| Wild Card/Vacation Day 11 of 12
Only two more shopping days until I return to the final days of the City Council campaigns. Then, we'll have fun taking apart the campaigns. Any dirt yet? Any mudslinging. You know, the good stuff. Or is everyone behaving? My wife is now looking over my shoulder -- literally -- so I have to pretend that I'm just checking ball scores. See ya in two days. Here's Wild Card ... .
THE WEEK IN PICTURES
Malkoff has permission from Ikea to live in the store until Sunday, while his own New York City apartment is fumigated. Jan. 7: Family and friends arrive for a church service for Carlos Sousa Jr. at Five Wounds Portuguese National Church in San Jose, Calif. Sousa died Christmas Day after a 350-pound Siberian tiger broke out of the big-cat enclosure, also injuring Sousa's two friends. Jan. 7: Burkes, left, and Derrick Millirons look at the damage from an arson fire at the Woodland Baptist Church in Ladonia, Ala. Two men who authorities said dabbled in satanism have been arrested in connection with a recent rash of arson and vandalism at rural churches. Jan. 8: An Indian army soldier performs stunts as members display the traditional Indian martial art of �Malkhamb� during a Know Your Army exhibition in Rajkot, 141 miles west of Ahmadabad, India.
Australia in the dock
An opinion poll in the Sydney Daily Telegraph showed 82% of Australians believed Ricky Ponting was not a great ambassador for the country, and 79% felt the national team did not play within the spirit of cricket. Abusive phone calls were made to Ponting’s parents. The country has its jingoists – three years ago, spectators at Perth, the venue for this week’s third Test, racially abused the South African team – but in the main it is a conservative nation embarrassed by the sharp practice of its representatives. Geoff Lawson, the Australian fast bowler turned Pakistan coach, accused Australia of arrogance and disrespecting the baggy green cap, while John Bertrand, the America’s Cup-winning yachtsman, called on Cricket Australia to tell its players to show the game more respect.
Life in Romania - Telegraph Mentor
Bureaucracy: When the country experienced a 6.0 Richter scale earthquake in November, one radio commentator remarked that at least something in Romania was moving. Bureaucracy can be a huge headache throughout the country, which is still trying to emerge from the communist mentality. Simple, everyday tasks that would not take more than five minutes in Britain, such as getting a receipt or a guarantee for an appliance, require reams of forms and queuing. Getting a work permit is especially laborious, with low-level officials seemingly taking a perverse pleasure in finding one of your photocopies or translations missing and sending you away to return on multiple occasions. Sometimes they want a bribe, sometimes it is inefficiency, sometimes pure stubbornness. Unfortunately bureaucracy is an ingrained part of life here, so looking upon it as a cultural experience is probably the best way to keep stress levels down.
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