True? Italian PM Berlusconi owns all TV stations & most Newspapers - Charged for Tax Fraud and Bribery - Legislate to avoid Courts

 

Ten of thousands of Italians have demonstrated in Rome against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, over his attempts to evade justice.

Mr Berlusconi is on trial in two corruption cases.

But legislation being discussed in parliament would help him avoid court.

The protesters accuse the PM of seeking to undermine the legal system.

Banners said : "Enough, the law is the same for everyone."

"We are starved of legality,"

"Today, the real Taliban is Berlusconi''

 ''Berlusconi wants to tie hands of Magistrates."

Italy's National Association of Magistrates condemned Mr Berlusconi.

Mr Berlusconi is on trial for allegedly bribing British lawyer David Mills into providing false testimony in previous trials.

And for alleged tax fraud relating to business before he entered politics.

Two bills being considered by MPs would suspend legal proceedings.

.

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Microsoft was allowed by US court to shut down 277 internet domains so 90,000 PCs would stop help ''hackers'' to send out spam.

Microsoft has won court approval to shut down a global network of computers which it says is responsible for more than 1.5bn spam messages every day.

A recent analysis by the firm found that between 3rd and 21st December "approximately 651 million spam e-mails were sent by Waledac directed to Hotmail accounts alone.
   
Microsoft advises to STAY SAFE  ONLINE
Use anti-spyware and anti-virus programs
On at least a weekly basis update anti-virus and spyware products
Install a firewall and make sure it is switched on
Make sure updates to your operating system are installed
Take time to educate yourself and family about the risks
Monitor your computer and stay alert to threats

It said Waledac was one of the 10 largest botnets in the US.

Machines in a botnet have usually been infected by a computer virus or worm. Typically, users do not know their machine has been hijacked.

Microsoft said that although it had effectively shut down the network, thousands of computers would still be infected with malware and advised people to run anti-virus software.

The court order was part of what was called "Operation b49".

Along with intelligence organisation Shadowserver, the University of Washington and security firm Symantec, Microsoft managed to get a court in Alexandria, Virginia, to force Verisign, which manages the .com domain, to temporarily switch off the domains.

Microsoft said it was the result of months of investigation and described it as a legal first.

"This action has quickly and effectively cut off traffic to Waledac at the .com or domain registry level, severing the connection between the command and control centres of the botnet and most of its thousands of zombie computers around the world."

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Lasantha Wickramathunga murdered Lankan ''53rd World Press Freedom Hero'' of IPI & UN's World Press Freedom Prize 2009

Colombo Page reports, Lasantha Wickramathunga, of Sunday Leader was shot in January 2009 in broad daylight in Colombo,  Sri Lankan when he was on his way to his Newspaper office.

He wrote of the dirty tricks of government and the ruthless murder group Tamil Tigers who held the Tamils at gun point and shouted to the whole world it was fighting for the ''freedom of Tamils''.

Before his death he wrote accusing President Mahinda Rajapaksa of his murder.

The nomination of Lasantha Wickramathunga was unanimously approved by the five-member IPI World Press Freedom Hero jury, the IPI said.

He will be one of 60 World Press Freedom Heroes honoured in a ceremony to commemorate IPI's 60th year of defending press freedom worldwide, at the IPI World Congress in Vienna and Bratislava, from 11-14 September 2010.

The United Nations cultural and education agency UNESCO posthumously awarded the World Press Freedom Prize 2009 to Wickramathunga in April 2009

==========================================================================================================================================

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Feb 18, 2010,''Colombo Page'' reports good news for North Lanka - Funds for Development and Promises from Prime Minister for Good Governance

பிரதமர் மகிந்த றாஜபக்ச அவர்களின் அறிவுரையினால், ''உதுறு வசந்தய'' என்னும் திட்டத்தின் கீழ் சுமார் மூன்று பிலியன் ரூபா பணத்தை யப்பான் வளங்கும் ---

சுமார் ஏழாயிரம் சதுர அடி கொண்ட நான்கு மாடி கட்டடத்தில் சகல வசதிகளும் கொண்ட அறுவை சிகிச்சை,
இருதய சிகிச்சை மற்றும் மூழை சக நரம்பு சிகிச்சை பகுதிகள் கொண்டிருக்கும் ---

உதுறு வசந்தய திட்டத்தின் கீழ் நூறு மிலியன் ரூபா பாடசாலைகளுக்கு ஓதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது ---

இத் தொகையில் இருபத்தி மூன்று பாடசாலைகள் உடனடியாக திருத்தப் படும்.

