Parents Should Pay Climate Change Tax On Extra Kids: Expert

If you're an Aussie and planning to have children, plan it well...coz as opposed to some goverments which encourage you to have more offspring, below is a suggestion for parents to be reponsible towards the environment for each child they bring into the world.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Parents who have more than two children should be charged a lifelong climate change tax to offset the effect of their extra greenhouse gas emissions, an Australian medical expert has proposed.

They should pay 5,000 dollars (4,400 US) a head for each extra child and up to 800 dollars every year thereafter, according to the plan published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
In contrast, contraceptives and sterilisation procedures would be eligible for carbon credits, suggested Professor Barry Walters at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth.
"Every family choosing to have more than a defined number of children should be charged a carbon tax that would fund the planting of enough trees to offset the carbon cost generated by a new human being," he wrote.
Walters, an obstetrician, made his proposal in a letter in which he criticised the government's payment of a 4,000 dollar "baby bonus" in a bid to boost the birth rate in this sparsely-populated country of 21 million people.
Paying parents extra for every baby fuelled more emissions and contributed to global warming, he said, adding that the bonus should be replaced with a "baby levy" in line with the "polluter pays" principle.
And Professor Garry Egger, director of the New South Wales Centre for Health Promotion and Research, agreed.
"Population remains crucial to all environmental considerations," he wrote. "The debate (around population control) needs to be reopened as part of a second ecological revolution."

Need Hair Cut? IC, Please!

New licences for new year
By K.W. MAK

Source: www.thestar.com.my

WITH immediate effect, all hair salons, beauty centres, massage parlours and cyber cafes in Petaling Jaya will have to make fresh applications for licences if they want to continue operations next year.
Instead of the normal annual re-newal of the licences for these businesses this year, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) now requires the operators to submit completely fresh applications, accompanied by deposits of between RM1,000 and RM10,000. This means that building renovation plans must also be attached to the applications.
Another new requirement is the compulsory registration of customers of their names, identity card numbers, nationality and addresses. The records must be available for inspection by council officers at any time.
Massage businesses operated by the blind are not exempted from ruling. They would have to pay a RM1,000 deposit to get their licen-ces. The normal massage parlours and spa centres have to deposit RM10,000 each for their licences.
Several hair salon and massage parlour owners have approached StarMetro to complain about the financial burden and inconvenience caused by the new ruling. None of them, however, was willing to be identified for fear of being victimised or blacklisted by the council.
“We have been in business for the past 10 years and all this while we have only been paying for our licen-ce. So, why do they want us to pay a deposit now?” a hair salon owner said.
He produced a letter from the council dated Nov 23, telling the business owners to comply with the rules before Nov 27.
“If we are renting the premises from the council, then I understand the need to pay a deposit but they don’t even give a reason for the deposit. So now, I will have RM1,000 locked away so long as I’m in business. That’s not fair and it is a burden on my business,” he said.
On the registration of customers, the operators are worried that walk-in customers would find it a hassle to provide all the details required. Some may object to the registration and stop frequenting their shops.
A council licensing department officer said, however, that hair salons would not need to get all the details but just the names and identity card numbers of their customers.
The officer said a more detailed explanation on the requirement would be given to business operators when they send in their fresh applications for the licences.
When contacted, Kampung Tunku assemblyman and MBPJ councillor Datuk Dr Wong Sai Hou said the new ruling was implemented because there were new bylaws passed by the state for all municipal councils to follow.
“The problem isn’t with the policy but with the way the licensing department is implementing it,” Dr Wong said.
Wong said he had received several complaints on the matter, as the department was asking businesses to submit a fresh application, which would require all documents like renovation plans and floor plans.
“The issue is with the circular by the licensing department. The councillors were only involved in debating on the policy. The implementation process is left to the departments,” Dr Wong said.
“I feel there can be some improvement. I will ask for a review of the need to submit the full documentation to the council because all it really needs is the floor plans to calculate how much to charge the businesses,” he said.
On the matter of deposit, Dr Wong said it was to ensure the cleanliness of the business premises as per the new guidelines from the state government.
He said that if businesses found it unreasonable, they could appeal for a review from the council.

The Hidden Facts Of Our Hands

23 November 2007
What your hands reveal about your health

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

I always try to shake hands when I meet a patient for the first time. I'm not just being polite - your hands are packed with information about your general health. In fact, doctors can often tell more about your health by your hands than your face.
From skin rashes and shakiness to the shape of your fingers and the state of your nails, your hands are a trail of red hot clues.
Handshakes and shaky hands
An innocent hand shake can often give doctors a clue as to how anxious you are - you might have unusually hot or sweaty palms. But this can also indicate an overactive thyroid or perhaps another type of gland problem.
GPs may not be consciously assessing your endocrine system as we greet you, but we’re likely to notice anything unusual.
At the same time, your doctor could be alert to any bony deformities or painful areas in your hand - though he or she will try not to make you wince with their grip. People with osteoarthritis often have hard bony lumps around the joints of their fingers, especially the joint nearest the fingertips. These are called Heberden’s nodes, named after the prominent 18th century English physician William Heberden.
It's thanks to another British physician that I might check for a particular type of tremor in your hands. James Parkinson documented the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in 1817 in his Essay on the Shaking Palsy. The tremor of Parkinson's classically has a frequency of about 4-5Hz, is worse at rest, and improves on movement.
There are other tremors, too. An 'essential' tremor is more rapid and, if you've got warm moist palms, might get me thinking about your thyroid. On the other hand, it could be down to alcohol withdrawal if you’re alcoholic, or simply something you've inherited.
Why is he looking at my hands?
After a handshake and a check for any tremor, your GP may at some point later in the consultation take your hands and have a really good look at them because they contain important clues about your health and habits.
Tobacco stains are a giveaway - you may say you're not smoking any more, but your yellow-brown fingers can betray you.
Your hands can also tell your doctor a lot about the state of your liver. One of the classic signs of liver disease is reddening of the skin on your palms, typically the side where your little finger is, known as palmar erythema.
There are other causes and it doesn't always mean something's wrong, but sometimes it can point your GP in the right direction.
Another possible sign of liver disease is the spider naevus – a central capillary with several fine blood vessels running out from it, a bit like a spider's legs. They can occur anywhere on the skin but hands are a common site.
Lots of us have the odd spider naevus, but if you have many it's worth having them checked out. People with alcoholic liver disease often have both multiple spider naevi and palmar erythema.
Dupytren's contracture has become famous as a problem former prime minister Margaret Thatcher has developed. A thickening of the tissues in the palm of the hand slowly causes some of the fingers to bend over into the palm, forming a sort of claw. It typically affects the ring finger first.
Doctors don't yet know why this tissue becomes thickened. It seems to run in families, but it's more common in people with cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, epilepsy and alcohol dependence.
One of the most striking things your doctor looks for is 'clubbing'. This is where the soft tissue around the ends of your fingers and toes increases, and your fingers end up looking like matchsticks with a sort of clubbed end.
Again, no one knows why it happens but it's associated with a range of conditions, from serious lung disease to liver cirrhosis or inflammatory bowel diseases.
Nails and health
Your nails can tell a fascinating story about your health - past and present.
The reason you're asked to remove any nail varnish when you're about to have an operation is that one of the easiest ways to check how much oxygen there is in your blood is by looking at your nails - they turn from a healthy pink to a dusky blue colour if you’re low on oxygen. Nail varnish could conceal an important clue to how you are.
Hollowed-out, spoon-shaped nails - known as koilonychia in the trade - can be normal in children and they grow out of it, but sometimes it can be a sign of iron deficiency.
Pitting of the nails - tiny depressions in the nail plate - is classically seen in psoriasis. But you can also get it in a variety of other strange-sounding diseases such as sarcoidosis and pemphigus.
Splinter haemorrhages are long, thin, vertical red or brown lines beneath the nail. They're caused by blood leaking from capillaries, often after the nail's been damaged, or because of psoriasis or a fungal infection.
They can sometimes be a sign of something called bacterial endocarditis - a serious infection of the heart valves.
Horizontal lines (depressions) across the nails, called Beau’s lines, can provide a fascinating history of trauma or illness. They rarely represent anything serious, but they're caused by any disease severe enough to disrupt nail growth.
Knowing that nails grow at a rate of 1mm every six to ten days, you can estimate the timing of the disease by measuring the distance from the line to the nail bed.
Children and healthy adults commonly have one or more white lines or spots on one or more nails. These can appear in different places on different nails, they don’t span the nail and are nothing to worry about. They’re thought to be due to random trauma to the nail bed.
All of which explains why your GP might take a close look at your hands.

