[FRANCE24] IMF chief Christine Lagarde denied on Thursday any wrongdoing in the settling of a 2008 fraud case after police stepped up their investigation into the affair, searching the home of her former chief of staff, France Telecom CEO Stéphane Richard.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2013 00:00 ||
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Akron woman claims she was shot as she drove by two men walking in the street. Police say the men moved to the side of the road, but as the woman drove past one of the men fired several shots at her Nissan Altima.
One of the bullets penetrated the vehicle and struck the victim in the back in her upper right shoulder.
#2
During the summer, she said its common to see drivers flash their headlights or beep their horns to disperse people walking in the street. Edwards said shes not sure why her flashing her lights angered the men.
#3
Methinks there was more to it than that.
I drive through that neighborhood several times a week & frequently see young men walking in the street, nearly always in summer. They're not crossing the street, just walking in the traffic lanes, never less than a couple, sometimes 4 or 5. Rarely there is a young woman or two with them. (Singletons I've seen in the street have always been crossing). All seem older than 14-15.
This happened during moderate snowfall, a time when hardly any pedestrians are about.
The neighborhood's not the best, but I didn't know it was that bad. Looks like I'll start bypassing it.
[WWL] Kenner Police say a man died inside a beer cooler at a convenient store on Airline Drive overnight, but no one knew he was there until they found his very cold body this morning.
"We have a gentleman that went into the Beer Cave, where you can go in and select beer from inside the cooler. It appears that he had experienced some type of medical problem," Sgt. Brian McGregor told WWL First News.
McGregor says surveillance video shows the man clutching his chest in the cooler around 10:30pm last night and then collapsing. They found him after 7:00am.
The coroner is conducting an autopsy, but police do not suspect any foul play.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#9
Strohs was a Detroit beer as I recall some years ago and then they stopped bottling. Recently some Strohs canned beer was given to us from Milwaukee. Strohs is, apparently, still with us today.
[An Nahar] Sometimes if you don't give an inch, you'll wind up in court.
Angry American diners want to take a bite out of the Subway fast food chain over what they say are too short "Footlong" sandwiches.
The bulging lunch bun is Subway's signature offering. But ever since a keen-eyed Australian discovered earlier this month that his "Footlong" measured only 11 (28 cm), and not 12 inches (30.5 cm), the U.S.-based global franchise has been on the back foot.
In what appears to be the first related lawsuit, two New Jersey men filed a complaint Tuesday in New Jersey, alleging that Subway deliberately and systematically shortens its sandwiches to 11 or 11.5 inches.
The plaintiffs "submit that Subway's conduct is an unconscionable business practice," the suit alleges.
"While it may not be the end of the world that consumers got an eleven-inch sandwich instead of the twelve-inch sandwich promised, the simple fact is that these consumers were promised one thing and received something less."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Simply a quaint term of reference or approximation as opposed to an actual measurement; quite like 'winning by a nose', 'country mile', 'finger of scotch', 'ear full', or a 'butt load'. A 'baker's dozen' however, is an actual number.
#7
*ahem*
in their defense, men have lied about "length" since...forever
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/26/2013 12:44 Comments ||
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#8
Now go sue the lumber yard for decades of 2x4's that aren't really 2 or 4. Jackasses have to find something to bitch about, and you'll always find a lawyer willing take your money.
#9
This is a lawyer's dream case - no actual list of people who have bought a foot long and got "cheated", so all the money Subway pays has to go to - the lawyers.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/26/2013 13:37 Comments ||
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#10
not exactly "America at its finest". I didn't notice anyone complaining about Subway sandwiches for the last 10-20 years. I doubt there's any regulation that says a sandwich must be accurate to one millimeter length.
[An Nahar] A license to drive drunk? Some small-town politicians think it's just the tonic for rural Ireland.
Councilmen in Kerry, southwest Ireland, passed a motion this week asking the government to create a permit that would allow isolated farmers the ability to drink a few pints and then return home in their car, or on their tractor, without fear of being busted.
Its backers say the measure is needed to combat an epidemic of boredom and depression on farms ever since Ireland imposed tough new blood-alcohol limits on drivers in 2011.
But Justice Minister Alan Shatter shot down the proposal during a speech in parliament Thursday as "grossly irresponsible."
"There is no question of this government, or indeed I don't believe any future government, facilitating individuals drinking in excess of the blood alcohol limits," Shatter told politicians.
