LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — A black bear walked into a New Hampshire house through an open door, ate two pears and a bunch of grapes, took a drink from the family fishbowl and grabbed a stuffed bear on its way out the door.
Directions for Use: It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Use only as a facial tissue.
This is the most important development in electronic publishing since Apple entered the market offering publishers an "agency model" for selling e-books. Several aspects of the Wylie/Amazon/Random House entanglement merit comment:
Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan, Reports AssertMilitary documents reflect deep suspicions among U.S. officials that Pakistan’s spy service has for years guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand.Full story here. Should be mandatory reading.
Spy Swap Forced Prosecutors Into Balancing ActOn June 29, two days after the arrests of ten Russian agents in New York and three other States, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, called an emergency meeting of his closest aides. Their criminal case, he was aware, was fast becoming a deal being orchestrated b politicians and diplomats.Mr. Bharara told his aides that he had just learned that serious talks were under way at the highest levels of the American and Russian governments for a spy exchange that would end the criminal prosecution. He knew the idea of a swap had been discussed in the Obama administration as a way to resolve a potentially delicate situation at a time when the United States and Russia were trying to improve relations. But there had been no indication that a deal would come together so quickly.
“Is it appropriate for us to even be considering these sorts of things?” Mr. Bharara said he had asked his lieutenants. “Should we ever acquiesce in a trade?”
The proudly independent Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office and the Justice Department “should never be an extension of or a rubber stamp for the White House,” he said, adding, “I feel that very strongly.”
Uh-huh.
Luxury publisher Kraken Opus mixed in a pint of Mr. Tendulkar's blood with paper pulp to create the signature page for a book celebrating the renowned batsman's career. The 10 limited-edition copies, which comes out in February, cost $75,000 each and have already sold out.
Kraken is one of a handful of high-end publishing houses that are pushing the boundaries of extravagance and novelty in the luxury book market. Such books are being treated as investments and sometimes commanding prices usually reserved for original art works.
The World Health Organization has said an Amnesty International report critical of North Korea's health system is unscientific and outdated.WHO spokesman Paul Garwood insisted he wasn't criticizing Amnesty's work. But he said Thursday's report was anecdotal, with stories dating back to 2001. He contrasted that with WHO's science-based approach. Amnesty's report contradicted the rosier picture given by WHO chief Margaret Chan after her April trip there.Chan said the communist country provides universal coverage and is the ''envy'' of developing nations. Amnesty cited amputations without anesthesia and payments to get care.Asked Friday what countries are envious of North Korea's health, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said she couldn't name any.
“So I looked around and found out the Navy was interviewing men—qualified men—to become naval officers, which would be a little bit more pay than a sailor. And I dropped in, in Manhattan one day, where the recruitment office was located and I said, ‘I’m here to enquire. Not to join (laughter). I’m here to enquire about the possibility of getting a Navy assignment.
“And the man said, ‘Well . . . you’re old enough. You’re healthy enough, I guess. While you’re here, without any decision on your part, why don’t you just go in the back. The doctor’s there and he’ll examine you and see if you’re fit. If you’re not fit, I’ll tell you that.’
“So I went in the back, and the doctor went over me, and he said, ‘You’re fine.’ I went in front, and I said, ‘The man said I’m fine.’
“He said, ‘That’s step number one.’
“I said, ‘Wait a minute! Step number—I’m not here to join, I’m here to enquire!’
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators briefly reopened the conference proceedings on a sweeping financial regulatory bill on Tuesday after Senate Republicans who had supported an earlier version of the measure threatened to block final approval unless Democrats removed a proposed tax on big banks and hedge funds.
Conference negotiators voted to eliminate the proposed tax and adopted a new plan to pay the projected five-year, $20 billion cost of the legislation.
Iran sees no risks to its gasoline imports, an oil official said on Tuesday, a day after France's Total TOTA PA joined the list of Western oil companies stopping sales to Iran due to sanctions.
The head of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company told the oil ministry website SHANA that consumption was declining, helping trim Iran's reliance on gasoline imports.
"Under any conditions we are able to supply the country's gasoline needs and there is no problem in producing or importing gasoline," said Farid Ameri, sharing the optimism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has dismissed the sanctions threat.