Dr Graham Easton works in a London GP practice with around 10,000 patients. It has three GP partners, three salaried doctors and fully computerised medical records. His medical training was at The Royal London Hospital. He's also an experienced medical journalist who has worked for BBC Radio Science and the British Medical Journal.

Why Women Lie

No, I'm not advocating that women lie and that they justify this action with rather logical reasons...well actually, now that I've thought about it, yeah, it does sound like women are able to lie and justify the reason(s) for it rather convincingly too! Ain't we talented?

This is just for laughs, forwarded to me by my best friend, so read and enjoy.

One day, a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river and her thimble fell into the river.

When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"

The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and she needed the thimble to make her living.
The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden thimble.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord again went down and came up with a silver thimble.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

Again the seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord went down again and came up with a wooden thimble.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

"The seamstress replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.
Some time later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank and her husband fell into the river.

When she cried out the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are you crying?"

"Oh, Lord, my husband has fallen into the water!"

The Lord went down into the water and came up with Mel Gibson.

"Is this your husband?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the seamstress.

The Lord was furious, "You lied! That is an untruth!"

The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to Mel Gibson, you would have come up with Tom Cruise. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Then, If Had I said 'yes' you would have given me all three. Lord, I am a poor woman and am not able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S WHY I said yes to Mel Gibson."
The moral of this story is:

Whenever a woman lies, it is for a good and honourable reason and for the benefit of others. That's our story and... we're sticking to it!
CHEERS FOR ALL WOMEN!

Sickening

First, we have a sick maniac doing this:

Tragic news for housewife who went to work
BY ANDREW SAGAYAM

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/

GOMBAK: The mother had only started working about a month ago after years as a housewife. They had been looking for someone to look after their older daughter.
Their only son was away at a boarding school and their younger daughter was at the baby-sitter's place. Nine-year-old Preeshena Varshiny was home alone.
On Thursday, the family paid a heavy price for leaving her alone without a minder.
The little girl was raped, sodomised and murdered before being pushed off the balcony at the posh Casa Mila Tower condominium in Selayang.
Police believe someone with access to the condominium could have been responsible for the vicious crime.
The condominium is a gated community and anyone who wants to access the premise must first report to the guardhouse.
“We are investigating this,” Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Abdullah said, adding that police also believed somebody at the condominium could have seen the girl being lured out from her unit.
Those with information can call Gombak district police headquarters at 03-6138 5222 or the Rakan COP hotline at 03-2115 9999 or send an SMS to 32728, or log on to www.rakancop.net.
He said initial police investigation has ruled out robbery or break-in as a motive.
The source also said police have found a piece of paper with Preeshena’s home telephone number in a vacant unit on the second floor of the same block where she lived.
Police believe Preeshena put up a struggle before she was pushed off the balcony. A window of the unit was found ajar when police inspected it.
Initially, police had thought Preeshena had slipped and fallen to her death.
However, when post mortem results revealed that the SRK St Mary’s pupil, who suffered a broken right arm and multiple bruises on her chest, back and private parts, was raped and sodomised, police reclassified the case as murder.
The victim’s father, who declined to be named, said he believed the person responsible for the killing had monitored the family’s movement.
The father, a marketing and technical manager, said they rarely heard any crime committed at their condominium since they moved in there two-and-a-half years ago.
The 40-year-old said that Preeshena had called him on Wednesday and informed him that someone had knocked on their front door loudly. The father told her not to open the door.
On Thursday, Preeshena was found sprawled on the ground floor by a security guard. She was clad in a blue T-shirt and shorts. The keys to her condominium unit were found nearby her body.

Then, we have a sickening follow-up news as follows:

Shahrizat appalled, wants parents questioned

Source: www.nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Officers from the Welfare Department are expected to interview the parents of the girl who was raped and murdered on Thursday.
Preeshena Varshiny, 9, was raped, sodomised and thrown off the balcony of her condominium unit.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said she was "appalled" that Preeshena's parents had left their daughter home alone.

"I'm sad to say this, but we have to talk to the parents and ask them why she was left alone and not sent to the babysitter like her sister. She's only 9. I will be sending my officers there to find out."

"It sickens me to hear of such cases. I want the police to go all out to find the person responsible for this. Do a manhunt if you have to."
"I'm sure the killer(s) are probably still in the vicinity of the condominium, and could be easily located if all parties co-operate to find them. Since it happened in a flat, it is much easier to trace the perpetrators.

"The police and people living in the neighbourhood must co-operate in this case. I'm sure someone there knows what happened."

Shahrizat said the government could only do so much to protect young children from being victimised. It was society that had the most important role to play.

"Neighbours have to be nosy and alert the authorities if they feel something fishy is going on, especially when it involves children."

Then again, we have this coming our way too:

Make more babies, Chinese told

Source: www.thestar.com.my
SIBU: The Chinese should make more babies to arrest the community’s dwindling birth rate.
State Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Wong Soon Koh said lower birth rate had resulted in the country’s Chinese population plunging from 37% in 1957 to 25% in 2005.
“This will slip further to 24% by 2010 or a drop of 1% in every five years,” he said at the United Chinese Association’s 30th anniversary dinner.
He also voiced his concern on the high number of Chinese migrating to other countries.
He said that to stop such migration Chinese parents should enrol their children into the local universities instead of sending them abroad.
“There are good colleges and universities in this country to cater for the local population.
“There is no need to send their children abroad for further education,” said Wong.

