[BREITBART] CHINA - a 38-year-old man leaped to his death after an argument with his girlfriend who insisted they continue shopping. CCTV captured Tao Hsiao and his girlfriend in a mall in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, east China where they had reportedly been shopping for five hours or so before he hit his limit. I've occasionally thought about doing that under the same circumstances.
Eyewitnesses said Hsiao could be heard telling his girlfriend that they already had more bags than they could carry, but she insisted on hitting one more store where there was a sale on shoes.
An eyewitness said: "He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she could wear in a lifetime, and it was pointless buying any more. She started shouting at him, accusing him of being a skinflint, and of spoiling Christmas. It was a really heated argument."
The argument continued until Hsiao threw the bags on the floor and himself over the balcony, dropping seven stories to his death and smashing Christmas decorations on the way down. He was killed on impact.
A front man for the mall said: "His body was removed fairly quickly. He actually landed on one of the stalls below and then fell to the floor so although the store was damaged it meant he didn't hit anybody.
"This is a tragic incident, but this time of year can be very stressful for many people."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
A perfectly normal male reaction. The only reason I have not done it myself is that I usually chew my own feet off after one hour, making dives off balconies problematic.
#4
She started shouting at him, accusing him of being a skinflint, and of spoiling Christmas.
Wait. Hold the presses Johnson. Mass Christmas buying in China? We not talking the deliveries to America for the holidays. I thought the vocal atheists insisted that Christmas was evil oppression by the fanatical Christians? /sarc off
It was a really heated argument.
You weren't here for Black Friday dude to know what a heated argument was. With tazers. And some felonious assaults.
#5
I can understand this article completely. Fortunately, my wife does not insist on trying to drag me around shopping. If so, I might consider looking for the nearest balcony, bridge or roof--or at least just sitting in the mall and checking out the passing traffic.
You are certainly welcomed to post your preferences or even your own videos for Christmas. Remember, these days, celebrating Christmas is a revolutionary act, now, so be careful out there :o)
Among the many important things which men sacrifice in the armed forces is Christmas at home. It is one of the most difficult to give up. The American family Christmas is one of the great joys of life.
At the same time, it is one of the real, tangible things for which we fight. Its preservation is one of the essential reasons for our being at war. Every Marine who spends Christmas in service away from home is actually keeping Christmas in his home. He is making sure that the forces which have gravely threatened it are thoroughly defeated. He is making certain that, when he returns, he and his loved ones will be able to enjoy Christmases for the remainder of their lives in an era of peace which he himself will have nobly won.
On this fourth wartime Christmas he has gone far toward that end. The enemy forces in the Pacific have been driven back to their innermost ring of defenses. And, while they may be expected to put up savage resistance there, they cannot escape the closing circle of Allied might. The final, decisive actions are shaping up.
To all Marine Corps officers and enlisted personnel, men and women, I extend cordial greetings and best wishes for the Christmas season.
Alexander A. Vandegrift
LtGen, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps
#2
Glenn Miller was a great band leader that brought much joy and contact with home for the soldiers in Europe in WW2. His disappearance over the English Channel on a flight from England to France on December 15, 1944 was a great tragedy.
Besoeker---Thank you for posting General Vandegrift's 1944 Christmas Letter.
Archie Vendegrift was a real leader, proving that at the 'Canal in 1942. This honesty and dedication to American values is rarely seen these days in public pronouncements, which is also a tragedy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/10/2013 1:59 Comments ||
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Notice in his 1944 message he mentioned, the "American family, sacrifice, important things, a defeated enemy, Christmas" (seven times he mentions Christmas), and both men and women in closing.
[Al Ahram] Moroccan police violently suppressed a peaceful protest in the Western Sahara against a planned EU fishing accord with Rabat that covers the disputed territory's waters, witnesses said Monday.
About 50 demonstrators, many of them women, gathered in the Laayoune city centre on Saturday evening carrying banners and chanting slogans, including "stop taking our resources," one witness told AFP by phone.
The protesters were heavily outnumbered by police, who attacked them with batons, beating and injuring many of them, said Hamoud Iguilid from the Moroccan association of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , who was also present.
Women and children were among the injured, but no arrests were reported.
Unverifiable video footage posted on the Internet showed the police snatching placards held by the protesters and severely beating them.
