Safest And Most Dangerous Cities

A list of the safest and most dangerous cities overall, as compiled by Morgan Quitno Press, which bases the rankings on FBI figures released in June. The list starts with the safest cities and ends with the most dangerous.

As per the list, St. Louis and Detroit have been listed as the most dangerous cities in USA. I could have forgiven these 2 cities' folks as it could been their baseball fans who had became a bit rowdy throughout the season as they celebrated their teams' advancements all the way to "world series" as per my earlier blog. Maybe some celebrations got out of hand and so happened, the people conducting the surveys were there ...... hehehe. Anyway, I still don't agree with the words "world series".
Tags: Morgan Quitno, FBI, St. Louis, Detroit, City, Safest, Dangerous

Hong Kong's Robot Staff

A robot performs as a chef prepares food at Robot Kitchen in Hong Kong. With a whir and a flash of lights, another robot whizzes to the restaurant table and takes a customer's order, while a second races to another table to deliver plates of steaming food. Robot Kitchen opened in July to cash in on the city's love affair with gadgets, claiming to be the world's first eatery staffed by machines.
Robo Waiter 1, for instance, is a crudely designed box on wheels covered in shiny paper and with an illuminated bulb to represent a head. Robo Waiter 1 is designed as a female robot, and for the purpose of delivering dishes.The computer inside can recognise voice patterns, take meal orders and send them by infrared to the cooks in the kitchen. It is steered by a video camera, which detects objects in its way and guides the robot around them. Robo Waiter 2 is much the same, but has a tray for carrying food.

Click here to see the video showing a robo waiter at work.
Tags: Hong Kong, Robot, Restaurant, Kitchen, Robot Kitchen

Get Ready to Lead

The fact is, all leaders must be born. And from there on in they are constantly learning. I believe this new era of American history will call upon leaders to possess two fundamental qualities, courage and holiness. That's why you may be experiencing difficulty in your life right now. God is getting you ready for leadership. God is getting his men and women ready to take a moral stand for Christ in a generation that is becoming increasingly hostile to the Gospel.

You might be saying to yourself, wait a minute, I'm not a leader. Well relax, even the great spiritual leader Elijah wasn't perfect. Heaven knows that King David himself had some very serious shortcomings. God will mold you into a leader for use in His purposes.
--Steve Farrar
Tags: Motivation, Leadership, Christianity, Steve Farrar

Clear Colors

I don't know who wrote the following thoughts, but my daughter gave this to me a few years ago when doing a high school bible study. Here are some of the highlights:-
"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's power. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I must go until heaven returns, give until I drop, preach and tell all I know and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He won't have any trouble recognizing me. My colors will be clear. "
Gentlemen, the question is this. How clear are your colors?
--Steve Farrar
Tags: Motivation, Christianity, Steve Farrar

Please Do These 3 Things

I am extremely leery of any quick fix solution or overnight formula for success. In my opinion, they don't exist. With that said, the following formula is one that I have recently shared with 2 members of my family to encourage them to break through the rut they are in and experience success. Therefore, if I would share it with my family, I must believe in the principles. I suggested that they begin to regularly do these three things:-

1. Surround themselves with positive people who believe that this life is not all that there is. Personally, I find this at my local church. This email goes out to thousands of people all over the world. I know we don't share the same faith in all cases. This message is not about my faith. It is about you finding a group of people who regularly meet together and have a belief that there is more to life than what we see. This is the first step to a positive outlook on life.

2. You must exercise weekly in order to stimulate endorphins and maintain an energetic life. The exercise of walking to the kitchen or curling 12 ounces does not count as exercise. I run 1 mile twice a week and 2-3 days a week do strength training. This is nothing difficult but it makes a major difference on my attitude.

3. You MUST educate yourself through reading. The average CEO in America reads 4-5 books per month. The average America reads one book per year and 60% of us don't get past the first chapter! Make a promise to yourself to read at least one book per month. Read anything!