And what even more sickening is that Nurin's killer is still on the loose, at least, that's what I gather from media reports.

Arnie says marijuana 'not a drug'

Arnie says marijuana 'not a drug'

The governor of California says marijuana is not a drug, a British magazine reported today.
Arnold Schwarzenegger told the British edition of GQ magazine that he had not taken drugs.
The former bodybuilder and Hollywood star has acknowledged using marijuana in the 1970s and was shown smoking a joint in the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron.
"That is not a drug. It's a leaf," Schwarzenegger told GQ.
"My drug was pumping iron, trust me," he added.
In an interview for the magazine's December issue, Schwarzenegger refused to condemn politicians who declined to answer questions about drug use.
"What would you rather have? A politician taking stuff and not saying, but making the best decisions and improving things? Or a politician who names all the drugs he or she has taken but makes lousy decisions for the country?" Schwarzenegger was quoted as saying.
"A politician's job is to do what's best for the people and to improve the country, the economy, the environment. Why should I care if a politician takes sleeping pills every night so long as he can do his job?"
In the same interview, Schwarzenegger listed former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left office in June, as one of the greatest leaders in history, alongside former South African President Nelson Mandela, US Presidents John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Asked if he would include US President George W Bush on the list, Schwarzenegger - a Republican - said: "I would say that I was ... very fond of his father. I worked for President Bush Senior and he was a great man."
"I think his son does some great things and there are some other things I don't agree with."
AP

Eventful Birthday

This birthday was rather eventful.

Though the day was a usual working day, it started off with an emergency evacuation and fire drill which involved all occupants of Menaraa MAA. It also witnessed the participation of the police, ambulance as well as the fire and rescue department.So for about 45 minutes today, hundreds of us had to leave our workstation and stand at the open air car park which by the way, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is smack next to the cemetery.So there we were, standing in the hot sun, chatting away and disturbing of course, our handsome and sweet as ever, floor fire marshall.

Now you see him without the specs...

and now you see him with it!

Aww, isn't he so sweet?

If you are on level P1 of Menara MAA, make sure you remember this cute guy as he's the one you'll need to follow and check your attendance with during emergency evacuations.

And I'm not kidding you when I say he takes his 'fire marshall' duty of P1 seriously, he called all our names loud and clear to ensure we are all safe and sound. Such is the amazing commitment of Calvin whenever you assign him to do something.

Back home on my birthday, my husband decided to have a quiet celebration like this:

The cake was small and simple but like I told my husband, the small cake meant the world to me :-)

And the above cute teddy and card came from my mother and father-in-law. Cute ain't it?

Roachy Scare

Yikes! Can someone please take to task, whoever is responsible, for this dead-roach-in-bread incident?

A surprise in his loaf of bread
By Rizalman Hammim
Source: www.nst.com.my

SEREMBAN: A construction supervisor and his wife nearly had a little “extra protein” in their sandwiches on Thursday.
Mohd Rafi Mohd Kamal found a dead cockroach in a loaf of bread he bought from a grocery shop near his Seremban 2 home.
“I didn’t notice anything wrong with the bread until I got to the last few slices. I found a dead cockroach sandwiched between them,” said the 31-year-old.
He says his wife Shukrina Abdullah fell ill after eating a few slices from the same end of the loaf where the cockroach was found.
“She was vomiting and had diarrhoea. The doctor said it might have been caused by the contaminated bread,” said Rafi, adding that he noticed a few spots of mould on the bread even though the expiry date on the label was Oct 6.
Shukrina lodged a police report on the same day but Rafi said when he contacted the manufacturer, the company tried to brush off his complaint.
“They asked me to send the bread to them so they could conduct tests and investigate the matter.
“I declined because I want the tests to be done by a neutral body,” he said.
He lodged a report and submitted the bread to the Negri Sembilan health department for testing yesterday.
“My next move depends on the test results,” he said.
The manufacturer’s Nilai facility was temporarily closed down last year because it was unhygienic, and the company was employing illegal workers as well as using cooking oil without a halal certification.

A New Heart & A Broken Heart

I felt extremely humbled after reading the words spoken by the late heart donor's father when describing why he chose to donate his son's heart to Tee Hui Yi.

It goes to show only one thing - however much we try to differentiate ourselves based on race, religion, age and status in life, when it comes down to the issue of life and death, we stand united as one human race.

Hui Yee gets a new heart
By LOH FOON FONG

Source: www.thestar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: Mechanical heart girl Tee Hui Yi successfully underwent a heart transplant yesterday after receiving the organ from an accident patient who died in Ipoh on Wednesday.
Several of the 15-year-old donor's organs were donated.
Hui Yi, 14, was wheeled into the National Heart Institute (IJN) operating theatre at 10.45pm on Wednesday and surgery for heart-donor implantation started at 1.30am, according to a statement issued by IJN.
The boy's heart and lungs were flown into Subang Airport from Ipoh Hospital through the Royal Malaysian Air Force mercy flight.
The IJN transplant team, headed by chief cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub and Heart and Lung Transplant clinical director Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib performed the surgery simultaneously with another double lung transplant on a 39-year-old man suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (lung failure).
Six cardiothoracic surgeons, six anaesthetists, one physician from the Respiratory Research Institute and 30 paramedics were involved in the surgeries.
The whole surgery process lasted more than 10 hours and the recipients were wheeled out of the operation theatre to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at 9.05am yesterday.
Both recipients remain in critical condition.
Hui Yi currently requires temporary mechanical support for the new heart to stabilise.
She has been carrying a mechanical heart assist device and has waited for a donor heart for more than a year. Her mother Dina Bato Sam Bua, 46, has been steadfastly by her side since she was warded at IJN.
Asked how long Hui Yi will be at the ICU, IJN CEO Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus said it would depend on her condition.
“Let’s all pray for her recovery,” he said.
Dina and her husband Tee Ah Soon, 51, were not ready for comments, he said.
No further information was available about the 39-year-old man except that he had waited for lung transplant for eight months.
To date, IJN has performed 18 heart transplants since 1997 and three lung transplants since 2005. There are 13 more patients needing heart and lung transplants on the waiting list.
In Ipoh, the father of the donor said he might have lost his son but he felt that he had gained a foster daughter, HAH FOONG LIAN reports.
The man, who wants to remain anonymous, said he felt happy when he received a telephone call from a doctor telling him that his son’s heart had been successfully transplanted to Hui Yi.
“Although I have lost a son, I now feel like I have a foster daughter,” he said.
The donor’s father also expressed surprised that the press knew the family’s whereabouts.
He said the family did not ask for money or any word of thanks.
The only condition he had asked of the hospital was to not reveal the identity of his son.
On why he agreed for his son to be an organ donor, he said: “My son was God’s gift to me. Now, it is time to return the gift to God.”

