Yeah… Received SMS from Celcom ~ Celcom Broadband Basic upgraded to 512kbps from 384kbps. However, the monthly volume quota is reduced from 5GB to 3GB based on Celcom website. Existing Celcom Broadband Basic customer should still get 5GB volume quota.
Celcom Broadband Basic upgraded to 512kbps
Does the new Celcom Broadband Basic really can get up to 512kbps? Let’s benchmark it with SpeedTest.net.
Connection from Kuala Lumpur
Well, it still cannot get the highest speed at 512kbps. It just reaches the previous speed of 384kbps. This is what we call an upgrade?
But I like the new Celcom Broadband Entry. It upgraded from 128kbps to 384kbps and increased volume quota from 500MB to 1GB. Perfect match for me since I did not use much data on my HTC HD2. And I can save RM20 per month on it. It’s time to downgrade the data plan. 
Update ~ I just discovered there is another plan for me ~ Celcom Broadband Entry on Voice. It is a plan for those who have Celcom voice plan already. It is priced at RM38 with 500MB volume quota per month. I can save RM30 with it. 
This is a guest post by Lena & Dima. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.
Everyone wants to make money without doing much. “Work smart, not hard“, as they say. This is possible if you build a business that will give you residual income. There are different ways that you can build up a good residual business, and here are a few ideas to get you started.
When you are looking for an opportunity, know that there are a lot of different options out here and you should be able to find something that will fit in with what you would like to do. You can find all sorts of opportunities by searching the Internet or finding forums where people are discussing these types of businesses. When you find something that you think would be a good fit, do a bit of research to make sure it isn’t a scam. Google its name, and see what type of information comes up about it.
One thing to consider when you are looking for your residual business is if it something that people will continually need to buy, or is it a luxury that people may give up if they fall on hard times. For instance, a company that sells food is something that people will always need, although, they may change their purchasing habits over time. But something such as jewelry is an item that is a luxury and one that might quickly go to the wayside if things get tough.
Just because a business is going to end up giving you residual income does not mean that it is not going to take time and effort to get it going. Some people select their business based on how easy it is to market. If this is something that is important to you, then you may want to look for such an opportunity as well.
Look for an opportunity that gives you commission upfront on your sales. Chances are you are looking for this income to help you out, and you don’t want to be waiting for months to receive payment. Make sure you are reading the fine print on any opportunity to see what their terms for payment are.
A great method of receiving residual income is to find a product that people will want to sign up for a monthly auto ship of the product. This way you will be making sales each month with a lack of effort on your part. This is one of the best ways to make residual income, as it happens every month with no extra effort on your part.
Another great option is if you are an expert in something is to create an e-book and then sell it on the Internet. You can either sell it yourself of set up an affiliate program and pay others to sell it for you. You can get the best of both worlds this way, as you do not have to do the marketing yourself, and you will still make money on your product.
Residual income is great as it will continually come to you as long as people are subscribed or return to buy from you. A minimal amount of work is required, beyond keeping your website and products current and up to date. When your business grows from time to time, then you may need to have a email security software to protect your email address to decrease spam and avoid hacker. Other than email protection, you need a dedicated server instead of a shared hosting to host all your websites, it’s more secure and it could bring your business to the next level!
About Author :
Lena Morrish and Dima Nikolayenko are the Bridge To Success Co owners.
If you are looking for a passive income opportunity then a business on the Internet can be your answer. You can find information on how to create a good website that earns you passive income in their FREE e-mail course.
StarCraft II ~ Wings of Liberty is another hit after 12 years ago on its first episode ~ StarCraft. It is a real time strategy game that you cannot miss. I have been waiting for so many years. And it is released now. In addition, two expansion packs, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void will be released later…
StarCraft II easily gets the highest score from all the gaming review sites. It is so addictive and I cannot stop myself from playing it. I made up a very strong decision to stop and write this post. Else I will still playing StarCraft II right now.
Dari TV Selangor
Konglomerat gergasi sektor perladangan Sime Darby Berhad dilihat berhadapan dengan kerugian besar sekali lagi selepas 13 tahun manakala beberapa pegawai kanan pengurusan digugurkan dari unit-unit penting.