Regardless, of what you read....develop a passion for reading and learning and you will see your attitude and outlook on life begin to change. Any person who faithfully invested their time in these three areas may not break world records in levels of success. However, everything in me believes that they would see dramatic improvements. I believe in those three things so much, I encouraged my family to invest their time in these areas.
-- Ron White
Tags: Motivation, Success, Ron White

Remembering G. W. B.

Dear Friends:
I have the distinguished honor of being on the committee to raise US$5,000,000 for a monument for George W. Bush. We originally wanted to put him on Mt. Rushmore until we discovered there was not enough room for two more faces.
We then decided to erect a statue of George in Washington DC, in the Congressional Hall Of Fame. We were in a quandary as to where the statue should be placed. It was not proper to place it beside the statue of George Washington, who never told a lie, or beside Dick Cheney, who never told the truth, since George could never tell the difference.
We finally decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest Republican of them all. He left not knowing where he was going and when he got there he did not know where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been and did it all on someone else's money.
Thank you.

George W. Bush Monument Committee
P. S. The Committee has raised $1.35 so far
Tags: Jokes, Funny, George Bush, Washington, Dick Cheney, Republicans, Mt. Rushmore, Donation, Humor

MotoGP World Title

Nicky Hayden of USA grabbed his first world title after finishing 3rd in the MotoGP's last race held in Valencia, Spain. Australian Troy Bayliss won the race itself with defending champion Valentino Rossi struggling to finished at 13th which eroded his chances of winning the world title.

Results for Valencia MotoGP Race:-
1. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 46:55.415
2. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 46:56.734
3. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 47:04.645

Tags: Sports, MotoGP, Motorcycle, Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, Honda, Valencia

The Best Bank

One day, three bankers, a Citibanker, one from HSBC and another from Maybank (Malaysia's #1 bank), went for a walk. They were old buddies from school and they were remembering the tough old days they went as students together. For no apparent reason, they went into a zoo and passed an elephant.

Being from the same field and the same school, there is little bit of peer competition going on, so when he saw this elephant, an idea clicked the Citibanker, he said to the others "Why don't we prove who is the best among us?". The others, of course, agreed.

Then the Citibank said "Let's make a test. Whoever can make this elephant laugh, he works for the best Bank". They all agreed and started.

Being a pure logical strategist, the Citibanker tried to make the elephant laugh by telling jokes (In this story, the elephant do understand the language, boleh la). Of course it stayed still. As a more practical guy, the HSBC guy tried to make funny gestures... and the elephant still stood firm. Now, it's the Maybanker turn. Being the tomorrow -can- do- it guy, he whispered something to the elephant, and it laughed at him while pointing its trunk at him. The other two were astonished. How come this Maybanker beat them?

So the HSBC guy said "OK, let's make another test. Let's make this elephant cry". So there they went again. The Citibanker told sad stories. The HSBC guy made sad gestures, and they fail again. Then, the Maybanker whispered something again in the elephant's ear and it just cried, weeping and patting away.

This can't be, thought the other two. So the Citibanker said "OK, you've won twice. If you can win this test, we will bow to you. Let's make this elephant run".

He went and barked to the elephant orders to run. Of course, it stayed still. The HSBC guy pushes the elephant and stabs it with stake to make it run, it stayed still. So...our Maybanker comes to it and whispers something again in its ear and the elephant ran and ran as fast as it could, as if it was scared to death.

The other two surrendered. "OK, you're the best, pal. You work for a very good Bank, not even our global bankers can beat you. Do tell us your secret".

"Well" said the Maybanker "The first time I made it laugh, I said "Maybank is the best bank ". When I made it cry, I told the elephant how much I get paid". "And when I made it run scared to death, I said to it, "Why don't you join Maybank?"

Tags: Jokes, Funny, Humor, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank, Zoo, Bank

Alaskan King Crabs

Fisherman's Express, the company that delivers the catches of the day from Alaska. There is an online fish market where you can place orders for fresh-frozen seafood which will be shipped overnight directly to your home or business. Seafood recipes are available too.

