The good news is that you're married to Sophia Loren, but Italy disapproves and confiscates your art collection:
ROME (AP) -- Italian producer Carlo Ponti, who discovered a teenage Sophia Loren, launched her film career and later married her despite threats of bigamy charges and excommunication, has died in Geneva. He was 94.
....''I have done everything for love of Sophia,'' he said in a newspaper interview shortly before his 90th birthday in 2002. ''I have always believed in her.''
Except for a couple of times that is:
Ponti discovered many of the great Italian leading ladies, including Gina Lollobrigida, and had affairs with several. ''I don't like actors. I prefer women,'' he said at the time.
Along the way things, at times, got sticky:
He was briefly imprisoned in by the Fascist government in Italy during World War II for producing ''Piccolo Mondo Antico,'' which was considered anti-German. An Italian court later gave Ponti a six-month suspended sentence for his 1973 film ''Massacre in Rome,'' which claimed Pope Pius XII did nothing about the execution of Italian hostages by the Germans. The charges eventually were dropped on appeal.
....In 1979, a court in Rome convicted him in absentia of the illegal transfer of capital abroad and sentenced him to four years in prison and a $24 million fine.
Loren, along with film stars Ava Gardner and Richard Harris, were acquitted of conspiracy.
It took Ponti until the late 1980s to settle his legal problems and finally obtain the return of his art collection, which had been seized by authorities and given to Italian museums.
He also survived two kidnapping attempts in 1975.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Report greatly exaggerated
In Austria:
Vienna - An Austrian woman who discharged herself from hospital got a rude awakening as to why her family did not visit her over Christmas - she found them busy arranging her funeral.
....The 64-year-old woman had been admitted with stomach pains to a hospital in Mistelbach in lower Austria.
Her 39-year-old son Leopold Eissler said he had gone to visit his mother shortly before Christmas only to be told she was dead and had then spent the festive period organising her funeral.
Eissler said: "I'm not sure whether to be delighted because my mother is alive or furious that they could have made such a mistake at the hospital.
"At least it explains why they could not find the body when we wanted to pay our last respects.
Vienna - An Austrian woman who discharged herself from hospital got a rude awakening as to why her family did not visit her over Christmas - she found them busy arranging her funeral.
....The 64-year-old woman had been admitted with stomach pains to a hospital in Mistelbach in lower Austria.
Her 39-year-old son Leopold Eissler said he had gone to visit his mother shortly before Christmas only to be told she was dead and had then spent the festive period organising her funeral.
Eissler said: "I'm not sure whether to be delighted because my mother is alive or furious that they could have made such a mistake at the hospital.
"At least it explains why they could not find the body when we wanted to pay our last respects.
Eurno?
If not the root of all evil, the French are looking down their noses at the replacement for the Franc:
A majority of French people believe the switch to the euro five years ago was bad for their country, according to a recent poll, which suggests the French blame the common European currency for damaging economic growth and causing price hikes.
The TNS-Sofres survey published on Wednesday (27 December) by Le Pelerin magazine showed 52 percent of respondents said giving up the franc for the euro has been "quite bad" or "very bad" for France, up from 45 percent three years ago in a similar survey.
Fifty-one percent of the 1000 participants in the telephone poll said the single currency has been mainly harmful for economic prospects while 94 percent were convinced the euro has fuelled inflation.
.... Altogether, the special survey found the lowest rate of approval for the euro since its introduction.
"While in 2002, 59% of the respondents in the eurozone thought that the new currency was overall advantageous for their country, currently only less than half of respondents hold such a favourable opinion," it concluded.
A majority of French people believe the switch to the euro five years ago was bad for their country, according to a recent poll, which suggests the French blame the common European currency for damaging economic growth and causing price hikes.
The TNS-Sofres survey published on Wednesday (27 December) by Le Pelerin magazine showed 52 percent of respondents said giving up the franc for the euro has been "quite bad" or "very bad" for France, up from 45 percent three years ago in a similar survey.
Fifty-one percent of the 1000 participants in the telephone poll said the single currency has been mainly harmful for economic prospects while 94 percent were convinced the euro has fuelled inflation.
.... Altogether, the special survey found the lowest rate of approval for the euro since its introduction.
"While in 2002, 59% of the respondents in the eurozone thought that the new currency was overall advantageous for their country, currently only less than half of respondents hold such a favourable opinion," it concluded.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Rue Britannia
Because it no longer rules the waves, and will be hard pressed to defend its shores:
Royal Navy commanders were in uproar yesterday after it was revealed that almost half of the Fleet's 44 warships are to be mothballed as part of a Ministry of Defence cost-cutting measure.
Senior officers have said the plans will turn Britain's once-proud Navy into nothing more than a coastal defence force.
....MoD sources have admitted it is possible that the Royal Navy will discontinue one of its major commitments around the world at a time when Sir Jonathon Band, the First Sea Lord, has said more ships are needed to protect the high seas against terrorism and piracy.
And, Horatio Nelson must be rolling in his grave:
Meanwhile the French navy, which will be far superior to the Royal Navy after the cuts, will announce before the April presidential elections that a new carrier will be built.
Royal Navy commanders were in uproar yesterday after it was revealed that almost half of the Fleet's 44 warships are to be mothballed as part of a Ministry of Defence cost-cutting measure.
Senior officers have said the plans will turn Britain's once-proud Navy into nothing more than a coastal defence force.
....MoD sources have admitted it is possible that the Royal Navy will discontinue one of its major commitments around the world at a time when Sir Jonathon Band, the First Sea Lord, has said more ships are needed to protect the high seas against terrorism and piracy.
And, Horatio Nelson must be rolling in his grave:
Meanwhile the French navy, which will be far superior to the Royal Navy after the cuts, will announce before the April presidential elections that a new carrier will be built.
Eurocare Espanol
Say again:
MADRID — A 67-year-old woman lost 80 percent of her hearing after waiting nine years for treatment for an ear problem, it was reported on Monday.
The woman, from Madrid, was told in 1991 she should have an operation to stop the problem caused by a perforated eardrum.
But she had to wait until 2000 for the operation, by which time she had lost 80 percent of her hearing, El Pais newspaper reported
The woman, named only as J. V. is one of five people who have been paid a total of EUR 1.2 million in compensation by Madrid health authorities for failure in care.
In the case of this woman who lost her hearing, she was paid only EUR 18,000.
In another case, a woman suffered brain damage through lack of care.
Another patient re-mortgaged their house rather than be treated in a public hospital where doctors wanted to amputate her leg, after undergoing two operations for a broken ankle.
The paper reports patients, doctors and lawyers have noted a rise in cases of this kind.
MADRID — A 67-year-old woman lost 80 percent of her hearing after waiting nine years for treatment for an ear problem, it was reported on Monday.
The woman, from Madrid, was told in 1991 she should have an operation to stop the problem caused by a perforated eardrum.
But she had to wait until 2000 for the operation, by which time she had lost 80 percent of her hearing, El Pais newspaper reported
The woman, named only as J. V. is one of five people who have been paid a total of EUR 1.2 million in compensation by Madrid health authorities for failure in care.
In the case of this woman who lost her hearing, she was paid only EUR 18,000.
In another case, a woman suffered brain damage through lack of care.
Another patient re-mortgaged their house rather than be treated in a public hospital where doctors wanted to amputate her leg, after undergoing two operations for a broken ankle.
The paper reports patients, doctors and lawyers have noted a rise in cases of this kind.
Can't they all just get along?
French diplomacy at its finest:
France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said rival Palestinian factions must bury their differences and form a working government, after bloody strife in the territories last week left 13 dead.
There is a need to "push the Palestinians to overcome their divisions so that they may be united in a government which the international community can work with", he told a news conference alongside his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit.
...."The only solution is that there be a national unity government which allows Fatah and Hamas to work together," Douste-Blazy said on Saturday.
Well, why didn't anyone else think of that?
France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said rival Palestinian factions must bury their differences and form a working government, after bloody strife in the territories last week left 13 dead.
There is a need to "push the Palestinians to overcome their divisions so that they may be united in a government which the international community can work with", he told a news conference alongside his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit.
...."The only solution is that there be a national unity government which allows Fatah and Hamas to work together," Douste-Blazy said on Saturday.
Well, why didn't anyone else think of that?
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Surrender Monkey News
Anyone can get anything from French politicians:
PARIS, Jan 3, 2007 (AFP) - The French government announced plans to create a "legal right" to housing in response to a snowballing campaign that has seen a tent city for the homeless spring up in the heart of Paris.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told a press conference a bill would be presented to the cabinet on January 17 and hopefully adopted before parliament breaks up ahead of April's presidential election.
....President Jacques Chirac used his New Year's address to promise swift government action on a "right to housing" -- a key demand of protestors who have mounted a headline-grabbing campaign in support of France's estimated 100,000 homeless.
Villepin said the government wanted the right to become legally enforceable by 2008 for "people in the most difficult situations: the homeless, but also the working poor and single women with children."
....By 2012, the government wants the right to housing to be legally enforceable for all, with a guarantee provided by the state, or in some cases regional or local authorities.
From that point onwards, "every person or family housed in unworthy or unsanitary conditions" will able to take legal action to have their rights enforced, he said.
Villepin said the law would "make France one of the most advanced countries in terms of social rights".
Housing would become the third legally enforceable right in France, along with access to education and healthcare.
PARIS, Jan 3, 2007 (AFP) - The French government announced plans to create a "legal right" to housing in response to a snowballing campaign that has seen a tent city for the homeless spring up in the heart of Paris.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told a press conference a bill would be presented to the cabinet on January 17 and hopefully adopted before parliament breaks up ahead of April's presidential election.
....President Jacques Chirac used his New Year's address to promise swift government action on a "right to housing" -- a key demand of protestors who have mounted a headline-grabbing campaign in support of France's estimated 100,000 homeless.
Villepin said the government wanted the right to become legally enforceable by 2008 for "people in the most difficult situations: the homeless, but also the working poor and single women with children."
....By 2012, the government wants the right to housing to be legally enforceable for all, with a guarantee provided by the state, or in some cases regional or local authorities.
From that point onwards, "every person or family housed in unworthy or unsanitary conditions" will able to take legal action to have their rights enforced, he said.
Villepin said the law would "make France one of the most advanced countries in terms of social rights".
Housing would become the third legally enforceable right in France, along with access to education and healthcare.
Show 'em the money!
At last, some football players who haven't played too many games without their helmets:
Playing in a bowl is no longer reward enough for some college football players: Some Buckeyes and Gators want a cut of the millions being generated by the championship game.
"We all deserve more money," Ohio State senior guard T.J. Downing said. "We're the reason this money's coming in. We're the guys out there sacrificing our bodies. We're taking years off our lives out here hitting each other, and we're not being compensated for it."
...."I've got to admit, sometimes I look in my hand and look in their hand," Florida defensive tackle Joe Cohen said, referring to the Bowl Championship Series. "I believe players should get a little bit more than what they're getting. I don't want to sound like I'm greedy. It's just reality.
"I believe players should be paid, because I'm broke."
Cohen chuckled when he said it, but it's no laughing matter for the NCAA, which has steadfastly maintained that players - or student-athletes, as the association refers to them - are amateurs and cannot be paid. It's right there in Bylaw 2.9 of the NCAA Manual:
"Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises."
Which is to say, the players can't capitalize on their fame by earning any money endorsing sneakers or energy drinks. Or signing autographs.
....According to the Football Bowl Association, this year's 31 bowl games will generate $210 million for NCAA schools. Over the last six years, bowls have paid schools $900 million, the association said, and it estimates bowl payouts will grow to $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.
The FLUBA has just the consultant for the players in making their case, Harvard economist Robert Barro:
Finally, we come to the NCAA, which has successfully suppressed financial competition in college sports. The NCAA is impressive partly because its limitations on scholarships and other payments to athletes boost the profitability of college sports programs. But even more impressive is the NCAA's ability to maintain the moral high ground. For example, many college basketball players come from poor families and are not sufficiently talented to make it to the National Basketball Assn. Absent the NCAA, such a student would be able to amass significant cash during a college career. With the NCAA in charge, this student remains poor. Nevertheless, the athletic association has managed to convince most people that the evildoers are the schools that violate the rules by attempting to pay athletes rather than the cartel enforcers who keep the student-athletes from getting paid. So given this great balancing act, the NCAA is the clear choice for best monopoly in America.