The protest comes ahead of a vote in the European parliament on Tuesday to ratify a new four-year fishing accord with Morocco, which would allow more than 120 EU fishing boats, most of them Spanish, to access the waters of Morocco and Western Sahara.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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US President Obama has shaken hands with Cuban President Raul Castro in South Africa ahead of his speech at the national memorial service for former President Nelson Mandela.
It is an unprecedented gesture between the leaders of two nations that have been at loggerheads for more than half a century.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/10/2013 13:57 Comments ||
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#2
We can now expect when the next freedom fighter Fidel dies, Obumble will order US flags be at half staff again. BTW, the picture of this handshake includes the patented bowing from our Emporer.
The motto of Barry's emporium
Should be "Caveat, uh, emptorium."
"Kids, sit here -- don't resist! --
As I read you my list
Of your purchases, uh, mandatorium!"
#8
By most accounts, Cuba is expected to devol into freefall once Uncles Fidel + Raul pass on.
The Bammer has publicly indic he would like to resolve the issue of US-Cuba relations ASAP AMAP before he leaves office - he has sent a Econ assessment team to Puerto Rico as that island has repor been suffering from 8 years of back-to-back recessions, ostensibly IMO to help make Commonwealth PR the bedrock "anchor/linchpin" in post-Castro(s) Cuba + future OWG "Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico" Union, etc.
NEW YORK MAFIA COMMISSION + [OWG = Global] AFL-CIO, ETC. I'M LOOKIN' AT YOUSE.
#9
Unfortunately, as per GUAM-WESTPAC + PERIPHERALS, China may be a harder nut for the Bammer to crack than Cuba or Rising Iran.
Guam + CNMI, etc. Pacific Isles could easily end up as "spoils of war" depending on the outcome of any China-vs-US mil conflict in East Asia, OR LACK OF SAME I.E. AVOIDING LIMITED OR FULL-SCALE NUCLEAR WAR = MUTUAL DESTRUCTION, to include India, + on whether one believes the Bammer will be a good pro-US Nationalist versus good anti-US OWG Globalist.
["SHORT-OF-WAR" MUNICH CONFERENCE, ALSACE-LORRAINE, SUDENTENLAND, PARTITION OF POLAND here].
NO - POST-KENNEDY/MISSLE CRISIS SOVIET "DEFENSIVE" TACNUKES IN CUBA, 1972 PARIS PEACE TALKS = "DE-AMERICANIZATION/VIETNAMIZATION" OF THE WAR IN SOUTH VIETNAM???
#10
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > [Reuters] EXCLUSIVE: RUSSIA SIGNS DEAL TO FORGIVE US$29.0BILYUHN IN CUBAN DEBT - DIPOMATS.
Weird-n-Mysterious windfall for Puerto/Porto Rico???
versus
* TOPIX > [Japan Times] US OPTS TO "MANAGE", NOT END, CHINA AIR ZONE RIFT.
* SAME > [Kansas City Star]IN THREE LATEST CRISES, WHY ARE WE [USA] NOT LEADING?
D *** NG IT, YE-A-H-H-H WHY AREN'T WE???
* SAME > ISAAC STONE FISHER: CHINA EMULATING THE US WID A POWERFUL NEW NATIONAL DEFENSE POSTURE.
* SAME >[SCMP] US PLAN FOR GUAM MISSLE BASE SEEN AS COUNTERING STRENGTH OF CHINA, COUNTERING THE NORTH KOREA MISSLE THREAT IS THE STATED OBJECTIVE ["Official" Media, Diplomatic cover story], BUT MANY SEE THE MOVE AS BEING MORE DIRECTED AT CHINA.
Correct me iff I'm wrong, but thus far Chinese Perts-Blogers have talked only about taking over Guam-WESTPAC + possibly Hawaii - DON'T RECALL SEEING ANYTHING ON THE NET ABOUT PUERTO RICO???
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2013 11:20 Comments ||
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#10
Not quite the Japanese emperor bow but a bow it is.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/10/2013 13:05 Comments ||
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#11
I bet the suicide hotlines do a booming business. Can you imagine having to listen to His Egoness, Ban Ki-Moon (who could stop a cattle stampede by putting them all to sleep at a word) and the Chinese VP?
I for one am glad I did not have to attend that costume party.
