I thought it was stoopid until I read it. The man is a saint, a veritable saint!
[THEREGISTER.CO.UK] He has made more than 12,000 calls in a bid to produce maps of automated lines used by firms in Britain, some with up to 7 menu levels and 80 options. Many of these are so circuitous and confusing that phoning them is like entering the "modern equivalent of Dante's circles of hell", he said.
If everyone used his crib sheets to bypass the systems, Clarke insisted, Britons could save a total of one billion minutes of call time.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
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#4
The short-term "endgame" Raj, is something of a paradox. The man who appears to not be informed about anything, surrounds himself with people who can remember nothing.
#9
It shows contempt for the Champ to those who know the game, and creates the reason not to let the Bureau or Agency see anything on Boston or other topics. Since leading from behind has let pencil neck have a second chance, and the alignment of Iran, Hezbollah and Syria fall in line again with the Russian Empire vlad is rebuilding, why not show the players the emerging lineup.
North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un now has two daughters, probably with different women, according to a source in Beijing.
Ewww...
The source said Suet Face Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju gave birth to a baby girl late last year. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited Pyongyang in February this year, said Ri talked mostly about her "beautiful baby daughter."
The North Korean leader's first child, also a daughter, was reportedly born in 2010. The source said the mother was probably not Ri.
"Ri Sol-ju performed on stage in 2010 as a member of the Unhasu Orchestra when Kim Jong-un became the father of his first child," the source said. "In North Korea, it is unthinkable for a pregnant first lady to perform on stage."
Kim is believed to have married Ri in 2009, but she only emerged as the official first lady in July 2012.
Kim Jong-chol's son was born in 2010, around the same time his younger brother had his first daughter. "North Koreas recent imports of luxury European baby products included goods for both baby boys and girls," a diplomatic source said. "This suggests that Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-chol had a baby girl and boy at about the same time."
The regime spent some 1.5 billion euros last year on Swiss and German baby products.
That's a lot of baby products even for badger-insane kleptocrats...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
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Personally I blame the 2-in-1 CHELYABINSK exploding space rocks, + another twofer pair that flew over Guam-WESTPAC.
France has became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed it into law following months of bitter political debate.
Hollande acted a day after the Constitutional Council threw out a legal challenge by the right-wing opposition, which had been the last obstacle to passing the bill into law.
The legislation also legalises gay adoption.
French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who steered the legislation through parliament, has said the first gay marriages could be celebrated as early as June.
But opponents of the measures have vowed to continue their campaign, with a major protest rally scheduled for May 26 in Paris.
The issue has provoked months of acrimonious debate and hundreds of protests that have occasionally spilled over into violence.
Hollande made 'marriage for all' a central plank of his presidential election campaign last year.
On Friday, in the wake of the Constitutional Council ruling, he warned that he would tolerate no resistance.
'I will ensure that the law applies across the whole territory, in full, and I will not accept any disruption of these marriages,' said the president.
It was 'time to respect the law and the Republic', he added.
[Dawn] In a surprising development, the lawyer who had filed a petition in the judges' detention case has withdrawn his complaint against former president retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
The decision by Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman came a day before the hearing of the case on Saturday by the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court at Gen Musharraf's Chak Shahzad farmhouse which has been declared a sub-jail.
The judges' detention case was registered by the Secretariat Police Station on Aug 11, 2009, on the complaint of Advocate Ghumman who had sought legal proceedings against the former military ruler for confining 60 judges of the superior courts for over five months at their homes and restraining them from administering justice.
Talking to Dawn on Friday, Advocate Ghumman said he had withdrawn the complaint in the larger national interest. "I think that the trial of Gen Musharraf in such a state of affairs is not in the national interest and, therefore, I have decided to withdraw my complaint," he said.
"Before taking the decision to withdraw the petition I also consulted my friends and it was taken after due deliberation."
Advocate Ghumman said he would neither appear before the court nor press for the prosecution of Gen Musharraf, adding that it was up to the court to decide the fate of the case against him.
Gen Musharraf may get life imprisonment if he is convicted by the court under this section.
It may be mentioned that over the past couple of weeks at least three lawyers, including special prosecutor of Islamabad police Syed Mohammad Tayyab, have dissociated themselves from the case. The other two -- Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Qamar Afzal -- are reported to have received threats from unknown people.
But Advocate Ghumman rejected reports that he had withdrawn the complaint under any pressure or fear and said he had never been threatened by any quarter.
Advocate Ashraf Gujjar, the counsel for Mr Ghumman, told Dawn that he was not aware of the decision taken by his client. He said Mr Ghumman had not consulted him on the issue although he had been appearing in the court on his behalf.
Advocate Gujjar was of the opinion that Mr Ghumman could not withdraw the complaint because the FIR also included sections of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Only the state could withdraw the case. According to legal expert Barrister Zafarullah Khan, an individual can dissociate himself from prosecution but cannot withdraw a case. "After the happening of a crime, a complainant informs the state machinery about it and the responsibility to prosecute the criminal is put on the shoulder of police or other law-enforcement agencies," he told Dawn.
"Since the crime is considered an illegal act against the society and the state, only the federal or provincial government through the district magistrate (deputy commissioner) can withdraw the case against a criminal," he said.
