Purple Reign
I see that some of our more right-wing friends in the press have criticized Tony Blair for visiting the Iraqi troops tie-less and with a hand in his pocket. Having seen said pictures, I suspect that yourr average British Tommy would not be too concerned that the PM had turned up not wearing a tie, or that he put his hand in his jacket pocket at some point. Some ex-brigadier might think it a disgrace, but not for nothing was the phrase coined in the First World War: "Lions led by donkeys".
Personally, I was rather more affronted by the colour of Tony's shirt, which made it look as if he had rushed to Iraq from his night shift at PC World.
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I'm not sure where all the Icelandic maniacs have come from, but they seem to be buying up anything and everything. If they insist on doing this, it would be nice if they got a bit more variety in their names. Eggert Magnusson is the latest entrepreneur looking to burn money -- this time on West Ham. Another Magnusson? Were all their fathers called Magnus? I mean, Magnus Magnusson, that's okay. He could have a kid called Magnus Magnussonson. But Eggert Magnusson? Where are all the Eggertsons? And surely there should be some Elvissons floating around these days?
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It's not often that senior people allegedly involved in Nigerian 419 scams are brought to court, but one Hiro Bhojwani, CEO of Shankar Emporium in Singapore, will be taking the stand today, although his company is claiming complete innocence in the affair. Shankar sent many many goods to Nigeria and took $1.15m via a third-party remittance from a retired Italian banker now based in Switzerland. Unfortunately, the third-party remittance was nothing of the kind, it was money from an Italian who had fallen for the 419 scam. The Italian is suing for the return of the money, while Shankar said that it accepted the cash as payment that was due for goods it had supplied to Nigerian customers.
At one's kindest, one could call Shankar naive, but history shows that they had no cause for naivety. In June 2004 the US government obtained a court order freezing the funds in Shankar's bank account in the US after fraud was detected in connection with third-party remittances. The lawyers for the Italian victim claim that Shankar was well aware that the third-party remittance system for Nigerian customers was riddled with fraud, although they have not gone so far as to claim that Shankar was an active participant. The claim would appear to be that Shankar knowingly converted 419 cash into goods which it sent to Nigeria.
Shankar has said that the Singapore Commercial Affairs Department had found Shankar's third-party remittance system to be "appropriate", which makes on wonder more about the Singapore Commercial Affairs Department than anything else.
It will be interesting to see what Hiro Bjojwani has to say for himself when he takes the stand, and whether he will be willing to reveal the name of his customers in Nigeria who received the goods paid for by a rather stupid Italian banker.
Oh, and Shankar's is based in High Street Plaza, if you happen to be in Singapore. I don't recommend popping in there and asking whether they have any satisfied customers from West Africa.
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Some threads in 2+2 are cropping up from players saying "I used to be a winner but...."
It seems to me that these are typically the tight-passive kind of players who relied on loose-passive opponents. The tight-passive players would rarely raise pre-flop, waiting to see if they hit, and then relying on getting paid off. Once they stop getting paid off, their lack of aggression pre-flop becomes a serious weakness, because other (better) players are willing to push their thinner edge pre-flop.
However, it seems a distinct indication that the ring game at lower levels has changed.
I should be able to do some stats on this, looking to see what percentage of hands are raised pre-flop, what percentage of hands are multi-way on the flop, and what percentage of hands go to a showdown.
A comparison between October.November with August/September should be enlightening.
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Personally, I was rather more affronted by the colour of Tony's shirt, which made it look as if he had rushed to Iraq from his night shift at PC World.
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I'm not sure where all the Icelandic maniacs have come from, but they seem to be buying up anything and everything. If they insist on doing this, it would be nice if they got a bit more variety in their names. Eggert Magnusson is the latest entrepreneur looking to burn money -- this time on West Ham. Another Magnusson? Were all their fathers called Magnus? I mean, Magnus Magnusson, that's okay. He could have a kid called Magnus Magnussonson. But Eggert Magnusson? Where are all the Eggertsons? And surely there should be some Elvissons floating around these days?
++++++++++++++++
It's not often that senior people allegedly involved in Nigerian 419 scams are brought to court, but one Hiro Bhojwani, CEO of Shankar Emporium in Singapore, will be taking the stand today, although his company is claiming complete innocence in the affair. Shankar sent many many goods to Nigeria and took $1.15m via a third-party remittance from a retired Italian banker now based in Switzerland. Unfortunately, the third-party remittance was nothing of the kind, it was money from an Italian who had fallen for the 419 scam. The Italian is suing for the return of the money, while Shankar said that it accepted the cash as payment that was due for goods it had supplied to Nigerian customers.
At one's kindest, one could call Shankar naive, but history shows that they had no cause for naivety. In June 2004 the US government obtained a court order freezing the funds in Shankar's bank account in the US after fraud was detected in connection with third-party remittances. The lawyers for the Italian victim claim that Shankar was well aware that the third-party remittance system for Nigerian customers was riddled with fraud, although they have not gone so far as to claim that Shankar was an active participant. The claim would appear to be that Shankar knowingly converted 419 cash into goods which it sent to Nigeria.
Shankar has said that the Singapore Commercial Affairs Department had found Shankar's third-party remittance system to be "appropriate", which makes on wonder more about the Singapore Commercial Affairs Department than anything else.
It will be interesting to see what Hiro Bjojwani has to say for himself when he takes the stand, and whether he will be willing to reveal the name of his customers in Nigeria who received the goods paid for by a rather stupid Italian banker.
Oh, and Shankar's is based in High Street Plaza, if you happen to be in Singapore. I don't recommend popping in there and asking whether they have any satisfied customers from West Africa.
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Some threads in 2+2 are cropping up from players saying "I used to be a winner but...."
It seems to me that these are typically the tight-passive kind of players who relied on loose-passive opponents. The tight-passive players would rarely raise pre-flop, waiting to see if they hit, and then relying on getting paid off. Once they stop getting paid off, their lack of aggression pre-flop becomes a serious weakness, because other (better) players are willing to push their thinner edge pre-flop.
However, it seems a distinct indication that the ring game at lower levels has changed.
I should be able to do some stats on this, looking to see what percentage of hands are raised pre-flop, what percentage of hands are multi-way on the flop, and what percentage of hands go to a showdown.
A comparison between October.November with August/September should be enlightening.
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