Portal The Malaysian Insider melaporkan, konglomerat itu dijangka mengumumkan prestasi kewangannya itu, yang dipercayai kerugian sekitar RM2 bilion dan kemungkinan ia boleh meningkat kepada RM2.5 bilion.
Kebanyakan kerugian adalah ekoran kesilapan nasihat pelaburan dalam sektor tenaga dan utiliti di Qatar dan masalah berkaitan dengan projek empangan Bakun di Sarawak.
Sime Darby berhadapan dengan masalah yang sama ketika krisis kewangan Asia 1997, di mana ia mencatatkan kerugian sekitar RM1.6 bilion dan ia merupakan kerugian paling besar dalam enam bulan sehingga Disember 1997.
Ia mencatatkan kerugian RM676.2 juta pada enam bulan berikutnya dan menutup tahun kewangan 1998 dengan kerugian RM540.9 juta.
Juga difahamkan pengarah urusan bahagian pelaburan Tunku Datuk Badlishah Tunku Annuar telah dipindahkan dari beberapa unit di bahagian itu manakala beberapa pegawai lain dijangka menyusul selepas bekas ketua eksekutif Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid diminta mengambil cuti bermulai 13 Mei lalu ekoran kerugian dialami Sime Darby.
Selain tindakan-tindakan itu, kumpulan ini juga dijangka berhadapan dengan tindakan perundangan berikutan jika mengakhiri pelaburan bersama di beberapa negara luar.
The Malaysian Insider juga difahamkan sejak dilantik sebagai pemangku ketua eksekutif, Datuk Bakke Salleh sedang menghalusi pelaburan-pelaburan bersama melibatkan Sime Darby dengan berhujah bahawa sesetengah pelaburan bukan sesuatu yang memanfaatkan Sime Darby.
Beliau dikatakan memberi syor sama ada pelaburan-pelaburan terbabit dikaji semula ataupun ditamatkan.
Penganalisis melihat tindakan untuk menamatkan pelaburan-pelaburan ini dijangka membawa kepada pertikaian perundangan bagi Sime Darby.
Dua minggu lalu Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata, kerajaan belum mengambil sebarang tindakan terhadap Lembaga Pengarah Sime Darby kerana masih menunggu keputusan kajian oleh pakar-pakar luaran daripada firma perunding (KPGM dan Deloitte) dan sebuah firma guaman bebas.
Sebelum ini ada desakan kesemua anggota lembaga meletakkan jawatan memikul masalahb dialami konglomerat itu.
Najib dalam jawapan bertulis berkata firma perunding dan firma guaman bebas berkenaan kini sedang menjalankan audit forensik bebas yang dijangka selesai pada akhir bulan ini.
“Sebarang keputusan atas dasar akauntabiliti dan kebertanggungjawaban akan hanya diambil setelah segala usaha audit dan siasatan ini selesai sepenuhnya,” kata Najib yang juga Menteri Kewangan ketika menjawab soalan Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim mengenai tindakan yang diambil terhadap Lembaga Pengarah Sime Darby secara “en bloc” atas kegagalan mereka menyelamatkan Sime Darby daripada kerugian hampir mencecah RM2 bilion.
Ekoran kerugian lebih RM1.6 bilion akibat daripada lebihan kos dalam projek kendaliannya, Zubir Murshid, yang kontraknya sebagai Ketua Eksekutif Kumpulan sepatutnya berakhir pada 26 November ini, telah diminta bercuti.-MalaysianInsider
Dari Harakah Daily
Oleh Johari Jaafar
DAP meminta Kerajaan BN Perak mengemukakan rang undang-undang untuk menetapkan tempoh masa minimum persidangan dewan negeri supaya badan perundangan tersebut tidak dijadikan rubber stamp semata-mata demi memenuhi agenda peribadi sesuatu pihak sahaja.
Demikian ditegaskan oleh Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Pantai Remis, Nga Kor Ming (gambar) dalam satu kenyataan medianya di sini semalam.
Beliau melahirkan perasaan kesal dengan tindakan kerajaan negeri hanya bersidang setengah hari untuk meluluskan rang undang-undang perbekalan tambahan yang melibatkan RM80 juta wang rakyat tanpa memberi peluang berbahas yang mencukupi kepada ahli-ahli dewan.
Selasa lalu, BN mengadakan sidang Dewan Negeri cuma satu hari untuk meluluskan enakmen perbekalan tambahan yang menyaksikan Perak mengalami belanjawan defisit yang tinggi RM104 juta.
