Guess what - Iraq has a new Monument in the shape of a shoe!!!,

An Iraqi town has unveiled a giant monument of a shoe in honor of the journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President George W. Bush.

The two-meter (six-foot) high statue, unveiled on Thursday in former dictator Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, depicts a bronze-colored shoe, filled with a plastic shrub. "Muntazer: fasting until the sword breaks its fast with blood; silent until our mouths speak the truth," reads an inscription, in honor of journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at Bush and called him a "dog" at a news conference during the former president's final visit to Iraq.

Zaidi has been held in jail in Baghdad since the incident, facing charges of assaulting a visiting head of state.

Fatin Abdul Qader, head of an orphanage and children's organization in the town, said the one-and-a-half-tonne monument by artist Laith al-Amiri was titled "statue of glory and generosity."
"This statue is the least expression of our appreciation for Muntazer al-Zaidi, because Iraqi hearts were comforted by his throw," she said.

Courtesy - Reuters

(Reporting by Sabah al-Bazee; writing by Peter Graff)

Joke of the Century - Pakistan gives a new meaning to the Beatles' song!

"Third Place" - In No-where land by no-where men making their no-where plans!!!


There is a place on earth which belongs to no one...and that is where the "stateless actors" planned the 26/11 attacks is the brilliant latest findings by the Pakistanis.

The Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11 were planned in a 'third place' outside Pakistan and Britain, Pakistani High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan said Friday.

Hasan said Pakistan's official report on the Mumbai attacks in which over 170 people were killed will be ready 'by Saturday or Sunday'.

'I have spoken to the interior ministry to check on Pakistani newspaper reports that said the attacks were planned in the UK,' Hasan told IANS.

'They told me there was no evidence of UK involvement. The attacks were not planned in either Pakistan or the UK.

'However, they said it was planned in some other outside place. It may not necessarily be a country - it could be a ship,' he said.

Hasan, who was an adviser to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said the report will be ready by Sunday after it is seen and approved by the president and the prime minister.

Earlier, Hasan told NDTV news channel: 'We are not going to do any whitewashing business. We believe in going after facts. Our findings will be acceptable to the world. We will try to satisfy India with our findings. We are addressing the concerns of the world not just India.'

'When you collect material, then you sort it out, you re-do it and re-read it. That requires time, so I am sure once they complete it, they will come out with concrete facts that will satisfy the world as to Pakistan's non-involvement in the Mumbai attacks,' he said.

Courtesy - Yahoo! News

Pinkslips everywhere - January 2009 Layoffs

Layoffs for January 2009 at America's 500 largest public companies*:

151,352

Jan. 28: Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) increases previously announced layoffs--bringing total to 10,000 workers, or 6% of the company’s workforce.

Jan. 28: Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) organizes closings at 900 stores worldwide and fires 6,700 in the process.

Jan. 28: Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) cuts 400 open positions and 600 employees on sagging sales.

Jan. 27: Time Warner's (nyse: TWX - news - people ) AOL reduces workforce by 10% (700 workers) as it fights declining ad revenue.

Jan. 27: Cabinet company Merillat--a subsidiary of Masco (nyse: MAS - news - people )--cuts 20% of workforce (70 workers).

Jan. 26: Texas Instruments (nyse: TXN - news - people ) pink-slips 3,400 (12% of workforce).
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Jan. 26: IBM (nyse: IBM - news - people ) selects 2,800 to participate in its “current resource reduction action.”

Jan. 26: Lincoln National (nyse: LNC - news - people ) posts five quarterly declines in profit; cuts 540 (5% of workforce).

Jan. 26: Caterpillar (nyse: CAT - news - people ) announces quarterly profit plunge of 32%; fires 20,000.

Jan. 26: Following the acquisition of the small drug outfit Wyeth for $68 billion, Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) closes five factories and cuts 15% of total workforce (19,000 workers).

Jan. 26: Sprint Nextel (nyse: S - news - people ) pink-slips 8,000 workers--recording more than $300 million in severance charges but saving $1.2 billion a year in labor costs.

Jan. 26: Home Depot (nyse: HD - news - people ) closes high-end home design shops and slims ranks at headquarters; dismisses 7,000.

Jan. 26: General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) cuts production at several plants and fires 2,000 in Michigan and Ohio.

Jan. 23: Brazil-based Deere & Company (nyse: DE - news - people ) subsidiary lays off 502 employees.

Jan. 23: Abercrombie & Fitch (nyse: ANF - news - people ) cuts 50 from headquarters as company leans expenses.

Jan. 23: Harley-Davidson (nyse: HOG - news - people ) sees 60% drop in profits in fourth quarter of 2008; fires 1,100 (10% of workforce).