கொழும்பு நகரில் உள்ள 1,492 குடிசை வீடுகள் நகமு புறவற திட்டத்தில் புனரமைத்து ஆசியாவின் பெருமைக்குரிய நகரமாக்கப் படுமாம் !

கிழக்கில் பிள்ளையான் கட்சி வடக்கை சேர்ந்தோரை நிறுத்தி மந்திரி டக்லஸ் தேவானந்தா கட்சியுடன் போட்டியிடும் ---

ஓட்ட வீராங்கனை சுசிந்திக்கா ஜயஸிங்க காகல்லை பகுதியில் பிரதமர் மகிந்த வினது கட்சியில் போட்டி ---
          இவர் 2000-ம் சிட்னி ஓலிம்பிக்ஸ் ல் வெள்ளி
பதக்கம் எடுத்தாராம் --- அன்று இவர் இரண்டாவதாக ஓடி வெல்லவில்லை -- முதலாவதானவரது தங்கம் பறிபட்டதால் கிடைத்த பிறிக் வெற்றி ---
          கண்டி யை சேர்ந்த டங்கன் வய்யிற் 52  வருடங்கள் முன்னர் Hurdles பாய்ந்தோடி 1948 ல் லண்டன் ஓலிம்பிக்ஸில் வென்றதை நாம் மறக்கின்றோமே !

Senior DIG Gamini Navaratne தேர்தல் பொறுப்பாளர் ஓரு அவசியம் நாட்டுக்கு தேவையான புதிய நடவடிக்கையை அமுல் படுத்துகின்றார் ---
இன்று தொடக்கம் தேர்தல் முடியிம் வரை பேரணி ஊர்வலம் சகலவற்றையும் தடை செய்துள்ளார் ---

தேசிய தமிழ் கூட்டணியை விட்டு விலகிய தங்கேஸ்வரி கதிராமன் அரசாங்க கட்சியில் வாக்கு கேட்பாராம்.

Thangeswari Kathiraman, Pathmini Sithamparanathan, are S. Kajendran, S.Jeyanandamurthy, Sivanathan Kishor, T. Kanagasabai, S. Sathasivam. ஆகியோருக்கு  தலைவர் சம்பந்தன் ரற்ரா காட்டீற்ராம் !!!

  

Posted via email from யாழ் நகரில் முன்னைய அரசாங்க நிர்வாகம்

In 2007, Stan O’Neal got a “retirement package” of $161 million from Merrill Lynch it lost $12 billion in one year

Like all of us, President Barack Obama is angry how out of control executive bonus pay has become.

Then-Merrill Lynch Chairman and CEO John Thain, left, and then-Bank of America Chairman and CEO Ken Lewis shake hands after a 2008 news conference announcing the sale of post-meltdown Merrill Lynch.
Both men have been highly criticized for their performance as executives, and yet both have done quite well for themselves.

By Moshe Adler

When it came to bailed-out banks he used strong language.   He called them “fat cats” and “reckless.”
Obama now says that his new reform, giving shareholders a “say on pay,” will work because it will give shareholders the incentive to “mind the store.”

It won’t work.

Shareholders simply do not have the incentive, time or knowledge to mind the store, and say-on-pay won’t change this.

Why would a well-diversified shareholder, a person who has spread savings among a range of corporations and who therefore does not own more than a billionth of any single corporation, invest the time and money required in order to learn whether Smith at $150 million is a better CEO hire than Jones at only $125 million?

Is this supposed to be repeated for every corporation.

The financial institutions that own corporate stocks are themselves corporations with their own executives, and this means there are two layers of executives getting a cut.

In 2007, Stan O’Neal received a “retirement package” of $161 million after the institution he led, Merrill Lynch, lost $12 billion in one year. In 2006, Merrill Lynch had voted against any proposal that would have limited severance pay or tied pay to performance in all the corporations that its different mutual funds held.

A study of the 29 largest mutual funds in 2006 discovered that Merrill Lynch was not alone. More than three-quarters of the time, these funds voted for management-sponsored proposals regarding executive pay. There were exceptions, such as the fund of the teachers unions, TIAA-CREF, but these constituted a negligible minority.

and goes on to say ----

''Say-on-pay'' is a dog that won’t hunt.