Persidangan tersebut juga menyaksikan Datuk Seri Ir Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin diusir keluar dari dewan kerana tegas mempertahankan hak untuk bersuara untuk rakyat.
Akibat pengusiran tersebut, semua 27 orang ahli dewan dari Pakatan Rakyat mengambil ketetapan meninggalkan dewan sebagai tanda protes.
Nga Kor Ming, yang juga merupakan Setiausaha DAP Negeri Perak berkata, adalah tidak masuk akal bahawa persidangan dewan yang begitu penting hanya berlangsung satu hari sahaja.
Beliau mengutuk keputusan Menteri Besar BN, Datuk Seri Dr Zamry Abd Kadir yang enggan bersidang empat hari seperti mana yang diminta oleh Pakatan Rakyat supaya semua ahli dewan diberi peluang untuk berucap.
“Berani kerana benar, takut kerana salah. Jika tidak buat salah, mengapa BN begitu takut mendengar suara rakyat dari Pakatan Rakyat,” jelasnya.
Menurutnya lagi, adalah tidak munasabah apabila selaku Ketua Pembangakang Dewan Negeri, Datuk Seri Nizar hanya diberi masa 15 minit oleh Datuk G Ganesan untuk berucap dalam membahas rang undang-undang yang melibatkan wang RM80 juta.
Semua ahli dewan lain pula hanya diberi masa 10 minit di mana amalan kuku besi sedemikian adalah bertentangan dengan prinsip asas sistem demokrasi berparlimen, tegasnya.
“Parlimen mengambil masa 40 hari berdebat untuk meluluskan bajet, tetapi sidang Dun Perak cuma satu hari sahaja, saya percaya ini satu lagi rekod dunia.
“Sepanjang masa persidangan, microphone Aun Pakatan ditutup, media diletak dalam bilik berasingan dan dikurung di atas bangunan seperti akuarium, seluruh dewan dikerumuni oleh anggota polis, kini dewan negeri sudah tidak dapat berfungsi dan demokrasi juga terkubur dalam Negeri Perak berikutan rampasan kuasa,” katanya lagi.
Mengikut konvensyen Parlimen dan amalan biasa, Ketua Pembangkang sentiasa diberi penghormatan dan masa yang secukupnya untuk berhujah.
Sebagai contoh, katanya Lim Kit Siang pernah berbahas selama lebih 10 jam di Dewan Rakyat ketika beliau menjawat jawatan Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen tetapi di Perak, ia hanya 15 minit sahaja.
Beliau juga menegur tindakan kerajaan negeri membenarkan pihak kurang bertanggungjawab menggantungkan sepanduk mengecam pembangkang dengan perkataan kejam di perkarangan bangunan kerajaan negeri.
Tindakan sedemikian menunjukkan penyokong BN adalah cetek pemikiran dan kurang matang, katanya.
Demi membela hak bersuara dan memastikan dewan perundangan berfungsi secara sihat, beliau menggesa supaya semua kerajaan negeri mencontohi Dewan Rakyat, menetapkan had minimum waktu bersidang, supaya institusi perundangan dapat memainkan peranan memeriksa kuasa eksekutif yang diketuai oleh kerajaan negeri.
GameStop and Microsoft will be hosting Halo: Reach After Hours Events at 1,100 stores nationwide this Friday, August 6, 2010 from 9:00pm to 10:30pm local time. Halo fans will be treated to a video showcasing exclusive Halo:Reach tips and tricks, in-game footage, the new Firefight mode and other terrific game information.
Halo Reach
Customers attending the After Hours Events will have a chance to win amazing prizes such as the Legendary Edition collector’s pack (MSRP: $149.99, one copy per store). This special edition includes such things as a hand-painted individually numbered collectible Noble Team statue, game disc housed in a recovered ONI “black box,” exclusive Elite armor set for multiplayer modes, and an artifact bag containing classified documents unraveling Halo secrets, and more.
There will also be a text-to-win sweepstakes for a chance to win a life-size Halo statue.
Halo: Reach is available now in standard, Limited and Legendary editions for pre-orders at GameStop stores nationwide. Visit www.GameStop.com/HaloReach for a list of the participating stores for the After Hours Events.