Crab fishing can be seen at Bristol Bay, the primary area with Dutch Harbour as Alaska’s main crabbing port. Crab fishing in Alaska ranks as the nation's #1 most hazardous job. Then, with the dwindling population of the king crabs, it compelled the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to strictly regulate their harvests. In previous years, fishermen were allowed a mere three to five days to harvest the precious catch, so ships raced against time, nature and each other to capture the most of the fleet-wide quota in 20-hour shifts.

It was, and still is, a race with high stakes. The 2004 season ended after just 80 hours of fishing that hauled in 6.8 million kilogrammes worth US$65.8mil (RM243m). On a successful boat, one fisherman can earn up to US$100,000 (RM367,000) for just five days’ work! Recent changes in the way the fishery is managed have expanded the season to 3 months. The new rules will allow fishermen much more discretion when they catch their allotted crab quota.

More daily news on Alaska at The Anchorage Daily News.

Tags: Alaska, Crab, Fish, Seafood, Dutch Harbour, Bering Sea, Bristol Bay, Fisherman's Express, Anchorage

MLB World Champions

Scoreline: St. Louis Cardinals 4 Detroit Tigers 2, in the World Series that produced Cardinals' first World Series title in 24 years. They have won 10 titles now compared to New York Yankees' 26 titles.
One thing that I don't get it is why was it called a world series when only clubs in USA participated in this so-called world series. Where are the clubs from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Netherlands, Italy, Australia, Cuba & Canada where they have professional leagues there too. It should be renamed National Series instead. Or dare not invite other overseas teams? Major League Baseball should seriously re-consider the change of name as it involved clubs from 1 single country only.
Tags: Sports, Baseball, New York Yankees, St Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, World Series, Major League Baseball, USA

Sex Change Registration in China

As reported in China Gate's online news, at a town called Jiangnan in Anhua county of the Hunan province, a 30-year-old Li Guohua went to correct information in his registration booklet. At the registration office, Li's relevant information on the computer system was brought up and changed his gender from "male" to "female." What happened here? It seems that Li has his sex changed and now he has requested for his sex record to be changed in the national registration too. Afterwards, his 60-something-year-old dad Li Tieniu was in tears. He said: "I hope that "she" can find a good partner who treats her nicely."





Tags: Sex Change, Jiangnan, Anhua, Hunan, China

US Couple's Condominium Raided

Another case of overzealous actions, this time by officials from the Kedah's Islamic Affairs Dept. Their routine vice prevention squad's raid was conducted on a US retired 60 plus couple holidaying on Langkawi Island. The raid was done at 2am and the officials demanded to see the "woman" that the man was with. Even when told that the lady was clad in sarong only and they are Christians, the officials insisted on seeing the woman, in humiliation.

In Malaysia, under the Islamic syariah law, a muslim person could not have close proximity with a non-muslim in an enclosed place and if caught, could be penalised. In this case, the officials didn't do a good check on who was in the room and raided their unit in the middle of the night.

Though this has happened almost 2 weeks ago (reported on 22 Oct, New Straits Times) the Tourism Minister said that investigation would be taken to find out what happened. Till today, as reported in The Star, both Kedah State Religious and Humanity Development Committee chairman Professor Datuk Wira Dr Othman Ishak and Kedah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said they will check on the matter with the state Religious Department to find out what really happened. It took 2 weeks to find out????

On behalf of their unwarranted actions, the general public has to apologise to the couple and assure the world that Malaysia is not what it seems to be reported.
Tags: Islam, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia, Syariah Law, Sarong, Religious, Khalwat

HondaJet

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has ventured into the aviation industry. Its HondaJet, experimental compact business jet equipped with Honda-developed HF118 jet engines, had successfully completed initial flight tests way back in 2003. Their research on compact business jets has started since 1986. HondaJet will be produced in the United States beginning in 2010 with a projected production volume of 70 jets per year with its pricing set at US$3.65 million for its standard configuration. The 7 or 8-seaters aircraft is equipped with a state-of-the-art Garmin G1000 glass cockpit system.

