 2006
The Fairness Doctor Is In
Maybe we could practice on some Op-ed columnists:
Now, using a tool called the “ultimatum game”, researchers have identified the part of the brain responsible for punishing unfairness. Subjects were put into anonymous pairs, and one person in each pair was given $20 and asked to share it with the other. They could choose to offer any amount – if the second partner accepted it, they both got to keep their share.
....in cases where only a very small share was offered, the vast majority of "receivers" spitefully rejected the offer, ensuring that neither partner got paid.
Previous brain imaging studies have revealed that part of the frontal lobes known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFC, becomes active when people face an unfair offer and have to decide what to do. Researchers had suggested this was because the region somehow suppresses our judgement of fairness.
But now, Ernst Fehr, an economist at the University of Zurich, and colleagues have come to the opposite conclusion – that the region suppresses our natural tendency to act in our own self interest.
They used a burst of magnetic pulses called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – produced by coils held over the scalp – to temporarily shut off activity in the DLPFC. Now, when faced with the opportunity to spitefully reject a cheeky low cash offer, subjects were actually more likely to take the money.
.... Fehr says the research has interesting implications for how we treat young offenders. "This region of the brain matures last, so if it is truly overriding our own self interest then adolescents are less endowed to comply with social norms than adults," he suggests. The criminal justice system takes into account differences for under-16s or under-18s, but this area fully matures around the age of 20 or 22, he says.
Now, using a tool called the “ultimatum game”, researchers have identified the part of the brain responsible for punishing unfairness. Subjects were put into anonymous pairs, and one person in each pair was given $20 and asked to share it with the other. They could choose to offer any amount – if the second partner accepted it, they both got to keep their share.
....in cases where only a very small share was offered, the vast majority of "receivers" spitefully rejected the offer, ensuring that neither partner got paid.
Previous brain imaging studies have revealed that part of the frontal lobes known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFC, becomes active when people face an unfair offer and have to decide what to do. Researchers had suggested this was because the region somehow suppresses our judgement of fairness.
But now, Ernst Fehr, an economist at the University of Zurich, and colleagues have come to the opposite conclusion – that the region suppresses our natural tendency to act in our own self interest.
They used a burst of magnetic pulses called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – produced by coils held over the scalp – to temporarily shut off activity in the DLPFC. Now, when faced with the opportunity to spitefully reject a cheeky low cash offer, subjects were actually more likely to take the money.
.... Fehr says the research has interesting implications for how we treat young offenders. "This region of the brain matures last, so if it is truly overriding our own self interest then adolescents are less endowed to comply with social norms than adults," he suggests. The criminal justice system takes into account differences for under-16s or under-18s, but this area fully matures around the age of 20 or 22, he says.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Boeing Boeing
Not the Jerry Lewis movie, but the French are again scrambling their schedules:
PARIS, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) - European plane-maker Airbus said Thursday it may need 15 years to catch up with and overtake US rival Boeing, while the co-chief executive at parent company EADS said plans for the new mid-size A350 jet might have to be scrapped.
"This is such a long-term business," Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff told the Financial Times after EADS announced further production delays to the development of the A380 superjumbo, a key component in the competition with Boeing, as well as the prospect of heavy losses.
.... The co-chief executive of EADS, Thomas Enders, meanwhile told the Financial Times Deutschland that the future of the planned A350 XWB extra-wide bodied passenger jet could be in question.
...."Even if we arrive with three or four years' delay with respect to Boeing's 787, this question (of the A350) is capital for the devlopment of Airbus," he told the French daily Le Monde.
"Being absent from a segment that represents 40 percent of the value of the market is difficult to imagine," he said.
....With the A380 program now nearly two years behind schedule, EADS on Tuesday issued a profit warning and forecast a cash shortfall of EUR 6.3 billion.
PARIS, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) - European plane-maker Airbus said Thursday it may need 15 years to catch up with and overtake US rival Boeing, while the co-chief executive at parent company EADS said plans for the new mid-size A350 jet might have to be scrapped.
"This is such a long-term business," Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff told the Financial Times after EADS announced further production delays to the development of the A380 superjumbo, a key component in the competition with Boeing, as well as the prospect of heavy losses.
