(05-09-2009, 11:10 AM)atdsutm Wrote: [ -> ]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/ap_o...dance_flap
to increase Dr. Yang's anger to Christianity
That's
Mr. Yang to you, bub!
Whatever gave you the idea I'm a doctor anyway...
Quote:I have a PhD in Horribleness.
Ohh...nvm
I wonder what they do for "fun" that school, if Proms are out of the question.
"An 18-year-old has secretly painted a 60ft drawing of a phallus on the roof of his parents' £1million mansion in Berkshire. It was there for a year before his parents found out. They say he'll have to scrub it off when he gets back from travelling."
Sauce
Remember that news from last week about the motherfuckers in the Bureau of Customs sleazing people out of box via taxes? I think I know why they're doing that now:
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/ec...llion.html
Quote:MAKATI Mayor and United Opposition (UNO) president Jejomar Binay said on Sunday the Bureau of Customs (BOC) should go after smugglers instead of taxing books, citing estimates that up to P140 billion is lost yearly to smuggling.
“The Bureau of Customs should go after smugglers and plug the losses. They should get their priorities straight and, for me, collecting P140 billion in lost tariffs and taxes should be their priority,” he said. “They are either neglectful of their duty or they tolerate smuggling,” he added.
The BOC has been consistently missing its collection targets. For the first quarter of 2009, the agency fell P5.2 billion short of its target of P51 billion. The amount was also P3 billion lower than the P48.9 billion in the same quarter last year.
“Their failure to meet their collection target should push the agency to go after smugglers to recover the lost taxes and duties. But by zeroing in on imported books, the BOC is resorting to a method that would require the least effort on their part, while jeopardizing the country’s book-development program,” he said.
Binay said Republic Act (RA) 8047, or the Book Development Act, is the law that governs the importation of books. In justifying the taxes, the Department of Finance (DOF) cited a provision of the Tariff and Customs Code.
Under RA 8047, the DOF and the BOC do not have the authority to approve or certify the release of imported books, he said. The law gives such authority to the National Book Development Board (NBDB).
“There is only one law governing the book industry and that is RA 8047, and on matters concerning importation of books, the authority designated by law is the NBDB, not the DOF and the BOC,” he said.
Binay said RA 8704 states that the NBDB is the only agency that certifies the importation of books, and book importers need only secure board certifications in order to import books without stating the type of books being imported.
The group Filipinos Against the Taxation of Books by Customs has said that taxation of books hinders the flow of knowledge and ideas by making books less accessible to people.
It added that the imposition of taxes on imported books by the BOC is in violation of a United Nations treaty known as the Florence Agreement of which the Philippines is a signatory.
Simply solution for this: Go after the over-earning BoC inspectors, seize ALL of their assets to compensate for the deficit, and put two bullets in their brain.
On second thought, cutting off their heads, carving out their heart and burning it might work for good measure.
Never know when they'll come back from the dead.
____________________________________________________________
Update to the blockade: Looks like it's finally drawing fire:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?art...egoryId=63
Quote:MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) revised interpretation of a law that granted tax-free importation of foreign books could soon make international best-selling books scarce in local bookstores and out of the reach of ordinary Filipino book lovers.
The new Customs policy has generated protests from Filipino book lovers who have expressed their concern in personal online blogs and Web forums over possibly higher-priced books and novels.
They have focused on Finance Undersecretary Espele Sales who upheld the BOC position on a provision in Republic Act 8047, or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act of 1995, previously used as basis for tax- or duty-free importation of books.
Sales backed the BOC’s claim that there was no provision in RA 8047 granting tax-free book importation.
The provision stated that there would be “tax- and duty-free importation of books or raw materials to be used in book publishing.”
Sales and the BOC agreed that “only books or raw materials to be used in book publishing” are to be exempt from taxes and duties.
Critics said their interpretation has violated the 1950 Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials, of which the Philippines was a signatory in 1952.
The treaty has provided for duty-free importation of books to guarantee the free flow of “educational, scientific, and cultural materials” between countries and declared that imported books should be duty-free.
But Sales reportedly brushed off this argument, saying novels and reading books are “not educational.”
The imposition of duties on foreign books has caused book importers to reconsider future importations due to higher importation costs for the books.
Book industry insiders said the importation of new books has virtually stopped in the last few months.
This, in turn, has caused a scarcity of new book titles at local popular books stores.
The BOC started its new policy when Customs examiner Rene Agulan imposed a duty on an importer who brought in the best-selling “Twilight” novel of Stephanie Meyer, which was recently made into a blockbuster movie.
Unfortunately, the unidentified book importer paid the duty imposed by Agulan, setting a precedent for duties to be imposed on other book shipments.
Let me reiterate the good undersecretary's words:
Quote:Sales reportedly brushed off this argument, saying novels and reading books are “not educational.”
Well yeah, it technically is news! But Project WTF is that way -->
and Poor kid. He deserves better parents.
Stuff like that's on sankakucomplex.com all the time. Like the recent article about a man in Russia getting his penis DRILLED (literally) by his wife. >_<
Ananova Wrote:Man learns to tell 'pigs' from cops
A New Zealand man who called police officers 'pigs' has been ordered to spend a day at a pig farm.
The 22-year-old has also been ordered to write an essay about the difference between pigs and police officers.
The man was charged with using offensive language after he hurled abuse at police during a trip to Auckland.
Community Magistrate Robyn Paterson at Tauranga District Court ordered him to spend a day at a pig farm and present a short essay on his experiences, reports The Bay of Plenty Times.
According to the newspaper, he wrote: "I was very, very drunk. I have stopped drinking because of what happened. I have wasted the police's time and my time."
He maintained the word pig could be found in the Oxford dictionary and was often used to describe police.
But added he had learned 'that there is nothing at all in common with a pig and an officer'.
One of the more clever and fitting punishments I've read.
http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugg...ii/1316670
Quote:The Royal Wii
by Mike Krumbholtz
Buzz up!
The Nintendo Wii has positioned itself as the gaming console for everybody. As it turns out, that includes the Queen of England. Well, sort of. It's not like Her Royal Highness went down to Wal-Mart and bought one with her summer job savings. Rather, she was given a special version by gaming company THQ.
What makes the Queen's "Royal Wii" different? It's gold-plated, sucka! None of that lame white plastic for Buckingham Palace — the Queen needs her bling! Gaming blog Joystiq reports that the gaming company is hopeful that the PR stunt "will amuse Queen Elizabeth."
Meanwhile, Geek.com writes that the gift is actually meant to build awareness for the upcoming game, Big Family Games. An ulterior motive? What?!? As the geeks put it, "for a game that is meant to include the whole family from kids to grandparents what better family to send it to than The Royal Family in England."
According to Game Revolution, Big Family Games is a collection of mini-games, including "golf, tennis, ladder golf, lawn darts, horseshoes, bocce," and more. So far, search interest is rather scant. However, should the Queen declare her love for the gift, expect the title to get a right honorable boost in the Buzz. Silly as that sounds, it's not out of the realm of possibility -- according to insiders, she was "addicted" to playing Prince William's Wii last Christmas. Now she'll have one of her own.
A gold plated Wii, I never thought I would see this day