Click here to view HondaJet's introduction movie.
Tags: Jet, Honda, Honda Motor, HondaJet, Garmin

Weather in Khartoum

Somehow I did notice that sunset in Khartoum was much earlier in the last 1 week. True enough when I walked out to the car this morning to go to work, I could feel the winter breeze blowing nicely onto my skin. Yes, winter is setting in in Sudan now. This could be the same winter that I've experienced in year 2004 which was about the same timing. Saw the temperature reading in the car (external) that showed 25 celcius degree. Otherwise, at 8am plus, it could be hitting 34 celcius anytime. So, it was a drastic drop indeed. I felt a bit cold during 5am plus that prompted me to off the air-cond while maintaining the ceiling fan to provide some breeze.

This winter will go on till February. It will be colder at night and could drop to 19 celcius. Winter in Sudan? Sounds weird in the desert region but it does happen. It's going to be a real dry winter as I could feel that my back is getting itchy daily.
Tags: Journal, Diary, Life, Weather, Khartoum, Sudan

Medical Meccas

Bumrungrad International Hospital (left pic) in Bangkok, Asia's first internationally accredited hospital and one of the most modern and efficient medical facilities in the world. Last year the hospital treated 400,000 foreign patients—the highest of any hospital in the world—from more than 150 countries, for everything from heart disease to hip replacements to breast implants. The attraction: world-class medicine at developing-world prices. And patients get velvet-glove treatment redolent of a five-star hotel and limousine pick-ups from airport. (source: Newsweek)

Top 10 World Leaders:-
• Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok
• Buchinger Clinic in Germany
• All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi
• The Fyodorov Clinics in Russia
• Denver Health in Colorado
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts
• Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv
• Hôspital Edouard Herriot in Lyons
• Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London
• Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York
Tags: Hospital, Medical, Clinic, Health, Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok, Buchinger Clinic, Germany, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, The Fyodorov Clinics, Russia, Denver Health, Colorado, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Massachusetts, Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Hospital Edouard Herriot, Lyons, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York

Least Expensive City

Kuala Lumpur is the least expensive city in the world for Western tourists.
A survey of 71 cities worldwide by Swiss banking giant UBS found that Malaysia's capital has the most competitive prices when it comes to food, electronic goods, clothes, public transport, hotel rates and entertainment.

* A five-star hotel room in Kuala Lumpur costs an average US$150 (RM551) compared to with US$450 (RM1,647) for a similar room in New York. The most expensive is Tokyo, where the rate is US$510 (RM1,866).
* For a room in a two- or three-star hotel, the rate in Kuala Lumpur is about US$50 (RM183), compared with US$250 (RM915) in New York.
* It found that one only has to pay US$260 (RM951) for the package in Kuala Lumpur compared with US$920 (RM3,367) in New York. The most expensive city in this category is London where the cost is US$1,180 (RM4,318).
* Taxi fares in Kuala Lumpur are also one of the cheapest in the world at US$1.60 (RM5.88) for a 5km trip within the city. A similar trip in New York costs US$11.60 (RM42).
* Food prices in Kuala Lumpur are considerably lower than in other cities, with a three-course meal in a good restaurant costing US$12 (RM44) for one person. (Other sources: City Mayors: Economics)
Tags: UBS, Kuala Lumpur, Travel, Tourist, Hotel, Restaurant, Least Expensive, City Mayors, Economics

Parents' Headache .......

A boss wondered why one of his most valued employees had not phoned in sick one day. Having an urgent problem with one of the main computers, he dialed the employee's' home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper.

Hello? Is your daddy home?" he asked.
Yes," whispered the small voice.
May I talk with him?"
The child whispered, "No."

Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"
"Yes."
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispered, "No."

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?"
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked,
"May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he's busy", whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?"
"Talking to Mommy and Daddy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper" answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
Again, whispering, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper."

Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle,
"ME."
Tags: Jokes, Funny, Humor, Family, Fireman, Boss

Learn To Drive

You can have some fun here in learning how to park a car. Don't think that this game has no logic or doesn't help because what you do here will be repeated out in the car park too. Try your skills.

You can download the game here.
Tags: Funny, Skills, Car, Parking

Jesus & Satan

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job." So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused. They faxed. They e-mailed. They e-mailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets! They wrote reports. They created labels and cards. They created charts and graphs. They did some genealogy reports. They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency, and Satan was faster than hell. Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off. Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:"It's gone! It's all GONE! "I lost everything when the power went out!" Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate."Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said, "JESUS SAVES"
Tags: Jokes, Funny, Jesus, Religious, Satan

Living Far Beyond Planet's Means

Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends — if those resources have not run out by then. "We are in serious ecological overshoot, consuming resources faster than the Earth can replace them," WWF International’s Director General James Leape said. “The consequences of this are predictable and dire." (source: 24 Oct, Reuters)

The Living Planet Index (report can be downloaded here), measures biodiversity, based on trends in more than 3,600 populations of 1,300 vertebrate species around the world. In all, data for 695 terrestrial, 344 freshwater and 274 marine species were analyzed. Terrestrial species declined by 31 per cent, freshwater species by 28 per cent, and marine species by 27 per cent.

- Climate change threatens Latin America and the Caribbean (source: WWF International)
- Climate change, fungal disease threaten frogs (source: Reuters)
- There's more to global warming than heat (source: Science Daily)
- Amazon river 'switched direction' (source: BBC News)
- Scientists raise alarm as man-made deserts spread (source: RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty)
- Ozone hole is 'biggest on record' (source: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)

Kenya will host the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November 2006 (source: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change )
Tags: WWF, WWF International, Weather, Climate, Environment, Global Warming, Ozone, Kyoto Protocol, UNFCCC, Planet, Natural Resources, Climate Change

Firefox's New Browser

Just after blogging on the release of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 on 22 Oct, Mozilla's Firefox has barged into the competition with their latest browser called Firefox 2.

You can download Firefox 2 now.
Tags: Firefox 2, Browser, Mozilla, Internet Explorer 7

Tiny Island States Seek International Help

As the rising Pacific Ocean laps at their doorsteps, tiny Tuvalu (left pic) (a speck of nine islands with 10,000 inhabitants) and Kiribati (a nation of 33 coral atolls straddling the Equator and of 105,00 people) fear becoming environmental refugees. It will be a new type of refugees in the Asia-Pacific region as sea level could rise up to 50 cm (19.7 inches) by 2070.

Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and parts of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are considered at greatest risk. A a sea level rise of 30-50 cm would affect hundreds of millions of people across the Asia-Pacific region, slashing economic output, inundating large areas of Bangladesh, India and Vietnam and reducing Kiribati, Fiji and the Maldives to a small fraction of their current land area. A climate change report by Australia's leading scientific research body released two weeks ago found that Micronesia had experienced an annual sea level rise of 21.4 mm since 2001.

Calls have been made to Australia, which is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gases, to do more to combat climate change and to be more open to environmental refugees.

Tags: Environmental, Sea Level, Greenhouse, Climate, Kyoto Protocol, Micronesia, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Pacific Ocean, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Maldives, Asia Pacific, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Australia

World's Tallest Buildings

World's tallest building is being constructed in Dubai at the moment and its comparison with other buildings in the world.
As the construction continues on the Burj Dubai skyscraper in Dubai, which sets to be the world's tallest tower on completion in 2008, Burj Dubai has now clocked up 79 floors.

Click the respective pictures to see clearer words at the bottom of it.






Tags: Dubai, Burj Dubai, Skyscraper, Tallest Building

Football Coach Threatened By Parent

The father of a young football player pulled a gun on his son's coach because he didn't think the boy was getting enough playing time, Philadelphia police said on Monday. Wayne Derkotch, 40, was charged with aggravated assault after getting in a fight with the coach over the amount of time the boy was getting on the field at a game for 6- and 7-year-olds on Sunday morning, said police spokesman Officer Raul Malveiro.