I bet ole Nelson spins in his grave at some of the self ingratiating comments from His Egoness.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/10/2013 14:18 Comments ||
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[Fox News] WASHINGTON Secret Service agents assigned to protect four U.S. presidents at Tuesday's memorial service for Nelson Mandela are facing a potential clash of egos that could translate into a security nightmare.
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, who protected Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, told FoxNews.com the real test at the South African memorial site will lie in how well the agents will be able to navigate an ego-heavy political minefield.
The security part is easy, Bongino said. The politics of security is what makes it a nightmare. And the egos.
With a state funeral, youre dealing with numerous heads of state and they all have egos, he said. In addition, youre dealing with the tragedy of the situation. You cant go in randomly shaking down mourners.
Bongino, author of Life Inside the Bubble: Why a Top-Ranked Secret Service Agent Walked Away from It All," adds,"every head of state wants his entire team in there with their weapons. Bongino is correct, it's a recipe for disaster. Little wonder Peres and Netanyahu have declined.
#1
Pres. Bush and his wife should have flown separately. O is toxic.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/10/2013 2:02 Comments ||
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#2
But AP, it was a free ride on the spiffiest plane around, and all the comforts .... hmmmmmmmmmmm....
No, you're right.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/10/2013 7:46 Comments ||
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#3
The SS has a security problem with the involved egos? Er, uh, I think I will do something important like count my pencils, trim my toe nails, or brush the dog.
#6
Airandee, I think the problem there would be that 1/3 of the passengers would get three parachutes, and that job would likely be done by Michelle as Barry would be more likely to redistribute the contents of his underpants.
[An Nahar] Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared victory in local elections as his ruling Socialists won a majority of votes nationwide, even though they lost to the opposition in five key cities.
The Sunday polls did not turn out to be the referendum on Maduro -- heir to leftist icon Hugo Chavez -- that the center-left opposition had hoped for.
Nevertheless opposition candidates made major inroads by winning in Venezuela's five most populous cities, including Caracas, the oil city of Maracaibo, and -- in a highly symbolic victory -- Barinas, Chavez's birthplace.
Maduro, 51, was narrowly elected to office in April, one month after his popular predecessor died of cancer. His tenure has been marked by high inflation, a soaring crime rate, and a shortage of household items like toilet paper and milk.
Leftist "Chavistas" have been in power in oil-rich Venezuela since Chavez first took office in February 1999.
Maduro's Socialists won nearly 50 percent of the overall vote against 43 percent for the opposition, said National Electoral Council (CNE) president Tibisay Lucerna, with nearly all of the polling stations reporting.
"The Venezuelan people have told the world that (Chavez's) Bolivarian Revolution continues with even more force," Maduro said at an outdoors post-vote rally in Caracas. He described the vote as a triumph "of love and loyalty" towards Chavez.
Maduro then called on opposition leader Henrique Capriles to show "humility," to "recognize that he has been defeated again" and resign.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[REUTERS] President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... tightened his control over Russia's media on Monday by dissolving the main state news agency and replacing it with an organization that is to promote Moscow's image abroad.
The move to abolish RIA Novosti and create a news agency to be known as Rossiya Segodnya is the second in two weeks strengthening Putin's hold on the media as he tries to reassert his authority after protests against his rule.
Most Russian media outlets are already loyal to Putin, and opponents get little air time, but the shake-up underlined their importance to Putin keeping power and the Kremlin's concern about the president's ratings and image.
The head of the new agency, to be built from the ashes of RIA Novosti, is a conservative news anchor, Dmitry Kiselyov, who once caused outrage by saying the organs of homosexuals should not be used in transplants.
"The main focus of ... Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) is to highlight abroad the state policy and public life of the Russian Federation," said a decree signed by Putin.
Sergei Ivanov, the head of the presidential administration, told news hounds that the changes were intended to save money and improve the state media.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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The US government sold its last shares of General Motors Co on Monday, leaving taxpayers saddled with a total shortfall of about $10 billion on the automaker's 2009 bailout.
"With the final sale of GM stock, this important chapter in our nation's history is now closed," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said.
The government's exit could benefit GM in several respects. The company has carried a certain stigma since taking $49.5 billion in government money four years ago.
"They can finally put 'Government Motors' in the rear view mirror, and that's an important step for consumers and for the company," said Matthew Stover, an auto analyst at Guggenheim Securities.
