William's Blog

Kris Allen Is Season 8 American Idol Winner. Adam Lambert Takes Second Place.

2009-05-21T12:06:00.003+08:00

LOS ANGELES – Kris Allen's smooth vocals and boy-next-door image propelled him to "American Idol" victory Wednesday, turning the theatrical powerhouse Adam Lambert into the most unlikely of also-rans.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know what to feel right now. This is crazy," said a stunned Allen, 23, of Conway, Ark.

As host Ryan Seacrest said in announcing the result of the viewer vote, "The underdog, the dark horse, comes back and wins the nation over."

Lambert's commanding vocal range and stage presence — and the judges' adoration of him — at times turned "Idol" into "The Adam Lambert Show," with the other contestants mere guests. But it turned out that "Idol" viewers could embrace a gifted performer like Lambert, one who sported black nail polish and bold self-assurance, only to a point.

Simon Cowell tipped his hat to both contestants Wednesday.

"To both of you, and I don't normally mean this, I thought you were both brilliant. .... The future's all yours," the judge said.

Before the results were announced, Lambert and Allen had a moment of musical camaraderie: They joined together with Queen on the rock anthem "We Are the Champions."

"Adam did win. So did Kris. Nobody lost tonight. These are two champions," said Paul Stanley from Kiss backstage.

The comments from Cowell and Stanley aren't necessarily empty platitudes. Past contestants can testify that losing the title doesn't mean you're a loser, nor does winning mean you're a shoo-in for superstardom.

Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson, who finished fourth and seventh in their respective seasons, have gone on to huge success. As for "Idol" winners, they range from blockbuster artists like Carrie Underwood to the mostly under-the-radar Taylor Hicks.

Wednesday's outcome echoed last year's contest, which looked like it was going the other way. Cowell all but crowned David Archuleta after the performance finale, calling his a "knockout performance" — but the victory went to David Cook.

Lambert was such a powerful, unique performer that his fans were allowed a sense of entitlement on his behalf. But his triumph wasn't inevitable. When Allen and Lambert were declared the finalists last week, just 1 million viewer votes separated the pair out of 88 million cast.

Allen bloomed during the season, gaining more assurance onstage and winning viewers over with his heartfelt vocals, modest demeanor and well-scrubbed good looks. He also scored big with his singer-songwriter arrangement of the Kanye West song "Heartless," subbing sharp, syncopated guitar playing and crisp vocals for the original's autotune voice and electronic beats.

There was also the Danny Gokey factor. Gokey made it to the top three before he fell out of the contest, leaving his supporters up for grabs.

"After the third one leaves, you wonder where do the votes go from that third contestant," Paula Abdul said backstage after Tuesday's singing showdown.

Allen seemed the likely candidate for those viewers' affections, for on- and offstage reasons. Allen and Gokey, 29, of Milwaukee, were downright conservative when compared to Lambert's elaborate staging and off-the-wall wardrobe choices. Allen is a married college student and has worked as a church worship leader. Gokey, a widower, is a church music director.

Lambert, 27, of Los Angeles, brought measured rock flashiness — daring, not freaky — with songs including "Whole Lotta Love," the first-ever Led Zeppelin tune on "Idol." He's largely kept his personal life under wraps, saying "I know who I am" when asked.

Earlier this week, Allen said he hoped the outcome wouldn't be decided by "having the Christian vote."

"I hope it has to do with your talent and the performance that you give and the package that you have. It's not about religion and all that kind of stuff," he said.

Added Lambert: "It's about music. That's really important to keep in mind."

Allen rose to the occasion during Tuesday's performance show, especially with his soulful version of "Ain't No Sunshine." But he was tripped up by "No Boundaries," an upper-register belting ballad co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi that was ill-suited to his voice.

Lambert did a better job with "No Boundaries" and excelled on his reprise of "Mad World" and on "A Change is Gonna Come."

"That was the best I've ever heard you sing — ever!" exclaimed Abdul.

The finale Wednesday included the usual bag of tricks for extending the show to two hours. There were group numbers, the Golden Idol Award — semifinalist funnyman Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell among the contenders — and celebrity-contestant combos.

Allen was joined by Keith Urban on "Kiss a Girl," while Lambert stomped the stage in elevator boots and oversized ribbed shoulder pads for a pyrotechnic performance with Kiss. The female finalists, including Allison Iraheta, opened up for Fergie, who sang "Big Girls Don't Cry" and then was joined by her group, the Black Eyed Peas.

Iraheta later dueted with Cyndi Lauper on "Time After Time" and Danny Gokey joined Lionel Richie for two tunes.

Rod Stewart sang "Maggie May" after the male finalists opened for him with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy."

An offbeat guest was Steve Martin, the actor-comedian and fine banjo player in his own right. He played his song "Pretty Flowers" with finalists Megan Joy and Michael Sarver on vocals.

Asked by Seacrest to guess who might win "American Idol," Martin replied: "I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping I do."

World's First Cloned Camel

2009-04-15T15:58:00.002+08:00

DUBAI - A SCIENTIST says the world's first cloned camel has been produced in the desert emirate of Dubai.

Nisar Ahmad Wani, a senior reproductive biologist at the government's Camel Reproduction Centre, says the cloned camel is a six-day-old, one-humped female called Achievement or Injaz in Arabic.

Injaz was born April 8 after an uncomplicated gestation of 378 days, the center said in a press release on Tuesday.

The centre said she was created from cells harvested from an ovary of an adult female camel.

Camels are a valuable commodity in the desert sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf.

They are used for racing and transport.

They are famous for healthy low-fat milk and can fetch owners millions of dollars at camel beauty contests. -- AP

Honda Unveils Dog-friendly Car

2009-04-14T15:53:00.001+08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Dog-crazy Americans will soon be able to buy a pet-friendly car with a cushioned dog bed in the trunk, fitted with a built-in water bowl and fan and a ramp to help less agile dogs climb in.

With the help of a rescue dog named Sammy, Japanese car maker Honda Motor Co unveiled the pet friendly version of its Element utility vehicle at the New York Auto Show.

It features easy-wash seat covers, a fitted dog bed with restraints to keep Sammy safe in the event of a crash, and a paw logo on the side. Honda said the car would go on sale across the United States from the fall of this year.

Honda spokesman Sage Marie said it was designed with both safety and comfort in mind. "(It's) a car we think is of interest to many of today's dog-crazy consumers," he said.

Senior product planner James Jenkins said Americans spend $41 billion a year on their pets, a figure forecast to rise to $52 billion in two years, indicating a big market for the car.

"Pets have become more like family, more important to households than ever before," Jenkins said.

The current model of the Element starts at a little over $20,000 and Honda has yet to determine how much the pet friendly features will add on to the price tag, Jenkins said.

Sammy's owner, Heather Cammisa of the Humane Society of the United States, said she had borrowed the car for two weeks and found the ramp especially useful.

"Sammy actually needs a ramp. Before I adopted him he ended up at a shelter having been hit by a car and he needs that ramp," she said. "Otherwise I lift him to get into my car."

Natasha Richardson Dies At 45 After Ski Accident At Mont Tremblant Ski Resort, Quebec

2009-03-19T09:39:00.001+08:00

NEW YORK – Natasha Richardson, a gifted and precocious heiress to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film "Patty Hearst" and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of "Cabaret," died Wednesday at age 45 after suffering a head injury during a beginners' ski lesson. Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death in a written statement.

"Liam Neeson, his sons (Micheal and Daniel), and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

The statement did not give details on the cause of death for Richardson, who suffered a head injury when she fell on a beginner's trail during a private ski lesson at the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. She was hospitalized Tuesday in Montreal and later flown to a hospital in New York.

Family members had been seen coming and going from the New York hospital where Richardson was taken.

Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson's mother, arrived in a car with darkened windows and was taken through a garage when she arrived at the Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side about 5 p.m. Wednesday. An hour earlier, Richardson's sister, Joely, arrived alone and was swarmed by the media as she entered through the back of the hospital.

It was a sudden and horrifying loss for her family and friends, for the film and theater communities, for her many fans and for both her native and adoptive countries. Descended from at least three generations of actors, Richardson was a proper Londoner who came to love the noise of New York, an elegant blonde with large, lively eyes, a bright smile and a hearty laugh.

If she never quite attained the acting heights of her Academy Award-winning mother, she still had enjoyed a long and worthy career. As an actress, Richardson was equally adept at passion and restraint, able to portray besieged women both confessional (Tennessee Williams' Blanche DuBois) and confined (the concubine in the futuristic horror of "The Handmaid's Tale").

Like other family members, she divided her time between stage and screen. On Broadway, she won a Tony for her performance as Sally Bowles in a 1998 revival of "Cabaret." She also appeared in New York in a production of Patrick Marber's "Closer" (1999) as well as 2005 revival of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," in which she played Blanche opposite John C. Reilly's Stanley Kowalski.

She met Neeson when they made their Broadway debuts in 1993, co-starring in "Anna Christie," Eugene O'Neill's drama about a former prostitute and the sailor who falls in love with her.

"The astonishing Natasha Richardson ... gives what may prove to be the performance of the season as Anna, turning a heroine who has long been portrayed (and reviled) as a whore with a heart of gold into a tough, ruthlessly unsentimental apostle of O'Neill's tragic understanding of life," The New York Times critic Frank Rich wrote. "Miss Richardson, seeming more like a youthful incarnation of her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, than she has before, is riveting from her first entrance through a saloon doorway's ethereal shaft of golden light."

Her most notable film roles came earlier in her career. Richardson played the title character in Paul Schrader's "Patty Hearst," a 1988 biopic about the kidnapped heiress for which the actress became so immersed that even between scenes she wore a blindfold, the better to identify with her real-life counterpart.

"Natasha Richardson ... has been handed a big unwritten role; she feels her way into it, and she fills it," wrote The New Yorker's Pauline Kael. "We feel how alone and paralyzed Patty is — she retreats into being a hidden observer."

Richardson was directed again by Schrader in a 1990 adaptation of Ian McEwan's "The Comfort of Strangers" and, also in 1990, starred in the screen version of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."

She later co-starred with Neeson in "Nell," with Mia Farrow in "Widow's Peak" and with a pre-teen Lindsay Lohan in a remake of "The Parent Trap." More recent movies, none of them widely seen, included "Wild Child," "Evening" and "Asylum."

She was born in London in 1963, the performing gene inherited not just from her parents (Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson), but from her maternal grandparents (Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson), an aunt (Lynn Redgrave) and an uncle (Corin Redgrave). Her younger sister, Joely Richardson, also joined the family business.

Friends and family members remembered Natasha as an unusually poised child, perhaps forced to grow up early when her father left her mother in the late '60s for Jeanne Moreau. (Tony Richardson died in 1991).

Interviewed by The Associated Press in 2001, Natasha Richardson said she related well to her family if only because, "We've all been through it in one way or another and so we've had to be strong. Also we embrace life. We are not cynical about life."

Richardson always planned to act, apart from one brief childhood moment when she wanted to be a flight attendant — "wonderful irony now since I hate to fly and have to take a pill in order to get on a plane. I'm so terrified."

Her screen debut came at age 4 when she appeared as a flower girl in "The Charge of the Light Brigade," directed by her father, whose movies included "Tom Jones" and "The Entertainer." The show business wand had already tapped her the year before, when she saw her mother in the 1967 film version of the Broadway show "Camelot."

"She was so beautiful. I still look at that movie and I can't believe it. It still makes me cry, the beauty of it. I could go on and on — in that white fur hooded thing, when she comes through the forest for the first time. You've never seen anything so beautiful!" Richardson said.

She studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama and was an experienced stage actress by her early 20s, appearing in "On the Razzle," "Charley's Aunt" and "The Seagull," for which the London Drama Critics awarded her most promising newcomer.

Although she never shared her mother's fiercely expressed political views, they were close professionally and acted together, most recently on Broadway to play the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of "A Little Night Music," the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical.

Before meeting up with Neeson (who called her "Tash") Richardson was married to theater and producer Robert Fox, whose credits include the 1985 staging of "The Seagull" in which his future wife appeared.

She sometimes remarked on the differences between her and her second husband — she from a theatrical dynasty and he from a working-class background in Northern Ireland.

"He's more laid back, happy to see what happens, whereas I'm a doer and I plan ahead," Richardson told The Independent on Sunday newspaper in 2003. "The differences sometimes get in the way but they can be the very things that feed a marriage, too."

She once said that Neeson's serious injury in a 2000 motorcycle accident — he suffered a crushed pelvis after colliding with a deer in upstate New York — had made her really appreciate life.

"I wake up every morning feeling lucky — which is driven by fear, no doubt, since I know it could all go away," she told The Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2003.

Linkenholt, England - Entire English Village For Sale

2009-03-18T10:54:00.000+08:00

LINKENHOLT, England (Reuters) – An entire English village, complete with 22 houses and cottages, two blacksmiths and a cricket pitch, goes on sale this week.

The charitable trust which owns Linkenholt in Hampshire, southern England, has decided to sell up and use the capital it raises elsewhere.

The asking price when Linkenholt goes on the open market on Wednesday is 22-25 million pounds ($31-35 million), according to Jackson-Stops & Staff estate agents who are handling the sale.

The archetypal English village is nestled in rolling countryside and boasts a manor house, old rectory and clock tower and is part of a 2,000-acre estate.

One of the few things a buyer would not own is St. Peters church, which originally dates back to the 12th century but was significantly rebuilt in 1871.

Locals, who rent their properties, are expected to stay on after the sale, and most hope that a change in ownership does not mean a change in lifestyle.

"It would be nice if somebody bought the estate and lived here and was Lord of the Manor to be quite honest, that's the general consensus of everyone in the village," said Colin Boast, one of the village's two blacksmiths.

"It would just be nice if somebody looked at the village and said 'well, let's keep it as the village it is.' But you never know."

Paul Raynesford, a local thatcher, said he thought the asking price for the village was reasonable.

"I think if you were to go around and work out the individual bits I think you'd find it's quite a fair price, taking into account the price of the agricultural land and the price of the individual properties," he said.

Tim Sherston of Jackson-Stops called the village a "safe and sound investment" despite the economic slowdown.

"You've got an entire village -- 22 houses, a cricket pitch, a village shop, a forge and 1,500 acres of farmland, 450 acres of woodland ... We think actually there will be a lot of potential buyers for this."

The estate is owned by the Herbert and Peter Blagrave Charitable Trust.

With no heir, the late Herbert Blagrave, a philanthropic racing figure, left his family fortune to a trust, along with orders that the money should be spent on sick children, the elderly and injured jockeys.

Since much of that fortune is still tied up in Linkenholt, the trustees decided it was time to try to sell.

"Vampire" Unearthed In Venice Plague Grave

2009-03-13T09:09:00.002+08:00

Italian researchers believe they have found the remains of a female "vampire" in Venice, buried with a brick jammed between her jaws to prevent her feeding on victims of a plague which swept the city in the 16th century.

Matteo Borrini, an anthropologist from the University of Florence, said the discovery on the small island of Lazzaretto Nuovo in the Venice lagoon supported the medieval belief that vampires were behind the spread of plagues like the Black Death.

"This is the first time that archaeology has succeeded in reconstructing the ritual of exorcism of a vampire," Borrini told Reuters by telephone. "This helps ... authenticate how the myth of vampires was born."

The skeleton was unearthed in a mass grave from the Venetian plague of 1576 -- in which the artist Titian died -- on Lazzaretto Nuovo, which lies around three km (2 miles) northeast of Venice and was used as a sanitorium for plague sufferers.

The succession of plagues which ravaged Europe between 1300 and 1700 fostered the belief in vampires, mainly because the decomposition of corpses was not well understood, Borrini said.

Gravediggers reopening mass graves would sometimes come across bodies bloated by gas, with hair still growing, and blood seeping from their mouths and believe them to be still alive.

The shrouds used to cover the faces of the dead were often decayed by bacteria in the mouth, revealing the corpse's teeth, and vampires became known as "shroud-eaters."