Playing in a bowl is no longer reward enough for some college football players: Some Buckeyes and Gators want a cut of the millions being generated by the championship game.
"We all deserve more money," Ohio State senior guard T.J. Downing said. "We're the reason this money's coming in. We're the guys out there sacrificing our bodies. We're taking years off our lives out here hitting each other, and we're not being compensated for it."
...."I've got to admit, sometimes I look in my hand and look in their hand," Florida defensive tackle Joe Cohen said, referring to the Bowl Championship Series. "I believe players should get a little bit more than what they're getting. I don't want to sound like I'm greedy. It's just reality.
"I believe players should be paid, because I'm broke."
Cohen chuckled when he said it, but it's no laughing matter for the NCAA, which has steadfastly maintained that players - or student-athletes, as the association refers to them - are amateurs and cannot be paid. It's right there in Bylaw 2.9 of the NCAA Manual:
"Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises."
Which is to say, the players can't capitalize on their fame by earning any money endorsing sneakers or energy drinks. Or signing autographs.
....According to the Football Bowl Association, this year's 31 bowl games will generate $210 million for NCAA schools. Over the last six years, bowls have paid schools $900 million, the association said, and it estimates bowl payouts will grow to $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.
The FLUBA has just the consultant for the players in making their case, Harvard economist Robert Barro:
Finally, we come to the NCAA, which has successfully suppressed financial competition in college sports. The NCAA is impressive partly because its limitations on scholarships and other payments to athletes boost the profitability of college sports programs. But even more impressive is the NCAA's ability to maintain the moral high ground. For example, many college basketball players come from poor families and are not sufficiently talented to make it to the National Basketball Assn. Absent the NCAA, such a student would be able to amass significant cash during a college career. With the NCAA in charge, this student remains poor. Nevertheless, the athletic association has managed to convince most people that the evildoers are the schools that violate the rules by attempting to pay athletes rather than the cartel enforcers who keep the student-athletes from getting paid. So given this great balancing act, the NCAA is the clear choice for best monopoly in America.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Siempre y en todos partes
It's the money, Hugo:
Scarce supplies of building materials, cars, food and other goods are imposing costly delays and other efforts to cope, pushing Venezuelan inflation to an annual rate of 17% last month, the central bank said this week.
Some of the shortages are the result of the very price controls that President Hugo Chavez has imposed to combat inflation, say local businessmen.
“All price controls, after a few years, become perverse for production,” said Gustavo Moreno, president of the Venezuelan Agriculture Association. “If there isn’t a periodic price increase to take inflation into account, controls create more problems.”
....“Chavez favours price and capital controls to keep a lid on prices rather than spending less or raising interest rates,” said Alberto Ramos, a senior Latin American economist with Goldman Sachs Group. “We expect Chavez to persist with and possibly deepen these controls.”
At 17%, Venezuela’s inflation rate was the fastest in Latin America last month. ....
Chavez boosted state spending 51% during the first nine months of last year as oil sales jumped to a record for Venezuela, the world’s fifth-largest crude oil exporter. The government price caps are helping to contain the inflation “demons”, Chavez said in a November 1 speech in one of the slums in eastern Caracas.
....To escape the controls and supplement their income, some farmers sell their crops at unregulated street markets for a higher price, Moreno said. Others, such as dairy producers, are exacerbating a milk shortage by making more goods whose prices are not regulated, such as cheeses.
Meanwhile, companies are reluctant to invest to increase production. Manufacturers, concerned that Chavez will deepen state involvement in the economy, have trimmed spending on new plant and equipment to the point that nongovernment investment equals no more than 4% of gross domestic product, the lowest among Latin America’s 10 biggest economies.
Scarce supplies of building materials, cars, food and other goods are imposing costly delays and other efforts to cope, pushing Venezuelan inflation to an annual rate of 17% last month, the central bank said this week.
Some of the shortages are the result of the very price controls that President Hugo Chavez has imposed to combat inflation, say local businessmen.
“All price controls, after a few years, become perverse for production,” said Gustavo Moreno, president of the Venezuelan Agriculture Association. “If there isn’t a periodic price increase to take inflation into account, controls create more problems.”
....“Chavez favours price and capital controls to keep a lid on prices rather than spending less or raising interest rates,” said Alberto Ramos, a senior Latin American economist with Goldman Sachs Group. “We expect Chavez to persist with and possibly deepen these controls.”
At 17%, Venezuela’s inflation rate was the fastest in Latin America last month. ....
Chavez boosted state spending 51% during the first nine months of last year as oil sales jumped to a record for Venezuela, the world’s fifth-largest crude oil exporter. The government price caps are helping to contain the inflation “demons”, Chavez said in a November 1 speech in one of the slums in eastern Caracas.
....To escape the controls and supplement their income, some farmers sell their crops at unregulated street markets for a higher price, Moreno said. Others, such as dairy producers, are exacerbating a milk shortage by making more goods whose prices are not regulated, such as cheeses.
Meanwhile, companies are reluctant to invest to increase production. Manufacturers, concerned that Chavez will deepen state involvement in the economy, have trimmed spending on new plant and equipment to the point that nongovernment investment equals no more than 4% of gross domestic product, the lowest among Latin America’s 10 biggest economies.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
But everyone knew her as Nancy
Ann Coulter welcomes the Pelosi Democrats to power today, by showing once again that she may weigh only 98 lbs, but she's no weakling:
The passing of Gerald Ford should remind Americans that Democrats are always lying in wait, ready to force a humiliating defeat on America.
More troops, fewer troops, different troops, "redeployment" — all the Democrats' peculiar little talking points are just a way of sounding busy. Who are they kidding? Democrats want to cut and run as fast as possible from Iraq, betraying the Iraqis who supported us and rewarding our enemies — exactly as they did to the South Vietnamese under Ford.
Liberals spent the Vietnam War rooting for the enemy and clamoring for America's defeat, a tradition they have brought back for the Iraq war.
....In January 1973, the United States signed the Paris Peace accords, which would have ended the war with honor. In order to achieve a ceasefire, Nixon jammed lousy terms down South Vietnam's throat, such as allowing Vietcong troops to remain in the South. But in return, we promised South Vietnam that we would resume bombing missions and provide military aid if the North attacked.
It would have worked, but the Democrats were desperate for America to lose. They invented "Watergate," the corpus delicti of which wouldn't have merited three column-inches during the Clinton years, and hounded Nixon out of office. (How's Sandy Berger weathering that tough wrist-slap?)
Three months after Nixon was gone, we got the Watergate Congress and with it, the new Democratic Party. In lieu of the old Democratic Party, which lost wars out of incompetence and naivete, the new Democratic Party would lose wars on purpose.
Just one month after the Watergate Congress was elected, North Vietnam attacked the South.
Even milquetoast, pro-abortion, detente-loving Gerald R. Ford knew America had to defend South Vietnam or America's word would be worth nothing. As Ford said, "American unwillingness to provide adequate assistance to allies fighting for their lives could seriously affect our credibility throughout the world as an ally." He pleaded repeatedly with the Democratic Congress simply to authorize aid to South Vietnam — no troops, just money.
But the Democrats turned their backs on South Vietnam, betrayed an ally and trashed America's word. Within a month of Ford's last appeal to Congress to help South Vietnam, Saigon fell.
The passing of Gerald Ford should remind Americans that Democrats are always lying in wait, ready to force a humiliating defeat on America.
More troops, fewer troops, different troops, "redeployment" — all the Democrats' peculiar little talking points are just a way of sounding busy. Who are they kidding? Democrats want to cut and run as fast as possible from Iraq, betraying the Iraqis who supported us and rewarding our enemies — exactly as they did to the South Vietnamese under Ford.
Liberals spent the Vietnam War rooting for the enemy and clamoring for America's defeat, a tradition they have brought back for the Iraq war.
....In January 1973, the United States signed the Paris Peace accords, which would have ended the war with honor. In order to achieve a ceasefire, Nixon jammed lousy terms down South Vietnam's throat, such as allowing Vietcong troops to remain in the South. But in return, we promised South Vietnam that we would resume bombing missions and provide military aid if the North attacked.
It would have worked, but the Democrats were desperate for America to lose. They invented "Watergate," the corpus delicti of which wouldn't have merited three column-inches during the Clinton years, and hounded Nixon out of office. (How's Sandy Berger weathering that tough wrist-slap?)
Three months after Nixon was gone, we got the Watergate Congress and with it, the new Democratic Party. In lieu of the old Democratic Party, which lost wars out of incompetence and naivete, the new Democratic Party would lose wars on purpose.
Just one month after the Watergate Congress was elected, North Vietnam attacked the South.
Even milquetoast, pro-abortion, detente-loving Gerald R. Ford knew America had to defend South Vietnam or America's word would be worth nothing. As Ford said, "American unwillingness to provide adequate assistance to allies fighting for their lives could seriously affect our credibility throughout the world as an ally." He pleaded repeatedly with the Democratic Congress simply to authorize aid to South Vietnam — no troops, just money.
But the Democrats turned their backs on South Vietnam, betrayed an ally and trashed America's word. Within a month of Ford's last appeal to Congress to help South Vietnam, Saigon fell.
a votre disposition
If we're being rude, at least we can be nice about it, says the Paris tourist board:
The Gallic Shrug is one of many simple but brutally effective gestures listed in a new travel guide produced by the Paris tourist board.
Aware that it can do very little to change the stereotype of the arrogant Frenchman, it wants to help discerning visitors blend in by using the same body language.
C'est So Paris, produced by the Ile-de-France regional committee of tourism, lists the gestures under the colloquial title "Cop the Parisian Attitude".
They are specially designed for British visitors who have traditionally been made to feel uncomfortable by rude waiters, couldn't-care-less taxi drivers or sulky beauties sitting outside cafés on the Champs-Elysées.
....The guide says: "You don't need to be French to understand Parisians. Use the gestures the next time you're in Paris. People will start mistaking you for a native in no time."
....The guide to gestures is part of a £700,000 advertising campaign aimed at Britons that tries to portray the city as energetic, youthful and trendy. "It is to show that Paris isn't a stuffy museum city, but a vibrant destination worth visiting regularly," said the spokesman.
The board is even encouraging Britons to send in pictures "of yourself imitating a Parisian" with the prize of a weekend in Paris.
And second prize is an entire week there?
The Gallic Shrug is one of many simple but brutally effective gestures listed in a new travel guide produced by the Paris tourist board.
Aware that it can do very little to change the stereotype of the arrogant Frenchman, it wants to help discerning visitors blend in by using the same body language.
C'est So Paris, produced by the Ile-de-France regional committee of tourism, lists the gestures under the colloquial title "Cop the Parisian Attitude".
They are specially designed for British visitors who have traditionally been made to feel uncomfortable by rude waiters, couldn't-care-less taxi drivers or sulky beauties sitting outside cafés on the Champs-Elysées.
....The guide says: "You don't need to be French to understand Parisians. Use the gestures the next time you're in Paris. People will start mistaking you for a native in no time."
....The guide to gestures is part of a £700,000 advertising campaign aimed at Britons that tries to portray the city as energetic, youthful and trendy. "It is to show that Paris isn't a stuffy museum city, but a vibrant destination worth visiting regularly," said the spokesman.
The board is even encouraging Britons to send in pictures "of yourself imitating a Parisian" with the prize of a weekend in Paris.
And second prize is an entire week there?
'a tragic failure of central planning'
That would go with the territory:
A severe shortage of nurses and GPs in the next few years is predicted in a leaked Government report which reveals a staffing time-bomb in the [National Health Service].
....The document – the draft Pay and Workforce Strategy for 2008-11 – was written against the backdrop of the need to reduce the £30 billion NHS pay bill and it will lead to recommendations which will be considered for the Treasury's Comprehensive Spending Review later this year.
....The document says that there are "very volatile" shifts in the number of staff needed and predicts a "sharp reduction" in numbers this year. It predicts a 2.7 per cent loss of jobs, which is substantially more than the 20,000 estimated losses that the Government denied last year.
....Dr Jonathan Fielden, of the BMA's consultants' committee, said it was absurd to suggest that the NHS needed fewer hospital consultants.
"To suggest that there should be fewer consultants, and of a lower grade, will destroy the gold standard of specialist care that patients rightly deserve," he said.
"Workforce planning in the NHS has for many years been woefully inadequate and this latest thinking is yet further evidence."
