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More workers will die for World Cup than players will play

“'More workers will die building World Cup infrastructure than players will take to the field,' predicts Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation [on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar]. Even if the teams in Qatar use all their substitutes, she is likely to be right.

“Qatar's absolute monarchy, run by the fabulously rich and extraordinarily secretive Al Thani clan, no more keeps health and safety statistics than it allows free elections. The Trade Union Confederation has had to count the corpses the hard way. It found that 83 Indians have died so far this year. The Gulf statelet was also the graveyard for 119 Nepalese construction workers.

“With 202 migrants from other countries dying over the same nine months, Ms Burrow is able to say with confidence there is at least one death for every day of the year. The body count can only rise now that Qatar has announced that it will take on 500,000 more migrants, mainly from the Indian subcontinent, to build the stadiums, hotels and roads for 2022.”

— , September 22.

NY cops tell people to use Apple's new product

“If you’re walking around New York City this afternoon, you may be handed a flyer by the NYC Police Department with a 'Public Awareness Notice' for so-called 'Apple users'. This note informs users of iPhone and iPad devices that upgrading to iOS 7 will add security features that will keep these devices from being reprogrammed without an Apple ID and Password.

“These notes go on to suggest that 'additional information on iOS 7 features' can be found at Apple’s homepage.

“It is not clear at this time if these flyers are being handed out across the 5 boroughs or if they’re being distributed in centralized locations. Several flyers have popped up with “72nd Precinct” printed on them while others show no such specific marking.”

— , September 22.

'Gays can eat someone else's pasta', says company head

“His company still makes fusilli and elbows, but the head of Barilla has made it clear he prefers his pasta straight.

“Guido Barilla sparked international outrage when he said he’d never feature a gay couple in ads for his firm’s foodstuffs — adding that if homosexuals don’t like it, they can buy another brand.
“'I would never do [a commercial] with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect, but because we don’t agree with them,'” the company chairman told Italian radio Wednesday evening.

“'Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role,' Barilla, 55, said, adding that if gays 'like our pasta and our advertising, they’ll eat our pasta. If they don’t like it, then they will not eat it and they will eat another brand.'”

— , September 26.