According to medieval medical and religious texts, the "undead" were believed to spread pestilence in order to suck the remaining life from corpses until they acquired the strength to return to the streets again.

"To kill the vampire you had to remove the shroud from its mouth, which was its food like the milk of a child, and put something uneatable in there," said Borrini. "It's possible that other corpses have been found with bricks in their mouths, but this is the first time the ritual has been recognized."

While legends about blood-drinking ghouls date back thousands of years, the modern figure of the vampire was encapsulated in the Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula," based on 18th century eastern European folktales.

First Baptist Church - Pastor Fred Winters Deflected Gunshot With Bible

2009-03-09T09:10:00.002+08:00

MARYVILLE, Ill. – A pastor shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene that congregants initially thought was a skit, police said.

The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church shortly after 8 a.m. and briefly spoke with The Rev. Fred Winters, then pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began firing until it jammed, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said. Churchgoers wrestled the gunman to the ground as he waved a knife, slashing himself and two other people, Trent said.

None of the about 150 congregants seemed to recognize the gunman and investigators do not know details of Winters' conversation with him, but they planned to review an audio recording of the service, Trent said. The service was not videotaped.

"We thought it was part of a drama skit ... when he shot, what you saw was confetti," said congregant Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the church. "We just sat there waiting for what comes next, not realizing that he had wounded the pastor."

Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary's side aisle before collapsing, Cunningham said.

Two congregants tackled the gunman as he pulled the 4-inch knife, and all three were stabbed, police said. The gunman suffered "a pretty serious wound to the neck" while one congregant had lower back wounds, Trent said.

Congregants knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said church member Don Bohley, who was just outside the sanctuary when the shooting began.

"People came running out and told us to call 911," said Bohley, 72.

Winters was pronounced dead at Anderson Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Natalie Head said.

Authorities didn't know whether Winters, a married father of two who had led the church for nearly 22 years, knew the gunman. Police described the gunman as a 27-year-old from nearby Troy but would not release his name pending possible charges.

Trent said investigators had not immediately uncovered evidence of a criminal background or mental illness.

"We don't know the relationship (between the gunman and pastor), why he's here or what the circumstances came about that caused him in the first place to be here," said Illinois State Police Master Trooper Ralph Timmins.

The Rev. Mark Jones, another pastor at First Baptist, said he briefly saw the gunman but not the shooting, though he heard a sound like miniature firecrackers.

"We have no idea what this guy's motives were," Jones said outside the church.

The gunman and 39-year-old congregant Terry Bullard underwent surgery at St. Louis University Hospital and were in serious condition Sunday evening, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. The other victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released from Gateway Regional Medical Center.

"I would call it heroic," Trent said. "While many understandably were stuck to their seats, they took to action."

First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987; it now has about 1,200 members, according to the church's Web site. Winters also was former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the site.

"Our great God is not surprised by this, or anything," Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, said in a statement. "That He allows evil and free will to have their way in tragedies like this is a mystery in many ways."

The red brick church sits along a busy two-lane highway on the east side of Maryville, a fast-growing village of more than 7,000 about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis. A farm sits directly across from the church, but subdivisions of newer homes can be seen from every side.

"Things like this just don't happen in Maryville," Mayor Larry Gulledge said. "We've lost one the pillars of our community, one of our leaders."

Sharla Dryden, 62, pulled into the church parking lot for a 9:30 a.m. service Sunday to see "just a lot of chaos, lot of police, fire, and people just devastated."

"I would have been devastated if anyone had been shot, but to hear it was the pastor was terrible," Dryden said. "You just never expect this to happen at a church."

At Winters' two-story brick home in Edwardsville, several friends gathered to pay their respects but declined comment. Family members also declined comment.

A statement on First Baptist's Web site asked for prayers for Winters' family, the congregants who tackled the gunman, the gunman and his family, and church members.

More than 20 investigators remained inside the church hours after the shooting, said First Baptist spokesman Marty King. An evening prayer service was planned for members at Metro Community Church in nearby Edwardsville.

Last month, a man shot and killed himself in front of a cross inside televangelist Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif. In November, a gunman killed his estranged wife in a New Jersey church vestibule as Sunday services let out.

In July, two people were killed and six wounded in a shooting rampage at the Tennessee Valley United Unitarian Church in Knoxville, Tenn. An out-of-work truck driver who police say targeted the church for its liberal leanings pleaded guilty to the shootings and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

University In Liverpool Offers First Beatles Degree

2009-03-04T09:08:00.000+08:00

LONDON (Reuters) – A university in Liverpool has launched a Master of Arts degree in The Beatles, the city's most famous sons, and called the qualification the first of its kind.

Liverpool Hope University says on its website that the course entitled "The Beatles, Popular Music and Society" consists of four 12-week taught modules and a dissertation.

"There have been over 8,000 books about The Beatles but there has never been serious academic study and that is what we are going to address," said Mike Brocken, senior lecturer in popular music at Hope.

"Forty years on from their break-up, now is the right time and Liverpool is the right place to study The Beatles.

"This MA is expected to attract a great deal of attention, not just locally but nationally and we have already had enquiries from abroad, particularly the United States."

The university said it was the first postgraduate taught course on The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world.

The Fab Four were born and raised in Liverpool and went on to become arguably the most successful pop band of all time.

Leave God A Voice Message At His Dutch Answering Service

2009-03-03T08:02:00.000+08:00

AMSTERDAM (Reuters Life!) – God is taking calls.

Dutch artist Johan van der Dong has set up a local telephone number in the Netherlands, where he urges people to leave messages for God on his answering machine.

Van der Dong said he set up the number to give people an opportunity to take pause and contemplate life.

"Like praying, leaving a voicemail message is a way to organize your thoughts," he said. "It's a perfect combination for some contemplation."

Callers dialing 06-4424-4901 (or +316-4424-4901 if calling from outside the Netherlands) from March 7 will hear.

"Hi, you are speaking to God. I'm not in right now so leave a message after the beep."

2009-02-28T21:22:00.002+08:00

不说不代表不想
不做不代表不要
说不出的感受
隐藏在心里好难受

Turkish Airliner Crashes At Amsterdam Airport, 9 Dead

2009-02-26T09:09:00.001+08:00

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Turkish Airlines plane with 134 passengers and crew aboard crashed in light fog while trying to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring dozens.

Officials said some 84 people were taken to hospitals, including 25 who were severely hurt, when flight TK 1951 from Istanbul crashed into a field short of a runway at Schiphol, Europe's fifth-largest airport by passenger volume.

Six were in critical condition.

"We cannot say anything about the cause at the moment," acting local mayor Michel Bezuijen told reporters. "The priority...is providing help and care."

The bodies of three crew members, left in the cockpit amid the plane's wreckage for investigation, were later taken out. Dutch media said the pilot and co-pilot were among the dead.

Officials said they had found the plane's flight data recorder and that it would be analyzed.

Earlier, Dutch officials said 135 people were on board the plane, but that was revised to 134.

Dutch television showed what appeared to be covered bodies on the ground near the crumpled, single-aisle Boeing 737-800.

At least four Americans, who work for the plane's manufacturer Boeing, were on the plane, an official said.

The airliner lay in three parts, with the tail section of the fuselage ripped off, and a wide crack just behind the cockpit. The engines had broken off and no fire was visible.

The plane broke up when it collided with the ground north of a runway at Schiphol, which is 20 km (12 miles) southwest of Amsterdam's center. Survivors were rushed to hospitals in Amsterdam as well as nearby Haarlem and other cities.

"We fell suddenly and stopped," said a passenger who gave only his surname, Mutlucan. "There was a lot of screaming. We crashed and landed in what looked like a field."

"The pilot told us we would be landing in 15 minutes, but seven or eight minutes later we hit the ground."

LIGHT WINDS

Weather reports at the time of the crash indicated decent visibility despite misty conditions, and light winds.

"I thought it was a car collision. We heard a sort of loud and strange sound," eyewitness Randy Cordes, 14, told Reuters. "I saw one engine that was burning but the fire died quickly."

Officials said late on Wednesday they were still trying to confirm passenger identities, which included Dutch, Turkish and U.S. nationals.

A flight from Istanbul carrying relatives of crash victims was to land later on Wednesday.

The Turkish airliner crashed 1 mile short of the "polderbaan" runway, the furthest from terminal buildings, on an approach from the north between Schiphol and Haarlem.

Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings has said Turkish Airlines met all safety regulations at Schiphol, but added in a statement that the cause of the accident will be investigated.

"The pilot is an experienced one who is a former member of the Turkish Air Force," Turkish Airlines Chief Executive Temel Kotil said.

Wednesday's crash was the 11th accident involving a Turkish Airlines flight in the past 20 years, the NLR Air Traffic Safety Institute in Amsterdam said in a statement.

Turkish Airlines had a troublesome safety record in the 1970s, with 608 lives lost in around two years, but the modern airline's safety record has improved. Wednesday's crash was its second fatal incident this decade, according to the Flight Safety Foundation.

The crash appeared to be the worst at Schiphol since an El Al cargo plane crashed into high-rise apartment blocks in 1992, killing 43 people, 39 of them on the ground.

Singapore - Youth Held For SMS Hoax

2009-02-22T12:40:00.003+08:00

Police yesterday arrested a 19-year-old Singaporean male in connection with an SMS hoax suggesting a terrorist attack in the Bugis area.

The police had received multiple calls since last Friday informing them of such an SMS.

The SMS, which had several variations, stated that terrorists were planning to bomb the Bugis area and that there were many policemen there. It advised the public to avoid the area.

Said a police spokesman yesterday: 'Although there was no credible evidence to suggest such an attack at that point in time, we took the information seriously and immediately put in place necessary precautions to enhance security in the area.

'We would like to assure the public that there is no cause for alarm as investigations have revealed that the SMS was indeed unsubstantiated.'

He stressed that the police took a very stern view of any attempt to cause undue public alarm or fear and would not hesitate to take action against such perpetrators.

Anyone found guilty of such an offence may face a maximum of one year's imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

At Bugis Junction yesterday afternoon, it was business as usual although some shopkeepers said it was slightly less crowded than on a normal Saturday.

Police said investigations into the case are ongoing.

Mellow Yellow - Indian Cow Urine Soft Drink

2009-02-18T21:27:00.001+08:00

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A hardline Hindu organization, known for its opposition to "corrupting" Western food imports, is planning to launch a new soft drink made from cow's urine, often seen as sacred in parts of India.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or National Volunteer Corps, said the bovine beverage is undergoing laboratory tests for the next 2 to 3 months but did not give a specific date for its commercial release.

The flavor is not yet known, but the RSS said the liquid produced by Hinduism's revered holy cows is being mixed with products such as aloe vera and gooseberry to fight diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

Many Hindus consider cow urine to have medicinal properties and it is often drunk in religious festivals.

The organization, which aims to transform India's secular society and establish the supremacy of a Hindu majority, said it had not decided on a name or a price for the drink.

"Cow urine offers a cure for around 70 to 80 incurable diseases like diabetes. All are curable by cow urine," Om Prakash, the head of the RSS Cow Protection Department, told Reuters by phone.

Prakash, who is based in Hardwar, one of four holy Hindu cities on the river Ganges where the world's largest religious gathering takes place, said the product will be sold nationwide but did not rule out international success.

"It is useful for the whole country and the world as well. It will be done through shops and through corporates," he said.

The Hindu group has campaigned against foreign imports such as Pepsi and Coca Cola in the past, which it sees as a corrupting influence and a tool of Western imperialism.

The RSS was temporarily banned after a Hindu mob tore down a mosque in 1992 which lead to bloody religious riots.

The Shiv Sena, a hardline Hindu political party also known for attacking what it sees as threats to Indian culture such as Valentine's Day, started a similar initiative last year to appeal to its powerbase in Mumbai.

To promote the food of the native Marathi culture, the Shiv Sena said it was "making a chain like McDonalds" to sell a popular local fried snack.

Lee Redmond - Guinness World Records Longest Fingernail Holder Breaks Fingernails In Crash

2009-02-13T11:51:00.004+08:00

SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah woman listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails has lost them in a car crash. Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the accident Tuesday.

Redmond's nails, which hadn't been cut since 1979, were broken in the crash. According to the Guinness Web site, her nails measured a total of more than 28 feet long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2 feet, 11 inches.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson says Redmond was ejected from an SUV in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Redmond has been featured on TV in episodes of "Guinness Book of World Records" and "Ripley's Believe It or Not."

Man Calls 911 After Eatery Runs Out Of Lemonade

2009-02-10T09:28:00.000+08:00

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Authorities said a man, 66, was arrested after calling 911 on Saturday to complain that a fast food restaurant ran out of lemonade. After a drive-through employee failed to respond to the man's threat of contacting the police, the irate diner called 911, a police report alleges.

He spent about 5 minutes talking to the 911 operator about his complaint.

Boynton Beach said the man was charged with abuse of 911 communication.

"Ancient" Syriac Bible Found In Cyprus

2009-02-08T12:10:00.001+08:00

NICOSIA (Reuters Life!) – Authorities in northern Cyprus believe they have found an ancient version of the Bible written in Syriac, a dialect of the native language of Jesus.

The manuscript was found in a police raid on suspected antiquity smugglers. Turkish Cypriot police testified in a court hearing they believe the manuscript could be about 2,000 years old.

The manuscript carries excerpts of the Bible written in gold lettering on vellum and loosely strung together, photos provided to Reuters showed. One page carries a drawing of a tree, and another eight lines of Syriac script.

Experts were however divided over the provenance of the manuscript, and whether it was an original, which would render it priceless, or a fake.

Experts said the use of gold lettering on the manuscript was likely to date it later than 2,000 years.

"I'd suspect that it is most likely to be less than 1,000 years old," leading expert Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House, University of Cambridge told Reuters.

Turkish Cypriot authorities seized the relic last week and nine individuals are in custody pending further investigations. More individuals are being sought in connection with the find, they said.

Further investigations turned up a prayer statue and a stone carving of Jesus believed to be from a church in the Turkish held north, as well as dynamite.

The police have charged the detainees with smuggling antiquities, illegal excavations and the possession of explosives.

Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic - the native language of Jesus - once spoken across much of the Middle East and Central Asia. It is used wherever there are Syrian Christians and still survives in the Syrian Orthodox Church in India.

Aramaic is still used in religious rituals of Maronite Christians in Cyprus.

"One very likely source (of the manuscript) could be the Tur-Abdin area of Turkey, where there is still a Syriac speaking community," Charlotte Roueche, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London told Reuters.

Stories regarding the antiquity of manuscripts is commonplace. One case would be the Yonan Codex, carbon dated to the 12th century which people tried to pass off as earlier.

After further scrutiny of photographs of the book, manuscripts specialist at the University of Cambridge library and Fellow of Wolfson College JF Coakley suggested that the book could have been written a good deal later.

"The Syriac writing seems to be in the East Syriac script with vowel points , and you do not find such manuscripts before about the 15th century.

"On the basis of the one photo...if I'm not mistaken some words at least seem to be in modern Syriac , a language that was not written down until the mid-19th century," he told Reuters.

Google's HTC Dream - Singapore Is First Country In Asia To Get Google G1 Phone

2009-02-06T17:08:00.001+08:00

SINGAPORE will be the first country in Asia to get the Google phone.

Telco SingTel announced on Thursday that the cellphone, known as the HTC Dream, will be available 'soon'.

There were no further details on pricing or when exactly the phone would be available to buy.

The phone, which has been highly talked about and anticipated by some, is another score for SingTel, which first brought in the Apple iPhone 3G exclusively last August.

The HTC Dream uses Google's free, open source software, Android. This means that manufacturers need not pay Google for the software, which may result in cheaper handsets for consumers.

The strategy of exclusive tie-ins may be the industry's latest way of retaining and attracting mobile phone customers, especially since mobile number portability - when a user can keep his number despite changing carriers - was introduced here last June.