He added: "The Government should be investing in the NHS by improving capacity, not reducing specialist skills by cutting back on consultants or by introducing an inferior grade."
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said ministers had rubbished claims of 20,000 job losses, but the prediction was now almost twice that this year.
"The financial crisis in the NHS is now driving Government policy," he added. "By cynically using the misery of unemployment to cut pay, Labour ministers are making hard-working doctors and nurses pay for Governmental incompetence. The effect on morale will be dire.
"We can never again allow such a tragic failure of central planning."
A severe shortage of nurses and GPs in the next few years is predicted in a leaked Government report which reveals a staffing time-bomb in the [National Health Service].
....The document – the draft Pay and Workforce Strategy for 2008-11 – was written against the backdrop of the need to reduce the £30 billion NHS pay bill and it will lead to recommendations which will be considered for the Treasury's Comprehensive Spending Review later this year.
....The document says that there are "very volatile" shifts in the number of staff needed and predicts a "sharp reduction" in numbers this year. It predicts a 2.7 per cent loss of jobs, which is substantially more than the 20,000 estimated losses that the Government denied last year.
....Dr Jonathan Fielden, of the BMA's consultants' committee, said it was absurd to suggest that the NHS needed fewer hospital consultants.
"To suggest that there should be fewer consultants, and of a lower grade, will destroy the gold standard of specialist care that patients rightly deserve," he said.
"Workforce planning in the NHS has for many years been woefully inadequate and this latest thinking is yet further evidence."
He added: "The Government should be investing in the NHS by improving capacity, not reducing specialist skills by cutting back on consultants or by introducing an inferior grade."
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said ministers had rubbished claims of 20,000 job losses, but the prediction was now almost twice that this year.
"The financial crisis in the NHS is now driving Government policy," he added. "By cynically using the misery of unemployment to cut pay, Labour ministers are making hard-working doctors and nurses pay for Governmental incompetence. The effect on morale will be dire.
"We can never again allow such a tragic failure of central planning."
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Start spreading the news
New York, New York is a tollin' town (if Mike Bloomberg gets his way):
A report for the Manhattan Institute think tank proposes extensive central area road pricing and express lanes tolling in New York City. The report comes amid speculation that the Bloomberg administration may embrace some aspects of road pricing as part of a larger initiative to improve infrastructure and cope with growth.
The Manhattan Institute report titled "Battling Traffic" and written by Bruce Schaller is mostly a discussion of public attitudes to pricing and how to overcome the political obstacles, but at the end it has these specific proposals:
- a 10am to 4pm "Midday Driving Fee" tentatively $4 for driving within the Manhattan CBD defined as south of 60th Street (Central Park), downtown Brooklyn might also be covered
- a 6am to 10am "AM Entry Fee" tentatively $4 for traffic entering the Manhattan CBD, existing toll crossing traffic exempt
- a 4pm to 6:30pm "PM Exit Fee" tentatively $4 for traffic exiting the Manhattan CBD, existing toll crossing traffic exempt
- variably (perhaps dynamically) priced toll lanes on congested area expressways, such as the Gowanus and Long Island Expressway
It isn't specified whether these tolls would be workdays only or cover weekends and holidays as well, and there is no discussions of the exemptions or discounts usually given to local residents.
Schaller does make the overarching point that to gain acceptance any scheme must be heavily focussed on the times and places of recurrent congestion and must be closely tailored to that and designed in detail with the best traffic models and, once implemented, adapted with actual experience.
Schaller writes: "Road pricing should be carefully targeted at the problem. The goal is to set tolls and fees relatively high when congestion is most severe. Fee or toll levels should be reduced or eliminated at other times. This approach maximizes the effectiveness of the program while while minimizing the impact on drivers who travel at less congested times, and it provides the greatest choices to drivers who can shift travel times or routes."
A report for the Manhattan Institute think tank proposes extensive central area road pricing and express lanes tolling in New York City. The report comes amid speculation that the Bloomberg administration may embrace some aspects of road pricing as part of a larger initiative to improve infrastructure and cope with growth.
The Manhattan Institute report titled "Battling Traffic" and written by Bruce Schaller is mostly a discussion of public attitudes to pricing and how to overcome the political obstacles, but at the end it has these specific proposals:
- a 10am to 4pm "Midday Driving Fee" tentatively $4 for driving within the Manhattan CBD defined as south of 60th Street (Central Park), downtown Brooklyn might also be covered
- a 6am to 10am "AM Entry Fee" tentatively $4 for traffic entering the Manhattan CBD, existing toll crossing traffic exempt
- a 4pm to 6:30pm "PM Exit Fee" tentatively $4 for traffic exiting the Manhattan CBD, existing toll crossing traffic exempt
- variably (perhaps dynamically) priced toll lanes on congested area expressways, such as the Gowanus and Long Island Expressway
It isn't specified whether these tolls would be workdays only or cover weekends and holidays as well, and there is no discussions of the exemptions or discounts usually given to local residents.
Schaller does make the overarching point that to gain acceptance any scheme must be heavily focussed on the times and places of recurrent congestion and must be closely tailored to that and designed in detail with the best traffic models and, once implemented, adapted with actual experience.
Schaller writes: "Road pricing should be carefully targeted at the problem. The goal is to set tolls and fees relatively high when congestion is most severe. Fee or toll levels should be reduced or eliminated at other times. This approach maximizes the effectiveness of the program while while minimizing the impact on drivers who travel at less congested times, and it provides the greatest choices to drivers who can shift travel times or routes."
Avian Shakespeare
N'kisi, a gray parrot dazzles the Docs:
The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short.
The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.
He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do.
...Polished wordsmith
He uses words in context, with past, present and future tenses, and is often inventive.
One N'kisi-ism was "flied" for "flew", and another "pretty smell medicine" to describe the aromatherapy oils used by his owner, an artist based in New York.
When he first met Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee expert, after seeing her in a picture with apes, N'kisi said: "Got a chimp?"
He appears to fancy himself as a humourist. When another parrot hung upside down from its perch, he commented: "You got to put this bird on the camera."
Dr Goodall says N'kisi's verbal fireworks are an "outstanding example of interspecies communication".
The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short.
The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.
He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do.
...Polished wordsmith
He uses words in context, with past, present and future tenses, and is often inventive.
One N'kisi-ism was "flied" for "flew", and another "pretty smell medicine" to describe the aromatherapy oils used by his owner, an artist based in New York.
When he first met Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee expert, after seeing her in a picture with apes, N'kisi said: "Got a chimp?"
He appears to fancy himself as a humourist. When another parrot hung upside down from its perch, he commented: "You got to put this bird on the camera."
Dr Goodall says N'kisi's verbal fireworks are an "outstanding example of interspecies communication".
Going for a song...
...to Russia to collect the big bucks:
Singer George Michael has been paid a reported £1.5m for an hour's concert at a Russian billionaire's New Year party.
The unnamed businessman paid for Michael to entertain his 300 guests on his private estate 20 miles outside Moscow, the star's spokeswoman said.
The fee is believed to have set a record for a concert in Russia.
....Other stars who have picked up big cheques include Christina Aguilera, reportedly paid £1m for performing three songs at the wedding of Russian oligarch Andrei Melnichenko in September 2005.
Singer George Michael has been paid a reported £1.5m for an hour's concert at a Russian billionaire's New Year party.
The unnamed businessman paid for Michael to entertain his 300 guests on his private estate 20 miles outside Moscow, the star's spokeswoman said.
The fee is believed to have set a record for a concert in Russia.
....Other stars who have picked up big cheques include Christina Aguilera, reportedly paid £1m for performing three songs at the wedding of Russian oligarch Andrei Melnichenko in September 2005.
Ring in the homeless
It's an election year in France, so the holes in the safety net are ready to be exploited:
From a tent city for Paris street dwellers to a mock "ministry" for the homeless set up in a giant squat, a snowballing campaign in favour of France's down-and-out has thrust the issue centre-stage ahead of presidential elections in April.
Spurred into action by the headline-grabbing campaign, politicians of all stripes -- including the presidential frontrunners Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal -- have been lining up with pledges to tackle the plight of the country's estimated 100,000 homeless people.
In his New Year's address to the nation, President Jacques Chirac promised the government would act in the coming weeks to create a legal right to housing -- one of the key demands of a charter drawn up by the protestors.
....This week eight struggling families, along with several pressure groups, moved into a vacant office block near the Paris stock exchange, creating a giant squat that is to serve as headquarters for the protest movement -- which has since widened to the broader question of decent housing for all.
Campaigners have dubbed the squatted building the "ministry for the housing crisis," which they blame on rising speculation in the property market.
According to the charity Emmaus, one million people in France do not have a home of their own: 100,000 sleep rough, while the rest live in campsites, hotels or shelters. Another two million people are struggling with housing "problems".
From a tent city for Paris street dwellers to a mock "ministry" for the homeless set up in a giant squat, a snowballing campaign in favour of France's down-and-out has thrust the issue centre-stage ahead of presidential elections in April.
Spurred into action by the headline-grabbing campaign, politicians of all stripes -- including the presidential frontrunners Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal -- have been lining up with pledges to tackle the plight of the country's estimated 100,000 homeless people.
In his New Year's address to the nation, President Jacques Chirac promised the government would act in the coming weeks to create a legal right to housing -- one of the key demands of a charter drawn up by the protestors.
....This week eight struggling families, along with several pressure groups, moved into a vacant office block near the Paris stock exchange, creating a giant squat that is to serve as headquarters for the protest movement -- which has since widened to the broader question of decent housing for all.
Campaigners have dubbed the squatted building the "ministry for the housing crisis," which they blame on rising speculation in the property market.
According to the charity Emmaus, one million people in France do not have a home of their own: 100,000 sleep rough, while the rest live in campsites, hotels or shelters. Another two million people are struggling with housing "problems".
Monday, December 18, 2006
Oh Lord, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Or, the world will beat Path Dependence down Paul David's Stanford doorstep. Meanies:
...a proper understanding of path-dependence, and of the possibilities of externalities leading to market failure, is not without interesting implications for economic policy. But those are not at all the sorts of glib conclusions that some critics have alleged must follow if one believes that history really matters--namely, that government should try to pick winners rather than let markets make mistakes. Quite the contrary.... One thing that public policy could do is to try to delay the market from committing to the future intextricably, before enough information has been obtained about the likely technical or organizational and legal implications, of an early, precedent-setting decision.
Translated from the Lockinese: Stan Liebowitz and Steve Margolis are mean to me. I don't want government to pick winners and losers. I just want government to stop inventors from marketing their inventions until an Authority to be Named Later decides that theirs are the right inventions.
...a proper understanding of path-dependence, and of the possibilities of externalities leading to market failure, is not without interesting implications for economic policy. But those are not at all the sorts of glib conclusions that some critics have alleged must follow if one believes that history really matters--namely, that government should try to pick winners rather than let markets make mistakes. Quite the contrary.... One thing that public policy could do is to try to delay the market from committing to the future intextricably, before enough information has been obtained about the likely technical or organizational and legal implications, of an early, precedent-setting decision.
Translated from the Lockinese: Stan Liebowitz and Steve Margolis are mean to me. I don't want government to pick winners and losers. I just want government to stop inventors from marketing their inventions until an Authority to be Named Later decides that theirs are the right inventions.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Expat Taxation
The International Herald Tribune reports on Americans renouncing their citizenship, because they can't afford to keep it:
She is a former U.S. Marine, a native Californian and, now, a former American who prefers to remain discreet about abandoning her citizenship. After 10 years of warily considering options, she turned in her U.S. passport last month without ceremony, becoming an alien in the view of her homeland.
"It's a really hard thing to do," said the woman, a 16-year resident of Geneva who had tired of the cost and time of filing yearly U.S. tax returns on top of her Swiss taxes. "I just kept putting this off. But it's my kids and the estate tax. I don't care if I die with only one Swiss franc to my name, but the U.S. shouldn't get money I earned here when I die."
....with new tax pressures facing American expatriates due to legislation enacted in Washington this year, some international tax lawyers say they detect rising demand from citizens to renounce ties with the United States — the only developed country that taxes it citizens while they are overseas. Americans abroad are also taxed in foreign countries where they reside.
"The administrative costs of being an American and living outside the U.S. have gone up dramatically," said Marnin Michaels, a tax lawyer with Baker & McKenzie in Zurich.
