25th Nov

Muppets Perform 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (hilarious vid)

thrfeed.com —
2204 Diggs in Entertainment - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 11:30 am

Neil Young Sings 'Fresh Prince' Theme Song (video)

thrfeed.com —
1307 Diggs in Top Video - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 07:48 am

Economic Battery (pic)

thereifixedit.com —
900 Diggs in Offbeat - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 05:45 am

Why Americans Are Fat (INFOGRAPHIC)

pixlmonster.com — Did you know 2/3 of Americans are overweight and more everyday are becoming obese? This infographic explains why America is the fattest country in the world.
837 Diggs in Lifestyle - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 10:25 am

Surfing is a girl's sport [pics]

photo.mpora.com — Female surfing has made huge strides as a sport and the best girl surfers will kick your butt out of the line up. Some of these girls are so good that they don't need a wetsuit - they surf in nothing but a bikini ... a small bikini.
772 Diggs in Sports - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 11:22 am

Large Hadron Collider starts up, produces first collisions

arstechnica.com — After a series of complications and setbacks, the Large Hadron Collider sees its first particle-particle collisions after a weekend of furious activity. While these weren't at any significant energy, the milestone marks an important step in getting the mammoth machine up and running and filling in the last space on the particle bingo card.
666 Diggs in Science - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 07:48 am

Polar Printer Reimagines the Way Magnets Works (With Video!)

popularmechanics.com — A team of engineers in Alabama unveils an invention that reimagines the way magnets work, and that could change the way we do everything from closing the fridge to building frictionless gears.
523 Diggs in Technology - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 04:57 am

How to Get Your Car Stolen [Pic]

twitpic.com — Seen on a car window in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco!
520 Diggs in Top Image - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 09:48 am

Another FOX News Flub: Will Someone Get Fired Like Promised?

tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com — A Fox News anchor reported inaccurately today that the public option is controversial because it will be paid for with tax payer money. This lie has been debunked by reliable non-partisan analyst and is just a fact.
488 Diggs in World & Business - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 08:25 am

Half-Contra (Contra NES Remade In Half-Life 2)

youtube.com —
451 Diggs in Gaming - Submitted Nov 24, 2009 07:37 am

Why Is It Essential To Keep An Updated Resume

All of you must have read a lot about ‘creating’ an effective resume. Well, that is indeed very important in order to start a professional life and also to excel in your career. However, the most crucial  step after creating a resume is to ‘maintain’ and ‘update’ it. Whether you are on the hunt for a new job or already enjoying a professional career, keeping your resume up-to-date is of great significance.

Be Organized Beforehand

Coming up with an accurate and interesting resume in a very limited time can be very disorderly. In the professional world you never know when you might need to submit it, so you should regularly update your resume with relevant accomplishments, new job duties, recently achieved certifications, contact information and other similar achievements. This is especially true for smaller but equally important achievements that may fade in memory as time passes.

How To Update The Resume

There is a common perception that updating the CV means to add in your professional experiences (name, designation and time period), if you have any. In reality, when we talk about maintaining or updating the resume, it means that one should update every single detail about one’s professional profile. Following are some important things that should be kept in mind while updating your resume:

Accomplishments and Achievements

Your professional and academic accomplishments and achievements distinguish you from the rest of the pod of applicants and add value to your profile. Include your accomplishments in your CV as soon as you achieve any. Do remember that an accomplishment does not always have to be monumental in order to be effective. Many of the things that you do on regular basis can be regarded as accomplishments, particularly if you phrase them the right way.

Examples of accomplishments might include increasing your company’s bottom line, promotions, special projects, decreasing costs or company-sponsored awards. Quantifiable representations are best way to explain your achievements. Prove what you have done through the use of dollar/rupee amounts, numbers, quotas, percentages, etc.

There are also some less quantifiable accomplishments that may also be mentioned. For example, major accounts you landed, customer service satisfaction ratings, mergers and acquisitions, positive publicity, promotions and anything else you can think of that is appropriate to list under one’s accomplishments.

Awards and Certifications

Either you are a working professional or looking for a job, the licenses, degrees, awards and certificates are very important to be maintained in your resume. List only those which are most relevant to your career field. Include titles, dates, locations, and the sponsors of any training you completed to receive certificates or licensure. An employee only wants to see what is relevant to the position you are applying for.

