Teh interesting (non-PHL-related) news stub thread

[Twin-Skies]

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...

I have a PhD in Horribleness.

Ohh...nvm

I wonder what they do for "fun" that school, if Proms are out of the question.

[AppleHead]

"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

[Twin-Skies]

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

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

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:

Sales reportedly brushed off this argument, saying novels and reading books are “not educational.”

[atdsutm]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6209516.html

rest in peace duke nukem

[Grim]

rest in peace duke nukem

You shall live on in the annals of epic fail.

http://games.ign.com/articles/981/981284p1.html

[atdsutm]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/ap_o...dance_flap

to increase Dr. Yang's anger to Christianity

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92559/?fp=1

he did the right thing going to the prom!!!

Good job!!!!!

---

[Twin-Skies]

Define irony:

Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8034027.stm

An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth on a 5,000-mile (8,000km)carbon emission-free trip to Greenland have been rescued by an oil tanker.

Raoul Surcouf, Richard Spink and skipper Ben Stoddart sent a mayday because they feared for their safety amid winds of 68mph (109km/h).

All three are reportedly exhausted but safe on board the Overseas Yellowstone.

Mr Surcouf, 40, from Jersey, Mr Spink, 31, and Mr Stoddart, 43, from Bristol, are due to arrive in the USA on 8 May.

'Heartfelt thanks'

The team, which left Mount Batten Marina in Plymouth on 19 April in a boat named the Fleur, aimed to rely on sail, solar and man power on a journey to and from the highest point of the Greenland ice cap.

The expedition was followed by up to 40 schools across the UK to promote climate change awareness.

But atrocious weather dogged their journey after 27 April, culminating with the rescue on 1 May after the boat was temporarily capsized three times by the wind.

In one incident Mr Stoddart hit his head and the wind generator and solar panels were ripped from the yacht.

Ben Stoddart was hauled aboard after falling in during the rescue
Water was also getting into the boat from waves breaking over it and the crew took refuge in the forward cabin.

The crew were 400 miles (644km) off the west coast of Ireland when they sent a mayday to Falmouth coastguards who co-ordinated the rescue with Irish coastguards.

The transfer from the Fleur to Overseas Yellowstone was achieved in 42mph (67km/h) winds.

Mr Spink and Mr Surcouf were able to jump across to a rope ladder. But Mr Stoddart fell into the sea, was thrown a line by the crew and hauled aboard.

Team spokeswoman Jess Tombs said: "They are all overwhelmingly relieved to be safe.

"They would like to give heartfelt thanks to the coastguards for their professionalism as well as to the outstanding captain and crew of the Overseas Yellowstone."

[AppleHead]

Father, High on PCP, Eats Son's Eyeballs Out

"...A man in Bakersfield, California got high on PCP and ate his son's eyeballs out. Then the father attempted to hack his own legs off with an axe. The boy's mother, also a PCP user, came to the door just before the attack to deliver a pizza to their home, heard her son screaming for her to rescue him, but left anyway."

Source
Source 2

*** - *** - ***

Robber uses banana as gun, eats evidence when cops arrive

...The owner, Bobby Ray Mabe, said he and a customer jumped Szwalla, holding him until deputies arrived. While they waited, Mabe says the teen ate the banana.

Mabe says deputies took pictures of the peel. Forsyth County Sheriff's office spokesman Maj. Brad Stanley says deputies joked about charging Szwalla with destroying evidence.

Source

[Sforza]

Well yeah, it technically is news! But Project WTF is that way -->

and Poor kid. He deserves better parents.

[Grim]

Father, High on PCP, Eats Son's Eyeballs Out

"...A man in Bakersfield, California got high on PCP and ate his son's eyeballs out. Then the father attempted to hack his own legs off with an axe. The boy's mother, also a PCP user, came to the door just before the attack to deliver a pizza to their home, heard her son screaming for her to rescue him, but left anyway."

OMG

[NiX]

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. >_<

[maitreya]

Excess gov’t execs cost taxpayers P58 M a year
Written by Jesus Llanto
Wednesday, 20 May 2009

The Office of the President has the most number of excess—unqualified—undersecretaries and assistant secretaries

The government could save as much as P58 million a year if it would remove all the redundant executives from the bureaucracy, a study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) showed.