Post from: EveryJoe
An old photo from late 80s, featuring a few of the very top Chinese pop stars then. Regrettably three of them were gone at considerably young age…
Danny Chan’s mysterious death in 1993, aged 35, still puzzles many. Leslie Cheung took his life a decade later on April Fools’ Day in 2003 when he was 46. While Anita Mui lost her battle against cancer later in the same year at age 40.
Dave Wong, the youngest of all, is now 47. He has recently announced that he’s retiring from the showbiz in late 2010 after completing his current tour.
It’s the end of an era. How time has passed.
Those were the days from YeinJee's Asian Blog
10 minute, a 2003 song from Korean pop diva Lee Hyori’s first solo album Stylish…E. The song (and album) is a huge hit, and the rest is history…
Lee Hyori – 10 Minutes music video from YeinJee's Asian Blog
After visiting the Wong Tai Seen temple, we went for lunch!
Everywhere was packed and we had to wait for 30 mins before we could get a table here.
Some food that we ordered.
It should be iced lemon teal ah.. forgot d lol
I ordered this! Not nice. Tasteless.
We then went to another temple! Che Koong! The windmill temple is located at an area very near to China forgot where it was.
The place was too packed I didnt get to squeeze myself in.. so we stood there took some photos and left.
Live Update: 4 Aug ’10, 7.13pm PKT PST | From: Nokia E71, Nokia N97 or iPhone 3Gs | Author: KNizam
lately ni macam best plak cuaca kat islamabad ni
banyak plak scene matahari terbenam yg aku tengok
dulu masa winter bosan betul tengok langit kelabu je
now ada kaler biru sket. awan memutih pun dah banyak
Yeah… If you are StarCraft II gamer and having ATI graphics card, here is a beta driver for you. It supports Anti-Aliasing through the ATI Catalyst Control Center for StarCraft II. This beta driver supports ATI Radeon HD 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx and 5xxx series graphics card and ATI Radeon Mobility. It also improves performance for Quad ATI CrossFireX for Eyefinity supported configurations.
I updated the display driver to 10.7a beta. But my poor ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB cannot perform well even with 2x AA enabled. Getting less than 30 fps when turn AA on. I think that I need to upgrade to ATI Radeon HD 5870 in order to enable AA and play it smoothly. Anyway, StarCraft II is great to play even without AA turn on.
Download ATI Catalyst 10.7a Beta Driver for StarCraft II here.
This is something to brag about, well, I deserved it!
It was hosted at Nilai Spring Resort, somewhere south of KL. The trip from my house took about 45 minutes. It was blazing hot and surprisingly very windy.
For me, it was the third time for me on a real golf course.
The first nine holes witness a mental break down. I was hitting everywhere else except for the target. The weather wasn’t helpful either, it was hot and humid. My peers were Wong and Herfa. Wong is regular and Herfa, just like me a beginner.
I was doing so bad until Wong told me, “Edwin, remember practise driving range.”
From there, things took off. I played much better, more composed and focused. Landed a few chance for birdie, unfortunately I was pretty much a sissy when it comes to putting. It’s always too short or slow to reach the hole. The score was good for the second nine, it was full of bogey and a par.
Having to recover from a bad game, landed me this..
.. 2nd place in Rookie Category and if I have to thank anyone, it’ll be Aisyah Rozi. If she hadn’t tried hard to understand my new hobby and the time needed to practise, I wouldn’t have a place in the rankings. Thanks hun! Also thanks to Dad for the set. Oh yes, and I played 108. Which is a big deal 
ps: Ramadhan is coming, I doubt I’d have the time to swing. So puasa, is really PUASA
Have you done any investment before in trading market such as trade gold, trade silver, trade currency, or trade stock before? I’ve invested in stock market 2 years ago, but didn’t gain any profit or make a loss. I started investing in stock market when I was 21 years old, it was my friends who taught me about stock market. After the first investment, I stopped trading in stock market for 2 years. 2 months ago, I started investing in stock market again and I made some profit this time, I made about $700 in overall, that was a good earning right? Of course, I invest the money I earned into another shares and hoping for additional profit.