Technical Skills

Technical skills should be included in the list of things which are to be regularly updated in the resume. Tech skills can range from the knowledge of MS Word to being a whiz of certain software that you used at a specific job. If you are a well-experienced professional and applying for a managerial position, only in that case technical skills do not have much significance in your CV.

Resume Format

Resume formats and CV writing styles are changing rapidly. What seemed apropos format-wise in 2003 might look antiquated today. If you do not have much idea as how to put your resume in the right format, peruse the Internet for samples of CVs from fields similar to your own.

ROZEE.PK also provides professional CV Writing service specialized in dynamic, persuasive and interview-winning CV building for its valued users. ROZEE.PK CV Writing service provides different formats of CV to cater to the needs of a variety of users.

Conferences and Additional Education

Conferences and seminars can be important to enhance your professional profile; particularly if they helped you earn continuing education credits or are substantial enough to have given you a unique skill. Any in-services training you may have conducted with others as a result of attending conferences should also be mentioned, as these are notable accomplishments that highlight certain skill sets, such as leadership and public speaking abilities.

When To Update The Resume

It is a question asked by many professionals that when should I update my resume and how often do I need to update it? There are some definite considerations to decide when it is best to dust off your Curriculum Vitae.

Whenever You Change Your Personal Information

Update your resume as soon as you make any changes in your personal information. Any change in address, contact number or email addresses should be immediately modified in your CV. The sooner you note such items on your resume, the better. If you fail do so, you may wind up sending out a CV with the wrong contact information and that could be potentially disastrous for you.

New And Improved Skills Set

Whenever a professional goes through an employment for sometime he tends to learn some particular skills which was not known to him before entering that profession. Document those skills set in your resume as soon as you learn any. This will add alot to your professional profile and leaves an impressive effect on the one who reads it.

Update Your CV Even If You Do Not Plan Job Switch

Even if you are perfectly happy at your current position, do try to look at your CV every four to six months, just in case. Your resume should be ready and properly maintained beforehand. Then, if you need to send it to prospective employers, you will be able to do it without any fuss.

With Each New Award/Honour

You received a special award or honour from an organization, you earned a promotion based on your abilities or you have been given special responsibilities from your manager based on your past performance and acumen. Each time you are given such an award or honour, make sure you add it to your CV as soon as possible. Many people assume that they will remember when it’s needed, but often they forget to do so and a marvelous addition to any CV is forgotten.

An Annual Review

It is prudent to look over your CV about once a year, just to see if the resume looks updated enough. Jot down any updated regarding your professional profile of the past year and see if your resume contains all that information too. This way, you can ensure that your CV remains modern and relevant to the current marketplace.

After Any Formal Training And/Or Courses

If you have attended a formal training or course conducted either by your own company or any other organization or institution, do add it in your resume. Even the most mundane conference can increase the value of your CV and can help you catch the eye of the employer.

Your CV is probably the most important tool in your professional life as well as during your job hunt, so getting it right is absolutely essential. It also dictates whether or not you will be invited to interview or a promotion in the current job. Your CV should not only summarize your qualifications, skills and experience but should also reflect key aspects of your personality that will help you to stand out from all other applicants. If your resume is more than six months old, update it today. Who knows, you may come across an unexpected layoff or a surprising opportunity sooner than you can imagine!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

What Earth Would Look Like With Rings Like Saturn?

liveleak.com — What the rings would look like from different cities and latitudes accross the world. It's interesting to imagine how it would effect culture throughout time. It would have influenced religion, mythology, navigation, etc.. Personally, I think the blue hue of earth's atmosphere would partly be reflected in the rings.
2537 Diggs in Science - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 02:31 am

This is real footage of bears playing hockey,its so amazing

youtube.com — This is a video of bears. Bears in ice skates. Bears in ice skates playing hockey. Real bears in ice skates playing actual hockey with a puck and sticks. No, really.
1403 Diggs in Offbeat - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 03:43 am

Three Wolf Moon Ain't Got ***** on Me (PIC)

imgur.com — Howl at this bitches.
853 Diggs in Top Image - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 11:51 am

SNL: Palin/Beck 2012 Disaster Movie Trailer!

