Points To Ponder When Looking At Mississippi Land For Sale

Category : Mortgage Broker

By Chuck Magee

The time has finally come and you are ready to buy a piece of property to build your dream home on. Living in Mississippi offers many wonderful and unique places which can make choosing the right place to raise your family a challenge. When you are looking at Mississippi land for sale to build your new home on there are several things that you need to be aware of before you buy the property and end up with a piece of land that is not suitable.

Since you are looking for a piece of land for sale in Mississippi to build a house on the first thing you need to do is make sure that it is zoned residential and that you can build the type of house you want on it, even if all you want to do is place a mobile home or modular house on the land. Many properties have very stringent zoning bylaws and will only let you build certain types or sizes of house; others will not let you install a mobile home or modular house due to Homeowner Association covenants or their geographical locations.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVZVmGpJHM[/youtube]

If you are buying unimproved land for sale in Mississippi you need to find out if it is within an area that requires a connection to a sewer system and city water supply. If not you will need to have a professional come out and assess the availability of water, in most cases you will find that you can drill a well that will supply your fresh water, it is a matter of how deep you have to drill. Be prepared to pay someone to drill your well for you as this can cost several thousand dollars depending on how deep the well has to go to find potable water.

If you are not going to have access to city sewers you are going to have to install a septic system. For this you will need to look into the local laws and regulations regarding what type of system you can use. In some areas you may have to have the land perked to see if the drainage is sufficient to allow for a septic system, others require this and a sand mound to accommodate your septic systems. All of this information needs to be checked when you are looking at any land for sale in Mississippi before you consider entering into a contract to buy, you can start this process at the County Health Department.

If you are serious about looking at land for sale in Mississippi to building a home for you and your family, you will find a wide selection of properties listed on MississippiLandsource. For ten years they have been expanding their coverage of properties in the state to include undeveloped land, homes, farms and commercial listings. They cover properties that are currently listed by many of the states top realtors and those for sale by owner to give you access to the largest selection of property to choose from for your dream home.

About the Author: Chuck Magee has been in the land development and sales business for almost two decades. In 2000 Chuck and his wife Lindey developed a website called Mississippi-Landsource.com. The website was launched for uniting the real estate market in Land For Sale In Mississippi. In 2009 more sites were launched as sister sites for other states like Land For Sale In Louisiana and Land For Sale In Alabama.

Source: isnare.com

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Murray Hill on the life and versatility of a New York drag king

Category : Uncategorized

Monday, November 19, 2007

The “Downtown Legends” wall at Mo Pitkins House of Satisfaction featured artists known in the East Village performance scene. A few featured in this photo include the Reverend Jen, Allen Ginsberg, Reverend Billy and Murray Hill (pictured)Image: David Shankbone.

Drag—dressing in the clothing atypical of your born gender—in recent years has found mainstream success. Films such as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar have prominently featured drag performers. But they have all focused on men in drag as women.

Murray Hill is a comedian, emcee and performer. He is also a drag king. Called “The Hardest Working Middle-aged Man in Show Business”, The New York Times christened him “the current reigning patriarch of the downtown performance community.” He is seemingly everywhere, emceeing a bingo night at the now closed, Jimmy Fallon-backed Mo Pitkins’ House of Satisfaction on Avenue A, or hosting the Polyamorous Pride Day in Central Park. Hill has become a legend in New York’s “anything goes” counterculture theater scene who is beginning to find mainstream success; which would be a first for a drag king.

David Shankbone’s examination of New York City‘s culture has brought him to the whip’s end of a BDSM dungeon, on the phone with RuPaul, matching wits with Michael Musto, grilling Gay Talese, eating dinner with Augusten Burroughs and quizzing the bands that play the Bowery Ballroom. In this segment he talks to downtown legend Murray Hill, former New York City mayoral candidate and comedian, on the last night of Mo Pitkins’ House of Satisfaction.