When contacted, a MobileOne spokesman said the company had been in discussions with phone manufacturer HTC, as well as other manufacturers of Android phones.

GoogleHTC Dream -

2009-02-06T17:08:00.000+08:00

SINGAPORE will be the first country in Asia to get the Google phone.

Telco SingTel announced on Thursday that the cellphone, known as the HTC Dream, will be available 'soon'.

There were no further details on pricing or when exactly the phone would be available to buy.

The phone, which has been highly talked about and anticipated by some, is another score for SingTel, which first brought in the Apple iPhone 3G exclusively last August.

The HTC Dream uses Google's free, open source software, Android. This means that manufacturers need not pay Google for the software, which may result in cheaper handsets for consumers.

The strategy of exclusive tie-ins may be the industry's latest way of retaining and attracting mobile phone customers, especially since mobile number portability - when a user can keep his number despite changing carriers - was introduced here last June.

When contacted, a MobileOne spokesman said the company had been in discussions with phone manufacturer HTC, as well as other manufacturers of Android phones.

Tikrit, Iraq - Shoe Monument For Journalist Who Threw Footwear at George W. Bush

2009-02-03T14:09:00.002+08:00

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – An Iraqi town has unveiled a giant monument of a shoe in honor of the journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President George W. Bush.

The two-meter (six-foot) high statue, unveiled on Thursday in former dictator Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, depicts a bronze-colored shoe, filled with a plastic shrub. "Muntazer: fasting until the sword breaks its fast with blood; silent until our mouths speak the truth," reads an inscription, in honor of journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at Bush and called him a "dog" at a news conference during the former president's final visit to Iraq.

Zaidi has been held in jail in Baghdad since the incident, facing charges of assaulting a visiting head of state.

Fatin Abdul Qader, head of an orphanage and children's organization in the town, said the one-and-a-half-tonne monument by artist Laith al-Amiri was titled "statue of glory and generosity."

"This statue is the least expression of our appreciation for Muntazer al-Zaidi, because Iraqi hearts were comforted by his throw," she said.

Nadya Suleman - Grandma: Octuplets Mom Obsessed With Having Kids

2009-02-01T10:00:00.001+08:00

LOS ANGELES – The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, her mother said.

Angela Suleman told The Associated Press she was not supportive when her daughter, Nadya Suleman, decided to have more embryos implanted last year.

"It can't go on any longer," she said in a phone interview Friday. "She's got six children and no husband. I was brought up the traditional way. I firmly believe in marriage. But she didn't want to get married."

Nadya Suleman, 33, gave birth Monday in nearby Bellflower. She was expected to remain in the hospital for at least a few more days, and her newborns for at least a month.

A spokeswoman at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center said the babies were were progressing daily, with all eight breathing unassisted and being tube-fed.

While her daughter recovers, Angela Suleman is taking care of the other six children, ages 2 through 7, at the family home in Whittier, about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

She said she warned her daughter that when she gets home from the hospital, "I'm going to be gone."

Angela Suleman said her daughter always had trouble conceiving and underwent in vitro fertilization treatments because her fallopian tubes are "plugged up."

There were frozen embryos left over after her previous pregnancies and her daughter didn't want them destroyed, so she decided to have more children.

Her mother and doctors have said the woman was told she had the option to abort some of the embryos and, later, the fetuses. She refused.

Her mother said she does not believe her daughter will have any more children.

"She doesn't have any more (frozen embryos), so it's over now," she said. "It has to be."

Nadya Suleman wanted to have children since she was a teenager, "but luckily she couldn't," her mother said.

"Instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher or something, she started having them, but not the normal way," he mother said.

Her daughter's obsession with children caused Angela Suleman considerable stress, so she sought help from a psychologist, who told her to order her daughter out of the house.

"Maybe she wouldn't have had so many kids then, but she is a grown woman," Angela Suleman said. "I feel responsible and I didn't want to throw her out."

Little psychological research has been conducted on the reasons some mothers seem hooked on repeated pregnancies. David Diamond, a co-director for the Center for Reproductive Psychology in San Diego, said mothers can be drawn to repeat pregnancies for a number of reasons, with some finding the experience so satisfying they choose to become surrogates.

Diane G. Sanford, a psychologist and author specializing in women's reproductive mental health, said while she doesn't know much about Nadya Suleman's background, women that have obsessive-compulsive disorder can become fixated on different obsessions.

"Her obsession centers around children, having children and being a mother," she said. "To what degree are her esteem and identity based on being a mom and why has this from a young age been such a preoccupation of hers?"

Yolanda Garcia, 49, of Whittier, said she helped care for Nadya Suleman's autistic son three years ago.

"From what I could tell back then, she was pretty happy with herself, saying she liked having kids and she wanted 12 kids in all," Garcia told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

"She told me that all of her kids were through in vitro, and I said 'Gosh, how can you afford that and go to school at the same time?"' she added. "And she said it's because she got paid for it."

Garcia said she did not ask for details.

Nadya Suleman holds a 2006 degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton, and as late as last spring she was studying for a master's degree in counseling, college spokeswoman Paula Selleck told the Press-Telegram.

Her fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor but she declined to identify him.

Birth certificates reviewed by The Associated Press identify a David Solomon as the father for the four oldest children. Certificates for the other children were not immediately available.

Angela Suleman told reporters Friday that doctors implanted far fewer than eight embryos but they multiplied. Experts said this could be possible since Nadya Suleman's system has likely been hyperstimulated for years with fertilization treatments and drugs.

The news that the octuplets' mother already had six children sparked an ethical debate. Some medical experts were disturbed to hear that she was offered fertility treatment, and troubled by the possibility that she was implanted with so many embryos.

"You should always shoot for one," said Dr. Marcelle Cedars, a professor and director of reproductive health at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, who worried about the increased risk of potential health complications for the babies.

Others worried that she would be overwhelmed trying to raise so many children and would end up relying on public support.

"This woman could not comprehend the ramifications of having eight children of the same age at the same time," said Judith Horowitz, a Parkland, Fla.-based psychologist and author who works with couples on fertility issues. "After Pampers stops delivering the free diapers, then what?"

The eight babies — six boys and two girls — were delivered by cesarean section weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Forty-six physicians and staff assisted in the deliveries.

Nigeria - Goat Detained Over Armed Robbery

2009-01-28T09:20:00.002+08:00

LAGOS (Reuters) – Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

"The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat," Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.

"We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he said.

Belief in witchcraft is widespread in parts of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Residents came to the police station to see the goat, photographed in one national newspaper on its knees next to a pile of straw.

Barack Obama Inaugural Address Transcript

2009-01-21T09:28:00.002+08:00

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Two Myanmar Fishermen Survive 25 Days At Sea In Ice Box

2009-01-20T13:09:00.001+08:00

CANBERRA - TWO Myanmar fishermen have survived for almost a month in shark-infested waters by floating in a large ice box after their boat sank, rescue officials said.

The men, both aged in their 20s, were on a 12m Thai fishing boat with 18 others when it sank in heavy seas off Australia's north coast on Dec 23, said Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokesman Tracy Jiggins.

'They had no safety equipment, no beacons, no means of communication and they'd been drifting for 25 days,' Ms Jiggins told Reuters on Tuesday, describing the ice box as 'desk sized'.

'For them to have even been spotted in a huge body of water is amazing,' she said.

The men were spotted by an Australian coastal patrol aircraft on Saturday. The pair were winched onto a rescue helicopter and taken to hospital on Thursday Island, off Australia's far north.

Hospital officials said the pair were hungry and dehydrated after drifting 25 days at sea during the monsoon season and recent cyclonic storms in the region, but they were recovering well and had already been released.

The pair would now be questioned by immigration officials and police, who had not yet determined how the pair survived and what they did for food and water.

Ms Jiggins said the others on board the boat would certainly have perished and no search for other survivors was planned.

'The information they provided to us was that they witnessed other crew members in the water, none of whom had any flotation device, so we've done an assessment and we don't believe anybody would be able to survive 25 days actually in the water,' she said.

It was also unclear where the Thai-based fishing boat, crewed by Thais and a handful of people from Myanmar, sank and how far the pair had drifted before they were picked up 60 nautical miles north-west of Horn Island.

'It would be difficult to determine where that search should be. That's a huge amount of water they could have covered, and we have notified search and rescue officials in Indonesia,' Ms Jiggins said.

Australia has one of the longest coastlines in the world and the country's search-and-rescue patrol zone covers a tenth of the world's surface, or 53 million sq km of the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans.

The Torres Strait, between Australia and Papua New Guinea, is infested by sharks and the area is regularly fished by both licensed and illegal fishing vessels, many from Asia. -- REUTERS

Germany - Woman Missing For 12 Years Found In Woods

2009-01-20T09:28:00.000+08:00

BERN - A GERMAN woman missing for 12 years has been found living in the woods on the outskirts of the Swiss capital with nothing more than an umbrella and tarpaulin for shelter, police said on Monday.

The 52-year-old woman, whose name was undisclosed, appeared to be healthy after living in the simple shelter near the community of Bolligen for the past year.

Even the ranger who makes regular checks of the woods had failed to notice her before a hiker told police this month that he had seen a woman living there, said Juerg Mosimann, spokesman for the Bern police.

Bolligen's Mayor Rudolf Burger said he was told about the woman on Thursday and found her the next day in the makeshift tent she had constructed.

'She answered our questions and told us she didn't want any contact with her family,' he said.

She conversed normally, but she also spoke of a mission that she had to fulfill, Mr Burger added. He declined to elaborate.

Mr Mosimann said it was unclear where the woman lived before she moved to the woods.

She is still living there, but the Bolligen Citizens Community that owns the woods will soon tell her she will have to leave, said community clerk Andreas Kohli.

'There's no point in waiting for months,' Mr Kohli said. 'We are looking for an appropriate place for the woman in cooperation with the social services of Bolligen and the government of Bern.'

The woman was reported missing in 1997 in a village near Potsdam, Germany, outside Berlin. She was identified with the aid of an information system shared by the 25 member nations of the so-called Schengen accord enabling passport-free travel in Europe. -- AP

Obama Look-alike - Indonesian Photographer Ilham Anas

2009-01-19T10:41:00.001+08:00

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian photographer Ilham Anas won't be at U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. Instead he'll be starring as an Obama look-alike on Indonesian TV.

Anas, 34, who from some angles bears a resemblance to the new U.S. president, shot to fame in Jakarta after Obama, 47, won the election in November, and is now earning income as an Obama double.

Many Indonesians have a keen interest in Obama, who lived in Jakarta for four years after his American mother, Ann Dunham, married Muslim Indonesian Lolo Soetoro following the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father.

"When Obama won, my colleagues played a practical joke on me -- they made me wear a suit, a tie, and took pictures of me posing as Obama," Anas told Reuters on Saturday.

"The pictures spread very quickly on the Internet. It was phenomenal. Then TV stations and an advertising agency got in touch with me."

That led to an appearance in a pharmaceuticals advertisement in the Philippines where he played Obama, who is due to be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president on Tuesday.

Anas, who was born and raised in Bandung, West Java, said he feels lucky to resemble Obama.

"I never thought I would be a star in a commercial, then this happened. It's very fortunate," Anas said.

"I was in the airport in Malaysia in transit and a man approached me and asked: 'Are you Obama?'. I was very surprised when he asked to take a picture together and bought me a meal," said Anas, flashing a broad smile.

If he ever gets the chance to meet Obama, Anas said he would ask the U.S. president to take a firm stance in dealing with the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Feces-Throwing Monkey On The Loose In Tampa Bay

2009-01-18T11:54:00.000+08:00

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Wildlife officials said a rhesus monkey known to throw feces when mad is on the loose in Tampa Bay. Authorities have been trying to capture the primate since Tuesday afternoon, but it managed to evade a bucket truck and tranquilizer dart.

Gary Morse with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the adult male is thought to have escaped from an unlicensed source. It was last seen in Clearwater.

The monkey is not considered dangerous.

US Airways Plane Crash: Captain Said, "Brace For Impact Because We're Going Down" - All 155 Safe After Pilot Ditches Jet In NYC Hudson River

2009-01-16T09:08:00.002+08:00

NEW YORK – A US Airways pilot guided his jetliner into the frigid Hudson River after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines just after takeoff Thursday, and all 155 people on board were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank. "We had a miracle on 34th Street. I believe now we have had a miracle on the Hudson," Gov. David Paterson said.

One victim suffered two broken legs, a paramedic said, but there were no other reports of serious injuries.

The plane, an Airbus A320 that had taken off minutes earlier from LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, N.C., was submerged up to its windows in the river when rescuers arrived in Coast Guard vessels and ferries. Some passengers waited in water up to their knees, standing on the wing of the plane for help.

Police drivers had to rescue some of the passengers from underwater, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Among those on board was one infant who appeared to be fine, the mayor said.

Helen Rodriguez, a paramedic who was among the first to arrive at the scene, said she saw one woman with two broken legs. Fire officials said others were evaluated for hypothermia, bruises and other minor injuries.

The crash took place on a 20-degree day, one of the coldest of the season in New York. State environmental officials estimated the water was 41 degrees.

"It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river, and then making sure everybody got out," Bloomberg said.

Passenger Jeff Kolodjay of Norwalk, Conn., said he heard a single explosion two or three minutes into the flight. He said looked out the left side of the plane and saw one of the engines on fire.

"The captain said, `Brace for impact because we're going down,'" Kolodjay said. He added: "It was intense. It was intense. You've got to give it to the pilot. He made a hell of a landing."

Witnesses said the plane's pilot appeared to guide the plane down. Bob Read, a television producer who saw the crash from his office window, said it appeared to be a "controlled descent."

Paramedics treated at least 78 patients, fire officials said. Coast Guard boats rescued 35 people who were immersed in the frigid water and ferried them to shore. Some of the rescued were shivering and wrapped in white blankets, their feet and legs soaked.

US Airways Flight 1549 took off at 3:26 p.m. It was less than a minute later when the pilot reported a "double bird strike" and said he needed to return to LaGuardia, said Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Union. He said the controller told the pilot to divert to an airport in nearby Teterboro, N.J.

The plane splashed into the water roughly off 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker confirmed that 150 passengers, three flight attendants and two pilots were on board the jetliner.

An official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still ongoing identified the pilot as Chelsey B. Sullenberger III. A woman answered and hung up when the AP asked to speak with Sullenberger's family in Danville, Calif.

Sullenberger, 58, described himself in an online professional profile as a 29-year employee of US Airways. He started his own consulting business, Safety Reliability Methods Inc., two years ago.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo said they had employees on the plane. Charlotte is a major banking center.

The Federal Aviation Administration says there were about 65,000 bird strikes to civil aircraft in the United States from 1990 to 2005, or about one for every 10,000 flights.

"They literally just choke out the engine and it quits," said Joe Mazzone, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot. He said air traffic control towers routinely alert pilots if there are birds in the area.

The Hudson crash took place almost exactly 27 years after an Air Florida plane bound for Tampa crashed into the Potomac River just after takeoff from Washington National Airport, killing 78 people. Five people on that flight survived.

On Dec. 20, a Continental Airlines plane veered off a runway and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people. That was the first major crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since Aug. 27, 2006, when 49 people were killed after a Comair jetliner mistakenly took off from the wrong runway in Lexington, Ky.

Carol Bartz - Autodesk Inc Chairman Named New Yahoo CEO

2009-01-14T09:42:00.002+08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc named Autodesk Inc Chairman Carol Bartz as CEO, but Wall Street questioned whether the software executive has the experience needed to turn around the Internet media company.

While Bartz is a Silicon Valley veteran with a reputation for being a tough but fair manager, shareholders of Yahoo had hoped for a chief executive with more deal-making credentials who could revive talks with Microsoft Corp.

Yahoo also said on Tuesday that President Sue Decker, one of the candidates to succeed Jerry Yang as CEO, will resign after a transitional period. Other names that had been mentioned in the press as possible contenders include News Corp Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin and Arun Sarin, ex-CEO of Vodafone Group Plc.