While I felt really good inside after reading the above piece, I came across this:

'RM3.5m' wedding couple split up

Source: www.nst.com.my

KUANTAN: Datin Puteri Shahanaz Hazlin Hamdan yesterday filed for divorce from her husband, businessman Datuk Roslan Hashim.
Puteri Shahanaz, 25, a part-time model, and Roslan, 51, were married a year ago. Puteri Shahanaz, who is the grandniece of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang, turned up at the Syariah High Court here in a purple baju kurung and pink headscarf.

Her lawyer, Dzulkarnain Mohamad, told the court that efforts to hand the notice of the divorce to Roslan were unsuccessful as he was no longer living at his last known address in Shah Alam.

He applied to the court for more time as Roslan is believed to be living in Pendang, Kedah.
Syariah High Court judge Datuk Abdul Rahman Yunus, in allowing the application, fixed Oct 10 for re-mention.

The couple were married on Sept 9 last year.

Puteri Shahanaz was presented with a hantaran (gift) worth RM444,444.44, a BMW car worth RM250,000, a RM150,000 jewellery set, a 20-carat diamond ring worth RM20,000, designer items and a dowry of RM22,222.22.

The wedding was dubbed by the media as the most expensive wedding of the year.

Roslan claimed to have forked out more than RM3.5 million for the wedding.

The couple’s akad nikah (solemnisation of the marriage) took place at the bride’s residence in Medan Tok Sira, while the reception was held at the Dewan Jubli Perak Sultan Ahmad Shah here.

Roslan divorced his first wife Ruslany Kassim in 1997.

So, in just a year, the RM3.5 million spent on this wedding has gone down the drain. How many heart transplants could that amount finance?
Think about it, long and hard.

Desperate Housewives Must Desperately Apologise

Desperate Housewives racial slur: Philippines wants apology
Source: Agence France-Presse - 10/3/2007 10:25 AM

The Philippine government is to seek an apology from the producers of the hit US television series "Desperate Housewives" for a racial slur against Filipino medics, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said on its web site Wednesday.
The officials cited a recent episode where actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asked whether the person attending to her during a medical consultation "can I check those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."
Asked if the government would seek an apology from the producers of the show, and ABC television network that carries it, executive secretary Eduardo Ermita said: "Yes, I think we should, on behalf of our Filipino professionals."
"On the face, we can look at it as a racial slur. We are looked down upon too much, considering the number of our medical professionals in the US," the Inquirer quoted Ermita as saying.
Ermita likewise appealed to civil society groups and other Filipino organisations in the US to "call the attention" of the show producers, and Hatcher, to the "racial slur."
Filipino consul in Los Angeles Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon wrote a letter of complaint to the ABC network saying that Filipino medical workers were in demand all over the world.
"The US recognises the students of Philippine medical and nursing schools and in general, does not require additional schooling in the US for Filipino healthcare professionals," she added.
Aragon also said many Americans go to the Philippines for medical services that they cannot afford at home, the foreign department said in a statement.

Court Allows Teen To Marry Lover

Court allows teen to marry lover
By : Brenda Lim
Source: www.nst.com.my

IPOH: After running away from home and spending a night in a police lock-up early last month, 18-year-old Rajinder Kaur will finally be able to marry the man of her choice.
The High Court on Monday granted an order which allowed Rajinder to marry 22-year-old L. Jagathiesan. From the witness stand Rajinder declared publicly that Jagathiesan, a security guard, was her husband, causing a stir among lawyers and members of the public who were present in court. When judge Datuk V.T. Singham asked how this was possible as she was still single, Rajinder said: “We've already had intimate relations. He is my husband.”

When asked about her father objecting to the “marriage", she told the court it was because they were of different races - she a Punjabi and Jagathiesan, a Tamil.
Rajinder also said that she had come to court voluntarily and was not influenced or forced by anyone to make her statements.

Jagathiesan's father, T. Logidasan, had filed a suit at the end of August seeking a court order to allow his son and Rajinder to be married.

Rajinder could not get consent from her father, which was necessary for marriages involving persons under the age of 21.

According to affidavits filed with the court, Rajinder knew Jagathiesan since she was 14 years old while she was still studying at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bidor.

When her parents objected to the relationship, she ran away from home and lodged a police report at the Tapah police station on July 11.

In her report, she said that she was voluntarily leaving with Jagathiesan whom she loved and wanted to be with.

She also claimed that her family beat her, treated her roughly, and were making arrangements for her to marry another man.

“If I can't marry the one I love, I would rather kill myself than marry someone else,” she said in her police report, claiming that she was afraid of her family interfering and was appealing to the police for help.

On the same day, her parents lodged two police reports.

White vs Brown

I know that they say modern Indian males (especially South Indians) are now less choosy when it comes to the skin colour of their wife-to-be, but, somehow, I still know of those who insist on marrying only those with fair complexion - despite the fact that they themselves aren't any brighter than the colour of my favourite American chocolate cake.

Why the bias and fuss, you ask?

I never knew and till today, I still find it puzzling that having 'fair skin' is among the top criteria for Indian men when seeking life partners.

Of course, some of my chauvinistic Indian male friends defend their preference which is ultimately colour-discrimination, by saying that they are only ensuring that their future generation looks better then them.

You want me to buy this story? Get out of here!

Beyond the pale?
By Naresh Puri
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

One of Bollywood's biggest film stars is being criticised by Asian campaigners for promoting a skin-lightening cream - a product that is now on the shelves of British shops.
The 40-second advertisement from India starts like so many others promoting razors or hair dye - but it's an ad with a very big difference.
There's a man who has no luck with the girls. He has markedly darker skin than his friends and the girl he is after. In a real song-and-dance Bollywood extravaganza, one of the biggest heart throbs of Indian cinema, Shahrukh Khan, hands over a cream to the hapless chap, along with some mild admonishment.
Within a few weeks, the young man has turned much lighter-skinned and confident. As he strides down the road like a modern-day answer to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, the girls start flocking to him and chanting: "Hi handsome, hi handsome." Khan comes back into view with the product, Fair and Handsome.
The skin-lightening cream for men, along with its more feminine counterparts, has found its way into Asian supermarkets and stores in the UK.
While Khan's advert has not been shown yet in the UK, it too has made its way to British consumers via YouTube. And the product's success or failure in the British market place may say something about the nature of beauty and the politics of race.
Kiran Kaur - a Sikh human rights activist in west London, one of the epicentres of Asian cultural life in the UK - says the arrival of Fair and Handsome, with a Bollywood name in tow, is a step back in time.
'Age-old prejudices'
"The ad simply reinforces the idea that you've got to be fair to be anything in life," says Kiran. "It says that if you're fair and good looking, you'll be a wonderful daughter-in-law or husband, your skin colour determines how successful you'll be in life. The ad reinforces age-old prejudices."
The skin-lightening industry is worth at least £100m in India and the Fair-and-Handsome-for-Men range is the latest product from one of the market's big players.
Manufacturers say they are responding to a demand, but in recent years protests in India have seen at least one advert taken off air. Other lightening products targeted at black women have been on sale for years, some of them containing chemicals banned for years from British goods.
Actress Rani Moorthy knows first hand about the prejudice suffered by Asians with darker skin. She is currently touring the UK with her play that focuses on skin colour, Shades of Brown.
"When I was a child my grandmother took me to one side and said make sure you're good at something, no man will ever marry you for your looks," she says.
"I knew this was because I was dark skinned. It was treated as a disease and every Friday I had to have oil baths in an attempt to lighten my skin".
'A huge star'
She feels a major Bollywood star backing a skin-lightening cream will intensify the prejudice that already exists within the South Asian community, in which the darker skinned can find themselves looked down upon - just as it still happens in parts of India today.
"Deep within this 5,000-year-old culture is the thought that high ideals, nobility and high caste are associated with fair skin," she says. "Dark skin is regarded as low status and low caste."
But what chance do voices like Rani's stand against the screen presence of Shahrukh Khan? Perhaps the best measure of Khan's influence on British Asians is to look at the success of his films.
Dil Se, released in 1998, was the first Bollywood movie to make it into the British box office Top 10.
The film's key clips, including an exhilarating dance upon a moving train, have totted up more than one million hits on YouTube. Khan, a big enough brand to be known just as SRK, is the equivalent of Tom Cruise - and then some.
His Fair-and-Handsome advert won't be missed by British Asians as they follow every Bollywood move, says Sunny Hundal, the editor of Asians in Media, a website that charts the rise of British Asian culture.

