Pakistan urged President Barack Obama to halt U.S. missile strikes on al-Qaida strongholds near the Afghan border, saying Saturday that civilians were killed the previous day in the first attacks since Obama's inauguration.
Pakistani security officials said eight suspected foreign militants, including an Egyptian al-Qaida operative, were among 22 people killed in Friday's twin strikes in the Waziristan region.
But the Foreign Ministry said that the attacks by unmanned aircraft also killed an unspecified number of civilians and that it had informed U.S. officials of its "great concern."
"With the advent of the new U.S. administration, it is Pakistan's sincere hope that the United States will review its policy and adopt a more holistic and integrated approach toward dealing with the issue of terrorism and extremism," a ministry statement said.
"We maintain that these attacks are counterproductive and should be discontinued," it said.
Pakistani leaders complain that stepped-up missile strikes - there have been more than 30 since August - fan anti-American sentiment and undermine the government's own efforts to counter Islamist militants.
But their protests have had few practical consequences, fueling speculation that Islamabad's cash-strapped, pro-U.S. government has given tacit approval in return for political and financial support from Washington.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Things to Do During the Recession
I was doing some of my daily research and I came across this pretty hilarious tips on what to do during a recession;
1. Conversation. Conversation was perfected during the Renaissance, after people stopped the incessant prayer that characterized the tedious High Middle Ages. Here's how it works: Two or more people discuss issues that concern at least one of them. One person says one thing. Another says another. Pretty soon, everybody's talking. Then you go home. Time to go to sleep! Total cost? Zero. Cool? Duh! (Replaces: theater, $500 an evening; concerts, $100 a ticket; movies, $8 a pop.)
2. Reading. Books take a long time to get through, so their price per page is all out of whack--unless you can find a way to get them for free! Now check this out: There are folks who get in the car on a Saturday morning, maybe take the kids with them, and drive to this building where people...give away books for nothing! Okay, they don't really give them to you. You have to give them back after a while. The best part is that it's not just good books they've got there but bad ones that a person can really read by, say, Nelson DeMille or Tom Peters! Total cost to you? Zilch! I kid you not! (Replaces: reading expensive magazines.)
3. Stamp collecting. On the back of your matches, there's sometimes this offer. Millions of stamps from really weird places. Cost? Maybe five bucks. You send away for big packages of these little babies and paste them into a book, then look at your collection and feel good about yourself. No, they're not worth anything. But neither is that 401(k) retirement account whose value is set by the price of your stock, right? (Replaces: cigars.)
4. Poker. This is a really good game, and it involves gambling too. You get a bunch of cards. If you can convince the other slightly tipsy guys at your table that they're good cards--or at least better than their cards--you can win money from them. Even small winnings can feel big when the losers are your friends. (Replaces: investing in the stock market.)
5. Scrabble. During recessions the importance of intellectual pursuits becomes more apparent because there's no money to do anything better. Scrabble is a game that exercises the upper 20% of your mind without engaging any of its capacity for profound thought. It's also a way for people who don't have anything to say to one another to spend cheap time together. (Replaces: $18 of latte at Barnes & Noble.)
6. Spam. It's fatty. It's spicy. It's repulsive to those who haven't been admitted to the club. It's filling, too. After a while you develop a taste for it and can't believe you ever got along without it. (Replaces: sushi.)
7. Your old Pentium. Imagine! Using the same computer, without any upgrades, for three years in a row--with no social stigma whatsoever! Anyone looking for the positive side of recession need look no further. (Replaces: your new Pentium III 500-megahertz tower with Voodoo VI, a 16.8-gig hard drive, and a modem so fast it leaves skid marks.)
8. Driving. The front seat! What a concept! Don't cry. You can still talk on the cellular phone as much as you want...as long as the company is still paying for it. (Replaces: being driven.)
9. Walking about aimlessly. You see them every day. People moving around under their own power. Some of them are wearing exercise clothing because they are walking for exercise. Others are simply perambulating for no reason, which is allowed during a recession. For the first time in years, these people are not lurching from place to place inside an enclosure for the purpose of spending money. (Replaces: going to the mall.)
10. Bowling. A very frustrating game that costs less than 20 bucks for several hours of humiliation. The ball seldom goes where you want it to, and only one person in 1,000 looks like anything but a geek doing it. Afterwards you can drink a lot, though. (Replaces: golf.)
11. Watching the fireplace. You put a few logs in a box in the wall. You light the logs. If you're lucky, it's interesting for a while. After a time, you fall asleep. (Replaces: your satellite dish.)
12. Gettin' out that fondue set! Fondue is melted cheese, for the most part. You put bread into it, then eat it off long forks. People used to spend whole evenings doing this. Sometimes they drank or swapped spouses. It was very '70s. Take a look. There should be a set in your attic. (Replaces: nothing, but fills the gap fondue made when it left in the '80s.)