"I think the market may be a little bit disappointed that Yahoo's not going with someone who isn't a little bit more savvy when it comes to technology and media," said Todd Greenwald, an analyst at Signal Hill.

Shares of Yahoo fell 3.6 percent after news of Bartz's hire was reported on the Wall Street Journal's website, but the stock recovered to end the day down just 1 percent at $12.10 as analysts said the end of the two-month CEO search could help bring some stability to the company.

Yang, who co-founded Yahoo, agreed in November to step down as CEO, capping a tumultuous year in which he angered many shareholders by rejecting a $47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft only to see an alternative Web search advertising partnership with Google Inc fall apart under U.S. antitrust scrutiny.

Yahoo has struggled to maintain its hold on the Internet search advertising market against Google, and suffered a dizzying stock slide after rejecting Microsoft's bid.

DEEP DIVE

Bartz, 60, was chairman, president and CEO of software company Autodesk for 14 years until she stepped down in April 2006. Under her tenure, Autodesk's revenues rose to more than $1.5 billion from less than $300 million, and its share price increased nearly ten-fold, Yahoo said.

Autodesk said Bartz will remain executive chairman even after taking the Yahoo job. She has also held executive positions at Sun Microsystems Inc and is on the boards of Cisco Systems Inc and Intel Corp.

Bartz, on her first conference call as Yahoo's CEO, sharply rejected the idea that running an online media company would be a tough task given that her executive experience has mostly been in the software and technology fields.

"I didn't know CAD (computer-aided design) when I joined Autodesk, I didn't know hardware when I joined Sun," she said in response to an analyst's question. "I am a technology person, I am a market-driven person, I love customers. So I suspect I have a little brainpower to learn what it takes to understand media."

Bartz said she would "dive deep" into Yahoo in the next few weeks to learn more about its operations, and will look to Yang, the board and employees to "jump-start my education."

Gartner analyst Allen Weiner said Bartz is known as a leader who could build consensus among different factions.

"That's certainly something that Yahoo needs right now. They need that adult leader to bring that order to the company," he said. "She's not what you would call a dot-com or Web insider, but maybe that's not what Yahoo needs right now.

Bill Coleman, CEO of software maker Cassatt, who has known Bartz since 1985, said she was "an extrovert who gets energy out of being involved, being where the action is."

"She has the unique ability to be able to look you in the eye and tell you exactly what you are doing wrong -- how you messed up -- and you leave feeling that she has done you a favor," said Coleman, who worked for Bartz at Sun Microsystems in the 1980s and recruited her to the board of BEA Systems when he was BEA's chief executive.

Bartz holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin.

Paul Brooks, Caragh Brooks - Taco Bell Wedding

2009-01-13T09:13:00.001+08:00

NORMAL, Ill. – Wedding bells meant Taco Bell for Paul and Caragh Brooks.

Customers inside the fast-food restaurant continued to order tacos and burritos as the couple sat Friday in an orange booth at Taco Bell and exchanged vows.

"It's appropriate," groom Paul Brooks said. "It's an offbeat relationship."

Employees displayed hot sauce packets labeled with the words "Will you marry me?" They decorated the restaurant with streamers and balloons.

The bride wore a $15 hot pink dress and the entire wedding cost about $200. Several dozen guests looked on as the couple's friend, Ryan Green of Normal, administered the vows while wearing a T-shirt. He was ordained online.

"This is the way to go — there's no stress," said the groom's mother, Kathy Brooks.

Caragh Brooks, 21, of Australia, met Paul Brooks, 30, on an Internet dating Web site. They already had the same last name.

The couple wrote back and forth and talked on the phone for nine months before Caragh Brooks moved to the United States.

"We have the same brain, just in two bodies," Paul Brooks said. "We think alike in virtually every manner. We have the same interests, viewpoints."

He proposed on New Year's Eve and, because they like to spend time at the local Taco Bell, they decided to wed there.

"I would never have expected in my life in working here there would be a wedding," restaurant manager Carl Hamlow said.

Manhattan - George The Lobster Gets New Lease On Life At 140 Years Old

2009-01-10T12:43:00.001+08:00

NEW YORK – A new lease on life — at 140? That's what a Manhattan lobster got Friday, when the 20-pound crustacean named George was released from a swanky Park Avenue restaurant's tank. City Crab and Seafood agreed to a request from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to let the lobster return to the Atlantic Ocean.

"We applaud the folks at City Crab and Seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble old-timer to live out his days in freedom and peace," said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.

Some scientists estimate lobsters can live to be more than 100 years old. PETA and the restaurant gauged George's age at about 140, using a rule of thumb based on the creature's weight.

Caught off Newfoundland, Canada, George lived in the tank for about 10 days. He was to be released Saturday near Kennebunkport, Maine, in an area where lobster trapping is forbidden.

The lobster was to make the trip to Maine in a plastic foam cooler, surrounded by seaweed, cold packs and wet newspapers.

George's life was saved by a diner who notified PETA after spotting the crustacean at the restaurant, where steamed Maine lobster goes for $27 per pound, said PETA spokesman Michael McGraw.

He said there have been at least a half-dozen other lobster "liberations" in restaurants around the country.

Marvel Comics - Obama And Spider-Man Appear In Comic Together

2009-01-09T13:17:00.002+08:00

WASHINGTON – Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect.

Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a "shout-out back" by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

"How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief," Quesada said. "It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that."

The comic starts with Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas.

Parker decides "the future president's gonna need Spider-Man," and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor.

Obama thanks him with a fist-bump.

Marvel comics have featured most presidents, but generally in walk-on roles, Quesada said.

"I think President Nixon might have appeared on the cover, but not in a good way," he said.

Obama has said that as a child, he collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books. His Senate Web site used to have a photo of him posing in front of a Superman statue.

The Obama story is a bonus in Marvel Comic's Amazing Spider-Man #583, available in comic book shops nationwide on Jan. 14 for $3.99 and is expected to sell out, with half the covers devoted to Obama.

Lou The Mule Credited With Saving Woman, Jolene Solomon From Fir

2009-01-07T13:47:00.001+08:00

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. – Jolene Solomon is beginning the new year with her life, her mule named Lou and little else. The Southern Standard in McMinnville reported Solomon had just finished eating supper on New Year's Day when Lou's braying and acting up got her attention.

Solomon, 63, who lived alone, stepped outside, she saw her house was on fire. She called 911 and as she waited for firefighters, her home and everything in it burned to the ground.

She said her father bought Lou years ago to help her and her late sister, Blue, around the farm. It took Lou months to get over the loss of her sister.

Solomon said she has 'lost it all', but credits Lou with saving her life.

Jolene is staying with family members and plans to rebuild her home. The home was built by her grandfather and she had lived there all her life.

Boy, 4, Shoots Babysitter Nathan Beavers For Stepping On His Foot

2009-01-06T09:07:00.001+08:00

JACKSON, Ohio – Police say a 4-year-old boy in southern Ohio shot his babysitter because the sitter accidentally stepped on his foot. Police said 18-year-old Nathan Beavers and several other teenagers were babysitting several young children in a mobile home in Jackson on Sunday when the shooting occurred.

Witnesses told police the 4-year-old retrieved the shotgun from a bedroom closet and shot Beavers. Police said the child was angry because Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot.

Beavers was hospitalized with minor pellet wounds to his arm and side.

Police say another teen was also injured with shotgun pellets.

Jackson County Sheriff John Shashteen said authorities are investigating the shooting. The child has not been charged.

British Couple Has 'Black-And-White Twins' Twice

2009-01-04T20:18:00.001+08:00

LONDON – A mixed-race British couple has defied the odds — twice — by producing two sets of twins in which one sibling appears to be black and the other white. Dean Durrant's newborn daughter Miya has dark skin like him. Twin sister Leah has fair skin like her blue-eyed, red-haired mother, Alison Spooner.

Their older siblings Lauren and Hayleigh, born in 2001, also have strikingly different skin tones and eye colors.

"There's no easy way to explain it all. I'm still in shock myself," Durrant, 33, told Sky News on Wednesday.

Both sets of twins are fraternal rather than identical, meaning they are the product of two separately fertilized eggs, so it is not unusual that they don't look alike. Miya's skin color was more influenced by her father's genes, while Leah takes after her mother.

But scientists say it's rare for a couple to have two sets of twins, end even rarer for them to have such different appearances.

"Even non-identical twins aren't that common," Dr. Sarah Jarvis of Britain's Royal College of General Practitioners told Sky. "Non-identical twins from mixed parents, of different races, less common still. To have two eggs fertilized and come out different colors, less common still. So, to have it happen twice must be one in millions."

The phenomenon is so uncommon that there are no statistics to illustrate its probability, although it is thought likely to become more common because of the growing number of mixed-race couples.

The twins were born prematurely in November in Frimley, southern England, and spent several weeks in the hospital. They are now at home with their parents in Fleet, 40 miles (60 kilometers) southwest of London.

Steven LeClair - Vermont Man Wins $650K After Pulling Ticket From Trash

2009-01-04T11:52:00.001+08:00

BERLIN, Vt. – A Vermont man is $650,000 richer after retrieving a lottery ticket he had been given for Christmas but accidentally threw away. Steven LeClair of Richford got the ticket for the Dec. 24 Tri-State Megabucks drawing as a gift from his mother. But it was in a gift bag that LeClair threw out, not knowing it was inside.

Vermont Lottery spokeswoman Hadley Melendy says LeClair's wife found out two days later that the only winning ticket had been sold at a market in Richford. So LeClair went through the trash at his home and found it.

LeClair works for a car dealership and doesn't normally play the lottery. He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday; his telephone number isn't listed.

New Hampshire and Maine also participate in Tri-State Megabucks.

Baby Born During Trans-Atlantic Flight To Boston

2009-01-03T11:20:00.001+08:00

Does that mean free plane rides for the baby?

BOSTON – There were 124 passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 59 when it left the Netherlands. There were 125 when it landed in Boston.

Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for Logan International Airport, says a woman went into labor and gave birth to an apparently healthy baby girl over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday during the eight-hour flight from Amsterdam.

Orlandella said a doctor and a paramedic who were on the flight assisted in the birth. He said the plane landed without incident about 10:30 a.m., and the mother and baby were immediately taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Orlandella said he did not know the nationality of the mother, but said for customs' purposes the baby was considered a Canadian citizen because she was born over Canada's airspace.

Tony Alamo - Teen Defends Evangelist Alamo In Leaked Web Video

2009-01-01T14:59:00.003+08:00

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – State officials on Wednesday asked a judge to take steps to remove from the Internet a leaked video in which a teenage follower of Tony Alamo defends the jailed evangelist and says he would never commit the sex crimes of which he is accused. In a more than two-hour interview, the girl told a child welfare official that Alamo's hands and words toward heaven worked miracles. She said he never touched her and knew of no one who had been molested by him.

"He would never do such thing. That's a sin. He wouldn't be a pastor. He would be dirt," said the girl, who is in protective state custody. "He would be nothing if he did that. He would go to hell."

A video of the September interview, conducted a day after FBI agents and Arkansas State Police raided Alamo's ministry in Fouke, found its way to the Internet late last month.

The state Department of Human Services sent a request Wednesday to a Miller County judge in an effort to get the video removed. State law requires that juvenile court proceedings be kept confidential.

Julie Munsell, a DHS spokeswoman, said it appeared that a family member passed the video along to a Web site called Inquisition Update with Tom Friess. "We're asking that the parties in the case make efforts to remove it from the site and any other videos like it," she said.

A message left at a telephone number registered in Friess' name in Perry, Iowa, was not returned. A man claiming to be Friess in a chat room on his Web site said he was "not going to participate in another mainstream media hatchet job to smear Tony Alamo and the members of his Bible-believing community."

The girl is among 36 children associated with Alamo ministries in Fort Smith and Fouke who have been seized by state officials. A court order lists the names and possible addresses of 126 children who could be at risk of abuse from the church, though officials acknowledge more could be out there.

Alamo, 74, faces charges of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that bans carrying women or girls across state lines for "prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose." He has pleaded not guilty.

At a custody hearing over some of his followers' children, Alamo said he "spiritually" married and divorced multiple women who continued to live with him. He also has said children will have sex after puberty and should be quickly married off to avoid living in sin.

In her interview, the girl repeatedly said she wanted to return home to her parents and the ministry.

She told the welfare official that she believes anyone can marry after reaching puberty. However, she said she hadn't gotten married yet.

"The law says you can't get married until you're 18. So, that's what we do," the girl said, then sighed. "People who want to get married have to wait."

The girl said Alamo had the power to heal the sick.

"Someone with AIDS in the church, he prayed over them, they were healed," the teen said. "For him to get an answer like that from God, you know he's not going to be sinning. I trust him. I believe everything he says."

The girl described a life of service in Alamo's ministry, working in the church offices and heading out to multiple states as part of "tracting crews" to spread literature. The church's messages include claims of "evil one-world government agents claiming to be U.S. agents" and federal agents describing the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, as a "turkey shoot," she said.

She said she and her family attended church every day and twice on Sundays. On Friday nights, girls in the ministry get a respite and gather together for a movie night, watching old Alfred Hitchcock movies, episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" or films about the Bible, she said.

"Sometimes, I think if only everybody lived the way we lived the way we live in our ministry, the world would be perfect," she said. "They wouldn't have any crimes, any crime scenes. Nobody would ever be hurt."

The girl raised her voice once in the interview as she talked about why three of her brothers left the church.

"They left because they wanted to," she said. "Some people think that we're held, but no. They left. We didn't want them to — my family didn't want them to — but they left."

Alamo pays for bus tickets for those wanting to leave the ministries, she said. However, those who leave after hearing the word of God often can't be saved again, she said.

"I wish (her brother) didn't leave, but he chose to leave, he chose to backslide," the girl said. "We could (reach out to them), but why should we? They believe totally differently now."

Alamo remains held without bond, awaiting a February trial on the federal charges.

Shawn Goldsmith - Almost Unheard-Of: Boy Scout Earns All 121 Badges

2008-12-30T20:55:00.001+08:00

NEW YORK – A Long Island teenager has earned all 121 merit badges offered by the Boy Scouts of America. It's an accomplishment the local arm of the organization calls "an almost unheard-of feat." Oceanside resident Shawn Goldsmith earned his final badge — for bugling — in time for his 18th birthday in November. He far surpassed the 21 badges required to achieve the elite rank of Eagle Scout.

He said he took about five years to earn his first 62 badges and then nearly doubled that number in a matter of months. He did it with the encouragement of his grandmother, who died shortly before he reached his goal.

The Binghamton University freshman was awarded his final badges on Dec. 19. He said he hopes to become a businessman and politician.

Peru - Peruvian Jesus born to Virgin Mary on Christmas

2008-12-28T11:44:00.001+08:00

LIMA (Reuters) – Virgin Mary, a 20-year-old Peruvian woman, gave birth to a baby boy on Christmas day and named him Jesus, Peru's state news agency said on Friday.

The baby's father, Adolfo Jorge Huamani, 24, is a carpenter. Religious Peruvians compared him to Joseph the Carpenter in the Bible.

"Two thousand years later the story of Bethlehem is relived," read the headline about the birth in El Comercio, the main newspaper in Peru, a predominantly Catholic country.

The mother, Virgen Maria Huarcaya, delivered the 7.7 pound (3.5 kg) boy, Jesus Emanuel, in the early hours of Christmas at the central maternity hospital in Lima, the capital.

"A few days ago we had decided to name my son after a professional soccer player," the father said. "But thanks to a happy coincidence this is how things ended up."

New York - New York City Man, Stephen Turbek, Sells Bubble Wrap Calendars For Popping Fans

2008-12-27T10:45:00.003+08:00

This one's for the bubble wrap fans:

NEW YORK – A New York City man has designed a calendar that will drive Bubble Wrap fanatics popping-mad.

