Strategic exhaustion

Pakistan is currently faced with multifarious problems: the political problem of evolving a political system which corresponds to the genius of its people and their democratic aspirations, the problem of economic development and raising the standard of living of its people, the problem of good governance to provide essential services like basic nutrition, health, education, shelter, justice, and rule of law and to build up the physical infrastructure of the country, and the problem of ensuring internal and external security. A cursory glance at our history shows that the successive governments in Pakistan have failed to overcome these problems. There are several factors which are responsible for this sad state of affairs. They include lack of maturity and integrity of our politicians, the adventurism and corruption of our army generals whose lack of comprehension of national issues is matched by their disregard of the constitution and rule of law, and an inefficient bureaucracy made growingly ineffective by politicisation and repeated instances of military rule. However, if there is one underlying factor which is responsible for most of our national ills, it is the problem of strategic exhaustion.
It was Pakistan’s misfortune that soon after independence its political elite failed to provide the leadership that the country needed. The vacuum thus created due to the sheer incapacity of the political leadership to deliver was filled up initially by the civilian bureaucracy but ultimately by the senior generals of the Pakistan Army starting with Ayub Khan. The precedent set by him was followed by other military usurpers including Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf. In the process, Pakistan remained under the military rule for 33 years out of the 62 years of its existence. Even when the army generals were not directly ruling the country, they were busy pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The net result was that the political evolution of the country on democratic lines was stunted and the army gradually entrenched itself in the corridors of power so as to dominate and control the governmental decision making processes. The military claimed the lion’s share of the budget. Not only that, the military budget also became off limit for the Parliament. The army generals virtually dictated the country’s security and foreign policies. The army also came to dominate the economic scene by establishing a vast business empire covering the industrial, banking, real estate, and transportation sectors with obvious adverse implications for professionalism in the army.

By Javid Husain

US jobless rate hits 10.2pc

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US unemployment rate shot up to 10.2 percent in October as another 190,000 jobs were shed, the Labor Department said Friday.
The report highlighted ongoing woes in the labor market in an economy struggling to emerge from recession: the jobless rate, up from 9.8 percent in September, was the highest since 1983 but the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in over a year.
Overall, the Labor Department monthly report, one of the best indicators of economic momentum, was worse than expectations for a 10 percent jobless rate and 175,000 job losses. But the improving trend continued, and the latest report revised down the number of job losses in August and September.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 219,000 in August (instead of the prior estimate of 263,000) and by 154,000 in August (revised from 201,000).
The number of unemployed persons increased to 15.7 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points, the Labor Department said.
The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, the report showed.
The goods-producing sectors shed 129,000 jobs in the month including 61,000 in manufacturing and 62,000 in construction. Services lost 61,000 in the month, with 40,000 in retail. The report showed modest employment gains in professional and business services of 18,000 and 45,000 jobs added in education.
Government employment was flat.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said Friday’s new unemployment figure of 10.2 percent was “a sobering number” that warns of the economic challenges facing the world’s largest economy.
“Although we lost fewer jobs than we did last month, our unemployment rate climbed to over 10 percent — a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead,” Obama said in an address at the White House.

US Consulate starts issuing visas to businessmen

KARACHI - The US Consulate Friday started issuing visa after a gap of 13 years and in this regard a Pakistani businessman was issued the first visa following the resumption of visa section in the city.
On this occasion, US Consul General Stephen G Fakan held a reception for prominent businessmen at his residence to mark the re-opening of visa section.
On this occasion, US Consul General said that opening of visa section was the indication that the United States was here to stay as a partner, friend and an ally of Pakistan.
He said that it was important that visas for other segments will also begin in summer when the new compound of under-construction US Consulate will be opened.
Fakan said that it takes lots of time and efforts for applying for visas in Islamabad and businessmen have to take away valuable time from their companies.
He suggested businessmen to apply with American Express Karachi for visas to get early response.
Speaking on the occasion, the businessmen termed it a great day for Karachi and said that it means that US still has its interest in Pakistan.
Head of consular section in Karachi Tracy Brown said that it was a very smooth day and eight visa applications were received on Thursday. Head of Visa Section US Embassy Christopher Richard said that visa application can take 4 to 6 weeks for processing and said that the Embassy was looking at ways to further facilitate visa seekers.

China outlook upgraded to 'positive': Moody’s

BEIJING (AFP) - Moody’s on Monday upgraded its ratings outlook for China to “positive” from “stable”, giving policymakers in Beijing the thumbs-up for how they have navigated the worst financial crisis in decades.
Moody’s Investors Service said it had based its decision on the “resilient, robust and relatively stable macroeconomic performance during the turbulence of the past year”. “The Chinese authorities are successfully steering the economy through the turbulence of the global financial crisis and recession, and furthermore, they seem likely to remain vigilant to protect systemic stability from future threats and challenges,” senior vice president Tom Byrne said in a statement. Policymakers and analysts have expressed confidence in China’s recovery after the economy grew 8.9pc in the third quarter — the fastest pace in a year.
That compares with 7.9 percent growth in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first three months, the slowest pace in more than a decade.
The World Bank last week raised its 2009 growth forecast to 8.4 percent, following similar moves by the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank.
China’s recovery has been driven by a four-trillion-yuan (586-billion-dollar) stimulus package unveiled a year ago and a record 8.67 trillion yuan in bank lending in the first nine months of 2009.
But Moody’s sounded a cautionary note, saying that while China’s recovery seemed well-established, underlying risks to its long-term outlook remained. “Further positive rating actions ... will hinge on continued macroeconomic and financial sector stability and on an assessment that China’s state-sector-centric stimulus programme had not distorted long-term growth prospects or given rise to destabilising asset bubbles,” the statement said.

Sandra doesn't chase film roles

SANDRA Bullock puts her family before film roles. The Hollywood superstar says she enjoys being a wife and step-mom more than being an actress.
“I realise it when I’m staring at a stack of scripts and I can’t bear to open them,” she said. “I don’t want to step in that world right now, I want to enjoy where I am. I want to enjoy the ride instead of blasting forward and trying to fill a void that doesn’t exist.” – SS
Sandra, 45, recently revealed that the immoral scenes in her summer movie The Proposal helped the flick succeed. “We had all the right people, the right elements in the right place,” she said of the movie’s success. – SS

Children with 'tough love' parents do better in life

CHILDREN who grow up with parents who take a ‘tough love’ approach to their upbringing are better prepared to do well in life.
Experiencing a combination of warmth and discipline means children are more likely to develop skills such as application, self-regulation and empathy than those with disengaged or authoritarian parents. Those characteristics boosted children’s life chances, social mobility and opportunity and were profoundly shaped in pre-school years.
Jen Lexmond, principal author of the report, said: ‘Far from a “soft” skill, character is integral to our future success and well-being. ‘The foundations for our character are laid before the age of five. ‘This puts a huge emphasis on parenting, but whatever the parental background, it is confidence, warmth and consistent discipline that matter most.’
According to the study, by think tank Demos, children with ‘tough love’ parents were twice as likely to develop good character traits by the age of five than children with disengaged parents.
The Building Character report, which analysed data from more than 9,000 households in the UK from the Millennium Cohort Study, also found that family structure and income affected children’s development. Children from the richest backgrounds were more than twice as likely to develop crucial characteristics than the poorest. Children with married parents were twice as likely to show the traits than children from single parent or step-parented families.
However, when parental style and confidence were factored in, the difference between children from richer and poorer families disappeared, indicating parenting was the most important influence.
The gap between children from married and single parent families also disappeared when the quality of parenting was taken into consideration.

Cough into your mobile phone for instant diagnosis

YOUR mobile phone may soon be able to diagnose respiratory illnesses in seconds when you cough into it.
Software being developed by American and Australian scientists will hopefully allow patients simply to cough into their phone, and it will tell them whether they have cold, flu, pneumonia or other respiratory diseases.
Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection.
Health workers can distinguish the different kinds of cough by sound. Now, it is claimed, the new software will do the same, and will save patients a trip to the surgery - or tell them when they are at risk of serious illness.
Suzanne Smith of STAR Analytical Services, the firm behind the research, says: “Why haven’t we been measuring coughs?
“It’s the most common symptom when a patient presents, and we are relying on doctors and nurses with good old technology from the 19th century.”
Coughs typically last around one-quarter of a second, comprising a sharp intake of breath, a silent exhalation and then the complex burst of sounds that makes the cough noise.
Healthy, voluntary coughs tend to be slightly louder than the involuntary coughs of an ill person. And after the initial explosive sound, there are subtleties like vibrating vocal cords and mucus that reveal information about what is happening in the patient’s respiratory system. The software would compare the patient’s cough to a pre-recorded database of coughs, containing the sounds of all respiratory diseases from people of both sexes and various ages, weights and other variables.

Rihanna to launch her own perfume

RIHANNA is all set to become the latest celeb to launch her own fragrance.
The Umbrella singer has even tested her perfume. “I’ve been right there with a chemist mixing the formulas,” the Sun quoted Rihanna, as saying. “I wanted this to be the fragrance no man can resist - and it is!”
Rihanna, who parted ways with Chris brown earlier this year, has no plans to date anyone anytime soon. “I’m not dating right now. I don’t wanna date right now. It’s too much,” Contactmusic quoted her as telling Us Weekly mag. – ANI

Oil’s Well

Welcome to the oil slick! It helps your skin look great. Let’s look into the benefits of anti-ageing facial oils.

