Samsung Galaxy Note launches with 5.3-inch Super HD AMOLED screen, dedicated stylus
September 1, 2011 No Comment
Samsung has brought its smartphones to the yard at Berlin’s IFA 2011 expo, debuting its new Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet and now its huge new Android smartphone – the Samsung Galaxy Note. If you thought the screen on the Galaxy S II was big then the Note is going to blow you away; not only Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Next Web Discovery Date : 01/09/2011 11:50 Number of articles : 4
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Couple who supplied women for prime minister’s parties said to have been paid to do a deal with prosecutors to avoid trial Two people alleged to have blackmailed Silvio Berlusconi were arrested in Rome on Thursday, in a move that further embarrassed Italy’s embattled prime minister. Giampaola Tarantini, who was arrested at dawn at his flat near Via Veneto – one of Rome’s most expensive streets – was a central figure in a sex scandal that threatened to bring down Berlusconi two years ago. In a statement to police published in September 2009, the businessman, from Bari in southern Italy, acknowledged supplying some 30 women for parties and dinners at the prime minister’s Roman palazzo . He said at least six women had spent the night there. Tarantini’s wife, 34-year-old Angela Vevenuto, was also taken into custody and a warrant was issued for the arrest of a third person believed not to be in Italy. According to Italian media reports, they are accused of receiving €500,000 (nearly £441,000) from Berlusconi along with benefits in kind including the rent on the Tarantinis’ Rome flat. Details of the investigation were leaked last month in a news magazine belonging to Berlusconi. The magazine, Panorama, claimed the prosecutors believed Tarantini was being paid to stop him contradicting the prime minister’s claim that he was unaware that any of the women who visited his home were prostitutes. Berlusconi, who turns 75 later this month, has made much over the years of his talents as a playboy. And he has repeatedly insisted he would never wish – or need – to pay a woman for sex. Panorama said that, in telephone conversations secretly intercepted by police, Tarantini had repeatedly said Berlusconi was indeed oblivious of the payments the women were receiving. The magazine claimed that the main reason why the prime minister was passing money to the businessman was to ensure he did a deal with the prosecutors to avoid a trial and the disclosure of “telephone wiretaps held to be embarrassing”. It is hard to imagine, however, what could be more compromising than the details that have already emerged. One of his guests has given an account of four-in-a-bed sex, while another said she had used a mobile phone to record her pillow talk with the prime minister. Two years ago, recordings were posted to the web in which she and someone sounding like Berlusconi discussed, among other things, male orgasms and female masturbation. The prime minister’s lawyers denied the recordings were genuine. Silvio Berlusconi Europe Italy John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Sentencing concerns raised again as justice ministry figures show two-thirds of defendants remanded in custody More than 1,560 suspects have been brought before the courts for riot-related offences, according to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Justice. Of those appearing at magistrates courts since disturbances erupted in early August, 66% have been remanded in custody – a far higher rate than normal and a reflection of continuing police and judicial concern about the seriousness of offences. Only 10% of those attending magistrates courts last year were remanded in custody. Sentencing in magistrates courts reveals a similar disparity: 45% of those convicted following the riots have been jailed against 12% for comparable offences such as affray, assault, burglary and violent disorder last year. The latest figures show that nearly 100 people have been brought before the courts in the past week as more suspects are identified and tracked down. Of the 1,566 total so far, more than 1,000 were in London, nearly 200 in Manchester, and about 130 in the West Midlands. One in five (22%) were youths, aged 10 to 17, and nine out of 10 (91%) were male. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, accused the government of depriving the police of sufficient resources to tackle the consequences of the violence and looting. Talking to local residents in Clapham, south London, Cooper said ministers were backing away from their pledge to meet extra policing costs. “It is shocking that at a time like this the prime minister and the home secretary are leaving police forces across the country in limbo, seriously concerned that the cuts they are already struggling with have been made even worse. “Now when the Metropolitan police has a minimum £34m bill in extra policing costs, at a time when they are already set to lose nearly 2,000 officers, the government has abandoned them. “We contacted the home secretary two weeks ago to ask if the prime minister’s pledge to stand behind the extra costs for police forces was going to be met, but the only response has been stony silence. “David Cameron must urgently clarify where forces stand, and reopen the police spending review which is resulting in the loss of over 16,000 officers nationwide.” Earlier this week, the Magistrates’ Association chairman John Thornhill