Author: Admin

Friday, February 8, 2008

The United States House of Representatives has passed the bipartisan US$152 billion economic stimulus package that gives one-time rebates to United States citizens, US$600 for individuals or US$1,200 for couples plus US$300 for each child. US$300 checks would be sent to people on low-income including retirees on Social Security which was not included in the original bill backed by President George W. Bush. The plan would begin to decrease rebates for citizens with taxable incomes of US$75,000 for individuals and US$150,000 for couples. The checks would go out to more than a 130 million Americans according to Treasury secretary Henry Paulson.

The House overwhelmingly approved the more broad Senate amended bill which included the low-income portion mentioned above along with provisions that would keep illegal aliens from receiving a rebate check. Despite some opposition from some Congressmen, such as John B. T. Campbell III of California’s 48th congressional district, the plan passed overwhelmingly 380–34.

Campbell called the plan “wealth redistribution” and noted it did not have safeguards to prevent illegals from receiving these rebates and also claimed that stimulus plan would increase the deficit more and noted the cause of the looming recession was because of “credit problems.”

The United States Senate voted hours earlier on the bill which passed in the Senate, 81–16. after having to shed some incentives included by Senate Democrats which caused the bill to fail. Some of the incentives that were left out of the plan in a compromise to gain Republican support were demands for benefits for long-term unemployed workers and stipulation that would allow low-income citizens to pay off heating bills and let home builders pay off losses off the current year against previous tax years.

President Bush approved of the package, noting in a statement, “This plan is robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective, this bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment.”

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Dell Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will partner up with the Microsoft-Nortel Innovative communications alliance (ICA) team to sell Unified Communications and VoIP products.

The announcement on Tuesday the 16th of October 2007 includes Dell selling VoIP, data and wireless networking products from Nortel and the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and other unified communications products.

The partnership with both manufacturers should allow Dell to provide a pre-integrated solution.

In March 2007, competitors IBM and Cisco announced they would join in the competition for developing unified communications applications and the development of open technologies around the unified communications and collaboration (UC2) client platform an application programming interfaces (APIs) offered by IBM as a subset of Lotus Sametime.

“We want to make it simple for our customers to deploy unified communications so their end users can get access to all their messages in one place – whether its e-mail, phone or mobile device. This will pave the way for more business-ready productivity tools,” said vice president of solutions, Dell Product Group, Rick Becker.

• Customers have four options:
  • Core Office Communication Server 2007 – provides instant messaging and on-premise Microsoft Live Meeting.
  • Office Communication Server: Telephony – enables call routing tracking and management, VoIP gateway and public branch exchange (PBX) integration.
  • Audio and Video Conferencing – allows point-to-point conference, video conference and VoIP audio conference.
  • Exchange Unified Messaging – provides voicemail, e-mail and fax in Microsoft Outlook, and anywhere access of Microsoft Outlook Inbox and Calendar.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

In Ireland, RTÉ’s new “Rip Off Republic” TV series has attracted a record audience of 667,000 for its second show, making it one of Ireland’s top TV programs. The second show broadcast on Monday 15th August captured 50.5% of all TV viewers in Ireland.

The series which contains four shows broadcast from Dublin City University’s “Helix” centre, aims to expose over pricing and the exploitation of consumers in Ireland. Hosted by financial advisor Eddie Hobbs, the show has attracted huge media commentry, particularly as it has attracted the attention of the governments main party, Fianna Fail.

The main argument against the show has been that it generalises issues and makes exaggerated claims – for example it claimed that restaurants make a 300%+ profit on a typical bottle of wine, leading the viewer to believe that all businesses are making such a profit. This claim has since come under attack by restaurant owners nationwide. Other arguments against the show have stated that while inflation is less than 3%, wage growth is over 6% meaning people are still better off.

The third show will be broadcast on 29th August at 9.30pm on RTÉ One. It will focus on the transport sector in Ireland.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Sri Lankan Ministry Of Foreign Affairs said the government accepts Beijing’s “One China” policy and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic Of China, according to a March 17 press release.

The current foreign Ministry communiqué, recollects the press communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministers of China and Sri Lanka in Beijing in December 2004. Sri Lanka reiterated its support for Chinese legislative measures to oppose forces seeking to secede from China.

In the communiqué, the Sri Lankan government categorically mentioned, Sri Lanka opposes secessionist actions in any form and fully supports a process of peaceful national reunification. The Sri Lankan government further said, it welcomes growing cross-Straits economic and other exchanges such as the promotion of direct trade, mail, air and shipping links.

In the mean time, Chinese President Hu Jintao issued a presidential order regarding the promulgation of the Anti-Secession Law on March 14, which was adopted at the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Dr Freddy Patel, a former British Home Office pathologist, has been criticised by a panel at the General Medical Council (GMC), Britain’s regulatory body for doctors. Dr Patel had concluded that the death of Sally White in 2002, the first victim of Anthony Hardy (the so-called “Camden Ripper”), could have been from natural causes.

The report produced by Dr Patel concluded that Sally White had been having consensual sex in her apartment when she died of a heart attack, in spite of blood stains on her clothing, blood at the scene, damage to Ms White’s liver and bite marks. The GMC panel found that Dr Patel had included inaccurate information on his CV and had shown “deficient professional performance” in the evaluation of the cause of Sally White’s death. They concluded that this investigation was “irresponsible, not of the standard expected of a competent forensic pathologist and liable to bring the medical profession into disrepute”. Dr Patel is currently suspended and the decision of the panel may lead to him being struck off.