So how high would you jump if you were told that there is yet another category of a beauty product that works to keep your face smooth and taut-skinned? The category is anti-ageing oils for the face.
Yes, these oils are a fantastic find. Not only do they help prevent the formation of wrinkles, but the slippery oils will deter unnecessary tugging and pulling on your skin, which is thought to be a contributing factor to the formation of wrinkles.
Most facialists would probably recommend isometric exercises to strengthen facial muscles. That is because the weakening of the facial and neck muscles leads to sagging skin. If massaged properly with the help of a good facial oil, the same sagging skin will become toned and you will notice a reduction in the fine lines and wrinkles.
Facial oils not only effectively lock the natural oils into skin, they also encourage skin to regenerate its own oils. This gives skin a renewed freshness. You will not need to use much make-up and the wrinkling process can be dramatically slowed.
Serums and moisturisers containing natural oils are preferred to regular oils which are high on the grease factor. But though oils are greasy, they are more effective beauty treatments. They leave the skin smooth and glowing. And oil can easily be removed from the face with a soap-free cleanser or a non-drying soap product.
The most common facial oils are made of rose oil, calendula, sandalwood oil, lavender and geranium. Other ingredients used in facial oils to delay wrinkling are wheatgerm, apricot, soyabean, olive almond and avocado oils. Some oils also contain extracts of primrose flower, borage seed, jojoba and carrot. These provide the purest, most natural and effective way of delivering essential nutrients into your skin’s upper layers. The result is a more youthful appearance.
If you feel there is a specific area of your body which is more wrinkled than others, you may apply these oils there as well. Work facial oils into your routine. Every night, before you turn in, cleanse your face thoroughly, pat it dry and apply in the facial oil. Using your finger pads, lightly and steadily, tap-massage the oil all over your face and neck. Don’t wash off or tissue away the oil. Leave it on overnight for best results.
For maximum benefit, cleanse, tone, moisturise and then massage the facial oil as the last topical application.
Top 10 Oils To Make You Look Younger
1. Calendula oil rebuilds cells and works wonders for dry skin.
2. Soy oil is rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9 (the fats the body and skin needs) and it helps skin regain elasticity. However, some people are allergic to it so please do take a patch test before trying it out.
3. Sandalwood oil triggers hormones in the brain which signal the skin to release collagen and elastin.
4. Rose oil gives bloom, warmth and helps repair broken veins. But make sure that you have a good tolerance for it as it may cause headaches in some people.
5. Geranium oil gives warmth to the skin, repairs it and even helps broken veins. This oil, however, can be sensitive on most skins.
6. Frankincense oil preserves and revitalises skin.
7. Mandarin oil releases collagen, exfoliated dead skin and firms. Sensitive skin may not tolerate this oil well.
8. Grape Seed oil is a powerful antioxidant for the skin.
9. Neroli oil refreshes cells gently. It can smell a bit strange but when mixed with a base or a carrier oil, the smell vanishes!
10. Coconut oil is an antioxidant and is wonderful for most skin types.

HEALTH

Caring For Aching Muscles

Our muscles bend and straighten our joints thousands of times a day, so it’s important to keep them in good working order.

Muscles have an excellent blood supply, and usually work aerobically, fuelled by blood oxygen and glucose. But when they need to work hard, for example, during sport, they switch to anaerobic exercise. This provides a rapid supply of energy by burning glucose (glycogen) stored in the muscles themselves, but also creates lactic acid, which makes muscles ache afterwards.

Muscle Strains And Cramps
A “pulled” muscle is caused by using it wrongly or by overuse - excessive force can stretch or tear tiny muscle fibres, producing pain each time the muscle contracts. If there’s a lot of damage, the muscle may be weakened, contain a large bruise (haematoma) or tear completely and stop working altogether. Most muscle strains can be treated at home (see “Ways to protect your muscles,” above), but if you have severe pain or weakness, you may need physiotherapy or even surgery to repair the damage.
Muscle cramps aren’t generally serious, but poor circulation can give you calf pain when walking. Night-time cramps are occasionally due to diuretics (water pills), other medication or illness, so consult your GP.

Fibromyalgia
This rheumatic condition causes widespread muscle pain, stiffness and tender points, and may be due to neurological differences in the way we feel pain. It’s more common in women than men, and is often linked to poor sleep, daytime fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and low mood. There’s no test, so it’s normally diagnosed from the symptoms, and treatment is aimed at relieving these. Despite the tiredness, exercise can help.

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)
Polymyalgia means pain in many muscles, and in this condition, inflamed muscles can be stiff for a couple of hours after waking. Your shoulder and hip muscles will feel weak, as well as stiff, making it difficult to brush hair or get out of a chair, for example. It usually starts suddenly but rarely affects people under 50; signs of inflammation will show in blood tests. It mostly lasts for atleast two years and is treated with steroid tablets to suppress the inflammation until it disappears.

Statins
Statin drugs, used to lower blood cholesterol levels, can sometimes cause muscle inflammation and pain; it’s usually mild, but can occasionally be severe.

6 Ways To Protect Your Muscles
1. Avoid action that can cause muscle strain, such as heavy lifting, or working at an awkward angle.
2. Gently stretch muscles during and especially after exercise to prevent strains and tears.
3. Drink plenty of water to reduce muscle cramps during the time that you’re exercising.
4. Treat muscle sprains by applying ice cubes or frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel for 20 minutes, every four hours.
5. Rest a strained muscle, but stretch it very gently several times a day to avoid it stiffening up.
6. If you suffer from muscle cramps at night, stretch calf muscles during the day and before you go to sleep. Your GP may prescribe medication if you get them regularly.

Wellbeing

Try this:
Light therapy
Spending half an hour to an hour under a 10,000-lux daylight lamp every day has been shown to really help lift your mood if you’re affected by the shorter days of winter or suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder). If you’re a “lark” use the light in the morning. “Owls” will find light therapy more helpful in the evening.

Exercise
Regular exercise boosts serotonin levels, so you feel more positive. Aim to get outdoors each day, even if it’s just for a short walk. And if you can manage 30 minutes’ exercise, three times a week, so much the better.

Good nutrition
Porridge is an ideal way to start the day giving you plenty of slow-release energy. Have home-made vegetable soup for lunch with a chunk of wholemeal bread to make sure you have enough complex carbohydrates to reduce stress and anxiety. To lift depression, eat foods rich in tryptophan (an amino acid that’s converted to mood-enhancing serotonin in the brain). Tryptophan-rich foods include chicken, sunflower seeds and spirulina (an algae).

Food

FoodJust like the rest of your body, your brain benefits from the right diet and exercise. Here are some tricks to keep you sharp.

Scientists can’t say for sure whether certain foods can definitely ward off problems such as Alzheimer’s, but research play a role in our mood, our memory, and concentration. Try these top “brain foods” – they’re worth tucking into.

Lecithin
Lecithin is a super-nutrient which converts into a vitamin-like substance known as choline that’s crucial for making a chemical that plays a big role in memory. Experiments have revealed that if people are deprived of choline over long periods of time, their memory suffers.
Where: Found in soya, beans, peanuts, wheatgerm and egg yolks. Cholesterol in eggs doesn’t affect cholesterol in our blood. So if you fancy an egg a day, it won’t do you any harm, and may well be good news for your brain.

Iron
Lack of iron doesn’t just make us feel tired; research has also shown that a long-term deficiency can affect our ability to concentrate. Exam results, for example, have been shown to improve by a full grade when the amount of iron eaten is raised from low to recommended levels.
Where? The iron found in lean red meat and oily fish, such as mackerel, salmon, sardines and pilchards, is particularly easily absorbed by our bodies. It is also found in peas, baked beans, cashew nuts and dark green vegetables.

Folic Acid
Anyone who’s experienced “the blues” will know that feeling down affects everything you do, and stops you from thinking straight. Folic acid, which is a B vitamin, may help-people who are down often have low intakes of this nutrient. Upping amounts may help take the edge off blues, as well as restoring some of your brainpower.
Where? Orange juice, beans, whole grains and asparagus all give us good amounts of folic acid.

Omega-3
It’s well known that omega-3 is thought to be important for allowing our brains to work well. They are promising and, giving the proven benefits of fatty fish and omega-3s to general health, it makes sense to try to have one or two servings of oily fish a week.
Where? Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, eel and anchovies are rich in omega-3 essential oils. Non-fish eaters can get omega-3 from flax seeds and dark green vegetables.

Camomile Tea
Sleep deprivation is a killer for memory and concentration. Camomile contains super-nutrients that act on the same parts of the brain and nervous system as those affected by anti-anxiety drugs, helping to improve relaxation and reduce stress. Drinking chamomile tea before bed has a mildly sedative effect, and may improve your chances of a good, brain-restoring night’s sleep.

Flavonoids
Flavonoids are super-nutrients which have been linked with slowing the loss of brain function.
Where? In berries, onions, aubergines, red peppers and citrus fruits such as oranges. So remember to add them into your diet.

Coffee
Although not usually recommended for its health-boosting credentials, it’s thought that drinking coffee may reduce the risk of dementia. Just one cup a day may help keep the blood-brain barrier (which helps maintain a constant environment for the brain, protecting it from the damaging effects of toxins, infections and raised cholesterol) intact. The barrier is known to work less efficiently just before the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Water
Being even slightly dehydrated can affect your clarity of thought and judgment, and raise stress levels. If you find yourself getting snappy and irritable for no reason, a long, cool drink of water may calm you down. Having drink as soon as you feel even slightly thirsty will top up your fluids and helps your brain to work at full capacity.

