Barbaric. Animals Left to Starve to Death
It’s hard to believe that this could be happening. This article is from Kuwait’s Al Watan and I learned about it from Mark, at 248am.com. Unbelievable. Unthinkable.
KUWAIT: It only happens in Kuwait. No other country would demand money from people already paying rent.
Initially, those renting stalls at the animal market in AlـRai thought it was a mistake, but when their shops were shut down “because of rent arrears,” business owners went berserk. In addition, the animals displayed in the stalls were left inside the locked stalls, with the proprietors unable to tend to or remove then, thereby what was a municipal disagreement has ballooned into an animal rights fiasco.
It remains unfathomable to many where the decision to charge a second “Municipality rent” arose from, when the proprietors were already paying rent to the owners of the commercial space, the Ministry of Finance. With the Municipality shutting down the stalls, and the Ministry of Finance staying silent ـ only to say: “this is not our issue” ـ the business owners are helpless as the animals howl and cry for food, with every passing day the stench of death growing ever stronger.
Al Watan Daily went to the animal market in Al Rai area and witnessed the disaster first hand.
Shopkeepers told Al Watan Daily that the Municipality had closed all the stalls over two weeks ago, “and they haven”t opened the doors even once till now. All the animals are inside the stalls, and most of them have died due to lack of water, food and air. These animals have been in cages within the stalls for 15 days and they have not seen any light, nor eaten anything.”
Ridha Ashkanani told Al Watan Daily: “We signed contracts with the State Properties Department; we pay them 300 Kuwaiti dinars per year, and we also have been paying KD 60 per year to the Municipality as for the cleaning of the area. We were forced to pay this sum although the Municipality is not taking care of the area and the place is not clean at all. The problem now is that the Municipality is asking us to pay another rent for the stalls themselves. They want KD 3 per every square meter within the shop per month. They also want the money to be paid in arrears from 1995. We can”t afford to pay all this, and there isn”t any law that requires us to pay a second rent to the Municipality.”
The situation is this: according to the traders, they have been paying a normal rental fee since 1997, which continued when the Ministry of Finance relocated their businesses to the current location, but in 2004, a Municipal inspector came and asked them to pay a “Municipality rent.”
The proprietors explained to the inspector that they were not aware of any second “Municipality rent,” and that according to the contract with the Ministry of Finance, the rent was to be paid to the ministry, and the ministry only.
After receipts were shown to the inspector that payments were being made to the ministry, he quietly withdrew and disappeared.
However, in 2006, another inspector came demanding “Municipality rent.” The traders explained, once again, to the new inspector the same story, to which he accepted their argument but demanded a KD five monthly surcharge for cleaning.
The traders saw no qualms with the demand and agreed to the nominal fee, but then some months later, the inspector returned, requiring that the cleaning fees be paid in lump sum six months in advance. After some grumbling, they acquiesced.
Oddly, some weeks later, traders were informed that instead of 6 months, it would have to be 12 months in advance. Again, they reluctantly agreed.
Now you have the current situation, where the Municipality has shut all the stalls with the animals locked inside, and is demanding the “Municipality rent,” in arrears as far back as 1995.
“Our major issue is that the animals are trapped inside the stalls, and most of them died. We are losing our business and losing the animals we have in the shops, and we are not allowed to open the shops at least to feed the animals, which have not eaten any food for 15 days,” explained Ashkanani
Ahmed, another proprietor, said: “I lost all the gold fish I had in the shop, worth KD 5,000. We want the animal rights societies to help us in our problem. We went to the State Properties Department and they didn”t help us, and stated that it”s not their responsibility. We then went to the Cabinet and they told us to go to the minister, and he also refused to help us. We finally went to the Municipality, (which refused to open the doors until they are paid), and now we are filing a case at the court and we are waiting to see what will happen.”
ـ
Last updated on Monday 2/11/2009
A Headline, and Your Challenge
This headline caught my eye in today’s Peninsula:
US HOUSING SECTOR LOOKS UP
Why did it catch my eye? I know, I know, I am an unnatural woman. I shouldn’t bother my pretty little head with these things too great for me, but I find the financial pages interesting. You would be amazed at what you can learn in the small print.
So when I saw that headline, I was intrigued, because yesterday the reports coming out remained bleak. Key phrases like “less than expected” jumped out at me.
So here is my challenge to you. Please. Read through this article and tell me if you can find one single fact that supports the promising headline. Honestly, this gave me one of my best laughs of the day.
Get ready. Get set. GO!
US housing sector looks up
Web posted at: 10/21/2009 8:50:58
Source ::: REUTERS
WASHINGTON: New construction of US homes rose less than expected in September as ground-breaking activity for multi-family dwellings fell sharply, highlighting the economy’s uneven recovery path.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday housing starts rose 0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 units, below market expectations for 610,000. August’s housing starts were revised down to 587,000 units.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed producer prices dropped an unexpected 0.6 percent in September. Analysts had anticipated prices would remain unchanged after rising 1.7 percent in August.
