Mexico's "Illegitimate President"

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the opposition leader who lost in the recent Mexican presidential election has held his own swearing-in ceremony declaring himself as the new president of Mexico challenging the President-elect Felipe Calderón. López Obrador claimed there was a massive election fraud and he doesn't recognise the election results........hmmmmm same tone at the recent Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential election by Jean-Pierre Bemba who lost.

López Obrador was "sworn in" by Senator Rosario Ibarra, a human rights activist and member of his party, who placed a red, green and white presidential sash across his shoulders before an estimated 100,000 supporters in the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square. Oh mine, this will lead to more chaos in Mexico with 2 major camps opposing each other. Let's pray that it's just a political gimmick with the intention of setting up a shadow government which monitors the current government.

A poll in the Reforma newspaper yesterday showed that 56% of those questioned oppose his decision to name himself "legitimate president" while just 19% back him. (source: Boston Globe)

Tags: Mexico, President, López Obrador, Felipe Calderón, Election, DR Congo

Ian Thorpe

araThe great Australian swimmer, Ian Thorpe has announced in a press conference that he will be retiring, at the tender age of 24, from competitive swimming competitions and will not participate in the upcoming 12th FINA World Championships to be held in Melbourne itself.

Tributes are pouring in for the sensational swimmer who has cracked numerous records at all levels throughout his swimming career since the age of 14. His achievements included the 11 world titles, 5 Olympic gold medals and set 13 individual long-course world records in a glittering career. (source: Swim News, IHT Sports, Adelaide Now, The Age, Herald Sun, Sydney Morning Herald)

Tags: Sports, Swimming, Ian Thorpe, Australia, Retire, Tribute, IHT, Adelaide Now, The Age, Herald Sun, Sdyney Morning Herald

Urban Legends

At times you might have received certain emails on peculiar happenings throughout the world or even in your own country that threatens your safety or expressed concern for our own family members.

Example:-

Kidney stolen after a heavy party fling and left in a bath tub filled with ice cubes

A certain email attachment named 'Life Is Beautiful' going round the email world stating do not open this email with named attachment which has virus in it

Emails stating that if you send a particular email to a number of persons in your list, AOL or Microsoft will reward you for helping them to market their services

For more of such urban legends or false news, you can view it under Snopes which has a full reference of such scams or false news. Before you thought of forwarding such emails, think again and search it under Snopes first and update yourself with the latest creation. In this particular website, each news has been verified and explained as to why it was not real.

Sometimes I felt irritated by such emails even from personal friends who don't have the audacity to verify whether the emails they sent out are true or not even though it was with good intention. It flips me more when a learned person send it to you. What say you?

Tags: Snopes, Urban Legend, Emails, Scam, Rumour, Spam, False, Fake, Tales, Folklore, Weird

Haircut of the Year

Haircut of the Year....BEAT THIS
Tags: Hair, Haircut, Fashion, Style, Funny, Humour

Mother Teresa Memorial International Award

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the first Malaysian to receive the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice.
The award was presented during a ceremony at Taj President Hotel in Mumbai, India, yesterday.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's son, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir received the award on behalf of his father, who is recuperating from a mild heart attack. The award was given in recognition of Dr Mahathir’s efforts in pushing through national unity in a multiracial and multireligious country. During his tenure as the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir had ensured that economic development and progress was enjoyed by all, regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds. The award, given by the Harmony Foundation, was to honour men and women of integrity.
Tags: Mahathir, Mother Teresa, Memorial, Taj President, Award, Harmony Foundation

Temuan Community

Temuan Community - a project under Soroptimist International Club of Bangsar ("SICB") in Kampung Hulu Cemperuh, Pahang. A long and lasting relationship started with SICB adopting the 30 families in the community, undertaking health and education and starting a goat-rearing project for them to generate income in 2001. It started due to the sight of a child’s body badly disfigured by fire caught the attention and compassion of the SICB team members who were with members from the Australian Soroptimist.

The goat-rearing project won a prestigious award last week. The project clinched the coveted SI Excellent Best Practice Award for SICB last week, beating 300 entries worldwide. It was the first time that a Malaysian Soroptimist club had won the overall Top Award, although in previous years several clubs had won in other categories. The goat-rearing project also won the International Best Practice Award in Economic and Social Development, one of six focus areas.

SICB’s efforts helped in alleviating poverty of the marginalised orang asli ("indigenous people") in Kampung Hulu Cemperuh.

The award entitles SICB to participate in the United Nations plenary session on the 2007 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York from Feb 26 to March 9 next year. Soroptimist International is a non-governmental organisation for women in management and the professions. It has some 93,000 members in 3,000 clubs in 125 countries. SI has general consultative status with several UN and World Health Organisation agencies. (source: The Star)
Tags: Soroptimist International, Temuan, Commission on the Status of Women, Charity, Women, Social, Community, Pahang

Apple iPhone out in first-half 2007?

A recent article on Chinese newspaper Commercial Times made headlines when it reported that Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, has received orders from Apple to produce 12 million iPhones. It said that the phones are expected to be ready for a first-half 2007 launch. While rumours (here and here) of an Apple smart phone device have been circulating on the internet for a while, this latest report has certainly prompted many fans to believe that Steve Jobs will introduce the iPhone at MacWorld in January next year. Both Apple and Hon Hai have not commented on the report. Hon Hai currently produces iPods for Apple. (source: CNET Asia)
Tags: Apple, iPod, Hon Hai, Foxconn, iPhone, MacWorld, Technology, Mobile Phone, CNET