Hurricane Sandy and Wall Street (video)

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Hurricane Sandy or Buenos Aires storm?

Slappers: how to improve productivity (audio)

 

Here's some more information

Using an app called RescueTime, which measures how much time you spend on websites, Sethi found that he spent approximately 29 hours on Reddit and Facebook chat during the week.

 He posted an ad on Craigslist and wrote "I'm looking for someone who can work next to me at a defined location (my house or a café) and will make sure to watch what is happening on my screen. When I am wasting time, you'll have to yell at me or slap me. Compensation: $8 / hour, and you can do your own work from your computer at the same time."

 In less than an hour, Sethi's inbox was flooded with 20 emails. He eventually settled on a woman named Kara, and the two met at a local cafe the next morning.

 Sethi wrote that it wasn't "the fear of the slap" that drove his productivity, but the fact that someone was there to encourage him to focus and help him brainstorm. "Kara became my boss, knowing what I needed to get done, and forcing me to do it," he added.

 And what about asking some questions now?  Here are the answers you should be getting.

1. how much time you spend on websites,

2. 29 hours

3. someone who can work next to me

4. to yell at me or slap me.

5. $8 / hour.

6. In less than an hour

7. 20 emails.

8. at a local cafe

9. No, it wasn't "the fear of the slap" that drove his productivity

10. Yes, he did.

Gangnam Style (video)

Click on the logo below to watch the video and then answer the questions  

(A)  Are the following facts mentioned on the video above?

 1. "Gangnam Style," quickly catapulted Psy, the 35-year-old South Korean rapper onto the international stage, quite literally. His real name is Jae-Sang Park,

2.'Gangnam Style' made K-pop cool again.

K-pop (Korean-pop) has been around the music block for a while, but "Gangnam Style," a song sung almost entirely in Korean, has helped bring it back onto the international scene.

"Gangnam Style" is the most popular music video on YouTube this month. As of this writing, it had more than 582,503,295 views since being posted in July -- more than Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" or Nicki Minaj's "Starships."

It is also currently the number-one music video on iTunes, beating out Taylor Swift's "We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together," Justin Beiber's "As Long As You Love Me," and Katy Perry's "Wide Awake." According to the Wall Street Journal, it's the first time a Korean artist has topped that category.

3. 'Oppan Gangnam Style'roughly means "Girls, your big brother is Gangnam Style."

4. Gangnam is a wealthy district of Seoul, South Korea

5. Psy has been around for over a decade

The rapper's debut album, "PSY ... From the Psycho World!" was released in Korea in 2001. The song "Gangnam Style" is a track on his sixth album.

He also starred in two movies, "Mongjunggi" in 2002 and "Mongjunggi 2" in 2005.

Like many other pop stars there these days, Psy is a judge on the Korean talent reality TV show, "Superstar K" -- think the Korean version of "American Idol."


(B)  If you haven't watched the video, just click on the Play Button or on the Photograph

(C) Here's the English translation of what Psy sings in Korean.

Oppa is Gangnam style
Gangnam style

A girl who is warm and humanly during the day
A classy girl who know how to enjoy the freedom of a cup of coffee
A girl whose heart gets hotter when night comes
A girl with that kind of twist

I’m a guy
A guy who is as warm as you during the day
A guy who one-shots his coffee before it even cools down
A guy whose heart bursts when night comes
That kind of guy

Beautiful, loveable
Yes you, hey, yes you, hey
Beautiful, loveable
Yes you, hey, yes you, hey
Now let’s go until the end

Oppa is Gangnam style, Gangnam style

Eh- Sexy Lady, Oppa is Gangnam style
Eh- Sexy Lady oh oh oh oh

A girl who looks quiet but plays when she plays
A girl who puts her hair down when the right time comes
A girl who covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all
A sensible girl like that

I’m a guy
A guy who seems calm but plays when he plays
A guy who goes completely crazy when the right time comes
A guy who has bulging ideas rather than muscles
That kind of guy