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China overtakes Germany as world’s biggest exporter

Category : Uncategorized

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Chinese officials have said that their country’s exports surged last December to edge out Germany as the world’s biggest exporter.

The official Xinhua news agency reported today that figures from the General Administration for Customs showed that exports jumped 17.7% in December from a year earlier. Over the whole of 2009 total Chinese exports reached US$1.2 trillion, above Germany’s forecast $1.17 trillion.

Huang Guohua, a statistics official with the customs administration, said the December exports rebound was an important turning point for China’s export sector. He commented that the jump was an indication that exporters have emerged from their downslide.

“We can say that China’s export enterprises have completely emerged from their all-time low in exports,” he said.

However, although China overtook Germany in exports, China’s total foreign trade — both exports and imports — fell 13.9% last year.

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HIV-positive man receives 35 years for spitting on Dallas police officer

Category : Uncategorized

Sunday, May 18, 2008

An HIV-positive man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, one day after being convicted of harassment of a public servant for spitting into the eye and open mouth of a Dallas, Texas police officer in May 2006. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that no one has ever contracted HIV from saliva, and a gay-rights and AIDS advocacy group called the sentence excessive.

Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 (in green) budding from cultured lymphocyte Image: C. Goldsmith, CDC.

A Dallas County jury concluded that Willie Campbell’s act of spitting on policeman Dan Waller in 2006 constituted the use of his saliva as a deadly weapon. The incident occurred while Campbell, 42, was resisting arrest while being taken into custody for public intoxication.

“He turns and spits. He hits me in the eye and mouth. Then he told me he has AIDS. I immediately began looking for something to flush my eyes with,” said Waller to The Dallas Morning News.

Officer Waller responded after a bystander reported seeing an unconscious male lying outside a building. Dallas County prosecutors stated that Campbell attempted to fight paramedics and kicked the police officer who arrested him for public intoxication.

It’s been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears.

Prosecutors said that Campbell yelled that he was innocent during the trial, and claimed a police officer was lying. Campbell’s lawyer Russell Heinrichs said that because he had a history of convictions including similarly attacking two other police officers, biting inmates, and other offenses, he was indicted under a habitual offender statute. The statute increased his minimum sentence to 25 years in prison. Because the jury ruled that Campbell’s saliva was used as a deadly weapon, he will not be eligible for parole until completing at least half his sentence.

If you look at the facts of this case, it was clear that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury.

The organization Lambda Legal (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund), which advocates for individuals living with HIV, says that saliva should not be considered a deadly weapon. Bebe Anderson, the HIV projects director at Lambda Legal, spoke with The Dallas Morning News about the sentence. “It’s been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears,” said Anderson.

The Dallas County prosecutor who handled the trial, Jenni Morse, said that the deadly weapon finding was justified. “No matter how minuscule, there is some risk. That means there is the possibility of causing serious bodily injury or death,” said Morse. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins stated: “If you look at the facts of this case, it was clear that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury.”

Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.

A page at the CDC’s website, HIV and Its Transmission, states: “HIV has been found in saliva and tears in very low quantities from some AIDS patients.” The subsection “Saliva, Tears, and Sweat” concludes that: “Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.” On Friday the Dallas County Health Department released a statement explaining that HIV is most commonly spread through sexual contact, sharing needles, or transfusion from an infected blood product.

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Should I Call My Exboyfriend If He Hasn’t Called Me?}

Category : Yoga

Submitted by: Anthony Malibu

Getting your ex boyfriend back can be scary and frustrating. You might not know how he feels about you, and may question whether or not he even wants to date you again. In an effort to win him over, you’ll worry about when and how you should be making contact, as well as what you should say when you talk to your ex again. If your ex hasn’t called yet, here’s what you should know.

Breakups are always different, but the reconciliation process always starts the same way: re-establishing contact with your ex boyfriend. Should you contact your ex? How long should you wait? And are there ways of getting him to dial you up first? Many women are faced with the same problem after a breakup: My ex boyfriend hasn’t called me. This is invariably followed up with the same question: Should I call him?

