American Dad it’s back with season 4
November 30, 2008
The series revolves around STAN SMITH (Seth MacFarlane, “Family Guy”), a CIA agent based in Langley Falls, VA, who is an undisputed weapons expert and proud family man. Stan’s wife is the sweet, Edith Bunker-esque FRANCINE (Wendy Schaal), who has carefully hidden her party-girl personality for the sake of the conservative man she loves. Stan is constantly butting heads with his ultra-liberal 18-year-old daughter, HAYLEY (Rachael MacFarlane), who is forced to go through an airport-style security check every time she comes home from a day of Women’s Studies classes at the local community college. Hayley’s 13-year-old brother is the hapless, geeky STEVE (Scott Grimes), a kid who seems to be on the verge of puberty, but can’t quite make it past the squeaky awkwardness. The Smith household is rounded out by two rather unconventional members. There’s ROGER (Seth MacFarlane), the sarcastic space alien Stan rescued from Area 51 who lives in the Smiths’ attic; and KLAUS (Dee Bradley Baker), a lascivious, German-speaking goldfish – the result of a CIA experiment gone seriously wrong.
This eccentric family full of radically different personalities is just trying to find a way to love and trust each other during these increasingly stressful times. And with a guy like Stan doing his best to make America safer, it’s bound to be a hilarious ride.
AMERICAN DAD is a 20th Century Fox Television. Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman serve as co-creators and executive producers
http://www.fox.com/americandad/
My favorite, Roger it’s also back with new adventures and funny moments.
Watch also Family Guy , same producer , same funny , with esence and more humour.
Enjoy!
by Burca Alice Larisa
Economy warning from China leader
November 30, 2008
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By James Reynolds
BBC News, Beijing |
Hu Jintao said the economic crisis would test the Communist Party
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China’s President Hu Jintao has warned of the effects of the global financial crisis on his country.
Mr Hu gave his warning at a meeting of the Politburo and his words have been made public by the state media.
As growth slows, Mr Hu said that in the coming period China would starkly confront the effects of the international financial crisis.
And he warned that the economic situation was a test of the Communist Party’s ability to govern.
Recent figures show that the government has cause to be worried.
Growth has slowed to 9% – and predictions say that it may drop to 7% or 8% next year.
These are dazzling figures for some economies, but there’s a widespread belief – even a superstition – in China that growth needs to stay above 7% in order for social stability to be maintained.
China has already taken action.
This past week the central bank carried out the biggest cut in interest rates in more than a decade.
And earlier this month, the government announced a stimulus package of $586bn (£380bn).
This is enough, the Communist Party will hope, to get this country through the next year or two.
Swiss vote on prescription heroin
November 30, 2008
BBC News, Berne
An experimental 10-year heroin programme has produced results
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Voters in Switzerland are going to the polls in a series of referendum votes to decide the country’s policy on illegal drugs.
One ballot asks voters to vote on whether to approve heroin prescription as a permanent Swiss health policy.
Opinion polls suggest voters are likely to approve the plan, which would make Switzerland the world’s first country to include it in government policy.
But another proposal to decriminalise cannabis is not likely to pass.
Switzerland has had an experimental heroin prescription programme for over a decade.
Supporters say it has had positive results – getting long-term addicts out of Switzerland’s once notorious needle parks and reducing drug-related crime.
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SWISS HEROIN PROGRAMME
Running since 1994
Used by 1,300 addicts
Includes 23 centres nationwide
Also offers psychiatric counseling
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Opponents say heroin prescription sends the wrong message to young people and harms the addicts themselves.
But polls suggest the Swiss – pleased that their streets are now free of addicts and used syringes – are likely to approve heroin prescription.
On cannabis things are less clear – Swiss police regularly turn a blind to moderate cannabis use.
But recent studies suggesting that long term use of the drug may be more harmful than previously thought look likely to encourage a “no” to decriminalisation.
Tensions rise over Thai blockade
November 30, 2008
Anti-government protesters have occupied two airports since Tuesday
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Tensions continued to rise in Bangkok as thousands of anti-government protesters occupied the city’s two main airports for a sixth day.
Police said they were negotiating with a group, as officials warned of soaring economic losses from the blockade.
Some 100,000 passengers remain stranded in the Thai capital. Some countries are putting on flights to bring them home.
Demonstrators want the government to step down, accusing it of being corrupt and hostile to the monarchy.
Fears of violence between pro- and anti-government groups are growing, after a grenade attack in Bangkok.