A generation ago, drunken driving was commonplace in Ireland and even the smallest villages or forlorn crossroads would feature a pub. But in this century the country has steadily improved road safety standards, introducing mandatory driving tests, blood and breath tests and above all a penalty-points system that removes licenses from dangerous drivers, particularly drunks.
The effort has slashed road-related deaths from more than 400 annually in the 1990s to just 162 last year, a modern low in this country of 4.6 million.
Kerry pub owners say their business has plummeted right along with that nationwide carnage -- yet deny any connection between the two trends. They describe the often narrow, lightly trafficked roads near their businesses as safe for people to navigate even after three pints (57 ounces) of beer.
Danny Healy-Rae, who owns a pub and comes from Kerry's most famous and flamboyant political family, says farmers should be allowed to drive tipsy on their tractors because they don't go fast enough to kill anyone. He said those drinking two to three pints at a pub should be issued a permit allowing them to drive home so long as they stay below 30 mph (50 kph).
He was one of five Kerry County Council members who voted for the motion Monday night. Three others voted against, seven abstained and 12 council members didn't show up. Their decision has no legal standing because the national government, not councils, sets policy on road safety.
Healy-Rae -- who like his politician father is nationally famous for wearing a cap everywhere and talking in rapid-fire local dialect easy to parody but hard to understand -- said pub-loving farmers "are living in isolated rural areas where there's no public transport of any kind. They end up at home looking at the four walls, night in and night out, because they don't want to take the risk of losing their license."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2013 00:00 ||
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Well it was all I could do to keep from crying,
my John Deere and I wuz no more ridin
Cause them damn Yankees in Dublin town a ripped off the IRA and made a crown...
So I'll hang around the pub has long as you'll let me.
Ain't no use a trying driving in deh rain,
and deh if you call me darlin, darlin I"m run you over with my John Deere shane!
[An Nahar] Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali is due to announce on Saturday the results of lengthy consultations on a reshuffle of Tunisia's cabinet, a government statement said.
Jebali, of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda, "will make a statement to news hounds on the result of consultations with the political parties on a government reshuffle, at 1:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Saturday," the statement said.
Ennahda first said that a reshuffle was "imminent" last July to enlarge the current coalition that also includes two secular center-left parties, Ettakatol and President Moncef Marzouki's Congress for the Republic.
The talks have constantly foundered on the refusal of the Islamists to give up key ministries including foreign affairs and the interior.
Political disagreement has also been rife over the content of the constitution and the political system in Tunisia, which sparked the Arab Spring when it ousted veteran strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in early 2011.
Social unrest has injected urgency into the reshuffle negotiations.
The North African nation has been rocked by discontent that went kaboom! into violence earlier this month in the southern town of Ben Guerdane and at Siliana in the northwest last month, injuring 300 people.
Ennahda is refusing to move Ali Larayedh as interior minister. He has come under fire for his handling of the unrest and attacks by krazed killer Salafist Mohammedans.
Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem has also been linked to a corruption scandal.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2013 00:00 ||
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Don't anybody be getting bad ideas now. Oh! Oh! I seen this movie!
A court in South Africa has temporarily halted a delivery of helicopters to the Zimbabwean military, human rights group AfriForum says.
The group made the urgent request when it heard about the donation of South Africa's retired Alouette fleet.
It said it would be irresponsible to give equipment to a force that was not neutral ahead of this year's elections.
South Africa's defence ministry said the aircraft would not be assembled and would be used only for spare parts.
Elections in Zimbabwe in 2008 were marred by violence and allegations of vote-rigging.
Following regional negotiations led by South Africa, President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party entered into a fractious coalition with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
A recent report by US-based Human Rights Watch said that four years on, the security forces were still politically partisan, remaining loyal to Mr Mugabe and Zanu-PF.
Zimbabwe is also subject to a European Union arms embargo.
A MASSIVE operation to round up thousands of escaped crocodiles has intensified in flood-soaked South Africa.
''A thousand have already been caught,'' a police spokesman, Hangwani Mulaudzi, said on Friday.
South African media said about half of the 15,000 reptiles at the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in the far north of the country had escaped last Sunday amid torrential downpours.
The owners were forced to open the gates to prevent a storm surge.
The animals have scattered far and wide making the recapture operation more tricky. One croc was found next to a mall in the town of Musina, 120 kilometres away.
However, as the article states tracking this over water vs desert is entirely different game, and the Chinese still don't have a very good system for doing it.
#5
I don't see the big deal. They hit a stationary target. How is that different from every other ballistic missile test? The problem for ballistic missiles is being able to hit moving targets. That's hard to do with a non-nuclear warhead.
