Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/248357220?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Friday, September 14, 2012
Silence a Workplace Whiner By Diverting the Conversation [Workplace]
When you divert the conversation away from whatever they're complaining about, you'll likely get one of two responses and both of them are pretty good. The Wall Street Journal explains:
[P]eople bellyache just to get attention. [Author and speaker Will Bowen] suggests giving the complainer a different kind of attention by asking, ' "What's going well for you?" They'll look at you like you're crazy at first,' but persist and "the person will either switch topics or stop talking to you. Either way, you don't have to listen to them any more."
It's not a bad tactic to get a complainer out of your space for a time so you can happily get through your own piles of work.
What to Do With a Workplace Whiner | Wall Street Journal
Photo by Enokson.
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Syria envoy in capital as Assad forces pound rebels
BEIRUT (Reuters) - International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Syria's capital on Thursday as state forces pounded its eastern outskirts to flush out rebels trying to retain a foothold in Damascus.
Brahimi's mission is a challenging one as neither side in the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad seems ready to put down arms. Nor does Brahimi enjoy the necessary support from divided world and Middle East powers.
Opposition activists reported a fighter jet flying overhead and helicopter gunships firing down on suburbs that have housed insurgents struggling to topple Assad after the ouster of four other Arab autocrats in popular revolts over the past 18 months.
"There is a fresh campaign on the eastern parts of Damascus," said an activist, speaking on Skype from the capital. "Helicopters are roaming the skies and right now they are firing on Zamalka district."
The 17-month-old conflict is escalating, with more than 27,000 dead, and has engulfed many areas around the seat of government, once believed impregnable to Assad's opponents.
His forces appear to be trying to keep opposition fighters out of the heart of Damascus by bombarding rebel-infiltrated outskirts with tanks, artillery, and helicopters.
Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat who replaced former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as head of a struggling international peace mission on Syria, was expected to meet opposition figures and government officials, including Assad.
"There is a crisis, no one denies it," he said on arrival in the Syrian capital. "We hope to contribute to (ending the violence) during the days and weeks ahead."
But his mission suffers from the fact that Western powers, as well as Gulf Arab states, are backing the opposition, while Russia, Iran and China are supporting Assad's government. The result has been deadlock in the U.N. Security Council as the death toll climbs and the refugee count soars to over 200,000.
BLACKENED, BOMBARDED DISTRICT
In Damascus, residents said the Free Syrian Army, a loose assortment of rebel forces, appeared to have pulled out of the southern neighborhood of Tadamon. Troops were deployed across the district, according to a witness visiting the area.
Tadamon, which has seen heavy shelling and clashes in recent weeks, was partially destroyed. House after house stood in ruins, crumbling from bombardment or blackened by fire.
"Any house that had any link to the Free Syrian Army has been destroyed," one resident said.
Residents returned to Tadamon to survey the damage, some of them hoping to retrieve family possessions. "I have come to take some of my goods," said a man on Daoul Street, looking at his partially destroyed house.
Distant explosions shook the district but there was no fighting in Tadamon itself on Thursday. Residents say they had been warned by the army that if they let rebels back in, soldiers would return to destroy the remaining houses.
"We haven't seen the Free Army since yesterday," said another resident.
In other parts of the capital, the violence is also taking a sectarian turn, reflecting the dangers of a conflict that is descending into outright civil war.
Some activists said rebels battled a pro-Assad militia near a Shi'ite Muslim shrine on the fringes of Damascus. The violence watchdog Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least three were killed and 16 wounded, some in critical condition.
"PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING THEMSELVES"
Thursday's clashes about 1 km from the Sayyeda Zainab shrine, a pilgrimage spot for Shi'ites from across the region, seemed to pit men from a local Shi'ite vigilante group against rebels drawn mostly from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority.
One activist, who requested anonymity, said pro-Assad vigilante groups, called "Popular Committees", are mostly constructed along sectarian lines by minority groups.
Some minorities fear the revolt is being taken over by Sunni Islamists who would marginalize them in a future state. Assad and his inner circle are members of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
"The people of Damascus have started fighting themselves. The regime has been trying to incite minority sects through fear and has given some of them arms," said the anonymous activist.
The conflict in Syria has taken on regional sectarian dimensions, with Sunni Arab powers in the Gulf smuggling cash and weapons to the rebels as Shi'ite rival Iran supports Assad.
The uprising has drawn a trickle of Sunni militant fighters from abroad, some of them with links to the global network Al Qaeda. The uncertainty of who they may be backing has made Western powers hesitant to intervene militarily.
In a recent audio recording posted on the Internet, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to support the Syrian rebels, saying it was a way to confront neighboring Israel.
"Supporting jihad in Syria to establish a Muslim state is a basic step towards Jerusalem," he said. "And thus America is giving the secular Baathist regime one chance after another for fear that a government is established in Syria that would threaten Israel."