.... The co-chief executive of EADS, Thomas Enders, meanwhile told the Financial Times Deutschland that the future of the planned A350 XWB extra-wide bodied passenger jet could be in question.
...."Even if we arrive with three or four years' delay with respect to Boeing's 787, this question (of the A350) is capital for the devlopment of Airbus," he told the French daily Le Monde.
"Being absent from a segment that represents 40 percent of the value of the market is difficult to imagine," he said.
....With the A380 program now nearly two years behind schedule, EADS on Tuesday issued a profit warning and forecast a cash shortfall of EUR 6.3 billion.
Can't tell your homophobes without a program
Ann Coulter runs down the flexible rules for Democrats which seem to depend on whether the subject has diplomatic recognition from the usual suspects:
We need to get a rulebook from the Democrats:
— Boy Scouts: As gay as you want to be.
— Priests: No gays!
— Democratic politicians: Proud gay Americans.
— Republican politicians: Presumed guilty.
— White House press corps: No gays, unless they hate Bush.
— Active-duty U.S. military: As gay as possible.
— Men who date Liza Minelli: Do I have to draw you a picture, Miss Thing?
This is the very definition of political opportunism.
If Republicans had decided to spy on Foley for sending overly friendly e-mails to pages, Democrats would have been screaming about a Republican witch-hunt against gays. But if they don't, they're enabling a sexual predator.
We need to get a rulebook from the Democrats:
— Boy Scouts: As gay as you want to be.
— Priests: No gays!
— Democratic politicians: Proud gay Americans.
— Republican politicians: Presumed guilty.
— White House press corps: No gays, unless they hate Bush.
— Active-duty U.S. military: As gay as possible.
— Men who date Liza Minelli: Do I have to draw you a picture, Miss Thing?
This is the very definition of political opportunism.
If Republicans had decided to spy on Foley for sending overly friendly e-mails to pages, Democrats would have been screaming about a Republican witch-hunt against gays. But if they don't, they're enabling a sexual predator.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Just a guess...
...and anyway, halfway measures aren't cutting it anymore for the Catholic church:
THE Pope will cast aside centuries of Catholic belief this week by abolishing the concept of limbo, in a gesture to help win the souls of millions of babies in the developing world for Christ.
The evidence suggests Benedict XVI never believed in limbo anyway. But in the evangelisation zones of Africa and Asia, the Pope - an authority on all things Islamic - is aware Muslims believe the souls of stillborn babies go straight to heaven.
Looking to spread the faith in countries with high infant mortality, now is a good time to make it clear the stillborn babies of Christian mothers go to heaven, too.
Although it has never been part of the church's doctrine, the existence of limbo was taught to Catholics around the world. In Britain, it was in the Penny Catechism, approved by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, that declared limbo "a place of rest where the souls of the just who died before Christ were detained".
But limbo failed to impress the Pope, who was recorded as saying before his election: "Personally, I would let it drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis."
Not that there's anything wrong with that?
THE Pope will cast aside centuries of Catholic belief this week by abolishing the concept of limbo, in a gesture to help win the souls of millions of babies in the developing world for Christ.
The evidence suggests Benedict XVI never believed in limbo anyway. But in the evangelisation zones of Africa and Asia, the Pope - an authority on all things Islamic - is aware Muslims believe the souls of stillborn babies go straight to heaven.
Looking to spread the faith in countries with high infant mortality, now is a good time to make it clear the stillborn babies of Christian mothers go to heaven, too.
Although it has never been part of the church's doctrine, the existence of limbo was taught to Catholics around the world. In Britain, it was in the Penny Catechism, approved by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, that declared limbo "a place of rest where the souls of the just who died before Christ were detained".
But limbo failed to impress the Pope, who was recorded as saying before his election: "Personally, I would let it drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis."
Not that there's anything wrong with that?
Labor Party opposes labor
For teenagers competing for jobs in the Australian boom:
THE resources boom is sucking teenagers in the west away from education and into the workforce, prompting a push by Labor to make school attendance compulsory until Year 12.
In a speech to be delivered tonight, influential Labor backbencher Craig Emerson argues that teenagers who leave school early to take up jobs in the boom economy will be left behind when the economic tide turns.