Jessica Loves Men

Jessica Simpson has revealed that she loves spiritual, artistic and intellectual men.
The singer who parted ways with the football player Tony Romo in July, apparently wants her partner to inspire her in many ways.
"I definitely love a spiritual man – somebody who is going to always inspire me."
She added: "I don’t want to get bored. I can bore out pretty easily, so I love intellectual men... people who will always keep me intrigued.
“I love artistic men – somebody who really understands their art. I like a confident man."

Lindsay’s Burglar ‘Was A Friend’

According to sources, the teenager who was arrested on suspicion of burglarising Lindsay Lohan, was a friend of hers who often hung out with her on movie sets!
Eighteen-year-old Nick Prugo, who was arrested after allegedly being caught on CCTV breaking into and robbing Lindsay’s house, regularly visited Lilo on the sets of her recent flick, Labour Pains, according to set sources. Lindsay herself has blamed an “old friend” for the theft.
“I know it was not a robbery,” insisted Linds. “Electronics weren’t taken… just things that a certain old friend knew meant a lot to me.”

NASA Bombing The Moon In Search Of Hidden Water

Just weeks after the Indian Space Research Organisation and National Aeronautics and Space Agency announced discovery of evidence of water on the lunar surface, the US Space agency is all set to 'bomb' the moon in search for hidden water in a controversial mission.
Amateur astronomers in parts of the world may be able to view the impact through a telescope; for everyone else, the crash will be broadcast live on the NASA website along with early pictures of the lunar dust cloud during the dramatic mission. Within an hour of the impact, scientists will know whether water was hiding there or not. The mission itself continues to be controversial. Questions have been raised as to whether the crash-landing on the moon was necessary for science or will it be worth the damage done to the moon. Critics say the bombing mission interferes with natural forces.
But NASA says the bombing isn't an act of hostility and it's all part of our search for water in space. According to reports, the spacecraft will hit that part of the moon where scientists believe billions of tonnes of trapped ice may be held.
The two spaceships will smash into the moon at 9,000 km per hour, more than seven times the speed of sound. The explosion will have the force of 1.5 tonnes of TNT and throw 350,000 kgs of lunar dirt out of the crater. It will create a new crater inside an old one about half the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Pain, Pain Go Away

HealthHeadaches, leg and back pain, all have us reaching for the painkillers. But before you crack open that bottle, try a more natural way to tackle chronic pain.

If you’re plagued by a constant nagging pain or illness, it drains the spirit. Sympathy from others quickly wanes, but the problem is, the pain doesn’t. Your only option seems to be to grin, bear it and take a painkiller. One in seven people live with long-term, persistent pain hence we have turned into a nation of pill-poppers.
However, overuse can lead to serious health problems, like liver damage, intestinal bleeding and increased risk of heart disease, particularly as some physicians say one in five of us exceed the recommended dose. So why not look for some less damaging ways to relieve that pain?
Pain is a vital warning system to prevent further damage to the body. People born without the ability to feel pain often don’t survive past childhood because they’re oblivious to dangerous situations, so pain helps us protect ourselves. In the same way we pick out our name in a stream of otherwise incomprehensible babble, the brain prioritises pain signals over millions of other messages it receives.
It’s a very complex system located in many places in the brain, including the centres controlling attention, memory and fear, so when pain is triggered, these other negative emotions arise too. This is why you feel panicky if you hurt yourself. Even if someone else steps on a nail, your brain and nervous system make your own feet super-sensitised for a while to ensure you don’t do the same thing.
The problem with this is if the pain becomes persistent and the physical symptoms aren’t relieved, you’re still left with feelings of anxiety and fear. Chronic pain has a huge psychological effect. One becomes very depressed, isolated and irritable. Understand your pain and find ways to cope with it more easily so that it doesn’t dominate your life. Here’s how you can relieve pain without using any medication.

Try Meditation

1. Awareness
HealthWhen you’re in pain, the thoughts in your head can seem like a cramped room, but try to open them out by focusing on the world around you. What colours can you see? Enjoy the various shades and textures. Notice the sensations on your skin. What body parts move when you breathe?

2. Grasp The Nettle
Instead of trying to block out pain, turn your attention towards it. Seems scary? But imagine the pain as a crying child. Your natural impulse would be to hold the child in your arms tenderly. In the same way, adopting a kindly, non-judgmental attitude to your pain eases it and removes the excessive discomfort. This is better than trying to resist the pain, which only causes tension and anxiety.

3. Enjoy The Moment
Hardening yourself against the pain can end up hardening you to the world. But seeking something pleasant in a grim situation helps you become more receptive to the beautiful aspects of your experience. Focus on them - maybe there’s a shaft of sunlight streaming into your room, or your feet feel comfortable on the carpet. Through such sensitivity, the present moment becomes richer and more alive.

4. Respond, Don’t React
With your new perspective, you have the freedom to choose how you respond to life, especially difficult areas. Rather than feeling trapped in a battle with your pain, honestly recognise your emotions. If you feel irritable, say so, and let that emotion drift by naturally. Giving your emotions space will help you encourage more productive states of mind.

Eat Yourself Fitter

We all know that eating junk food can make you feel lethargic. Serious illnesses such as arthritis can be blamed on our unhealthy diets.
Inflammation, characterized by pain, redness and swelling, is how the body lets you know you’re doing the wrong thing. Certain foods, including meat, milk, coffee and sugar, increase inflammation, while other foods, such as oily fish, seeds and nuts, olives, ginger, turmeric and red onions reduce pain. Boosting your intake of these foodie power stations can work just as well as painkilling drugs, but without the harmful side effects.

Attract Healing

Magnetic energy isn’t limited to the trinkets you stick on the fridge - we’re actually surrounded by it, because of the force of the earth’s magnetic field. Magnet therapists believe that applying them to the body can speed up healing as the electromagnetic field penetrates inflamed cells, improving blood supply and providing pain relief.
It has been found that electromagnetic therapy is particularly helpful in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Stretch The Pain Away

Many people with acute pain tend to avoid exercise, but researchers have discovered that it can relieve severe lower back pain. The key is finding the right kind of exercise.
Our bodies are mechanical, so pain responds well to movement. Pilates helps manage pain. It rehabilitates the body.

Cherry and Coconut Brownies

INGREDIENTS
* 100g unsalted butter
* 250g caster sugar
* 75g golden syrup
* 275g dark chocolate,
broken into pieces
* 4 medium eggs
* 70g plain flour
* 50g unsweetened
desiccated coconut
* 100g dried cherries
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 160oC gas mark 3. In a large saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and syrup until smooth. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and mix well. Whisk the eggs and beat into the chocolate mixture. Add the flour and coconut and mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking tray (15cm x 20cm x 2.5cm deep) lined with parchment paper, and smooth out well. Throw the cherries evenly across the top. Then bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then refrigerate overnight.
Turn out of the tin, remove the paper and trim off the brownie's edges. Using a wet knife, cut the brownie into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Wedding Dates Finalised For Shilpa & Raj

Shilpa Shetty says that her wedding date has been finalised, but she will announce it only when her sister Shamita is by her side. "I know everyone's eager to know about the wedding date. All I can say is, yes it's been finalised and I will make an official announcement as soon as I know when Shamita's coming out," said Shilpa, who got engaged to London-based Raj Kundra recently after a courtship of about two years. Shamita is currently participating in the Colours' reality show Bigg Boss 3. She is locked in the house with 10 more inmates and has no connection with the world outside.
Shilpa says that she missed her sister. The buzz goes that the 'big' sis is in talks with the Big Boss producers to get Shamita out of the show before her D-day. "The date was decided a week ago and we all came to the consensus that we should go ahead because another good mahurat (auspicious time) was a long way off. And considering Raj's parents and relatives were down from London for a week, so it seemed convenient," she said.
"I wanted to have Shamita there during this special moment, but I had to be considerate towards Raj's family too. I know Shamita will be shocked... she'll kill me. Missed her more than words can describe but I'm sure she'll understand! Can't wait to show her my ring," she concluded.

Younis May Return To Twenty20 Cricket

Pakistan skipper Younus Khan is ready to come out of retirement from Twenty20 cricket and play the two Twenty20 Internationals in Dubai.
“If the team needs me and since the matches are to be held in Dubai, it will be nice to play,” Younus remarked.
Younus, 31, retired from Twenty20 cricket after leading Pakistan to victory in the World Twenty20 in June in England. He is not the part of the Twenty20 squad for Dubai, being led by all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
Asked what prompted him to return to Twenty20, Younus said: “A lot of people especially many youngsters told me it is important that I continue playing Twenty20 cricket too. If they still want and if my country still needs my service for this form of the game, then I am ready. I’ll do anything for my country and for my team-mates. So you may see me in Twenty20 cricket again.”
He had quit as captain over match-fixing allegations after Pakistan’s defeat in the Champions Trophy but the Pakistan Cricket Board refused to accept his resignation.
“I have just come out of a huge controversy. My nation was behind me. I am happy each and every one in Pakistan backed me in the incident. Today, my mind is free and I can concentrate on my captaincy and on my form as well as the team,” Younus, who has accumulated 432 runs in 22 Twenty20 Internationals at an average of 25.41, stated.
He feels New Zealand will not be an easy team to beat despite absence of many of their top players due to injury. It was New Zealand that upset Pakistan’s chances of reaching the Champions Trophy final by beating them in the semi-final.