I was working in a big company before, it’s a construction based company, it was my x-company which I didn’t work over there anymore. The company is big and the financial is stable, so I invest the money in my x-company’s shares which I think the price will rise in some days. After the earning I made a couple weeks ago, I started to like doing investment in trade market, it’s fun and it may bring you surprise because the price goes up and down everyday. After these, I started doing research on forex trading, gold and silver trading, and etc. A friend of mine introduces a trading market site which he used to do forex trading over there, he told me that he earned quite some money from the market, the site is GFC Markets.
GFC Markets is a trade market where you can trade forex, indices and commodities.
I’ve gone ahead and read the whole site, I find that GFC Markets does provide a demo account which you can test the system and see how the system runs, if you like the system and you can upgrade to a real account and start trading.
GFC Markets - Trade Market
I was a newbie before, I didn’t even know what was stock or trading market. It was my friends who taught me everything about stock market and he introduced a remindser and created a trading account for me. Remindser is the people who helps you to trade and sell the stocks, the remindser will explain the background and history of the stocks whenever you want to do investment, remindser will do all the research job for you. You definitely need a people to guide you if you’re not familiar with trading market but you want to give it a try.
If you’re not familiar with trading market but you want to give it a try, you don’t have to worry because GFC Markets have a team of industry specialists who are ready to guide and teach you how to make money from forex. You may want to see what GFC Markets can do for you:
The specialists will guide you step-by-step on how to get started, so you don’t have to worry about it. GFC Markets even has a video tutorial that gives you some ideas on stock market, video tutorial would be better if you lazy to read article. Be sure you watch their video guide on trade market.
GFC Markets - Forex Trading
Forex trading is fun and it will the next thing that I’m going to try in GFC Markets, you can trade currency such as EUR, USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD and etc. Be sure you get professional opinion from your personal remindser before you trade on them, so you won’t be trading blindly and losing money. You don’t have to pay remindser for their professional point of views, you just need to pay a little commission when you trade in the stock market, that’s it. You can make money from stock market, but you may lose money as well, doing investment in trading market is risky, so you must play smart and play safe!
Create A Free Demo Account And Start Trading In Real Market
Have you invested in stock market before? Did you earn or lose money?
VMware VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) is VMware, Inc.’s cluster file system designed for VMware Infrastructure or VMware vSphere. Basically VMFS used to store virtual machine disk images, including snapshots.
According to Wikipedia,
In order to know the exact VMFS version number, see below:
Please take note that migration between different VMFS version may cause some problem in the sense of vSphere vStorage features, probably you may read more here or refer to vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Related posts:
ha tu dia terpampang besaq punya kat KLIA arrrival hall poster neh
sedap wooo mangga kat pakistan ni. memang tengah peak season la sekarang
setakat buat juice, lassi ngan makan begitu sahaja je kat sini. hehe 
kalau bawak balik sekotak, confirm la kastam yang akan dapat
kena sedekah je la kat depa kan. hehe
apa2 pun jangan cakap takde warning, dah terangtangtang poster neh kat KLIA ok
From Wall Street Journal
By AL Gore And Paul Wolfowitz
Anwar Ibrahim could be headed to prison again on trumped up charges. We urge the U.S. government to speak out on his behalf.
We come from opposite sides of the political spectrum and disagree about a great many things. However, one issue that brings us together is the case of Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia who is now leader of the political opposition in that country.
Mr. Anwar has been charged under very dubious circumstances with sodomy, a criminal offense under Malaysian law. If convicted, he faces a possible 20-year sentence—effectively life in prison for a man of 63. His trial, scheduled to resume next week, threatens not just Mr. Anwar but all those in Malaysia who have struggled for a freer and more democratic nation. It is also important for the rest of the world, because it casts a troubling shadow over the future of a nation that should be a model for other Muslim countries.?
Our views of Anwar Ibrahim have been formed completely independently of each other. We do not always agree with his views on foreign policy, but we do agree that as a political leader, statesman and intellectual, Mr. Anwar possesses qualities that encourage hope for the future. These qualities include lucidity and openness to debate and engagement; commitment to principles of accountability and good governance; and a serious concern for the future of his country and the world—not to mention his extraordinary courage in standing up for what he believes. We are convinced that he is committed to the values of pluralism, tolerance and freedom that are needed for Malaysia to flourish.
In the end, what matters is not our opinion of Mr. Anwar’s character, but the opinion of his fellow countrymen. Malaysians should decide for themselves, through an open electoral process, who they wish to lead them. They should not be deprived of that opportunity by an abuse of judicial power.