His warning came as figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the skills shortage is having a profound effect on the choices of 15- to 19-year-olds in Western Australia, where the school participation rate has fallen from 75.5 per cent in 2000 to 69.7 per cent last year.
THE resources boom is sucking teenagers in the west away from education and into the workforce, prompting a push by Labor to make school attendance compulsory until Year 12.
In a speech to be delivered tonight, influential Labor backbencher Craig Emerson argues that teenagers who leave school early to take up jobs in the boom economy will be left behind when the economic tide turns.
His warning came as figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the skills shortage is having a profound effect on the choices of 15- to 19-year-olds in Western Australia, where the school participation rate has fallen from 75.5 per cent in 2000 to 69.7 per cent last year.
The Canterbury Tapes
One of the 20th century's marvels comes to the aid of one of the 12th's:
Canterbury Cathedral is falling apart at the seams, with chunks of masonry dropping off its walls and a fifth of its internal marble pillars held together by duct tape.
.... The cathedral, the mother church of worldwide Anglicanism which was founded in 597 by St Augustine, was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and has survived extensive bombing of the city during the Second World War.
.... Masons had to "sweep" the exterior walls to remove chunks of wall that were threatening to fall off, and pieces of stone had become dislodged from the towers and fallen on to the roof,...
Heather Newton, the head of stone conservation, said that 20 per cent of the hundreds of 12th century Purbeck marble pillars that line the interior walls of the cathedral were bound with tape to prevent them crumbling.
....The cathedral hopes that it can appeal to Anglicans and wealthy benefactors worldwide, and is to open offices in North America and Asia.
The dean, the Very Rev Robert Willis, said that all avenues of fundraising would be considered, though suggestions that the cathedral could sell the Archbishop of Canterbury's house or collaborate with wealthy Muslims might not best serve the local community.
Canterbury Cathedral is falling apart at the seams, with chunks of masonry dropping off its walls and a fifth of its internal marble pillars held together by duct tape.
.... The cathedral, the mother church of worldwide Anglicanism which was founded in 597 by St Augustine, was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and has survived extensive bombing of the city during the Second World War.
.... Masons had to "sweep" the exterior walls to remove chunks of wall that were threatening to fall off, and pieces of stone had become dislodged from the towers and fallen on to the roof,...
Heather Newton, the head of stone conservation, said that 20 per cent of the hundreds of 12th century Purbeck marble pillars that line the interior walls of the cathedral were bound with tape to prevent them crumbling.
....The cathedral hopes that it can appeal to Anglicans and wealthy benefactors worldwide, and is to open offices in North America and Asia.
The dean, the Very Rev Robert Willis, said that all avenues of fundraising would be considered, though suggestions that the cathedral could sell the Archbishop of Canterbury's house or collaborate with wealthy Muslims might not best serve the local community.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
When teachers with guns are outlawed...
As they are in most schools, such as in Olympia, Washington:
A 33-year-old teacher at Nisqually Middle School is on administrative leave after school officials discovered she brought a .38 Special handgun - along with bullets - on school grounds Thursday, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Teacher Mary Catherine Roe, who lives in Shelton, told deputies she was fearful of her husband and that he used a gun while assaulting her, according to a sheriff's report. Roe also has a domestic violence protection order against her husband, according to Mason County records.
....Roe is under investigation for the charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm, which was in her purse, on school grounds. The law says no one except law enforcement officers can bring a firearm onto school grounds.
....School officials learned about the gun after a co-worker asked Roe how she is protecting herself against her husband, the police report states, and she told him that she had a gun in her purse, according to the sheriff's department.
QUARRYVILLE, Pa. -- A man who laid siege to a one-room Amish schoolhouse told his wife he had molested young children decades ago and left a note saying he had "dreams of molesting again," state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said Tuesday.
....Earlier Tuesday, two more children died of wounds from the shootings, raising the death toll to five girls plus the gunman.
And a fews days earlier, in Colorado:
BAILEY, Colo. -- The gunman who killed a student and committed suicide during a high school standoff methodically selected six girls as hostages -- apparently favoring blondes -- and sexually assaulted at least some of them, authorities and witnesses said Thursday.