youtube.com — Could This Happen in 2012? President Sarah Palin? SNL says so in this Nov. 21 skit.
661 Diggs in Top Video - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 07:12 am

Back to the future: Crysis edition!

youtube.com —
637 Diggs in Gaming - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 04:54 pm

Obamanomics 101

weeklystandard.com — And what the president doesn't understand--or, to be more charitable, refuses to acknowledge--about free markets, the economy, and competition could fill a book, or at least an Obama speech. The economic growth he sees was produced, in part, by cash-for-clunkers and the first-time homebuyers tax credit.
507 Diggs in World & Business - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 06:03 am

5 Musicians Who Need to Find Something New to Sing About

cracked.com — Sometimes, a musician will latch onto one pet subject and hang on for dear life no matter how bad it makes them look.
499 Diggs in Entertainment - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 09:49 am

Dad, Can I use the IBM Computer Tonight? (PIC)

flickr.com — Because learning about computers is a subject your kids can study and enjoy at home.
305 Diggs in Technology - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 03:56 pm

Sugar-Coated Polymer to Cure Allergies and Asthma

sciencedaily.com — Scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed sugar-coated polymer strands that selectively kill off cells involved in triggering aggressive allergy and asthma attacks.
297 Diggs in Lifestyle - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 08:19 am

Announcers Suspended For This Anti-Iran Rant [Vid]

grizzlies.fandome.com — Clippers longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler and color analyst Michael Smith were suspended one game by the Fox Sports Prime Ticket cable network for their comments during Grizzlies-Clippers game about Iranian-born center Hamed Haddadi.
244 Diggs in Sports - Submitted Nov 22, 2009 11:24 am

Mr Zardari Corruption Report by US-Senate[1999]

MINORITY STAFF REPORT[….US Senate]

FOR
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS
HEARING ON
PRIVATE BANKING AND MONEY LAUNDERING:
A CASE STUDY OF OPPORTUNITIES AND VULNERABILITIES
November 9, 1999

 Asif Ali Zardari Case History {….at Citi Bank....}

The Facts
The second case history involves Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Ms. Bhutto was elected Prime Minister in 1988, dismissed by the President of Pakistan in August 1990 for alleged corruption and inability to maintain law and order, elected Prime Minister again in October 1993, and dismissed by the President again in November 1996. At various times, Mr. Zardari served as Senator, Environment Minister and Minister for Investment in the Bhutto government. Inbetween the two Bhutto administrations, he was incarcerated in 1990 and 1991 on charges of corruption; the charges were eventually dropped. During Ms. Bhutto's second term there were increasing allegations of corruption in her government, and a major target of those allegations was Mr. Zardari. It has been reported that the government of Pakistan claims that Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari stole over $1 billion from the country.
During the period 1994 to1997, Citibank opened and maintained three private bank accounts in Switzerland and a consumer account in Dubai for three corporations under Mr. Zardari's control. There are allegations that some of these accounts were used to disguise $10 million in kickbacks for a gold importing contract to Pakistan.
Structure of Private Bank Relationship. Mr. Zardari's relationship with Citibank began in October 1994, through the services of Kamran Amouzegar, a private banker at Citibank private bank in Switzerland, and Jens Schlegelmilch, a Swiss lawyer who was the Bhutto family's attorney in Europe and close personal friend for more than 20 years. According to Citibank, Mr. Schlegelmilch represented to Mr. Amouzegar that he was working for the Dubai royal family and he wanted to open some accounts at the Citibank branch office in Dubai. Mr. Schlegelmilch had a Dubai residency permit and a visa signed by a member of the Dubai royal family. Mr. Amouzegar agreed to introduce Mr. Schlegelmilch to a banker in the Citibank branch office in Dubai.
According to Citicorp, Mr. Schlegelmilch told the Citibank Dubai banker that he wanted to open an account in the name of M.S. Capricorn Trading, a British Virgin Island PIC. The stated purpose of the account was to receive money and transfer it to Switzerland. The account was opened in early October 1994.
According to Citibank, Mr. Schlegelmilch informed the Dubai banker that he would serve as the representative of the account and the signatory on the account. Under Dubai law, a bank is not required to know an account's beneficial owner, only the signatory. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that Mr. Schlegelmilch did not reveal to the Dubai banker that Mr. Zardari was the beneficial owner of the PIC, and the account manager never asked him the identity of the beneficial owner of the account. Instead, according to Citibank, she assumed the beneficial owner of the account was the member of the royal family who had signed Mr. Schlegelmilch 's visa. According to Citibank, the account manager actually performed some due diligence on the royal family member whom she believed to be the beneficial owner of the account.
Shortly after opening the account in Dubai, Mr. Schlegelmilch signed a standard referral agreement with Citibank Switzerland private bank guaranteeing him 20% of the first three years of client net revenues earned by the bank from each client he referred to the private bank .
On February 27, 1995, Mr. Schlegelmilch, working with Mr. Amouzegar, opened three accounts at the Citibank Switzerland private bank. The accounts were opened in the name of M.S. Capricorn Trading, which already had an account at Citibank's Dubai branch, as well as Marvel and Bomer Finance, two other British Virgin Island PICs established by Mr. Schlegelmilch, according to Citibank. Each private bank account listed Mr. Schlegelmilch as the account contact and signatory.