'Immoral'
"Shahrukh Khan is a huge star in India and his endorsement will no doubt raise the profile of this product," he says. "Impressionable young men will get the idea that if they want to be attractive like him, they should also use it."
"The cult of media personality, especially cricket or Bollywood stars, is a much bigger phenomena in India and so brands are much more partial to celebrity endorsements.
Khan is Bollywood's 'Tom Cruise'"But what SRK is essentially doing is confirming and promoting the condescending attitude that many Indians have towards dark-coloured skin. His endorsement is completely immoral."
Neither the manufacturers nor a spokesman for Khan would comment on his involvement in the campaign.
But Manish Shah, a distributor for Fair and Handsome says skin lightening creams are very important because "everybody wants to look really good".
"They're not bad for the skin," he says. "If people have an inferiority complex because of their skin colour, then this product will really help. It does what it says. It makes you fair and handsome. There's a lot of interest in this product and quite simply it makes people look really good."

Durveish Turns Nine

My second nephew, Durveish, turns nine today.

Happy birthday to Durveish:-)



Left to right: Big brother Avinaash & Durveish

Dead Body In Bag: It's Nurin

This is nothing short of a barbaric act committed upon an innocent soul, who must have been totally defenseless throughout her horrifying moments of torture.

I don't know her, I don't know her parents but my heart grieves...it's painful to see a complete stranger undergoing such harsh treatment - can you imagine what it would be like for her parents and loved ones?

If the dead is indeed Nurin, my deepest sympathy to her parents. May her soul rest in peace and may God see to it that the perpetrator is justly dealt with.

DNA tests: Body found in bag is Nurin

Source: www.thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The police have said that DNA tests on the body found stuffed in a sports bag on Monday in Petaling Jaya show that it is that of missing girl Nurin Jazlin Jazimin.
Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed on Thursday said that DNA tests have so far indicated that the body found in a shophouse at Jalan PJS1, Petaling Jaya Utama is that of Nurin, 8, who had been missing since Aug 20.
At Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Nurin's father Jazimin Abdul Jalil, 33, a taxi driver still denied the body was that of his daughter, reports BERNAMA.
"I am Nurin's father ... I know my daughter better than anyone else. My heart is saying the body is not my daughter.
"If police ask me to take the body, I will accept, I will perform the funeral rites and bury it. But I want the police to pursue the search for Nurin because I know Nurin is still safe out there," he said, speaking to reporters outside the HKL mortuary.
Jazimin added that he was sure the body was not Nurin because of the teeth and the scar that Nurin had.
According to Jazimin, Nurin's teeth did not have gaps between them and she also had a scar on her thigh.
Nurin's mother Norazian Bistaman, 35, said she was ready to accept what the authorities tell her.
"What else can I say. The DNA test shows she is my daughter. I will accept the will of God.
"As a mother, I still hope the body is not my daughter's. Which mother will accept the reality that her daughter was raped and killed brutally.
"Only God knows the extent of my sadness and grief," she said in tears.
Norazian said this year's Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations would be the most joyous and meaningful in her life in the event Nurin was found safe and sound.
"In fact, we've already bought Nurin's Hari Raya dress and I will patiently wait for her return," she added.

Dirty, Dirty Males

Men are dirtier than women

Source:http://www.gulf-dailynews.com/story.aspArticle=194244&Sn=WORL&IssueID=30182

THE gender gap has widened when it comes to hygiene, according to the latest stakeout by the "hand washing police."
One-third of men did not bother to wash after using the bathroom, compared with 12 per cent of women, said researchers who spy on people in US public restrooms.
The study is based on observations last month of more than 6,000 people in four big American cities.
"Guys need to step up to the sink," said Brian Sansoni, spokesman for the Soap and Detergent Association, which co-sponsors the survey and related education campaigns.
Frequent hand washing is the single best thing people can do to avoid getting sick, from colds and the flu to germs lurking in food, doctors say.
Researchers for the American Society for Microbiology found that only 77pc people washed their hands, when it came to public restrooms.
Atlanta's Turner Field baseball stadium again was the worst. Only 57pc of guys there washed up, compared to 95pc of women.
In restrooms at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and Museum of Science and Industry, 81pc of men and women combined washed their hands, compared to 79pc at New York's Penn and Grand Central train stations.

What In The World...

is happening in our country? Have we really become so inhumane and senseless?

Child found sexually assaulted and killed
By RASHITHA A. HAMID
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.aspfile=/2007/9/18/nation/18914532&sec=nation
PETALING JAYA: She was just a little girl. But that did not stop some sick monster from killing her after sexually assaulting her.
Her naked body was stuffed into a sports bag and left at the staircase of a shop lot in PJS1/48 Petaling Utama yesterday.
There were bruises on her neck, suggesting that she may have been strangled. There were also bruises on her hands.
The girl, said to be between six and nine, was initially feared to be eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin who has been reported missing. But Nurin Jazlin’s parents, who rushed to the Hospital Kuala Lumpur mortuary, said it was not their daughter.
A supervisor with a book distributing company Cheng Yan Fang, 32, found the black-and-blue sports bag at 8.30am outside the premises. She thought the bag belonged to her employer who had just returned from Singapore.
Jack Yeoh Huat Lip, 51, the general manager of the company came in 30 minutes later and said the bag was not his.
When he opened it, he was horrified to see a pair of legs. He immediately called the police.
“Saturday was a half day and the office was closed yesterday,” Yeoh said, adding that the supervisor who left the office at 1pm on Saturday did not see anything near the staircase then.
Petaling Jaya police chief Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohd confirmed a post mortem report that the killer had placed a cucumber and a brinjal in the girl’s private parts.
“She must have endured so much pain before she died,” he said.
Police believe the girl, whose identity has not been ascertained, had been dead for more than six hours before her body was found.
Police are appealing to those with missing daughters to call the district police headquarters here at 03-79562222. No arrest has been made yet.

