Photography For Fun

A maidservant or in current usage maid is a female employed in domestic service. Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today the maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford. In the Western world, comparatively few households can afford live-in domestic help, usually compromising on periodic cleaners. In less developed nations, very large differences in the income of urban and rural households and between different socio-economic classes, fewer educated women and limited opportunities for working women ensures a labour source for domestic work.

Maids perform typical domestic chores such as cooking, ironing, washing, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, walking the family dog, and taking care of children. In many places in some poor countries, maids often take on the role of a nurse in taking care of the elderly and people with disabilities. Many maids are required by their employers to wear a uniform.

Portland Janitorial

MOSCOW – Members of a regional government in Russia overseeing a town hit by a deadly nightclub blaze resigned Wednesday as the death toll from the fire rose to 125.
The provincial government in the Ural Mountains city of Perm announced its collective resignation in a statement but did not provide any details about how many people were involved. The move could prove symbolic, however, as the statement said most of the officials are to continue in their positions in an "acting" capacity until an investigation into the fire is concluded. That could mean they end up keeping their jobs.
In a separate statement, regional authotities said the death toll had risen to 125. More than 100 injured people remain hospitalized, including many in critical condition, the statement said. It added that 48 children lost one parent in the blaze, while 15 lost both parents.
The fire at Perm's Lame Horse nightclub broke out early Saturday when an indoor fireworks display ignited the plastic ceiling, which was decorated with branches. The blaze spread swiftly, and hundreds of revelers tried to flee through a single exit.
Four people including the club owner and a pyrotechnics supplier have been jailed pending a negligence probe. Another suspect, the man who leased the club from the owner, died Wednesday in a Moscow clinic from injuries sustained in the fire, the statement said.
Several regional fire safety officials have been suspended over the blaze.

OTTAWA (Reuters) –
Canada's top soldier detonated a political bombshell on Wednesday when he admitted that, contrary to previous assurances, some Canadian troops knew detainees handed over to Afghan authorities could be abused.

The unexpected announcement by General Walt Natynczyk is a major embarrassment for the military as well as the minority Conservative government, which have both long insisted there was no credible evidence that prisoners might be harmed.

Legal experts say handing over detainees in the knowledge they could be abused is a war crime.

Opposition legislators immediately stepped up demands for a formal inquiry and for Defense Minister Peter MacKay to resign over the affair.

The ruling Conservatives, although still ahead of the main opposition Liberal Party, have slipped in recent polls amid intense media coverage of the abuse allegations.

MacKay has repeatedly told the House of Commons there is no evidence soldiers knew prisoners might be abused. Last month MacKay and senior officials publicly denigrated a Canadian diplomat based in Afghanistan who said he had repeatedly warned of the risk of torture in 2006 and 2007.

A contrite Natynczyk said on Wednesday he had just received information about an incident in southern Afghanistan in June 2006 that showed soldiers knew what could befall detainees.

Reading from the field notes written by a Canadian section commander after troops arrested an Afghan man, he said: "We then photographed the individual prior to handing him over to ensure that if the Afghan National Police did assault him, as has happened in the past, that we would have a visual record of his condition."

Natynczyk said he would launch a full inquiry to discover why the additional information had only come to light now.

"This does beg a number of questions," he admitted.

Canada has 2,800 troops in Afghanistan on a combat mission that is due to end in 2011. So far 133 soldiers have died and recent polls show support for the mission is slipping.

The military has already revealed that the detainee in question was abused by the Afghan National Police (ANP). Canadian troops later rescued him.

Natynczyk, and government ministers, initially said the man was arrested by Afghan troops taking part in a joint operation and was never in Canadian custody.

"I want to correct my statement ... the individual who was beaten by Afghan police was in fact in Canadian custody and then the ANP took control of him," said Natynczyk.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper still had full confidence in both MacKay and Natynczyk, a spokesman said.

MacKay, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon and former Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor are due to testify to a House of Commons committee on Afghanistan later on Wednesday.

The Liberals said Natynczyk's revelation only underscored their demands for a formal public inquiry into the case.