Before worrying about whether or not you should get in touch with your ex, you’ll first need to establish a situation in which your boyfriend misses you. When he actually wants to hear from you again, the results of your exboyfriend contact will be much more favorable. There are two things you need to do before even considering making such a phone call, and they’re listed below:

Create The Illusion That You’re Totally Over The Relationship

Chasing after your boyfriend? He’s never going to want you back. It’s human nature to want the things we can’t have, so the minute your ex thinks you’re walking away from the relationship… this is also the exact moment he considers being with you again. Sound strange? In a way it is. But when you’re always hounding your ex and trying to get him to change his mind about breaking up with you, he knows that he can have you back at any time. While he knows this, he’s going to keep you on the back burner… while he enjoys single life.

If you want your boyfriend back, you can’t show it. Don’t write him love notes or leave cards on his windshield… don’t even let him know you’re sweating him. By walking cleanly away from the romance, you’re giving the impression that you have better things to do. Many women are worried that not showing an interest in your ex boyfriend will cause him to not show any future interest in you, but in actuality the opposite effect takes place. The more you ignore someone? The more they need to know

why

. The more you don’t seem like you need them, the more they need you.

Instead of sitting around wondering why my ex boyfriend hasn’t called me, you should be creating an atmosphere in which

he needs to call you

. By staying strong after the break up is a critical part of getting your ex back. Let him know you’ve accepted the breakup. Hell, make it known that you’ve even

embraced

it. Allow him to hear about how thrilled you are to be single again – through friends or family or co-workers… however you have to do it. Because once he gets that impression, you’ll become a hell of a lot more attractive to him again.

Surround Your New Life in Mystery by Breaking All Contact

Establishing that you’ve moved on is made all the more effective when you’ve completely stopped talking to your ex. Instead of asking yourself when should I call him, you should be wondering when is my ex boyfriend going to call me! The no contact rule means just that – no communication with your ex in any way, shape, or form. Don’t email your exboyfriend thinking it’s okay. Don’t send him even one little text-message, not even to wish him happy birthday. When you first break up, staying completely silent is the only way to get your ex interested in what you’re doing again. Because while you’re still around in plain view? You’re actually prolonging the break up.

When you’ve stopped communicating with your ex boyfriend, guess what happens? Your ex will start to miss you. He’ll start thinking that you’ve moved on to bigger and better things, and chances are good that his situation has stood still. This will cause him to question the breakup, and maybe even want to call it off. His decision to end things doesn’t look so good when he realizes you’re not chasing after him or trying to get him back, but that in fact you’ve moved on to the point where you’re not even talking to him anymore.

Getting Your Exboyfriend To Call You After The Breakup

After getting dumped, it’s not uncommon to struggle with the question of initiating contact. Should I call him? How long should I wait before calling or texting him? Making the mistake of chasing your boyfriend down can actually scare him away for good. Guys feel strange and awkward after breaking up with you, which is why they want to be left alone for a little while. Unfortunately, this is when many girls feel the pressing need to try the hardest, thinking they can somehow change their exboyfriend’s mind.

If you’re sitting by the phone wondering why my ex boyfriend hasn’t called me yet, it’s because he needs some space. Wondering if you should call him yourself is not a good idea. That being said, eventually you’ll have to somehow get back in touch… just not right now. In order to get back together with your ex, you’ll need to reconnect – and you’ll want to make sure you do it at the right time.

The best type of reconnection? One in which you get your ex boyfriend to call you. There are several methods you can use to accomplish this, and there are some really great techniques for making him curious about you again. Your goal is to put yourself back in your ex’s head, but to do it indirectly so you don’t seem like you’re trying too hard. Also, by making him genuinely need to know what you’re up to, you can get him to initiate contact by phone, email, text-message, or whatever.

About the Author: There are 8 Individual Steps that will

Get Back Your Ex Boyfriend

, so find out what they are! By learning exactly what to do and exactly when to do it, you can map out a blueprint for successfully

Winning Your Boyfriend Back

, even when he hasn’t called yet.