‘Women deprived of health care’

GENEVA: Women are often deprived of health care in the crucial years of adolescence and old age due to social inequalities and neglect in male dominated decision-making, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.

“It’s time to pay girls and women back, to make sure that they get the care and support they need to enjoy a fundamental human right at every moment of their lives, that is their right to health,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan.

In its first ever cradle-to-grave report on “Women and Health”, the UN health agency underlined that women were particularly vulnerable to a lack of adequate care in old age — when they often outlive men — and in their teens.

It also underlined that the lack of responsiveness to women’s inherent health needs can be lethal, such as with complications in pregnancy and child birth or cervical cancer. “This points to another problem, the failure of health services to meet women’s needs,” Chan told WHO member states.

As a result, women provide the bulk of care — about 80 per cent —- as health staff or household careers, yet the system fails to address their own needs adequately, the WHO said.

Top five spending priorities for hard times

By Tom Sullivan

No company is immune from the economy's ebb and flow. So it's no surprise that, in the face of a fearsome downturn, IT shops are scrambling to figure out where they should cut.

The big three analyst firms; Forrester, Gartner, and IDC are busily slashing their IT spending projections. Just last week IDC predicted that in the United States, IT spending will decline to 0.9 percent, down sharply from a pre-crisis forecast of 4.2 percent growth.

With numbers like those, IT might feel inclined to panic. But now is the time to stand tough, advises Andrew Reichman, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research.

At brokerage and investment banking firm Morgan Keegan, for example, CIO John Threadgill acknowledges that he has to come up with better reasons for the technologies to which he allocates IT resources. But after he eliminates or delays costs where feasible, Threadgill and his CIO colleagues must continue investing in certain areas, no matter how crazily the economy bounces up or down. "We'll continue to spend where we need to," says Threadgill.

So which technologies get funded rain or shine? The five technologies IT shops must continue to invest in despite the recession. "The common theme," says Frank Gens, IDC chief analyst and senior vice president, "any technologies that can save companies money or reduce expenses will continue to thrive."

1. Storage: Disks and management software

"There are some things that just won't go back in the bottle," says Mark Raskino, Gartner fellow and Vice President, emerging trends and technologies. "Storage is one of those."

2. Business intelligence: Niche analytics

As data continues to accrue, the need to glean insights from it grows, agree analysts from Forrester, Gartner, and IDC.

CIOs will keep spending on general business intelligence, but more resources will go toward much focused analytics, explains Andrew Bartels, Principal Analyst, Forrester. The "analytics that help companies identify and retain their most profitable customers will be key," he added.

Fenn adds that companies always need behaviour analytics. In the supply chain, for instance, analytics that trigger alerts when suppliers are running into problems, such as delaying supply or payment, can deliver real value to companies.

The broader range of data sources will lead to greater need for analytics," he further added. "There are many different masters, as companies tap analytics to cut costs, avoid errors, predict behaviour of customers before they lose them and grow market opportunities."

3. Virtualisation: Optimising resources

Virtualisation is the data-centre version of getting the most out of what you already have. Up-front investment in virtualisation tends to be fairly low, but can deliver quick and substantial returns. "Virtualisation will continue to be popular because it allows companies to defer other costs - in this case, that's mostly hardware," IDC's Gens says.

Spec-savers began tapping virtualisation before the downturn. "Virtualisation is a key tactic we've been doing for some time to minimise hardware acquisition costs," Khan says, "and that will continue."

Virtualisation has advantages beyond hardware cost reduction. "Everybody's moving to virtualisation," Forrester's Reichman says. "You're likely to be more efficient with server and storage resources in the long run, and if you have expertise, that return is likely to come fast. A down economy might be the right time to throw down and do it, especially if you can time it with hardware refreshes."

"Converting from a physical to a virtual infrastructure is particularly beneficial during tough economic conditions," Biddlecombe says. "Virtualisation has allowed us to save on power and cooling costs as well as the amount of time our IT staff spends on server admin. It provides us with more efficient use of capital as well as increased flexibility during challenging times."

4. Security: Data and end points

No surprises here. IDC's Gens, in fact, says that security is "always the number one concern of IT. As you see more resources out there on the Internet, there's concern that they're secure."

Companies will have a particular focus on securing network end points, devices, and those applications that serve them, according to IDC's Minton. "Whether you're in a recession or not, no company wants to be on the front page of bad lists because their data was breached," he adds.

Threadgill lists security as the second of Morgan Keegan's top two spending priorities, behind only storage. And Spec-savers' Khan adds that his budget will include security technologies, namely firewalls, tools for securing end points, and data encryption for mobile devices and remote PCs. "There's no reduction in security expenses," Khan says. "If anything we're increasing our security spending."

Gartner and Forrester agree that companies will continue to ratchet up security. Raskino adds that layoffs and, in turn, new hires will be yet another driver. "An economic downturn and recovery create massive churn," he says. "The processes and tools for managing and disabling access are going to be critical."

5. Cloud computing: Business solutions

Analysts from Forrester, Gartner, and IDC say that certain pieces of cloud computing will continue to expand and perhaps even accelerate due to the downturn.

Gens sees many companies moving to the cloud for the applications and services most often sought by business types, who are actually circumventing the IT department to get what they need. These include such business solutions as sales-force automation, productivity, and marketing campaign software. "The more pure IT stuff-infrastructure, infrastructure software and application development; those are tech buyers, so there are fewer potential customers," Gens says.

"Cloud-based data backup and file storage services are a really good idea that can be much more cost-effective than going it the old-fashioned, in-house way," Reichman says.

Gartner's Raskino adds to the list of cloud resources CIOs will find valuable during a recession such services as e-mail, storage, and lightweight productivity apps. "This is a good time to have a cost-centric argument, so IT might even take a risk to get a payoff with cloud technologies, if they're mature enough," he says.

Looking toward recovery

IT spending will make a full recovery and enjoy growth rates nearing six percent by 2012, according to IDC.

Whether such projections hold or not, Reichman argues that IT shops must trim their sails and stay the course. "You cannot stop growing," he explains. "Most companies are already fire-fighting, but you've got keep the lights on, keep things going forward, because the data-centre is always in a recession anyway. So keep moving."

www.infoworld.com

Compulsive gamers 'not addicts'

By Paddy Maguire

Ninety percent of the young people who seek treatment for compulsive computer gaming are not addicted, research says.

The Smith and Jones Centre in Amsterdam, has treated hundreds of young gamers since 2006. But the clinic is changing its treatment as it realises that compulsive gaming is a social rather than a psychological problem.

The clinic has had very high success rate of treating people who also show other addictive behaviours such as drug taking and excessive drinking, said Bakker, a psychologist. But this kind of cross-addiction affects only 10 percent of gamers. For the other 90 percent who may spend four hours a day or more playing games, the clinic doctors no longer think addiction counselling is the way to treat these patients. These patients, especially kids come in showing some kind of symptoms that are similar to other addictions and chemical dependencies.

"But the more we work with these kids the less I believe we can call this an addiction. What many of these kids need is their parents and their school teachers - this is a social problem," he further added.

In response to this realisation the clinic has changed its treatment programme for gamers to focus more on developing activity-based social and communications skills to help them rejoin society.

"This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today," told Bakker. "Eighty percent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication."

By offering compulsive gamers a place where they feel accepted and where their voice will be heard, the clinic has found that the vast majority have been able to leave gaming behind and rebuild their lives.

For Bakker, the root cause of the huge growth in excessive gaming lies with parents who have failed in their duty of care.

But he is quick to point out that 87 percent of online gamers are over the age of 18 and once they cross that line, help is something they need to seek for themselves because they get beyond the parents' control.

For younger gamers, intervention may be the only way to break the cycle. That means stepping in and sometimes literally taking a child away from a computer, removing them from the game for a period of time until they become aware of their habits and begin to see there are other choices.

"It's a choice," he says, "these kids know exactly what they are doing and they just don't want to change. If no one is there to help them, then nothing will ever happen."

One patient, who is 18-year old gamer, being treated at the clinic, he was spending at least 10 hours a day playing until he sought help at the centre.

"I was never helped by my parents or my school. At the clinic I also feel accepted and have come out of myself," says patient.

He kept his gaming problem a secret as much as he could but when he did tell people, he says that no one offered him help.

"I liked gaming because people couldn't see me, they accepted me as my online character - I could be good at something and feel part of a group."

"I was aware that I played too much but I didn't know what to do. But it helped me because I could be aggressive and get my anger and frustration out online," he further added.

This kind of aggression is not uncommon in young gamers who feel frustrated with their real lives. Besides addiction, aggression and violence form part of the ongoing debate about the influence of gaming on impressionable minds.

Bakker believes that if there was more commitment from parents and other care givers to listen to what their children are saying then these issues of isolation and frustration could be dealt with at source and bring many young people out of the virtual world and back into real life.

www.bbc.uk

Online fraudsters steal billions

All the criminals are happy to work together to steal money from credit cards and bank accounts. This is because card numbers stolen in one country can only be 'cashed out' in their home nation - necessitating contact across borders

Hi-tech thieves who specialise in card fraud have a credit line in excess of $5bn, research suggests.

Security firm Symantec calculated the figure to quantify the scale of fraud it found during a year-long look at the net's underground economy.

Credit card numbers are the most popular item on sale and made up 31 percent of all the goods on offer.

Coming in second are bank details which made up 20 percent of the items being offered on criminal chat channels.