Beautiful, loveable
Yes you, hey, yes you, hey
Beautiful, loveable
Yes you, hey, yes you, hey
Now let’s go until the end

Oppa is Gangnam style, Gangnam style
Eh- Sexy Lady oh oh oh oh

On top of the running man is the flying man, baby baby
I’m a man who knows a thing or two
On top of the running man is the flying man, baby baby
I’m a man who knows a thing or two

You know what I’m saying
Oppa is Gangnam style
Eh- Sexy Lady, Oppa is Gangnam style

Global Conference (audio)

 Please click on the Play Button

to listen to the report and then answer 9 of the 10 the questions below



1. What does GCARD stand for?

2. Where and when was GCARD I held?

3. Where and when will GCARD II be held?

4. What is the main difference between the two conferences?

5. What will the theme at the 2012 conference be?

6. What do you know about Professor Monty Jones? Mention at least 3 things

7. What is "foresight thinking"?

8. What does the GCARD Roadmap recommend?

9. What is NERICA?

10. What does the GCARD say about (a) hunger and (b) Africa?

Chocolate vote (video)

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Stateless and stranded on American Samoa (audio)

You can also listen to this audio by clicking on the Play Button

VIENNA, Austria — Mikhail Sebastian’s (photo) trip to American Samoa redefines the term nightmare vacation.

Instead of a five-day holiday to the lush, tropical US territory in the South Pacific, the 39-year-old has spent more than nine brutal months there caught in an immigration law hell. Experts agree it’s an unprecedented illustration of America’s broken immigration system.

Charity Tooze, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) office in the United States, which is advocating for Sebastian, said: “There’s a big gap in the legal structure of the United States when it comes to stateless people, and Mikhail has fallen right through it.”

To understand Sebastian’s case, one has to grasp the problem of statelessness in America.

At least 4,000 people in the United States don’t have citizenship in any country, through no fault of their own, according to advocacy group Refugees International.

The US immigration system can offer stateless people a path to legal residency and possible citizenship if an asylum claim is accepted.

But often, as in the case of Sebastian, stateless people end up in a legal twilight zone of sorts. His asylum application was rejected in 1996, the year after he came to the US on a business visa in his USSR passport and decided he wanted to stay in the country.

After a judge ruled in 2002 that he should be deported, Sebastian was jailed for six months. But since no country would accept him, officials released Sebastian with a work permit and the stipulation that he regularly check in with immigration authorities, records show.

“People like this find themselves in a very precarious position, where there aren’t really any remedies for them at all,” said Maureen Lynch, an expert on statelessness affiliated with the International Observatory on Statelessness in the United Kingdom.

They can end up living in permanent quasi-legality — often until their deaths, Lynch said.

More than 70 countries have signed on to two international conventions that bind them to provide a way for the stateless to regularize their legal status. But the United States never has. And though lawmakers have introduced legislation in the past to offer a pathway to immigration regularization, it has failed each time.

Because he can’t travel outside the United States, Sebastian says he’s been visiting the most exotic American destinations he can find — Guam, Puerto Rico and Hawaii, among others. To facilitate his travels, he has a so-called “World Passport” from the World Service Authority, which David Gallup, the group's president, describes as a global-governmental organization. A World Passport is a document that’s supposed to confer world citizenship; it can be issued to anyone, other than criminals, terrorists and citizens of certain countries, like Cuba and Iran, Gallup says.

Last December, Sebastian decided, the South Pacific was next on his list. He says he checked with US immigration authorities and was told that visiting American Samoa wouldn't cause him any problems. The American Samoans sent him an authorization to travel with the World Passport — because of American Samoa’s unusual relationship to the United States, everyone traveling there and back passes through customs.

Here’s the chain of events no one disputes: After visiting American Samoa, Sebastian took a side trip to the neighboring independent country of Samoa before crossing back into the US territory. When he tried to board a plane on the way back to the mainland, airline officials called US immigration authorities. They decreed that a World Passport wasn’t a valid travel document and he couldn’t board the flight back.