Citibank informed the Subcommittee that the Swiss Form A, a government-required beneficial owner identification form, identified Mr. Zardari as the beneficial owner of each PIC.

Lack of Due Diligence. The decision to allow Mr. Schlegelmilch to open the three accounts on behalf of Mr. Zardari, according to Citibank, involved officials at the highest levels of the private bank. The officials were: (a) Mr. Amouzegar, the private banker; (b) Deepak Sharma, then head of private bank operations in Pakistan; (c) Phillipe Holderbeke, then head of private bank operations in Switzerland (who became head of the Europe, Middle East, Africa Division in February 1996); (d) Salim Raza, then head of the EMEA Division of the private bank; and (e) Hubertus Rukavina, then head of the Citibank private bank. Mr. Rukavina told the Subcommittee staff that when he was asked about opening the Zardari accounts, he did not make the decision to open them, but rather directed that the matter be discussed with Mr. Sharma. According to Mr. Rukavina, he never heard whether the accounts were ultimately opened. Mr. Rukavina left the private bank in 1996 and left Citibank in 1999.
Citibank informed the Subcommittee staff that the private bank was aware of the allegations of corruption against Mr. Zardari at the time it opened the accounts in Switzerland. However, Citibank reasoned that if the charges for which Mr. Zardari had been incarcerated for two years had any merit, they would not have been dropped. Bank officials also believed that the family wealth of Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari was large enough to support a large private bank account, even though Citibank was not able to specify what actions were taken to verify the amount and source of their wealth. Citibank said that bank officials were also aware of the M.S. Capricorn Trading account in Dubai, and they were comforted by the fact that there had been no problems with that account. According to Citibank, Mr. Amouzegar informed his superiors that Mr. Zardari was the beneficial owner of the Capricorn account in Dubai when they were considering the request to open the accounts in Switzerland. Inexplicably, however, the Dubai account manager was apparently still operating under the assumption that the beneficial owner of the Dubai Capricorn account was a member of the Dubai royal family. Subcommittee staff have been unable to determine whether Citibank officials were unaware of or inattentive to the serious inconsistency between Citibank Switzerland and Citibank Dubai with respect to the Capricorn Trading account. Citibank also informed the Subcommittee staff that bank officials had some concerns that if they turned down the accounts, their actions may have implications for the corporation's operations in Pakistan; however, they said they never received any threats on that issue.
Citibank told the Subcommittee staff the private bank decided to allow Mr. Schlegelmilch to open the three accounts for Mr. Zardari on the condition that the private bank would not be the primary accounts for Mr. Zardari's assets and the accounts would function as passive investment accounts. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that Mr. Holderbeke signed a memo delineating the restrictions placed on the accounts, including a $40 million aggregate limit on the size of the three accounts, and transaction restrictions requiring the accounts to function as passive, stable investments, without multiple transactions or funding pass-throughs. None of the Citibank personnel interviewed by Subcommittee staff could identify any other private bank account with these types of restrictions. Other private banks interviewed by the Subcommittee staff were asked if they had ever accepted a client on the condition that certain restrictions be imposed on the account. The banks all said they had not. One bank representative explained that if the bank felt that it needed to place restrictions on the client's account, it didn't want that type of client. The existence of the restrictions are in themselves proof of the private bank's awareness of Mr. Zardari's poor reputation and concerns regarding the sources of his wealth.
Movement of Funds. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that, once opened, only three deposits were made into the M.S. Capricorn Trading account in Dubai. Two deposits, totaling $10 million were made into the account almost immediately after it was opened.