....Concern about taxes among expatriates has surged since President George W. Bush signed into law a bill that sharply increases tax rates for Americans abroad with income of more than $82,400 a year. The legislation also increases taxes on employer-provided benefits like housing allowances.
The changes, enacted in May and tweaked by the Treasury Department under guidelines issued in October, apply retroactively to last Jan. 1.
Matthew Ledvina, an international tax lawyer in Geneva, said demand for legal counsel on the citizenship issue was coming largely from American citizens who hold second passports and who have minimal ties to the United States.
He said some expatriates were weighing the value of their American passports and debating whether it was worth keeping them if the cost topped $50,000 a year.
....Ledvina said the waiting period for appointments at the U.S. Embassy in London had increased from a few days to more than three and a half months, with more than two applications processed each day.
She is a former U.S. Marine, a native Californian and, now, a former American who prefers to remain discreet about abandoning her citizenship. After 10 years of warily considering options, she turned in her U.S. passport last month without ceremony, becoming an alien in the view of her homeland.
"It's a really hard thing to do," said the woman, a 16-year resident of Geneva who had tired of the cost and time of filing yearly U.S. tax returns on top of her Swiss taxes. "I just kept putting this off. But it's my kids and the estate tax. I don't care if I die with only one Swiss franc to my name, but the U.S. shouldn't get money I earned here when I die."
....with new tax pressures facing American expatriates due to legislation enacted in Washington this year, some international tax lawyers say they detect rising demand from citizens to renounce ties with the United States — the only developed country that taxes it citizens while they are overseas. Americans abroad are also taxed in foreign countries where they reside.
"The administrative costs of being an American and living outside the U.S. have gone up dramatically," said Marnin Michaels, a tax lawyer with Baker & McKenzie in Zurich.
....Concern about taxes among expatriates has surged since President George W. Bush signed into law a bill that sharply increases tax rates for Americans abroad with income of more than $82,400 a year. The legislation also increases taxes on employer-provided benefits like housing allowances.
The changes, enacted in May and tweaked by the Treasury Department under guidelines issued in October, apply retroactively to last Jan. 1.
Matthew Ledvina, an international tax lawyer in Geneva, said demand for legal counsel on the citizenship issue was coming largely from American citizens who hold second passports and who have minimal ties to the United States.
He said some expatriates were weighing the value of their American passports and debating whether it was worth keeping them if the cost topped $50,000 a year.
....Ledvina said the waiting period for appointments at the U.S. Embassy in London had increased from a few days to more than three and a half months, with more than two applications processed each day.
Too little suffering in Norway
This story reads like a post on Angry Bear:
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organization (NAV) director Tor Saglie says that unemployment rates in many parts of Norway are now dangerously low.
Saglie presented the NAV prognosis for development in the labor market on Thursday, and the conclusion is that registered unemployment next year may dip under two percent.
Saglie is concerned that this figure is too low, and that weaker segments of society may find themselves locked out of jobs.
With less than 2% unemployment?
"We are dependent on having a certain amount of unemployment in order to have a well-functioning labor market. Low unemployment makes it difficult to start work-intensive projects and so creates a rigidity in the economy," Saglie said.
Perhaps not so suprising in a country where they find Voting Under the Influence a problem:
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organization (NAV) director Tor Saglie says that unemployment rates in many parts of Norway are now dangerously low.
Saglie presented the NAV prognosis for development in the labor market on Thursday, and the conclusion is that registered unemployment next year may dip under two percent.
Saglie is concerned that this figure is too low, and that weaker segments of society may find themselves locked out of jobs.
With less than 2% unemployment?
"We are dependent on having a certain amount of unemployment in order to have a well-functioning labor market. Low unemployment makes it difficult to start work-intensive projects and so creates a rigidity in the economy," Saglie said.
Perhaps not so suprising in a country where they find Voting Under the Influence a problem:
We're The Labour Party
You can say that again:
John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will use a speech tomorrow to claim that tens of thousands are losing out in the jobs market to growing numbers of immigrants, many from eastern Europe, even though "opportunities are out there".
Mr Hutton's hardline approach will dismay many backbench Labour MPs, who will fight any move to cut the benefits of long-term claimants of the Jobseeker's Allowance or to introduce any measure of compulsion to seek work before benefits are paid.
Sources close to the minister, however, said his "mind is entirely open" and that he would examine all options in what would in effect be a wide-ranging review of the Welfare State, nine years after Labour took power. His surprise move will be seen as provocative by allies of Gordon Brown, the overwhelming favourite to take over from Tony Blair as Labour leader, who jealously guards swathes of domestic policy.
Mr Hutton, however, has not ruled himself out as a Blairite challenger to the Chancellor when the Prime Minister steps down, should John Reid, the Home Secretary, not join the contest. In a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London, he will claim: "The next challenge we face is to ensure the hard-core of 'can work but won't work' benefit claimants take advantage of the opportunities out there and compete for jobs alongside growing numbers of migrants who arrive in Britain specifically to look for work rather than to settle for the long term."
There are about 900,000 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, about 12 per cent of whom have spent six of the past seven years on benefits, according to Government figures.
John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will use a speech tomorrow to claim that tens of thousands are losing out in the jobs market to growing numbers of immigrants, many from eastern Europe, even though "opportunities are out there".
Mr Hutton's hardline approach will dismay many backbench Labour MPs, who will fight any move to cut the benefits of long-term claimants of the Jobseeker's Allowance or to introduce any measure of compulsion to seek work before benefits are paid.
Sources close to the minister, however, said his "mind is entirely open" and that he would examine all options in what would in effect be a wide-ranging review of the Welfare State, nine years after Labour took power. His surprise move will be seen as provocative by allies of Gordon Brown, the overwhelming favourite to take over from Tony Blair as Labour leader, who jealously guards swathes of domestic policy.
Mr Hutton, however, has not ruled himself out as a Blairite challenger to the Chancellor when the Prime Minister steps down, should John Reid, the Home Secretary, not join the contest. In a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London, he will claim: "The next challenge we face is to ensure the hard-core of 'can work but won't work' benefit claimants take advantage of the opportunities out there and compete for jobs alongside growing numbers of migrants who arrive in Britain specifically to look for work rather than to settle for the long term."
There are about 900,000 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, about 12 per cent of whom have spent six of the past seven years on benefits, according to Government figures.
Darwin Awards
Unable to cope with civilization; the Discontented:
As 400,000 utility customers weathered another day without power, a new, lethal consequence of last week's windstorm emerged: carbon-monoxide poisoning.
A 26-year-old man was found dead in Kirkland [Washington] on Saturday morning with a generator running in his living room. About 100 other people, including an 11-month-old baby, were treated at Seattle-area hospitals on Saturday after inhaling the fumes of generators and charcoal barbecues dragged indoors.
...."We're dealing with a carbon-monoxide epidemic in Western Washington," said Dr. Neil Hampson in the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at Virginia Mason. "This has the potential to be the worst case of carbon-monoxide poisoning in the country."
Among the patients treated at Harborview and Virginia Mason were 34 Kent residents, mostly Somali immigrants, who had been cooking and warming themselves over charcoal grills brought indoors, according to the Kent Fire Department.
As 400,000 utility customers weathered another day without power, a new, lethal consequence of last week's windstorm emerged: carbon-monoxide poisoning.
A 26-year-old man was found dead in Kirkland [Washington] on Saturday morning with a generator running in his living room. About 100 other people, including an 11-month-old baby, were treated at Seattle-area hospitals on Saturday after inhaling the fumes of generators and charcoal barbecues dragged indoors.
...."We're dealing with a carbon-monoxide epidemic in Western Washington," said Dr. Neil Hampson in the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at Virginia Mason. "This has the potential to be the worst case of carbon-monoxide poisoning in the country."
Among the patients treated at Harborview and Virginia Mason were 34 Kent residents, mostly Somali immigrants, who had been cooking and warming themselves over charcoal grills brought indoors, according to the Kent Fire Department.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
One foot in the grave?
It may be your lucky day:
Marvin Margolis, an 80-year-old Manhattan financial consultant, is looking for investors willing to bet on when he will die.
Two years ago, Mr. Margolis bought a large life insurance policy. Now, he’s considering selling it to a group of investors, a deal that should give him as much as $2 million to enjoy in his final years. In return, the investors will get the policy’s $7 million payout when he dies — which they hope will be soon, so they can stop paying his premiums.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to use my body as an asset,” Mr. Margolis said. “I deserve to be able to benefit in some way from my age.”
But insurance companies aren't so happy:
Insurance executives, for instance, say transactions like Mr. Margolis’s may cripple their industry and make it harder for the average senior to buy life insurance in the first place. Insurers are worried because they count on many customers canceling their policies before they die, usually because their children grow up and no longer need the financial protection, their pensions kick in or premiums become too expensive. If far more policies result in payouts, the insurance business becomes much less profitable.
....Such policies are known as speculator-initiated life insurance, or “spin-life” policies. Investors estimate that spin-life policies worth as much as $13 billion will change hands next year.
The deals are so lucrative that older people are being wooed in every fathomable way. In Florida, investors have sponsored free cruises for seniors willing to undergo physical exams and apply for life insurance while onboard.
For insurers, such cruises are a financial Titanic. Over the next decade, the insurance industry could be forced to pay out unexpectedly more than $100 billion in death benefits as spin-life policies come to maturity, investors estimate.
....Life insurance companies, in particular, rely on policies lapsing before the policyholder dies. Last year, for instance, insurance companies reduced their financial exposure by $1.1 trillion when 19.8 million policyholders stopped paying premiums, according to the Insurance Information Institute. In comparison, the industry paid death benefits on only 2.2 million policies.
Marvin Margolis, an 80-year-old Manhattan financial consultant, is looking for investors willing to bet on when he will die.
Two years ago, Mr. Margolis bought a large life insurance policy. Now, he’s considering selling it to a group of investors, a deal that should give him as much as $2 million to enjoy in his final years. In return, the investors will get the policy’s $7 million payout when he dies — which they hope will be soon, so they can stop paying his premiums.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to use my body as an asset,” Mr. Margolis said. “I deserve to be able to benefit in some way from my age.”
But insurance companies aren't so happy:
Insurance executives, for instance, say transactions like Mr. Margolis’s may cripple their industry and make it harder for the average senior to buy life insurance in the first place. Insurers are worried because they count on many customers canceling their policies before they die, usually because their children grow up and no longer need the financial protection, their pensions kick in or premiums become too expensive. If far more policies result in payouts, the insurance business becomes much less profitable.
....Such policies are known as speculator-initiated life insurance, or “spin-life” policies. Investors estimate that spin-life policies worth as much as $13 billion will change hands next year.
The deals are so lucrative that older people are being wooed in every fathomable way. In Florida, investors have sponsored free cruises for seniors willing to undergo physical exams and apply for life insurance while onboard.
For insurers, such cruises are a financial Titanic. Over the next decade, the insurance industry could be forced to pay out unexpectedly more than $100 billion in death benefits as spin-life policies come to maturity, investors estimate.
....Life insurance companies, in particular, rely on policies lapsing before the policyholder dies. Last year, for instance, insurance companies reduced their financial exposure by $1.1 trillion when 19.8 million policyholders stopped paying premiums, according to the Insurance Information Institute. In comparison, the industry paid death benefits on only 2.2 million policies.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Go, Johnny, Go
The Elvis of France:
French rock legend Johnny Hallyday has applied for Belgian nationality, and will give up his French passport if he succeeds.
The singer lodged a naturalisation application in November last year. Hallyday, 62, was born Jean-Philippe Smet in Cite Malesherbes, Paris, France to a Belgian father, but only recently realised he did not have dual nationality. His father, Leon Smet, had not been married to his mother but another woman at the time of Hallyday's birth and so could not pass on his citizenship.
....the gravelly-voiced, leather-jacketed, Harley Davidson aficionado once dubbed the French Elvis never made any impact beyond the Francophone markets. His music is blatantly derivative, defiantly American and often consists of French language covers of stateside hits such as Long Tall Sally and Roll Over Beethoven.
That was a year ago, and the legend has decided he can't wait for the process to run its course, so:
A decision by French rock star Johnny Hallyday to settle in Switzerland for tax reasons provoked strong reactions among politicians Thursday, including from Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
...."Like many French people, I've had enough of the taxes we are forced to pay and this is it, I've made my choice," Hallyday told French radio during his launch of a Hallyday fashion line in a Paris boutique.
Earlier, L'Express magazine reported that Hallyday would henceforth spend six months and a day per year in Switzerland, just enough to escape the French taxman.