The $5.3bn figure was reached by multiplying the average amount of fraud perpetrated on a stolen card, $350 by the many millions Symantec observed being offered for sale.

Similarly, the report said, "if hi-tech thieves plundered all the bank accounts offered for sale they could net up to $1.7bn."

Symantec said, "these figures are indicative of the value of the underground economy and the potential worth of the market."

"Credit card numbers have proved so popular among hi-tech thieves because they are easy to obtain and use for fraudulent purposes," it added.

Many of the methods favoured by cyber criminals, such as database attacks and magnetic strip skimmers, are designed to steal credit card information.

The existence of a ready market for any stolen data and the growing use of credit cards also helped maintain their popularity, it said.

"High frequency use and the range of available methods for capturing credit card data would generate more opportunities for theft and compromise and, thus, lead to an increased supply on underground economy servers," said the report.

The price card thieves can expect for the numbers they offer for sale also varied by the country of origin. US card numbers are the cheapest because they are so ubiquitous – 74 percent of all cards offered for sale were from the US.

By contrast numbers from cards issued in Europe and the Middle East commanded a premium because they were relatively rare.

The year-long look at the underground economy confirmed to Symantec how serious and organised cyber thieves have become.

Via the covert chat channels and invitation-only discussion forums hi-tech thieves form loose alliances, contact those who specialise in one technique or find individuals who can extract cash from particular credit cards .

Russian and Eastern European gangs seem to be among the most well-organised, said the report. But, it said, all the criminals are happy to work together to steal money from credit cards and bank accounts. This is because card numbers stolen in one country can only be 'cashed out' in their home nation - necessitating contact across borders.

"Symantec research indicates that there is a certain amount of collaboration and organisation occurring on these forums, especially at the administrative level," it said.

"Moreover, considerable evidence exists that organised crime is involved in many cases."

www.itpro.com

IBM and academia work on human brain simulation

Boffins at IBM have teamed up with five universities to use the human brain as a template to build faster, smaller computer systems that benefit decision making. Working with experts at Columbia University Medical Centre, Cornell University, Stanford University, the University of California-Merced and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, IBM Research plans to design and develop computers that simulate and emulate how the brain acts, interacts, perceives and senses things, in addition to mirroring its cognition, lower power usage and size. In doing so, it is hoped that business and consumer users alike will be able to make decisions much more quickly as well as helping them to deal with the ever-increasing glut of digital data heading their way each year.

Facebook looking to buy Twitter – FT

Social networking company Facebook recently held acquisition talks with Twitter, the micro-blogging company. The negotiations put a valuation of as much as dollar 500 million on Twitter, which has become one of Silicon Valley's most closely watched start-ups. Facebook offered to pay for the acquisition in stock. Putting a value on Twitter's shares proved controversial. If it used the dollar 15 billion valuation at which Microsoft Corp bought a stake in Facebook last year, it would have valued the Twitter purchase at dollar 500 million, though that investment was seen as a high-water mark for Web 2.0.

Digital book, newspaper, and magazine reading

One of the promises of computers has been that they will replace paper. We're not there yet, but the Tablet PC is definitely bringing that closer to reality. My Tablet PC works really well for reading books, magazines, and newspapers in digital format. I'm able to read a novel, the latest edition of a travel guide, a newspaper such as the New York Times, or catch up on the latest geeky news in InfoWorld, all from the comfort of my bed or living room.

Reading a book or periodical on a Tablet PC is a vastly better experience than trying to read a book or magazine on your desktop or laptop computer. The form factor makes it more portable, but also allows you to read in a more natural way. You can move the tablet computer just as you do when you're reading a book, greatly reducing the strain caused by trying to read from a fixed screen. The keys on the side of my Fujitsu Stylistic ST4000 Tablet PC really help, too, giving me page up/down and line up/down right under my thumb.

There are three different types of media you can read on your Tablet PC over and above the usual white papers and other PC documents:

Each type of media has somewhat different reading requirements and there are different software programs, called readers, to support the different media. In this column, I'll look at each of the different readers for the Tablet PC, explain how to use them, and point out their differences. You'll find out where to get a Tablet PC reader, what kind of content is available for them, and where to go to find that content.

Electronic Book Readers

The electronic book or eBook has struggled to take hold. Dedicated eBook readers, which are specialized hardware for reading electronic books, have not proved as successful as hoped. And many people read eBooks on a standard multipurpose computer. However, it's much more comfortable to read eBooks on a tablet computer. Three different software programs support eBooks on the Tablet PC, as given below:

Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader, and Palm Reader. Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC is an enhanced version of Microsoft Reader that takes advantage of the unique capabilities of Tablet PC.

Tablet PC

Microsoft Reader is available for all Windows computers, including Pocket PCs and a specially-optimized version for the Tablet PC. The software is free but requires activation.

Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC is the most flexible of the three eBook reading programs I've used and has the best-looking interface. Books can generally be downloaded up to four times on a single purchase, giving you a fallback position in the event of a crash or other lost copy of the book. Purchased books can generally only be read by the person who purchased them ó they are know as Owner Exclusive books, but can be read on more than a single computer, as long as the same person is reading it. So I can read a book on either of my Tablet PCs, as long as I'm logged on as myself. If you're using Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC, you can annotate your book with ink or text, highlight passages, and place bookmarks so you can move around easily.

There are currently tens of thousands of paid and free eBooks available from Powells.com for Microsoft Reader. It's easy to download an eBook. I use this procedure with Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC:

1. Open Internet Explorer and navigate to the site you're getting your book from.

2. Find a book you want to read. If it's a free book, there will be a link to download. If it's a commercial book, you'll need to go through the usual purchase process, and then a link to download the book will be provided.

3. After you download the book, Microsoft Reader starts automatically, and the book will be added to your library.

You can easily add the ability to convert a document into Microsoft Reader format from within Microsoft Word by downloading and installing the Read in Microsoft Reader add-in.

Newspaper Reader

Newspapers are another source of reading material for the Tablet PC. I get the New York Times electronic version from NewsStand.com. I really like this format, because I never have time to read a regular newspaper any more, and this lets me carry it around with me until I'm done with it.

NewsStand.com allows you to download any copy of the newspaper onto any computer you happen to be working on, which is a great convenience. You can even download the same issue multiple times, for an additional fee. Once downloaded, the newspaper can only be read on the computer it was downloaded to and generally expires in 21 days. Highlighting, annotating, and bookmarks are not an option with the NewsStand reader, which is Adobe Acrobat-based, nor can you copy text to the clipboard.

Magazine Reader

Designed for magazines and other rich media content, the Zinio reader fully supports ink annotations when run on a Tablet PC, as well as text annotations and highlighting. Magazines can be read from more than one computer by simply copying them to the other computer (or keeping them on a networked drive), but are only viewable by the original purchaser. Also, ink annotations can only be viewed on a Tablet PC, unfortunately.

Limitations

What are the current limitations of electronic reading on the Tablet PC? Probably the biggest limitation at this point is the screen size and the nature of current LCD screens. Current LCD screens were designed for a typical landscape orientation and because of pixel placement and orientation don't do nearly as well in a portrait orientation.

And my older eyes would be happier with a somewhat larger screen as well, especially one with a higher resolution. I think a 768 x 1024 resolution is simply the minimum that makes reading workable. As we see new screens coming into the PC market, the reading experience will definitely improve from the increased resolution.

The other limitation is the weight (and sometimes the heat) of the typical PC. Although most tablet computers are substantially lighter and thinner than a conventional laptop, they still need to go on a bit of a diet for me to want to spend several hours using one as a book.

And, finally, the issues of usage rights. This is a tough one. I absolutely understand the need for limiting the use of content that has been downloaded, but there needs to be a bit more flexibility, in my opinion. If I buy a book, I can read it wherever I happen to be and even lend it to a friend to read. I think there needs to be a mechanism for Lending a digital book in the same way. And this is especially true of magazines. I often want to highlight an article in a technical publication and pass it on to colleagues and other members of my team, and that's not easily possible. And I'm not likely to be sending my Tablet PC on a round through the inter-office mail system any time soon.

The Tablet PC makes the whole experience of reading in a digital format better than I've ever found it to be on a desktop or laptop computer. For our upcoming vacation, we'll be taking several books with us on the Tablet PC, both pleasure reading and travel specific.

Charlie Russel is an information technology consultant, having years of systems administration experience with a specialty in combined Windows and UNIX networks. Charlie is the author of several books for IT professionals.

By Charlie Russel

Magic, Maths and Computer Science

Pulling a rabbit out of a hat or making the Statue of Liberty vanish are impressive feats of magic. Magicians are in many ways like computer scientists: a magician must find a method to solve a problem, that problem being, say, making the rabbit appear or the Statue vanish, but without the audience realizing how it's done. A good magic trick is a combination of method and presentation, in some ways like a computer program: the computer software must have a method to solve the problem (in computer science we call this method, or series of steps, an algorithm), but, unlike magic, software must present the results to the user so they can understand them.

It's not surprising that many mathematicians and computer scientists are interested in magic tricks. Working out ways to solve problems, whether predicting a chosen card in a trick or how to reduce the amount of digital data in an MP3 music file without the listener noticing are very similar. A magician wants to be sure that the trick will always work. Computer Scientists want to be sure their programs always work. The difference is that computer scientists want to tell other people how it's done. Magicians must keep the method a secret, never revealing it to the audience.