Citibank records show that one $5 million deposit was made on October 5,1994, and another was made on October 6, 1994. The source of both deposits was A.R.Y. International Exchange, a company owned by Abdul Razzak Yaqub[…ARY…], a Pakistani gold bullion trader living in Dubai.

According to the New York Times, in December 1994, the Bhutto government awarded Mr. Razzak an exclusive gold import license. In an interview with the New York Times, Mr. Razzak acknowledged that he had used the exclusive license to import more than $500 million worth of gold into Pakistan. Mr. Razzak denies, however, making any payments to Mr. Zardari. Citibank could not explain the two $5 million payments. Ms. Bhutto told the Subcommittee staff that since A.R.Y. International Exchange is a foreign exchange business, the payments did not necessarily come from Mr. Razzak, but could have come from a third party who was merely making use of A.R.Y.'s exchange services. The staff invited Ms. Bhutto to provide additional information on the M.S. Capricorn Trading accounts, but she has not yet done so.

On February 25, 1995, a third deposit of $8 million was made into the Dubai M.S. Capricorn Trading account. Records show that the payment was made through American Express, with the originator of the account listed as "Morgan NYC." Citibank indicated it does not know who Morgan NYC is, nor does it know the source of the $8 million.

All of the funds in the Dubai account of M.S. Capricorn Trading were moved to the Swiss accounts in the Spring of 1995. On March 6, 1995, $8.1 million was transferred; and on May 5, 1995, another $10.2 million was transferred. Both transfers involved U.S. dollars and were routed through Citibank's New York offices.

Citibank informed the Subcommittee staff that M.S. Capricorn Trading closed its Dubai account shortly after the last transfer was completed.
Citibank has indicated that significant amounts of other funds were also deposited into the Swiss accounts. As described below, the $40 million cap was reached, and millions of additional dollars also passed through those accounts. However, Swiss bank secrecy law has prevented the Subcommittee from obtaining the details on the transactions in the Zardari accounts.
Account Monitoring. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that, in 1996, the Swiss office of the private bank conducted a number of reviews of the Zardari Swiss accounts, finally deciding in October to close them.
The first review was allegedly in early 1996, triggered by increasing publicity about allegations of corruption against Mr. Zardari. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that Messrs. Holderbeke, Raza, Sharma and Amouzegar participated in the review, and apparently concluded that the allegations were politically motivated and that the accounts should remain open. The Subcommittee staff was told that the review did not include looking at the accounts' transaction activity.
In March or April, 1996, Mr. Amouzegar asked that the overall limit on the Zardari accounts be increased from $40 million to $60 million,