Despite Hallyday's claim that "I love France", French politicians were scandalized by the tax move.
French rock legend Johnny Hallyday has applied for Belgian nationality, and will give up his French passport if he succeeds.
The singer lodged a naturalisation application in November last year. Hallyday, 62, was born Jean-Philippe Smet in Cite Malesherbes, Paris, France to a Belgian father, but only recently realised he did not have dual nationality. His father, Leon Smet, had not been married to his mother but another woman at the time of Hallyday's birth and so could not pass on his citizenship.
....the gravelly-voiced, leather-jacketed, Harley Davidson aficionado once dubbed the French Elvis never made any impact beyond the Francophone markets. His music is blatantly derivative, defiantly American and often consists of French language covers of stateside hits such as Long Tall Sally and Roll Over Beethoven.
That was a year ago, and the legend has decided he can't wait for the process to run its course, so:
A decision by French rock star Johnny Hallyday to settle in Switzerland for tax reasons provoked strong reactions among politicians Thursday, including from Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
...."Like many French people, I've had enough of the taxes we are forced to pay and this is it, I've made my choice," Hallyday told French radio during his launch of a Hallyday fashion line in a Paris boutique.
Earlier, L'Express magazine reported that Hallyday would henceforth spend six months and a day per year in Switzerland, just enough to escape the French taxman.
Despite Hallyday's claim that "I love France", French politicians were scandalized by the tax move.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Litvinenko: Cultural Learnings for Make Benefit Glorious Profit
For bookmakers:
An internet bookmaker based in Kazakhstan is taking bets on who will be accused of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, and most of the bets are being placed by Russians, the Reuters news agency reports.
The GOL+PAS bookmakers said they were accepting stakes of between $1 (51 pence) and $500 on the official outcomes of British and Russian investigations.
....GOL+PAS said in reply to email questions from Reuters.“We reply that it is far more cynical to kill people for money or to sell one’s soul for money than it is to forecast ordinary elements of our lives.”
An internet bookmaker based in Kazakhstan is taking bets on who will be accused of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, and most of the bets are being placed by Russians, the Reuters news agency reports.
The GOL+PAS bookmakers said they were accepting stakes of between $1 (51 pence) and $500 on the official outcomes of British and Russian investigations.
....GOL+PAS said in reply to email questions from Reuters.“We reply that it is far more cynical to kill people for money or to sell one’s soul for money than it is to forecast ordinary elements of our lives.”
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Betting on Re-Ballasting
And winning in Australia and New Zealand:
They stand 73m tall - 8m higher than the Auckland Harbour Bridge - on a ship the size of 2 1/2 rugby fields.
....Weighing 1250 tonnes each, the cranes were made by the Zhenhua Port Machinery Company on the Yangtze River in Shanghai.
....Though the ship may look ungainly and liable to overbalance, it stays upright in high seas by a process known as reballasting.
The ship contains a number of cells that can be filled with water to give it extra stability.
Ports of Auckland corporate communications manager Karen Bradshaw said the new cranes would be the fastest, biggest and most productive container cranes in the country.
Each crane has longer booms and increased lifting power and speed and at full stretch rises to a height of 103m.
The diesel-electric straddle carriers are more efficient, give out fewer exhaust emissions and can be used as generators to power critical re-frigerated cargo in the case of power failure.
.... The 244m Zhen Hua 11 (by comparison the Queen Mary 2, due here in February, is 345m) can raise itself to dock level, allowing an easy transfer of the cranes using a computerised system that allows it to pump water in and out of the hull.
Nice work, if you can get it, in Europe
Breast research:
AMSTERDAM — Dutch women are getting bigger breasts and 32 percent of them now have a D-cup or bigger compared with 20 percent five years ago.
In Europe, Dutch women are ranked third behind British and Danish women in terms of bra size, research commissioned by Bodyfashion Promotion indicated on Wednesday.
Some 42 percent of women aged 30-39 have D-cup breasts and feel in general okay about that. Women with a large bra size are now the largest group in the Netherlands.
AMSTERDAM — Dutch women are getting bigger breasts and 32 percent of them now have a D-cup or bigger compared with 20 percent five years ago.
In Europe, Dutch women are ranked third behind British and Danish women in terms of bra size, research commissioned by Bodyfashion Promotion indicated on Wednesday.
Some 42 percent of women aged 30-39 have D-cup breasts and feel in general okay about that. Women with a large bra size are now the largest group in the Netherlands.
The Right to be Rich
George Soros provides further evidence he does have a God Complex:
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros lodged a claim Wednesday with the European Court of Human Rights, accusing the French courts of violating his rights by convicting him of insider trading.
The US financier was convicted by a Paris court in 2002 over a share deal involving French bank Societe Generale going back to 1988. He was fined 2.2 million euros ($2.3 million at the time) for insider trading.
....Michael Vachon, a senior aide to Hungarian-born Soros, said the financier's detractors had used the conviction to undermine his reputation.
"George Soros's political opponents have made strategic use of the French decision in their attacks," he said.
Soros has notably aligned himself against US President George W. Bush and the Iraq war.
"By alleging that he engaged in illegal activity, they hope to draw attention away from his criticism of the president and to call into question the legitimacy of his financial support of Democratic causes," he added.
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros lodged a claim Wednesday with the European Court of Human Rights, accusing the French courts of violating his rights by convicting him of insider trading.
The US financier was convicted by a Paris court in 2002 over a share deal involving French bank Societe Generale going back to 1988. He was fined 2.2 million euros ($2.3 million at the time) for insider trading.
....Michael Vachon, a senior aide to Hungarian-born Soros, said the financier's detractors had used the conviction to undermine his reputation.
"George Soros's political opponents have made strategic use of the French decision in their attacks," he said.
Soros has notably aligned himself against US President George W. Bush and the Iraq war.
"By alleging that he engaged in illegal activity, they hope to draw attention away from his criticism of the president and to call into question the legitimacy of his financial support of Democratic causes," he added.
The Lame, The Halt, The Belgians...and
Europeans in line for medical treatment:
Three months ago, Howard Waterfield learned that he suffered from a life-threatening heart condition and would have to undergo surgery.
Faced with a prolonged wait on the National Health Service in the UK, Howard (54), from London, headed for Belgium where he successfully underwent an operation within days of arriving.
Howard, a father-of-three, is typical of a growing number of tourists from around Europe who are flocking to Belgium for treatment.
It is not just NHS waiting lists that are forcing British patients across the North Sea. The high cost of private care in the UK means that treatment in Belgium can be a real bargain, even with travel costs added on.
Of all the treatments available for foreigners through Belgium's 'surgery supermarket', cosmetic and cardio thoracic surgery are two of the hottest items on the shelves and attract increasing numbers of customers from all over Europe.
Prices in these areas are the cheapest in the EU and the standard of hospitals and operations is second to none.
....A spokesman for the British Cardiac Patients Association says that Belgium is already the first choice for British heart patients.
"We know of a man who had been waiting for months for a triple bypass in the UK. So he went to Belgium where the operation was carried out immediately and superbly," she said.
Three months ago, Howard Waterfield learned that he suffered from a life-threatening heart condition and would have to undergo surgery.
Faced with a prolonged wait on the National Health Service in the UK, Howard (54), from London, headed for Belgium where he successfully underwent an operation within days of arriving.
Howard, a father-of-three, is typical of a growing number of tourists from around Europe who are flocking to Belgium for treatment.
It is not just NHS waiting lists that are forcing British patients across the North Sea. The high cost of private care in the UK means that treatment in Belgium can be a real bargain, even with travel costs added on.
Of all the treatments available for foreigners through Belgium's 'surgery supermarket', cosmetic and cardio thoracic surgery are two of the hottest items on the shelves and attract increasing numbers of customers from all over Europe.
Prices in these areas are the cheapest in the EU and the standard of hospitals and operations is second to none.
....A spokesman for the British Cardiac Patients Association says that Belgium is already the first choice for British heart patients.
"We know of a man who had been waiting for months for a triple bypass in the UK. So he went to Belgium where the operation was carried out immediately and superbly," she said.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Overestimating the Angry Bears
We wouldn't have thought it possible, but after re-reading the latest nonsense from them regarding Social Security privatization about 'free lunches' it appears that the claimants to Phd's in economics don't understand time horizons and their effect on risk/return ratios:
Simply put – the privatization crowd loves to lecture us that stocks pay a higher expected return than bonds, but then the same households they would transfer the Social Security Trust Fund bonds too likely know this as they also recognize the risks from holding bonds. Now perhaps M. Jed thinks these households are irrationally risk averse, while Barro and Becker would view their risk aversion as rational. But it makes no difference as to who is correct as these households would take these bonds and invest them in guess what – government bonds. Which means there would be no change in either risk taking or expected returns.
That bit of confusion being compounded in the comments section:
PRS tells us rational folks can make big returns by doing international diversification. Bruno Solnik vintage 1974! Now since rational person knows this - one would assume that private agents who don't do so are either irrational or more risk averse than PRS recognizes (oh wait, PRS doesn't get the risk point, but never mind). Either one - giving these risk averse or irrational folks (your choice Patrick) their government bonds is going to mean they'll continue to hold government bonds. And the return differential is zero.
And we say compounded advisedly, as that appears to be completely over the head of the author of both the above quoted bits.
Yes, in the short run, the greater risk of stocks (even negative returns are possible) may lead risk averse people to avoid investing in them. However, with retirement assets we are dealing with the long run, and in the long run risk is dominated by the greater returns due to the effects of compounding in the out years. As a simple (and outlandish) example will demonstrate. Suppose a twenty-five year old worker wanting to retire at age 65 ponders two choices of investment:
Each $1 invested at 3% (compounded annually) in a government bond for 40 years would be worth $ 3.26 at the end of the period. Meaning that a $10,000 bond would be worth $32,600.
Each dollar invested in a poorly performing equity mutual fund--averaging 7% compounded annually--would be worth $ 15. Thus a $ 10,000 investment would be worth $150,000.
But, suppose disaster strikes: An even greater market plunge than the Great Depression hits on the day our worker wishes to retire (and purchase an annuity with his retirement monies) and half the value of the mutual fund is wiped out, and our retiree is left with only $75,000.
However he's still better off by a factor of more than 2 than he would be had he taken the less risky route.
And there are three ridiculous assumptions in the above scenario. A riskless rate of 3%, a 4% risk premium over that, and a stock market drop greater than that in October 1929 (33%).
All because after about 15-20 years the greater return on stocks outweighs the greater volatility.
Simply put – the privatization crowd loves to lecture us that stocks pay a higher expected return than bonds, but then the same households they would transfer the Social Security Trust Fund bonds too likely know this as they also recognize the risks from holding bonds. Now perhaps M. Jed thinks these households are irrationally risk averse, while Barro and Becker would view their risk aversion as rational. But it makes no difference as to who is correct as these households would take these bonds and invest them in guess what – government bonds. Which means there would be no change in either risk taking or expected returns.
That bit of confusion being compounded in the comments section:
PRS tells us rational folks can make big returns by doing international diversification. Bruno Solnik vintage 1974! Now since rational person knows this - one would assume that private agents who don't do so are either irrational or more risk averse than PRS recognizes (oh wait, PRS doesn't get the risk point, but never mind). Either one - giving these risk averse or irrational folks (your choice Patrick) their government bonds is going to mean they'll continue to hold government bonds. And the return differential is zero.
And we say compounded advisedly, as that appears to be completely over the head of the author of both the above quoted bits.
Yes, in the short run, the greater risk of stocks (even negative returns are possible) may lead risk averse people to avoid investing in them. However, with retirement assets we are dealing with the long run, and in the long run risk is dominated by the greater returns due to the effects of compounding in the out years. As a simple (and outlandish) example will demonstrate. Suppose a twenty-five year old worker wanting to retire at age 65 ponders two choices of investment:
Each $1 invested at 3% (compounded annually) in a government bond for 40 years would be worth $ 3.26 at the end of the period. Meaning that a $10,000 bond would be worth $32,600.
Each dollar invested in a poorly performing equity mutual fund--averaging 7% compounded annually--would be worth $ 15. Thus a $ 10,000 investment would be worth $150,000.
But, suppose disaster strikes: An even greater market plunge than the Great Depression hits on the day our worker wishes to retire (and purchase an annuity with his retirement monies) and half the value of the mutual fund is wiped out, and our retiree is left with only $75,000.