The 2008/2009 Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR), which was launched Wednesday in Quezon City, counted as many as 81 unneeded undersecretaries and assistant secretaries, most of them with the Office of the President.

More than half of these excess executives are unqualified for their positions, the study said.

The PHDR, called “Institution, Politics and Human Development,” said that aside from excess officials, the following factors have also undermined the quality of the bureaucracy at all levels in recent years: appointments made for political accommodation, an outdated compensation scheme, and the surge in the number of ad-hoc bodies, presidential consultants, and advisers.

The study noted that while only 131 undersecretaries and assistant secretaries are prescribed by law, the government had 222 incumbent employees occupying these positions as of December 2007. The figure represents an excess of 62 percent.

Ineligible
“If each draws an average of P722, 000 a year in salaries, allowances, and discretionary funds, then theses excess cost government an extra P58 million a year,” the study said.

The report also noted that more than half (56 percent) of these 222 department executives were “technically ineligible” to occupy their positions.

The Office of the President, the PHDR said, had the most number of excess undersecretaries and assistant secretaries at 31. Eighty-nine percent of them were ineligible for the position.

The study also said that the number of ad-hoc bodies and presidential advisers and consultants significantly increased in recent years.

“After peaking in 2002 at 175, there was a sharp decline in 2003 to 74 [ad-hoc bodies], attributed to the work of the Presidential Commision on Effective Governance (PCEG),” the study said. After the abolition of the PCEG in 2004, the number of ad-hoc bodies increased again and reached 85 in 2007.

Demoralizing
The significant increase in the number of consultants and advisers, meanwhile, started in 2002. Under the Ramos administration, the number of presidential consultants declined from 33 in 1994 to 27 in 1998. It reached 34 under the Estrada administration, but declined sharply to 15 during the early years of the Arroyo administration.

“The number of presidential consultants/ advisers has risen significantly since 2002, reaching an all-time high of 49 in 2008,” the study noted.

The study also warned against the creation of additional positions of presidential consultants and advisers. “Presidential consultants and advisers enjoy the title and authority, without accountability.”

Toby Melissa Monsod, one of the authors of the PHDR, said these appointments cause demoralization and destruction of initiative in the regular civil service.

“The practice of appointing non-career and non-eligible people into formal plantilla positions undermines the constitutional notion of ‘merit and fitness,’” Monsod said. She pointed out that about 10,000 positions are subject to presidential prerogative, which allows politicians to intervene in appointment process.


‘Perverse Incentives’
The study also identified the outdated compensation scheme as a factor in weakening the quality of government personnel. Paying low salaries, the government fails to retain its competent workers.

The government is the country’s biggest direct employer with 1.4 million workers.

“Perverse incentives in the civil service have weakened the quality of the bureaucracy at all levels in recent years,” the study said, adding that the compensation package for government employees pale in comparison with their peers in the private sectors.

“Salaries can be as much as 74 percent below comparative jobs in the private sector,” the study said, quoting a 2006 study by the Civil Service Commission.

“Most affected are directors, district engineers, school superintendents, college professors, prosecutors, state auditors, assistant secretaries, undersecretaries...people responsible for policy design, higher-level technical services, and the day-today management of the government,” the study said.

Other government positions suffering from low salaries are division chiefs, public lawyers, school principals, public health nurses, social workers, teachers, election officers, customs examiners, engineers, agriculturists, and those who are directly involved in the implementation of public programs.

The study said that there is a need to pass a law that would provide a new government classification and compensation scheme to restore professionalism and meritocracy in the bureaucracy.

Proposals for new salary standardization laws are pending in Congress. The proposed legislations seek to increase the salaries of government personnel and remove overlaps in salaries between positions, which resulted in instances where some subordinates receive higher salaries than their supervisors. (Newsbreak)

http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option...d=88889066

[Grim]

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.

[Black Dragon]

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugg...ii/1316670

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

[Sforza]

http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/05/21/%E2%...rchbishop/

"We did know what child abuse was a crime!", sez retired Catholic archbishop. Said bishop has already spent millions of $$ in settlements on behalf of his diocese.

....Right.