The Daily News of New York reports in Thursday editions that Stephen Turbek is selling a poster-size calendar covered with the plastic bubbles. Customers can pop a bubble each day to mark the passage of time.

The Brooklyn man says he has sold thousands of Bubble Calendars. A handmade calendar with paper backing is available online for $30 and a plastic version costs $50.

Turbek says it makes a perfect gift for obsessive people — as long as they don't pop the whole year on the first day they get it.

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo - Gunman Dressed As Santa Claus Opens Fire At L.A. Party

2008-12-26T11:26:00.003+08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At least six people were killed when a man dressed as Santa Claus entered his former in-laws suburban Los Angeles house and opened fire on guests at a Christmas Eve party before setting the home on fire, police said on Thursday.

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, the only suspect in the shooting in Covina, California, later committed suicide and his body was found at a relative's house in nearby Sylmar, police said.

The suspect, who was carrying at least two handguns and a homemade incendiary device, began shooting as soon as he entered the house, Lt. Pat Buchanan of the Covina Police Department told reporters.

The house, which was owned by the parents of Pardo's ex-wife, caught fire during the shooting and was engulfed in flames when police arrived.

"Six bodies have been confirmed at this point. They have not been identified yet. They are too badly burned and will have to be identified by dental records," Buchanan said.

Police said they do not know how many of the victims died of gunshot wounds or from the fire.

Pardo and his wife recently settled a contentious divorce after a year of marriage, police said.

"He died of self-inflicted wounds. We believe it was a marital dispute," said Buchanan.

Two people were wounded by gunfire, an 8-year-old girl who opened the door and was shot in the face and a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the back as guests fled the house. Some jumped from second-floor windows, police said. Both girls' injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Witnesses among the 25 people attending the annual Christmas party told police that Pardo stripped off his Santa costume after the shooting and fled in street clothes.

Singapore - The Singapore Flyer Remains Shut For Now

2008-12-26T09:43:00.003+08:00

THE Singapore Flyer is likely to stay shut until at least the New Year as investigations get underway into what caused the six-hour breakdown on Tuesday which required rescuers to lower 11 stranded passengers to the ground by rope.

Yesterday, tourists and locals hoping for a sky-high view of Singapore from the world's largest observation wheel were turned away as the Flyer stayed shut by order of the Singapore Police Force.

The Flyer requires a public entertainment licence to operate. As the licensing authority, the police said they will allow operations to resume only after the Flyer's structural and mechanical systems are certified safe by an internationally recognised body.

Police are also investigating whether any of the licensing conditions were breached, although at this time 'there is no evidence to suggest that the incident was deliberate'.

Working with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the Flyer's management and independent experts, police investigations will look into how the problem occurred, how it can be prevented and what measures can put in place to enhance passenger safety.

Senior management from the Ministry of Home Affairs will oversee the investigations, said the police statement.

It added: 'It is premature at this stage to say how long this process will take.'

The Flyer's general manager Steven Yeo added: 'At this point in time, we are not able to tell you but it is unlikely to be ready by New Year.'

Flyer officials and engineers from the builders Mitsubishi Heavy Industries were on the scene looking into how a fire in the control room on the third floor of the complex led to a short-circuit that brought the wheel to a grinding halt.

One question many passengers had was whether winching them down to the ground was the best way to rescue them. In Britain, the London Eye is designed such that it can be turned manually by staff, even if the back-up power fails.

Mr Yeo said the bigger Flyer is not designed for such movement.

The company hired Dive Marine to provide rescue services. Rescue drills were conducted before and after the Flyer opened in February.

'We did two training sessions and carried out an assessment so our men are familiar with the Flyer,' said Mr Sean Tan, 33, Dive Marine's rope access division manager. Dive Marine has suggested that first-aid kits as well as food and water supplies be stored in each capsule, as is the case in the London Eye.

Mr Yeo said they had discussed this a few weeks ago but it was 'unfortunate' that the measures were not put in place before Tuesday's incident. He said: 'The fortunate thing about Singapore is that the weather is actually quite mild and we don't have the type of problems which London would have.'

The rescuers also propose obtaining devices that will automatically lower a person in a rope harness, instead of having to do this manually.

Mr Yeo said they will look into what extra measures are needed.

Despite four stoppages in 10 months, the Singapore Tourism Board 'expects the impact of this incident on Singapore's overall appeal as a destination to be limited over the longer term', according to the director for cluster development, Ms Jeannie Lim.

Alaska - Giant Snowman Snowzilla Rises Again

2008-12-25T21:11:00.003+08:00

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A giant snowman named Snowzilla has mysteriously appeared again this year — despite the city's cease-and-desist order.

Someone again built the giant snowman in Billy Powers' front yard in an east Anchorage neighborhood. Snowzilla reappeared before dawn Tuesday.

Powers is not taking credit. When questioned Tuesday afternoon, he insisted Snowzilla just somehow happened, again.

For the last three years, Snowzilla — to the delight of some and the chagrin of others — has been a very large feature in Powers' yard. In 2005, Snowzilla rose 16 feet. He had a corncob pipe and a carrot nose and two eyes made out of beer bottles.

This year, Snowzilla is estimated to be 25 feet tall. He's wearing a black stovepipe hat and scarf.

"Have you seen him?" Powers asked when reached by telephone at his home, the sound of excited children in the background. "He's handsome."

Snowzilla has consistently risen outside Powers' modest home. His children — he is the father of seven — collected snow from neighbors' yards to make the snowman big enough. Each year, Snowzilla got a bit bigger.

Not everybody in the neighborhood liked all the cars and visitors who came to see him.

City officials this year deemed Snowzilla a public nuisance and safety hazard. A cease-and-desist order was issued. The city tacked a public notice on Powers' door.

City officials said the structure increased traffic to the point of endangerment and that the snowman itself was unsafe.

The mayor's office on Tuesday issued a statement defending its move against Snowzilla.

"This property owner has repeatedly ignored city attempts to find ways to accommodate his desire to build a giant snowman without affecting the quiet, residential quality of the neighborhood," said the statement from Mayor Mark Begich's office. "This is a neighborhood of small homes on small lots connected by small streets. It can't support the volume of traffic and revelers that are interested in Snowzilla."

The mayor's office says Powers appears to run a large junk and salvage operation from his home. He has violated land use codes for 13 years, the city said. He owes the city more than $100,000 in fines and other assessments.

Powers said it is the city that has been difficult, not him.

"I have tried to jump through every goofy hoop they have sent to me. I have never been confrontational and it goes on and on and on and it is so goofy," he said. "Some of it is unfounded, some is just outrageous."

The city said it did not expect to take any further action until after Christmas.

Singapore Flyer - Trapped Passengers Evacuate Singapore Ferris Wheel

2008-12-24T09:12:00.001+08:00

I live in Singapore but I didn't know this happened till Christmas Eve. Sheesh.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – More than 100 passengers stranded for six hours on the world's largest ferris wheel were being evacuated and given medical treatment in Singapore after the attraction ground to a halt Tuesday.

The Singapore Flyer stopped working after a short circuit in one of the wheel's motor drivers cut its power supply, a company spokeswoman said.

There were 173 people, including many tourists, trapped inside the huge tourist attraction.

The wheel started turning again more than six hours later and passengers were ushered into ambulances, a Reuters witness said.

The spokeswoman for the Flyer said the stranded passengers were given water and food throughout their ordeal.

Standing at a height of 165 metres (541 feet), the Flyer started operations in the city state in February and is 30 metres (98 feet) taller than the London Eye.

It has 28 bus-sized capsules attached to a circular frame 150 metres (492 feet) in diameter. Each capsule can accommodate 28 people.

The Flyer is part of Singapore's drive to boost tourism revenues.

New York - Innovative Job Seeker, Joshua Persky, Scores Weiser Employment

2008-12-23T12:59:00.004+08:00

Joshua Persky was out of job.
No longer, though, because his innovative job-seeking method has landed him one.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One innovative New Yorker's desperate search to find a job this summer paid off big this holiday season, after a year when over a million jobs have been lost as the U.S. economy spiraled into recession.

Joshua Persky, known to many as the "Sandwich Board Guy," is now happily employed by accounting firm Weiser LLP in midtown Manhattan.

"While his story is unique and an example of his perseverance in today's economy, what we were attracted to most was Joshua's rich and impressive experience," said Douglas Phillips, Weiser's managing partner. Persky is now a senior manager in the firm's business valuation and corporate finance group.

His new office is not very far from where he first gained notoriety as the unemployed investment banker who wore a poster suit reading -- "Experienced MIT Grad For Hire" -- while parading past a key area for commercial banks and investment houses hoping to lure future employers.

The job seeker encountered many well wishers along the way, and offers of potential jobs across the country and the world, but most recently he secured one in New York, hard hit by massive layoffs in the financial industry.

"Wall Street has become very humble, based on what's going on. There are many fallen angels and hidden treasures out there and we're able to attract them because of the growth opportunity that my group represents right now," said Eliot Ogulnick, director of the business valuations and corporate finance group, who hired Persky.

"I've been looking for someone like Joshua, with his specialization since I arrived at this firm," said Ogulnick. He said while his earlier efforts to secure work were certainly innovative, Persky was hired based on his own merits and a month-long interview process.

Persky had remained unemployed for 11-months this year after losing his job as a valuations specialist at Houlihan Lokey. He said he generated many leads because of all the publicity from wearing the sandwich board, including a recruiter who recommended him to Weiser.

While many segments of the financial industry are undergoing challenging times, Weiser's business valuations and corporate finance group is growing as request for valuations specialist grows. The firm remains in hiring mode for candidates with the right skills.

"For the right talent we will consider bringing them on because we're getting more and more work," said Ogulnick. The 80-year old firm provides accounting, tax and consulting services to business enterprises and high net-worth individuals.

Persky is looking forward to reuniting with his two children and wife who temporarily relocated to Omaha, Nebraska to stay with family during the summer while he searched for work.

"My family is coming in for the holidays on Friday," said Persky.

Berlin - Lonely Man Jumps Into Polar Bear's Cage

2008-12-23T09:41:00.003+08:00

He was playing with lunch.

BERLIN – A man jumped into the Berlin zoo enclosure of famed polar bear Knut on Monday, but officials were able to keep the animal away from the intruder by distracting him with a leg of beef, police said. The 37-year-old man jumped over a fence into a water-filled ditch at the edge of the bear's enclosure Monday morning, police said in a statement.

Zoo keepers, who had just let Knut into his outdoor enclosure, were able to lure the bear back into his cage by producing a leg of beef.

Police said the man, a German, was less cooperative, initially ignoring instructions to leave the enclosure. He was led away unharmed but, although he was soaked and cold, he refused to undergo a medical checkup.

Police said that, before being let go, the man told them that he felt lonely and the bear appeared lonely, too.

Knut, now age 2, was hand-raised after his mother rejected him at birth. He rose to stardom early last year as a cute white ball of fluff, but has since grown rapidly into a hulking 440-pound (200-kilogram) predator.

Paula Abdul Fan, Paula Goodspeed's Death - What Simon Cowell Has To Say

2008-12-22T15:55:00.002+08:00

LOS ANGELES - ACERBIC American Idol judge Simon Cowell said on Wednesday the apparent suicide of a former contestant and obsessed fan forced him to think 'long and hard' about his blunt comments to hopeless singers on the show.

But in his first detailed comments about the fan's death in November, Cowell said the US top-rated television talent show was 'not inherently mean' and that the hundreds of thousands of people who audition every year knew they would be criticised.

'I have thought long and hard about this...I think we will continue in the way we have always done. We have tried to have a sense of humour. The show is not an inherently mean show. It is an American dream show where the whole purpose is to find somebody who through the process becomes a star,' Cowell told reporters in a telephone conference call.

The British judge said the death in November of Paula Goodspeed, 30, a fan of fellow Idol judge Paula Abdul who was ridiculed when she tried out in 2005, 'hit us like an express train. It upset me a lot'.

Goodspeed's audition was greeted with laughter by the judging panel and Cowell, who often makes fun of tone-deaf or eccentric performers, commented on her braces, questioning how she could sing with 'that much metal' in her mouth.

Referring to her suicide, Cowell said: 'What happened was awful. My regret is that we didn't know how troubled this person was. If I had gone back in time and known what she was going through, I wish we could have spent time trying to help her, but we genuinely didn't know.'

Goodspeed's overdose in a car outside Abdul's Los Angeles home made worldwide headlines and sparked heated debate on the harsh comments meted out to bad singers in early Idol audition rounds and later broadcast on national TV.

Abdul said last week that Idol producers had dismissed her fears about letting Goodspeed audition for the sake of making an entertaining show.

Cowell defended the producers of the show, which after more than six years as America's most-watched TV programme, averages around 30 million viewers. It begins an 8th season on Jan 13.

'The producers have the utmost integrity as human beings,' he said, noting the two Idol Gives Back charity events in 2007 and 2008 which had raised US$120 million (S$172 million) for mostly children's charities in the United States and Africa.

Cowell said that after seven seasons, the singers who audition knew they would be criticised if they were no good.

'When something like this has happened, it does make you take a step back,' he said. 'I've always thought it important to show people at home that when bad singers come in and they are not very good, that it is time to give up that type of dream and take a normal job.'

American Idol producers say the 8th season will focus less on early auditions and bad singers and give more time to talented performers when the show returns on the Fox network.

But they said these and other tweaks were made to make the show more interesting, and help maintain slipping ratings, rather than as a reaction to Goodspeed's death. -- REUTERS

Shocking Study Finds Most Will Torture If Ordered

2008-12-22T11:00:00.002+08:00

Would you torture someone if you were ordered to do so? I'm not sure myself:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some things never change. Scientists said on Friday they had replicated an experiment in which people obediently delivered painful shocks to others if encouraged to do so by authority figures.

Seventy percent of volunteers continued to administer electrical shocks -- or at least they believed they were doing so -- even after an actor claimed they were painful, Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University in California found.

"What we found is validation of the same argument -- if you put people into certain situations, they will act in surprising, and maybe often even disturbing, ways," Burger said in a telephone interview. "This research is still relevant."

Burger was replicating an experiment published in 1961 by Yale University professor Stanley Milgram, in which volunteers were asked to deliver electric "shocks" to other people if they answered certain questions incorrectly.

Milgram found that, after hearing an actor cry out in pain at 150 volts, 82.5 percent of participants continued administering shocks, most to the maximum 450 volts.

The experiment surprised psychologists and no one has tried to replicate it because of the distress suffered by many of the volunteers who believed they were shocking another person.

"When you hear the man scream and say, 'let me out, I can't stand it,' that is the point when the real stress that people criticized Milgram for kicked in," Burger said.

"It was a very, very, very stressful experience for many of the participants. That is the reason no one can ethically replicate the experiment today."

'SURPRISING AND DISAPPOINTING'

Burger modified the experiment, by stopping at the 150 volt point for the 29 men and 41 women in his experiment. He measured how many of his volunteers began to deliver another shock when prompted by the experiment's leader -- but instead of letting them do so, stopped them.

In Milgram's original experiment, 150 volts seemed to be the turning point.

In Burger's modified experiment, 70 percent of the volunteers were willing to give shocks greater than 150 volts.

At one point, researchers brought in a volunteer who knew what was going on and refused to administer shocks beyond 150 volts. Despite the example, 63 percent of the participants continued administering shocks past 150 volts.

"That was surprising and disappointing," Burger said.

Burger found no differences among his volunteers, aged 20 to 81, and carefully screened them to be average representatives of the U.S. public.

Burger said the experiment, published in the American Psychologist, can only partly explain the widely reported prisoner abuse at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq or events during World War Two.

"Although one must be cautious when making the leap from laboratory studies to complex social behaviors such as genocide, understanding the social psychological factors that contribute to people acting in unexpected and unsettling ways is important," he wrote.