apparently because the accounts had reached the previously imposed limit of $40 million. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that Mr. Holderbeke considered the request, but declined to increase the $40 million limit.
In June, press reports in the United Kingdom that Mr. Zardari had purchased real estate in London triggered still another review of the Zardari accounts. Citibank private bank told the Subcommittee staff that its Swiss office internally discussed the source of the funds for the property purchase. Mr. Amouzegar and Mr. Raza then met with Mr. Schlegelmilch, who allegedly informed them that funds had been deposited into the Citibank accounts, transferred to another PIC account outside of Citibank and used to purchase the property. Mr. Schlegelmilch allegedly indicated the funds had come from the sale of some sugar mills and were legitimate. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff it is not sure if anyone at the private bank attempted to validate the information about the sale of the sugar mills. In addition, even though this account activity violated the condition imposed by Citibank that the accounts were not to be used as a pass through for funds, the accounts were kept open.
Closing the Accounts. In July 1996, after Mr. Amouzegar left the private bank to open his own company, another private banker, Cedric Grant, took over management of the Zardari accounts. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that Mr. Grant began to review the Zardari accounts about one month later to familiarize himself with them. He also reviewed the transactions that had taken place within the accounts.
In September and October 1996, press accounts in Pakistan repeatedly raised questions about corruption by Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto, as Ms. Bhutto's re-election campaign increased its activities prior to a February election date. In September, Ms. Bhutto's only surviving brother, Murtaza Bhutto, was assassinated, and Ms. Bhutto's mother accused Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari of masterminding the murder, because the brother had been leading opposition to Ms. Bhutto.
In October, Mr. Grant completed his review of the Zardari accounts and provided a written analysis to Messrs. Holderbeke, Sharma and Raza, according to Citibank. Mr. Grant had found numerous violations of the account restrictions imposed by Citibank, including multiple transactions and funding pass-throughs. Citibank told the Subcommittee staff that the accounts had functioned more as checking accounts than passive investment accounts, directly contrary to the private bank's restrictions. Apparently, well over $40 million had flowed through the accounts, though Subcommittee staff were unable to ascertain the actual amount because Swiss bank secrecy law prohibits Citibank from sharing that information with the Subcommittee. Citibank indicated that Mr. Amouzegar had either ignored or did not pay attention to the account activity. Mr. Grant recommended closing the accounts, and they were closed by January 1997.
Legal Proceedings. On September 8, 1997, the Swiss government issued orders freezing the Zardari and Bhutto accounts at Citibank and three other banks in Switzerland at the request of the Pakistani government. Since Citibank had closed its Zardari accounts in January 1997, it took no action nor did it make any effort to inform U.S. authorities of the accounts until late November 1997. Citibank contacted the Federal Reserve and OCC about the Zardari accounts in late November, in anticipation of a New York Times article that eventually ran in January 1998, alleging that Mr. Zardari had accepted bribes, and that he held Citibank accounts in Dubai and Switzerland. On December 8 and 11, 1997, Citibank briefed the OCC and the Federal Reserve, respectively, about the accounts and the steps it had taken as a result of the Zardari matter. These steps included: closing all of the accounts that had been referred by Mr. Schlegelmilch to the private bank and terminating his referral agreement; reviewing all of the accounts opened in the Dubai office; and tightening up account opening procedures in Dubai, including requiring the Dubai office to identify the beneficial owner of all Dubai accounts. Citibank did not identify any changes made or planned for the Swiss office, even though the majority of the activity with respect to the Zardari accounts had taken place in Switzerland.

On December 5, 1997, Citibank prepared a Suspicious Activity Report on the Zardari accounts and filed it with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The filing was made fourteen months after its decision to close the Zardari accounts; thirteen months after Mr. Zardari was arrested a second time for corruption in November 1996; and nearly two months after the Swiss government had ordered four Swiss banks (including Citibank Switzerland) to freeze all Zardari accounts.
In June 1998, Switzerland indicted Mr. Schlegelmilch and two Swiss businessmen, the former senior executive vice president of SGS and the managing director of Cotecna, for money laundering in connection with kickbacks paid by the Swiss companies for the award of a government contract by Pakistan. In July 1998, Mr. Zardari was indicted for violation of Swiss money laundering law in connection with the same incident. Ms. Bhutto was indicted in Switzerland for the same offense in August 1998. A trial on the charges is expected.
In October 1998, Pakistan indicted Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto for accepting kickbacks from the two Swiss companies in exchange for the award of a government contract.

On April 15, 1999, after an 18-month trial, Pakistan's Lahore High Court convicted Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari of accepting the kickbacks and sentenced them to 5 years in prison, fined them $8.6 million and disqualified them from holding public office. Ms. Bhutto, who now lives in London, denounced the decision. Mr. Zardari remains in jail. Additional criminal charges are pending against both in Pakistani courts.

On December 11, 1997, Citicorp's Chairman John Reed wrote the following to the Board of Directors:

"We have another issue with the husband of Ex-Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan. I do not yet understand the facts but I am inclined to think that we made a mistake. More reason than ever to rework our Private Bank."