Funny Story about Computer Confiscation

Police in Denmark confiscated the computer belonging to the guy who was involved in 'Rottin in Denmark' blog. They accused him of using a stolen credit card to buy stuff online. The blogger explained that he has an open WiFi access point, and that anyone can use it. It took them a long time to figure that out, but they took his computer (and his room mate's computer) anyway.

Rottin's account of the police visit is funny. But it also makes me wonder if I should close my open WiFi network. I don't want cops taking away my computer. - Mark Frauenfelder

Catch a Cheater: trace digital footsteps

By Minucheher Zilli

Cheating is an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating characteristically is employed to create an unfair advantage, usually in one's own interest, and often at the expense of others. The term 'cheating' is less applicable to the breaking of laws, as illegal activities are referred to by specific legal terminology such as fraud or corruption. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less.

If you are a businessman you might have come across many cheaters. The purpose of this article is to make you aware as to how you can trace out the footsteps of a cheater using modern electronic gadgets and services.

The outcome of talking to a person who is cheating you will be usually a denial! The truth is that very few cheaters - especially when they are closely related to you - will accept that they are cheating, unless you have probes. In fact, only the cheaters that are looking to end the business partnership want you to take the responsibility to do it, will accept the disloyalty.

Reaching that point, there are only two options for you, catch the cheater, or wait until the association ends later in some way. If you want to catch the cheater, there is no other choice than spying one way or the other. Probably, this is not the most honorable thing to do, I admit it, but before getting into a moral dilemma, you should take into account that the cheater already betrayed your trust, so you should not feel guilty about this. However, note it down that it's the last option.

The methodologies described below will mostly provide you the electronic footsteps left behind by the cheater. You should be aware that there is always a risk involved when spying someone and you could get caught, bringing you unwanted consequences. So, if something wrong happens; don't blame me; follow them at your own risk.

If you are being cheated, you should follow the principle: spend the money, and tap the communication channels. These two rules are basic when gathering information.

Find where and when the cheater meets other culprits, follow the steps below carefully.

Cell Phone Calls

Most people think that cell phones are untraceable, so they are used for communication between two cheaters. Usually, they won't use regular phones unless they are very confident that you are not aware of anything.

Fortunately, you can get every cell phone activity from the cheater's mobile phone. That's because landline numbers are published very openly, and have been existing since a long time. Cell phone/mobile numbers are still largely private and not openly released by phone companies. To obtain owner information for cell phone numbers, you'll need to use a service like Reverse Phone Detective.

Such a service will get you the phone activity and the useful text messages from a cheater or from anyone. Most of them are caught only with this procedure.

If you have a name from any of the information services described here or the Reverse Phone Detective service above, then you probably will need further information about the culprit's partner. Knowing further details about the persons provided from the service is an investment worth doing for your safety.

Knowing the whereabouts of the cheater during the day will definitively get you priceless information.

If you decide to use a GPS car tracking, this device will give you information to match with the addresses acquired from reserve phone detective. A GPS is a device that knows its own position by receiving information from a satellite. When placed into a car, some of them can give you live information about the car position or there are some others that are more useful to catch a guilty person, by recording all the places where such a person remained during the day. These places are then presented to you in map of your own town.

Although there are many types of GPS, the one suggested above will give you useful information to catch a cheater and it can be placed stealthy in the car because they are very small.

Computers are very useful to get into a cheating case these days. Chatting, forums and match sites are very common today and getting in touch with someone keen to cheat is very easy with a computer. Therefore, monitoring these activities is a useful act.

There is a good number of spy software in the market, but you should be very careful to use it, because some of them may crash the computer making easy to expose you, especially if the guilty party is savvy computer user. The very best and most reliable of them is EBLASTER 6.0

Try to get information about joint credit cards and checkbooks ñ if you have any - follow the money and you will get several answers. If you follow the money, you should have additional evidence in a few days.

Online Gadgets to keep Health Track

Intel has taken a somewhat shocking step away from its roots in the chip industry with its new Health Guide, a small tabletop gadget that Intel will build, sell, and manage through a suite of backend services.

Intel will develop pilot programs with several healthcare organizations, including Aetna, to assess how the Health Guide works in the home. The chip giant is also working with the American Heart Association to develop care plans for patients who have suffered heart attacks.

The Health Guide is being deployed now, after being approved by the FDA as a Class II device this past summer. It will be supplied by healthcare organizations. "This product is ready to go, end to end," said Louis Burns, general manager of the Digital Health division at Intel.

A small device about the size of a small-form-factor PC, the Health Guide PHS6000 is a small white box with a flip-up 10.4-inch LCD touchscreen, a webcam with privacy shield, and a touchscreen. Inside it is an undisclosed Intel processor and motherboard, together with Bluetooth and four USB ports.

The Health Guide requires a broadband connection, which it uses to connect to doctors and healthcare professionals, and to download content onto its small hard drive.

Intel designed the interface, which is both spare and functional, allowing users to access contact numbers for their doctors, schedule appointments, and upload new medical data via a small line of connected health devices, such as glucose meters and blood-oxygen sensors, that are already on the market from third-party suppliers. The webcam also allows the patient to videoconference with a nurse or healthcare provider, possibly its most important function.

The overarching goal, Burns and other Intel executives explained, is to provide a means for both patient and doctor to monitor a chronic condition, such as diabetes, without the need to constantly stop by a doctor's office for updates and new tests. Data uploaded by the device is automatically plugged into a mathematical model customized for the patient, where signs of an impending heart attack or other life-threatening condition can be analyzed and assigned treatment before a patient is forced to enter an emergency room.

While the Health Guide represents a sea change for Intel, it's also true that the company has done almost everything but ship its own PCs and other devices. The company manufactures chipsets, and publishes reference designs for both motherboards and guidelines for the PCs they form the heart of. Intel also has pushed OEMs to manufacture Mobile Internet Devices, developed a Viiv PC initiative mixing software and entertainment services, sold an electronic microscope, and designed or co-designed smartphone and in-vehicle entertainment reference platforms. Intel's design efforts have had some success, but generally influenced the design of existing platforms.

This is actually Intel's second step into integrating IT into healthcare; in 2006 and 2007, Intel helped develop a tablet-based device called a mobile clinical assistant, which Motion Computing backed. Just last week, Panasonic launched a ruggedized Toughbook that conformed to the mobile clinical assistant standard.

How It Works

Intel sees the problem as something akin to the transition to mobile computing. Health Guide (the system behind the health-care gadget) includes a clinician-facing suite of services that allows access to a patient's healthcare data and vital information. It allows a nurse to schedule appointments and follow-up visits, and set alerts in case a patient's blood pressure, glucose levels, or other key indicators indicate a dangerous trend.

A healthcare professional can set up a series of questions to guide a patient through a self-diagnosis, with questions about his sleep habits or general state of health. Finally, the integrated webcam can also permit a personal consultation without the need for an on-site visit.

To solve that particular problem, Intel showed off the Health Guide in a portable format, running as an application on the T-Mobile G1, powered by Google's "Android" operating system, as well as a Sharp MID. In both cases, users would be limited by the hardware constraints of the mobile device, but could manually upload data and access some of the other features of the device, such as video content.

Portable healthcare also makes more sense in Europe, where even the elderly have mobile phones. Even simple things like an accelerometer in a mobile phone can provide clues about a person's stride, which can be slowed by an adverse reaction to medication. One of the best ways to judge the onset of a neurological condition is to examine how people type; Intel already has three year's worth of data to that effect by monitoring how people interact with PCs in Europe.

That has also prompted concerns about privacy. Some elderly patients in Intel's trials said that they don't want to be reminded of their conditions on their phone, which they regard as an entertainment device.

Will the Health Guide make money for Intel? In the short term, probably not. Intel's representative declined to comment on when the product might have a material effect on Intel's revenue. But they said that the product has had the backing of Intel senior executives, including chief executive Paul Otellini, who apparently shares Burns' view that the Health Guide can put a chunk of that $5 trillion in US healthcare costs into Intel's pocket.

But even at Intel, which reported a record third quarter, times are tough. Intel has divested so-called non-core assets, such as its optical networking business, when it failed to deliver. In the nine months from Dec. 2007 through Sept. 2008, Intel burned through about half of its on-hand cash, which decreased from $7.3 billion to $3.7 billion. -PC Magazine

Kerry-Lugar Bill

Kerry-Lugar Bill –

The lesser of two evils?



By Salman Latif

There has been a lot of hue and cry over the Kerry-Lugar Bill passed by the US Congress. It's about the 7.5 billion dollar aid package to be given to Pakistan and the terms and conditions associated with this bill. As usual, as soon as the bill was passed and brought into national stream of debate, many people started to cash in on the anti-US sentiments of the masses by speaking against the bill and against the US to win people's sympathies. Sadly, this tactic, as always, works with our masses and they tend to accept the word of such people.

However, after paying some close attention, one realises that those who are putting up the loudest show against the bill are the ones who haven't apparently even read its original text. They have no idea of what the bill contains and are busy debating over assumed notions and clauses picked from other, unauthentic sources.

In this article, I will try to unveil certain myths about KLB that have been floating on text messages through cell phones. And I invite all the readers to actually download a copy of the bill and read it for themselves. This will give them a clearer and more real picture of the situation.



1 – Army will not interfere in politics:

Well…that's true – the bill asks for a mechanism to keep army at bay – at barracks, to be exact. But, is that not exactly what a proper democracy demands and so does our own constitution? I am quite unable to grasp why a sane being would even object to it!