"There was a physical altercation about what child should play or not play and then he pulled the gun," Malveiro said. There were no injuries and Derkotch fled before being arrested after a complaint was made by the coach, whose name was not released, Malveiro said (source: Reuters).

Is it an abundant of parent's love for the son or pride/ego was dented when his son couldn't play in the game?

Tags: Family, Football Coach, Philadelphia, Fight

Hari Raya Aidilfitri or Hari Raya Puasa

Hari Raya Puasa is also commonly known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri. In Malay, the word Hari Raya means ‘A Day Of Celebration’ and Puasa derives from Sanskrit meaning ‘fasting or abstention’. Hari Raya Puasa means ‘great day of fasting’ or in actual sense ‘the festival marking the end of a period of fasting’. Hari Raya Puasa is popularly known as Eid Ul Fitr. Hari Raya Puasa marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.
Today, it's being celebrated in Malaysia and a public holiday for today & tomorrow. In Sudan where I'm situated now, it has begun since yesterday with a number of Middle East countries too. It's a time where all muslims will gather back at their parents' hometown to celebrate the joyous occasion. This is where I'm stucked here with 2 other non-muslim colleagues.
A malay colleague of mine told me that on these days, he will have about 50 relatives at his parents' house and frankly said that he wouldn't have known all his cousins. Too many of them but they knew him as they knew he's the son of their grand uncle or grandpa or uncle.

There is a video (meaningful family value) produced by Petronas just for the Hari Raya celebration. Would like to wish all muslims "Selamat Hari Raya" or "Eid Mubarak".

Tags: Eid Mubarak, Hari Raya, Muslim, Festival, Family

Cars - movie review

Cars - voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Richard Petty & Cheech Marin. When you have such cast lending their voices, the movie won't let you down. Lightning McQueen, the name of a rookie race car, couldn't handle the fame he has generated in his short career. He thought it was himself that made him successful. In the last race of the year, 3 cars were given the same points and a final race will be organised in California just for the 3 cars. So, our little hero, made his way across USA only to find himself "dropped" out of his carriage in the middle of the night.

He got lost and ended up at a sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. While trying to escape the law without headlights, he damaged the small town's road and was punished to fix the road prior to leaving the town. Finished he did and he made a number of friends from this small town. He discovered later that there was a superb race car (of the 50s) in town too. A beautiful relationship with Sally (a Porsche) developed at the same time. Thereafter, he made his way to California to participate in the final race of 200 laps. He could have won the championship but he stopped just before the finishing line..... why?

Everything in this movie is about cars only ........ and i actually rewind the movie to see it again...see what......even the insects are cars too....almost fainted. Nevertheless, it's a good animated movie with good story line. You can't go wrong with a strong Production Co, Pixar Animation Studios, brought to us by Walt Disney Pictures and had grossed US$244,052,771 in the U.S. Box Office (placing this movie at no. 40 in the All Time Gross chart).
Tags: Movie, Review, Cars, Walt Disney, Pixar, US Box Office, Owen Wilson, Paul Newman

Madeira Island Airport in Portugal

Fantastic airport runway for Madeira Island airport in Portugal.
Tags: Airport, Runway, Madeira Island, Portugal

Formula 1

Fernando Alonso won his 2nd world title in Formula 1 race in the last leg of the Formula 1 calender which ended in Interlagos, Brazil. Felipe Massa of Ferrari won the race with Alonso coming in 2nd and 3rd placing went to Jenson Button of Honda. Michael Schumacher (my favourite driver) with his slim hope of capturing the title came in at 4th placing thus hampering his hope of a record 8th title.