However he's still better off by a factor of more than 2 than he would be had he taken the less risky route.
And there are three ridiculous assumptions in the above scenario. A riskless rate of 3%, a 4% risk premium over that, and a stock market drop greater than that in October 1929 (33%).
All because after about 15-20 years the greater return on stocks outweighs the greater volatility.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Ring out the new. Bring in the Spalding Classic
David Stern says you have to have leather balls to play in the NBA:
Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports, "NBA commissioner David Stern, in a stunning reversal, has decided to shelve the new microfiber composite basketball after just a few months of use and switch back to the old leather model for all games starting Jan. 1, according to sources close to the situation."
Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports, "NBA commissioner David Stern, in a stunning reversal, has decided to shelve the new microfiber composite basketball after just a few months of use and switch back to the old leather model for all games starting Jan. 1, according to sources close to the situation."
France determined to persecute elderly saviors of Chile
For showing how to claw the way back from socialist chaos.
General Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile who died yesterday aged 91, saved his country from Communism and created the most successful economy in Latin America....
Any judgment of Pinochet must take account of the rule of his predecessor, President Salvador Allende, who in 1970 had become the first Communist in the world to win power in a democratic election. Allende's programme of nationalising the means of production, and expropriating foreign-owned industries, banks, corporations and estates, brought economic chaos.
Which offends the French, apparently:
French judges still intend to bring 17 allies of Augusto Pinochet to trial over the disappearance of four French citizens in the 1970s despite the Chilean dictator's death, a legal official said Monday. ....
Nineteen people -- Pinochet and top figures from his military dictatorship -- have been targeted by international arrest warrants issued by a French judge over the disappearance of four Frenchmen in Chile between 1973 and 1975.
.... The four Frenchmen were Georges Klein, a political adviser to ousted president Salvador Allende, Etienne Presle, and two members of a left-wing movement, Alphonse Chanfreau and Jean-Yves Claudet-Fernandez.
General Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile who died yesterday aged 91, saved his country from Communism and created the most successful economy in Latin America....
Any judgment of Pinochet must take account of the rule of his predecessor, President Salvador Allende, who in 1970 had become the first Communist in the world to win power in a democratic election. Allende's programme of nationalising the means of production, and expropriating foreign-owned industries, banks, corporations and estates, brought economic chaos.
Which offends the French, apparently:
French judges still intend to bring 17 allies of Augusto Pinochet to trial over the disappearance of four French citizens in the 1970s despite the Chilean dictator's death, a legal official said Monday. ....
Nineteen people -- Pinochet and top figures from his military dictatorship -- have been targeted by international arrest warrants issued by a French judge over the disappearance of four Frenchmen in Chile between 1973 and 1975.
.... The four Frenchmen were Georges Klein, a political adviser to ousted president Salvador Allende, Etienne Presle, and two members of a left-wing movement, Alphonse Chanfreau and Jean-Yves Claudet-Fernandez.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
It was all hot air
Promises of electricity blowin' in on the wind in Britain:
The claimed benefits of wind energy are called into question today by a study that finds few wind farms in England and Wales produce as much electricity as the Government has forecast.
....Despite millions being spent on wind turbines, the study by the Renewable Energy Foundation shows that England and Wales are not windy enough to allow large turbines to work at the rates claimed for them. ....
The study shows that even wind farms in Cornwall on west-facing coasts, which might be expected to be the most efficient, operated at only 24·1 per cent of capacity on average.
....John Constable, an adviser to the foundation, said: "All the Government's targets are based on wind farms running at 30 per cent of capacity. It is quite clear that if they are built anywhere on land south of the border, the targets will not be met."
The foundation's report found some real "turkeys" in lowland England – some attached to the offices of high profile companies. Worst of all is the turbine close to the M25 at Kings Langley, Herts at the HQ of Renewable Energy Systems, the green energy division of Robert McAlpine group. This produces 7·7 per cent of the electricity it would if there was enough wind for it to run continuously at full power.
The study says the turbine at GlaxoSmithKline's pharmaceutical plant at Barnard Castle, Co Durham, which is in a built up area and uses second-hand turbines, operates at 8·8 per cent of capacity. "We are really talking about a garden ornament, not a power station. These are statements about the company's corporate social responsibility, not efficient generating capacity," Mr Constable said.
The claimed benefits of wind energy are called into question today by a study that finds few wind farms in England and Wales produce as much electricity as the Government has forecast.
....Despite millions being spent on wind turbines, the study by the Renewable Energy Foundation shows that England and Wales are not windy enough to allow large turbines to work at the rates claimed for them. ....
The study shows that even wind farms in Cornwall on west-facing coasts, which might be expected to be the most efficient, operated at only 24·1 per cent of capacity on average.
....John Constable, an adviser to the foundation, said: "All the Government's targets are based on wind farms running at 30 per cent of capacity. It is quite clear that if they are built anywhere on land south of the border, the targets will not be met."
The foundation's report found some real "turkeys" in lowland England – some attached to the offices of high profile companies. Worst of all is the turbine close to the M25 at Kings Langley, Herts at the HQ of Renewable Energy Systems, the green energy division of Robert McAlpine group. This produces 7·7 per cent of the electricity it would if there was enough wind for it to run continuously at full power.
The study says the turbine at GlaxoSmithKline's pharmaceutical plant at Barnard Castle, Co Durham, which is in a built up area and uses second-hand turbines, operates at 8·8 per cent of capacity. "We are really talking about a garden ornament, not a power station. These are statements about the company's corporate social responsibility, not efficient generating capacity," Mr Constable said.
The weather outside is frightful
So, of course, you put up a tent:
Kazakhstan has unveiled a new architectural project for its capital Astana - a giant transparent tent that will contain an indoor city.
The 150m-high (500ft) dome, designed by UK architect Norman Foster, will be built in just over a year.
The tent is being made from special material that absorbs sunlight to create the effect of summer inside.
Astana lies in the very heart of Central Asian steppe. Temperatures there often drop to -30C in the winter.
....The idea is to recreate summer, so that when the outside temperature is -30C, the residents of the Kazakh capital can play outdoor tennis, take boat rides or sip coffee on the pavement cafes.
Called Khan Shatyry, the project is designed by Mr Foster, who has recently built a giant glass pyramid in Astana.
"Nothing of the sort has been done before, and from the engineering point of view it's an extremely difficult project," says Fettah Tamince, the head of Turkey's development company Sembol that is building the tent.
Mr Tamince is nevertheless confident the company can complete the construction in just 12 months.
Friday, December 08, 2006
The Customer is Always...
...or at least usually, not right, in India:
A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.
The study found that more than half of the men measured had penises that were shorter than international standards for condoms.
It has led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.
We're curious about who is doing the calling.
A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.
The study found that more than half of the men measured had penises that were shorter than international standards for condoms.
It has led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.
We're curious about who is doing the calling.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Iraq Silly Group
No, not the one headed by the not-so-Fabulous Baker Boy, the one using stuff found in a can:
In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.
American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.
Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
....The military is reluctant to talk about the use of Silly String, saying that discussing specific tactics will tip off insurgents.
But Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said Army soldiers and Marines are not forbidden to come up with new ways to do their jobs, especially in Iraq's ever-evolving battlefield. And he said commanders are given money to buy nonstandard supplies as needed.
In other cases of battlefield improvisation in Iraq, U.S. soldiers have bolted scrap metal to Humvees in what has come to be known as “Hillybilly Armor.'' Medics use tampons to plug bullet holes in the wounded until they can be patched up.
Also, soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around their rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the tops of Humvees to give gunners extra protection. They have dubbed it “Pope's glass'' — a reference to the barriers that protect the pontiff.
In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.
American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.
Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
....The military is reluctant to talk about the use of Silly String, saying that discussing specific tactics will tip off insurgents.
But Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said Army soldiers and Marines are not forbidden to come up with new ways to do their jobs, especially in Iraq's ever-evolving battlefield. And he said commanders are given money to buy nonstandard supplies as needed.
In other cases of battlefield improvisation in Iraq, U.S. soldiers have bolted scrap metal to Humvees in what has come to be known as “Hillybilly Armor.'' Medics use tampons to plug bullet holes in the wounded until they can be patched up.
Also, soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around their rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the tops of Humvees to give gunners extra protection. They have dubbed it “Pope's glass'' — a reference to the barriers that protect the pontiff.
Between Hard Rock Places
Will be Seminoles:
British entertainment company Rank Group has agreed to sell its Hard Rock Cafe chain to an American Indian tribe for $965m (£490m).
The business is being bought by the Seminole tribe of Florida, which already runs Hard Rock-branded hotels and casinos in Tampa and Hollywood.
....The 12,000-strong Seminole tribe has lands in Oklahoma and Florida, and its main business interests are in tobacco, tourism and gambling.
The Florida Seminoles had relied on cattle, citrus fruits and federal loans for economic survival until the late 1970s, when they opened their first bingo hall and tax-free tobacco store.
The tribe now runs two massive Hard Rock hotels and casinos on two of its reservations in Florida and has gaming businesses on three other sites.
It is the only American Indian tribe never to have signed a peace treaty with the United States.
British entertainment company Rank Group has agreed to sell its Hard Rock Cafe chain to an American Indian tribe for $965m (£490m).
The business is being bought by the Seminole tribe of Florida, which already runs Hard Rock-branded hotels and casinos in Tampa and Hollywood.
....The 12,000-strong Seminole tribe has lands in Oklahoma and Florida, and its main business interests are in tobacco, tourism and gambling.
The Florida Seminoles had relied on cattle, citrus fruits and federal loans for economic survival until the late 1970s, when they opened their first bingo hall and tax-free tobacco store.
The tribe now runs two massive Hard Rock hotels and casinos on two of its reservations in Florida and has gaming businesses on three other sites.
It is the only American Indian tribe never to have signed a peace treaty with the United States.
And spread sunshine all over the place,
The Dutch decided to smile. And put on a happy face:
AMSTERDAM — An increasing number of immigrants are attending tertiary education, more mothers have full-time work and a greater number of Dutch residents are paying better attention to their health.
These are just some of the elements included in a report from the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP) on Thursday summarising recent positive developments in the Netherlands.
....About 70 percent of Dutch residents don't smoke, about half exercise enough and almost 50 percent follow advice to drink alcohol in moderation.
However, the majority of residents are still failing to eat the recommended 200g of vegetables and 200g of fruit each day.
Nevertheless, there is growing interest among the population for physical and mental health.
The SCP hopes its report on positive developments will inspire the public and politicians before the New Year to view the Netherlands in a different light.
AMSTERDAM — An increasing number of immigrants are attending tertiary education, more mothers have full-time work and a greater number of Dutch residents are paying better attention to their health.
These are just some of the elements included in a report from the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP) on Thursday summarising recent positive developments in the Netherlands.
....About 70 percent of Dutch residents don't smoke, about half exercise enough and almost 50 percent follow advice to drink alcohol in moderation.
However, the majority of residents are still failing to eat the recommended 200g of vegetables and 200g of fruit each day.
Nevertheless, there is growing interest among the population for physical and mental health.
The SCP hopes its report on positive developments will inspire the public and politicians before the New Year to view the Netherlands in a different light.
He/She Sleeps With the Fishes
There's something rotten in the state of the Spanish waters:
MADRID — Scientists have found toxins are turning fish and animals into transsexuals.
Male carp have been discovered with ovaries, while some sheelfish have been discovered to have tiny penises.
The Spanish daily El Pais reported on Thursday exposure to toxic chemicals is blamed for these sex changes.
A compound called tributyltin, widely used on ships since the 1950s to prevent the growth of organisms such as barnacles on the hulls, was discovered to produce sex changesin some species.
The substance was banned in 2003, but its effects areexpected to last for several decades.
MADRID — Scientists have found toxins are turning fish and animals into transsexuals.
Male carp have been discovered with ovaries, while some sheelfish have been discovered to have tiny penises.
The Spanish daily El Pais reported on Thursday exposure to toxic chemicals is blamed for these sex changes.
A compound called tributyltin, widely used on ships since the 1950s to prevent the growth of organisms such as barnacles on the hulls, was discovered to produce sex changesin some species.
The substance was banned in 2003, but its effects areexpected to last for several decades.
Surrender Monkey Seal of Approval
High praise from the French:
"The report made by the Baker-Hamilton committee is lucid. From our point of view, it reflects the actual situation in Iraq," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement.