And until it does, sanction will never have a chance to work. If they were going to work at all . . .
Actually, the action by Total will have more of an impact than the government admits. But sanctions have a long way to go. Now if the world were to stop buying Iranian oil . . .
WASHINGTON – In what law enforcements officials portrayed as an extraordinary takedown of a Russian espionage network, the Justice Department on Monday announced charges against 11 people accused of living for years in the United States as part of a deep-cover program by S.V.R. -- one of the successors to the Soviet-era K.G.B.
Viacom general counsel Michael Fricklas called the ruling “fundamentally flawed,” and vowed to appeal. “It is, and should be, illegal for companies to build their businesses with creative material they have stolen from others,“ he said, adding that “legitimate websites shouldn’t have to compete with pirates.”
A military source close to Gen. David Petraeus told Fox News that one of the first things the general will do when he takes over in Afghanistan is to modify the controversial rules of engagement to make it easier for U.S. troops to engage in combat with the enemy.(One version of the story here.)
Troops on the ground and some military commanders have said the strict rules -- aimed at preventing civilian casualties -- have effectively forced the troops to fight with one hand tied behind their backs.
Police in Idaho think they might have solved a yearlong condiment crime spree. Authorities said a 74-year-old Boise woman arrested after pouring mayonnaise in the Ada County library's book drop box is a person of interest in at least 10 other condiment-related crimes.
To me, General Bradley looked like a schoolteacher rather than a soldier. When I told him that, he said I wasn't so far wrong, because his father was a country schoolteacher and he himself had taught at West Point and other places. His specialty was mathematics.
To wine and dine Sasha, a 450-pound Siberian tiger at the Bronx Zoo, try serving beef and rabbit. To lure him for a snack, whip out the frozen treats his zookeepers call "bloodcicles." But to really get his olfactory engines running, you need the secret weapon: Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men.
Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, launched an attack on Thursday on what he called the “anti-British rhetoric that seems to be permeating from America”. His statement typified the growing British backlash against the perceived scapegoating of BP by Barack Obama.
The tone of British resentment against the US president’s outspoken criticism of BP and Tony Hayward, the oil company’s chief executive, was set by the headline in Thursday’s Daily Telegraph. “Obama’s boot on the throat of British pensioners”, the rightwing paper declared, as it highlighted the impact of the fall in BP’s share price on the wider London stock market.
Mr Johnson was among a host of politicians taking up the same theme, albeit in a more nuanced manner.The London mayor called for an end to the “buck passing and name calling”, saying the anti-British rhetoric from the US might damage UK interests. “It starts to become a matter of national concern if a great British company is being continually beaten up on the international airwaves,” Mr Johnson told the BBC.
Web of Shell Companies Veils Trade by Iran's Ships
At Least 10 Are Killed as Israel Halts Flotilla With Gaza Aid
- NY Times
Commandos fire back when terror supporters open fire.
This lack of indignation is mainstream here. Most people now accept North Korea’s responsibility for the sinking that killed Mr. Mun and 45 other sailors. A small but sizable minority suspect an elaborate government conspiracy of some sort. What almost all seem to share is the desire that South Korea put this unfortunate business behind it as soon as possible.
North Korea to cut ties with SouthMay 25) -- North Korea, blamed for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, said today it will cut all ties to the South and expel South Koreans working north of the border in a further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, according to reports.
The official Korean Central News Agency said late today that the North's actions were punishment for what it called a "smear campaign" over the sinking, The Associated Press reported.
Lockheed Martin, Kaman convert a manned to an unmanned helicopter; the single-seat heavy-lift helicopter will deliver sling loads up to 6,000 lb at sea level and 4,300 lb at 15,000 ft
FW: Is your skills about to expired?The text:
Nominated for an MBAYou don't know how tempted I am to call . . . from someone else's phone number, of course.
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[A story in Reuters on the alleged Times Square bomber] called him “educated and well-heeled.” That fact is stated as if it is something of a surprise that this young professional, a full-fledged citizen of Western society, might have attempted a terrorist attack. But haven’t educated sons of privilege been behind almost every recent terror attack on the West?