"It is not that there is something wrong with the people," Burger said. "The idea has been somehow there was this characteristic that people had back in the early 1960s that they were somehow more prone to obedience."

Japan - Group Asks Google To Stop Map Image Service

2008-12-21T09:47:00.002+08:00

Do you think that Google's Street View is an invasion of privacy? The Japanese certainly think so:

TOKYO (Reuters) – A group of Japanese lawyers and professors asked on Friday that Google Inc stop providing detailed street-level images of Japanese cities on the Internet, saying they violated privacy rights.

Google's Street View offers ground-level, 360-degree views of streets in 12 Japanese cities and is also offered for some 50 cities in the United States and certain areas in Europe.

The service allows Web users to drive down a street, in a virtual sense, using their mouse to adjust views of roadside scenery.

"We strongly suspect that what Google has been doing deeply violates a basic right that humans have," Yasuhiko Tajima, a professor of constitutional law at Sophia University in Tokyo, told Reuters by telephone.

"It is necessary to warn society that an IT giant is openly violating privacy rights, which are important rights that the citizens have, through this service."

The Campaign Against Surveillance Society, a Japanese civilian group that Tajima heads, wants Google to stop providing its Street View service of Japanese cities and delete all saved images.

Google's office in Tokyo was unable to comment immediately.

Privacy concerns about Google's service have grown in Japanese media, especially after some people discovered their images on Street View.

Similar concerns have been raised in other parts of the world, including the United States and Europe.

In one case, a woman was shown sunbathing and in another a man was pictured exiting a strip club in San Francisco.

In March, Google said it would comply with a Pentagon request to remove some online images from Street View over fears they posed a security threat to U.S. military bases.

Web-based Google Maps and a related computer-based service called Google Earth have drawn criticism from a variety of countries for providing images of sensitive locations, such as military bases or potential targets of terror attacks.

Father Offers Daughter To Iraqi Shoe-thrower Journalist

2008-12-20T09:59:00.002+08:00

Remember the Iraqi journalist who threw both his shoes at US President George Bush during a press conference? He was offered a wife by an Egyptian man:

CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian man said on Wednesday he was offering his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in Baghdad on Sunday,

The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. "This is something that would honor me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero," she told Reuters by telephone.

Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi's brother, to tell him of the offer. "I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage," he added.

Zaidi's gesture has struck a chord across the Arab world, where President Bush is widely despised for invading Iraq in 2003 and for his support for Israel.

Amal is a student in the media faculty at Minya University in central Egypt.

Zaidi's response to the proposal was not immediately clear.

Michigan - Human-sized Heart Found At The Paw Paw Car Wash

2008-12-18T09:05:00.001+08:00

I highly doubt it belongs to a human:

PAW PAW, Mich. – A human-sized heart found at a southwestern Michigan car wash has investigators wondering whether it came from a person or an animal. The organ was discovered in a corner of a manual wash bay at Soapy's Car Wash, Paw Paw police said. The owner of the business found it Monday on the floor of the bay, according to WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids and WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo.

Police first took the heart to an animal clinic, where a veterinarian was unable to determine its origin. The next stop was a local cardiologist, who said while it was "consistent in size to a human heart," he could not make a conclusive determination as to its source, said police Chief Patrick W. Alspaugh.

The chief took the organ Tuesday to Lansing's Sparrow Hospital, where forensic scientists were to examine it.

"If it's a human heart, that prompts the question, 'Then where's the body?'" Alspaugh told the Kalamazoo Gazette.

He said he didn't know when the forensic scientists will give him their findings.

If it turns out that the heart came from an animal, it would not be the first time that someone has left animal parts at the car wash

The owner told police that animal parts had been left before at the car wash, but never a heart.

Cleveland - 1st Face Transplant Completed

2008-12-17T10:24:00.001+08:00

As close as you can get to a full face transplant:

CLEVELAND (Ohio) - A TEAM of Ohio doctors have replaced 80 per cent of a woman's face in what is considered the world's first nearly complete facial transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced on Tuesday.

It was the first such operation in the United States and the fourth known facial transplant to have been successfully performed to date. The procedure took place in recent weeks on a patient who was disfigured by a traumatic injury.

The hospital released no further information about the patient, whom it said did not wish to be identified.

Facial transplants are controversial because they carry heavy risks and are performed to improve a patient's quality of life rather than as a life-saving operation.

The risks include failure of the transplanted tissue and complications from anti-rejection drugs, which the patient must take for the rest of their life.

Doctors in France performed the first partial face transplant in 2005 on a 38-year-old woman, Ms Isabelle Dinoire, who was disfigured by a dog attack.

In 2006, a Chinese man underwent a facial transplant including the connection of arteries and veins, and repair of the nose, lip and sinuses. A bear had mauled the 30-year-old farmer as he looked for stray sheep.

A 29-year-old man French man underwent surgery in 2007. He had a facial tumor called a neurofibroma caused by a genetic disorder.

The tumor was so massive that the man couldn't eat or speak properly.

The Cleveland Clinic became the first US hospital to approve the procedure four years ago.

Dr Maria Siemionow, director of plastic surgery research at the Clinic, performed the surgery along with a team of seven other doctors, according to Clinic officials.

Dr Siemionow has conducted extensive research transplanting faces and limbs of laboratory rats.

A facial transplant involves the use of donor tissue to repair severe face disfigurement caused by burns, tumors, malformations or trauma, such as car crashes.

More information on the Ohio operation is expected at a Wednesday press conference.

Hampton Man Plays Same Lottery Number 11 Times, Wins 1.1 Million

2008-12-17T09:37:00.002+08:00

He's a very lucky man:

HAMPTON, Va. – A Hampton man has won the Virginia Lottery's Cash 5 top prize of $100,000, and won it, and won it. Lottery officials said the man won $1.1 million after playing the same numbers on 11 tickets for the same drawing. Each winning ticket gives the man $100,000.

Lottery officials haven't identified the man, who was scheduled to claim his winnings Tuesday afternoon at the lottery service center in Hampton.

Ahsanullah Moni - Bangladesh Taj Mahal Copycat Criticised

2008-12-16T16:36:00.003+08:00

A cheaper version of Taj Mahal, anyone?

DHAKA - THE owner of Bangladesh's newly opened replica of the Taj Mahal has defended the building after visitors said it was shoddily designed and constructed of cheap materials.

Thousands of Bangladeshis have descended on Sonargaon, 30 kilometres north-east of the capital Dhaka, since film director Ahsanullah Moni unveiled his own version of India's monument to love last week.

Mr Moni said he had spent US$58 million (S$87 million) building the 'Bangladesh Taj Mahal' importing marble and granite from Italy, diamonds from Belgium and using 160 kilograms of bronze for the dome.

His project attracted interest around the world and even prompted Indian diplomats to question whether Mr Moni had breached copyright laws.

But a report in the Bengali language newspaper Prothom Alo said that visitors who travelled to Sonargaon felt cheated.

'We came to see the Taj Mahal with high hopes but we are greatly disappointed,' Dhaka resident Asma Mita said.

'The whole project is done in a shoddy manner. It is nothing compared to the real Taj,' another visitor, Mr Sohana Parvin, told the paper. 'There is no sign of the valuable stones, tiles and diamonds the owner has spoken of using.'

Bloggers too have reacted angrily to Moni's replica, which he claims is life-size.

Mr Aparna Ray concluded that the hype surrounding the attraction was a gimmick. He said it was 'a money-making scam in the name of the Taj'.

'The tiles look like the type you'd use in a bathroom. We've been cheated by this guy,' another blogger wrote.

Mr Moni, who will next month raise the entry fee from 50 taka (S$1) to 100 taka, defended his building to AFP, saying the quality of the tiles he used was better than those in the real building.

'It's the Taj of Bangladesh. If you want to see the real Taj you have to travel to the Indian city of Agra and spend at least 20,000 taka. It costs just 50 taka to see my Taj,' he said.

'There's nothing I can do if a visitor is disappointed,' he said.

Mr Moni's copycat construction took five years to finish, while the real Taj Mahal was built by 20,000 people over 22 years by Moghul emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife who died during childbirth in 1631.

Mr Moni, a successful director in Bangladesh's 'Dhaliwood' film industry, has made 20 movies. He also owns a cinema hall in Dhaka and a three-star hotel. -- AFP

Security Hole - Flaw In Internet Explorer Not Fixed Yet

2008-12-16T13:23:00.005+08:00

If you haven't already switched to Mozilla Firefox yet this should make you do it. Internet Explorer is unstable and unreliable. Switch to Firefox for good!

Article from Yahoo! News:

SAN FRANCISCO – Users of all current versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser might be vulnerable to having their computers hijacked because of a serious security hole in the software that had yet to be fixed Monday.

The flaw lets criminals commandeer victims' machines merely by tricking them into visiting Web sites tainted with malicious programming code. As many as 10,000 sites have been compromised since last week to exploit the browser flaw, according to antivirus software maker Trend Micro Inc.

The sites are mostly Chinese and have been serving up programs that steal passwords for computer games, which can be sold for money on the black market. However, the hole is such that it could be "adopted by more financially motivated criminals for more serious mayhem — that's a big fear right now," Paul Ferguson, a Trend Micro security researcher, said Monday.

"Zero-day" vulnerabilities like this are security holes that haven't been repaired by the software makers. They're a gold mine for criminals because users have few ways to fight off attacks.

The latest vulnerability is noteworthy because Internet Explorer is the default browser for most of the world's computers. Also, while Microsoft says it has detected attacks only against version 7 of Internet Explorer, which is the most widely used edition, the company warned that other versions are also potentially vulnerable.

Microsoft said it is investigating the flaw and is considering fixing it through an emergency software patch outside of its normal monthly updates, but declined further comment. The company is telling users to employ a series of complicated workarounds to minimize the threat.

Many security experts, meanwhile, are urging Internet Explorer users to use another browser until a patch is released.

Boy, 4, Breaks Into Texas Store, Plays With Toys

2008-12-16T11:09:00.005+08:00

A toddler "broke" into a Texas store and was found playing with toys.
Here's the article from Yahoo! News:

BEAUMONT, Texas – Police called to a variety store by a burglar alarm overnight found a toddler inside, playing with the toys. Police said store surveillance video showed the unidentified boy trying to open one of the front doors to a Family Dollar store about 3 a.m. Monday, only to find it locked. But the second door was unlocked and the child went inside.

That triggered the silent alarm.

Detective Randy Stevens said the child apparently unlocked a door at his nearby home, got out, then crossed a multilane street to reach the store.

A canvass of the neighborhood turned up a family member searching for the child.

CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam said Child Protective Services claimed oversight of a 4-year-old boy during a review of the incident. The boy will be allowed to stay with other relatives, not the parents, during the CPS review period.

Joseph Saunders - Visa Chief Loses His Credit Cards

2008-12-15T09:17:00.007+08:00

What an irony. Here's the article from Yahoo! News:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Imagine running the world's largest credit card network, and not having your own plastic.

That's what happened to Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders.

He spoke Thursday morning at a Goldman Sachs financial services conference in New York, and had come from San Francisco, Visa's headquarters.

Unfortunately, his credit cards didn't make the trip.

"I'm supposed to start off, and say that I'm very happy to be here, and I guess I am. But it's 4:15 in the morning as far as I'm concerned, and I lost my wallet on the way here," Saunders said. "It's rather embarrassing when somebody steals my credit cards." The comment prompted laughter.

Saunders began his presentation at 7:15 a.m EST (12:15 p.m. British time).

Saunders did not elaborate. Visa did not immediately return a call seeking further comment.

Alex Bellini - Rower Rescued After 10-month Journey

2008-12-14T08:42:00.014+08:00

Alex Bellini is an Italian explorer who planned to row across the Pacific Ocean from Lim a, Peru to Sydney, Australia, alone and unassisted. He began his journey on February 21, 2008, and speculated that he would reach Sydney sometime in December, 2008. The journey was expected to take about 9 months and a distance of 18,000 km (10,000 nautical miles) would be covered.

Before he could reach his destination, however, Alex was faced with fatigue and had to give up the remaining distance to be covered. He reached Newcastle, Australia, which is 100 miles (160 km) north of Sydney on Saturday morning.

Here is the article from Yahoo! News:

SYDNEY, Australia — An Italian adventurer who spent 10 months rowing more than 9,500 nautical miles (18,000 kilometers) across the Pacific has been rescued a mere 65 nautical miles short of his goal — Australia — after rough weather sapped him of his final shreds of energy.

Alex Bellini, who began his voyage off Peru in February, contacted his wife Friday to say he was too exhausted to row his 25-foot (7.5 meter) boat any further, despite being nearly in sight of the eastern Australian town of Laurieton.

Bellini's wife contacted authorities, and an Australian tug boat towed the 30-year-old to shore. They reached Newcastle, 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Sydney, Saturday morning.

Although looking weary and thin and sporting a bushy beard, Bellini grinned and appeared in high spirits as he was reunited with his tearful wife, Francesca.

"I'm feeling good. I'm exhausted," Bellini told The Associated Press. "I need some time to relax."

A strong wind had hampered his efforts to get closer to shore for days. By Friday, he said, his energy was gone.

"For the next few days, the weather would have been even worse," said Bellini, who has also rowed across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. "It has been a grueling, grueling effort."

Bellini said the journey was not about breaking records; he is not the first person to row solo across the Pacific and is not yet sure whether his trip is the longest solo journey. Instead, he said, the voyage was about testing his own limits.

"The reasons of my trip was double. First of all was to cross the Pacific," Bellini said. "But the other reason of my trip was making a trip inward. So it was discovering something of myself."

Bellini used a satellite phone to keep in contact with those on land and survived on dried food and desalinated ocean water. He also used a small cooker to fry up fish and to boil water for pasta. He found himself craving sweet foods — especially tiramisu and apple cake — and was looking forward to gorging on desserts.

"It made me crazy. I want all the sweets here in Sydney," he said with a laugh.

The worst part of his journey was the loneliness and the longing he felt for his wife. But despite their 10 months apart, Bellini said it was as if no time had passed when they laid eyes on each other Saturday. The two plan to return to their home in Trieste, Italy, in about a week.

For now, Bellini has no immediate plans to return to the open ocean. He has other priorities.

"I miss my bed. I miss my home," he said. "I need to go back and settle down."

Burglar Stuck For 3 Days In Haunted House

2008-12-13T13:56:00.007+08:00

A malaysian man claimed that he was held captive by a ghost in a haunted house. Here's the article from Yahoo! News:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A news report says a burglar who broke into a house claims he was held captive by a "supernatural figure" for three days without food and water.
Police official Abdul Marlik Hakim Johar told The Star newspaper the house's owners found the 36-year-old man fatigued and dehydrated when they returned from vacation Thursday.
He says they called an ambulance to take him to a hospital.
The man told police that every time he tried to escape, a "supernatural figure" shoved him to the ground.
Abdul Marlik could not immediately be reached and other police officials declined to comment.

Dream

2008-12-09T22:01:00.002+08:00

I'm waiting on a dream.

Erosion

2008-12-04T22:20:00.003+08:00

Erosion.
Dementation.
Of the mind.

Fine

2008-11-29T09:57:00.002+08:00

Distraction

2008-11-27T16:17:00.004+08:00

Benny Hinn - The Lying Prophet

2008-11-25T16:47:00.018+08:00

Disclaimer: If you're a believer of Benny Hinn's faith healings, be warned that you WILL BE offended by this post.

It's time to stop lying, Pastor Benny Hinn.

Debunking Benny Hinn

Unfulfilled prophecies

Benny Hinn claimed that his prophecies were from the word of God.
Strangely enough, none of them came true. Does that make Benny Hinn a liar?
It's also bemusing how some of his prophecies appear to be viral marketing strategies (No. 6), or are just plain absurd.