The best we can hope for is that it won’t make things worse.

Boards of directors all too often fail to serve the interests of their corporations, but at least that is their legal duty.

Say-on-pay is an invitation for large stakeholders to launch partisan campaigns for executives who will do their bidding at the expense of the rest of the shareholders.

 

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The killing of opposition supporters in Guinea last year was a crime against humanity, the International Criminal Court has said.

The killing of opposition supporters in Guinea last year was a crime against humanity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said.

The deputy prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, made the statement in Guinea after a preliminary investigation into the deaths in the capital, Conakry.

Security forces have been blamed for the killings of more than 150 people at an opposition rally on 28 September.

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Chief Minister Chandrakanthan (P9llaiyan) together with National Integration Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan were believed to have supported and worked closely with the army by providing information relating to the LTTE as they themselves were

14 persons, who had supported apolitical Common Candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka at the presidential election detained by the CID alleging they had conspired against the state, have been released without any conditions by the Colombo Magistrate.
 
Magistrate of Colombo Ms. Champa Janaki Rajaratne made this order when the suspects who were detained under detention orders were produced before Court today (17th). The Magistrate made the order as the CID was unable to produce any charges against the suspects.
 
Among the 14 persons released by the Magistrate are 13 retired Majors and a civilian.

Former Presidential Candidate General Sarath Fonseka, who is now under detention, can seek redress at an Appeals Court if he is not satisfied with the Court Martial proceedings, Minister G.L. Pieris said, according to the government information department.

Sri Lanka cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya will embark on a political career by taking part in the upcoming parliamentary polls on April 8.
Jayasuriya is seeking to become a Member of Parliament under the ruling coalition United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the south coast district of Matara, his hometown.
The 40-year-old was recently dropped from the Sri Lanka ODI team but he has no plans to end his cricketing career despite his entry into politics.
"I have no plans to retire from international cricket at this stage as I believe I can successfully balance the workload of playing for Sri Lanka while also serving the people of Matara as an MP," Jayasuriya said on Thursday.
"It has been an honour representing Sri Lanka on the cricket field during the past 21 years and after careful consideration I believe now is the right time for me to serve the people of Matara."
Jayasuriya's marathon international cricket career started in 1989 and has spanned 110 Tests and a record 444 one-day internationals

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) today informed court that they had recorded a statement from General Sarath Fonseka regarding the granting of approval on four suspicious tenders whilst serving as the chairman of the tender board.

When the inquiry into the HiCorp case was taken up before Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne today, the CID informed that they recorded a statement from General Fonseka last Sunday, but stated that he was unaware about the owners of British Borneo Defense Company and HiCorp Ltd Company.

General Fonseka had further informed CID that he had followed the relevant procedure into four concerned tenders following the approval of Technical Evaluation Board.

Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (Pillaiyan)  conceded that General Sarath Fonseka is a “war hero” because he played a key role in defeating the LTTE and did his best for the nation.

In an interview with Daily Mirror Online, the Chief Minister said that as an army commander, General Sarath Fonseka performed his duties well, especially during the stages of the war.

Chief Minister Chandrakanthan (P9llaiyan)  together with National Integration Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan were believed to have supported and worked closely with the army by providing information relating to the LTTE as they themselves were former LTTE cadres

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Posterous Failed the Whole Day

Created a new site today --- Even though email is sent and the email message is seen
Posterous is NOT sending back the normal email to comment and then publish in Facebook and Twitter.
Tried many hours.
Please find out and let me know.
Thank you,
benaloy

Posted via email from benza's posterous

On NBC Vice President Joe Biden said that he was "open" to idea of trying people who almost destroyed America, "such as Dick Cheney."

                                         

In advocating a military trial of the former vice-president, Mr. Biden said, "I hope that Dick Cheney's support for military tribunals for dangerous bad guys would extend to a trial for himself."

Mr. Biden said that the purpose of such a trial for his predecessor would be "to ensure that Dick Cheney never threatens the homeland again."

But in an appearance on ABC's This Week, Mr. Cheney seemed to stop short of supporting a military trial for himself, saying that all such tribunals "should exempt former vice-presidents."

He also lashed out at his successor, stating, "Joe Biden is talking out of both sides of his mouth, while I have consistently only talked out of one side of mine."

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''Local Phone dot com'' is another gem discovered on the Internet Today for International Phone Calls. Cheap and Clear.