This is the second time that Mr. Anwar has been subjected to a politically?motivated trial on similar charges. The first time was in 1998, when as deputy prime minister and finance minister he dared to mount a challenge to then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. Mr. Anwar was jailed, beaten severely, and condemned to years of solitary confinement after a trial that was a travesty of justice. That is not just our conclusion. It is the conclusion of the International Commission of Jurists, the International Bar Association, and a number of international human-rights organizations. It was also the conclusion of Malaysia’s highest court, which overturned the sodomy conviction in 2004, after Mr. Mahathir was no longer prime minister.
Mr. Anwar now leads the coalition of Malaysia’s three opposition parties, which won more than a third of the seats in the parliamentary elections of March 2008. This was the best showing that the opposition had ever managed against the governing coalition led by the United Malays National Organization, the party that has ruled the country for the past 53 years.
Three months after the election, Mr. Anwar threatened to call for a vote of no confidence in Parliament and take over the government. He was then arrested and charged again with sodomy. Like the charges 10 years earlier, the timing of these new charges carries the strong odor of political manipulation. And, if anything, the case against Mr. Anwar this time is even less credible and the violations of due process are even more egregious.
While Anwar Ibrahim is on trial before the state, the state is on trial before its people and the world. If he were to be convicted, the whole of Malaysia’s political life and its standing in the world would be damaged. And for what gain? The timing of the trial has led many observers to the conclusion that the objective is to stem the ruling party’s loss of popular support. Public opinion polls indicate that the great majority of Malaysians see the charges against Mr. Anwar as politically motivated. In any event, as Mr. Anwar himself would be the first to say, his imprisonment would not extinguish his cause. On the contrary, the movement he began a decade ago will continue to spread.
This is a pivotal moment in Malaysia’s history with consequences that are also meaningful on a global scale. With a population of nearly 30 million, Malaysia is not a small country. But it is also significant as an example of a Muslim-majority country making its way in the world. It has been able, over the first half-century of its independence, to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve economic growth while sustaining a degree of harmony among its religiously and ethnically diverse population.
In recent years, however, the country has been sliding backwards, with increasing exploitation of religious and ethnic differences for political purposes. The trial and conviction of Mr. Anwar would intensify these problems by destroying the confidence of millions of Malaysians in the possibility of justice under the law.
We urge our own government to make clear the importance the U.S. attaches to the role of the law in sustaining a political process in which justice and freedom are natural allies. We know from experience that sensitive issues of this kind are often best pursued quietly, government to government. But time is running out. A moment of truth is approaching.
Two days ago, a judge postponed Mr. Anwar’s trial in order to deal with charges of an improper relationship between a female prosecutor and Mr. Anwar’s accuser. This is an opportunity. Malaysia’s system of governance has the capacity to do the right thing—not only for Anwar Ibrahim, but for the millions of Malaysian citizens who look to him as a spokesman for their aspirations. We urge those in the Malaysian government who will decide this matter to act with wisdom.
Mr. Gore was the 45th vice president of the United States. Mr. Wolfowitz was deputy secretary of defense from 2001 to 2005.
From The Huffington Post
By Thor Halvorssen
Hugo Chávez announced last week on a national broadcast (aired, by presidential decree, on every television channel and radio station simultaneously) that Venezuelan troops are amassing on the western border with Colombia and that this was being done “in secret” so as to not alarm the population of Venezuela. Stung by the mountain of evidence of his support for the FARC terrorist group, Chávez is using a potential conflict with Colombia to whip up nationalistic fervor. The truth is that Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution continues to crumble with no end in sight — his celebrated war against hunger defeated by seven years of a reckless food policy that causes shortages, involves price controls, central planning and currency manipulation and rewards corruption. Food policy, not his shenanigans with the FARC, are of much greater importance to the Venezuelan population in advance of legislative elections in September. The past few months reveal a government in chaos and crisis mode.
From Venezuela’s presidential palace, Minister for Food Supply Félix Osorio denounces “the oligarchy’s media campaign” for a single report aired on Globovisión — the last opposition television station remaining in Venezuela. The TV segment said that 23,000 lbs of rotting chicken were found in a rural waste dump in Eastern Venezuela. The packaging, they said, indicated the chickens came from the government food program. The Minister rejected this as false and called it a part of the “imperialistic onslaught” against Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution.