Jan. 22: Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) has first mass layoff in 34-year history; pink slips 5,000.

Jan. 22: Huntsman (nyse: HUN - news - people ) reduces workforce by 9%; cutting 1,175 regular workers and 490 full-time contractors.

Jan. 21: Burlington Santa Fe cuts 2,500 workers (5% of workforce) despite a 19% jump in earnings during the fourth quarter.

Jan. 21: UAL (nasdaq: UAUA - news - people ) fires 1,000 to cut overhead costs.

Jan. 21: SPX (nyse: SPW - news - people ) attempts to sell a business unit and cuts 400 employees to help endure the downturn.

Jan. 21: Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) closes five manufacturing plants and pink slips 5,000.

Jan. 21: Walt Disney (nyse: DIS - news - people ) offers voluntary buyouts to 600 theme park executives on poor attendance.

Jan. 21: Wynn Resorts wraps up construction on Las Vegas Strip casino with 53-worker layoff in design and construction affiliate.

Jan. 21: Eaton (nyse: ETN - news - people ) brings total workforce reduction since the beginning of last year to 10% with 5,200-worker cut.

Jan. 21: Warner Bros. Entertainment--a part of Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people )--cuts 10% (800) of its jobs.

Jan. 20: Clear Channel Communications (nyse: CCU - news - people ) reduces workforce across the entire company by 9% accounting for 1,850 job losses.

Jan. 20: Deere & Co. (nyse: DE - news - people ) dismisses 120 at Iowa plant.

Jan. 16: ConocoPhillips (nyse: COP - news - people ) trims capital spending by 18%, writes off $34 billion and reduces workforce by 4% (1,300 jobs).

Jan. 16: Hertz Global Holdings (nyse: HTZ - news - people ) sets out for worldwide restructuring in first quarter of 2009; cuts 4,000 jobs.

Jan. 16: WellPoint (nyse: WLP - news - people ) reduces workforce by 600 and removes 900 open positions.

Jan. 16: Advanced Micro Devices (nyse: AMD - news - people ) reduces global workforce by 9% (1,100 jobs).

Jan. 15: Xerox (nyse: XRX - news - people ) cuts 275 jobs in New York region.

Jan. 15: MeadWestvaco (nyse: MWV - news - people ) fires 2,000 and plans closings or restructurings at up to 14 plants.

Jan. 15: Autodesk (nasdaq: ADSK - news - people ) expects loss from 2008 fourth quarter; pink-slips 750 (10% of workforce).

Jan. 15: Marshall & Ilsley (nyse: MI - news - people ) cuts 8% of staff (830) in ongoing cost-cutting.

Jan. 15: General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people )'s (nyse: GE - news - people ) jet-engine group cuts 1,000 white-collar jobs.

Jan. 14: Ecolab (nyse: ECL - news - people ) restructures and reduces workforce by 4% (1,000 jobs).

Jan. 14: Delta Air Lines (nyse: DAL - news - people ) gives 2,000 early retirements as part of 8% capacity reduction.

Jan. 14: Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) lays off 4,000 following a 3,000-worker layoff last year; expects savings of $700 million a year.

Jan. 14: Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) fires 100 hirers as it cuts back on contract workers and temporary employees.

Jan. 13: Cummins (nyse: CMI - news - people ) freezes salaries for the rest of the year and lets 800 go.

Jan. 13: Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) cuts 800 researchers as it lowers cost in the face of poor performance and coming patent losses.

Jan. 12: Mosaic (nyse: MOS - news - people ) fires 1,000 in Saskatchewan.

Jan. 12: Aircraft maker and Textron (nyse: TXT - news - people ) subsidiary Cessna sends 2,000 packing.

Jan. 12: Best Buy (nyse: BBY - news - people ) clears 12.5% of its headquarters staff with 500-employee layoff.

Jan. 12: Precision Castparts (nyse: PCP - news - people ) dismisses 40 as airline industry continues to struggle.

Jan. 9: Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) reportedly cuts 500 from U.S. sales and consulting businesses.

Jan. 9: Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) cuts 4,500 and returns workforce size to what it was in early 2008.

Jan. 9: Freeport-McMoRan (nyse: FCX - news - people ) slices workforce in half at Arizona mine; 1,550 workers let go.

Jan. 9: Smitfield Foods' (nyse: SFD - news - people ) Butterball--the nation's largest turkey company--fires 75 at Missouri plant.

Jan. 8: Union Pacific (nyse: UNP - news - people ) pink-slips 230 as company struggles; stock down 22% year-to-date.

Jan. 8: Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works--owned by General Dynamics (nyse: GD - news - people )--dismisses 179.

Jan. 8: Continuing companywide job cuts at Eaton (nyse: ETN - news - people ) hit Iowa, with 78 laid off.