That doesn’t make sense to American Samoan officials, who wonder how Sebastian can be considered deported from the United States if he is now on American territory.

In a written statement to GlobalPost the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency wrote that Sebastian had, in effect, self-deported himself: “In 2002, an immigration judge with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) ordered Sebastian to depart the United States. At that time, he was not in ICE custody as the agency had deferred action on his removal. In the meantime, he had been granted employment authorization. In December 2011 when Mr. Sebastian traveled to American Samoa and Samoa, he was prohibited from returning to the United States due to the immigration judge’s order.”

On the island, authorities have been appealing to the highest levels of the federal government. The territory’s governor, congressional delegate and the local Office of the Attorney General have all begged the US to take Sebastian back. And a thick web of pro-bono immigration attorneys and UNCHR have taken up Sebastian’s case.

But Homeland Security won’t give in and Sebastian’s supporters worry that he could be stuck forever. If that happens, American Samoa would have to change its laws to allow Sebastian to work or own land, officials say.

“As a US territory we can’t tell the US what to do. And we don’t have the same influence a state does,” said Vincent Kruse, a lawyer with American Samoa’s Attorney General who has been working on Sebastian’s case. “It’s definitely very frustrating because we just want to help Mikhail go home but we’re starting to think about the possibility that he may be here for the long run.”

Sebastian just wants to get back to California to reopen his asylum case — records show federal officials had previously approved its reopening but rescinded the offer after they realized he was stuck in the South Pacific.

Sebastian says he isn’t reveling in his mini-celebrity on the island of just 55,000 people. He’s feeling powerless and at his lowest points has even contemplated suicide.

“This whole situation is like a hell for me,” he said.



edited from Global Post

Butlers - Very good, sir

Please choose the correct word in parentheses while you read the article


PAOLO GABRIELE was Pope Benedict XVI’s butler. But he breached his trade’s cardinal rule: discretion. On October 6th a Vatican court found him guilty of aggravated theft, after he leaked documents to a journalist (though - however - despite - since ) a pardon is thought to be pending).

 (Though - However - Despite - Since ) many scandals involving talkative ex-butlers, demand is soaring. So is the complexity of the job.

A birthday in Venezuela organised by Anthony Seddon-Holland, a British soldier-turned-butler, involved three planeloads of guests and security, and booking an entire hotel, plus rock band and film stars.

Bespoke Bureau, a London agency, has placed 345 butlers this year—twice as many as in all of 2011. The five-week training courses Mr Seddon-Holland runs at his Guild of British Butlers, which he set up in 2007, are booked until 2013.

Demand increases by around a fifth every year. He is considering launching new courses in New York (though - however - despite - since )  he sees Latin America as a potentially “monstrous” market.

Old-money aristocrats are no longer the main employers. Chinese, Russian and Middle Eastern plutocrats are taking their place.

80% of Bespoke Bureau’s placements were abroad, says its boss, Sara Vestin Rahmani. Of the remainder in Britain, half went to foreign employers.

Clients are paying for British traditions, hierarchy and experience, Ms Vestin Rahmani says. Below the surface, the skills are closer to those of a manager than a servant: for a Russian oligarch, Mr Seddon-Holland managed properties on several continents and organised 60 permanent staff.

A world-class butler can earn up to £150,000 ($240,000) plus bonus, separate living accommodation and all expenses. (Though - However - Despite - Since ) if a wealthy client finds you indispensable, Mr Seddon-Holland says, a butler can “demand almost anything” to stay put.

Employers may need some help in learning to make the most of their expensive new toy. Rick Fink of the Butler-Valet School encourages employers to take his £8,000 four-week course too (though - however - despite - since ) that helps them avoid misunderstandings. Just like their butlers, employers should get everything right.


adapted from The Economist

Andes survivors celebrate life (video)

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Felix Baumgartner jumps from balloon (video)

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Chanel No. 5 and Brad Pitt (audio)

You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button

An attorney's bad day

(Reuters) - A New Orleans city attorney was arrested for possession of marijuana and suspended from his job after a joint tumbled from his pocket in front of police in court.