#1
Brilliant move indeed. General Motors annualized annual returns since 2009 (date of gov' loan as I recall) is now over 18%. Selling more cars and trucks each year since the loan. The major firms all have them at a "HOLD". Selling a climbing winner, when you're still south of purchase price....always a winning move.
I suppose they figure they'll soon need the dough to support their lovely healthcare experiment.
#4
That means the U.S. government is into the taxpayer's knickers for another $10B. More debt piled onto the kids and grandkids and a lowered quality of life for them. I sense a revolt in the future.
[An Nahar] The party of Ukraine's tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko's said on Monday that riot police had stormed its headquarters in the capital Kiev, although the police issued a quick denial.
Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party spokeswoman Marina Soroka wrote on her Facebook account that the Berkut riot police had "occupied the central headquarters" of the party and were "breaking down doors."
Batkivshchyna is one of the three major opposition parties in Ukraine now spearheading mass demonstrations demanding the immediate dismissal of the government over its rejection of a historic EU pact.
The party's statement prompted a swift denial from the official spokeswoman for the Kiev regional police.
"Neither the Kiev police and nor Berkut have conducted any operations in the Batkivshchyna party's office," said police spokeswoman Olga Bilyk.
The opposition party's claim came as Ukrainian police began to move hundreds of protesters away from the entrance of the main government building in central Kiev.
Tensions in the Ukrainian capital escalated on Monday as riot police moved toward a central square that saw several hundred thousand protesters gather a day earlier demanding snap parliamentary and presidential elections.
Earlier on Monday, President Viktor Yanukovych said he backs holding roundtable talks with the opposition and that he will meet three ex-presidents to discuss the crisis Tuesday.
Yanukovych supported the initiative of the roundtable proposed by Ukraine's first ex-Soviet president Leonid Kravchuk "which can be a place to reach understanding," a presidential statement said.
"On Tuesday, there is a planned meeting of four presidents of Ukraine... to discuss the key issues the country is facing," it added. Yanukovych will meet Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A fracas erupted in Turkey's parliament on Monday between nationalist and pro-Kurdish politicians over the use of "Kurdistan," long a taboo word in the country.
Lawmakers from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a motion demanding that the word "Kurdistan" be removed from the parliamentary minutes when referring to Iraq's autonomous northern region.
The move met an angry response from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), with politician Hasip Kaplan declaring: "Kurdistan, Kurds and the Kurdish language do exist."
The war of words turned nasty when another BDP politician attempted to punch a nationalist rival and MPs were drawn into the scuffle as they tried to separate the two.
Turkey has long refused to use the word "Kurdistan" and instead referred to the autonomous administration in northern Iraq as the Kurdish Regional Government, fearing that it could inspire its own Kurds in their struggle for a homeland.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Musn't let the Kurds get uppity, eh Turks, ye racist bastards,
Turks react to "Kurdistan" the way the horses do to Blucher in Young Frankenstein
[Al Ahram] Turkish riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Kurdish protesters armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails on Monday in a new upsurge of violence that has rattled the fragile grinding of the peace processor.
Two demonstrators have been killed and four soldiers briefly kidnapped by guerrillas in the southeast of the country in the worst unrest since a ceasefire adopted by the outlawed Kurdish rebels nine months ago.
Fierce festivities erupted for a fourth day on Monday in the far southeastern town of Yuksekova, where the trouble first broke out on Friday night over the alleged destruction of the graves of Kurdish fighters.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse about 3,000 Kurds who pelted them with rocks and Molotov cocktails and attacked police security cameras and street lights, an AFP correspondent said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused certain groups of trying to damage the grinding of the peace processor with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"These are actions perpetrated by those who want to hurt the process," Erdogan said. "However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... we will continue the process... without falling into this trap."
Interior Minister Muammer Guler on Monday denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! that PKK cemeteries in Yuksevoka had been destroyed, saying they were a "provocation" by unnamed radical groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] As Pakistain becomes a country spreading polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... virus to the rest of the world because of a Taliban ban on polio vaccination in the north, international donors are still desperately engaged to help vaccinate every child in the country.