“The housing numbers still look somewhat soft and that’s a reflection of weakness in the consumer. The low PPI numbers mean that the Fed is in a position to keep rates unchanged for a while,” said Subodh Kumar, chief investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Associates in Toronto.
US stock futures, which were lifted earlier after strong quarterly results from bellwethers Apple and Caterpillar, trimmed their gains on the soft housing and price data.
New construction activity in the volatile multifamily segment dropped 15.2 percent to an annual pace of 89,000 units. Groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest component of the housing market, rose 3.9 percent in September to an annual rate of 501,000 units.
Compared to September last year, housing starts were down 28.2 percent.
The housing market, the main catalyst of the worst US recession since the 1930s, is crawling out of a three-year slump and residential investment probably contributed to economic growth in the third quarter, according to analysts.
New building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, unexpectedly fell 1.2 percent to an annual pace of 573,000 units in September, the Commerce Department said. That was the biggest percentage decline since April.
Analysts had forecast permits at 600,000 units. Building permits were down 28.9 percent compared to September last year.
A survey on Monday showed confidence among US home builders edged down in October amid worries over the expiration of a $8,000 government tax credit for first-time buyers.
The incentive, which ends next month, has been widely cited as the main force behind the housing market’s steady recovery.
Separately, prices paid at the farm and factory gate fell 4.8 percent on the year, which was steeper than forecasts for a 4.2 percent drop. Excluding food and energy, prices declined by 0.1 percent in September from the prior month, and were up 1.8 percent on the year.
“The headline PPI numbers fuel the deflationary fears,” said Doug Bender, managing director at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Where Great Decisions are Made
Today, on my way home from a marathon-fun day, even though it was full of errands, I got to thinking great thoughts – in my car. Some of my best ideas come when I am sitting in traffic, something about the enforced nothing-to-do frees up my unconscious to tackle things I don’t otherwise think about.
One of the things I was thinking about was what, when I studied it, was called The Decision Making Process. It’s something you study in Political Science, and, although I can’t say this for sure because I haven’t specialized in these other areas, I am betting you would also study the process in Business, in Economics, in Engineering . . . when you know the process by which decisions are made, so the theory goes, you can get better at predicting how the decision making will go, what people will decide.
Or so the theory goes. . .
My personal observation is that human beings are highly unpredictable, and sometimes will make an opposite decision, even an irrational decision, in order not to be so predictable. I hate to be so cynical, but I think we are not so rational as we like to think we are.
In my Kuwait life, I remember being at a not-so-important meeting, more just a gathering, but at one point, I saw four people – influential people – meeting off in a corner, very casually, probably no one else even noticed, but they were deciding an outcome of an election, I realized later that day. OOps – not THE Kuwait election, my friends, no no no, a much lesser election. But that was where the decision was really made. These four quiet people were people who had the respect of others, and once they decided, they quietly shared their opinion with others, who shared their opinion with others and on it went, until the deed was done.
I have seen decisions made in a swimming pool. I know decisions are made on golf courses. I was hired for one job once after attending a concert, and for another because I had a responsible position in my church (it had nothing to do with the job I was hired for, but the skills were transferable.) I was hired once because my hair and eyes matched another woman working in the front office, and the boss wanted a “matched pair.” (I didn’t know that until later.)
I know that at one time AdventureMan helped lay out a military base. He said they were in a truck, and as they drove along someone dropped big stones out the back to mark the boundaries. Don’t you love it?
Gulf women tell me that weddings are important; young women are often spotted by future mother-in-laws, so moms try to make sure that their daughters are well appointed for major weddings, major events where they may be on display . . . and then they ask around checking on character and personality and suitability. But I wonder on what basis those decisions are really made, deep down? Family alliances? Securing a future? Business connections? I know there are rare alliances based on true and lasting love; I wonder how often that happens?
I know there are matrixes, and even simple two-column + – lists by which people can rationally work out what to decide. What I am cynical about – after all the matrixes are filled out, after all the plusses and minuses are totaled – I think that the decision can go counter to rationality, because we are – if not irrational – then intuitive, we are people who make decisions with other than our conscious minds. I think our hearts get involved, and you KNOW that feelings/emotions get involved. Sometimes we have “a gut feeling”; sometimes we know something on an unconscious level that we don’t know on a conscious level. If we all acted in our own rational self interest, there would not be young drivers dying on our roads, people would not be irrationally exuberant about investments, young people would not fall in love with the wrong people and life would sure a lot more dull, wouldn’t it?
I am cynical even about decisions made at the highest levels, because even decisions made by boards and after studies – even these decisions are ultimately based by human beings, and sometimes on “hunches.”