"A judge with all the necessary power could get to the truth ... I'm fed up with all these stories," said Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, accusing the government of continually changing its tale on the abuse affair.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

LONDON – British Treasury chief Alistair Darling has announced a one-off tax on bankers' bonuses.
The 50-percent tax unveiled in the government's pre-budget report on Tuesday will be levied on 2009 bonuses of more than 25,000 pounds ($40,800).
The charge will be imposed on the pool of bonuses, rather than individual payments. It will be paid by banks — not the employee.
The government has sharply criticized bonuses paid to bankers — especially those paid by companies saved from collapse by taxpayers' money — and the measure is likely to prove popular with the general public.
The Labour government's pre-budget report is seen as key to setting the tone for a debate about how best to fuel Britain's slow recovery from recession ahead of next year's general election.

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
President Barack Obama has given fateful orders likely to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan in a political gamble meant to forge an eventual US exit from a costly and gruelling war.

"The commander in chief has issued the orders," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday, as Obama briefed world leaders of his new Afghan strategy, a day before making a major televised address to the American people.

The plan emerged from an exhaustive policy review amid extreme weariness of the war among Americans, and as supporters warned Obama could be risking his presidency by deploying thousands more men to a Vietnam-style quagmire.

Obama is expected to order between 30,000 and 35,000 more troops to bolster the US effort to repel a resurgent Taliban, secure major cities and fast-track training for Afghan security forces, alongside a separate civilian aid surge.

The president will also assure Americans and regional leaders he will not underwrite an indefinite and costly stay in Afghanistan for US troops.

"This is not an open-ended commitment," Gibbs said, painting the plan as an eventual pathway for US troops to come home.

"We are there to partner with the Afghans, to train the Afghan national security forces, the army and the police, so that they can provide security for their country and wage a battle against an unpopular insurgency."

The White House said Obama delivered orders marking the most crucial leadership test of his presidency in the Oval Office so far, on Sunday, after telling top aides of his final decision.

He met generals and top security aides in the Oval Office.

He then spoke directly by secure video-link to Afghan war commander General Stanley McChrystal, who warned earlier this year the conflict would be lost without more troops -- and US ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry.

Obama will address Americans in a major televised speech to cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point at 8:00 pm Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday).

He will tell a nation weary of years of conflict and humbled by the worst economic crisis in generations, why it must risk yet more lives and wealth in a war launched after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

His message will be compelling listening for voters, lawmakers and soldiers, US allies, leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents battling Washington in a bloody eight-year war.

Many of Obama's core political supporters, and key Democrats worried about ballooning budget deficits, are wary of more troop deployments. Republicans have however demanded the president answer the generals' calls for more help.

As he launched a public relations offensive to market the new strategy, Obama called French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.

A secure video link-up with Gordon Brown was also planned, after the British prime minister announced he would increase British regular troop numbers by 500 to 9,500 in December.

Obama will also talk to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who both will be key players in the new strategy.

Asked why Obama was informing world leaders of his plans before telling the American people, Gibbs said that the president would not go into specifics on troop numbers but needed to consult valued US foreign partners.

Intense consultations with key players in Congress, where some majority Democrats have expressed skepticism about new troop deployments, were taking place on Monday and Tuesday, Gibbs said.

Some 35,000 American soldiers were fighting the Taliban-led insurgency when Obama took office. After an initial boost in February there are now about 68,000.

More than 900 American soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan and October was the deadliest month since the start of the war in 2001 with 74 US soldiers killed.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost 768.8 billion dollars and by the end of this fiscal year (October 2010) the price tag will approach one trillion.

Obama Sunday spoke to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by telephone, then met Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the joint chiefs; White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and General David Petraeus, head of US central command.

Holiday Gift Baskets

When material objects are given as gifts, in many cultures they are traditionally packaged in some manner. For example, in Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the giftee's name, and the giver's name. In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.