Source:

isnare.com

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Cricket: Australia vs India 3rd test – Day 2

Category : Uncategorized

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Thursday was the second day of play in the third test between Australia and India at the WACA, Perth, Australia.

India resumed their first innings at 6/297. Australia took the remaining four wickets before the lunch break. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (19) and Irfan Pathan (28) both fell lbw in successive overs. India reached 330 all out with the loss of Anil Kumble for one run and R. P. Singh for a duck.

Australia struggled early on as Irfan Pathan dismissed both Australian openers for less than ten runs each and Michael Hussey was caught behind without scoring. At lunch, Australia were 3/22. The next session, Australia played well, despite losing Ricky Ponting (20) and Michael Clarke (23), coming to the tea break with a score of 5/148. However, in the last session of the day India took five wickets, sending Australia all out with a score of 212 after fifty overs. Andrew Symonds was Australia’s top scorer with 66 runs, while Adam Gilchrist made 55. R. P. Singh took four wickets for India.

In reply, India are 1/52 at stumps having lost Wasim Jaffer for 11 runs just before the close of play.

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Former Satyam CEO Raju, his brother and CFO arrested and detained in profit-fraud scandal

Category : Uncategorized

Monday, January 12, 2009

B. Ramalinga Raju is the founder and former Chairman of Satyam Computer Services.

Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computer Services, and his brother, B. Rama Raju, the company’s managing director, were arrested late Friday by Andhra Pradesh police. The brothers were placed under judicial custody in a Hyderabad, India jail and will remain there until January 23. Facing charges of criminal breach of trust (Section 406 of IPC), criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), falsification of records and forgery (Section 468), and fraudulent cancellation of securities (Section 477-a), they face up to ten years imprisonment if convicted.

After 18 hours of interrogation by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) at the state police headquarters, the Raju brothers were sent to the Chanchalguda prison and slept Saturday night on the floor along with 26 other low-risk inmates.

S. Bharat Kumar, the Rajus’s lawyer, asked the magistrate to issue orders for health monitoring. “His blood pressure is fluctuating and he needs medical treatment,” said Bharat Kumar. Mr. Raju appeared before the court Saturday while a team of doctors visited him after he had complained of chest pain.

Raju has Hepatitis-C, and both brothers have high blood pressure, so health precautions are necessary while imprisoned. Prison rules mandate service of jail food thrice a day. The menu includes 650 gm of rice thrice a day with 250 gm of vegetable curry and 125 gm of ‘daal’ plus tea twice a day.

Satyam’s chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas, who was also arrested Saturday, had undergone preliminary investigation and appeared Sunday before a special court, according to A. Sivanarayana, Andhra Pradesh additional director general of police. Srinivas was remanded to judicial custody until January 23 by Mr. D. Ramakrishna, Sixth Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, and sent to the Chanchalguda jail with the Raju brothers after interrogation by CID’s Crime Branch (the CB-CID). During his Saturday night arrest and probe by CB-CID, Srinivas made revelations which are contained in his confession letter as submitted to Network 18. “According to me fixed deposits are unreal and fictitious which were managed and was an understanding between the audit section management,” Srinivas stated.

The Hyderabad court on Monday postponed the bail hearings of the Raju brothers and Srinivas to January 16. To be defended by a battalion of 25 lawyers, the three accused will remain in Chanchalguda Central Jail until further court order. The Raju brothers were shifted Sunday to a mid-size Old Hospital Barrack cell shared with a bootlegger.

Satyam Development Center in Hyderabad, India.

In 2008, the company struggled to purchase two infrastructure companies founded by family members of company founder and CEO Dr. Raju – Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties – for $1.6 billion, despite concerns raised by independent board directors. Dr. Raju tendered his resignation on January 7 after due notice of falsified accounts to board members and the SEBI.