rejected claims that there had been a “feeding frenzy” in sentencing after the recent riots. Eoin McLennan-Murray, president of the Prison Governors Association (PGA), had claimed that magistrates had lost all sense of proportion “This kind of speedy across-the-board justice probably means a number of people are dealt with unfairly,” he said. Thornhill said: “The sentencing guidelines are very clear. Let’s remember that these are serious offences. In most cases people are charged with burglary and in some cases aggravated burglary”. Most of the sentences had been imposed by full-time district judges rather than the lay magistracy, he added. Criticism of magistrates was “unreasonable and unfounded”. UK riots Crime Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …How would the nation’s school system be different if teachers were paid like engineers? Secretary of Education Arne Duncan proposed last month that a significant boost in teacher salaries could transform public schools for the better by luring the country’s brightest college graduates into the profession. Teachers should be paid a starting salary of $60,000,
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Newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries celebrated their recent nuptials with their east coast pals at a lavish New York party, and just two weeks into their marriage Kim reveals she is ‘ready whenever’ for a baby. (Sept. 1)
Continue reading …Are you ready, class? Let us count the errors: (h/t Ministry of Truth at DKos ) ::head desk:: What the hell is that? Teh stoopid , it hurts. How does this woman find her way out the front door every morning? At risk of being pedantic, let’s break this down, shall we? We’re gonna continue the chain of freedom that was purchased for us at a very heavy price As the DKos diarist mentions , it might not be the best choice to use the phrase “chains of freedom” when referring to the Founding Fathers. Because we all know who were actually shackled at the end of those chains: That “chain of freedom” that was “purchased” had a slave on the end of it. Just saying. *cringe* But then again, Bachmann’s revisionist understanding of the horrors of slavery is legendary . It was a heavy price that was paid at Lexington and Concord with that shot that was heard fired around the world. I guess we should be thankful that she didn’t place Lexington and Concord in New Hampshire again. But for cryin’ out loud, how hard is it to retain the phrase correctly? ” The Shot Heard Round The World ” A shot fired around the world sounds overly hostile and not much reason to celebrate. There was a heavy prices that for five Aprils of war to secure our freedom. This one stuck me for a second. The phrase sounded familiar if overly poetic, but I also knew that the Revolutionary War lasted eight years . A little Google-fu identified it as the title of a Civil War historical novel, Across Five Aprils , frequently used as a reference in elementary schools. It’s also the name of a hardcore band , but I’m gonna assume they’re not on Bachmann’s iPod. So apparently she jumped wars for a moment, because then she’s back in Revolutionary War mode and then jumped again: There was a heavy price that was paid in the lead up to our country establishing itself, but the British came and attacked us again in the war of 1812. Wait, what? I’m sure that there were instances of British attacks in the war of 1812, but actually, it was the U.S. that declared war on Britain …mainly over our desire for expansion into the Northwest Territory. There was a heavy price that was paid to hold this country together in the Civil War… Oh we jumped in time again… …, when Abraham Lincoln just about lost his life just trying and help, trying to hold this country together and we were pulled apart at the seams. Hold on. Just about lost his life? Was he just sort of assassinated ? Did he only kinda die ? But we remain one nation under God, and the last act of President Abraham Lincoln when he was in office was to secure our national motto “In God We Trust” on a coin, his last act in Congress Oh god, this one gives me a headache. The first time the phrase “In God We Trust” appeared on an American coin did indeed occur during Lincoln’s term as President. However, it had been called for by citizens for years and the actual submission of designs was initiated and overseen by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase and Director of the Philadelphia Mint James Pollock. Congress (a completely different branch of the government from the Office of the Presidency, which you’d think a Congressperson running for President would understand) passed the Act calling for the approved design in 1864 on the two cent coin. The motto appeared on and off various coins until 1957, where it was established on paper dollars as well. (source: U.S. Treasury ). Abraham Lincoln had little to nothing to do with it. In fact, there is some question that Abraham Lincoln would spearhead such a thing, as he was frequently derided as an infidel or atheist by contemporaries . I suspect it would horrify Prof. Bachmann to learn that Lincoln never became member of any specific church although there was a lot of posthumous attempts to whitewash his rejection of the strict Baptist teachings of his parents . We could go on and ask Bachmann which of our freedoms exactly our military was fighting for in Vietnam and both Gulf Wars, but frankly, I’m a little afraid of what the answer would be. There will be a quiz on this material later.