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A day after former Vice President Dick Cheney charged the Obama administration with "dithering" over its strategy for the war in Afghanistan, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs returned fire with guns blazing.
"What Vice President Cheney calls dithering, President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform," Gibbs said Thursday. "I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility seriously."
Calling Cheney's comment "curious," Gibbs attacked the Bush administration for allegedly taking years to provide the support necessary for the war effort in Afghanistan.
"I think it's pretty safe to say that the vice president was, for seven years, not focused on Afghanistan," Gibbs said. "Even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House, including the vice president's, for more than eight months."
Cheney offered his dim assessment of the Obama administration's approach to Afghanistan at a Wednesday dinner hosted by the Center for Security Policy, where the former vice president was present with the group's Keeper of the Flame award.
"Having announced his Afghanistan strategy last March, President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission," Cheney said. "The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. Make no mistake: Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries. Waffling, while our troops on the ground face an emboldened enemy, endangers them and hurts our cause."
The former vice president also addressed comments made last Sunday by Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, blaming the Bush administration for taking an inadequately active approach to shaping war strategy.
Cheney retorted that Bush administration officials were digging into "every aspect of Afghanistan policy" last fall and briefed the Obama transition team on their findings and recommendations.
"The new strategy they embraced in March, with a focus on counterinsurgency and an increase in the numbers of troops, bears a striking resemblance to the strategy we passed to them," Cheney said.
Cheney’s remarks had the West Wing "fired up" Thursday morning, according to one aide.
Read More Stories from POLITICOConservatives roar; GOP tremblesCLICK: Playgirl's new flavorPence: Rush, Beck speak for manyConsumer agency vote a win for W.H.Clinton puts Kerry in Afghan spotlight

DULUTH, Minn. – A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to driving his motorized La-Z-Boy chair while drunk. A criminal complaint says 62-year-old Dennis LeRoy Anderson told police he left a bar in the northern Minnesota town of Proctor on his chair after drinking eight or nine beers.
Prosecutors say Anderson's blood alcohol content was 0.29, more than three times the legal limit, when he crashed into a parked vehicle in August 2008. He was not seriously injured.
Police said the chair was powered by a converted lawnmower and had a stereo and cup holders.
Sixth Judicial District Judge Heather Sweetland stayed 180 days of jail time Monday and ordered two years of probation for Anderson. His attorney, David Keegan, did not immediately return a call for comment.
___
Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com

ROME – Richard Gere said Friday that he "cried like a baby" when he read the script of his new movie — a remake based on a cherished Japanese story about a faithful dog that died at a train station waiting for its owner.
"Hachiko: A Dog's Story" was so moving, Gere said, he would choke up when talking about it.
"I was telling people over dinner, and I could only get half way through the story and I would start crying," the Hollywood star told a news conference after the film was screened out of competition at the Rome Film Festival.
The true story of a friendship between the dog Hachiko and his owner is a legend among Japanese, a pet-loving nation that honors self-sacrificing loyalty.
Hachiko used to wait every day at Shibuya train station for its owner, a professor at the University of Tokyo — even for a decade after the professor died. People were so moved they built a statue of Hachiko at the station — now a popular rendezvous spot.
The story of Hachiko, who himself died in 1935, was made into a 1987 Japanese movie.
The new version, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, moves the tale to a station in modern Rhode Island.
"I cried like a baby" when reading the script, Gere said. "I wasn't sure if it was just a very sensitive reaction I had that day, so I read it again a few days later and had the same reaction.
"This is a love story," said Gere, who plays the professor. "It has nothing to do with gender or species."
The canines that play Hachiko in the movie belong to the Japanese breed of Akita dogs — known for being close to wild dogs and very difficult to train.
"We could not train the dogs to do things, but we had to create an environment trustful for them," Gere said.
The movie had its U.S. premiere in June at the Seattle International Film Festival, and opened in Japan in August.
Other movies screening out of competition at the Rome festival include "Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, and Joel and Ethan Coen's film "A Serious Man."
The fourth edition of the festival, which is becoming part of the international circuit of movie festivals, runs through Oct. 22.

MIAMI – Tropical Storm Rick is quickly intensifying in the Pacific off Mexico's coast.
Rick's maximum sustained winds had increased to 65 mph (100 kph) early Friday and is expected to reach hurricane strength later in the day.
The tropical storm is centered about 315 miles (505 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, and moving west-northwest near 9 mph (15 kph).

TEHRAN (Reuters) –
Iran said on Tuesday it would refuse to discuss a newly declared nuclear plant at forthcoming international talks and cautioned Western powers it could curb cooperation further if they repeated "past mistakes."

An Iranian MP suggested parliament might seek withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if Thursday's Geneva talks with major powers fail and "if the Zionists and America continue their pressure on Iran" -- a reference to policies including economic sanctions.

Washington has suggested possible new sanctions on banking and the oil and gas industry if Tehran fails to assuage Western fears it seeks nuclear weapons. U.S. officials believe sanctions could now have more effect, playing on leadership divisions evident since a disputed presidential poll.

Comments by Western and Iranian officials suggested little optimism ahead of the Thursday's rare meeting of the P5+1 -- permanent U.N. Security Council members China, Britain, France, the United Sates and Russia, as well as Germany -- with Iran.

