Eideard

Microsoft says it made an accounting error when it laid off some employees last month and now feels the best way to correct the error is with what will likely add up to a public relations blunder.

The software giant, which recently laid off 1,400 employees, sent letters (see image below) this week to some of those former workers letting them know that their severance payouts were a bit too “generous” and respectfully requested that the former employees pay back that money, according to a report Saturday on TechCrunch.

“An inadvertent administrative error occurred that resulted in an overpayment in severance pay by Microsoft,” the letter states. “We ask that you repay the overpayment and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to you.”

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the authenticity of a letter posted on TechCrunch, but declined further comment, saying it was “a private matter between the company and the affected people.”

There are veiled threats, of course. How else would you expect Microsoft to deal with their own mistake?

Daylife/Reuters Pictures

Bishop Richard Williamson, who last month denied the existence of the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television, has been ordered to leave Argentina within 10 days, the Ministry of Interior said.

“The bishop has repeatedly forged the true motive for his stay in the country, having declared that he is an employee of ‘La Tradicion’ Civil Society when, in reality, his true activity was as priest and seminary director of the Society of Saint Pius X in the neighborhood of Moreno,” Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said in a written statement.

“Williamson has had public notoriety following his anti-Semitic statements to Swedish media in which he questioned whether Jewish people were victims of the Holocaust,” Randazzo continued.

“For these reasons, along with the strong condemnation from the Argentine government of how statements like these harm Argentine society, the Jewish community, and all of humanity by trying to deny a historic truth, the national government has decided to demand that the Bishop leave the country or be expelled.”

Williamson…made headlines in January when he and three other ultra-conservative bishops were welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church, more than 20 years after Pope John Paul II excommunicated them on a theological question unrelated to the Holocaust.

The rehabilitation of Williamson sparked condemnation from Israel, American Jewish leaders and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others.

Williamson apologized for “distress” his remarks caused the pope, but has not retracted them.

I know it’s difficult for some priestly types to face this – but, he might consider getting an honest job.

The Pope is no less ridiculous – hoping he could sneak Williamson’s reinstatement through the throng of watchers. “The whole world is watching” grows more eyes and courage every day.

Barbour and Jindal
Daylife/AP Photo by John Watson-Riley

U.S. Republicans governors are split over whether to accept all of the money their states stand to receive from a $787 billion economic stimulus plan which President Barack Obama signed last week.

Three governors of southern states have come out against taking part of the money designated to extend unemployment benefits and perhaps for other programs. A handful of others are considering follow suit…

“There is some (stimulus money) we will not take in Mississippi. If we were to take the unemployment insurance reform package that they have, it would cause us to raise taxes on employment when the money runs out, and the money will run out in a couple of years,” said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, who has often been mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, have also said they would reject the unemployment funds, which make up a small proportion of the overall package…

Later, speaking to reporters at a National Governors’ Association meeting in Washington, Sanford listed some other monies he did not want, possibly including $42 million for retrofitting state buildings to be more energy efficient.

“We’re looking at other things from a scale standpoint that are frankly irrelevant,” he said.

Now, these are the country club royalists who really own the Republican Party. Nice to see them out in the open for a change.

Iran plans to carry out computer tests on its Bushehr nuclear power plant this week in preparation for its launch.

The head of Russia’s state nuclear company, Sergei Kiriyenko, will attend “pre-commissioning” of Iran’s first such power plant, located on the Gulf coast in south-western Iran…

Mohammad Saeedi described the tests as a “preliminary phase” for starting the plant and told Reuters this would be followed by its commissioning and launch. He did not give a timetable…

The launch of the Bushehr plant’s nuclear reactor has been delayed frequently. Russia last year completed delivery of nuclear fuel to the station under a contract estimated to be worth about $1 billion.

They say Russia has used Bushehr as a lever in relations with Tehran, which is suspected by the United States and some European countries of seeking to build nuclear weapons.

“Suspected” is a pot-and-kettle word when it comes to Western “diplomacy” in the Middle East. I’ve “suspected” my government in Washington DC of supporting Israel over any common sense, actively engaging in criminal wars on behalf of corporate thugs – for fifty years – and I’ve been right just about every time.

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It was a night for neon pink bow ties and words like “disaster” and “monstrosity.” It was not the night, however, to be Paris Hilton, Mike Myers or Uwe Boll.

“It wasn’t just the economy that tanked, so did the qualities of the movies being offered,” Razzie founder John Wilson told CNN several weeks before the show. “I would suggest putting away all sharp [instruments] before putting the DVDs in your machine.”

Paris Hilton and Mike Myers came out on top — or bottom — for the awards. Hilton earned both the worst actress and worst supporting actress awards for her roles in “Hottie & the Nottie” and “Repo: The Genetic Opera.” She was also awarded worst screen couple for her on-screen time with her co-stars Christine Lakin and Joel David Moore.