Continue reading …Chalk up another one for the Republicans. In the standoff over President Obama’s schedule for his urgent jobs speech, Obama blinked. He has agreed to switch the date a day later to next Thursday, the same time as the NFL season opener. House Speaker John Boehner complained about the first…
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You Are So Beautiful – Joe COCKER David Allen – Car Upside Down in Bank Loan Is Repossessed Bonnie Bassler (Molecular Biologist) | NOVA scienceNOW WheelerWendy says: Possible Bearish Engulfing Pattern Detected for Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHC)
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Archaeologists believe key figure involved in construction of Wiltshire ancient monument is buried at Preseli mountains site Archaeologists are researching the grave of an important figure they believe may have played a crucial role in the construction of Stonehenge. The burial chamber is sited above a ceremonial stone circle in the Preseli hills in west Wales, where it is believed bluestone was quarried before being taken to Stonehenge. More research will be done to establish if the important person buried there played a role in the moving of bluestone 190 miles from west Wales to the Wiltshire monument. The find has been made by professors Tim Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright, who have spent the last 10 years trying to establish how and why the bluestones – or spotted dolerite – were transported from the Preseli hills to Stonehenge. In 2008, following the first excavation at Stonehenge in more than 40 years , the professors said they had established that the bluestones – the size of a man or smaller – arrived at Stonehenge about 4,500 years ago. Their hypothesis was that the bluestones – rather than the much larger sarsen stones that give Stonehenge its familiar shape – were the real draw because they were believed to have healing powers. Wainwright said: “We went back to the Preselis and started doing excavations up there. The first site we explored was a big burial cairn in the shadow of Carn Menyn, where the Stonehenge bluestones come from.” The team found a circle underneath the cairn built of bluestone, the same material taken to Stonehenge, and work is being carried out to date this. But Wainwright said he would be surprised if the circle had not been created at about the same time that the bluestones were taken to Stonehenge, strengthening the link between west Wales and Stonehenge in the theory. “Then this stone circle was covered with the huge burial cairn with a chamber in the middle. The space turned from a public ceremonial space defined by the stone circle into the burial spot of a very important person.” Wainwright said it was a “jump” to claim the person buried there was an architect of Stonehenge. “It’s a hypothesis but it could well be true. There is certainly something very significant about the grave.” Stonehenge Archaeology Heritage Wales Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Test case bought by dinner ladies and care workers against Sheffield city council to be heard next month Tens of thousands of women who claim they are paid less than men doing comparable jobs could benefit when the supreme court examines a test case next month. The battle for equal pay led by dinner ladies and care workers in dispute with their employer, Sheffield city council, will be heard in an attempt to clarify the complex law on what amounts to indirect sex discrimination in pay. The three-day hearing before five justices in mid-October is the first time the supreme court – established two years ago – has looked at the issue of equal pay, an area complicated by the existence of contradictory legal precedents. The outcome could affect wages paid to workers, particularly in local authorities and the NHS where some specialised roles – such as road sweepers or carers – have traditionally been performed almost exclusively by separate groups of men or women. The trade union Unison, which is supporting the Sheffield employees, said it had up to 40,000 cases that could be affected by the court’s ruling. The Sheffield council case, Gibson and others v Sheffield city council, started in an employment tribunal and has been working its way up the appeals process. The court of appeal last year found for the dinner ladies and carers, ruling that productivity bonuses granted to male street cleaners and gardeners, which were subsequently incorporated into their salaries, were discriminatory against women doing work of equal value. In its ruling the court of appeal held that the men were being paid between 33.3% and 38% more than women for occupations that the council agreed were comparable. Sheffield council had argued that an earlier decision, Armstrong v Newcastle upon Tyne NHS hospital trust, set a precedent that bonuses had nothing to do with gender but were paid to boost productivity. It claimed that the predominantly female jobs could not be measured or rewarded in a similar way and therefore the differences in pay did not need to be objectively justified. The women, however, maintained that the European court of justice case of Enderby v Frenchay health authority, dating back to 1993, was the relevant authority and that the council had a legal responsibility to provide an objective and gender-free reason why dinner ladies and carers were paid less. The judges agreed. Giving his ruling in the appeal court, Lord Justice Pill said: “The impossibility of applying the productivity bonus to women’s work, carefully reasoned by the [employment] tribunal, is genuine enough but that does not remove the sexual taint from the operation of the scheme. “The scheme has a disparately adverse effect on women’s work as compared with men’s work and the sexual taint is present. It must be justified objectively if the employers are to succeed. The opportunity to justify is a sufficient protection for employers.” Lady Justice Smith agreed, pointing out that: “Where the statistics show that the pay practice has produced an adverse impact on women over a long period and where the statistics are convincing, it will generally be difficult for an employer to show that the adverse impact had nothing to do with sex.” Sheffield council has now taken the case to the supreme court. Ben Patrick, Unison’s in-house solicitor who is preparing the case for next month’s hearing, said: “The central issue is whether the council should be required to justify differences in pay. “It’s an indirect discrimination argument based on statistical comparisons. The question in the supreme court is whether given a statistical case of discriminatory pay the employer is required to objectively justify the differences in pay between men and women. “We are saying that Armstrong is inconsistent with Enderby. The indirect discrimination pay cases being considered are virtually indistinguishable from each other so it could have the effect of forcing a large number of local authorities to reconsider their defences.” Most of the outstanding equal pay cases date back to a period before the introduction of the Equality Act in 2010, which essentially removed the employers’ ability to rely on the Armstrong defence. “There are still tens and tens of thousands of cases coming through the tribunal system,” Patrick added. “Unison is running equal pay claims for about 40,000 of its members. Most are in the health sector or local authorities.” Sheffield city council was said to be facing compensation payments of £20m following last year’s judgment. Pay Equality Equality Act 2010 Public sector pay Work & careers Discrimination at work Employment tribunals Women Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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