Hit repeatedly for recording proceedings
By MARIAM THANY
Source:http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Monday/Frontpage/20070917090805/Article/index_html

“A SELAYANG Municipal Council representative knocked me on the head with a book,” claimed animal lover Lim Ann Nee, who was among those who attended a meeting with the council on the dog-catching competition at its offi ce, last Friday.
The meeting was attended by Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Malaysian Animal Assisted Therapy Association (PetPositve), Malaysian Animal Rights and Welfare Society (Roar), Malaysian Association for Responsible Pet Ownership (Marpo) and the Coalition of Animal Lovers Malaysia (Calm).
“I was standing outside the MPS building with other animal lovers, waiting for the meeting to be over.
“When PetPositive representatives Anthony Thanasayan and Roar president N. Surendran (Surin) came out from the conference, we were surprised and started to speculate as to what could have happened.
“I started to film what was happening with my camcorder, including the directors leaving the office,” she said.
“I was not aware that a man was staring at me. He shouted ‘Apa you tangkap?’ (What are you recording?) “I switched off my camcorder but when he started to walk towards me, I knew something bad was going to happen and quickly switched it back on to record everything.
“The man realised that I was recording him, and he hit my camcorder.”

She claimed that her alleged assailant used a booklet he was holding and hit her for almost 10 minutes.
“He wanted to hit my head but failed because I was leaning and moving back to protect myself.
“Before he left, he shouted at me ‘Awak stupid and semua sini pergi mampus’ (You’re an idiot and all of you can go ahead and die),” said Lim.
Lim lodged a report at the Sentul police station the same day.
The Malay Mail contacted MPS president Zainal Abidin Azim on the matter, but he refused to comment.
“Since it’s already a police case, I leave it to them to investigate,” he said.
Zainal also denied knowing the alleged assailant and why he was at the meeting.
Calm representative Natasha Fernz, when contacted, said she witnessed the incident.
She also claimed that the man had also disrupted the meeting when they (the NGOs) complained that the meeting room, located on the second floor of MPS’s old building, was not conducive for Thanasayan, who is wheelchair bound.
They requested that the venue be changed to another room in MPS’s new building, which was better-equipped with facilities for the disabled.
She claimed that when the request was made, Lim’s alleged assailant and several other council representatives made snide remarks.
Natasha said after they moved to the new meeting room, they asked the council if the dog-catching competition would be cancelled.
She said that when State Assemblyman Datuk Tang See Hang replied that the competition would not be cancelled, all the NGOs except for representative from the SPCA, decided to walk out.
“Some of the MPS representatives started to shout at us, asking us to sit down. This was when Lim’s alleged attacker tried to stop Thanasayan from leaving, but he was held back by several people.
He even threatened to hit Thanasayan,” claimed Natasha.
She added that the incident continued outside when she saw the man hitting Lim.
She said Thanasayan and Surin had also lodged a police report on the incident.

Two Opposites

On one paradise island in the world:


Scores killed in Thai plane crash
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

At least 88 people have been confirmed killed in a plane crash in the tourist resort of Phuket in southern Thailand.
The aircraft skidded off the runway after landing in heavy rain and exploded into flames.
It was carrying 123 passengers - most of them foreigners - and seven crew.

About 40 people escaped the burning wreckage and were taken to hospital.
Flight OG 269, operated by airline One-Two-Go, had flown to Phuket from the Thai capital, Bangkok.
More than 80 bodies have been recovered and are now lying in a makeshift morgue at Phuket airport.
Survivor
A French tourist aboard a plane behind the one that crashed told AFP news agency she saw the accident happen.
"When the plane landed it caught fire," she said. "We could see the fire coming out of it."
Survivors crawled out of the wreckage through thick smoke, many of them badly burned.
Passenger Parinwit Chusaeng told Thai TV: "I saw passengers engulfed in fire as I stepped over them on the way out of the plane.
"I was afraid that the airplane was going to explode, so I ran away."
Aborted landing?
Phuket Deputy Governor Worapot Ratthaseema said 42 people had been taken to hospital. Five are said to be in critical condition.
Those injured included nationals from Australia, Britain, France, Iran, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
At least 70 of the passengers were foreigners, officials said.
Both the pilot and co-pilot of the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 are among those who escaped.
Survivors say the pilot circled the area hoping for the weather to clear before making his final disastrous approach.
The flight was approaching the airport when the pilot asked to abort the landing, an aviation official told Thai television.
"The control tower allowed it but the aircraft fell to the runway and the body broke," he said.
One-Two-Go is one of Thailand's first budget airlines.
It was set up in December 2003 as a subsidiary of Orient Thai Airways, and services domestic routes.
This is Thailand's deadliest aviation accident since December 1998, when 101 people were killed after a Thai Airways crashed on landing near another southern resort.

And on the other side of the globe, in Down Under:


Australia navy in breast op row
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The navy said breast implants were not to make sailors "look sexy"Australia's opposition Labor Party has questioned the need for female sailors to be given breast enlargements paid for with public money.
An armed forces spokesman defended the operations, saying they were carried out for psychological reasons, not to make sailors "look sexy".
Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said the "holistic needs" of service personnel were considered under defence policy.
But he said breast augmentations were not routinely funded by the military.
"We do consider the broader needs of our people, both physical and psychological," Brig Nikolic said.
"But that is a long way from saying that if someone doesn't like their appearance, Defence will fund things like breast augmentation as a matter of routine - that is just not correct."
He was speaking after one plastic surgeon said he had carried out breast enlargements on two sailors, aged 25 and 32, for A$10,000 (£4,200) each.
Brig Nikolic said such operations were only recommended after a medical evaluation.
But the opposition Labor Party said it wanted details on the cases.
"On the face of it, taxpayer-funded breast enhancement is a questionable practice," said Labor defence spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon.
"I have to say [it] smacks of a government out of touch."

Chocoholism

By admission under no duress - yes, I'm a chocolate lover but no addict.

But when I take a deeper look, I think I find it very hard to resist chocolate and anything chocolaty.

You know, ranging from edible cocoa chocolate to chocolate cakes to chocolate ice cream to chocolate chip cookies to chocolate milk to oh...just about anything remotely laced with chocolate, almost everything on this list gets my taste buds aroused and I mean it.

It's somehow programmed in my mind that chocolate must equal to good taste and great satisfaction! Of course I don't have a problem in keeping my chocolate intake under close watch due to health reasons but then again, chocolates never fail to melt me to my knees (and I don't think I'm alone in this!).