(Additional reporting By Ali Abdelati in Dubai; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-envoy-capital-assad-forces-pound-rebels-073804647.html
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
Crazy Footage of Robbers Driving Through the Glass Door of an Apple Store [Video]
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F-ck That Goddamn iPhone Adapter Costs 30 Bucks [Wtf]
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Pakistan: Factory Fire Kills More Than 200 In Karachi
KARACHI, Pakistan ? Fires swept through two clothing factories in Pakistan, leaving 283 people dead ? many trapped behind locked doors and barred windows ? highlighting the atrocious working conditions in a country where workplaces often lack basic safety equipment and owners bribe officials to ignore the violations.
The twin blazes broke out Tuesday night at a garment factory in the southern port city of Karachi and a shoe manufacturer in the eastern city of Lahore. At least 258 people died in the fire in Karachi, where rescue workers were still searching Wednesday for bodies in the charred building. Another 25 perished in Lahore.
The panicked workers in Karachi had only one way out since the factory's owner had locked all the other exit doors in response to a recent theft, officials said. Many victims suffocated in the smoke-filled basement.
"The owner of the factory should also be burned to death the way our dear ones have died in a miserable condition," said Nizam-ud-Din, whose nephew was killed in the fire, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Pakistani history.
Police were searching for the factory's managers and placed the owner on a list of people who are not allowed to leave the country, said Roshan Ali Sheikh, a top government official in Karachi.
"It is a criminal act to lock the emergency exit doors, and we are trying to know who did it, and why," Sheikh said.
The fire started when a boiler exploded and the flames ignited chemicals that were stored in the factory, which manufactured jeans and other clothes for export. Between 300 and 400 workers were inside when the blaze erupted.
Many of the deaths were caused by suffocation as people trapped in the basement were unable to escape when it filled with smoke, said Karachi fire chief Ehtisham-ud-Din.
Those on the upper floors of the five-story building had to break through metal bars covering the windows so they could leap to safety. Dozens were injured doing so, including a 27-year-old pregnant woman.
"When smoke spread all around, I jumped out the window in panic," said Mohammad Shahzad, who broke an arm and a leg when he hit the ground. "I found myself in the hospital when I regained my senses."
Others burned to death as they tried to wriggle through the barred windows.
"There were no safety measures taken in the building design," said senior police official Amir Farooqi. "There was no emergency exit. These people were trapped."
Firefighters were still battling the blaze Wednesday. The death toll spiked as they entered previously inaccessible parts of the factory and found scores more bodies. The death toll stood at 258 by Wednesday evening, including a 10-year-old boy, said Sheikh. Another 31 people were injured.
Rani Bibi said her two sons-in-law called Tuesday night to say they were trapped in the factory and asked her to tell their wives to take good care of the children. She hasn't heard from them since, and couldn't find their bodies in any of the hospitals in the city.
"We don't know where they are," said Bibi, tears flowing down her face. "I hope to hear their voice. My two daughters' lives are ruined."
The fire that swept through the four-story shoe factory in Lahore left 25 people dead, some from burns and others from suffocation, said senior police officer Multan Khan.
The fire broke out as workers were trying to start a generator after electricity went out in the building. Sparks from the generator made contact with chemicals used to make shoes, igniting the blaze, which blocked the only exit. Firefighters had to break through the building's brick walls to save people, officials said.
Raza Rumi, an analyst at the Islamabad-based Jinnah Institute, said the fire in Karachi was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the country's history. "It is reflective of the utter collapse of regulation and the enforcement of labor laws in the country," he said.
The problem has gotten worse in recent years as the federal government handed over factory oversight to provincial authorities, but local governments failed to develop legislation enforcing labor laws or basic safety regulations, Rumi said. Many Pakistani factories lack even basic safety equipment, such as alarms and sprinklers.
In Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital, authorities abolished labor inspections altogether in 2003 to develop a more "business-friendly environment," Rumi said.
It was unclear whether anger over the fires in Karachi and Lahore will prompt provincial governments to focus on passing new labor regulations.
____
Abbot reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Zaheer Babar in Lahore and Rebecca Santana, Asif Shahzad and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/pakistan-factory-fire_n_1875984.html
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Demi Lovato Denies Niall Horan Relationship, Spotted with Wilmer Valderrama
We have an update on the love life of Demi Lovato.
First, the singer and new X Factor judge sat down with E! News and denied that she's in a relationship with Niall Horan of One Direction, even though the singers were spotted at dinner last Thursday following the MTV Video Music Awards.
"There is nothing going on. Niall's my friend," Lovato said. "I'm just focusing on my work right now, and that's pretty much that."
But is that pretty much it?
The Daily Mail reports that Lovato dined with former flame Wilmer Valderrama at upscale restaurant El Torito in Sherman Oaks on Sunday night.
Dressed in a short skirt and ankle boots, Lovato was photographed alongside the actor and serial dater, who donned a skin-tight T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Moreover, according to witnesses, Demi and Wilmer didn't simply eat dinner together.
They wet back to the singer's place afterward for what we can only presume was desert... of the naked variety!
[Photo: WENN.com]
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