"My expectation, or my hope, is that we will be able to get...the guarantees from Tehran, that the program in which they are engaged in is a peaceful program," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"I don't think it will be easy to ask for, but we will continue to engage."

Last week's news of a second uranium enrichment plant, under construction south of Tehran, added urgency to the Geneva talks. Uranium in less refined form can be used for power generation but in a more highly refined state is used in nuclear bombs.

Statements from Tehran on Tuesday allowed some ambiguity on Iran's readiness to talk.

"The site, we can call it a small Natanz site, is a way to show that Iran ... not even for a second will stop its nuclear activities," Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi said, referring to its existing underground plant near the central city of Natanz.

He described the new facility as a "contingency plant" in case the Natanz site was threatened by military action.

Washington has not ruled out military action if it believed Tehran was close to developing a nuclear weapons but says it favors diplomatic action.

Salehi said Iran, which denies any plans for atomic weapons, would not discuss its basic right to develop nuclear energy.

"But we can discuss about disarmament, we can discuss about non-proliferation and other general issues," he said. "The new site is part of our rights and there is no need to discuss."

Iranian state Press TV quoted Salehi as saying on Monday Tehran was in contact with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over a date for inspection of the plant.

ELECTION PROTESTS

Iran's IRNA news agency quoted MP Mohammad Karamirad, a conservative and member of parliament's foreign policy and national security commission, as saying Iran could close the door completely to cooperation with world nuclear authorities.

"If the Zionists and America continue their pressure on Iran and if the talks...do not reach a conclusion, then parliament will take a clear and transparent position, such as Iran's withdrawal from the NPT," he said.

Iranian missile tests on Sunday and Monday added to tension with Western powers, who fear a hardline leadership in the Islamic Republic could ultimately use a threat of nuclear attack to pursue its political ends in the Middle East and beyond.

Russia, though cautious on sanctions, has expressed concern about Iranian missile launches and about Tehran's nuclear program. President Dmitry Medvedev has said "other means" could be employed if Geneva talks failed.

But Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying missile tests should not be used as an additional argument for imposing sanctions on Tehran.

The Geneva meeting is the first such encounter since the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred mass protests in Tehran and signs of division in the leadership over accusations of vote fixing. It is also the first since President Barack Obama took office, seeking to revive contacts.

Ahmadinejad press adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr said it was for the West, not Iran, to prove its honesty in Geneva.

"After these talks the ball will be in the West's, and especially America's, court," he said.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing, David Brunnstrom in Gothenburg, Sweden; Writing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)

Cap Cana is located in the Eastern region of the Dominican Republic known as Juanillo. The site was founded as a new and more ambitious touristic site with contributions from international investors and strategic partners such as Ritz-Carlton, Sotogrande, Donald Trump and many others. The site has a Marina, Large resorts, beaches, and many others. Primarily founded as a site to attract international visitors. The Cap Cana Championship, a Champions Tour golf tournament, is held at Punta Espada Golf Club in Cap Cana, a course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Cap Cana's area includes more than one-hundred and twenty millon square meters of land, of which twenty-five million will be developed in its first phase. It also includes 8 kilometers of beach and coasts, 5 of which are considered to be among the most spectacular in the Caribbean, locally considered to be neck-in-neck to the beaches of Bahia de Las Aguilas (literally, Bay of the Eagles) located in the southwestern municipality of Perdernales- often referred by past visitors as some of the most beautiful in the world.

Cap Cana Villa

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or in Britain, Hormone therapy (HT) is a system of medical treatment for surgically menopausal, perimenopausal and to a lesser extent postmenopausal women. It is based on the idea that the treatment may prevent discomfort caused by diminished circulating estrogen and progesterone hormones. It involves the use of one or more of a group of medications designed to artificially boost hormone levels. The main types of hormones involved are estrogens, progesterone or progestins, and sometimes testosterone. It often referred to as "treatment" rather than therapy,

HRT is available in various forms. It generally provides low dosages of one or more estrogens, and often also provides either progesterone or a chemical analogue, called a progestin. Testosterone may also be included. In women who have had a hysterectomy, an estrogen compound is usually given without any progesterone, a therapy referred to as "unopposed estrogen therapy". HRT may be delivered to the body via patches, tablets, creams, troches, IUDs, vaginal rings, gels or, more rarely, by injection. Dosage is often varied cyclically, with estrogens taken daily and progesterone or progestins taken for about two weeks every month or two; a method called "sequentially combined HRT" or scHRT. An alternate method, a constant dosage with both types of hormones taken daily, is called "continuous combined HRT" or ccHRT, and is a more recent innovation. Sometimes an androgen, generally testosterone, is added to treat reduced sexual desire/(libido). It may also treat reduced energy and help reduce osteoporosis after menopause.