''Local Phone dot com'' is another gem discovered on the Internet Today for International Phone Calls. Cheap and Clear.

Most phone callers to Sri Lanka using a ''card'', some how or the other have a tale of woe.

Either it is the line wasn't clear,  or balance money vanished,  or even, the height of insult, we couldn't get connection !

Here's a gem I found.  ''Localphone.com''.

The normal card rate is,  am told, =/20 Au cents per minute.

But these ''local phone'' people are magnanimous and charge a fraction.  Mere =/8.7 cents per minute.

I registered with them --- the number from which call would be originated &  numbers to which calls would be placed.

Gave them 3 numbers to speak to in Lanka ---

They gave me 3 unique numbers to dial ---

Deposited cash through Pay Pal ---

The amount is shown in their site ---

Dialed and spoke --- very clear and no bother ---

Spoke for 5 minutes and 29 seconds and was charged
-/70 cents.

The balance amount is seen in their site.

Happy old man,  am I ?

Try them once and am sure you wouldn't leave them alone !

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Sri Lanka resumes container transport to North by rail says ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka resumes container transport to North by rail
 says ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Feb 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka Railways resumed its container transport services to the war-battered Northern region today after a lapse of decades.

A special train, carrying eleven containers left the Colombo Fort Railway Station this morning to Thandikulam after a special ceremony held at the Station.

According to the Chief Railways Controller transport of food and other goods by the rail containers is more efficient and profitable than transporting by trucks.

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We published photographs of a person in civilian clothes. He suddenly emerged from nowhere during the police attack

Lanka  Truth  Exposes  a  Govt  Thug with  photos..

View photos and Judge for yourselves ---  When merit is disregarded crooks take over Police Force and Govt.

Newspaper Editors are a rare and persistent lot --- Knowing fully well the fate of Lasantha of Sunday Leader these guys publish and are liable to be shut with a shot by hired killers.

Read and then view the interesting exposure.

The groomed thug at Maharagama exposed       

 http://www.lankatruth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4721:the-groomed-thug-at-maharagama-revealed&catid=35:local&Itemid=62

We published photographs of a person in civilian clothes. 
He suddenly emerged from nowhere during the police attack on the demonstration organized at Maharagama to protest against the illegal arrest and detention of the Common Candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka. and pointed out demonstrators and ordered police to arrest them.
He was also seen assaulting demonstrators.
We have received a large number of responses to our query and are able to present a few of them to our viewers.
 
This person, Nishanthe de Silva had lived at Thalpawila in Matara.
His elder brother is a labourer at Technical College Nuwaraeliya.
His father is an activist of the Communist Party branch in Matara District.
He had two nick names – they were “Nondi Ruwan” and “Kiche Ruwan.”
He had failed the G.C.E. O/L examination but had developed political connections through his brother.
He had been the Matara District organizer of Ruhunu Janatha Front. 
 
At present he resides at Kottawa and with the help of the leader of Ruhunu Janatha Front he is working as a coordinating secretary of the President.
He visits Presidential Advisor Wimal Geeganage very often and through him has access to Presidential Secretariat.
 
While he was living at Gandara he had had a very close relation with the OIC of Gandara Police.
Mr. Deshabandu Tennekone who is the IOC of Maharagama at present.
Deshabandu Tennekone has had his livelihood with the support of such ancient temples as Buddhisinharamaya at Makuluwa and Kadjuwatta Purana Viharaya.
While Deshabandu Tennekone was living off the temples he had met ‘Ruwan’ and developed a close connection with him.
 
Deshabandu Tennekone also has had another place called Sri Line Chines’ a hotel where he has had his meals.
Tennekone has had his meals free here as the wife of the owner of the hotel has been an employee of the Galle Police Station.
This too had helped the connection between Tennekone and Ruwan to develop.

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Huffington Post is not so well known outside USA. It has very interesting features not found in any other journal of USA.

Huffington Post is not so well known outside USA.  It has very interesting features not found in any other journal of USA.  For eg,

''13 Ridiculous Things You Didn't Know About U.S. Presidents''

You can try them here

The beautiful accompanying pictures had to be left out as there were too large for Gmail and am too lazy to resize them.  You may view them in link above please.

When choosing the next President Of The United States Of America, "oddball" is usually not considered a qualifying characteristic.