Jan. 8: Walgreen (nyse: WAG - news - people ) cuts 1,000--roughly 9%--from corporate and field manager ranks.

Jan. 7: EMC (nyse: EMC - news - people ) fires 2,400 as it reduces 2009 expenses by $350 million.

Jan. 6: Alcoa (nyse: AA - news - people ) starts global salary and hiring freeze, plans sale of four non-core businesses and cuts workforce by 13% (13,500 jobs).

Jan. 6: Aqua Glass--a subsidiary owned by Masco (nyse: MAS - news - people )--pink-slips 30 employees.

Jan. 5: Cigna (nyse: CI - news - people ) reduces workforce by 4% (1,100 jobs).

Jan. 5: United States Steel (nyse: X - news - people ) cuts 50 jobs as it closes production lines in Texas.

Layoff Tracker

*Total announced layoffs at America's 500 largest public companies as measured by a composite ranking of sales, profits, assets and market value during January 2009. Includes layoffs at subsidiaries, joint ventures and majority-owned companies.

Courtesy - Forbes.com

ISB ranked 15th top business school in the world

Hyderabad, Jan 27 (IANS) The Indian School of Business (ISB) has been ranked 15th in the global business school rankings by the Financial Times, London.

This is the second year in a row when the ISB has achieved a high rank among leading international business schools. Last year, it was ranked 20, making it the first Indian business school to be counted among the top 20, the ISB said in a statement here Tuesday.

'I am very proud of the ISB's achievement. The high level of commitment of the faculty, students, alumni, and the staff at the ISB as well as the unstinting guidance of its associate schools and the board, have made it possible for this institution to overcome many challenges in its formative years,' said Rajat Gupta, ISB chairman.

The ISB was established in 2001 by a group of leading industrialists and academicians from India and abroad. From 126 students in 2001, the ISB has steadily increased the number of students year after year. There will be 440 students graduating in April 2009.

The ISB will be increasing the number of students to 560 in 2010. Recently, it announced the setting up of a second campus at Mohali, which is likely to commence classes in 2012.

Courtesy: Yahoo News

Exclusive videos of girls assaulted in Mangalore pub

10 Detained...many still at large.

Recession? Not for These Businesses

Roger Payne, an auto mechanic near San Antonio, took the recession in stride and decided to move his business closer to home. As in, to his backyard. Payne, who quit his old repair job eight months ago to strike out on his own, runs Painless Automotive from his silver tin garage.

"I'm just slammed here. I've got three engine swaps, an axle to do, an airbag system, and a fuel box," Payne said on Jan. 16. Even without a Web site, Painless draws cash-conscious customers from the northern parts of San Antonio, who don't mind the tow to his shop on Route 181, just outside the city's southeastern limit. "Before the recession, [business] was all right," Payne says, but now his backyard is parked 12 deep with cars. The mechanic has no full-time employees, enlisted friends to build a sign, and his wife handles marketing. With Payne's competitive rates, even used-car dealers bring him work.

While the U.S. recession is largely a story of bank failures, job losses, and consumer penny-pinching, the downturn is also stimulating sections of the economy that run counter to such economic cycles. People look to repair, not replace. Workers switch industries, seeking recession havens where possible such as health care and education. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, health-care employment rose by 372,000 workers in 2008 while the unemployment rate hit 7.2%, or 11.1 million people. Discount chains such as Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Family Dollar Stores (FDO) now attract customers from up-market retailers. The same goes for travel: North American hostel bookings rose by 25% last year, says Aisling White, a spokeswoman for Web Reservations International, a Dublin-based online reservation firm.

New heels on Wall Street
For those who service the oldest mode of transport, walking, clients have become plentiful, eschewing new footwear for fixes to the old. Troy Horner, who with his father owns Peabody Shoe Repair in Nashville, has the same problem as Payne: He's completely booked. Winter is always high season for worn soles as Americans stash sandals for closed-toe shoes and boots. But at Dawson's in Columbia, Mo., Bob Wood has noticed more customers seeking new heels as well, and a fine shine. He says he can tell the recession is boosting business by the nature and amount of what turns up. Last Monday, he says, a woman brought in "a sack full of shoes" for restoration.

Shoe repairs are also in high demand at the heart of America's economic problems—on Wall Street. Across from the headquarters of troubled insurer American International Group (AIG) in lower Manhattan, Minas Polychronakis runs Minas Shoe Repair. The 2008 winter season provided him with a 20% increase in business over 2007, despite a sizeable exodus of the district's workforce. "If there were more people here, I'm sure the percentage would be higher," Polychronakis says wistfully.