A 33-year-old teacher at Nisqually Middle School is on administrative leave after school officials discovered she brought a .38 Special handgun - along with bullets - on school grounds Thursday, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Teacher Mary Catherine Roe, who lives in Shelton, told deputies she was fearful of her husband and that he used a gun while assaulting her, according to a sheriff's report. Roe also has a domestic violence protection order against her husband, according to Mason County records.
....Roe is under investigation for the charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm, which was in her purse, on school grounds. The law says no one except law enforcement officers can bring a firearm onto school grounds.
....School officials learned about the gun after a co-worker asked Roe how she is protecting herself against her husband, the police report states, and she told him that she had a gun in her purse, according to the sheriff's department.
.... Roe told deputies "that she was aware that she should not bring the gun to school. She thought that if she was discovered that she would simply be asked to put it in her vehicle. Ms. Roe said that she has a concealed weapons permit and is proficient at shooting because of her military training."
....Roe told deputies that her father had purchased the handgun for her after her husband had assaulted her Aug. 5, "and she has carried it with her ever since," the report states. Roe's husband, Shawn Roe, is awaiting trial on pending charges of unlawful imprisonment and malicious mischief, according to Mason County records.
Then only the outlaws will bring guns into schools...with predictable results:QUARRYVILLE, Pa. -- A man who laid siege to a one-room Amish schoolhouse told his wife he had molested young children decades ago and left a note saying he had "dreams of molesting again," state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said Tuesday.
....Earlier Tuesday, two more children died of wounds from the shootings, raising the death toll to five girls plus the gunman.
And a fews days earlier, in Colorado:
BAILEY, Colo. -- The gunman who killed a student and committed suicide during a high school standoff methodically selected six girls as hostages -- apparently favoring blondes -- and sexually assaulted at least some of them, authorities and witnesses said Thursday.
You say tomato
The FLUBA Committee on Minding Your Own Business says, open your own restaurants if you want higher prices:
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has become the latest religious group to call on McDonald's to push for its tomato suppliers to pay higher wages.
With most of McDonald's US tomatoes coming from Florida, the bishops want the firm to broker a deal between the state's growers and main pickers union.
....The Catholic move comes after similar action from the Prebyterian Church, United Church of Christ, and National Council of Churches.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, head of the Conference of Catholic Bishop's Domestic Policy Committee, has sent an open letter to McDonald's to put across its thoughts.
He told McDonald's that with "substantial purchasing power, you can insist that your produce suppliers meet high ethical standards in how they treat their workers".
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has become the latest religious group to call on McDonald's to push for its tomato suppliers to pay higher wages.
With most of McDonald's US tomatoes coming from Florida, the bishops want the firm to broker a deal between the state's growers and main pickers union.
....The Catholic move comes after similar action from the Prebyterian Church, United Church of Christ, and National Council of Churches.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, head of the Conference of Catholic Bishop's Domestic Policy Committee, has sent an open letter to McDonald's to put across its thoughts.
He told McDonald's that with "substantial purchasing power, you can insist that your produce suppliers meet high ethical standards in how they treat their workers".
Money Out of Politics; Unintended Consequences Dept.
By putting his money where he wants his mouth to be, Washington State Libertarian Senatorial candidate Bruce Guthrie has apparently opened the door for insurance executive (and the wealthiest millionaire running for that office) Mike McGavick to expand his fund raising operations. Thanks to, it appears, McCain-Feingold:
Bruce Guthrie, the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, has bought himself a $1.2 million place at a debate podium with his better-known opponents, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Mike McGavick.
Guthrie admitted Monday that he lent $1,181,700 to his ultra-underdog campaign Saturday mainly to appear credible enough for inclusion in the only televised Western Washington debate between the two major candidates. It will be at KING/5 studios in Seattle on Oct. 17.
....The surprise infusion of big money into the effort of an obscure, third-party candidate potentially could change the dynamics of the contest, especially if the hard-fought race between Cantwell and McGavick is tight.
Further, an analysis Monday by the National Republican Senatorial Committee suggested that Guthrie's self-financing would trigger the "Millionaire's Amendment" in the 2002 federal Campaign Finance Reform Act.