Here's a list of some his prophecies:

1) God will destroy America’s homosexual community in 1995
Orlando Christian Center, December 31st, 1989
“The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90’s, about ’94-’95, no later than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America. [audience applauds] But he will not destroy it – with what many minds have thought Him to be, He will destroy it with fire. And many will turn and be saved, and many will rebel and be destroyed.” – Benny Hinn

2) Death of Fidel Castro
Orlando Christian Center, December 31st, 1989
“The Spirit tells me – Fidel Castro will die – in the 90’s. Oooh, my! Some will try to kill him and they will not succeed. But there will come a change in his physical health, and he will not stay in power, and Cuba will be visited of God.” – Benny Hinn

3) Election of first female president of the USA
Orlando Christian Center, December 31st, 1989
“People, I feel the Spirit all over me ...” “There will be a woman that will arise as a leader in the west. Following the rapture [of the Church], a woman president will be in the White House. And that woman president will destroy this nation.” – Benny Hinn

4) Earthquake in the East Coast of America
Orlando Christian Center, December 31st, 1989
"The Spirit of God tells me an earthquake will hit the East Coast of America and destroy much in the '90s. Not one place will be safe from earthquakes in the '90s. These who have not known earthquakes will know it. People, I feel the Spirit all over me!"- Benny Hinn

5) Rapture and Coming of the Lord and the Antichrist
Orlando Christian Center, December 31st, 1989
“A world dictator is coming on the scene. My! He's a short man. He's a short man. I see a short man who's a perfect incarnation of Satan. [speaks in tongues] Never in my life have I had anything happen like what's happening to me now! 'This man will rule the world. In the next few years you will see him. But not long after that you will see Me.'” – Benny Hinn

Praise-a-Thon, November 9th, 1990
“We may have two years before the rapture. Can I be blunt with you? I don't know if we have two years left. I'm going to prove to you from the Word tonight, that we have less than two years."- Benny Hinn

Fund-raising Telethon on Trinity Broadcasting Network, July, 1997
"Jesus is coming again within the next two years." – Benny Hinn

6) God gave him a vision that thousands of dead would be resurrected, telling people that if they placed the dead loved ones’ hands on the TV screen tuned into the Trinity Broadcasting Network there would be “an extension of Heaven to Earth”
Trinity Broadcasting Network, October 23rd, 1999
“I see rows of caskets lining up in front of this TV set. And I see them bringing them closer to the TV set. And as people are coming closer, I see ahh, a, actually loved ones picking up the hands of the dead and letting them touch the screen, and people are, are getting raised as their hands are touching that screen… there’s gonna be divine resurrection happening as people bring their loved ones to the TV set." – Benny Hinn

Praise the Lord, Trinity Broadcasting Network, October 19th, 1999
"But here's first what I see for TBN. You're going to have people raised from the dead watching this network. You're going to have people raised from the dead watching TBN. Programs - just plain programs - programs that haven't done much when it comes to supernatural manifestations - teaching programs!"- Benny Hinn

7) Adam was a superbeing who could fly to the moon
Praise-a-Thon, November 9th, 1990
“Poverty comes from Hell. Prosperity comes from Heaven. Adam had complete dominion over the earth and all it contains. A. Adam could fly like a bird. B. Adam could swim underwater and breathe like a fish. Adam went to the moon. Adam walked on water. Adam was a super being; He was the first superman that lived. Adam had dominion over the sun, moon & stars. Christians do not have Christ in their hearts. Sow a big seed, when you confess it, you are activating the supernatural forces of God.” – Benny Hinn

8) Christ would make a physical appearance in Kenya in 2001

Living a Life of Luxury off His Lies

Benny lives in an multi-million dollar mansion ‘parsonage’ in Dana Point, California. The mansion is 7200 square feet big, has 7 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and a 5-car garage. All these are paid by his ministries. He owns a 36 million-dollar Gulf Stream Jet Aircraft, drives a Mercedes SUV and a Mercedes convertible, each costing around $80,000.

In 1993, Hinn said that “The Lord said sell the Benz and the watch.” And so he did. He replaced the Mercedes with a $65,000 BMW.
He is believed to be the richest evangelist in the world and yet he has repeatedly refused to join the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). If he has nothing to hide, he shouldn’t have anything to fear.

Greed and Thirst for Wealth

In his miracle crusades, Hinn was quoted as saying “If God says give $1000, you give $1000. If God gives the word and says give $10,000, you will give $10,000. You cannot refuse God.”

“The more you give, the more you receive.” – Benny Hinn

“When you don't give money, it shows that you have the devil's nature.” (Benny Hinn, Praise-a-thon (TBN), recorded 4/21/91)

“Some of you need to give large sums tonight. Don't you give those small sums if you have the large sums. Many of you have those small sums. The best you can give is all God wants from you. The best you can give is all expects of ya. But some of you watching right now have money in the bank your gonna leave it behind. You may even lose it unless you obey God tonight. Give to God tonight. God is speaking to you now. Do you know by holding back from God you're keeping God's blessings from your family by holding back from the Lord? You're saying "No, Lord, I don't want your presence in my home." And when you call, tell the Lord, 'I'm sowing tonight because I believe what this man is saying on TV. I believe what Benny Hinn is saying is what I need to hear. The anointing of God is about to invade my home, my life, my children. I'm giving in faith, believing Lord that my seed will touch your heart.' In fact, I'm going to say something I never said on a telethon, I believe that God is healing people while they are making a pledge tonight. There are people getting healed making a pledge. No, no, you are not paying for that healing, and you know that. But God is honoring you for your obedience and touching your body...”

Controversial Sayings

1) Seen God in person. “He is 6-2 or 6-3, with long hair of a light brown colour, and eyes that can look right through you.”

2) Seen a man turn into a snake

3) Seen a brain tumour split into pieces in front of him

4) "Do you know that every unbeliever is filled with a demon spirit?" (Good Morning Holy Spirit, (Benny Hinn, Word, 1991) p.146)

5) “Jesus at His death became one with Satan.” (Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn broadcast, recorded 12/15/90)

6) "If you have attacked me, your children will pay for it." (Benny Hinn, TBN "Heresy Hunters" October 23 1992)

7) " . . . the anointing is dependent upon my words. God will not move unless I say it. Why? because He has made us coworkers with Him. He set things up that way." (Benny Hinn, The Anointing. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 1992. 82.)

8) "This spirit-man within me is a God-man. Say after me, he’s born of heaven, he’s a super-being…Say I’m born of heaven - God-man. I’m a God-man. I’m a sample of Jesus. I’m a super being. Say it! Say it! Who’s a super being? I walk in the realm of the supernatural. Get the spirit-man renewed…when he’s strong, he’ll hold off sickness…you want to prosper? Money will be falling on you from left, right and center. God will begin to prosper you, for money always follows righteousness…Say after me, I hold my destiny." ("Joel’s Army," Jewel van der Merwe, Discernment Ministries)

False Hope and Failed Healings

Some of Hinn's failed healings:

• Brain tumour patient – Came all the way Greece to California to be healed only to find out she was conned
• Boy with partial blindness was promised a fund to support his education was not healed after medical examination and for 3 years he didn’t receive a cent
• Boxer Evander Holyfield had his heart condition healed and donated $265,000 to Benny Hinn. He was later informed that he was misdiagnosed due to morphine pumped into his body
• 65-year-old lady stopped taking her medication thinking that she’s fully healed
• HIV patient, thinking that she was healed, continued to be sexually active, only to find out that the virus was still apparent
• A woman suffering from cervical cancer was apparently healed, but died a week later
• A reporter from NBC pretended to suffer to polio and was healed by Benny Hinn anyway

Hinn’s is a manipulator of the mind. He taps on people’s faith, exploits it and through suggestion, convinces people that they have been healed, when actually it’s all mind over matter. The crux of the medical conditions is not looked into and temporary comfort does not equate to a total cure.

Although Hinn has been asked and challenged many times he has failed to prove even a single ‘healing’ objectively. His claims of ‘miracles’ also lack scientific evidence. People apparently feel ‘healed’, therefore they are ‘healed’. The implication is that patients develop the delusion that they no longer need medical attention, and this can have adverse effects on their health if their medical conditions worsen. What kind of an ethical prophet would allow such a thing to happen?

Audience Selection

Benny Hinn has ‘screeners’ who select people to go onto the stage to be ‘healed’. Amputees and people sitting in customized wheelchairs were told to stay away from the stage.

Donations and Prayers

Donations and prayers were placed in envelopes and placed in a tub, and Benny Hinn promised that he would pray for the people upon receipt of the prayers. After church service, the money was taken, but the slips of paper containing the prayers scattered all over the floor. And Benny Hinn’s response to this was, “I don’t know about that.”

A security guard revealed that in one of Hinn’s crusades, a grandmother gave Hinn the last $5 she had, and Hinn made light of the $5 donation saying, “Ha, I got her last $5, guys.”

If you're thinking about seeking 'treatment' from Benny Hinn

Drop that idea immediately. Don't be delusioned by his lies.
While you cling onto your false hope, he's sitting in his multi-million mansion salivating at the thought of the amount of easy money he would be getting in his next 'miracle' crusade.
I suggest you seek ethical, professional medical assistance from legitimate doctors who would actually cure you.

If you are reading this, I urge you to help spread the word.
Do not allow Benny Hinn to continue tarnishing the name of God.

ATM Felon

2008-11-23T14:36:00.001+08:00

Appreciating Life

2008-11-22T22:54:00.009+08:00

Have you asked yourself what the real meaning of life is?
Have you always believed you were brought here for a greater purpose, to achieve something more?
I've thought of it myself. I've always imagined how it'll be like if I were to live another life, to be born somewhere else, to have a different name.
But now I know we're not meant to find out what life really means. By divine appointment I'm where I am now, living my life. I think it's no longer constructive to spend time finding out the true meaning of my life because I'm going to leave this world regretting those minutes I've lost doing it.

Debunking Masaru Emoto- Messages from Water

2008-11-21T10:58:00.015+08:00

I believe many of you have heard about Masaru Emoto's findings regarding messages from water. This post would show my take on why his claims are vague and cannot be considered legitimate.

Masaru Emoto – Messages from Water
Name: Masaru Emoto
DOB: July 22, 1943.
Occupation: Writer
Education: Yokohama Municipal University, Open International University for Alternative Medicine (unaccredited)

Masaru Emoto’s Research
Masaru Emoto is the author of Messages from Water. He has documented in this book his discovery of the formation of water crystals through the influence of human speech, thoughts, prayers, songs and even pictures.

Before prayer ----------------------After prayer

Heavy metal music-------------------"Thank you"

Why Emoto is a Psuedo Scientist
Now Emoto’s work is pretty incredible, isn’t it? Amazing as it might sound, I think there are too many problems and loop holes in his research to quantify his claims as legitimate. And I’m not the only one. Scientists do not recognize Emoto’s work as authentic due to many reasons.

First of all, let us look at Emoto’s credentials. He graduated from an unaccredited institution. As much as this doesn’t support the fact that he isn’t credible, I think we should keep this in mind as we move along.
Next, let us look at Emoto’s occupation. A writer. Hmm. He had no scientific background and he did not conduct his experiments in certain necessary conditions. His research and experiments had insufficient experimental controls, and double-blind trials were not conducted. What this means is, the photographers knew what they were looking for when the snapped the pictures of the crystals, and Emoto explained that the creativity of the photographers was valued more than the rigor of the experiments.

According to an interview with John Woodhouse published in the Maui News, Emoto stated, “I did not start out with any modern scientific background. I did not even know the limit of science to stop me from giving this research a chance.” This statement alone is enough to dub Emoto as a pseudo scientist. He was not educated in the scientific community, and I believe that together with his artistic view of things in general, his “research” was made biased through the many mistakes committed.

Here are some of the mistakes made by Emoto:
1) He did not take into account of the effects physical phenomenons would have on the formation of the water crystals. Numerous environmental factors such as the most fundamental of all – temperature and humidity were not considered in his research. Factors like these would have substantial impact on the results of his study but Emoto did not conduct procedures to control them.

2) The Petri dishes used to contain the water samples were not sealed. The implication is that the samples used in his experiments could easily be contaminated by the environment or even the researcher himself. One good example would be that the photographer’s breath could affect the warming rate of the frozen samples, thereby affecting the temperature of the crystal formations. This implies that the beautiful crystals formed through “positive words” could have been mere coincidence.

3) Emoto indicated that his water samples were frozen at 25°C, and his crystals were formed at -5°C. According to the morphology diagram of ice crystal formation (Libbrecht), column crystals should be formed instead of plate crystals, yet none of Emoto’s pictures show a column crystal. Could Emoto have fabricated his findings? Let’s put it this way – he has no supportive data to back his claims.

4) Emoto has mentioned that in every test he would photograph 100 Petri dish samples, yet only one of each test was provided to the public. What if the other 99 went against his hypothesis? He has successfully prevented the media from uncovering the photos which did not support his research.
There was a lack of blind and double-blind procedures in Emoto’s experiments. Emoto believed that “the researcher’s aesthetic sense and character is the most important aspect when taking crystal photographs.” Let me rephrase this- The researcher photographs whatever supports his claims. An example of how Emoto could have added more credibility to his findings would be letting the photographers snap the pictures without first knowing what samples the Petri dishes contained. In this way, the photographer is “blind” and does not know what he’s looking for. Sadly, this crucial trial was ignored by Emoto.

Masaru Emoto would continue to be ignored by the scientific community if he does not prove his claims with better experimental controls, or disclose his methods to other scientist to allow further research. The lack of scientific evidence has ruled his findings as pseudo science, but I think he makes a good science fiction writer. I’d be first in line if he publishes his first science fiction novel.

As much as I shun Emoto’s dubious scientific claims, I have to say that he started his research work with a good cause. And I believe it is very true that whatever you say and think affect the people around you. No doubt about that, but Emoto’s research would only make a good bedtime read till he can further prove his claims.

Liquidity Crisis

2008-11-19T14:31:00.002+08:00

Sleep Paralysis

2008-11-15T16:57:00.003+08:00

My first sleep paralysis experience took place this afternoon, while I was napping.
I was sleeping on my right and I felt the sudden need to shout for someone. I tried, and the voice just couldn't come out. I couldn't move either. Then my body felt numb. The episode lasted for about 10 seconds.

Cool!

Feelings

2008-10-27T10:43:00.001+08:00

I have these feelings, deep inside
feelings I have to hide

Goodbyes

2008-10-24T19:52:00.002+08:00

It's hard to say goodbye.
It was even harder to watch her leave.
It was a sad but heartwarming moment when we exchanged goodbyes.
"Bye, bye", she said, tears flowing profusely. It was easy to tell she didn't want to stay for long for fear that she might find it even harder to bid goodbye.
I couldn't help but think what could've been if she didn't have to go.
But life goes on. People come and go. That's life.

I'd like to thank you for the guidance provided for the past three and a half months.
I've learnt a lot from you, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Miracle

2008-10-22T20:14:00.004+08:00

The miracle dwells within the heart,
You don't know when it happens, or when it starts.
The happiness it brings gives you a special lift,
And you realize it's your most precious gift.

Samsung Omnia - The True iPhone Killer

2008-10-18T22:00:00.020+08:00

With Windows Mobile 6.1 and SPB Mobile Shell, the Samsung Omnia demonstrates tremendous potential in its interface capabilities. I can now work with both the original Windows Mobile interface and the beautiful, customizable HTC/Omnia/Diamond/Nokia/iPhone/plus many other interfaces. I have to admit that the original Samsung Omnia menus are not as responsive as I would have preferred. But with the SPB Mobile Shell, I've now got what I want - and more. With such a powerful tool, who needs an iPhone? =P

The following pictures display one of the countless possibilities that could be achieved with the powerful operating system, all of which were taken from my Samsung Omnia:

Birthdays.

2008-10-14T21:41:00.005+08:00

Vietnamese Robs Police Station

2008-10-12T23:09:00.004+08:00

What kind of thief with the right state of mind robs a police station?

