Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie; JC again; Mini riot; and BillionaireXchange

BF 6 during the long night, it’s bloody raining again, thanks DD, and the end of our privacy is at hand: “All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer's personal communications, showing who they are contacting, when, where and which websites they are visiting.”

And;












Dave C is expected to set out plans for tackling poverty, including allowing people to keep more benefits when they return to work.

In a speech in London, the Conservative leader is due to match Labour's pledge to eradicate child poverty by the end of the decade.

He will also reportedly promise to lower unemployment during his first five years in office.

Yeah right, heard it all before.



First up:






A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Heathrow was delayed on Sunday night after a mouse was spotted in the cabin and passengers were transferred to another plane.

The 147 passengers on the Boeing 767 were told that the mouse's presence meant that the plane had to be evacuated.

They continued on to London in another jet after airport officials told them that a mouse could create a safety hazard by crewing through electrical wire and hydraulic lines.

Delta confirmed yesterday that the rodent alert occurred on the same plane that was evacuated less than three weeks ago after a mouse was spotted just before it took off on the same New York to London journey.

The airline said it was "working with pest control experts in case remedial action is needed".

"Out of precaution, we changed the aeroplane. Plain and simple, there's not supposed to be a mouse on the aeroplane," said a Delta spokesman about the second evacuation.

Try a bit of chocolate, that will draw the little beastie out




JC is a trucker



A US man claims the face of Jesus appears every morning in the condensation on the side window of his pick-up truck.

Jim Stevens, of Jonesbororugh, Tennessee, says the face has appeared nearly every morning for the last two weeks.

It disappears when the condensation evaporates - but returns the following morning, he told the Johnson City Press.

Even rolling the window up and down has not stopped the image from reappearing.

Mr Stevens admits he's not a particularly religious person, but says he has been awed by the experience.

He said he had not done anything to or had anything in the Isuzu truck to explain the sudden appearance of the image.

"Of course, I'm not going to wash it," he said. "Why it happened to me, I don't know. I have no idea."



Last one........I promise.

Hypocrisy unbounded

From the land of the naked carnival;


SAO PAULO (Reuters) - In Brazil, famed for its tiny bikinis and carefree attitude, a university student has been expelled after violent protests by students outraged at the short outfit she wore on campus.

The Universidade Bandeirante (Uniban) said it had expelled the student, Geysi Villa Nova Arruda, 20, for "flagrant disrespect of ethical principles, academic dignity and morality," in a statement published in some Sunday newspapers.

Her dress sparked student protests on October 22 in this largely Roman Catholic country.

A video showed Arruda sitting in a classroom in a mid-thigh length red dress, then six military police officers protecting her as she left the campus wearing a white jacket. A line of students stood by chanting "whore."

Another video showed a mob stopping and kicking her car and blocking her when she tried to escape on foot.

Comments on Brazilian websites pointed out the irony of the hatred directed at Arruda by fellow students in a nation obsessed with physical beauty and said the university's actions were unfair.

"Pure hypocrisy ... Once February and the Carnival comes round everyone will be naked and no one will find it abnormal," said one comment posted by a reader on the O Globo news website.

Uniban said it had also suspended a number of students identified by video footage and witness accounts of taking part in the violence last month. The university's legal advisor said Arruda had been expelled for "gestures" and "attitudes" she had manifested rather than because of her short outfits. He would not give details

Do as I say, not what I do.


And finally:

EBay for millionaires


From the big apple:

Millionaires down on their luck now have a place to sell their mega-yachts, super-cars and family jewels without having to resort to the pawn shop.

An Internet auction site devoted to millionaires launches officially Monday and is likely to profit from the worst recession in decades, which has extended its reach to the rich and famous in the United States, BillionaireXchange said.

The company said it has already played a role in the sale or exchange of more than $180 million in assets during a 10-month test phase, and has noticed a trend of distressed transactions from U.S. clients.

"I would say that in the United States market that's probably the majority of the types of the transactions that we're seeing right now," Quintin Thompson, co-founder and executive partner of BillionaireXchange, told Reuters.

"Because of the current economic conditions in the U.S. we're seeing a lot of people who need to actually trade out or trade down from some of their luxury items and facilitate that transaction somewhere discreetly and privately so that they don't have to deal with the shame and or embarrassment of downgrade."

The company said its website aims to exploit a market niche between internet sales sites such as eBay, which are available to the general public, and auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's for fine art and collectibles.

Given the nature and price of items auction houses come to mind as potential competitors. But BillionaireXchange's completely on-line model is likely to be a key difference.

The site facilitates sales and trades of everything from arts and antiques to commercial properties, businesses and foreclosed homes.

Above all else, it aims for privacy and exclusivity, requiring of prospective members a minimum of $2 million in verifiable net worth.

BillionaireXchange will charge sellers a fee of five percent of the sales and said it would have generated approximately $8.75 million in revenue had those fees been charged during the test phase.

The Miami-based company set high financial qualifications to make sure bidding for the high-priced items would be taken seriously, according to Thompson.

He said the firm counts among its client’s professional athletes and A-list actors. Overall, the five-member firm claims more than 26,000 multi-millionaires as well as "nearly a dozen" billionaires as its members.

Have you signed up yet?



Angus

AnglishLit

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

Angus Dei politico

1 comment:

Devonshire Dumpling said...

Thought you would like some refreshing rain today Angus,When I cleaned the windows I did give you advance warning of the impending wet spell.

As to any government twat who wants to check my emails and what websites I click on would soon get bored to death. There is such a thing as email encryption and proxy servers, heh.