Ragnor the Horn

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Sell him and buy someone who wants to play.

Carlos Slim, the Mexican tycoon who has never used a computer and wears a plastic wrist***ch, has beaten Bill Gates to the top of the Forbes list of The World's Billionaires. By Heidi Blake Published: 8:01AM GMT 11 Mar 2010 Comment Previous1 of 2 ImagesNext Telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu was ranked as the richest person in the world Photo: BLOOMBERG Carlos Slim Helu (left) is the world's richest man, with a fortune of $53.5bn (£35.7bn). The Mexican made his money in the telecoms industry. He was in third place last year, and leapfrogged Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to take the top spot. Photo: AFP Each Monday, the richest man in the world likes to sit down to a home-cooked Mexican meal of quesadillas or chile relleno in his simply-furnished family home. With just six bedrooms and a modest swimming pool, from the exterior the house is worlds apart from the sprawling mansions inhabited by Bill Gates whom he yesterday beat to the top of the Forbes list of The World's Billionaires. Related Articles Forbes announces world's richest people: billionaire's list highlights Mexico's Slim wrests richest man title from Gates The world's ten richest people: Forbes' list Mexico's Carlos Slim is world's richest man Forbes billionaires list 2009: winners and losers Billionaires slump by a third But inside the clues of Mr Slim's vast personal fortune of $53.5bn (£35.8bn) are all around: the walls are adorned with the paintings of Van Gogh, Renoir and Diego Rivera, while the rooms are dotted with sculptures by Auguste Rodin of which Mr Slim is the world's foremost collector. Mr Slim's vast family empire controls more than 200 companies spanning industries including banking, telecoms, road-building and restaurants. His influence is all-encompassing in his homeland of Mexico, and it is rapidly spreading across the border into the USA and beyond. But at 70 he remains committed to his humble roots. He idolises his father, Julian, who emigrated from Lebanon at the age of 14 and made his fortune trading property in the 1910-17 Mexican revolution. Mr Slim's own business ambitions were compounded when he read an article about Jean Paul Getty, the American oil billionaire, in Playboy magazine. He invested in Government saving bonds at the age of 11, tracking his purchases in a detailed ledger. By the age of 15 he had bought a small shareholding in Banco Nacional de Mexico then the country's largest bank. After taking a degree in civil engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he began working 14-hour days to build his own stockbroking company. By the age of 26, in 1966, Mr Slim was worth a $40m through a series of investments and acquisitions. The following year he married Soumaya Domit Gemayel, also a Lebanese-Mexican, with whom he would go on to have six children before her death from a kidney ailment in 1999. Mr Slim's big break, like his father's, came at a time of national crisis: he took advantage of a countrywide "fire sale" of assets by local and foreign investors in the Mexican recession of 1982 to build on his business empire. During this period of economic turbulence he formed Grupo Carso, which now owns retail outlets such as Sanborns and Sears, as well as a raft of manufacturing businesses. It also owns T1MSN the Latin American version of Microsoft's MSN website ironic since Mr Slim refuses to use computers and demands that advisers present everything he needs to know about each business deal on a single sheet of paper. Eight years after the recession, Mr Slim took charge of Mexico's national telecoms company, Telmex, beating off competition from 35 other bidders. His mobile telephone network, America Movil, has opened up swathes of Latin America to the mobile market and now serves more than 153 million customers in 11 counties including Brazil and Ecuador. Last year he extended his tentacles into North America when he announced plans to inject £250 million into the struggling national newspaper, the New York Times, in which he already owned a 6.4 per cent stake. Mr Slim's interests across the border include a 1 per cent share of Citigroup, the troubled banking conglomerate, which he bought last year. But apart from his lavish art collection Mr Slim is a man of simple tastes. He has eschewed the billionaire's obligatory Rolex in favour a plastic wrist***ch that doubles as a calculator, and his offices in Mexico City are littered with paperwork with not a computer in sight. When not at work he spends his evenings with his family, and enjoys lavishing attention on his grandchildren. The son of Lebanese immigrants is known for his philanthropy though not on the same scale as Mr Gates or Mr Buffett, whose charitable efforts he has previously mocked. Most recently, he joined forces with Bill Clinton, the former US President, and Frank Giustra, the Canadian mining tycoon, to launch an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America. Earlier this month he pledged $6bn for his three charitable foundations. Meanwhile, his infrastructure firm, Ideal, is working on a project to develop a shopping centre, schools and a hospital in Mexico City. But the billionaire has made it clear that he has no plans to retire from business to concentrate on charitable work, as Mr Gates has done. In a recent interview, he said: "Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees." Maybe this is what that text based on.

Iplayer link Starts at about 33.40sec Some interesting bits.

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The goals

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This one works well http://supersp0rt.net/

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We're signing the Egyptian Danish Ronaldinho here

Shhh, this a John Terry witch hunt.

18 Jan 2010 02:05:22 Lee hills of crystal palace to swan Football Transfer Rumours site 18 Jan 2010 03:01:59 Just heard that Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun all faked injury. They have all been suspended due to half time 6 man Royal Rumble with Rafa, Sammy Lee and Pellegrino. Gerrard looked to have won it for the players with a People's Elbow on Pellegrino, but Sammy landed a Five Star Frog Splash on Torres while Rafa Stone Cold Stunnered little Yossi. Gerrard said he wanted a rematch, but Rafa Pedigree'd him.

Hiddink Anyone He's even holding his fingers in the shape of an L.

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The always accurate Football Rumours site. Rafa Benitez has agreed a deal with Atletico Madrid for the loan of Maxi Rodriguez for the rest of the season. In a completely different deal, Atletico Madrid are close to agreeing a 4m fee for Andrea Dossena.Rafa is looking at Victor Moses and it seems that he is the only manager willing to stump up 5m for his signature. Arda Turan will also join for a fee of 12m. Vassilis Torosidis will join to cover for Glen Johnson for 1.5m plus Philipp Degen. On the way out of Liverpool will be Ryan Babel to Birmingham for 11m, Andrea Dossena to Atletico for 4m and Andriy Voronin moving to Rubin Kazan for 3.5m. Little whisper is about T.Henry move back to England to his favourite stadium, Anfield? Maxi Rodriguez will be joining Liverpool on loan until the end of the season with a view to join on free transfer on a 3 year contract in summer, RVN will definately join on loan if Madrid agree to pay half his wages and Arda Turan will also sign if Benitez sells Babel(8m), Dossena(4m), Voronin(1.5m) and Degen(1.5m). Happy New Year!!! Liverpool have signed Maxi Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid. Official. Next to sign will be Moses from Palace, its almost complete. Fernandez Saez will arrive from Cadiz and this kid will make everybody stand up and take notice. A striker WILL be brought in but who is not confirmed. My money is on a striker from Standard Liege. Liverpool IN –Arda Turan 12m –Vasilis Torosidis 3m –Victor Moses 5m –Maxi Rodriguez loan and pre contract Liverpool OUT –Andriy Voronin, Andrea Dossena, Philipp Degen 10m Panathinaikos –Ryan Babel 10m Birmingham/ Fiorentina