And being such a sucker of chocolates and anything chocolaty - or shall I just say being such a chocoholic - I try so hard to keep up with this global argument about whether chocolate is good for health and it seems to me like this is beginning to be like this 'now it's good and now it's not' kinda thing.

Oh well, the truth be told, its not like any amount of literature on how bad chocolate is for your health has ever stopped me from taking my next bite...and now, after reading the article below, I so agree with the fact that we continue lusting (at least me!) after chocolate due to its 'naughty but nice' appeal.

Chocolate cravings come out of the box
By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News, York
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Our love of chocolate knows no bounds.
We think about it, dream about it, and probably - just sometimes - eat a bit too much of it. Some people even go so far as to claim to be addicted to it.
But what drives our cravings for chocolate?
Some believe it contains mind-bending ingredients that can enhance our moods.
bite, they maintain, and chocolate's psychoactive compounds cause warm and fuzzy feelings to wash over us, making us want more and more.
But Peter Rogers, professor of biological psychology from Bristol University who is speaking at the BA Festival of Science in York, has carried out research that suggests this is not the case.
Not the culprit
To test chocolate's feel-good power, he gave volunteers some tasteless capsules to swallow.
Some contained cocoa powder, which, because it contains a higher concentration of these mood-enhancing chemicals, should cause a marked effect on the volunteers' disposition; other capsules contained nothing but starch.
Professor Rogers said: "We tested how they were feeling afterwards - did they feel a buzz or an elevated mood after eating the cocoa?
"The volunteers did say that they felt a bit more alert and stimulated - but not euphoric. We think any slight stimulation is (down to) the caffeine."
He said that other research had also suggested chocolate's chemical make-up was not the culprit for our lust for the stuff.
"It doesn't stack up," he said.
"A lot of those substances are in other foods that do not have the same appeal as chocolate. Also, the concentration seems too low for them to be having an effect, especially in the UK's favourite type, milk chocolate."
Instead, he suggested that chocoholics were chocoholics because their favourite food was often deemed "naughty but nice".
He explained: "The nice bit is its sweet taste, lovely melt-in-the-mouth texture, and our associations that we have in our food culture - we use it as a gift, a reward and as something to treat ourselves with - which gives it extra appeal.
"On the negative side, it is something we shouldn't eat too much of, it's not a staple food in our diet, it is relatively high in fat and sugar, and therefore potentially unhealthy."
Different strokes
It is this that makes us want it so much. We are wrestling with the desire to eat it because it is so nice; but we restrain ourselves, because we perceive eating it as being naughty.
And this unfulfilled desire, said Professor Rogers, was experienced as a craving, which in turn is attributed to addiction.
Attitudes towards chocolate around the world also backed up this idea that our want for chocolate stems from the values we place upon it, he added.
In the US, he said, a survey of women showed that they mostly craved chocolate at certain points in their menstrual cycle, while in Spain, women said they wanted to eat it most after dinner.
"It is explained by culture and not chemistry," he added.
Tricking the brain
But how can we escape from this chocolate lust that may be all in the mind?
One way, said Professor Rogers, was to try thinking about a piece of fruit each time you thought about chocolate, in the hope that your cravings might transfer to the healthier option.
More realistically though, he suggested that if chocolate consumption was modest, trying to enjoy the experience of eating it rather than feeling bad about it could break the naughty-but-nice cycle.
if this doesn't work and your hankerings for chocolate feel just too overwhelming, then perhaps some other research presented at the BA science festival may bring a little cheer.
Roger Corder, professor of experimental therapeutics at Queen Mary, University of London, has found that eating chocolate can aid a healthy heart.
But not just any old stuff - there is chocolate, and then there is chocolate.
Fresh cocoa beans are a rich source of a type of chemical called a flavinoid, and these molecules have been shown to protect cardiovascular systems.
But by the time cocoa beans find their way into chocolate bars, only a tiny proportion of flavinoids are left. Some are lost through the manufacturing process; and in any case, many products contain relatively little cocoa and relatively large amounts of sugar and fat.
To get optimum heart-boosting effects, the chocolate needs to contain about 75-85% cocoa solids, and about 25g should be eaten a day, the scientist said.
Professor Corder is about to embark on a clinical trial to test chocolate eating's effect on the heart.
He may just find recruiting volunteers for this trial a little easier than normal.

Wisdom

Sumatra: Second Quake Hits

My prayers to those who perished in yet another earthquake in Indonesia and deepest sympathy to the others who are suffering due to Mother Nature's violent way of venting her fury.

Second strong quake hits Sumatra

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Another powerful earthquake has hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a day after the world's strongest tremor so far this year caused extensive damage.
At least nine people were killed and many buildings damaged. But the full scale of the impact has yet to emerge.
Tsunami warnings were repeatedly issued and lifted, as many people ran inland fearing a repeat of the 2004 tsunami.
Thursday's magnitude-7.8 quake hit the same area in southern Sumatra as the tremor of 8.4 on Wednesday.
The second quake struck at 0649 on Thursday (2349 GMT on Wednesday), about 10km (six miles) under the sea, some 185km (115 miles) south-east of the city of Padang, the US Geological Survey says.
It came some 12 hours after the main tremor, about 30km (18 miles) under the sea, 130km (80 miles) south-west of the city of Bengkulu.
At least 40 people have been injured and hundreds of buildings damaged, officials say.
"Many buildings collapsed after this morning's [Thursday's] quake. We're still trying to find out about victims," Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar told a local radio station.
Casualties appear to be lower than first feared, but officials warn that bad communications may be hiding the scale of the impact.
Health officials in the capital Jakarta say teams carrying food and medicine are travelling to the area, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered an emergency team from the army and police.
The United Nations said its was also heading for Sumatra.
Fleeing inland
Wednesday's quake sparked warnings across the Indian Ocean, but only a small wave surge of about 1m (3ft) hit Sumatra, causing little damage.
But about two hours after the quake, Indonesia's meteorology agency said the danger of a serious tsunami had passed. India and Sri Lanka also called off tsunami warnings.
At least a dozen aftershocks were felt later and four tsunami warnings briefly declared and then lifted, the BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from Jakarta.
People have been told to leave their homes on the coast and move inland.
Thousands of people were reported to have spent the night sleeping in the open air in the areas of Benkulu and Padang after the previous quake left them terrified.
Fearful memories
Wednesday's earthquake was one of the most powerful in Indonesia since the tremor that caused the Asian tsunami in 2004.
That measured 8.9 and struck under the sea near the northern Sumatran province of Aceh, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean.
Our correspondent says quakes on this scale are rare and memories of 2004 have made the country terrified of a repeat.
Indonesia, part of the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire", is frequently shaken by earth tremors.

Sex Day: Russian Style To Boost Birth

Ain't this cool?

If you are among those couples planning to have a junior soon - in nine months exactly - then this plan will make you smile.

Better off, if you're a Russion living in Ulyanovsk, you've got more reasons to cheer.