The exact clause reads:

"CERTIFICATION. The certification required by this subsection is a certification to the appropriate congressional committees by the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Director of national Intelligence, that the security forces of Pakistan--

....(3) the security forces of Pakistan are not materially and substantially subverting the political or judicial processes of Pakistan



2 – Army's major postings will be approved by the US:

Rubbish! I wonder what sort of 'creative minds' come up with these rumours – but then again considering the literacy rate in our homeland and the mob psychology of clinging to everything anti-US, it is understandable why people give space to such lameness. Well…as a matter of fact, there's no such clause in the whole bill. Here's the original clause:

"An assessment of the extent to which the government of Pakistan exercises effective civilian control of the military, including a description of the extent to which civilian executive leaders and parliament exercise oversight and approval of military budgets, the chain of command, the process of promotion for senior military leaders, civilian involvement in strategic guidance and planning, and military involvement in civil administration…"

The bill only asks for the army postings to be done by the civilian government, as is done in all democracies around the globe and as is very desirable in our country, too.



3 – There will be no restrictions on US citizens (read Black Water) in Pakistan.

Again, nonsense. There's absolutely no clause in the bill that asks for such a thing.



4 – US will be given access to any person related to nuclear energy.

The bill, in its connotations, only implies that the US will keep an eye on any possible occurrence of nuclear proliferation from our end and if it happens, will cut short the aid package, stopping immediately the next instalment. It's obvious that a country which's giving us billions in aid wants to ensure that the same money wouldn't be used towards undesirable ends.

"c) Certification- The certification required by this subsection is a certification by the Secretary of State, under the direction of the President, to the appropriate congressional committees that--

(1) the Government of Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with the United States in efforts to dismantle supplier networks relating to the acquisition of nuclear weapons-related materials, such as providing relevant information from or direct access to Pakistani nationals associated with such networks."

Here, the bill says that the specific lump of the amount being given by the US will be delivered after the Secretary of State affirms that Pakistan or any Pakistani official is not involved in nuclear proliferation. Of course access to 'Pakistani national associated with such networks' is to be granted after the said individuals are proved to be guilty by the government of Pakistan.



5 – Aid will be given to persons, not Pakistani government.

Persons are an intended miscreant's replacement for non-governmental organizations that the actual aid package talks about. To quote the exact statement:

"PREFERENCE FOR BUILDING LOCAL CAPACITY-- The President is encouraged, as appropriate, to utilize Pakistani firms and community and local non-governmental organizations in Pakistan, including through host country contacts, and to work with local leaders to provide assistance under this section…"

That's precisely the original statement. However, the aid is still to be doled out to the government when it'd have been far better off in the hands of standard, well-reputed NGOs working here, considering the non-transparent spending of such aids in the hands of governmental officials. Nevertheless, the myth is a mere rumour, albeit sadly so.



6 - ISI will work under the American Joint Chief of Staff.

Now that's the most hilarious one. I am, literally, quite baffled at the creativity of the creators of these rumours. This one, as are most of the rest, is totally unfounded and baseless.

Having done with that, I'd say that there's nothing wrong with the bill, really, when considering it in its entirety. True, the language of the bill is somewhat commanding and hence rude, but that's not important enough to make it an issue. Those whining over the language actually need to complain against accepting foreign aid and taking yet another temporary opium injection for our crumbling economy, for that's what all the recent aid packages have been; no long-term planning has been done through these aid packages and one half of them simply vanishes with the governmental affairs and accounts (no wonder - we boast of having, after all, the largest cabinet) and the other half never makes it to the actual reforms it is intended for. That's where the actual problem lies. We need better economic policies that can lead us to self-sufficiency and help us get rid of the need to get foreign loans and aids.

The only thing about the bill that's unacceptable to our masses is that it's straight-forward. The US has two ways of saying 'help us in Afghanistan' -- one is by asking Pakistan to be an ally in the Afghan fiasco- and the other one is to ask our army to protect US operations in Afghanistan by taking care of this side of the border. That's what the bill does and that's where our false patriotism is stirred. So much for this pretence!

Therefore, the sentimental gibberish of the so-called patriots with their falsely-inflated patriotism which is actually ignorance over the bill-issue needs to rest! They have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, and unless they do, to engage in a debate with them is totally pointless.

What's more, without accepting this aid package, we are left in an economic crisis where we will have to get, yet again, a hefty loan from IMF which, obviously, we then have to return with a hefty interest -- which means another strain on our economy for decades to come. I guess accepting this aid package, then, wins out to be a far better choice, especially when it doesn't ask of the government to increase electricity charges and petrol charges, as opposed to IMF's conditions.

The cookie diet can entice dieters!

Being hungry and craving sweets are two of the main reasons people fall off their diets.

But what if eating cookies and not being hungry was part of your diet plan?



By Kathleen M Zelman

The cookie diet: What it is

Being hungry and craving sweets are two of the main reasons people fall off their diets. But what if eating cookies and not being hungry was part of your diet plan? The cookie diet uses cookies to entice dieters into easy weight loss. After all, what could be more appealing than losing weight while indulging in one of our favourite treats?

But these are not your grandmother's cookies. Instead they're designed to be meal replacements made with fiber, protein, and other ingredients intended to keep you full. They're not nearly as sweet as grandma's, though they're certainly palatable. They contain no drugs or secret ingredients, other than amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and fiber that act to suppress hunger.

How it works

On the cookie diet, there are no decisions about what to eat, but which flavour cookie to eat, and what to have for dinner. It's a relatively mindless diet strategy that has reportedly helped half a million of patients lose weight.

The cookies contain select amino acids thought to suppress hunger, fiber, and other ingredients that digest slowly to help keep you feeling full. Eating four to six of the cookies a day will give you somewhere around 500 calories.

Dinners are simple: Lean protein and veggies, or a light dinner and a salad. The dinners range from a low of 300 to a high of about 1,000 calories each, meaning the diet has a grand total of 800-1,500 calories per day.

Anyone following 800-calorie per day plan is sure to lose weight, but medical supervision is recommended for people following very low-calorie diets (less than 1,200 per day), as they are likely to be deficient in nutrients. Most of the very low-calorie cookie diet plans recommend a daily multi-vitamin to fill in the nutritional gaps.

"One of the greatest motivators to sticking to a diet is when you manage hunger, decrease cravings, and watch the weight come off, and virtually everyone will lose weight at 800 calories," Siegal says.

Evan Bass, a physician, has been following the cookie diet for more than a year and has lost upto 45 pounds.

"The first two weeks were the hardest," he says. "I was tired with no energy for exercise but once I got used to it, I felt great and could be more physically active while eating cookies daily for breakfast and lunch."

He says he loves the chocolate chip cookies, especially when they're warmed in the microwave, and has not grown tired of eating 6-8 cookies a day.

As a result of being on the diet and checking in regularly, Bass says he has seen his health improve, along with his food choices and his commitment to being physically active.

"To maintain my weight loss, I still eat cookies during the week and allow some indulgences on the weekend," he says. "But I keep a close watch on my weight and when it goes up 5 pounds that is my signal to be more vigilant about what I eat and my activity."

What you can eat

The cookies that replace breakfast, lunch, and snacks range from 90-150 calories each. They come in a variety of flavours, including chocolate, banana, blueberry, oatmeal, and coconut. The cookies are convenient, portable, and don't need refrigeration.

On Siegal's medically supervised cookie diet, you have one meal for dinner, consisting of four to six ounces of lean protein with steamed veggies or raw veggies. The meal contributes about 300 calories. Eight daily glasses of no-calorie coffee, tea, water, or other beverages are allowed, but no alcohol, sweets, fruits, dairy, or other foods are recommended.

Dieters using the online cookie diet plans without medical supervision are directed to eat about 500 calories worth of cookies each day, plus a dinner made up of sensible foods. This approach controls daytime calories, but dinner could be a calorie disaster unless it is chosen wisely.

What the experts say

Dee Sandquist, American Dietetic Association spokeswoman says, "the cookie diet is another version of the meal replacement plan, known to be an effective option for some people. For lots of people, decisions about meals are tough, whether at home or eating out, and when you can drink a shake or, eat a cookie or a bar instead of a meal, it simplifies it and helps some dieters stay in control."She emphasises the importance of making wise food choices when following the cookie diet, and recommends that dieters include lean protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and low-fat dairy in the dinner meal, even it if ends up being more than 300 calories.

She also suggests checking the nutrition facts panel to see how many grams of fiber, carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients are in each cookie, as these numbers vary from plan to plan.

As for the very low-calorie monitored cookie diet plans, critics say 800 calories is below the recommended level for safe and effective weight loss. They say the 800-calorie cookie diet is lacking in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and fiber, all of which should be a part of any healthy weight loss plan. Siegal says that his clinical experience over the last 30 years has shown that fast weight loss is safe under a doctor's care, and that any nutrients lacking in the plan are made up for by the daily multi-vitamin.

The weakness in the cookie diet, experts say, is the lack of an exercise plan. Experts recommend that physical activity should be a regular part of everyone's life.

Food for thought

For people who have trouble controlling what they eat, meal replacement cookies can be an excellent way to control calories and lose weight.

Although the idea of a cookie for a meal sounds like a childhood dream, the truth is that it could get monotonous eating cookies every day. And without regular physical activity and guidance to help you make long-term lifestyle changes, lost weight may creep back.

While you'll most likely to lose quick weight on an 800 calorie a day plan, the cookie diets lack a transitional plan to help dieters get back to eating more normally and to maintain the lost weight.