The complaint against Gen Musharraf was registered under section 344 of the Pakistain Panel Code. The offence is a bailable and entails a maximum imprisonment of three years.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court had dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea of Gen Musharraf on April 18 and observed that the act of detaining the judges of superior courts and forcefully restraining them from performing their lawful duty was an act of terrorism. He ordered police to book the former military ruler under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Gen Musharraf may get life imprisonment if he is convicted by the court under this section.
[Dawn] Pakistain has authorised the export of 100,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran in trade not jeopardised by Western sanctions, to settle dues for electricity supplied to the country's energy-starved border areas, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday.
The shipment of 100,000 tonnes was to have been delivered to Iran in mid-February but was delayed by preparations for Pakistain's May 11 election.
"The wheat is being given to Iran against the outstanding payment of $53 million for electricity supplied to Pak border areas from the Iranian grid," ministry front man Mohammad Ashraf said.
"The interim cabinet has approved the decision and exports will be initiated as early as possible."
The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and the United States have imposed toughened sanctions meant to discourage Tehran's nuclear programme, which they say has a military purpose. Iran rejects that claim, saying its programme aims at the peaceful production of electricity.
Western sanctions do not target food shipments, but financial measures have frozen Iranian companies out of much of the global banking system, hindering payments for imports, on which Iran relies for much of its food.
Pakistain is battling a chronic energy shortage, which is inflaming public anger and stifling industry. Power outages can last eight to 10 hours a day in cities, with much more frequent cuts in rural areas.
"Pakistain is an energy-starved country facing severe power cuts that are badly hampering industrial output," Ashraf said. "Connecting far-flung areas to Pakistain's grid is a costly affair."
Electricity from Iran costs Pakistain around $3 million a month and is supplied to towns near the Iranian border, including the port city of Gwadar.
Pakistain also says it is building a $7-billion gas pipeline with Iran, despite US pressure on Islamabad to back out of the project.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/18/2013 02:27 ||
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#1
Next week's headline: "US Congress approves increase in aid, in particular food aid, to Pakistan".
[DailyTimes] Pak students, who are learning English through the US-sponsored English Access Microscholarship Program, and their teachers met on Friday with US Embassy Public Affairs Officer Peter Brennan to discuss their upcoming trip to the United States.
In the coming weeks, 25 students and 25 teachers will travel to the United States for a three-week exchange program funded by the US Embassy.
The participating students belong to districts of Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan, Lodhran, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... , Malakand, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , Khaplu, and Skardu who came together to be briefed about their trip to the United States.
"Before I got a scholarship for Access, I had no confidence speaking English. But now I am able to speak it," said Iqra, an enthusiastic Access student. "We do a lot of activities in class, and we also do community service projects together. I am very excited to go to America and meet people and see how things are over there."
"English has become the common language of business and education throughout the world. We operate the world's biggest English Access program here in Pakistain because we know how important these skills are to Pakistain's economic future," said Brennan.
The U.S. operates the world's largest English Access Microscholarship Program in Pakistain, teaching English to 5,000 14- to 18-year old students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
[Maan] Customs agents in cooperation with the ministry of agriculture have recently placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! four people accused of smuggling dozens of cows from Israel.
Director general of veterinary services at the Paleostinian ministry of agriculture Imad Mukarkir told Ma'an that about 100 cows and calves were seized. The suspected smugglers, he said, will be referred to the district attorney for legal procedures.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Cynthia backed into the galley, the barbecue fork held in front of her. Jack! she called. Where the hell are you?... the animals will be quarantined and monitored for infections for two weeks.
The suspects will also have to sign obligations to make sure they will not do it again.
Mukarkir warned Paleostinian merchants of the consequences of smuggling cows and calves from Israel. The ministry, he added, doesn't ban imports from Israel, but stipulates that importers adhere with certain regulations set to protect Paleostinian citizens.
In the same regard, Mukarkir highlighted that his ministry received a quantity of vaccines against diseases affecting cows that is enough to vaccinate all cows and calves in Paleostine.
#2
In the same regard, Mukarkir highlighted that his ministry received a quantity of vaccines against diseases affecting cows that is enough to vaccinate all cows and calves in Paleostine.
Received is the operative word. A equal possibility of soon being available on the black market for the right price.
#3
The ministry, he added, doesn't ban imports from Israel, but stipulates that importers adhere with certain regulations set to protect Paleostinian citizens pay the required bribes.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/18/2013 12:03 Comments ||
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A Sri Lankan court yesterday sentenced a childhood friend of slain leader of the Tamil Tiger terrorist outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to a one month rigorous imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to charges against him.
The Colombo High Court Judge Preethi Padman Surasena also sentenced the defendant, Gunasundaram Jeyasundaram, a schoolmate of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, to undergo a one year rehabilitation program at the end of the jail term.
The judge handed over the sentence after Jeyasundaram, an Irish citizen, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of charges on supplying arms and ammunition to the LTTE. He was given a jail term of one month for each charge to serve concurrently.
Jeyasundaram, who was arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Department of Sri Lanka Police in 2007, has been in custody for six years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Confessing to his crimes the defendant, when he was produced before the court last week, appealed for rehabilitation. He has confessed to procuring arms and ammunitions from several countries for the terrorist organization.
Making a statement in the court, the defendant has denounced terrorism and appealed the Tamil Diaspora to give up their Eelam concept.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
France has became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed it into law following months of bitter political debate.
Pervez 
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