Nevertheless, Alonso kept his cool to retain his title back-to-back and Renault captured the Constructor's title too with a 5 points margin over Ferrari. Alonso will move on to McLaren next year and everyone will have an open-wide challenge next with the expected retirement of the great Michael Schumacher.
Tags: Fernando Alonso, Renault, Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Jenson Button, Honda, Michael Schumacher, Interlagos, Brazil, Formula 1, McLaren, Sports, Racing

Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award

Mercy Malaysia president Datuk Dr Jemilah Mahmood was conferred the 'Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award' on Thursday, making her the first Malaysian recipient. She was conferred the international award by the Martin Luther King Jr International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Dr Jemilah was an exemplary human being who has caught our attention with her undying efforts in providing medical and humanitarian aid through Mercy Malaysia to those suffering, regardless of race, colour and creed," said Dr Lawrence Edward Carter Carter.

On Saturday, Malaysian Interfaith Network chairman Datuk Anwar Fazal has also been conferred of this year’s Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award. Dr Carter described Anwar as the “people’s defender of health and welfare, a fighter of justice and a prince of peace”.

The Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award symbolises the tradition of peace-work based on non-violence that Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Dr Daisaku Ikeda shared.

Tags: Awards, Mercy Malaysia, Datuk Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award, Martin Luther King Jr International Chapel, Morehouse College, Malaysian Interfaith Network, Datuk Anwar Fazal, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Dr Daisaku Ikeda

Rob B Hood - movie review

Rob B Hood - starring Jackie Chan, Gao Yuanyuan, Charlene Choi, Michael Hui & Louis Koo. Jackie Chan's latest movie. With Michael Hui in the cast, definitely going to be a laughable movie. Jackie is in his usual trademarks of climbing here & there and avoiding punches/kicks while trying to fight with whatever stuff he could grab around him.

Jackie, a bad hat this time and also a gambler. In order to feed his gambling habit, Jackie with Louis and Michael steals at night on whatever stuff they can get their hands on. Then Michael would sell off the next day. Meantime, Louis is a playboy and loves Ferrari (he bought one later). Money was spent that way. While Michael keeps his share in a safe at home.

One night, they barged into a house and kidnap a cute baby and the funny story went from there while they try to amuse the baby to keep him quiet. A dispute between the baby's mommy and her former boyfriend led to the former boyfriend's death. The former boyfriend's dad took revenge by kidnapping the baby too from the hands of our "thieves or kidnappers now". Jackie and Louis tried their best to save the baby as they have grown to like him (even attending classes to take care of newborns). Sadly, they couldn't revive the baby after taking him out from a freezer.

I never miss Jackie's movies as I found his movie interesting with his skills/fighting/humorous scenes. This is an entertaining movie and enjoy the funny scenes with the baby around. Jackie Chan has his own website too.
Tags: Movie, Review, Cinema, Rob B Hood, Jackie Chan, Louis Koo, Michael Hui, Charlene Choi, Comedy

Another Mansion Without Approval

Another Selangor municipal councillor has been found to be building a mansion without getting approval from the Klang Municipal Council (MPK). How many more is the question?

Mazlynoor Abdul Latiff’s mansion at Kampung Raja Uda along Jalan Lengkungan is about 80% completed and resembles the controversial four-storey mansion built by Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros. MPK president Abdul Bakir Zin confirmed yesterday that Mazlynoor had not submitted plans for the construction of the mansion.

MPK president said “MPK will investigate how the mansion came to be built up to this stage without the enforcement or planning department imposing a stop-work order or even alerting me. Work should not have gone on until plans submitted are approved." Yeah, should investigate and anyway, I have the answer already why it can be built anyhow ..... I'm sure many people also knew why it could be built no matter what.

The best part was, when contacted by The Star, Mazlynoor claimed that other councillors had also built mansions within the area without building plans. “So, you visited the area. You took a lot of photographs. No reason for you to highlight the matter. Everyone is doing it, but my house is small,” he said. Will this open up a can of worms? I'm sure it will unless the government enforced another gag order on this issue. Your comments?
Tags: Politics, Municipal Councillor, Klang Municipal Council, Selangor, Mansion, Port Klang, Datuk Zakaria Md Deros

Microsoft - New Internet Explorer

Microsoft Corp. is giving its Web browser software its first major upgrade in years, amid signs that Internet Explorer's market share is eroding. Microsoft has been heavily testing the new browser, releasing five beta versions over 14 months, and has periodically offered security updates for IE6, first released in 2001.