Since January 7 when two lawsuits were commenced, dozens of other class action law suits were filed against Satyam for hundreds of millions of dollars damages based on fraud in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, among others. The securities fraud class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of investors who bought Satyam American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) since 2004.

On Wednesday Dr. Raju admitted to falsifying and overstating Satyam’s cash reserves by $1B US dollars (£661m) or 94% of its cash and bank balances on books at the end of September.

The fraud was perpetrated several years ago to bridge “a marginal gap” between actual and accounting books operating profits, and continued for several years. “It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten,” B. Raju said.

In a letter to the board, Dr. Raju said that neither he nor the managing director had benefited financially from the inflated revenues. Further claiming that none of the board members had any knowledge of the dire company situation, he noted that Satyam’s balance sheet as of the September 30, 2008, carried inflated figures for cash and bank balances of INR 5,040 crore (as against INR 5,361 crore reflected in the books). He alleged it also carried an accrued interest of INR 376 crore which was non-existent. He confessed that he himself prepared an understated liability of INR 1,230 crore on account of funds amid an overstated debtors’ position of INR 490 crore (as against INR 2,651 crore in the books).

Satyam Technology Center at Bahadurpally,Hyderabad

Indian analysts have compared the Satyam-Raju scandal to the infamous American Enron scandal. Immediately following the media expose, PricewaterhouseCoopers, auditor of Satyam’s accounts, was set to be probed for complicity in the controversy. Times Now has reported that the Andhra Pradesh CID arrested PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) representative Gopal Krishnan for investigation on Saturday night.

New York-listed Satyam Computer Services Ltd., India’s fourth-biggest software firm, is a consulting and information technology services company based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1987 by Dr. Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, Satyam’s network spans 67 countries on six continents. It employs 53,000 professionals in India, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Egypt and Australia. Its monthly salary outflow is estimated at six billion rupees ($125 million). Deriving more than half of its revenues from the United States, it serves 700 global companies, 185 of which are Fortune 500 corporations.

Satyam’s clients include Nestle, Ford, General Electric Co., General Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Applied Materials Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Sony Corp., and brought in about $40bn last year.

PricewaterhouseCoopers new Melbourne offices at Freshwater Place, Yarra River, Melbourne.

In December 2008, a failed acquisition attempt involving the company Maytas led to a plunge in Satyam’s share price. After Wednesday’s confession, Satyam stocks fell further by more than 70%, while the BSE SENSEX dropped to 7.3% Wednesday, causing the removal of Satyam Computer Services from its indices on Thursday. The shares free fell to 11.50 rupees on Friday, their lowest level since March 1998, compared with around last year’s high of 544 rupees.

The New York Stock Exchange has terminated trading in Satyam stock as of January 7, while the National Stock Exchange of India said it will remove Satyam from its S&P CNX Nifty 50-share index from January 12.

India’s biggest-ever corporate fraud has seriously tainted India Inc.‘s strong corporate governance image. “The admission of fraud in financial affairs has created an adverse impression in the minds of trade, business and industry across the world,” the Indian government admitted. The government intervened on Friday night, dismissing Satyam’s board of directors, announcing it will appoint representatives to manage the affairs of the insolvent outsourcing giant. The board would meet within seven days. Dr Yeduguri Samuel Rajasekhara Reddy, chief Minister of State of Andhra Pradesh, India, on Sunday said that the main agenda is to protect the jobs of the software professionals. “We are taking all needful steps in coordination with the government of India to ensure that the jobs of 53,000 engineers are protected and the shareholders’ money is salvaged,” Reddy said.

“We are working on the names. The Satyam case is an aberration. The credibility of the Indian corporate sector in general, and IT sector in particular, should not be allowed to suffer because of this.” Prem Chand Gupta, the Corporate Affairs Minister said. The Federal Government of India appointed a three-member independent board with full authority for Satyam on Sunday and was set to convene within 24 hours. “We have appointed Deepak Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation, Kiran Karnik, former president of IT industry body NASSCOM and C. Achutan, former member of Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) of India,” Mr. Gupta said.