The minister was silent about a different food scandal (ten-thousand times larger) that has made headlines across the world: 2,340 shipping containers with more than 120,000 tons of rotting food (estimated to feed 17 million people for one month) laying idle at Puerto Cabello. The port where the debacle took place recently became nationalized. The new incompetent management, combined with electricity rationing, led to the food putrefying as it sat in refrigerated containers. Such bungling shows that the national food supply network PDVAL, despite its status as a flagship revolutionary program and the logistical support of Venezuela’s state oil company and military, is a disgraceful failure that lays bare the results of the disastrous government food policy.
Perhaps it is no surprise then that Venezuela’s agricultural policy is modeled on that of another country with chronic food shortages — communist Cuba. Agricultural advisors have joined the ranks of Cuban teachers, military advisors and doctors in providing expertise to the Venezuelan government. In rhetoric that harkens back to the days of Soviet communism, Venezuelan policymakers speak of land reform, not to create small farms, but to expropriate large working farms and turn them into “cooperatives” with no private property.
Venezuela has imposed price controls on basic goods like chicken, sugar, milk and other food stuffs. As supplies have dwindled, hoarding has become a growing problem, despite government efforts to criminalize stockpiling.
With erratic policy, Venezuelan authorities have on occasion allowed sudden liberalization of food prices. Rather than equilibrate the market overnight, such confused policy leads to double digit increases in price as supply meets demand. Price controls are then invariably re-imposed.
Seventy percent of Venezuela’s food is now imported, up from forty percent ten years ago.
The state monopolizes the sale of fixed-rate dollars for food imports but these dollars are worth a lot more in the floating-rate street markets of Venezuela, so the stage is set for rampant speculation.
This year alone Venezuelan food prices have risen 21%. The result is that foodstuffs are unavailable and unaffordable to Venezuela’s poorest people, even in a country awash with petrodollars.
Throughout the food market in Venezuela, corruption is rife. The state-owned low-budget food chain, Mercal, is perhaps the most egregious example.
Created in 2003 to compete with private supermarkets, Mercal was intended to undercut the prices of Venezuela’s other grocery stores. The principal beneficiary of Mercal has not been the Venezuelan consumer — it has been a businessman with close ties to the Chávez family, Ricardo Fernández. When private media reports surfaced critical of Fernandez, Chávez has gone on Venezuela’s airwaves to defend him.
In a large part due to profits from Venezuelan social welfare programs, Fernández became a billionaire.
I know this because in 2007, Fernández approached an international bank flashing a personal financial audit from KPMG. It showed his net worth in excess of U.S. 1.5 billion dollars. The bank declined any financial transactions with Fernández, although a copy the KPMG audit was sent to me by an official at that bank.
I passed the audit along to a Caracas-based correspondent of a major American newspaper. Not long after, the laptop of the correspondent — with Fernández’s financial statements — was stolen from his Caracas home. Fearing for his personal safety, the journalist chose to drop his investigation into Fernández. (Eventually the KPMG audit received wide circulation and it can even be found online.)
However, I soon began to be publicly pilloried on Venezuelan state television. These attacks have continued ever since. In November of 2009, Fernández was finally eaten by the revolution that created him and he is now in a Venezuelan jail accused of bank fraud. Fernández is not an unusual character in Chávez’s Venezuela and his story illustrates that the Bolivarian Revolution is incapable of preventing the opportunism, incompetence and the voracious appetite of its cronies.
The Chávez government has the reverse Midas touch. Whatever they manage deteriorates: energy policy, healthcare, the financial sector, land reform, food policy, crime prevention, oil production, agriculture. And they know public exposure is their Achilles heel which explains why Globovisión’s main shareholder, Guillermo Zuloaga, is now a fugitive of Venezuela. Ironically, he is accused of “hoarding” 14 cars.
Thor Halvorssen is the president of the Human Rights Foundation and the founder of the Oslo Freedom Forum.
Lifehacker’s Best Times to Buy Anything chart is one of the coolest things around. It breaks down the peak times to save money on purchases month by month, showing you when you should buy particular items – from big ticket pictures to pantry goods.
Image: sxc.hu
So what’s on the chart for August? Older computers, camping supplies, toys, linens, storage bins, and wine.