Still, a lag of more than five years between official releases has cost the company. Web analysis company WebSideStory estimates that Internet Explorer's U.S. market share is about 86 percent, while Firefox commands about 11 percent of the market and smaller offerings account for the rest. Two years ago, IE had about a 93 percent share.

Microsoft is offering IE7 as a free download now.
Tags: Microsoft Corp, Internet Explorer 7, Web Browser, WebSideStory, Firefox

Most Polluted Places

The Top 5 of the most polluted places on planet earth:-

• Dzerzhinsk in Russia, a Cold War chemical weapons site.
• Linfen, heart of China's coal industry.
• Kabwe in Zambia, site for mining and smelting of metals including lead.
• Haina in the Dominican Republic, where battery recycling and smelting have left huge concentrations of lead in residents.
• Ranipet in India, where more than three million people are affected by tannery waste.

Source (click city's name for other sources too): A New York-based environmental charity, Blacksmith Institute, has documented what it calls the 5 most polluted places on the planet. It is dedicated to monitor pollution related environmental projects in developing countries.

Tags: Environment, Pollution, Blacksmith Institute, Most Polluted, Dzerzhinsk, Russia, Linfen, China, Kabwe, Zambia, Haina, Dominica Republic, Ranipet, India

Top-notch Swimming Pool - Australia

One of the world's most technologically advanced pools was officially opened yesterday at the renowned Australia Institute of Sport, in a bid to strengthen the country's chances at the 2008 Olympics. It cost US$12.75m to build the AIS Recovery and Swimming Centre in Canberra.

The centre features a 10-lane, 50m pool with in-built performance analysis and monitoring systems for the training, testing and development of Australia's elite swimmers and teams.

Analysis and monitoring systems packed into the pool walls and blocks, touch pads, magnetic timing gates and 24 fixed cameras will allow coaches and sports scientists to analyse all aspects of the AIS swimmer's performance in training.
The centre will also feature state-of-the art hydrotherapy and recovery facilities – three spa baths, a plunge pool, a cold water walk-through and a river for active recovery and stretching.
Tags: Sports, Technology, Australia, Swimming, Canberra, Australia Institute of Sports, AIS Recovery and Swimming Centre, Sports Scientist

Deepavali or Diwali celebration

Today, worldwide, Deepavali or Diwali is a celebration by people embracing the Hindu religion where my country, Malaysia, is having it too. Also known as the Festival of Lights.

There is a video (humorous one!) produced by Petronas just for the Deepavali celebration.

Would like to wish all who celebrate this festival, Happy Diwali.
Tags: Festival, Deepavali, Diwali, Festival of Lights, Hindu, Religion, Celebration

Sexy Education at University of Toronto

An undergraduate program at Canada's University of Toronto offers discussions on flogging, restraint and role-play. But teachers and students insist it's a serious academic program that isn't simply about sex. The Sexual Diversity Studies program, one of the largest of its kind in North America.

The program promises an academic approach to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual issues -- from history and law to the performance of sadomasochism. There are plans for Canada's first undergraduate major in sexual diversity studies, and for master's and doctorate programs from 2008.

The program includes a drama course called "Sexual Performance: Case Studies in S/M (sadomasochism)" and the arts and literature course "Queerly Canadian," for which one student wrote an in-depth review of a male strip show.

But it also focuses on traditional academic discussion -- from Plato to same-sex marriage, with courses like "Theories of Sexuality" and "Sexual Diversity Politics." Canadian provinces were the first jurisdictions in North America to legalise gay marriage -- and Toronto, with one of the largest gay and lesbian communities in the world, is a perfect backdrop for such a program, the university commented.

Very open-minded society indeed!!!

Tags: Sexy, Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, Sexual Diversity Studies, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Heterosexual, Sexual Performance, Sadomasochism