Dietitians recommend that, once you reach your goal weight, you should increase your intake of healthy foods; especially fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and low fat-dairy for at least two meals a day, and rely on meal replacements for one meal a day.

www.healthhype.com

Colombia

Colombia's economic freedom score is 62.3, making its economy the 72nd freest in the 2009 Index. Its overall score is 0.2 point higher than last year, primarily reflecting improved trade freedom and business freedom scores. Colombia is ranked 15th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is higher than the regional average.

Colombia is now one of South America's most stable economies and scores relatively well in business freedom, trade freedom, and financial freedom. Improvements in the business environment and trade because of reforms aimed at steady growth and monetary stability have led to economic growth of over 5 per cent in recent years. The vibrant economy has reduced Colombia's unemployment rate to its lowest level in a decade.

Colombia's overall economic freedom would advance if lingering institutional weaknesses were addressed. Despite nominal openness to foreign investment, regulations are complex and uncertain. The rule of law remains uncertain. Business contracts are generally respected, but judicial corruption undermines legal transparency. State ownership is limited to a few utilities, but public expenditure commitments are high because of large transfers from the central government to regional state-owned enterprises.



Background

Colombia is one of South America’s oldest continuous democracies. President Alvaro Uribe, elected in 2002 and re-elected by a landslide in May 2006, has ended years of appeasement of Marxist guerrillas, vigilantes, and drug traffickers. By enforcing the law against both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and its anti-Communist nemesis, “the paramilitary,” Uribe has restored security. The lives of Colombians have improved substantially, and unemployment has been cut by at least 5 percentage points in the past five years. The economy depends heavily on exports of petroleum, coffee, and cut flowers. A trade agreement with the U.S. that would encourage economic diversification and stimulate further growth was submitted to the U.S. Congress for action in 2008.



Business freedom 77.4%

The overall freedom to start, operate, and close a business is relatively well protected by Colombia's regulatory environment. Starting a business takes about the world average of 38 days. Obtaining a business license requires less than the world average of 18 procedures and 225 days. Closing a business is relatively easy.



Trade freedom 72.4%

Colombia's weighted average tariff rate was 8.8 per cent in 2006. Import bans and restrictions, import price bands for certain goods, some service market access limits, some restrictive standards and regulation, some restrictive import licensing, issues involving the enforcement of intellectual property rights, non-transparent customs administration and valuation, export promotion programs, and corruption add to the cost of trade. Ten points were deducted from Colombia's trade freedom score to account for non-tariff barriers.



Fiscal freedom 72.9%

The top income and corporate tax rates were reduced from 34 per cent to 33 per cent beginning in 2008. Other taxes include a value-added tax (VAT) and a financial transactions tax. In the most recent year, overall tax revenue as a per cent-age of GDP was 23.0 per cent.



Government size 65.9%

Total government expenditures, including consumption and transfer payments, are moderate. In the most recent year, government spending equaled 33.7 per cent of GDP.



Monetary freedom 70.6%

Inflation is relatively moderate, averaging 5.2 per cent between 2005 and 2007. The government controls prices for ground and air transport fares, some pharmaceutical products, petroleum derivatives, natural gas, some petrochemicals, public utility services, residential rents, schoolbooks, and school tuition, and the Agriculture Ministry may intervene temporarily to freeze prices of basic foodstuffs through agreements with regional wholesalers. Fifteen points were deducted from Colombia's monetary freedom score to adjust for measures that distort domestic prices.



Investment freedom 60.0%

Foreign investment is granted national treatment, and 100 per cent foreign ownership is permitted in most sectors. The legal and regulatory systems are generally transparent and consistent with international norms. The largest obstacles to investment are frequent changes in business rules, complex arbitration procedures, and weak enforcement of awards. Foreign investments must be registered with the central bank's foreign exchange office within three months of the transaction date to allow repatriation of profits and remittances and to access official foreign exchange. Residents who work in certain internationally related companies may hold foreign exchange accounts.



Financial freedom 60.0%

Colombia’s relatively large financial sector has become more stable and modern. Banking has undergone significant consolidation and privatisation since the 1998–1999 financial crisis. The government has strengthened regulations and seized some banks for falling below solvency requirements. Two private financial groups account for about 45 per cent of bank assets. In comparison to other countries in the region, Colombia has a smaller presence of foreign banks, which collectively account for less than 20 per cent of total banking assets in 2008. Credit is allocated on market terms. All financial institutions nationalised during the crisis were privatised or liquidated by mid-2006; as of early 2008, the government retained 15 per cent of total banking assets. Foreign companies are prominent in the insurance sector, and competition has intensified since 2003. Colombia’s small capital market has constrained broader access to long-term credit. Additional financial reform is expected, and several measures to boost the capital market have also been discussed.



Property rights 40.0%

Contracts are generally respected. Arbitration is complex and dilatory, especially with regard to the enforcement of awards. The law guarantees indemnification in expropriation cases. Despite some progress, the enforcement of intellectual property rights is erratic. Infringements, especially the unauthorised use of trademarks, are common. In areas controlled by terrorist groups, property rights cannot be guaranteed.



Freedom from corruption 38.0%

Corruption is perceived as significant. Colombia ranks 68th out of 179 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2007. Although Colombia has made notable improvements in fighting corruption and narcotics trafficking in general, concerns remain over the influence of criminal organisations, especially on the police, military, and the lower levels of the judiciary and civil service.



Labour freedom 66.0%

Colombia's restrictive labor regulations hinder employment and productivity growth. The non-salary cost of employing a worker is high, but dismissing a redundant employee can be relatively inexpensive. Regulations controlling working hours are relatively flexible.

— Courtesy: The Heritage Foundation



Quick Facts

Population 45.6 million

GDP (PPP) $290.6 billion

6.8% growth

4.4% 5-year compound

annual growth

$6378 per capita

Unemployment 11.2%

Inflation (CPI) 5.5%

FDI Inflow $6.3 billion

Economic aid and developing countries

By Caroline Boin and Julian Harris

Aid activists Oxfam complained recently that “it is time for G20 leaders to stand up and deliver the money needed to protect poor people,” as heads of the world's biggest economies met in Pittsburgh in September. The real problem is that aid is actually rising but much of it never reaches poor countries and, when it does, it causes economic, social and political damage.

In fact, over US$ 119 billion was budgeted for aid from rich to poor countries this year, a rise of US$16 billion from last year. But about half of that stays with donors in "tied aid" and other domestic spending. "Almost 50p of every pound of donor aid fails to target poverty, but instead aims to meet other donor priorities," charity and pressure-group ActionAid said in 2006, an estimate largely confirmed in 2008 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Britain budgeted US$8 billion for aid to countries such as Pakistan, its second biggest recipient, last year but recent research has uncovered numerous examples of waste and mismanagement within government.

The British government pays pressure groups to campaign and lobby governments abroad and citizens at home, at the expense of actual aid projects. This year alone, the Department for International Development (DFID) put £140 million (about US$ 170 million) in its "communications" budget - much of it propaganda within the UK. By 2011, a total of £1 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) of public money will have been spent on this. Most of it is given away in unrestricted grants to hand-picked activist groups, with little accountability and transparency – and, worse, little evidence that the programmes are helping the poor.

Many of these are at best controversial and often hostile to development. ActionAid, for example, doing the "other donor priorities" mentioned above, used government funds to campaign against free trade, on one occasion stating: “There is very little evidence to support claims that free trade lifts people out of poverty.”

This assertion simply ignores all the millions of people around the world who have been allowed to escape poverty through freer trade after decades of economic oppression. Anti-poverty campaigner, Bob Geldof said this year that “probably the great unsung triumph so far of the twenty first century was the lifting of 400 million Chinese people out of extreme poverty—through trade.” Ideological groups like ActionAid can only make things worse for the world’s poorest people, who already face high barriers to trade.

Some Western groups funded with “foreign aid” money lobby pressurize developing-country governments to change their own policies. The UK charity Voluntary Service Overseas took offence at package holidays in Gambia and convinced the Gambian government to ban them. Realizing that the ban was doing more harm than good, the country dropped the policy just a year later.

Of the “foreign aid” that never even leaves the UK, the government has given millions to British trade unions who in turn fund the ruling Labour Party. This cozy system would be condemned by Westerners in a poor country yet, it is openly taking place in the supposed birthplace of modern democracy.

The Trades Union Congress (a group of 60 unions) describes on its website how, in the name of “development,” UK taxpayers have paid for its three-year DFID "Strategic Framework Partnership Arrangement (SFPA)" whose "key achievements" included "the TUC's fifth International Women's Day celebration." How a party with Caribbean food and music helps women in poor countries, or indeed anyone other than the guests, remains unclear.

At the very least, the next government should ensure that foreign aid is just that - help to the poorest people abroad. Better would be to reconsider the outdated and disproven ideas of development aid.

But even this government has started to question its approach, accusing Oxfam of the “prioritizing of advocacy over humanitarian delivery” with its £27.8 million (US$ 31 million) grant.

Such mismanagement and the recession will cut into the amounts of aid actually transferred from rich to developing countries. But this might not be bad news: experience and economic data have shown how foreign aid props up bad governments and bad policies. It should be no surprise that aid fuels corruption and waste when it is poisoned at the source.

— Caroline Boin is Director and Julian Harris Research Fellow at International Policy Network. They recently wrote "Fake Aid: how foreign aid is being used to support the self-serving political activities of NGOs." This article is submitted in Pakistan by Alternate Solutions Institute Syndication Service, Lahore. http://asinstitute.org]