However, many of this country's former leaders had strange quirks, pets, and rituals that make you wonder: Exactly what kind of person does it take to lead a nation?

So this President's Day, instead of honoring our commanders-in-chief for the great things they did, why not honor them for the bizarre things they did?

US 29th President Thomas Harding, really like to gamble, although it seems he wasn't very good at it. In one poker game, he bet the White House china collection and lost it all in one hand.

In the 1940's Gerald Ford [pardoned Richard Nixon]did a bit of modeling and even posed on the cover of "Cosmopolitan." His wife Betty was also a dancer and fashion model, who signed with the John Robert Powers modeling firm to finance her dance education.

Ulysses S. Grant [liked whisky a lot but won many battles for Abe Lincoln]  Got A Speeding Ticket ... On A Horse
The 18th President Of The United States was given a $20 speeding ticket for riding his horse too fast down a Washington street. You'd think he could have talked his way out of that one.

James A. Garfield Was Ambidextrous (Awesome)
Not only was he the first president to be both righty and lefty, but it was said he could write a sentence in Latin with one hand and write it in Greek with the other hand. Awesome party trick!

William Howard Taft Got Stuck In A Bathtub
Our 27th President was a stately fellow, weighing in at over 300 lbs, so it's easy to believe he became stuck in one of the White House bathtubs (things were a lot smaller back then). He eventually had an oversize bathtub installed, but that was probably just an excuse to get a hot tub.

John Quincy Adams Regularly Skinny-Dipped In The Potomac
The President was known for his early morning dips in D.C.'s main waterway, always in the nude. Does that mean some unlucky commuters possibly saw Adams's "Johnson"?

Thomas Jefferson Had Two Pet Bears
When Lewis and Clark were exploring the West, two young bear cubs were sent East to President Jefferson. He kept the bears in a cage on the White House lawn and occasionally went on walks with them. Other strange presidential pets include: Alligator (John Quincy Adams), Elephant (James Buchanan), and Zebra (Teddy Roosevelt)

Martin Van Buren Invented The Phrase "OK"
Supposedly, President Van Buren coined one of the most commonly used phrases to date: "OK", or "Okay". Van Buren was from Kinderhook, NY which was also called "Old Kinderhook". His support groups came to be known as "O.K. Clubs" and the term OK came to mean "all right".

Calvin Coolidge Had A Vaseline Fetish.
Calvin Coolidge was strange guy. Not only did he sleep quite a lot - over 10 hours a day - but had morning ritual where he enjoyed having Vaseline rubbed on his head while he ate breakfast in bed. He also had a mechanical horse installed in the White House so he could practice his horseback riding skills. So, when did he do the whole "running the country" thing?

Chester A. Arthur Was Sharp Dresser, Night Owl
Not only was Chester A. Arthur a very sharp dresser (he owned over 80 pairs of pants) but he often took late night strolls around D.C. with friends, not returning home until 3 or 4 in the morning.

Thomas Jefferson Invented A Bunch Of Stuff
In addition to inventing a rotating book holder that folded into a box.  He also invented/improved on the inventions of the dumbwaiter, the polygraph (for recording), a pasta maker, the swivel chair, the sundial, and the pedometer. Well, Obama? Let's see some inventing in between all that boring Presidential stuff.

Barack Obama Is A Comic Book Nerd
President Obama collects "Spiderman" and "Conan The Barbarian" comic books, and has even read every "Harry Potter" book.

Abe Lincoln Won A Wrestling Match
When Abe Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois in 1831, he met a rowdy bunch called The Clarence Grove Boys. Their leader, Jack Armstrong challenged Lincoln to a wrestling match outside of Denton Offutt's store, where Lincoln was a clerk, and townspeople gathered to watch and wager on it. Lincoln won the match and Jack's respect, and the two became best friends

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Colombo Chief Magistrate warns Police to serve the public not politicians.

Colombo Chief Magistrate warns Police to serve the public not politicians.

(Lanka-e-News 11.Feb.2010 9.20PM) The Colombo Chief Magistrate Champa Janaka Rajaratne stated strongly ''the first suspects in this case should have been the Police''.

The nine suspects the Police had taken into custody over the clashes were released.

At yesterday's protest demonstrations staged against the arrest of Gen. Fonseka the Presidential candidate , fierce clashes resulted.

A group of goons and thugs came to disrupt the peaceful campaign.