Jason Cantrell, 43, assistant city attorney, was issued a summons for simple possession of marijuana on Monday afternoon after a marijuana cigarette fell to the floor in Orleans Parish magistrate court, New Orleans Police spokesman Frank Robertson said.

"Jason Cantrell is suspended without pay pending further investigation," Ryan Berni, a spokesman for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, said on Wednesday. "He was not acting in his capacity as assistant city attorney when the incident occurred."

Cantrell's wife, a candidate for New Orleans City Council, said on her official Facebook page:

"I am very angry, embarrassed, and disappointed to learn about my husband's bad decision and lack of judgment today. I absolutely do not condone his actions. He has resigned his position with the City Attorney’s Office, and he will accept the legal consequences as the judicial process takes its course.

I love my husband unconditionally and am very concerned for his health and wellbeing, and for that of our family. I hope that this incident will encourage Jason to seek the professional help he needs and ask that the public respect our privacy in this very personal family matter."

Cantrell, who submitted his resignation yesterday, began practicing law in Louisiana more than 16 years ago, according to Louisiana State Bar Association. He ran unsuccessfully for juvenile court judge in 2009. He has been with the city since 2009.

Jason Cantrell could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. LaToya Cantrell will remain in the race for city council.

 

adapted from Reuters

No ordinary NY hotel (video)

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

GM to add jobs in Michigan

(Reuters) - General Motors Co will create 1,500 jobs at a new software development center in Michigan as part of the U.S. automaker's previously announced plan to shift information technology work back into the company.

GM will hire the software developers, database experts, analysts and other IT positions over the next four years for the office in Warren, Michigan. It is the second of four software development centers GM plans to open, following one it announced last month in Austin, Texas.

The Detroit automaker will reverse years of outsourcing IT work. GM now outsources about 90 percent of its IT services and provides the rest in-house, but it wants to flip those figures in the next 3 to 5 years.

GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott outlined the plan to GM's 1,500 IT employees in June. The former Hewlett-Packard Co executive believes the moves will make GM more efficient and productive.

GM, which has not disclosed the cost or savings of its strategy, plans to cut the automaker's list of IT applications by at least 40 percent and move to a more standardized platform. GM will also simplify the way it transmits data.

As part of its plan, GM will shift from 23 data centers worldwide to just two, both in Michigan.


from Reuters - Adapted

Hugo Chavez Won Re-Election Bid

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

And now, how about finishing the following sentences (you have some suggestions below)

1. Henrique Caprile asked
2. Henrique Caprile wants
3. Henrique Caprile told
4. Henrique Caprile promised
5. Henrique Caprile suggested
6. Henrique Caprile hopes
7. Henrique Caprile will continue
8. Hugo Chávez wants
9. Hugo Chávez seemed to enjoy
10. Hugo Chávez tried
11. Hugo Chávez dislikes
12. Hugo Chávez will go on
13. Venezuela’s dozens of anti-chavista parties agreed
14. Venezuela’s dozens of anti-chavista parties will keep


Suggestions:


A. call his opponent a “pig”, a “fascist” and “mediocre” among other epithets
B. hold a primary to choose a single presidential candidate
C. keep Mr Chávez in check during his next term
D. listen to all of those who turned out to vote.
E. make his “21st-century socialist revolution” irreversible
F. remain in office as Venezuela’s president until 2031.
G. respect and consider almost half of the country.
H. restore the autonomy of parliament, the courts and other branches of state, as well as the powers of regional governors.
I. reverse the concentration of power in the presidency.
J. take power as the leader of a failed military coup in 1992.
K. work for the union of all Venezuelans
L. take into consideration the views of all the people when governing

Femen's Topless Protest

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button