In early Monday trading (0535 GMT) after the creation of the three-member board, Satyam shares rocketed upwards 60% to 38.15 rupees, even though the main Mumbai market was down more than 2%. BBC reported that Satyam shares have jumped 51% to 36.05 rupees on Monday after the stock lost 87% last week. “The constitution of the new board is seen as a positive step by the market. It’s a confidence boosting measure,” K.K. Mital, Globe Capital, New Delhi head of portfolio management services said. “But the rally will depend largely on the financial situation at the company and the kind of measures that are taken to improve liquidity,” he added.

Thurgood Marshall United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Courthouse at 40 Centre Street.

The Company Law Board, however, has requested Satyam’s interim board not to implement its decisions. “We are asked by the Company Law Board not to implement the decisions of the board. But we are allowed to continue our activity. The team which was constituted recently is continuing its work,” Satyam head global marketing and communications, Mr. Hari Thalapalli, said.

Lazard Ltd., who has a 7.4% stake in Satyam, sought representation on the new board and wrote as much to The Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs. “As the largest shareholder in the company, we want to be consulted in whatever decisions are being taken by the Indian government. We have written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and are awaiting a reply from them,” Hitesh Jain, a partner at ALMT Legal, who claimed to represent Lazard, said. “It is a fair proposal and we will take a decision as and when we clear other issues. No decision on this has been taken yet,” P.C. Gupta replied.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) also announced it will try to control the damage and take steps to boost investor confidence. “This exercise will be undertaken after the third quarter results and is expected to be completed by end of February this year,” a SEBI official statement said. A SEBI team is also investigating acting-CEO Ram Mynampati whose salary was greater than that of founder Dr. Raju and all the directors combined. Dr. Raju had just one fifth of Mynampati’s total package of over Rs 3.5 crore as of March 2008. All the directors comparably received only a total of Rs 2.6 crore as salary, commissions, sitting fees, professional fees and other receivables.

Further, the Andhra Pradesh Police CID and teams assigned by the Economic Offences Wing of the CB-CID conducted searches Sunday of homes of the accused including the ex-CFO’s office to gather documentary evidence about the financial fraud.

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Keep The Flooring Options Simple

Category : Quarry Products

There are many different types of flooring on the market these days, and sometimes it may feel that you’re spoiled for choice. However, when it comes to choosing flooring for everyday domestic needs there are really only two types of flooring that you need to look at in most cases, and these are vinyl flooring and laminate flooring. These two choices will usually give you everything you need in order to make most rooms in your house look presentable and give you some extra benefits into the bargain.

First off, vinyl flooring is one of the best things you can fit in either the kitchen or the bathroom. For a start it can look really good, since there are many different patterns now available in this flooring style, and also the material can be made to look like wood or even ceramic in some cases. Some vinyl floor tiles are now so realistic looking that it can fool someone into thinking that you have actually installed a real wood floor. But the best thing about vinyl is the fact that it is very easy to maintain and to keep clean. This is especially important if you have children, who really do tend to spill things all the time. With a vinyl floor all you need to do in most cases is wipe it with a damp cloth and it comes up looking as good as new.

However, vinyl flooring may not be to everyone’s liking, and when it comes to choosing flooring for somewhere such as the lounge and you want a far more authentic feel to the floor, it is probably worth looking at laminate as a good choice. As with vinyl flooring, there are now a huge number of designs available, many made to replicate some of the classic wood patterns such as oak, chestnut, and mahogany. If you are looking for a light look to your lounge then you can choose something such as pine, but if you have traditional furniture it may be worth while looking at something such as mahogany which will give a far darker look. One of the main suppliers of laminate flooring is DuPont flooring, and simply by looking at the range available from this supplier can often be all that you need.

Many people will think you have to look at a range or flooring styles in order to make your house look good. But as outlined above you really do not need much then laminate flooring or vinyl tiles in order to make a really good design impression as well as having a floor that is easy to maintain and clean. The good thing about these two materials is that they’re also easy to install, and so if you fancy doing a bit of DIY they could be right up your street.