They were protected by the Police . The Hultsdorf turned into a mini battlefield with clashes raging for four hours.

The police took nine of those involved in the conflict into custody.

When the Keselwatte Police produced the suspects more than 50 Lawyers told courts that these suspects did not commit any offences.

But were committed by the goons and hooligans who arrived there and who were given protection by the Police.

Pictures showing the Police providing protection to the thugs were shown to Court .

The Chief Magistrate said ,  ''The whole country saw this incident on television.''

She reprimanded the Police for not producing the actual suspects , and went on to warn thus:
''The police Force is being maintained by innocent people and taxpayers’ money.

''Hence it is the duty of the Police to serve the people and none other.

''The police should not be subservient to any political group or person.

''If the police are acting that way it is a disgrace to the police, and a matter for deep regret .

''The Magistrate warned the Police not to act to please individuals , but to apprehend the true culprits.''

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Communist-Capitalist Chinese exclaim ''Oh My God ! ''The US is talking to Dalai Lama and Taiwan, when we are angry with them !''

Communist-Capitalist Chinese exclaim ''Oh My God ! ''The US is talking to Dalai Lama and Taiwan,  when we are angry with them !''

This is a sample of the many editorials of Chinese Newspapers,  given us by BBC on WHYS :

CHEUNG WAH in HONG KONG'S APPLE DAILY
''Some angry youth and military hawks are still not satisfied with the rational and strong counter-moves [taken by Beijing] and are determined to make the US experience the ferocity of the Chinese. Ordinary Chinese people can be sent to the West to overwhelm the US and Europe.''

Do you honestly believe,  brothers and sisters,  as we did,  the editor that wrote the above piece means to say that if US persists in talking to peace-loving refugee: Dalai Lama and the hardworking Taiwan,  in a decent manner or indecent if culture is deemed decadent,  depending on which juicy parts of anatomy are covered or exposed to all elements, the Western Nations will experience a sudden flurry of migration of ''ordinary Chinese people'', while China would retain the extra-ordinary Chinese people to populate and develop their own sweet land ?

Our Media is focusing a magnifying glass on its myopic view of the economically successful
portion of China and churning out boringly glaring headlines.

Whereas millions of Chinese are in abject poverty forced out of their ancient homes by the
Chinese govt officials finding way for Olympic stadiums and prestige picking ''3 Gorge Dam''
and many such suddenly dreamt up projects.

Ha, Media Man,  how about the frequent deaths in unsafe mines,  eh ?

What about the ''stolen body organs'' of those 'condemned to death' people ?  Stolen before they were put to death !

How about the denial of knowledge by blocking Internet for millions of people ?  The Internet which we take for granted just as ''air'' we breathe freely ?

Ever heard of how the President himself ordered the arrest of a Managing Director of a Foreign Firm in China who refused to co-operate to find out the name of a Chinese dissident,  purely on the high moral principle of ''Secret of Another'' ?

You wouldn't have 'cos high morals in Journalism is a matter of the past,  just as your partner in moral-crime :  Crooks,  Liars  and  Cheating-Politicins !   

 

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Sri Lankan Gen Sarath Fonseka was arrested accused of working with anti-government forces and planning a coup and assassinations.

Sri Lankan Gen Sarath Fonseka was arrested  accused of working with anti-government forces and planning a coup and assassinations.

He denies the charges.

Jointly the opposition parties said the general would be killed in detention.
   
Rauf Hakeem said they will take this matter to courts, before the people and the international community.

Gen Fonseka's wife told the BBC she had been allowed to visit him at the navy headquarters in Colombo where he is being held.

Anoma Fonseka said he trusted no one there and had therefore not eaten or drunk anything until she had taken him a meal.

Parliamentary elections are expected to be held on 8 April. Gen Fonseka is hoping to capitalise on his comfortable victory in the presidential poll, correspondents say.

[The above para was written by BBC person --- It sounds highly illogic to me.]

Mr Rajapaksa fought the presidential poll on the back of the government's successful military campaign to end the long insurgency by Tamil Tiger rebels in the north and east of the country.

Gen Fonseka also took credit for ending the civil war last year.

The two men fell out soon after the fighting ended and embarked on a bitter election campaign.

Hours before his arrest, the general said he was prepared to give evidence in an international court on any war crime charges against the state.

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Buzz with Google's Social Site

Google has taken the wraps off its latest social network known as Buzz.