Saturday’s late-night attack on protesters who have been occupying a government compound since August injured about 50 people, three of them seriously.
It is widely presumed to be retaliation for the airport occupation, says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Bangkok.
Pro-government groups are said to be planning a rally in the capital later in the day.
‘Avoid confrontation’
Demonstrators from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) – a loose alliance of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class – have been been occupying Bangkok’s international and domestic airports for almost a week.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has authorised police to remove them, but police say that they will not use force.
“We are in a negotiation process. We want to avoid any violent confrontation. We will not use weapons,” police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said.
By Rina Chandran and Madhu Soman
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian commandos killed the last Islamist gunmen holed up at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal hotel on Saturday, ending a three-day battle at landmarks across India’s financial capital that killed at least 155 people.
“Taj is under our control,” Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor told Reuters, shortly after the building was raked by heavy gunfire as flames leapt from windows.
At least three militants and one trooper were killed after a running gunbattle through a maze of corridors, rooms and halls, the country’s commando chief, Jyoti Krishna Dutt, told a news conference.
The gunmen had set parts of the hotel ablaze as they played cat and mouse with scores of India’s best-trained commandos, known as the Black Cats.
Sniffer dogs were taken to the iconic 105-year-old hotel and ambulances arrived. Some commandos did a final sweep of the rooms, while others boarded buses to pull out, looking exhausted.
Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata Group of companies which owns the hotel, arrived at the premises later in the morning. He may be shocked by what he finds when he is finally let inside.
“The lobby is an absolute mess,” said Manish Mundra, a volunteer who was bringing food to security forces and had been inside the hotel. “The furniture is broken, there is water everywhere they are never going to be able to reuse any of that stuff.”
Black streaks of soot stained the grey bricks, white balconies and red-tiled roofs of the hotel’s facade. Two of its corner stained-glass windows were broken.
The Taj Mahal was the last battleground after three days of intense fighting in various parts of the city of 18 million.
Several newspapers said some of the militants had checked into the Taj hotel some days or weeks before the attacks, while the Times of India said they had rented an apartment in the city a few months ago pretending to be students.
Friday, an army general said the gunmen appeared to be “very, very familiar” with the layout of the hotel, giving them a crucial advantage over his men. They were also well trained.
“At times we found them matching us in combat and movement,” one commando told the Hindustan Times. “They were either army regulars or have done a long stint of commando training.”
DEATH TOLL
Mumbai police inspector Ashok Patil told Reuters at least 155 people had been killed and “we are still counting” as bodies were collected from the luxury Taj and nearby Trident-Oberoi hotels, scene of another siege that ended on Friday.
India blamed the strike on “elements” from Pakistan, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Pakistan said the two countries faced a common enemy and it would send a representative of its spy agency to share intelligence. Continued…
Defence debates-”Shaping Europe’s Defence Debate”
November 28, 2008
november 2007 Bruxelles
Security and defence policy has not been a major element of the contemporary
Brussels debate. European Union triumphs like the euro and its ‘big bang’ enlargement
and failures like the constitutional treaty have crowded out the less dramatic
developments inherent in its Common Foreign and Security Policy and its growing
defence identity. As to NATO, its strengthening post-Cold War role has been
somewhat eclipsed by the downturn in the transatlantic relationship since 9/11.
Yet for all that, Europe’s defence and security issues have since the turn of the
new century become an established part of the policymakers’ agenda, even if they
have yet to win the attention of the EU-accredited international press corps.
There is now a “community” of senior figures in Brussels whose function is to define
and refine European policy on the wide range of topics that until, say, five
years ago had generally been viewed as purely NATO business, and therefore the
province of the “other Brussels” out at suburban Evere near the airport.
The senior figures who make up this new European defence and security community
are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds – the generals and admirals who
are the member states’ military representatives, EU Commission and Council officials,
specially appointed diplomats, a growing body of senior executives from major
defence companies, some academic analysts and NGO people and a handful of
specialist journalists.
The coming together of these members of the European defence policymaking
community has been a gradual and largely imperceptible phenomenon. It has no
doubt been cloaked by the arrival of so many diplomats and newly-appointed EU
officials from the 12 new member states that have joined the Union since May
2004. Perhaps for that reason it has not been mirrored by a sharp uptake in most
Brussels-based think tanks’ interest in defence.