Mr. Reed told the Subcommittee staff that it was the combination of the Salinas and Zardari accounts that made him charge Mr. Aziz, the new private bank head, with taking a hard look at the bank's public figure policy and public figure accounts.
The Issues
The Zardari case history raises issues involving due diligence, secrecy and public figure accounts. The Zardari case history begins with the Citibank Dubai branch's failure to identify the true beneficial owner of the M.S. Capricorn Trading account. As a result, the account officer in Dubai performed due diligence on an individual who had no relationship to the account being opened. In Switzerland, Citibank officials opened three private bank accounts despite evidence of impropriety on the part of Mr. Zardari. In an interview with Subcommittee staff, Citigroup Co- Chair John Reed informed the Subcommittee staff

that he had been advised by Citibank officials in preparation for a trip to Pakistan in February 1994, that there were troubling accusations concerning corruption surrounding Mr. Zardari, that he should stay away from him, and that he was not a man with whom the bank wanted to be associated.

Yet one year later, the private bank opened three accounts for Mr. Zardari in Switzerland. Mr. Reed told the Subcommittee staff that when he learned of the Zardari accounts he thought the account officer must have been "an idiot."
Citibank has been unable to confirm that bank employees verified that Mr. Zardari had a level of wealth sufficient to support the size of the accounts that he was opening. In addition, the Swiss private banker took no action to validate the legitimacy of the source of the funds that were deposited into the account. For example, there was no effort made to verify the claims that some of the funds derived from the sale of sugar mills.
Citibank also performed no due diligence on the client owned and managed PICs that were the named accountholders. Because the PICs were client-created, the bank's failure to perform due diligence on the PICs meant that it had no knowledge of the activities, assets or entities involved with the corporations. One of the PICs, Bomer Finance, has been determined to have been a repository for kickbacks paid to Mr. Zardari, and those kickbacks tainted funds deposited at the Geneva branch of Union Bank of Switzerland. Documentation has not been made available to determine whether Bomer Finance also used its Citibank account for illicit funds.
Another due diligence lapse was the private bank's failure to monitor the Zardari accounts to ensure that the account restrictions imposed on them were being followed. When officials were presented with evidence in 1996 that the restrictions were being violated, they nevertheless allowed the accounts to continue.
The Zardari accounts in Switzerland were opened one day before Raul Salinas was arrested. The account was repeatedly reviewed in 1996, after the Salinas scandal became public. Yet there is no evidence that anyone in the private bank had been sensitized to the problems associated with handling an account of a person suspected of corruption.
The Zardari example also demonstrates the practical consequences of secrecy in private banking. Citibank claims that its decisionmaking in the Zardari matter cannot be fully explained or documented, since all Citibank officials are subject to Swiss secrecy laws prohibiting discussion of client-specific information. In light of the fact that U.S. banks are supposed to oversee their foreign branches and enforce U.S. law, including anti-money laundering requirements, this inability to produce documentation related to a troubling case again highlights the problems with U.S. banks choosing to operate in secrecy jurisdictions.
Pattern of Poor Account Management. The Zardari case history took place during a series of critical internal and federal audits between 1992 and 1997 of the Swiss office which, during most of that time, served as the headquarters of the private bank.

Bulletin

Know the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) تعرف على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

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Zardari about to be dumped?

 

http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/zardari-about-to-be-dumped/

 

Pamela Constable’s article ‘For Pakistani president, goodbye to goodwill’ by the pro-Israel daily The Washington Post (November 16, 2009) suggests that the US-Zardari romance seems to be over – while blaming the “extremists” for all the current mess in the country.

According to Pamela, “military officials are unhappy over Zardari’s compliant relationship with Washington – while the poor and working-class Pakistanis blame government for protracted shortage of gas, electricity and staple food. They also feel increasingly unprotected, as suicide bombing has killed more than 350 people in the last two months.”

However, Pamela shy away from mentioning the close relations Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari and his interior minister Rehman Malik and Pakistan’s ambassador Haqqani has with the Jewish Lobby in the US.

The Pamela repeated the same old ‘democracy crap’, which has proved to be a sham after how Washington handled the democratic process in occupied Palestine, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, etc. “Zardari’s deepening unpopularity has put Washington in a bind because of its avowed commitment to bolster democratic in Pakistan after a decade of military rule. If he is forced from power, either on old corruption charges or through a collapse of the ruling coalition, analyst (belonging to CFR, S.I.T.E., or Daniel Pipes, etc.) said, Washington might have to deal with new leaders who are less friendly and no better able to solve Pakistan’s problems,” – which are created by Washington on the behest of Israel in the first place.