As for the rest, you can keep having a fat hope that something remotely close to this will ever happen here, in our soil, anytime soon.

Read below:

Russian 'sex day' to boost births
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The governor of Ulyanovsk region in Russia is offering prizes to couples who have babies in exactly nine months - on Russia's national day on 12 June.
Sergei Morozov wants couples to take the day off work to have sex. If a baby is born on national day, they will receive cars, TVs or other prizes.
Mr Morozov has declared Wednesday "family contact day" as part of efforts to fight Russia's demographic crisis.
The population has sharply declined since the Soviet Union collapsed.
This is the third year that Ulyanovsk, in central Russia, is offering prizes for babies born on 12 June.
This year, a couple won the grand prize of a sports utility vehicle (SUV).
The initiative seems to be paying off, as the region's birth rate has risen by 4.5% over the last year.
"If there's a good, healthy atmosphere at home within the family, if the husband and wife both love each other and their child, they will be in good spirits... so there'll be a healthy atmosphere throughout the country," Mr Morozov told the Associated Press news agency.
Demographers estimate that Russia could lose 40 million people - almost a third of its current population - by the middle of the century.
A combination of falling birth rates, emigration and an ailing healthcare system has led to the decline.
President Vladimir Putin has introduced a scheme to encourage more children.
Women who have a second or third child are eligible to receive $9,000, which can be used to pay for education or home purchases.

Interesting Conversation

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new Muslim students to stand and.....

Professor: You are a Muslim, aren't you, son?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then?

Hmm?(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student : Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student:No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but not any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir. The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

Grandma In Court

Got this via email from a friend and it was too good not to be shared.

X^x^x^x^x^x^x^x^X

Lawyers should never ask grandmas a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, an elderly grandmother to the stand.

He approached her and asked; "Mrs.. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you're a big disappointment to me. You lie, cheat on your wife, manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."

The lawyer was stunned!

Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs.. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Why, yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster. He's lazy, bigoted and has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the worst in the state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes I know him."

The defense attorney almost died.

The judge asked both lawyers to approach the bench and in a quiet voice said: "If either of you rascals asks her if she knows me, I'll send you to the electric chair."

Pooch Luck

Now, that's what happens when Lady Luck decides to favour you, I guess.

Don't you agree that this is one helluva lucky pooch?

Queen of Mean a.k.a Leona Helmsley must have loved Trouble (that's the name of the dog which inherited $12 million from Helmsley's estate) so, so, so much that the man's best friend became the biggest beneficiary following the death of the master.

The precious four-legged beat 'human' competitors to be the single largest beneficiary from the will of the late master, Helmsley.

If the pooch can talk, am sure it will rebut the US media's nick name for its master - Queen of Mean - to the core.

If you don't call this pooch luck, then what is?

Lucky dog inherits $12m fortune

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

New York hotelier and real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley has left $12m (£5.97m) to her pet dog, Trouble.
The pampered pooch received the largest bequest from Mrs Helmsley's will.
The will also says that when Trouble dies, she is to be buried alongside Mrs Helmsley, who died last week, and her late husband in their mausoleum.
But some human members of Mrs Helmsley's family fared less well, with two of her four grandchildren cut out of the will entirely.
Mrs Helmsley, who died last week, was dubbed the "Queen of Mean" by the US media, and was known for her tough approach to business.
She and her late husband, Harry, built a company which managed some of New York's most prestigious addresses, including the Empire State Building, as well as hotels across the country.
The money for Trouble's upkeep was left in the hands of her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who himself inherited $10m.
Two grandchildren, David and Walter Panzirer, were left $5m each on condition that they visit their father's grave at least once a year.
Their father, Mrs Helmsley's son Jay Panzirer, died in 1982.
But grandchildren Craig and Meegan Panzirer received nothing - "for reasons which are known to them", according to Mrs Helmsley's will.
Mrs Helmsley left her chauffeur $100,000.
She also set aside $3m for the upkeep of her and her husband's final resting place.
Proceeds from the sale of Mrs Helmsley's residences and belongings will go to a charitable trust.

Braid It Like Beckham...Not!

First, the world was going gaga over bending it like Beckham.

Remember the movie Bend It Like Beckham?

I personally know of friends who watched it over and over again not because they enjoyed the story nor the cast of the movie, but more because they just loved anything Beckham.

These friends (okay, yeah they are females) drool over Beckham's posters and watch live matches aired at anytime of the day not for the love of the most beautiful game on earth, but more because of their 'undying love' for Beckham's 'good' looks.
They go 'oooooo' and 'aaaaaaaaah' each time he strikes and exposes more flesh compared to other players - there just was some 'X' factor about him that made females around the world melt to their knees.

Now, after much time spent on copying his style and aura, we have come to know something we shouldn't, after all, emulate after him - I'm talking about his precious mane being braided the way it is - we finally hear experts saying that braiding your hair like Beckham has done it, is not good for you on the long term.

Braiding 'can lead to hair loss'
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Braiding like Beckham's could cause permanent hair damage.

Popular modern hairstyles which tightly braid the hair at the scalp can lead to permanent bald patches, say experts.
"Corn rows" and other styles, like extensions, which pull the hair are to blame, particularly if combined with hair straightening chemicals.
The South African research, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, looked at almost 2,000 adults and children.
A UK dermatologist said that affected hair follicles may never recover.
Specialist braided hairstyles are increasingly popular in the UK, particularly among young people from the Afro-Caribbean community.

Short cuts
The Cape Town-based researchers wanted to find out if they, and other popular cuts such as short "brush-cut" haircuts could cause skin problems.

Some of these hairstyles might be fashionable, but they can lead to permanent
hair loss.
Spokesman, British Association of Dermatologists

They found that nearly one in seven children and a third of women suffered from "traction alopecia", a type of hair loss directly linked to the hair being constantly under tension.
The problem was even more common if chemical "relaxers" had been used to straighten the hair, with one in five children who had used the chemicals suffering hair loss.
The research also found that very short haircuts made men much more prone to developing severe acne on the scalp, thought to be caused by the hair clippers damaging the scalp when pressed hard against the head.
They pointed out that the risk of catching a disease such as HIV or hepatitis could be increased by this type of haircut.
No growth
Dr Nonhlanhla Khumalo, who led the research, said: "Traction alopecia is common in women and girls and is significantly linked to hairstyles, particularly when relaxed hair has braids, extensions or weaves attached.
"This can cause unsightly hair loss which is distressing."
In the UK, dermatologists are reporting similar problems, both due to braiding, and to other popular hairstyles where the fringe is dragged backwards and tied.
Dr Andrew McDonagh, from the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, said: "The best thing is to try to identify the problem early - if this happens for a long time, the hair follicles may be permanently damaged, and hair will not grow back."
A spokesman for the British Association of Dermatologists added: "Some of these hairstyles might be fashionable, but they can lead to permanent hair loss, which is difficult to cover up and can have a huge impact on a person's confidence."