Another booming area is law. "Our work is brisk," says Gus A. Paloian, a partner in the bankruptcy, workouts, and business reorganization division at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago. "We don't like to brag about it but the [filing] rate is astronomical." Three years ago, Seyfarth started hiring attorneys from other firms, and fresh out of law school, in order to cope with an influx of real estate cases. Since then, the expanding file of clients includes lending agencies, retail companies, biofuel producers, manufacturers, auto-parts suppliers, and the casino industry. "We're seeing problems in virtually all segments of the economy," says Paloian, who doesn't foresee a dry spell for some time.

Action from shakeouts
Corporate downsizing often means lengthy and complicated litigation, as businesses seek bankruptcy protection to restructure. At the New York offices of Proskauer Rose, the 150-attorney labor and employment department is busy working on class actions, collective bargaining, and litigation. Real estate and construction proceedings lead the way with media and entertainment companies following close behind. "We represent a number of construction companies telling horror stories," says Paul Salvatore, co-chair of Proskauer Rose's global labor and employment law department. "Financial service firms were great tenants."

Salvatore says the ripple effect of America's recession drives business to his firm in larger volume than past downturns. "We didn't have the fundamental shakeout of firms that were household names. Goldman Sachs (GS) is now a bank."

America's education businesses are absorbing some of the unemployed and unsatisfied domestic workers. DeVry University, a subsidiary of DeVry (DV), is benefiting from citizens looking to reposition themselves in the job market. Online enrollment increased by a full quarter—from 41,128 to 51,628—in November 2008 compared with a year earlier. Graduate-student enrollment rose 13.7% during the same period, from 15,657 to 17,803. DeVry shares also trade just below a 52-week high of 61. Much of the focus has been on the health sector as students look for jobs as medical assistants, surgical technicians, and respiratory therapists. DeVry also benefits from companies that reimburse employees for tuition, such as Verizon (VZ), Best Buy (BBY), Boeing (BA), and McDonald's (MCD). "It's a good, calculated risk," DeVry University President David Pauldine says of returning to school. "It's either that or you drop out and head to Mexico," he jokes.

At the Citrus Heights (Calif.) campus of Western Career College, a DeVry subsidiary, sisters Julie Johnson, Hollie Pearson, and Aimie Earle are pursuing certifications to work as dental assistants. Like many other DeVry students, the three are changing careers. Recently married, Johnson worked the graveyard shift as a cocktail waitress in the card room of a Sacramento casino. Earle was laid off in September after two years at a car dealership. Pearson, who worked in central California real estate, says she probably wouldn't have returned to school if business had stayed strong. "Since the market went where it went, this is a good change for me. I'm glad to be here," Pearson says about school. By August, the sisters expect to be certified dental assistants, with jobs soon after. DeVry says that more than 90% of its graduates find jobs in their field within six months.

Let's not go out
When times turn rough, people tend to stay home more. That means plenty of home movie nights, less eating out, and more video games. With interactive games like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and just about anything on the Nintendo Wii platform, the industry currently reflects few of America's financial problems. Total revenue jumped 40% in 2007, and another 20% through the first 11 months of last year. (December figures are not yet available.) The Entertainment Software Association expects to tally sales of $22 billion for 2008, when all the counting is finished, says president and CEO Mike Gallagher.

For many people, video games are not only a great value proposition—$65 for how many hours?—they attract a wide age range. Rock Band II is issuing new releases based on music by The Who and the Beatles, which will likely bring some older folks into the gaming fold. Right now, there's still growth potential for the industry. Consumers purchased 2 million Wii consoles in November and 300 million computer games last year. "What you have now is a pretty significant installed base in American households. That enlarges the addressable market for software companies," says Gallagher. Analysts are optimistic that the industry will beat its 2008 records, too.

At his garage in San Antonio, Payne also is likely see his business continue to grow. "With people losing lots of their money in the market and jobs being lost, they're looking me up," he says.

Courtesy - Business Week

Microsoft eyeing significant layoffs

Microsoft is planning to lay off a significant portion of its workforce as early as next week, CNET reports, citing an article in The Wall Street Journal.

The technology giant is exploring layoffs across various business groups, a true rarity for the world's largest software company.

Although analysts have been predicting that Microsoft might cut anywhere from 10 to 17 percent of its 95,000 employees, the final cut is expected to be significantly lower. Moreover, there's still an outside chance that Microsoft could find other ways to rein in costs.

In previous economic lulls, Microsoft has been able to make minimal cuts while avoiding widespread layoffs, but just about everyone agrees that this recession calls for tougher measures. At most, Microsoft has cut jobs in the hundreds, but never on such a scale as the one being considered now.

Source - http://www.imediaconnection.com/news/21729.asp