Hilton’s film had a budget of $2 million but only earned about $27,000 at the box office…

Myers added worst actor to the “Love Guru” worst picture and worst screenplay Razzies.

But perhaps the biggest “winner” of the night was Uwe Boll. Recipient of the worst director award, the foundation also recognized his lifetime work with the worst career achievement award. Boll is the “worst living director on Earth,” Wilson told CNN.

Even at no extra charge on satellite TV, I must admit I’ve never seen any of these. Phew!

Killers could be ordered to pay for the funeral expenses of their victims under legislation drafted by the Scottish government.

The measure, expected to be introduced in the Scottish Parliament next month as part of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill, would apply to those who cause fatal car crashes as well as those convicted of homicide, The Scotsman reported Saturday.

“We aim to give criminal courts more flexibility to award compensation against an offender, and update the remit of compensation orders so they can reflect changes in the means of the offender, and be used to pay funeral and bereavement expenses to the relatives of a deceased victim,” said Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary. “If supported by parliament, these important changes will help more victims and their families.”

Some victims advocates don’t support the measure. I do.

But, then, I don’t pretend to be a nice guy.

Daylife/Getty Images

More than 100,000 people have marched through the centre of Dublin to protest at the Irish government’s handling of the financial crisis. The rally, organised by trade unions, was so large that while the head of the march reached Government Buildings in Merrion Square the tail end was still a mile away, at the starting point at Parnell Square, north of the river Liffey.

It was the largest anti-government demonstration since the early 1980s, when tens of thousands of workers took to the streets protesting against the country’s tax system…

The strength of anger prompted opposition politicians to demand an early general election. Speaking just before the march began, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the time was now right for a general election.

The call for a new government was echoed by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams at his party’s Ard Fheis in Dublin yesterday. Meanwhile Sinn Féin’s new vice-president, Mary Lou McDonald, told the conference that “corrupt bankers” should be sacked over their part in the crisis…

At the rally David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said that the government needed to nationalise the Irish banking system to save the country’s economy.

Peter McLoone from the Impact union said that workers did not cause the current economic collapse but were “being forced to pay for it”.

Uniformed firemen led the march along O’Connell Street, Ireland’s main thoroughfare, across the Liffey, past Trinity College and on to the back of Government Buildings.

The government has adopted the most regressive of policies, saying they’ll save pensions and government programs by increasing taxes on working class and middle income families. They must have hired Dick Cheney as consultant.

Throw the bums out!

Authorities say they will not charge a tourist who killed one of his attackers during a robbery in Oakland, Calif.

The 23-year-old tourist, who was visiting from the East Coast, allegedly was robbed by two men after withdrawing money from an automatic cash machine. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday that the tourist told a friend by cell phone he had a bad feeling about two men approaching him at a BART station.

The newspaper said Victor Veliz, 18, allegedly held a knife with a 5-inch blade to the tourist’s neck while Christopher Gonzalez, 18, threatened to shoot him Thursday night.

The victim, whose name wasn’t reported, grabbed the knife from Veliz and punched the other man– all as his friend listened on the phone.

Police said the man unknowingly stabbed Gonzalez, who stumbled to his family’s home around the corner and died.

The newspaper said Veliz was arrested at Gonzalez’s home after police allegedly found him with the East Coast visitor’s cell phone. He will be charged with murder in the death of his accomplice, along with a robbery count, prosecutors said.

The real trip is following the timeline backwards in Google News. The first newspaper and TV reports follow it as if someone had attacked “poor” Christopher Gonzalez – relating how his father tried to keep him alive with CPR after he staggered home. All very moving and really tough on the kid’s parents.

Thanks, Mr. Justin

Mexico is in the grip of vicious drug-related violence as traffickers battle each other and the authorities. Nowhere has seen more bloodshed than Ciudad Juarez, a sprawling city on the US-Mexico border.

The city’s police chief just stepped down after gangs acted on their threat to kill one of his officers every two days until he quit.

US-based photojournalist Nadav Neuhaus visited Juarez in December to document life there.

I used to be in El Paso – and Ciudad Juarez – every two weeks when I was on the road. You couldn’t pay me enough to cross that border nowadays.

UPDATE: The latest on responses from Calderon and Obama.

An end to education for these girls in the Swat Valley
Daylife/Reuters Pictures

Taliban fighters and Pakistani government officials have agreed a controversial deal that will lead to a “permanent ceasefire” in the troubled north-western Swat valley, potentially creating a haven for terrorists 100 miles from the capital, Islamabad.

The agreement, between the militant commander Maulana Fazlullah and local administrators, builds on a previous temporary deal. “They have made commitment that they will observe a permanent ceasefire and we’ll do the same,” Syed Mohammad Javed, the commissioner of Malakand and the local representative of the Pakistani government.

Around 1,200 people have been killed and between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled Swat in 18 months of fierce fighting over the beautiful valley, once a tourist centre. Three thousand militants have been battling up to 12,000 troops.

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