13. Bad wine. There's a world of swill out there. It's cheap! (Replaces: good wine.)
14. Bad cheese. How do you spell Velveeta? (Replaces: good, smelly cheese.)
15. Darning/mending. Folks used to do this all the time. An old article of clothing can be "fixed" with a needle and thread to look almost like new. (Replaces: style.)
16. Raking leaves. In some locations, you can still burn them when you're done, creating one of the great smells. In summer, you can extend your new skill in this area to the concept of mowing your own lawn. Hey! Put your head between your knees! I was only kidding! (Replaces: somebody else raking your leaves.)
17. Car trips to Toledo. It's you and the spouse and the kids and the budgie, all in a large van of some sort, heading off to the great American backwash. You drive, oh, six hours to your motel. You see the giant ball of twine at the local museum. Then it's dinner at an authentic local beanery and off to bed. Tomorrow it's the same thing. After ten days, it's back to work. (Replaces: two weeks in Tuscany.)
18. Keeping your job. Remember all those new horizons you were going to explore? Do it later. (Replaces: telling them to shove it.)
19. Losing your job. It's not personal. You rule, dude. It's just your position that was eliminated. (Replaces: keeping your job.)
20. Sleeping. Hey, call me when it's over, huh? (Replaces: working.)
1. Conversation. Conversation was perfected during the Renaissance, after people stopped the incessant prayer that characterized the tedious High Middle Ages. Here's how it works: Two or more people discuss issues that concern at least one of them. One person says one thing. Another says another. Pretty soon, everybody's talking. Then you go home. Time to go to sleep! Total cost? Zero. Cool? Duh! (Replaces: theater, $500 an evening; concerts, $100 a ticket; movies, $8 a pop.)
2. Reading. Books take a long time to get through, so their price per page is all out of whack--unless you can find a way to get them for free! Now check this out: There are folks who get in the car on a Saturday morning, maybe take the kids with them, and drive to this building where people...give away books for nothing! Okay, they don't really give them to you. You have to give them back after a while. The best part is that it's not just good books they've got there but bad ones that a person can really read by, say, Nelson DeMille or Tom Peters! Total cost to you? Zilch! I kid you not! (Replaces: reading expensive magazines.)
3. Stamp collecting. On the back of your matches, there's sometimes this offer. Millions of stamps from really weird places. Cost? Maybe five bucks. You send away for big packages of these little babies and paste them into a book, then look at your collection and feel good about yourself. No, they're not worth anything. But neither is that 401(k) retirement account whose value is set by the price of your stock, right? (Replaces: cigars.)
4. Poker. This is a really good game, and it involves gambling too. You get a bunch of cards. If you can convince the other slightly tipsy guys at your table that they're good cards--or at least better than their cards--you can win money from them. Even small winnings can feel big when the losers are your friends. (Replaces: investing in the stock market.)
5. Scrabble. During recessions the importance of intellectual pursuits becomes more apparent because there's no money to do anything better. Scrabble is a game that exercises the upper 20% of your mind without engaging any of its capacity for profound thought. It's also a way for people who don't have anything to say to one another to spend cheap time together. (Replaces: $18 of latte at Barnes & Noble.)
6. Spam. It's fatty. It's spicy. It's repulsive to those who haven't been admitted to the club. It's filling, too. After a while you develop a taste for it and can't believe you ever got along without it. (Replaces: sushi.)
7. Your old Pentium. Imagine! Using the same computer, without any upgrades, for three years in a row--with no social stigma whatsoever! Anyone looking for the positive side of recession need look no further. (Replaces: your new Pentium III 500-megahertz tower with Voodoo VI, a 16.8-gig hard drive, and a modem so fast it leaves skid marks.)
8. Driving. The front seat! What a concept! Don't cry. You can still talk on the cellular phone as much as you want...as long as the company is still paying for it. (Replaces: being driven.)
9. Walking about aimlessly. You see them every day. People moving around under their own power. Some of them are wearing exercise clothing because they are walking for exercise. Others are simply perambulating for no reason, which is allowed during a recession. For the first time in years, these people are not lurching from place to place inside an enclosure for the purpose of spending money. (Replaces: going to the mall.)
10. Bowling. A very frustrating game that costs less than 20 bucks for several hours of humiliation. The ball seldom goes where you want it to, and only one person in 1,000 looks like anything but a geek doing it. Afterwards you can drink a lot, though. (Replaces: golf.)
11. Watching the fireplace. You put a few logs in a box in the wall. You light the logs. If you're lucky, it's interesting for a while. After a time, you fall asleep. (Replaces: your satellite dish.)
12. Gettin' out that fondue set! Fondue is melted cheese, for the most part. You put bread into it, then eat it off long forks. People used to spend whole evenings doing this. Sometimes they drank or swapped spouses. It was very '70s. Take a look. There should be a set in your attic. (Replaces: nothing, but fills the gap fondue made when it left in the '80s.)
13. Bad wine. There's a world of swill out there. It's cheap! (Replaces: good wine.)
14. Bad cheese. How do you spell Velveeta? (Replaces: good, smelly cheese.)
15. Darning/mending. Folks used to do this all the time. An old article of clothing can be "fixed" with a needle and thread to look almost like new. (Replaces: style.)