#6
I think they would have been better off paving a big chunk of the desert, driving a remotely controlled truck loaded with sensors back and forth to mimic the movements of a carrier, while having several observation aircraft taking video of the area and recording the distance between missile impact and the location of the truck/carrier. Sounds like an extremely preliminary test.
#7
"We aimed at the desert and, by gum, we hit it! That's a success in my book" - the Chinese
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/26/2013 15:20 Comments ||
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#8
Perhaps they are betting on a set of Rules Of Engagement which will prevent the Carrier from moving out of the way - without prior approval from the lawyer types and ACLU back in Washington D.C.
Entirely possible.
#12
China knows its new CVT is toast once the US formally decided to intervene on behalf of Japan in the ECS - diplomacy + LRBMS aside, the best it can do right now is vie LR PLAAF + PLAN Submarines.
The real fight for China will be for the ROK + ultimately TAIWAN. China has times made it clear that ...
> it is willing to accept prohibitive casualties in any effort to forcibly militarily conquer
Taiwan.
> it is willing to risk NUCLEAR WAR agz the US or US-Allied for control of Taiwn or to prevent any dedicated Enemy(s) from using Taiwan in milstrikes agz mainland China.
Remember, China desires the Senkakus + Okinawa to guard the approaches to, from TAIWAN, besides also for strategic access into WESTPAC. WIDOUT TAIWAN, IN CHINA'S MIND THERE IS NO "POST-US", FUTURE "WORLD#1", "MANIFEST DESTINY" FOR CHINA.
NOT in the 21st century anyway [2050 < 2100].
IFF MSM-NET CRITICS ARE TO BE BELIEVED, CHINA'S GREATEST WEAPON IS NOT MILITARY, NUKE, OR ECON POWER, BUT POLITICAL, I.E. THE PRO-DIPLOMACY/
COMPROMISE POTUS BAMMER + ADMIN.
Aka alleged Far Left to Commie, Anarchist-for-anti-US-OWG/Globalism POTUS Bammer.
Winning agz China by losing, or vice versy.
Iff China refuses to back down vee Japan, the only way the Bammer may avoid a Limited or Full Nuclear war agz China is to either ...
> Remain neutral, i.e. NOT militarily intervene on the side of Japan or other, despite the US-Japan Security Treaty.
> Force Japan to permamently give up sovereignty over the Senkakus/Daoyus to China.
> Besides getting the Senkakus/Daoyus, China may demand regional de-militarization, espec as per USFK + USFJ [Okinawa] + PHIL.
> Handover of Taiwan, irregardless iff local Taiwanese want it or not - OR, in the alternate, NO US MIL INTERFERENCE IFF CHINA SENDS THE PLA TO "PEACEFULLY" TAKE CONTROL OF TAIWAN ["Hong Kong" Scenario]???
By the above it is clear that it will likely be the US = US-Allies that will be doing the bulk of unilateral concessions in favor of mainland China, NOT China itself as per anti-NucWar
"Price for Peace/World Peace". THE SAME IS IRONICALLY CONSISTENT WID THE BAMMER'S ALLEGED "ANARCHIST" AGENDA, FAR/ULTRA-LEFTIES = COMMIES, AS WELL AS THAT OF "ANTI-US GLOBALISTS".
#13
FYI WAFF > RUSSIA WILL NOT SELL Tu-22M3's TO CHINA.
Iff true, just got more difficult for China vee Japan + US Navy, + more likely China will have to resort to using LRBMS + strategic bombers, Subs agz Japan + US???
The more instability in the DPRK, the closer China + PLA will be to Japan + ultimately Taiwan.
[An Nahar] North Korea on Friday threatened "physical counter-measures" against rival South Korea -- the latest in a series of bellicose warnings sparked by a tightening of U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang.
"If the South Korean puppet regime of traitors directly participates in the so-called U.N. 'sanctions,' strong physical countermeasures would be taken," the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Fatherland said.
The warning, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, came a day after North Korea's top military body threatened to conduct a third nuclear test and boost its ability to strike the United States.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2013 00:00 ||
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h/t Instapundit
China is believed to hold the worlds largest reserves of shale gas, with the Ministry of Land and Resources estimates the country has 134 trillion cubic meters of shale gas with 25 tcm of this recoverable. I do believe a shoe is descending on oil ticks.