However, under the amendment's arcane financing formula, it apparently would let McGavick -- but not Cantwell -- ask supporters for triple the normal individual contribution limit of $2,100, up to a maximum of $840,448 more.
The formula is based largely on how much cash on hand each candidate had Dec. 31, and McGavick had much less than Cantwell -- although the Republican, a wealthy former insurance executive, has since lent his campaign $2 million.
McGavick reportedly having a larger fortune than the one gifted to Cantwell for her brief employment at Real Networks. However, for real financial savvy, it's hard to top the Libertarian:
Mike Cate, KING's special projects producer, said it appears Guthrie has met one of the station's guidelines for qualifying for the debate: raising at least 10 percent of the funds raised by the winner of the previous Senate election. The station used the 2004 third-quarter fundraising report filed by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who had raised $12.1 million.
Added to the meager $31,062 in campaign contributions to Guthrie as of Aug. 31, his loan gives him 10.003 percent of what Murray raised.
"I cannot tell a lie. It's not a coincidence," Guthrie said. "One of the reasons for the exact amount is that KING/5 requirement. But another reason was that was all the money I could scrape together."
He admitted he might not spend much of it, saying: "This is a loan, and I do intend to get most of it back. If the fundraising doesn't go well, I might not spend most of it. If the fundraising does go well, I might spend most of it."
Bruce Guthrie, the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, has bought himself a $1.2 million place at a debate podium with his better-known opponents, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Mike McGavick.
Guthrie admitted Monday that he lent $1,181,700 to his ultra-underdog campaign Saturday mainly to appear credible enough for inclusion in the only televised Western Washington debate between the two major candidates. It will be at KING/5 studios in Seattle on Oct. 17.
....The surprise infusion of big money into the effort of an obscure, third-party candidate potentially could change the dynamics of the contest, especially if the hard-fought race between Cantwell and McGavick is tight.
Further, an analysis Monday by the National Republican Senatorial Committee suggested that Guthrie's self-financing would trigger the "Millionaire's Amendment" in the 2002 federal Campaign Finance Reform Act.
However, under the amendment's arcane financing formula, it apparently would let McGavick -- but not Cantwell -- ask supporters for triple the normal individual contribution limit of $2,100, up to a maximum of $840,448 more.
The formula is based largely on how much cash on hand each candidate had Dec. 31, and McGavick had much less than Cantwell -- although the Republican, a wealthy former insurance executive, has since lent his campaign $2 million.
McGavick reportedly having a larger fortune than the one gifted to Cantwell for her brief employment at Real Networks. However, for real financial savvy, it's hard to top the Libertarian:
Mike Cate, KING's special projects producer, said it appears Guthrie has met one of the station's guidelines for qualifying for the debate: raising at least 10 percent of the funds raised by the winner of the previous Senate election. The station used the 2004 third-quarter fundraising report filed by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who had raised $12.1 million.
Added to the meager $31,062 in campaign contributions to Guthrie as of Aug. 31, his loan gives him 10.003 percent of what Murray raised.
"I cannot tell a lie. It's not a coincidence," Guthrie said. "One of the reasons for the exact amount is that KING/5 requirement. But another reason was that was all the money I could scrape together."
He admitted he might not spend much of it, saying: "This is a loan, and I do intend to get most of it back. If the fundraising doesn't go well, I might not spend most of it. If the fundraising does go well, I might spend most of it."
Monday, October 02, 2006
We're from the government...
...of Cuba, and we're here to cheat you:
More than half of all the state-run enterprises inspected in Cuba's capital Havana have cheated their customers, a Cuban communist newspaper has reported.
More than 11,500 businesses were selling their products at higher prices than advertised, or delivering lesser quantities, the Juventud Rebelde said.
....The two-page article in the communist youth newspaper reports what for most people living in Havana will be a familiar story.
Inspectors went to thousands of state-run enterprises and consistently found customers being short-changed
The offences included beer mugs being only partially filled, taxi rides being charged at almost five times the going rate, government price lists being hidden, even shoe repairers charging vastly inflated rates.
....Last November, President Fidel Castro - who is now recuperating from intestinal surgery - warned that corruption had the power to destroy the revolution itself.