When the Security & Defence Agenda was set up in late 2001, its initial aim was
to provide a neutral meeting ground for NATO and EU defence policy specialists
who barely knew one another, but since then it has developed into a much more
structured debating forum. SDA activities now span monthly roundtables attracting
an average of 120 senior participants, major international conferences and
reports
you can read the final report here :
Intruder targets young beautiful sleeping women
November 28, 2008
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By KATE DUBINSKI AND JENNI DUNNING, SUN MEDIA
The London Free Press
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fctAdTag(“bigbox”,MyGenericTagVar,1); |
The behaviour of a man who sneaks into young women’s homes and watches them sleep could become more dangerous, police fear.
“Our concern is that he’s going to escalate,” said London police Det. Sgt. Henry Pateman, who heads the force’s sexual assault section.
“At this stage, the occurrences themselves are concerning.”
The man has targeted young women living off-campus near the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College.
He has increased the frequency of his nighttime intrusions, Pateman said.
Police have made public seven incidents that occurred in the last two months, but are looking at reports from before September.
“I think it’s someone that lives in our community,” Pateman said.
“There are previous incidents in the same general vicinity . . . There was an increase in activity in the last two months.”
Police released information about the man last week because they saw a pattern and wanted to alert the public, Pateman said.
The man walks into unlocked homes between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. and watches a young woman from her bedroom doorway or near her bed as she sleeps.
When the woman wakes up, he runs away, police say.
None of the women who have come forward to police have been able to provide enough of a description for police to release a composite sketch of the man.
Police are looking through old reports to see if similar incidents fit the pattern, Pateman said.
“I don’t know how many incidents there were before September,” he said.
It’s difficult to say whether the intruder will continue to peep, but his actions are more dangerous than some think, said Laurie Reece, founder of Threat Assessment and Response Canada, a Toronto-based company that profiles stalkers.
“People think peepers are not a problem, (but) it signifies something bigger . . . and potentially bigger to come.”
The intruder’s voyeurism suggests that he’s a man afraid of confrontation who may watch a house before entering, Reece said.
“He doesn’t want you to notice that he’s looking.”
Police are unsure why the man watches women sleep, but Reece said voyeurs are often acting out fantasies.
“These guys have a fantasy life (that) always precedes reality. He’s acting out something that’s in his head.”
Often someone starts peeping after being set off by a stressful trigger, such as the loss of a family member or job, she said.
The chances of a peeper escalating his actions to more dangerous behaviour are slim, said Hannah Scott, a homicide and serial offender specialist who’s an associate professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa.
“There are a lot more voyeurs out there than people who are offending.”
But women should always be on their guard for safety, said Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre.
Peeping can develop from using pornography, then watching women through windows to satisfy a sexual urge, that may heighten, she said.
Even if the intruder’s behaviour doesn’t escalate, it’s violence against women, said Barb MacQuarrie of the Centre for Research on Domestic Violence Against Women and Children.
“This is violence. It is a violation of some of the most personal and intimate space,” she said.
HOW TO HELP
Anyone with information is asked to call the sexual assault section of London police at 519-661-5674.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2008/11/28/7564706-sun.html
Iraq parliament passes U.S. security pact
November 28, 2008
By Ahmed Rasheed and Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament on Thursday approved a security pact with the United States that paves the way for U.S. forces to withdraw by the end of 2011, taking the country a big step closer to full sovereignty.
The deal, which parliament linked to a series of promised political reforms and a public referendum next year, brings in sight the end of a U.S. military presence that began with the 2003 invasion and ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein.
It will test whether Iraqi police and soldiers are ready to handle security after years of bloodshed between majority Shi’ites and Sunni Arabs who were initially allied with al Qaeda fighters battling U.S. forces.
The pact replaces an expiring U.N. mandate. It gives Iraq authority over about 150,000 U.S. troops in the country, who will be obliged to withdraw from towns by mid-2009, and makes them liable for some crimes committed when they are off duty.
“It is a historic day for the great Iraqi nation. We have made real one of its most important achievements,” Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an address to the nation.
Lawmakers in Iraq’s 275 seat parliament passed the deal with 149 MPs out of 198 present voting for it. The pact consists of a Status of Forces Agreement and a long-term strategic framework agreement, which defines U.S.-Iraqi ties for years to come.
Several hours after it was signed a suicide car bomber killed four people, including two policemen, and wounded 41 others in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said.
Though the deal stipulates an end-2011 U.S. troop withdrawal deadline, Iraq was hopeful its forces would grow capable enough to take full responsibility on their own before then.