The service - integrated directly with its e-mail service Gmail - allows users to post status updates, share content and read and comment on friends posts.

BBC News technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones said

"They've launched Buzz with plenty of interesting new features, particularly for mobile users.

But the real question is whether there's enough to entice social networkers away from sites like Facebook and Twitter," he said.

The new features are built directly into Google's free e-mail service Gmail.

Users can post private or public status updates - known as a buzz - and share content from other sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Picassa.
Facebook page

Facebook has nearly 400 million users

The messages - highlighted with a Buzz symbol - are incorporated directly into a person's Gmail inbox.

Private updates are automatically added to a user's profile page, whilst public updates will also be available to search engines.

The site also incorporates elements of Twitter, such as the ability to "follow" people that share updates, and features that appear in Facebook such as the ability to "like" content.

Buzz will also recommend content from people that it thinks you may like to see and incorporate it directly into a users content stream.

It is not the first time Google has tried to launch a social network.

In 2004, it released Orkut. However, while it has become big in countries such as Brazil and India, it has been overshadowed by sites such as Facebook elsewhere.

The firm also recently launched Google Wave.

A tool that mixes e-mail, with instant messaging and the ability for several people to collaborate on documents in real time.

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Sri Lanka's mixed group of opposition parties supported Gen Fonseka should decide how to fight this campaign or to stay together

. 

Sri Lanka's recently re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolved parliament to hold elections.

The date will most likely be 8 April, with parliament convening on 22 April.

The mixed group of opposition parties which supported Gen Fonseka have yet to decide how to fight this campaign and whether to stay together. 

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says President Rajapaksa is hoping to increase the narrow majority of seats held in parliament by his Freedom Alliance.

benaloy says,  between the two major parties of majority race,  both minority groups could swing the result.   Will they ?

Gen Sarath Fonseka suffered injuries at an assassination attempt by LTTE and gets national credit for defeating the ruthless group.
But he is definitely not a charismatic leader of people.  

The leader of TNA,  Sampanthan, and his comrades in Parliament were quick to condemn an Army atrocity but never had the guts to point out violence by LTTE. 

Thus they lost the credibility among the majority earned by SJV Chelvanayagam of whom it was said,  ''an honest politician'' even though his party was ''Federal'' in English and ''தமிழ் அரசு'' meaning,  ''Tamil Governance'',  a subtle deception !

Muslims of Lanka have yet to combine and select a leader of foresight and NOT of myopic view.

So long as we do not admit our faults we will never correct our selves and achieve greatness.  

We must cast aside the oldies and select stout hearted youngsters who hands are NOT tainted by blood of anyone,  anyone at all !

We must be wary of the gun carrying lot who are actually selfish bastards !!!   

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Sri Lankan former Army Officers arrested by Police over The Sunday Leader founder editor Lasantha Wickrematunge on January 8, 2009.

Lasantha killing: Two ex-army men arrested

Two former Army officers have been arrested by Police over The Sunday Leader founder editor Lasantha Wickrematunge on January 8, 2009. They had been arrested on information provided by the Army intelligence unit and were being questioned, police sources said.

Two other officers were also arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. They, too, are being questioned on Wickramatunga’s killing.

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President Barack Obama has done so much to heal racial divisions that he "forgot he was black"

MSNBC's Chris Matthews says President Barack Obama has done so much to heal racial divisions that he "forgot he was black" while watching his State of the Union address.

Those four words - "forgot he was black" - so instantly set the Twitter world afire that Matthews came back less than 90 minutes later to explain what he meant.

He said it was noteworthy to him that a black president was addressing a room of mostly white people and how it didn't seem to be an issue.

He said he saw it in the context of growing up at a time racial divisions were ever-present.

Says Matthews: "I went in the room tonight, you could feel it wasn't there tonight and that takes leadership on his part, to get us beyond those divisions."

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Macquire Banker Dave Kiely looked at semi-nude pics of Ausy Model Miranda Kerr hungry media made song n dance n flopped.

An Australian banker who was caught on live TV looking at photos of scantily clad model Miranda Kerr will not lose his job, the bank said Friday.

Macquarie Bank worker Dave Kiely was at his desk as a colleague was being interviewed about interest rates when the camera showed him apparently opening e-mail attachments of nearly nude photos of the model.

The clip became a YouTube hit and other media broadcast it during prime-time Tuesday.