This doesn’t mean you need to run out today and stock up on these things. However, if you are in the market to shop for them, this month is a good time to buy.
Post from: EveryJoe
Do I not blog these days because I have a life now or because I don't have any motivation to write it down? Not that I would call my busy working hours a "life" to begin with. Still, the backlog of things to say just keeps building and building until I've forgotten more about what truly matters than what I deem important enough to talk about.
I guess for the most part, it's the gradual outlook on life I have been developing over the past few months. The solitude from pretty much every social grace has had a numbing effect. No longer do I have the motivation to discuss about every matter I think is important because I know the people around me find no interest in it. The effect does carry with it a bit more emphasis when the things I find interest in tend to be highly niche interests. There isn't much to go on in a small country town.
There are at least plenty of side projects I know I should be working on at the moment. My computer is pretty much done, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to more I can add to it; you know, geek out to my hearts content. The stories I'm writing in preparation for NaNoWriMo are coming along as expected which would be aggravating during a writer's block and satisfying under inspiration, though mostly aggravating given my current skills.
What's left is to work on my blog. Given it's complex nature, it's something I should really take time to sit down and work on. However, if throw in the weekly chores and some much needed household sprucing up to do; between using the spare time for relaxation or working on my blog, I would have to choose to unwind.
Blogging, much less working on my blog would really be the last thing on my mind, more so when I'm beginning to convince myself that there is no point in trying to connect with people anymore. Maybe there will be one last hurrah in the matter, but as long as there isn't anyone remotely interesting to connect with especially on a physical level, I just don't have any will to pick up the pieces.
A pity though. It could have opened up a whole new world for everyone.
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Japanese actress Erika Sawajiri will feature semi-naked in September issue of Numero (Tokyo) magazine. Video of the photo shooting below; NSFW…
The photos might look artsy on magazine spread after post-production, but the photo shooting looks a bit too cheesy. Call me conservative, but this actually looks like making of a p0rn movie. Well, I guess that’s professionalism, perhaps.
Erika Sawajiri semi-nude for Numero Tokyo from YeinJee's Asian Blog
Stills from Korean movie Grand Prix, a horse-racing related film starring actress Kim Tae-hee and actor Yang Dong-geun…
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One of the most famous temple in Hongkong, the Wong Tai Seen temple, is visited by thousands of people during Chinese New Year.
We purposely made a trip there to see how it’s like.
The temple was really packed with people from all walks of life holding jossticks walking around and praying..
This was where they lit up the jossticks.
My purpose there was just to take photos.. I walked up down left right pushing myself through the human jam to try to capture some nice shots. Many were staring at me lol.
… and I was stucked.. stood there dono whattodo.. ohnoes
At the side of the temple was where all the forture tellers were. “Speak In English” wor.. so high class wan..
Group shot before we left for lunch!
sedap lagu ni.
mcm ala2 happy jalan2 lengkang-langkung kat tepi sungai je. hehe
mmg padu !
Kekanda Adinda – MonoloQue dan Atilia
Apparently I have managed to pull this off. A-hah! Am smugly pleased about this tiny feat (don't laugh lah, the little things make me very happy now).
…
I also thought that I should start injecting a more information about the other facets of my life into this blog. You know, since Paul arrived, I've been doing nothing but going Paul Paul Paul all day long, to the point that I got people calling me 'Mommy Blogger Minishorts'! Aack!
Not that it's a bad thing of course, but, well, I think I need some time to get used to this new thing about me.
'Mommy Blogger'
That. Just. Sounds. So. Strange.
…
Hubby asking me to go to bed now. Later!
Live Update: 3 Aug ’10, 7.29pm PKT PST | From: Nokia E71, Nokia N97 or iPhone 3Gs | Author: KNizam
aku mmg suka pergi karachi co market ni
sebab banyak giler penjual buah kat sini woooo
semua buah kat pakistan ni seasonal dan made in pakistan
mangga mmg tengah berlambak skrg ni hehe
There is joy and sometimes funny things do happen in weddings
The wedding ceremony is so long, I am sleepy.
Well even crocodiles have a wedding ceremony. Boy they even rented a limo with it.
I married the Joker.
Look a clown is marrying us.
Honey put the wedding on hold I got some business to make.
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