While talking to media persons in Islamabad on December 5, World Health Organisation polio chief in Pakistain Dr Elias Durray said: "It is a matter of concern for WHO that polio virus has been travelling from Pakistain to other countries. Polio strains have been found in Egypt and then Syria." In a recent interaction with Daily Times, Michelle Kolempken, a senior media official at Rotary International and who is also a member of Global Polio Eradication Initiative, said: "Recognising the importance of religion and religious leaders in Pakistain, Rotary in Pakistain has created an Learned Elders of Islam (religious scholars) committee aimed at educating local religious leaders about polio vaccinations and other health initiatives."
Michelle informed Daily Times that after educating this committee of Learned Elders of Islam, "the religious leaders then return to their local communities and broadcast their support for vaccination efforts, encouraging parents to have their children vaccinated." According to WHO, over 24,000 parents in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... have refused to vaccinate their children against polio in a recent vaccination campaign held from November 18-20. Parents in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have refused to vaccinate their children because of Taliban warning who have declared the vaccination as haram. Religious pressures and lack of education among parents is also one of the reasons for refusal to vaccinate their children.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] India's ruling Congress party has a very big problem, and his name is Narendra Modi.
With no more than five months to go before nearly 800 million people choose their next leader, the prime ministerial candidate for the main opposition party has seized the initiative through rabble-rousing speeches at huge rallies across the country.
Results from local elections in four states, announced on Sunday, suggest Modi, chief minister of economic powerhouse Gujarat ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... in the west of the country since 2001, has helped galvanise his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP retained Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and ousted Congress in Rajasthan. In Delhi, the BJP was the biggest party, with Congress pushed from first to third place by an impressive debut from the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party.
The outcome represented a vote of no-confidence in Congress as much as one of confidence in Modi, but it was a humiliating blow that the opposition candidate will ruthlessly exploit. Congress has floundered in the face of the Modi phenomenon. It is unsure how seriously to take him, undecided on what to do next and hampered by a presumptive leader who has lacked his challenger's charisma, leaving the party drifting at a crucial juncture.
Senior figures within Congress - in power for the last nine years, and historically the dominant force in Indian politics - have long dismissed Modi as irrelevant. "Modi has come in a flash and will go in a flash," said one influential party member in a recent interview.
"Congress has been here for 128 years and will survive god knows how many hundreds of years more," he added, in a now-familiar refrain from the party's top brass. That argument is becoming harder to sustain.
But as Congress fumbles for a response, one name dominates debate at the party's slightly shabby headquarters in the leafy centre of the capital: Rahul Gandhi. Vice president of Congress and scion of a dynasty that has towered over Indian politics since independence, the 43-year-old is the obvious choice to rally his party and unite voters by playing up its secularist agenda and social welfare schemes.
Rahul's mother, Sonia, Congress president and the power behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will also play a key role in the party's election strategy and campaigning, although younger leaders see Rahul as their figurehead.
If only it was that simple.
Congress insiders familiar with Rahul's thinking have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over his preoccupation with long-term reform of the party, something they say is important and necessary but could prove costly given the more pressing matter of elections. "My frustration is that he is too forward-looking," said Jairam Ramesh, minister of rural development and one of the most outspoken figures in the Congress leadership.
"He's talking of structure, systems; he's talking of building up Congress in the long term, whereas we are now faced with fighting an election in the short term," he told Rooters last month.
However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... even if they could persuade Rahul to focus fully on the 2014 vote, party officials wonder if pitting him against the crowd-pleasing Modi in a one-on-one contest would be wise.
Even if Congress wins, the 81-year-old Singh is expected to step down as prime minister after the election.
Modi has deliberately sought to turn the 2014 election into a presidential-style race between himself and Rahul by projecting his personal achievements and convictions over those of the BJP, and by mercilessly goading the Gandhis.
In his speeches, Modi ridicules Rahul by calling him "shehzada", or "prince", highlighting his opponent's privileged upbringing that contrasts strikingly with his own roots as the son of a tea-seller.
There is method in his mockery. Congress has traditionally enjoyed support among the poor, due to farm subsidies and food handouts, and so Modi is targeting its core vote.
Rallies and media debates have been light on policy so far.
Modi has highlighted his pro-business credentials in Gujarat, and sees his economic record as a way of tapping into India's aspirational masses who are growing impatient over what they see as stagnation, complacency and endemic corruption under Congress-led governments since 2004.