So I am wondering if YOU have had similar experiences? Have you seen major decisions made irrationally?
All this because I was stuck in traffic . . . .
Home Foreclosures: The Storm That’s Yet to Come
This is just an excerpt from a much longer article I found on the AOL Money and Finance Site which you can access to read the entire article, and find others like it, by clicking on the blue type.
Experts are saying that there is a turn-around. I believe it, I also see the improving signs, but the wreckage will remain, and may even get worse, for some time to come in the real-estate markets.
Home foreclosures move up-market as discounting pushes prices down
Lita Epstein
A greater number of foreclosures are hitting the high-end real estate markets in 2009 as price discounting continues to throw more and more properties underwater. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy: As some homeowners see their homes’ values drop below the balances due on their mortgages, they give up trying to save their homes.
Zillow’s chief economist, Stan Humphries, found that while high-end markets accounted for only 16 percent of foreclosures in 2006, by July 2009, 30 percent of foreclosures hit the top third of homes. “That means that top-tier homes make up almost twice the proportion of foreclosures as they did just three years ago,” Humphries wrote on his blog.
Foreclosures are no longer a primarily subprime problem. While in 2006 about 55 percent of foreclosures came on subprime loans, in 2009 subprimes represent just 35 percent of foreclosures, another 35 percent are in the middle tier and 30 percent are in the top tier. The primary contributing factor is higher delinquency rates in Prime, Alt-A and Option ARM mortgage products.
According to the Amherst Security Group, this problem won’t go away any time soon, because:
• Loans are transitioning into delinquency/foreclosure at a rapid pace, but moving out at a slow pace;
• Cure rates are low. In other words, fewer people are paying their past-due amounts and getting back on track.
• Loans are taking longer to liquidate. In other words, the length of time between the start of the foreclosure process and the point when the lender gets control of the property is growing.
The Amherst Mortgage Insight report notes that there are currently 7 million homes in a shadow market — homes that are either in delinquency or in foreclosure, but not yet on the market. This number translates into 135 percent of a year of existing home sales, which means that whatever numbers you’re seeing now about homes sales, they don’t truly reflect the storm that’s yet to come.
Scam of the Day: Short and Sweet
LLOOLL @ 100% legitimate and risk free!
Dear sir,
I am Mr.Kumalo Donald a transfer supervisor on investment in HSBC Bank,United Arab Emirates , I have a transaction of 50/50% mutual benefit worth $9.5 million dollars, If interested please respond to my personal e-mail ( kumalodonald@aol.com ) for more detail and processing. is 100% legitimate and risk free.
Best Regards !
Kumalo Donald
United Arab Emirates
Maid Builds Mansion with Elderly Employer’s ‘Gift’
This is a sticky situation – not a new situation, it is timeless, and not unique to Kuwait – it is everywhere. People with elderly parents need to pay attention; the elderly can be so vulnerable. He may well have given his caretaker the money. His poor 108 year old mother!
Maid coaxes elderly sponsor to sell home, buys villa with cash
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 3: Police have arrested a Sri Lankan housemaid who allegedly duped a Kuwaiti man in his 70s, and lured him into selling his home, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.
It is reported the woman, who was working for the old man, induced him to sell his home, and then took the money from him. She is said to be worth about KD 120,000. She has also built a mansion in her home country.
A security source said the man’s mother, who is about 108 years old, and his family have lodged a complaint at the police station. However, the maid claims the man had given the money to her of his own free will.
Young Adults Report Anxiety Overload
Young adults ‘anxiety overload’
No, it’s not just your imagination. And you are not alone – others in your age group are likely suffering the same anxieties you are, and covering it up.
You can read the entire article at BBC News
Young adults are suffering from “anxiety overload”, a UK charity warns.
A survey of 18-24 year olds found 66% feel stressed or anxious at least once a week, with money and job worries being the main cause.
Almost a third of respondents said they did not tell anyone of their worries, raising the need to teach young people “coping strategies”, said Rethink.
Women seemed most badly affected, with one in three suffering frequent anxiety, compared with one in 10 men.
The YouGov poll of 2,000 adults, 250 of whom were aged 18-24, found 33% of young women felt stressed or anxious most days or every day.
The Worst Scam Ever
This has got to be one of the worst scam-mails ever. From time to time, I get a scary one – something that looks and feels so genuine that it could fool someone not on guard against these phishing attempts.
This one is so poorly done, the grammar, the spelling – you have to wonder who sent it out and who on earth would respond???
Dear Nestle Beneficiary,
This is to informed you that Nestle Food has recently exposed their weak
Inconsistent to announce you as one of the 13 lucky winners on the ongoing
12 Years Nestle Food Promotion Award of the New Year Held on 1st of October
2009. Further more during electronic selected balloting of world wild email
Address for the promotion selected, your details (e-mail address) fall within
Our zone during the nestle food promotion as indicated in your Sending mails
and exchanging mails in the internet and your prize of ( 920,000.00GBP) this
will be released to you from the regional branch office in UK.