The GMC had previously investigated Dr Patel and criticised his investigation of the death of Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper seller who died during the G20 protests in London. He concluded that the death was caused by coronary heart disease; subsequent investigations by other pathologists showed that he had died from internal bleeding caused by a blunt force trauma — an assault by a police officer caught on video. The Director of Public Prosecution noted afterwards that the mistakes in the forensic pathology report by Dr Patel had made it significantly harder to bring the police officer who fatally assaulted Ian Tomlinson to justice. Dr Patel has also been investigated by the GMC for alleged misconduct in the investigation of the deaths of two children.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued proposed calorie labeling rules requiring most retail food vendors to display the calorie counts in items on their menus and menu boards. The proposed rules, issued Friday and expected to be finalized in 2012, would apply to most restaurants, snack bars, vending machines, coffee shops, drive-through restaurants, and convenience and grocery stores.

The US Congress required the rules in the health-care reform law passed in 2010. The rules proposed by the FDA must undergo a public comment period before they are finalized and take effect, said Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Director for Foods at the FDA.

The proposed regulations pertain to businesses devoting more than 50 percent of their floor space to the sale of food or that consider themselves restaurants, specifically food-selling chains with at least 20 stores nationally. Included are candy stores, bakeries, and ice-cream parlors.

The FDA’s proposed guidelines specify that chains post the calorie counts of foods and drinks on menus and menu boards or next to the food item, such as at a salad bar. The menu is to prominently exhibit the calorie content of each item in a way customers can see easily, giving them the same information packaged foods prepared at home currently provide. The information must be displayed in “clear and conspicuous” print and colors.

Many cities and states have passed laws requiring calorie labeling on menus, beginning with New York City in 2008. California implemented a similar law in January, although many counties are waiting for the release of the federal guidelines before they begin enforcement. Some fast-food chains there, such as McDonald’s and Starbucks, are displaying calorie counts on menus in some of their stores.

The rules are intended to curb the national obesity epidemic since, according to FDA estimates, one third of the calories people consume yearly come from food eaten out. In a statement issued yesterday, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services said, “Giving consumers clear nutritional information makes it easier for them to choose healthier options that can help fight obesity and make us all healthier.”

Excluded from the rules are businesses whose primary product is not food sales but that sell it, such as bowling alleys, airports and airplanes, amusement parks, hotels and movie theaters. Alcohol is also excluded.

Saturday, June 3, 2006

Adnan al-Kazimi, an advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said, “We have from more than one source that the Ishaqi killings were carried out under questionable circumstances. More than one child was killed. This report was not fair for the Iraqi people and the children who were killed”.

The U.S. military yesterday made a statement about Ishaqi allegations that U.S. troops “executed a family … and then hid the alleged crimes by directing an air strike, are absolutely false”. Troops had been fired on and they returned fire and called in air support, which destroyed the house, killing one militant and “up to nine collateral deaths”.

In March, the U.S. military said four people died when they attacked a house suspected of holding an al-Qaida operative. The house was destroyed by fire from the ground and air.

The BBC has video evidence that US forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 Iraqi civilians. The videotape, from a hard-line Sunni group opposed to coalition forces, shows a number of dead adults and children at the site. Clearly gunshot wounds according to John Simpson, BBC world affairs.

Local Iraqis said there were 11 total deaths, and claimed that they were killed by U.S. troops before the house was leveled. An unidentified local said, “After they handcuffed them, they shot them dead. Later, they struck the house with their planes. They wanted to hide the evidence. Even a 6-month-old infant was killed. Even the cows were killed, too”

Also according to Associated Press Police in Ishaqi say five children, four women and two men were shot in the head, and that the bodies, with hands bound, were dumped in one room before the house was blown up.

Riyadh Majid, nephew of Faez Khalaf, who was killed, said U.S. forces landed in helicopters and raided the home. Ahmed, Khalaf’s brother said nine of the victims were family members who lived at the house and two were visitors.

The U.S. military said in March that the allegations were being investigated. On Friday U.S. military said it was targeting and captured an individual suspected of supporting foreign fighters of the al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist network. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S military spokesman acknowledged there were “possibly up to nine collateral deaths”. The ‘collateral deaths’ are:

• Turkiya Muhammed Ali, 75 years
• Faiza Harat Khalaf, 30 years
• Faiz Harat Khalaf, 28 years
• Um Ahmad, 23 years
• Sumaya Abdulrazak, 22 years
• Aziz Khalil Jarmoot, 22 years
• Hawra Harat Khalaf, 5 years
• Asma Yousef Maruf, 5 years
• Osama Yousef Maruf, 3 years
• Aisha Harat Khalaf, 3 years
• Husam Harat Khalaf, 6 months

According to Reuters there is a widespread public perception that U.S. troops can shoot and kill with impunity and Iraqi leaders are too weak to do anything about it. Abdullah Hussein, an engineer in Baghdad, says to Reuters “Ishaqi is just another reason why we shouldn’t trust the Americans”, and continue “First they lied about the weapons of mass destruction, then there was the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and now it’s clear to the world they were guilty in Haditha”

John Simpson, BBC Correspondent in Baghdad says “It’s hard to find an Iraqi here who has not suffered, through his family, his friends, from the tough tactics the Americans use”.

Wijdan Michael, Human Rights Minister, said a fact-finding commission would be sent to Ishaqi in the next few days.