“The withdrawal, theoretically, is completed at the end of December 2011, but we are expectant and hopeful that we could achieve that earlier,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Agreeing the departure date was seen by Iraq as clinching a key concession after months of arduous talks with Washington negotiators initially loathe to specify a withdrawal timetable.
“It affirms the growth of Iraq’s democracy and increasing ability to secure itself,” a statement from outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush said of parliament’s vote.
ACRIMONIOUS NEGOTIATIONS
The vote had been postponed from Wednesday due to acrimonious negotiations over demands from Sunni Arabs, who were dominant under Saddam, for concessions largely unrelated to the pact.
Iraq’s influential top Shi’ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had called for consensus from all of the communities, making it important for the government to seek the inclusion of Sunni Arabs.
In the end, Iraq’s Shi’ite-led coalition and Kurdish partners agreed to link the pact to the referendum and a package of reforms, such as speeding up the release of mainly Sunni detainees captured by the United States at the height of the sectarian violence.
Black Friday for Apple gears
November 28, 2008
google picture
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc, facing a tight U.S. consumer spending environment, is gearing up for a one-day sale on Friday and at least one analyst expects the company to offer discounts of up to 15 percent.
The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is the traditional kickoff to the U.S. holiday shopping season and one of the biggest buying days of the year for consumers.
The outlook for the computer and consumer electronics industry is universally grim, with shoppers widely expected to cut back on purchases as a recession looms.
An announcement on Apple’s website said the online store is holding a “one-day-only holiday shopping event. You’ll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone, and Mac gift ideas.”
An Apple spokesman declined to provide details.
Apple products are typically more expensive than those of competitors, and it doesn’t offer price reductions very often.
Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said in a research note that he expects Apple’s Black Friday promotions to be “a little more aggressive than usual.”
Wu expects Mac computers, iPod digital media players and accessories to be discounted up to 15 percent, but said it was unclear whether the iPhone would also be on sale. In years past, Apple has cut prices by 5 percent to 10 percent.
Retailers, including Best Buy Co Inc and Amazon.com Inc, are already discounting Apple products. The Best Buy website is currently offering $100 to $150 off certain MacBook laptops.
Wu also said many Apple stores are electing to match the price discounts of resellers.
Apple shares rose 2.7 percent to $93.23 on Tuesday, in line with other technology issues on Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
“The Oberoi Hotel and Trident are now under our control,”
November 28, 2008
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian commandos took control of Mumbai’s Trident-Oberoi hotel on Friday, but battles raged on with militants who were still holed up in another luxury hotel and a Jewish center with about half a dozen foreign hostages.
“The Oberoi Hotel and Trident are now under our control,” the chief of the elite National Security Guards, J.K. Dutt, told reporters in Mumbai. “Oberoi-Trident have been evacuated, we have killed two terrorists.”
India again pointed a finger at Pakistani-linked “elements” for Wednesday’s brazen, coordinated attacks in its financial capital, which police said killed at least 121 people.
“Preliminary evidence, prima facie evidence, indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved,” Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a news conference in New Delhi. He urged Pakistan to dismantle the infrastructure that supports militants.
But his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, called on India not to play politics over the attacks in Mumbai.
“Do not bring politics into this issue. This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy,” the foreign minister told reporters during a visit to the Indian town of Ajmer.
The exchange raised the prospect of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals, which have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
After a morning of shooting and explosions in Mumbai, the head of one commando unit flushing out militants at the five-star Taj Mahal hotel said he had seen 12 to 15 bodies in one room among a total of 50 in the hotel.
The commandos found money, ammunition and an identity card from Mauritius that they suspected belonged to the militants, the commander, his face disguised by a black scarf and sunglasses, told a news conference.
At least one militant was still thought to be holding two hostages in the luxury Taj Mahal Hotel, an army commander said.
But army Commander Lieutenant-General N. Thamburaj told reporters almost all guests and staff had been evacuated from the Taj and the operation would be wrapped up in a few hours.
“He is moving in two floors, there is a dance floor area where apparently he has cut off all the lights,” he said.
“This morning while carrying out the operation we heard the sound of a lady and a gentleman, so it is possible that this terrorist has got two or more hostages with him.”
At the Jewish center, Indian commandos — their faces covered by balaclavas — rappelled from helicopters onto the roof to flush militants there. A Reuters witness said troops fired inside to provide cover as the commandos made at least three sorties.
The gunmen inside are thought to be holding an Israeli rabbi and around three other people hostage there, officials said.
reuters.com