"As France has always said, there can be no military solution to the deep crisis that Iraq is going through. The report does not fix a precise timetable for withdrawal, but it does set a horizon. That is also what we are saying," he said.
"To ensure that the withdrawal does not lead to chaos, it is vitally important to have a political process which can bring Iraqis together and isolate the extremists and terrorists," he said.
"The report made by the Baker-Hamilton committee is lucid. From our point of view, it reflects the actual situation in Iraq," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement.
"As France has always said, there can be no military solution to the deep crisis that Iraq is going through. The report does not fix a precise timetable for withdrawal, but it does set a horizon. That is also what we are saying," he said.
"To ensure that the withdrawal does not lead to chaos, it is vitally important to have a political process which can bring Iraqis together and isolate the extremists and terrorists," he said.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Thanks to Pinochet...
Chileans don't have to live like this:
"People don't want the Cubans in Miami to come back," said the young Cuban in his apartment.
"But every month, someone I know leaves. Just last month, one of my friends went to Guatemala, and then to the United States. I have to make new friends all the time."
As he talked, the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the daily food delivery. Each family gets a monthly food ration based on the number of people. Today, the food man brought 30 eggs for the month, a ration for three people. (The young man has not bothered to tell the authorities that his mother and brother have moved out, and that he and his girlfriend live alone in the apartment.) A day earlier, the food man brought three small pieces of chicken - a two-week supply.
Like many Cubans, the young man lives in two economies - the official one and the unofficial one. He makes most of his money selling pirated copies of DVDs. He has a friend whose black market business is repairing and selling cars, without government authorization.
"I'd like to open my own business, to work with cars, but that's not allowed now," said the friend.
"People don't want the Cubans in Miami to come back," said the young Cuban in his apartment.
"But every month, someone I know leaves. Just last month, one of my friends went to Guatemala, and then to the United States. I have to make new friends all the time."
As he talked, the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the daily food delivery. Each family gets a monthly food ration based on the number of people. Today, the food man brought 30 eggs for the month, a ration for three people. (The young man has not bothered to tell the authorities that his mother and brother have moved out, and that he and his girlfriend live alone in the apartment.) A day earlier, the food man brought three small pieces of chicken - a two-week supply.
Like many Cubans, the young man lives in two economies - the official one and the unofficial one. He makes most of his money selling pirated copies of DVDs. He has a friend whose black market business is repairing and selling cars, without government authorization.
"I'd like to open my own business, to work with cars, but that's not allowed now," said the friend.
No Go at the Go Go
For the VAT on the art of ecdysis in Norway:
The owners of the Diamond Go Go Bar in Oslo had refused to pay VAT of 25% on entry fees as tax authorities demanded.
The local authority had taken the club to court over its refusal to pay tax.
Lawyers for the club's owners argued that striptease dancers were stage artists just like sword-swallowers and comedians and deserved the same status.
"Striptease, in the way it is practised in this case, is a form of dance combined with acting," the judges ruled, according to AFP news agency.
....The court ordered the state to cover the court costs of the owners of the Diamond Go Go Bar.
The owners of the Diamond Go Go Bar in Oslo had refused to pay VAT of 25% on entry fees as tax authorities demanded.
The local authority had taken the club to court over its refusal to pay tax.
Lawyers for the club's owners argued that striptease dancers were stage artists just like sword-swallowers and comedians and deserved the same status.
"Striptease, in the way it is practised in this case, is a form of dance combined with acting," the judges ruled, according to AFP news agency.
....The court ordered the state to cover the court costs of the owners of the Diamond Go Go Bar.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Spanish Socialist Squabble
Over terrorists' human rights:
Venezuela is to pay compensation of EUR 325,000 to two convicted ETA terrorists.
The Venezuelan government has also offered Venezuelan nationality to four other suspected ETA terrorists who are at present living there, which will shield them from extradition.
....The move brought a swift, angry response from Spain.
....The row started when lawyers for Sebastián Etxaniz and Juan Víctor Galarza claimed Venezuela was wrong to rule they should be handed over to the Spanish government.
....The Vasco Press news agency reported on Tuesday the government of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez admitted its original ruling was wrong, would pay the compensation and grant both men Venezuelan nationality, which will make it harder for Spain to extradite them.
According to a document seen by the Vasco Press, Venezuela "accepted its responsibility for violating the rights of both Basque citizens".
It also said they had "agreed to an illegal deportation" of both ETA terrorists to Spain.
Etxaniz is serving 95 years in jail for three murders, while Galarza is free after completing three years in jail.
Caracas will pay Galzara EUR 132,000 and Etxainz is to get EUR 193,000 and his wife will receive EUR 750 index-linked every month.
Venezuela is to pay compensation of EUR 325,000 to two convicted ETA terrorists.
The Venezuelan government has also offered Venezuelan nationality to four other suspected ETA terrorists who are at present living there, which will shield them from extradition.
....The move brought a swift, angry response from Spain.
....The row started when lawyers for Sebastián Etxaniz and Juan Víctor Galarza claimed Venezuela was wrong to rule they should be handed over to the Spanish government.
....The Vasco Press news agency reported on Tuesday the government of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez admitted its original ruling was wrong, would pay the compensation and grant both men Venezuelan nationality, which will make it harder for Spain to extradite them.
According to a document seen by the Vasco Press, Venezuela "accepted its responsibility for violating the rights of both Basque citizens".
It also said they had "agreed to an illegal deportation" of both ETA terrorists to Spain.
Etxaniz is serving 95 years in jail for three murders, while Galarza is free after completing three years in jail.
Caracas will pay Galzara EUR 132,000 and Etxainz is to get EUR 193,000 and his wife will receive EUR 750 index-linked every month.
Assume the Pension
On a desert isle filling up with retired lucky Frenchmen:
Under rules dating from the 1950s, civil servants who serve out the end of their career on — or decide to retire to — one [five French overseas] territories receive bonuses to their pensions of between 35 and 75 percent.
The territories concerned are the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mayotte, New Caledonia and French Polynesia in the Pacific, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Canada.
There are increasing concerns that civil servants are exploiting the system, some by simply setting up a bogus postal address overseas.
From 9,618 in 1989, the number of beneficiaries has jumped to 32,172 last year, with mainlanders now making up 83 percent of all civil service pensioners in New Caledonia, and 60 percent in Polynesia.
Not that the French legislature is all that concerned since they just voted, '186 votes to 16 to uphold the system, which cost the state EUR 250 million last year'.
Under rules dating from the 1950s, civil servants who serve out the end of their career on — or decide to retire to — one [five French overseas] territories receive bonuses to their pensions of between 35 and 75 percent.
The territories concerned are the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mayotte, New Caledonia and French Polynesia in the Pacific, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Canada.
There are increasing concerns that civil servants are exploiting the system, some by simply setting up a bogus postal address overseas.
From 9,618 in 1989, the number of beneficiaries has jumped to 32,172 last year, with mainlanders now making up 83 percent of all civil service pensioners in New Caledonia, and 60 percent in Polynesia.
Not that the French legislature is all that concerned since they just voted, '186 votes to 16 to uphold the system, which cost the state EUR 250 million last year'.
Monday, December 04, 2006
A billion here, a billion there...
Pretty soon you're talking about a pharmaceutical company that could be in trouble:
The news came to Pfizer’s chief scientist, Dr. John L. LaMattina, as he was showering at 7 a.m. Saturday: the company’s most promising experimental drug, intended to treat heart disease, actually caused an increase in deaths and heart problems. Eighty-two people had died so far in a clinical trial, versus 51 people in the same trial who had not taken it
Within hours, Pfizer, the world’s largest drug maker, told more than 100 trial investigators to stop giving patients the drug, called torcetrapib. Shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday, Pfizer announced that it had pulled the plug on the medicine entirely, turning the company’s nearly $1 billion investment in it into a total loss.
Which nicely illustrates Richard Epstein's argument in this Boston Globe piece:
...critics treat the industry's multibillion dollar profits as a sure sign of its permanent robust economic status. But those numbers conceal deep vulnerabilities. It is no accident that the shares of major pharmaceutical houses have been hammered over the past three of four years, even as profits appear to be at record highs. Wall Street values companies not only on current earnings, but also on long-term prospects, which are cloudy at best for research pharmaceutical firms. Just this past week, for example, Pfizer announced plans to cut one-fifth of its United States sales force, with a promise of further restructuring in January.
We shouldn't be surprised. The huge profits of major drug firms are often tied to one or two drugs, such as Pfizer's Lipitor or Viagra -- profits that evaporate when their patents expire and generics enter the marketplace. The Standard & Poor's review of pharmaceuticals thus starts somberly, noting that products with $21 billion in US drug sales are going off patent in 2006, with another $24 billion to follow over the next three years -- a sharp dent for an industry that today generates about $250 billion in revenue. All the while, the pharmaceutical houses also must absorb the legal and business risks needed to identify, patent, test, license, and market any new drug.
The news came to Pfizer’s chief scientist, Dr. John L. LaMattina, as he was showering at 7 a.m. Saturday: the company’s most promising experimental drug, intended to treat heart disease, actually caused an increase in deaths and heart problems. Eighty-two people had died so far in a clinical trial, versus 51 people in the same trial who had not taken it
Within hours, Pfizer, the world’s largest drug maker, told more than 100 trial investigators to stop giving patients the drug, called torcetrapib. Shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday, Pfizer announced that it had pulled the plug on the medicine entirely, turning the company’s nearly $1 billion investment in it into a total loss.
Which nicely illustrates Richard Epstein's argument in this Boston Globe piece:
...critics treat the industry's multibillion dollar profits as a sure sign of its permanent robust economic status. But those numbers conceal deep vulnerabilities. It is no accident that the shares of major pharmaceutical houses have been hammered over the past three of four years, even as profits appear to be at record highs. Wall Street values companies not only on current earnings, but also on long-term prospects, which are cloudy at best for research pharmaceutical firms. Just this past week, for example, Pfizer announced plans to cut one-fifth of its United States sales force, with a promise of further restructuring in January.
We shouldn't be surprised. The huge profits of major drug firms are often tied to one or two drugs, such as Pfizer's Lipitor or Viagra -- profits that evaporate when their patents expire and generics enter the marketplace. The Standard & Poor's review of pharmaceuticals thus starts somberly, noting that products with $21 billion in US drug sales are going off patent in 2006, with another $24 billion to follow over the next three years -- a sharp dent for an industry that today generates about $250 billion in revenue. All the while, the pharmaceutical houses also must absorb the legal and business risks needed to identify, patent, test, license, and market any new drug.
Turnabout not fair play, rules Justice
Steven Breyer on Fox News Sunday says 'nevermind' to Chris Wallace. The interview opens with:
WALLACE: Let's start with the title of your book, "Active Liberty." I'm sure that there are some conservatives out there who break out in hives when they hear a judge talking about activism. They get the idea you think it's OK to read all sorts of things into the Constitution so you get the results you want.
BREYER: I think the best description in one sentence of that title, "Active Liberty," is that the point of the book is we don't need activist judges; we do need activist citizens. And it's about not how judges should be activists. To the contrary, it's about how every citizen should participate in government.
But shortly later Breyer decides that not every citizen should participate in every decision:
WALLACE: You talk a lot in the book about the fact that the Constitution promotes active liberty and, as you put it in the answer to my first question, encouraging democratic participation, encouraging democratic conversation.
From that point of view, isn't one of the reasons that abortion has remained such a hot-button issue in this country because the Supreme Court took it out of the political process, took it away from the legislatures when it was being decided as part of that democratic conversation in 1973?
BREYER: Well, I purposely chose my examples in this book to illustrate a theme. And I didn't choose abortion as one of them. Because more important to me in writing a book -- I mean, I'll decide abortion cases when they come up, but I know perfectly well that anything I say on that subject is enormously volatile. And so, I don't want to talk about that subject, particularly in a public forum that isn't the court.
WALLACE: Even the question as to whether or not...
BREYER: No, not any question to do with abortion.
WALLACE: Let's start with the title of your book, "Active Liberty." I'm sure that there are some conservatives out there who break out in hives when they hear a judge talking about activism. They get the idea you think it's OK to read all sorts of things into the Constitution so you get the results you want.
BREYER: I think the best description in one sentence of that title, "Active Liberty," is that the point of the book is we don't need activist judges; we do need activist citizens. And it's about not how judges should be activists. To the contrary, it's about how every citizen should participate in government.