Natural Hormone Replacement

CALAIS, France (AFP) –
French riot police on Tuesday rounded up scores of mainly Afghan migrants in a dawn raid on a makeshift camp known as the "Jungle," used as a base to make risky attempts to reach Britain.

Minor scuffles broke out between police and some 80 activists who set up a human chain around the camp dwellers in the Channel port of Calais, but the migrants did not resist as they were led away one by one.

Immigration Minister Eric Besson said 276 people were detained in a two-hour raid involving 500 officers and he hailed the operation as a key blow to smuggling networks.

Besson warned of more raids to come on nearby squats and camps.

"This is the end of the law of the jungle and of people-traffickers," Besson told reporters as he toured the sandy scrubland, where bulldozers and woodcutters were tearing down the shacks and tents.

The camp's makeshift mosque was taken down by hand and Besson said its contents would be transferred to the Calais mosque.

The police operation "targeted the tools of the criminal gangs who sell migrants passage to Britain, exploit them and have them living in what had become an open air garbage dump," he said.

Nearly half the migrants identified themselves as minors and were to be taken to shelters, he said. The adults will be offered the chance to apply for asylum, money for a voluntary return home or a place in a shelter.

For adults who refuse, France would "consider a forced return to the country of origin," based on a case-by-case assessment of the security risks involved for them. He did not confirm how many of those detained were Afghans.

From a peak of 700 mostly Afghan Pashtuns in the "jungle" in June, aid groups say two thirds had fled ahead of the operation, heading to Britain, Belgium, Holland, Norway or elsewhere.

After a watchful night, the remaining dwellers rose at dawn with the muezzin's call, performing morning ablutions before bracing for the raid.

The men and boys huddled together behind banners that pleaded with the authorities for shelter, but were led away, some in tears.

Eighteen-year-old Bilal Hazarbauz said: "Maybe they will deport me to Afghanistan.

"But where else can we go? This is our home, there is no other place."

Besson said the Calais crisis was partly caused by the lack of a coherent European Union migration policy, saying states should agree to share the asylum burden more fairly, while boosting the powers of the border police Frontex.

Thousands of mainly male migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq and other troubled nations, have headed to Calais in the past decade to try to jump on a truck, ferry or a train crossing to Britain.

The "jungle" sprung up after the authorities closed a shelter at Sangatte, near Calais, in 2002 because of crime and British accusations that it was a magnet for migrants.

Calais officials said the situation had become unbearable, with a spike in offences against locals and appalling sanitary conditions blamed for a recent outbreak of scabies.

In Britain, which stopped 28,000 people trying to cross the Channel last year, Home Secretary Alan Johnson hailed the crackdown as "decisive."

But activists denounced it as a media stunt, that would not stop migrants heading to Calais and instead drive them further underground.

"It's a scandal," said Jean-Claude Lenoir of the Salam migrant support group. "We can't have soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and treat Afghans seeking refuge here with such little dignity."

Aid groups predict many will end up back on the streets.

"They are going to be scattered across the countryside, at the mercy of traffickers," said Lenoir. "At least here the young people had built a kind of community. It's tragic."

From Saint Malo in Brittany to the Belgian border, aid groups still count some 17 migrant camps and squats along the Channel coast, where hundreds of Iraqis, Afghans or Eritreans await their attempt at the British El Dorado.

http://www.foltzmartin.com/Atlanta-Georgia-Real-Estate-Attorney-Thomas-Harper.html

Several countries that originally had two or more legal professions have since fused or united their professions into a single type of lawyer. Most countries in this category are common law countries, though France, a civil law country, merged together its jurists in 1990 and 1991 in response to Anglo-American competition. In countries with fused professions, a lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or nearly all the responsibilities listed below.

Often, lawyers brief a court in writing on the issues in a case before the issues can be orally argued. They may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law while drafting legal papers and preparing for oral argument.