Australia-born Kerr, 26, who is engaged to "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Orlando Bloom, had said she hoped Kiely would not lose his job.

"I am told there is a petition to save his job, and of course I would sign it," news.com.au quoted her as saying.

On Friday, Macquarie said in a statement it had completed an internal review and Kiely would keep his job.

"Macquarie and the employee apologize for any offense that may have been caused," the bank said.

Any red blooded man, irrespective of age,  will look at such a beautiful female form with both cheeks open to view so shamelessly as if all her parts are meant for public exhibition !

Ah !  Culture indeed !!

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'Chuckle' Taylor is ordered by US court to pay $ 22m for torturing five men in Liberia. Will Lankan president and Mugabe too pay?

A US judge has ordered the son of ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor to pay more than $22m (£14m) to five people tortured during its civil war.

The abuses were carried out by a paramilitary unit led by the son, Charles 'Chuckle' Taylor.

It comes a year after Chuckie was sentenced to 97 years in prison by the same Miami federal court.

He was the first person convicted by a US court of committing human rights abuses outside the US.

The five Liberian victims had testified before the court that they had been tortured and abused by the Anti-Terrorist Unit - the official title by which the group Chuckle Taylor ran was known.

They said they had been held in pits in the jungle that were filled chest-high with water, had been exposed to electric shocks to the genitals and other body parts and had witnessed the killing of others by the paramilitaries.

Human rights groups have welcomed this latest ruling against him.

They say it is a move that might serve as a warning to others who commit similar abuses that they will be held accountable for their actions.

Chuckle Taylor's father is currently on trial in The Hague.

He faces 11 charges including murder and rape in connection with the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

Are there any chances of Sri Lankan President and Zimbabwe President facing such charges in International Court?

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Sinhala has 'B' 'G' 'F' whereas Tamil has none as Tamil Pandits obstruct Tamil innovators from finding suitable alphabets

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8498534.stm
By Alastair Lawson
BBC News

Boa Sr
Boa Sr remained the last Bo speaker for at least 30 years

The last speaker of an ancient language in India's Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC.

Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world's oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end.

She said that India had lost an irreplaceable part of its heritage.

Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old.

Professor Abbi - who runs the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese (Voga) website - explained: "After the death of her parents, Boa was the last Bo speaker for 30 to 40 years.

So,  ''Bo'' is much older than ''Thamil''. ''Thamil'' is a South Indian language of which Thamil poets and pandits tell us ''Thamil'' is the 'best' language in the whole world, despite its short comings.

Thamil has no letters to represent the sounds ''B'',  ''G'' and ''F''.

Thamil classical music was written and sung in Telugu for centuries.

Whereas the ''Sinhala'',  the sister language in Sri Lanka has the alphabets that represent ''B'' and
and ''G'' and the wise persons of Sinhala language have innovated to form the equivalent character
for ''F'' sound.

We believe some Tamil innovators are being impeded in efforts to find suitable letter to write ''F'' sound by many jealous Tamil Pandits.

Progress and improvements cannot be,  unless short falls are spotted and openly acknowledged !

Will the ''pure'' Thamil fanatics accept this fact of progressiveness !

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Is it true Tony Blair never discussed but dictated what and how to think and decide in Cabinet meetings

Is it true Tony Blair never discussed but dictated to his Ministers what and how to think and decide in Cabinet meetings ?

Is it true Tony Blair compelled the Attorney-General of the day to change ''illelegal'' to ''legal'' the invasion of Iraq and the spineless AG complied like a whimpering puppy ?

If so,  was not the Prime Minister of UK acting like a thug of the underworld ?

Is it true,  the UK does not intend to punish the brazen wrong doings of Tony Blair by which he has enriched himself enormously through the machinations of Dick Cheney the vice-president of George Bush, the sick president of USA ?

Is it true Dick Cheney was the Chairman of Haliburton the company that most benefitted from contracts being granted to it in Iraq from Security to Construction of buildings ?

Is it true many senior officers in Procurement department of the Defense Ministry of USA were hounded out and either dismissed or forced to retire when they refused to coloborate in granting contracts to Halliburton company w/o calling for quotations from other companies ?

Is it true billions of dollars went missing in Iraq whenever or wherever Halliburton company was involved ?

Is it true Tony Blair was paid millions of dollars by Dick Cheney for declaring war on Iraq on behalf of the people of UK ?

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