But shortly later Breyer decides that not every citizen should participate in every decision:
WALLACE: You talk a lot in the book about the fact that the Constitution promotes active liberty and, as you put it in the answer to my first question, encouraging democratic participation, encouraging democratic conversation.
From that point of view, isn't one of the reasons that abortion has remained such a hot-button issue in this country because the Supreme Court took it out of the political process, took it away from the legislatures when it was being decided as part of that democratic conversation in 1973?
BREYER: Well, I purposely chose my examples in this book to illustrate a theme. And I didn't choose abortion as one of them. Because more important to me in writing a book -- I mean, I'll decide abortion cases when they come up, but I know perfectly well that anything I say on that subject is enormously volatile. And so, I don't want to talk about that subject, particularly in a public forum that isn't the court.
WALLACE: Even the question as to whether or not...
BREYER: No, not any question to do with abortion.
Baa Baa Baa, Merry Christmas
Sweden thinks you won't get its goat:
Arsonists who enjoy burning down a festive Swedish straw goat may have met their match this year.
In the 40 years since the tradition started, the giant goat of Gavle has often gone up in flames within days.
But this year the 13-metre (43ft) high goat has a coat of flame-resistant chemicals, and the authorities are determined it will see in the New Year.
"No-one is going to get our goat this year," says a local spokeswoman with confidence.
....It is not the first time authorities have put their faith in a flame-proof coating - a substance tried before washed off in the rain.
This one is waterproof, says Gavle spokeswoman Anna Oestman, and while its paws could still be singed, a full scale torching would now be "impossible".
Goats have a special place in Swedish tradition, and it was a goat which in earlier centuries delivered festive gifts before Santa Claus took over that role.
Arsonists who enjoy burning down a festive Swedish straw goat may have met their match this year.
In the 40 years since the tradition started, the giant goat of Gavle has often gone up in flames within days.
But this year the 13-metre (43ft) high goat has a coat of flame-resistant chemicals, and the authorities are determined it will see in the New Year.
"No-one is going to get our goat this year," says a local spokeswoman with confidence.
....It is not the first time authorities have put their faith in a flame-proof coating - a substance tried before washed off in the rain.
This one is waterproof, says Gavle spokeswoman Anna Oestman, and while its paws could still be singed, a full scale torching would now be "impossible".
Goats have a special place in Swedish tradition, and it was a goat which in earlier centuries delivered festive gifts before Santa Claus took over that role.
Friday, December 01, 2006
'No Brainer' may be a big headache
For British drivers who have to pay through the nose, above that stiff upper lip, to drive at rush hour:
Motorists should pay at least £1.28 a mile to drive on the country's busiest roads at the height of the rush hour, the Government's transport adviser said in a report published today.
Sir Rod Eddington said that without such a scheme in place by 2015 the taxpayer would face a vast bill for a new highway building programme to cope with the mounting congestion.
"For me in the end, road pricing is an economic no-brainer," the former British Airways chief executive said today.
A national road pricing scheme would be worth £28 billion to the economy by 2025 and congestion would be cut by half, which alone would be worth £22 billion.
Which would appear to be saying that the fees would be higher than the benefits!
Let the recriminations begin:
• Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Alistair Carmichael: "Sir Rod Eddington was asked for a 30-year strategy: he has given us a businessman's analysis which might have been acceptable to more people a few months ago but since the Stern Report it looks a bit thin and outdated in its thinking.
• Environmental group Transport 2000: "We will support Eddington on road pricing, but only if revenues go back into public transport and other measures to give people real choice, and if pricing helps cut overall pollution levels as well as congestion. We will oppose funding going towards big new roads programmes.
....
• The Rail Maritime and Transport Union said the report had recognised the urgency of reducing road congestion but failed to seize the opportunity to recommend the "massive" increase needed in public transport capacity.
General secretary Bob Crow said: "Urgent decisions are needed on major infrastructure projects, such as Crossrail and a new north-south high-speed rail link, as well as a commitment that all road-pricing revenue is ring-fenced for investment in less polluting transport modes."
Motorists should pay at least £1.28 a mile to drive on the country's busiest roads at the height of the rush hour, the Government's transport adviser said in a report published today.
Sir Rod Eddington said that without such a scheme in place by 2015 the taxpayer would face a vast bill for a new highway building programme to cope with the mounting congestion.
"For me in the end, road pricing is an economic no-brainer," the former British Airways chief executive said today.
A national road pricing scheme would be worth £28 billion to the economy by 2025 and congestion would be cut by half, which alone would be worth £22 billion.
Which would appear to be saying that the fees would be higher than the benefits!
Let the recriminations begin:
• Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Alistair Carmichael: "Sir Rod Eddington was asked for a 30-year strategy: he has given us a businessman's analysis which might have been acceptable to more people a few months ago but since the Stern Report it looks a bit thin and outdated in its thinking.
• Environmental group Transport 2000: "We will support Eddington on road pricing, but only if revenues go back into public transport and other measures to give people real choice, and if pricing helps cut overall pollution levels as well as congestion. We will oppose funding going towards big new roads programmes.
....
• The Rail Maritime and Transport Union said the report had recognised the urgency of reducing road congestion but failed to seize the opportunity to recommend the "massive" increase needed in public transport capacity.
General secretary Bob Crow said: "Urgent decisions are needed on major infrastructure projects, such as Crossrail and a new north-south high-speed rail link, as well as a commitment that all road-pricing revenue is ring-fenced for investment in less polluting transport modes."
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Flip a coin
The Man Who Saved Britain from the trauma of Empire Withdrawal, didn't know up from down about martinis, according to the Huns:
According to some experts in Germany, Bond's eccentric drinking habits are proof that he enjoys breaking the rules of alcoholic beverage etiquette. It seems he orders his martini "the wrong way," contravening what every novice barkeeper is taught.
"A classic Martini is stirred. This is always done when two alcohols are mixed with one another," explains Bernd Ohlmeier, a Hamburg-based of the respected German Barkeeper Union (DBU).
Cocktails are generally shaken when two liquids of a different consistency are combined, such as a clear alcohol and a cloudy juice. From a taste point of view, there is scarcely any difference between a stirred or a shaken Martini, admit the top barkeepers.
"The shaking motion does make the ice cubes melt more quickly and this may diminish the flavour of the drink," said Ulf Neuhaus, another expert who heads the DBU's Dresden branch.
These nuances are too subtle for most people's taste buds to detect, said Neuhaus, who pointed out that the easiest way to spot the two types of martini drink is by looking at them - shaken martinis appear cloudier than those which are stirred.
There is also disagreement over what constitutes a genuine "James Bond-style martini." The classic martini drink consists of four centilitres of gin along with two centilitres of vermouth and an olive, said Ohlmeier. Mixing four parts of vodka with two of vermouth results in a rather un-Bond-like creation known as a "vodkatini."
According to some experts in Germany, Bond's eccentric drinking habits are proof that he enjoys breaking the rules of alcoholic beverage etiquette. It seems he orders his martini "the wrong way," contravening what every novice barkeeper is taught.
"A classic Martini is stirred. This is always done when two alcohols are mixed with one another," explains Bernd Ohlmeier, a Hamburg-based of the respected German Barkeeper Union (DBU).
Cocktails are generally shaken when two liquids of a different consistency are combined, such as a clear alcohol and a cloudy juice. From a taste point of view, there is scarcely any difference between a stirred or a shaken Martini, admit the top barkeepers.
"The shaking motion does make the ice cubes melt more quickly and this may diminish the flavour of the drink," said Ulf Neuhaus, another expert who heads the DBU's Dresden branch.
These nuances are too subtle for most people's taste buds to detect, said Neuhaus, who pointed out that the easiest way to spot the two types of martini drink is by looking at them - shaken martinis appear cloudier than those which are stirred.
There is also disagreement over what constitutes a genuine "James Bond-style martini." The classic martini drink consists of four centilitres of gin along with two centilitres of vermouth and an olive, said Ohlmeier. Mixing four parts of vodka with two of vermouth results in a rather un-Bond-like creation known as a "vodkatini."
The Dutch are Shocked
Shocked!
To find money being exchanged in a brothel:
A large amount of the window prostitution in Amsterdam's red light district will be shut down as the city council gets tougher on criminal activities.
Amsterdam City Council said investigations had revealed about one-third of the prostitution sector is allegedly involved in money laundering.
About 100 of the 350 prostitution windows in the Dutch capital's red-light district will be forced to close by the end of the year.
....Amsterdam introduced a new law in 2003 which made it possible to investigate the operational management in the sex industry.
The new law was designed to prevent authorities unintentionally supporting criminal activities by issuing permits and subsidies.
To find money being exchanged in a brothel:
A large amount of the window prostitution in Amsterdam's red light district will be shut down as the city council gets tougher on criminal activities.
Amsterdam City Council said investigations had revealed about one-third of the prostitution sector is allegedly involved in money laundering.
About 100 of the 350 prostitution windows in the Dutch capital's red-light district will be forced to close by the end of the year.
....Amsterdam introduced a new law in 2003 which made it possible to investigate the operational management in the sex industry.
The new law was designed to prevent authorities unintentionally supporting criminal activities by issuing permits and subsidies.
Nobody does it better
Nobody does it quite the way the French do:
PARIS, Nov 30, 2006 (AFP) - The French government, facing a presidential election in April, got a double dose of bad news Thursday as official figures showed that consumer confidence contracted in November while a decline in joblessness ground to a halt in the previous month.
The results reflected France's stagnant economic momentum in the third quarter.
...."It's a serious warning," said Nicolas Bouzou of the economic research group Asteres.
"It is striking that the unemployment rate interrupts its decline at a time when economic growth is zero and when all economic indicators are pointing downward."
He said French companies managed to create fewer than 15,000 jobs in the third quarter and that economic layoffs were rising sharply.
France's stubbornly high jobless rate is frequently attributed by economists to an inflexible labor market, which saddles employers with high social charges and constraints to laying off staff and makes them reluctant to take on workers.
"In the last 20 years France on several occasions has found itself in the same situation," noted Alexander Law of the market research firm Xerfi.
"The unemployment rate can fall sharply for exceptional reasons but cannot go below the 8.5 percent threshold. At the moment, France is approaching its structural rate of unemployment but nothing suggests that it can break through this barrier."
Call it l'economie ennui?
PARIS, Nov 30, 2006 (AFP) - The French government, facing a presidential election in April, got a double dose of bad news Thursday as official figures showed that consumer confidence contracted in November while a decline in joblessness ground to a halt in the previous month.
The results reflected France's stagnant economic momentum in the third quarter.
...."It's a serious warning," said Nicolas Bouzou of the economic research group Asteres.
"It is striking that the unemployment rate interrupts its decline at a time when economic growth is zero and when all economic indicators are pointing downward."
He said French companies managed to create fewer than 15,000 jobs in the third quarter and that economic layoffs were rising sharply.
France's stubbornly high jobless rate is frequently attributed by economists to an inflexible labor market, which saddles employers with high social charges and constraints to laying off staff and makes them reluctant to take on workers.
"In the last 20 years France on several occasions has found itself in the same situation," noted Alexander Law of the market research firm Xerfi.
"The unemployment rate can fall sharply for exceptional reasons but cannot go below the 8.5 percent threshold. At the moment, France is approaching its structural rate of unemployment but nothing suggests that it can break through this barrier."
Call it l'economie ennui?
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
No Growth Industry
Rental fees are up, delivery area limited; guilt isn't selling this year:The price to rent a Living Christmas Tree is 75$ (yup 75). Each order also requires a separate $15 deposit check which we don't cash- we give it back to you when we get the tree back. Make checks out to TOLCTC. ....
Delivery is 12/15 through 12/17. Pickup is Tuesday January 2nd.
We are doing trees this year (it's our fifteenth in a row)
We are sorry to our past customers who have been shut out of our delivery area. I'm sorry i don't do this live tree and replanting idea more credit by doing a better job, i apologize.
Compared to his jerk of a father?
Senator-elect from Virginia doesn't get the old joke, instead enlists in the Democrat Fight Club:
At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, [George W.] Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.
[Jim] Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.
“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.
Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief...
The Senator has now revised and extended his remarks to: 'That's between my son and me.'
At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, [George W.] Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.
[Jim] Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.
“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.
Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief...
The Senator has now revised and extended his remarks to: 'That's between my son and me.'
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