This Vietnamese man does (Yahoo News):

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese authorities are hunting for a brazen masked criminal who robbed a district police station, state media reported on Thursday. The Dan Tri online newspaper quoted investigators in Quang Nam as saying the armed robber forced the duty officer to hand over his mobile phone and some money.

Jack's Place, Marina Square (10/10/2008)

2008-10-11T23:49:00.005+08:00

Jabra BT620s Review

2008-10-09T20:18:00.011+08:00

It's been a week with the Jabra BT620s.

Now that I've started using wireless headphones I don't think I'll move back to wired ones.

No longer do I have to worry about my wires getting caught on bus seats, hooked onto someone's bag by accident or the messy look of it all.

What do I think of the audio quality of the Jabra BT620s?

The BT620s could use a bit more bass.

The cymbals are particularly pronounced but that can be distracting at times.

It doesn't have the best audio quality around, but it's good enough for the regular user.

It allows me to connect to two devices, but I don't think I'll be using that function.

What do I think of the design of the Jabra BT620s?

I've read many reviews about this set of headphones being uncomfortable on the ears. That is true to certain extent, but I think it how much it hurts on the ears varies from person to person, since our heads are of different sizes.

My previous Philips set hurt my ears bad if I've used it for more than 40 minutes.

Jabra BT620s, however, isn't as bad. They still hurt after a while, but having suffered worse with the Philips, I don't think this one is as bad. Now the slight discomfort happens only at the back of the ears, where the cups rest on. The ear cushions, however, are really comfortable.

What do I think of the LED lights?

I actually think the lights are pretty cool. Yes it would be weird to have them flashing when using it on the streets, but as long as I can turn them off it's fine. Am I the only one who thinks that the LED feature deserves to be in the 'pros' section?

How would I rate the Jabra BT620s?

I'll give this piece a 8/10. Being wireless gives it a 6/10 already, and the comfortable ear cushions add another 2. I would have given it a 10/10 if the headphones didn't make me look like Princess Leia.

Hehe.

No-Picture Day

2008-10-07T22:57:00.003+08:00

Whatever happened to Blogger's picture uploading function?

William Owns A Jabra BT620s

2008-10-05T14:26:00.003+08:00

Yes!

Wireless headphones, finally!

Man At Airport Has 200 Birds In Bag

2008-09-28T15:10:00.004+08:00

A man was caught at the airport with a bag full of birds.

What for, you'll ask. Beats me.

Here's the article from Reuters:

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian authorities detained a Portuguese man at Sao Paulo's international airport with 200 birds in his bag, police said on Thursday.

Customs officials found 65 of 200 Canary birds dead, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement. Police will charge the man, who arrived from Peru and resides in Brazil, with animal trafficking, a federal police officer at the airport said.

The remaining live birds will be sent back to Peru by plane, in more humane conditions.

William's Got An Omnia

2008-09-28T08:09:00.003+08:00

So it was either a HTC Touch Diamond or a Samsung Omnia.

HTC Touch Diamond had a 4 gb cache, and Omnia came with 8 gb and 16gb.

At 16gb, Omnia was the same price as a 4 gb HTC Touch Diamond. Yes, I admit, Diamond has a far sleeker interface. The petite promoter couldn't stop emphasizing the silky smooth design of the Diamond. She told me Diamond had a weak battery though. I've read about the lousy battery life online as well, so I believed her. And I've seen pretty good reviews of Omnia's lasting battery.

So what do I like about Omnia?

First of all, I like the Opera browser. I like the streaming video player as well, as it allows me to watch youtube videos directly from the site. I've also used windows mobile before, so I'm familiar with the interface. I like the drag and drop style on the desktop, and the customizable widgets.

So, why the Omnia and not the iPhone?

Simple. Omnia has a longer battery life and it's removable as well. It also has a better camera than the iPhone. And it's cheaper too. I would also believe windows mobile supports a lot of applications.

So.. Omnia for the win!

Mama's Milk Ice Cream Cone, Anyone?

2008-09-26T09:00:00.003+08:00

Fearful of munching on an ice cream cone tainted with melamine?
Fret not. Here comes Ben & Jerry's innovative ice cream idea - to make use of Nannies' eh.. milk.
Here's the full article from Yahoo News:

WATERBURY, Vt. - Mooove over, Holsteins. PETA wants world-famous Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream to tap nursing moms, rather than cows, for the milk used in its ice cream.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the ice cream maker to begin using breast milk in its products instead of cow's milk, saying it would reduce the suffering of cows and calves and give ice cream lovers a healthier product.
The idea got a cool reception Thursday from Ben & Jerry's officials, the company's customers and even La Leche League International, the world's oldest breast-feeding support organization, which promotes the practice — for babies, anyway.
PETA wrote a letter to company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday, telling them cow's milk is hazardous and that milking them is cruel.
"If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits," wrote Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of the animal rights advocacy group. She said dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies and obesity.
Ashley Byrne, a campaign coordinator for PETA, acknowledged the implausibility of substituting breast milk for cow's milk, but said it's no stranger than humans consuming the milk of another species.
"We're aware this idea is somewhat absurd, and that putting it into practice is a stretch. At the time same, it's pretty absurd for us to be drinking the milk of cows," she said.
It takes about 12 pounds — or 1 1/2 gallons of milk — to make a gallon of ice cream. Ben & Jerry's, which gets its milk exclusively from Vermont cows, won't say how much milk it uses or how much ice cream it sells.
As a standardized product under federal regulations, ice cream must be made with milk from healthy cows. Ice cream made from goat's milk, for example, would have to be labeled as such.
Presumably, so would mother's milk ice cream.
To Ben & Jerry's, the idea is udderly ridiculous.
"We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child," spokesman Sean Greenwood said in an e-mail. He didn't respond to requests for an interview.
Leon Berthiaume, general manager of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, which provides milk products to Ben & Jerry's, called the dairy products "among the safest in the world."
"Milk from cows has long-term health benefits and has been proven to be safe and healthy and an important part of the American diet for generations," he said. "I'm not ready to make that change."
Cow's milk and mother's milk aren't interchangeable, according to La Leche spokeswoman Jane Crouse, who says breast milk is a dynamic substance that's different with each woman and each child and might have difficulty being processed into ice cream.
Then there's the question of who would provide the milk, and whether they'd be paid.
"Some women feel compelled to donate milk to a milk bank for adopted babies, or for someone who's ill or unable to breast feed. There's plenty of anecdotal evidence about sisters who nurse each others' babies. There's a population of women very willing to share their milk. Whether there's enough to do it for a commercial entity, who can say?" she said.
At the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, consumers gave a collective to the idea Thursday.
"It's kind of creepy," said Jeff Waugh, 42, of Dayton, Ohio.
"I think it's a little nutty," said the Rev. Roger Wooton, 83, of Malden, Mass., finishing up a cup of Heath Bar Crunch.
"How would they get all that milk?" said his wife, Jane Wooton, 77.
Jen Wahlbrink, 34, of Phoenix, who breast-fed her 11-month-old son, Cameron, said she wouldn't touch ice cream made from mother's milk. She remembers her nursing days — and not that fondly.
"The (breast) pumps just weren't that much fun. You really do feel like a cow," she said, cradling her son in her hands.

5 More Items Found Containing Melamine

2008-09-25T15:45:00.012+08:00

SINGAPORE - 5 new items were detected containing melamine content.
The 5 products are:

Dutch Lady banana flavoured milk
Dutch Lady honedew flavoured milk
Silang - House of Steamed Potato - potato cracker
Puffed Rice Rolls - butter corn flavour
Puffed Rice Rolls - cheese flavour

The 3 products that were already banned are:

Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit bar Yoghurt Flavoured Ice Confection
Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk
White Rabbit Creamy Candy

Here's the full article from the Straits Times:

FIVE more products imported from China have been found to contain melamine, bringing the number of tainted Chinese diary products in Singapore to eight.
Two are flavoured milk and three are confectioneries containing milk powder as an ingredient, said the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) in a statement on Wednesday.
The affected items are Dutch Lady banana flavoured milk, Dutch Lady honeydew flavoured milk, Silang - House of Steamed Potato - potato cracker, Puffed Rice Rolls - butter corn flavour; and Puffed Rice Rolls - cheese flavour.
The other products which were earlier found to be contaminated with melamine are Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection, Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk and White Rabbit Creamy Candy
The chemical, normally found in plastics, has been blamed for killing at least three babies in China and leaving more than 50,000 others with problems like kidney stones.
At least 12 countries have banned diary products imported from China.
AVA advised the public not to be unduly concerned as it has suspended the import and sale of all milk and milk products from China since Sept 19.
'We would also like to assure the public that the levels of melamine detected in the products are low and hence unlikely to result in adverse health effects,' it said.
'Consumers have to consume large quantities of the contaminated products over a prolonged period of time to have any potential ill effects on health.'
AVA said an adult weighing 60 kg or a child weighing 30 kg can ingest 37.8 mg of melamine and 18.9 mg of melamine respectively every day over a lifetime without any appreciable health risk.
Since last week, the authority has tested over 100 milk products for melamine, with 50 to 80 more samples being tested each day.
AVA will turn its attention to other products where content is a concern, such as cereals, after it has tested all the 400-odd samples of milk and milk products.
On Tuesday, some 1,800 litres of frozen yoghurt bars were destroyed at the Tuas incinerator.

Man Charged For Farting At Cop

2008-09-25T14:44:00.006+08:00

A West Virginian man farted at a police officer and got charged as a result.
I think it's actually pretty funny of him to do so, but to charge him just for this? Not so cool.
Here's the full article from Yahoo News:

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia man who police said passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer.
Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg, was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety tests before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test.
As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and "passed gas loudly," the complaint said.
Cruz, according to complaint, then fanned the gas toward the officer.
"The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Patrolman Parsons," the complaint alleged.
He was also charged with driving under the influence, driving without headlights and two counts of obstruction.
Cruz acknowledged passing gas, but said he didn't move his chair toward the officer nor aim gas at the patrolman. He said he had an upset stomach at the time, but police denied his request to go to the bathroom when he first arrived at the station.
"I couldn't hold it no more," he said.
He also denied being drunk and uncooperative as the police complaint alleged. He added he was upset at being prepared for a breathalyzer test while having an asthma attack. The police statement said he later resisted being secured for a trip to a hospital that he requested for asthma treatment.
Cruz said the officers thought the gas incident was funny when it happened and laughed about it with him.
"This is ridiculous," he said. "I could be facing time."

Google's T-mobile G1

2008-09-25T07:51:00.007+08:00

Google has launched its new cellphone - the T-mobile G1.

The new iPhone competitor is going on the shelves on the 22nd of October in the States.

It's going to take a lot longer before it hits the local market though. I think by the time it reaches Singapore it'll be late 2009.

To be honest, I'm not very impressed with the design of the G1. What I do like about it (at least from what I've read about the product), is the numerous Google applications found in the phone, and Andriod's potential. Most of all I like the prospect of having a compass-like GPS on my cell.

Now that I've read so much about the G1, I wouldn't mind owning one of these babies.

My Samsung's long broken, anyway.

Click here for the official site.

15 Robbers Killed By Poison Gas

2008-09-23T20:07:00.008+08:00

15 robbers were killed while robbing a train.

Here's the article from Reuters:

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - At least 15 Indian train robbers looking to steal diesel from a freight carriage died Saturday after inhaling poison gas stored in another tank they accidentally broke open, police said.

A police patrol party said they found 30 other people lying unconscious on both sides of a forested train track in India's Assam state.

"We found many empty drums which they must have brought with them to fill with oil," a local police officer said by phone.

The train was earlier stopped by dozens of armed people who police believe were members of a gang which frequently steals crude oil from trains and pipelines carrying oil to refineries in the oil-rich state.

Talk about Karma.

Tainted Milk Products

2008-09-22T21:57:00.021+08:00

Rabbit Brand Creamy Candy adds to the list of banned products.

Here is the article from the Straits Times:

SINGAPORE has found traces of a toxic chemical in a third Chinese-made dairy product as a scandal over tainted milk spreads across Asia, authorities said on Sunday.
Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said samples of White Rabbit-brand Creamy Candy imported from China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

Authorities on Friday suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products after finding melamine in samples of a Yili-brand yogurt bar and Dutch Lady-brand strawberry milk manufactured in China. The ban includes milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, biscuits and candy, as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.

'Retailers and importers have been instructed to recall these products and withhold them from sale,' the AVA said in a statement.

'Consumers who have bought the affected products are advised not to consume them.'

Melamine has been blamed in China for four infant deaths and illnesses in 6,200 who drank tainted milk powder. A 3-year-old girl in Hong Kong was also diagnosed with a kidney stone after drinking milk containing melamine.

Since the problem of tainted milk products became public knowledge less than two weeks ago, the crisis has spread to include almost all of China's biggest dairy companies. Their products have been pulled from stores around the country, and in other places such as the self-governing Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.

Starbucks stopped offering milk in its 300 outlets in China.

Hong Kong's two main supermarket chains said Sunday that they were recalling milk powder made by Swiss manufacturer Nestle after a newspaper reported it contains melamine.

Taiwanese company King Car Co. announced it has recalled packs of its Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea containing contaminated milk powder imported from China.

Japan recalled Chinese-made dairy products, and the governments of Malaysia and Brunei announced bans on milk products from China even though neither country currently imports Chinese dairy items. -- AP

We've all probably swallowed some of those melamine-contaminated products.

With the increasing number of items taken off the shelf, staying away from all dairy products would be the best advice anyone could give now. Even the Rabbit Brand Creamy Candy - one of my favourite treats when I was younger - is contaminated!

No ice-cream, no yoghurt, and not even chocolates? How long is this going to last?

David Blaine's Latest Stunt

2008-09-21T22:23:00.037+08:00

David Blaine is back with a new stunt.
He never fails to astonish me with his stupidity.
Here's the full article from the Daily News:

David Blaine is letting it go to his head. Not the fame - the blood.
The magician and endurance stuntman is hanging upside down from a bar by his gravity boots at a private gym in the Flatiron.
He's trying to keep his T-shirt tucked in, deciding whether he looks better with his shades on, and discussing the hazards of pulmonary edema.
It's all part of the preparation for his newest stunt - spending about 60 hours suspended like a bat from a cable over Wollman Rink in Central Park.
"This is a lot more difficult than it looks," Blaine, 35, told the Daily News while training last week for "Dive of Death."
Blaine said he came up with the idea a month ago, drawing inspiration from a famous picture of his hero, Harry Houdini, hanging upside down in a straitjacket.
"I was always obsessed with Houdini," he said. "[But] I never wanted to copy anybody."
The Brooklyn-born illusionist decided to turn Houdini's escape feat into an endurance test and began training for three days of head-first hanging out.
That has mostly involved losing some weight, doing upside down pullups and situps, and just dangling by his feet. Eight hours is the longest he's gone.
At 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 22, he'll be hoisted to a cable 60 feet above the ground, which will become his perch for three days and two nights.
He'll clamp on with electromagnetic boots but won't have a safety net, airbag or harness.
He won't eat and will urinate through a catheter. He can't sleep because he needs to constantly move his legs to keep blood flowing.
Doctors will check on him every few hours. A cherry-picker will lift visitors to his level, and the curious can gawk from the rink's terrace.
ABC will air a live show during the last two hours of the act - 9 to 11 p.m. on Sept. 24 - which ends with Blaine dropping to the ground.
He hasn't worked out the details, but his publicist swears it will be "heart-stopping and death-defying."
Blaine - who was voted the "biggest loser" of 2003 by the BBC after he spent 44 days in a glass box over the Thames - said he knows some people root for him to fail.
That doesn't bother him as much as the folks who think he's a fake.
"I'm more upset when people think it's an elaborate hologram," he said. "I just want people to show up and help me get through it."

Contact Form

2008-09-21T21:44:00.006+08:00

About the Blog

2008-09-21T15:26:00.001+08:00

Hi there.
My name is William.
This blog was created on the 21st of September, 2008.

Cheers,
William