Both Gandhis have boasted of their successes in welfare. But they have avoided playing one potentially strong card for fear of appearing to exploit mistrust among India's sizeable religious minorities of Modi's Hindu nationalism.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Despite its relatively staid presence in industrialized regions like the United States and Western Europe, the toilet could stand a technological makeover. Three up-and-coming industrial designers may have found just the thing that the modern toilet needs to remain abreast of technological innovation, as they recently demonstrated with an award-winning prototype for a new kind of toilet that subtly reconfigures the user's posture while providing a plethora of biometric feedback.
In honor of World Toilet Day last month, three students from Central St Martins College at the University of Arts London Sam Sheard, Pierre Papet, and Victor Johansson took part in a competition that was put on by the U.K.-based plumbing company Dyno-Rod Drains. The objective? To design "the toilet of the future" and help "raise awareness on how we can upgrade the current 130 year old flush toilet to one that benefits our health and the environment."
Looks like the flower vase , we have in our foyer...hmmmm, time to remodel ?
Posted by: Au Auric ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#4
Besoeker has the right idea for the toilet of the future. After the collapse of the Feral govt and major cities going bankrupt, outhouses will be back in vogue by necessity.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/10/2013 2:04 Comments ||
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#5
I fear for the day when androids as advanced as R2D2 evolve, and they learn what we did with their ancestors.
#6
I recall the outdoor toilet known as the "outhouse" and pretty much like the one pictured above. It was while I was a young kid growing up in Michigan during WWII. We lived in luxury; we had a two-hole version although I always wondered why one needed a two-hole outhouse. Time in the outhouse was not exactly social hour. The outdoor toilet was a grim place in the Michigan winter and bug-infested in the summer. They lacked any of the technology mentioned in the article. These things (toilets) don't have to be too complicated just functional and reliable. Complicated means more to go wrong. Don't mess with a good design.
#11
Put the biometeric toilets in the doctors office. Then we can go in, drop a load, and leave them to deal with the data on their own time. Perfect metaphor for what Obamacare is doing to doctors anyway.
[Bangla Daily Star] Thailand's premier called a snap election yesterday to try to defuse the kingdom's political crisis, but protesters kept up their fight to topple the government with an estimated 140,000 demonstrators flooding the streets of Bangkok.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has faced more than a month of sometimes-violent demonstrations by boisterous protesters storming key state buildings in a bid to unseat her government and replace it with an unelected "People's Council".
By dissolving parliament and calling a new election that her party is likely to win, the embattled premier aims to cool public anger without bowing to the demonstrators' demands to suspend the country's democratic system.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[CNSNEWS] The top 40 percent of households by before-tax income actually paid 106.2 percent of the nation's net income taxes in 2010, according to a new study by the Congressional Budget Office.
At the same time, households in the bottom 40 percent took in an average of $18,950 in what the CBO called "government transfers" in 2010.
Taxpayers in the top 40 percent of households were able to pay more than 100 percent of net federal income taxes in 2010 because Americans in the bottom 40 percent actually paid negative income taxes, according to the CBO study entitled, "The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010."
"When refundable tax credits, such as the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, exceed the other federal tax liabilities of the households in an income group, those households are said to have a negative average tax rate," said the CBO study.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Easy Solution: Flat tax - and *everyone* pays! A certain percentage for everybody: no exceptions. That welfare queen has to pay the same X% of that welfare check in taxes that a millionaire has to pay on his income.
No exemptions - because you know the politicians would stretch any exemption all out of proportion.
No. But Zero tax is possible. Also most citizens getting a equal dividend means in effect most get to live on median value land in the country for free (which is the idea).
Non productive land?
Zero if truly non-productive.
Where does farm ground and grass land fit in?
VASTLY cheaper than city land. It's much more like a tithe.
Rural vs. Urban?
Tax would be 1000+s of times cheaper rurally. Flyover country would gain.
#9
I theoretically own the house I live in, but pay about $2000 for the privilege of continued ownership. Should I not pay that long enough, armed government employees will eventually evict me. I call that a negative value. I theoretically can convert that negative to positive by selling out & living in a hollow log for nuthin'
#10
If you dropped the 2000 dollars per year the land cost would rise by approximately that annualised gain per year, so only the bank would be better off.
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.
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[Pak Daily Times] As Pakistain becomes a country spreading 