#1
I hope for the Chinese (and us) that it is more than a hyped up dream. That could be a game changer with respect to the middle east. Plus a stable energy supply, at least for natural gas, could mean more stability for China, and less neocolonial type resource extraction in exotic places like Africa and Venezuela. Maybe not oil yet, but natural gas is pretty useful....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/26/2013 14:44 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Spain announced Thursday that its unemployment rate surged to a modern-day record of 26 percent in the final quarter of 2012 as nearly six million people searched in vain for work in a biting recession. "Quick! Do something counterintuitive!"
"Good idea. Let's raise taxes!"
"Again!"
The jobless rate climbed from a rate of 25.02 percent the previous quarter, reaching the highest level since Spain returned to democracy after the death in 1975 of General Francisco Franco.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[An Nahar] Turkey's parliament passed a law late Thursday giving Kurds the right to use their own language in court, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
The right to give testimony in their mother tongue was one of the key demands raised by hundreds of prison inmates who went on a 68-day hunger strike that ended in November.
The new law also overturned a ban on conjugal visits for Kurdish inmates.
Continued on Page 49
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[Dawn] The Pakistain Moslem League-N fears that it will lose its 'potential' ally in Sindh as Pir Pagara of the Pakistain Moslem League-Functional has been reportedly offered the slot of caretaker prime minister by the Pakistain People's Party.
A Punjab-based leader of the PML-F claims that his chief is giving a serious consideration to the offer.
An official of the N-League admitted that the offer, if accepted, would altogether change the political scene in Sindh as his party had pinned hopes on PML-F's support for neutralising the PPP influence in the interior of Sindh.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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Probably not trading chocolates and cuckoo clocks for Jaffa oranges and those really wonderful dates.
[Ynet] Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , and signed a security cooperation agreement between the two countries.
According to the agreement, the cooperation will be expressed in security policy, military industries and cooperation between the armies.
But has anyone other than myself wanted to take a hammer to a Cuckoo Clock? You can be honest here, it's not like an unnatural affinity for chain-saw accidents.
The following letter appeared at the Utah Sheriffs' Association website.
17 January 2013
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
We, the elected sheriffs of Utah, like so many of our fellow Americans, are literally heartbroken for the loved ones of the murdered victims in Connecticut. As Utahans, we are not strangers to this kind of carnage- one of the latest being the 2007 Trolley Square murders wherein nine innocents were gunned down- five losing their lives.
We also recognize the scores of other recent domestic massacres, which have decimated countless honorable lives. As Americans, we value the sanctity of life. Furthermore, similar to our inspired Founders, we acknowledge our subservience to a higher power.
With the number of mass shootings America has endured, it is easy to demonize firearms; it is also foolish and prejudiced. Firearms are nothing more than instruments, valuable and potentially dangerous, but instruments nonetheless. Malevolent souls, like the criminals who commit mass murders, will always exploit valuable instruments in the pursuit of evil. As professional peace officers, if we understand nothing else, we understand this: lawful violence must sometimes be employed to deter and stop criminal violence. Consequently the citizenry must continue its ability to keep and bear arms, including arms that adequately protect them from all types of illegality.
As your administration and Congress continue to grapple with the complex issue of firearm regulations, we pray that the Almighty will guide the People's Representatives collectively. For that reason, it is imperative this discussion be had in Congress, not silenced unilaterally by executive orders. As you deliberate, please remember the Founders of this great nation created the Constitution, and its accompanying Bill of Rights, in an effort to protect citizens from all forms of tyrannical subjugation.
We respect the Office of the President of the United States of America. But, make no mistake, as the duly-elected sheriffs of our respective counties, we will enforce the rights guaranteed to our citizens by the Constitution. No federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights-given themin particular Amendment IIhas given them. We, like you, swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.
#1
to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.
Wow. Protection and serving of "we the people" (regular Americans) IS still alive in America.
#2
"... what the Bill of Rights-given them--in particular Amendment II--has given them..."
Wrong. The Constitution does not give rights, it protects rights we already have: "inalienable rights"; it prevents the government from taking away those rights.
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.
Akron woman claims she was shot as she drove by two men walking in the street. Police say the men moved to the side of the road, but as the woman drove past one of the men fired several shots at her Nissan Altima.
[WWL] Kenner Police say a man died inside a beer cooler at a convenient store on Airline Drive overnight, but no one knew he was there until they found his very cold body this morning.
[An Nahar] Sometimes if you don't give an inch, you'll wind up in court.
[An Nahar] A license to drive drunk? Some small-town politicians think it's just the tonic for rural Ireland.
[An Nahar] Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali is due to announce on Saturday the results of lengthy consultations on a reshuffle of Tunisia's cabinet, a government statement said.
North Korea
