I see that the directors of Royal Bank of Scotland are threatening to resign if the government stops them paying bonuses of £1.5bn to staff in its investment arm.
Good, let them, we own 70% of the bank and their statement of “The bank's lawyers say the directors had a duty to make the firm, which is 70%-owned by the taxpayer, competitive and that may mean raising bonus levels.” is self serving bollocks, whatever happened to the ‘customer is king’?
And from over in the US of A hackers are spreading a vicious computer virus through spam email messages that urge recipients to visit a bogus website offering vaccinations to protect them against another virus -- the one that causes swine flu.
The email purports to be from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control, directing them to what looks like an official government website to fill out a vaccination form, said researchers from security firms Symantec Corp and AppRiver.
Security researchers said they began seeing millions of spam messages on Tuesday as part of a scheme to infect computers with malicious software that lets hackers take control of computers.
The hacker-controlled site then automatically downloads malicious software onto a victim's PC.
Once in control of the computer, the hackers can use a compromised machine to commit identity theft, attack other computers or turn the PC into a spam server.
Hackers typically base scams on issues that are at the top of the news. In recent days they have launched attacks linked to Tiger Woods' car crash and the kickoff of the annual holiday shopping season.
First up:
From Motor City: Detroit Fire Department investigators have a 29-year-old woman in custody after she set fire to her boyfriend's porch on fire early today after he broke up with her Tuesday night.
The 40-year-old man said he told her she couldn't stay at his house in the 18600 block of Anglin Street, near 7 Mile and Conant, after he discovered she had been cheating, he told investigators.
Police came to the house after she sprayed him with mace Tuesday night. Then, after officers left, neighbors saw her pour gas on the concrete porch of the house at 3 a.m. and light it on fire, according to the Detroit Fire Department.
A portion of the siding on the front porch was charred, but firefighters put it out before it got into the house. The man was not injured, and the woman is expected to be charged with arson this week.
Smokin!!!
Again from the ex colonies: Police in southwest Ohio said a man was so angry that a park revoked his privileges that he destroyed the park gate with an assault rifle and an axe. Police said 23-year-old Michael Rosenbaum, of Cincinnati, was arrested Tuesday on charges of vandalism and possession of criminal tools.
Police said Rosenbaum lost his Grand Valley Preserve privileges after he ignored warnings to stop setting fires to keep warm while fishing.
Indian Hill Detective Steve Makin said Rosenbaum on Nov. 24 destroyed the gate with an axe and fired four rounds into a box controlling the gate.
Damage is estimated at $1,500.
Rosenbaum was in jail Wednesday. A message seeking comment was left at the office of his attorney, Jack Rubenstein.
Would have been easier to climb over. that isn’t the park gate in question by the way, just a representation.
Seems to be America day today:
A former Arizona school district employee is accused of using school computers in an experiment to find space aliens, costing the worker his job and the district more than $1 million.
Schools officials say Brad Niesluchowski, who was Higley Unified School District’s information technology director, downloaded free software on district computers in 2000.
The program, known as SETI (at) home, uses Internet-connected computers worldwide to analyze radio telescope data in an experiment to find extraterrestrial intelligence.
But Superintendent Denise Birdwell told the East Valley Tribune that the program also bogged down the district’s system and interfered with technology use in classrooms.
Birdwell said it will take more than $1 million to fix the problem, including removal of the SETI software. She says police are conducting a broader investigation.
Niesluchowski resigned from the district Oct. 22.
But did he make contact?
At last a Brit story: Spanning a sleepy stretch of the River Thames in southern England, the 242-year-old Swinford Toll Bridge seems an unlikely source of controversy.
But its auction in London this week has whipped up emotions as disgruntled motorists step up demands to end the ancient toll, while keen international buyers are said to be lining up to make their bids for a tax-free investment.
The guide price for the picturesque stone bridge en route to the university city of Oxford is about 1.25 million pounds ($2.2 million), according to auction house Allsop.
Built in 1767, the bridge carries just under 4 million vehicles a year, with toll charges starting at just five pence for cars - an income to the private owner that is tax free under a centuries-old act of parliament.
"It's highway robbery," said Jane Tomlinson, a local artist who heads a scrap-the-toll campaign that she said is backed by more than 800 signatures.
The campaign calls for all charges to be dropped, claiming the tax-free provision is unfair and that traffic back-ups caused by the toll collection waste time and money.
"We're held to ransom," Ms Tomlinson said. "All that money is entirely tax free, (but) I have to pay my taxes," she said, struggling to be heard above the din of cars and Lorries crossing the antiquated structure.
Ms Tomlinson wants the local government authority, the Oxfordshire County Council, to buy the bridge near the village of Eynsham and deal with the issues.
The council has refused to comment.
Allsop, which will conduct Thursday's auction (local time), said there was "enormous" global interest in the bridge, with potential buyers from Australia, Europe, Jamaica and the United States.
"This is a unique opportunity to purchase an income-producing investment that does not attract... tax," reads the group's sales pitch.
The winning bidder will avoid income and business taxes on revenues from the toll, with the bridge one of the few in England with a tax-free status.
But the owner is also not meant to make a profit - outstanding income after running costs and an undisclosed management fee is expected to be put aside for repairs.
In 1994, when authorities allowed the minimum toll charge to rise from two pence to five, the bridge's owners were ordered to begin a repair fund.
Repairs under way are set to have cost 670,000 pounds when finished in 2020.
Following operating costs, annual income nonetheless recently totalled almost 114,000 pounds, Allsop said.
Lot of fuss over five pence, and yes that is the bridge in question.
And finally:
It seems that I have been looking at the wrong bits: A man only has to look at a woman’s feet to tell if she is head over heels in love with him, according to a study.
While men have long assumed that a woman’s blushes or a bat of the eyelids were the telltale signs of attraction, experts now believe that foot movements reveal most about an admirer’s true feelings.
It is claimed that gestures with our feet are the most powerful form of body language because we are less conscious of what we are doing with them.
If a woman moves her feet away from her body while giggling, to adopt a more open-legged stance, then she is attracted to you.
But if her legs are crossed or tucked under her body, then the suitor’s advances are likely to end in disaster.
"If a woman's feet move when she laughs, it is one of the most powerful signals that she likes you.
"If they are crossing the feet, or crossing the legs – not good.”
Nervousness: men move their feet more, while women keep their feet still
Dishonesty: both sexes adopt an unnatural lack of foot movement.
Or maybe their shoes are just uncomfortable.
Angus
AnglishLit
Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE
Angus Dei politico