He condemned the fact that in some areas half of all the fuel in state petrol stations was being stolen.
More than half of all the state-run enterprises inspected in Cuba's capital Havana have cheated their customers, a Cuban communist newspaper has reported.
More than 11,500 businesses were selling their products at higher prices than advertised, or delivering lesser quantities, the Juventud Rebelde said.
....The two-page article in the communist youth newspaper reports what for most people living in Havana will be a familiar story.
Inspectors went to thousands of state-run enterprises and consistently found customers being short-changed
The offences included beer mugs being only partially filled, taxi rides being charged at almost five times the going rate, government price lists being hidden, even shoe repairers charging vastly inflated rates.
....Last November, President Fidel Castro - who is now recuperating from intestinal surgery - warned that corruption had the power to destroy the revolution itself.
He condemned the fact that in some areas half of all the fuel in state petrol stations was being stolen.
Mon frere?
Tres bien, merci:
PARIS, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - French presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal said on Sunday she was "a bit surprised" at the fuss being made over her brother Gerard's involvement in the 1985 sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship.
A Paris newspaper Friday had quoted Antoine Royal, another brother of the likely French centre-left presidential candidate, as saying Gérard himself had planted the limpet mines that sank the ship.
....On Sunday Royal told a meeting of Socialist party activists: "I am a bit surprised at all this controversy springing up just after I declared my candidature. I don't know if it's a coincidence."
PARIS, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - French presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal said on Sunday she was "a bit surprised" at the fuss being made over her brother Gerard's involvement in the 1985 sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship.
A Paris newspaper Friday had quoted Antoine Royal, another brother of the likely French centre-left presidential candidate, as saying Gérard himself had planted the limpet mines that sank the ship.
....On Sunday Royal told a meeting of Socialist party activists: "I am a bit surprised at all this controversy springing up just after I declared my candidature. I don't know if it's a coincidence."
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Kinky enough for you?
Or, at least for you Texans:
Kinky Friedman, irreverant country singer, satirist and self-proclaimed "equal opportunities offender", was his usual ebullient self as he bounded on to the stage at the latest stop in his remarkable campaign to become governor of Texas.
....The latest opinion poll gave him his highest rating yet — 23 per cent, level with Democrat Chris Bell and making ground on Republican incumbent Rick Perry on 35 per cent.
Friedman, 61, is riding high on the mood of disillusionment with politicians across US and targeting the 71 per cent of Texans who stayed at home four years ago. If he can persuade another 10 per cent to vote on November 7, he believes he will win the office from which George W Bush launched his White House bid in 2000.
Last week, the former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura threw his considerable weight behind his fellow political outsider on a swing through campuses and bars in eastern Texas. A hulking figure with dreadlocks and braided beard, Ventura stunned the political establishment in 1998 when he won the Minnesota governor election vote as an independent.
Friedman has already signed up Ventura's campaign manager and advertising guru as he attempts to stage a similar shock. Indeed, at this stage in his campaign, Ventura was polling just 15 per cent, 30 points behind the frontrunner.
Kinky Friedman, irreverant country singer, satirist and self-proclaimed "equal opportunities offender", was his usual ebullient self as he bounded on to the stage at the latest stop in his remarkable campaign to become governor of Texas.
....The latest opinion poll gave him his highest rating yet — 23 per cent, level with Democrat Chris Bell and making ground on Republican incumbent Rick Perry on 35 per cent.
Friedman, 61, is riding high on the mood of disillusionment with politicians across US and targeting the 71 per cent of Texans who stayed at home four years ago. If he can persuade another 10 per cent to vote on November 7, he believes he will win the office from which George W Bush launched his White House bid in 2000.
Last week, the former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura threw his considerable weight behind his fellow political outsider on a swing through campuses and bars in eastern Texas. A hulking figure with dreadlocks and braided beard, Ventura stunned the political establishment in 1998 when he won the Minnesota governor election vote as an independent.
Friedman has already signed up Ventura's campaign manager and advertising guru as he attempts to stage a similar shock. Indeed, at this stage in his campaign, Ventura was polling just 15 per cent, 30 points behind the frontrunner.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)