16. Raking leaves. In some locations, you can still burn them when you're done, creating one of the great smells. In summer, you can extend your new skill in this area to the concept of mowing your own lawn. Hey! Put your head between your knees! I was only kidding! (Replaces: somebody else raking your leaves.)
17. Car trips to Toledo. It's you and the spouse and the kids and the budgie, all in a large van of some sort, heading off to the great American backwash. You drive, oh, six hours to your motel. You see the giant ball of twine at the local museum. Then it's dinner at an authentic local beanery and off to bed. Tomorrow it's the same thing. After ten days, it's back to work. (Replaces: two weeks in Tuscany.)
18. Keeping your job. Remember all those new horizons you were going to explore? Do it later. (Replaces: telling them to shove it.)
19. Losing your job. It's not personal. You rule, dude. It's just your position that was eliminated. (Replaces: keeping your job.)
20. Sleeping. Hey, call me when it's over, huh? (Replaces: working.)
10 Tips for a Starting a Computer Electronics Business
Even though I am an accountant, I am extremely interested in the computer and electronic world so here are a few tips on starting a computer business;
1. Love what you do - This is by far the most important thing in almost every business. Dont ever do it “just for the money”.
2. Have sufficient start up funds - It is possible to start up a computer business for as low as $500 which should cover your business registration, initial visit to your accountant to get setup legally and some business cards. However, the most important start up funds are the ones you need to support yourself while you build up your client base, which leads me into my next tip.
3. Start your own business while you are still employed - It may be many months before your business starts becoming profitable so its a good idea to have another job to cover your living expenses during that time.
4. Be good with money - Managing money isnt just “one of those things that you do” in business. It is what business is all about. If you cant manage your own funds now, you probably shouldnt be starting a business.
5. Start on a shoestring - Dont go renting a big officespace if you can start your business from home. Dont buy lots of expensive office furniture and electronics. A computer, fax machine, basic printer, internet connection, a phone and a basic toolkit should be enough for most businesses.
6. Understand how you will make a profit - Work out how much you will need to charge for your products and services in order to make a substantial profit. Take into account costs such as your advertising, utilities and rent. From there you can determine how much money you need to make each month to survive.
7. Get and keep the competitive edge - Perhaps you can strike up a special deal with your supplier to get items cheaper than your competitors. Be a professional on the products you are selling or have the friendliest staff.
8. Dont go it alone - Unless you are a accountant, a lawyer or a designer then you should hire professionals to do those tasks. In the long run, if you try and do it yourself you will waste more time and money than if you originally paid a professional to do it. Rememer your time isnt free anymore.
It is also a good idea to have someone you can bounce ideas off. Its especially important to have someone who will play devils advocate for you.
9. Be Professional - Everything you do should be professional. Your business cards, the way you act and even the way you dress. This shows your clients that you are a professional running a serious business.
10. Prepare for the worst - What would you do if your house/office burnt down right now? Would your customer database be backed up elsewhere or would it perish? Do you have adequate insurance if a clients computer perished in a fire, along with all its data?
1. Love what you do - This is by far the most important thing in almost every business. Dont ever do it “just for the money”.
2. Have sufficient start up funds - It is possible to start up a computer business for as low as $500 which should cover your business registration, initial visit to your accountant to get setup legally and some business cards. However, the most important start up funds are the ones you need to support yourself while you build up your client base, which leads me into my next tip.
3. Start your own business while you are still employed - It may be many months before your business starts becoming profitable so its a good idea to have another job to cover your living expenses during that time.
4. Be good with money - Managing money isnt just “one of those things that you do” in business. It is what business is all about. If you cant manage your own funds now, you probably shouldnt be starting a business.
5. Start on a shoestring - Dont go renting a big officespace if you can start your business from home. Dont buy lots of expensive office furniture and electronics. A computer, fax machine, basic printer, internet connection, a phone and a basic toolkit should be enough for most businesses.
6. Understand how you will make a profit - Work out how much you will need to charge for your products and services in order to make a substantial profit. Take into account costs such as your advertising, utilities and rent. From there you can determine how much money you need to make each month to survive.
7. Get and keep the competitive edge - Perhaps you can strike up a special deal with your supplier to get items cheaper than your competitors. Be a professional on the products you are selling or have the friendliest staff.
8. Dont go it alone - Unless you are a accountant, a lawyer or a designer then you should hire professionals to do those tasks. In the long run, if you try and do it yourself you will waste more time and money than if you originally paid a professional to do it. Rememer your time isnt free anymore.
It is also a good idea to have someone you can bounce ideas off. Its especially important to have someone who will play devils advocate for you.
9. Be Professional - Everything you do should be professional. Your business cards, the way you act and even the way you dress. This shows your clients that you are a professional running a serious business.
10. Prepare for the worst - What would you do if your house/office burnt down right now? Would your customer database be backed up elsewhere or would it perish? Do you have adequate insurance if a clients computer perished in a fire, along with all its data?
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