Exclusive report on New Zealand’s digital TV service

Category : Uncategorized

Friday, August 17, 2007

Wikinews has compiled the views from various politicians on New Zealand’s latest digital television service, Freeview. Those interviewed were Sue Kedgley, Jonathan Coleman, and Steve Maharey, the broadcasting spokespeople for their respective parties; the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, the New Zealand National Party, and the New Zealand Labour Party.

Freeview, modelled after the United Kingdom‘s Freeview, is competing directly with New Zealand’s only other digital pay TV provider, Sky Network Television. Sky reaches around 44.5% of New Zealand households. However, unlike Sky, Freeview has no on-going subscription fees, and only has a one-off fee for a set-top box and, if needed, a satellite dish.

The Labour-led Government has provided Freeview with around NZ$25 million over a five-year period to help New Zealand change from the old analogue technology and align itself “as the rest of the world moves to digital television broadcasting,” Mr Maharey said. The funding use is monitored by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Dr Coleman also described the same reasons why Freeview was necessary for New Zealand and is supported by the National Party.

However, Ms Kedgley takes a different approach and describes the Freeview service as “a belated and inadequate response to the digital challenge”, but does state that digital TV is the “growth area.” She also said that the Government is now trying to catch up after they scrapped TVNZ’s (Television New Zealand) digital plan, which she describes as far more ambitious.

National, despite being supportive of Freeview, think that the Government has not done a good job with Freeview, describing it as a “white elephant“. Firstly because Dr Coleman says there isn’t enough good programming currently available to get people interested in switching, and, secondly, there hasn’t been a definite date when analogue transmission will be cut off.

Mr Maharey said that the Government is engaging various broadcasters and interested parties to get a definite analogue switch off date, and talk about other various regulatory factors. He expects the date to be within the next six to ten years.

While the Greens do welcome the new government-funded TVNZ channels, a news and current affairs channel and a family-related channel (TVNZ 7 and TVNZ 6 respectively), “The whole exercise however, smacks of too little, too late.” They also say that the amount of funding allocated to new programming cannot pose a threat to Sky. But do support “packaging and marketing […] existing TVNZ content on the emerging digital platforms.” MediaWorks, which runs TV3 and C4, will announce their two new channels in around 18-months. And Triangle TV will add their own channel, Stratos TV, in October, 2007.

National are questioning Mr Maharey why he hadn’t released the viewer number figures. Dr Coleman said that Mr Maharey was trying to distance himself away from the “reality” of what was going on. So Wikinews requested, under the Official Information Act, the amount of set-top boxes sold. The request was denied as Freeview was to release the information themselves in a months time. On August 13 the figures were released, with a total over 21,000. General Manager Steve Browning said that “we’re tracking well ahead of forecast”. Mr Maharey concurred with what Mr Browning said, saying it exceeds their first year expectations.

Ms Kedgley, Dr Coleman, and Mr Maharey all say that they don’t have Freeview, nor know anyone who has the service. Though, Mr Maharey will consider getting it when more channels and the 2008 terrestrial service is launched in eight major New Zealand cities.

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Bali nine lawyer challenges police on legality of drug case

Category : Uncategorized

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

The lawyer for one of the members of the so called Bali Nine is claiming he will challenge the legality of the indictment against his client.

Adnan Wirawan, the lawyer of Martin Stephens from Wollongong, says his client has been unfairly accused as being the ring leader of an alleged conspiracy to smuggle drugs: “He’s a human suitcase… he was being told what to do.”

Stephens appeared in Denpasar District Court on Wednesday. The prosecution claimed that Stephens and Renae Lawrence, from Newcastle, had their hotel and trip to Bali paid for by the accused mastermind, Andrew Chan.

Stephens’ mother, Michelle, was in court for her son’s first appearance and says she will support him throughout his trial: “I’m here to support my son, and I love him and I believe in him. And that’s all I can say.”

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