Pamela can be excused for not knowing that Pakistan’s all four military rulers (Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, Yahya Khan, and Pervez Musharraf) were supported and protected by Washington. She, like CNN and CFR dude, Fareed Zakaria, and Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington (known as US ambassador in Washington), Husain Haqqani, is an ‘Islamophobe’. Haqqani in his book ‘Pakistan Between Mosque and Military’, wrote: “From the point view of Islamists and their backers in ISI, Jihad is on hold but not yet over. Pakistan still have an agenda in Afghanistan and Kashmir.” I wonder why Haqqani forgot to mention India and Israel from his list? According to some government insiders, Haqqani is about to be replaced by (princess) Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, the former ambassador to Washington.

Fareed Zakria in an article for the Jewish Newsweek (May 2, 2009), titled ‘Change We Can’t Believe In’ (frankly, most Pakistanis would give a damn what the anti-Islam Zionist dude believe), had advised Washington: “If Washington hopes to change Pakistan’s world-view (through the eyes of Israel Lobby), it will have to take much tougher line with the military while supporting the country’s civilian leaders (Zardari aka Mr. 10%, and other corrupt secularist politicians), whose vision of Pakistan’s national interests(???) is broader and less paranoid, and envisioned more cooperation with its neighbors.” I hope Zakaria count Pakistan’s friendly Islamic Iran as Pakistan’s neighbor too!

With no leader of Dr. Ahmadinejad’s calibre, Pakistanis have no hope to be governed by some honest and nationalist leader. The people who make the list of future ‘USrael puppets’ to replace Asif Zardari include Gen. Kayani, Nawaz Sharif, and Gen. Musharraf or Washington might decide to send some US-Pakistan technocrat to become the third such prime minister of Pakistan. - From  Rehmat’s World

 

Best of Novermber 21st

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Steve Jobs is a man of a few words

networkworld.com — Steve Jobs doesn't email Apple customers often, but when he does, his responses are always short and to the point
1440 Diggs in Technology - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 06:14 am

Sarah Palin Flees Book Signing, Wingnuts Yell At Leaving Bus

youtube.com — Angry crowd shouts at Sarah Palin at her book signing in Noblesville, Indiana on November 19, 2009 after Palin quits and refuses to sign books for around 300 families that spent about 3+ hours waiting in line.
1046 Diggs in World & Business - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 11:06 am

Hockey Goal of The Year, I'm Calling It (Video)

totalprosports.com — Steven Stamkos proved that you don't need to be on your skates to score. If the 2010 Winter Olympics see a goal this amazing, then the Games will be truly blessed.
640 Diggs in Sports - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 02:20 am

So You're Locked In a Room With Your Clone: Fight or F#@k?

cracked.com — Imagine you are locked in a room with your exact clone for an hour. How do you handle it?
521 Diggs in Offbeat - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 05:51 am

Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of 'Anthropogenic

blogs.telegraph.co.uk — If you own any shares in alternative energy companies I should start dumping them NOW. The conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth (aka AGW; aka ManBearPig) has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Ang...
503 Diggs in Science - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 06:28 am

Cy&H: Nutrition Man [Comic]

explosm.net — Cyanide and Happiness #1864 from Explosm.net
497 Diggs in Entertainment - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 06:05 am

Jason Segel Sings His Cell Number To The Ladies [with VID]

asylum.co.uk — Jason Segel Sings Cell # For Ladies Who NEED Him...
474 Diggs in Top Video - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 06:08 am

A Pyromaniac Family Photo

imgur.com — DO NOT Piss off this family!
423 Diggs in Top Image - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 04:34 am

The World vs. Brand-New Videogame (PIC)

gamespy.com — A handy index of how each region of the world gets screwed with every new game release.
354 Diggs in Gaming - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 11:50 am

Fla. jury awards $300 million in ex-smoker's suit

google.com — A South Florida jury on Thursday ordered Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million to a former smoker, agreeing that the tobacco company's negligence was the cause of her emphysema. The award for Cindy Naugle, 61, is the largest to date among thousands of lawsuits filed in the state against tobacco companies.
262 Diggs in Lifestyle - Submitted Nov 20, 2009 11:20 am