Your fund is now deposited with our delivery agent Company in United Kingdom
and it will be insured in your name after your information is provided.
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you you keep this award
from public notice until your claim has been processed, and your winning
Cheque has being sent to you or remitted to your account, as this is part of
our security protocol, to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking of
advantage of this program by participants, that has happened in the
past.http://www.nestle.com.my/Nestle+In+Your+Life/Promotions/
To file for your claims please contact our Uk online fiduciary officer with
the information
1. Full Name: _____________
2. Address: ____________
3. Age: ____________
4. Occupation: _____________
5. Phone: __________
6. State of Origin: ___________
7. Country: _____________
Agent: Name:
Mr.Rafidah Hawazin
EMAIL: nestlefoodonlinepromotionn@gmail.com
This is very advice able you reach contact via mail quickly.
http://www.nestle.com.my/Nestle+In+Your+Life/Promotions/
Mrs. Ann Ray
Your cencarelly Online Co-ordinator.
Exporting Trash to Poorer Countries
From The New York Times, where you can read the entire article on exporting trash by clicking here
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: September 26, 2009
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands — When two inspectors swung open the doors of a battered red shipping container here, they confronted a graveyard of Europe’s electronic waste — old wires, electricity meters, circuit boards — mixed with remnants of cardboard and plastic.
“This is supposed to be going to China, but it isn’t going anywhere,” said Arno Vink, an inspector from the Dutch environment ministry who impounded the container because of Europe’s strict new laws that place restrictions on all types of waste exports, from dirty pipes to broken computers to household trash.
Exporting waste illegally to poor countries has become a vast and growing international business, as companies try to minimize the costs of new environmental laws, like those here, that tax waste or require that it be recycled or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.
Rotterdam, the busiest port in Europe, has unwittingly become Europe’s main external garbage chute, a gateway for trash bound for places like China, Indonesia, India and Africa. There, electronic waste and construction debris containing toxic chemicals are often dismantled by children at great cost to their health. Other garbage that is supposed to be recycled according to European law may be simply burned or left to rot, polluting air and water and releasing the heat-trapping gases linked to global warming.
While much of the international waste trade is legal, sent to qualified overseas recyclers, a big chunk is not. For a price, underground traders make Europe’s waste disappear overseas.
After Europe first mandated recycling electronics like televisions and computers, two to three tons of electronic waste was turned in last year, far less than the seven tons anticipated. Much of the rest was probably exported illegally, according to the European Environment Agency.
Paper, plastic and metal trash exported from Europe rose tenfold from 1995 to 2007, the agency says, with 20 million containers of waste now shipped each year either legally or illegally. Half of that passes through this huge port, where trucks and ships exchange goods around the clock.
When we were blogging about pirates in Somalia, a Somali wrote in that part of the problem was that rich western countries were dumping toxic trash off the coast of Somalia and damaging the traditional fishing wealth of the country. Once trash is exported, there is no telling where it will be dumped, or what problems we are causing for our descendants down the road. I can’t help but think that we reap what we sow – and that we need to be paying attention to what we are dumping and where we are dumping it.
Future Airline Seating Plan
When I first saw this, I was horrified. As I read the article on AOL News and discovered that it is for short-length commuter planes, it made sense. No overhead bins, seating like on the metro or a bus . . . is this the wave of the future?
I don’t see any seat belts – I am guessing that seat belts would be a must – and I can’t imagine sitting for an hour in the middle, with no seat back.
Can the seating arrangement in an airplane lead to more affordable fares? Apparently, the answer is yes. A new aircraft seating design is being developed in the UK for just that reason.
According to a September 22 report by the Telegraph, the new arrangement has been developed specifically for budget airlines offering short flights. The article states that the design “could lead to a 50 per cent increase in the number of passengers on board with a saving of up to a third per seat,” according to the UK-based developer, Design Q.
The design features flip-up benches and face-to-face seating that call to mind the inside of a train car.
Design Q said that the configuration is “loosely based on the way some soldiers travel to battle zones,” according to the Telegraph. In the article, the company also pointed out the design is aimed for short-term flights where passengers are not as concerned about comfort.
The director of Design Q, Howard Guy, told the Telegraph that one advantage of the design is that passengers will be able to exit quickly once the plane lands. Furthermore, the exclusion of bulky seats makes the plane lighter and as a result more fuel efficient.
On September 22, The Daily Express quoted Guy as saying, “[i]t is like taking the idea of traditional transport like a train or bus and asking: ‘Why can’t we do this on a plane?'”
The article also notes that the planes would be able to carry up to 10 per cent more passengers, so long as safety approval is granted.
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Early Voting in Florida
