Ross Ariffin

2007-06-18T15:01:00.000+08:00

YOU’RE MY FRIEND (‘TIL THE END )

From Movie Soundtrack “ TEMAN “

Composed on 18^th June 2007 (Monday)

Song: Ross Ariffin ( EMI Publishing Sdn Bhd )

Lyrics : Ross Ariffin ( English/Original )

Lyrics (Malay): Unknown as yet

Verse One

We started all together down this winding road,

Seeking truth and doing things that others wouldn’t dare,

But in…all in what we did together,

We just forgot, we just forgot to care…

About the friendship that we share,

Chorus *

You’re my friend,

Til the end,

Thru our pain and joy until we..

Understand, life you’ll see..

This way was meant to be,

Though we can’t,

Change out fate,

We will always stand together,

We are friends, til the end,

You’re my friend,

You’ll be there ….til the end

Mmmmm…

Verse Two

We all have found that people..

Are not what they seem, ohhh…

We just fall into their trap..

It almost killed the dream,

But in, all in what we did together,

We just forgot, forgot to care about..

This friendship that we share,

Chorus**

You’re my friends,

Til the end,

Thru our pain and joy until we..

Understand, life you’ll see..

This way was meant to be,

Though we can’t,

Change out fate,

We will always stand together,

I’ll be there, til the end,

You’re my friend, he’s my friend,

We are friends …ohhhhhh…...til the end

Bridge^

But this darkness has now come into my life,

Will you help up, and lead me to the light…..ohhh…the light..

Last Chorus ***

You’re my friends,

Til the end,

Thru our pain and joy until we..

Understand, life you’ll see..

This way was meant to be,

Though we can’t,

Change out fate,

We will always stand together,

I’ll be there, til the end,

You’re my friend, He’s my friend,

We are friends …. Ummmmm……til the end

We are friends….

We are friends….Yeah, Yeah…

We are friends….Hmmmmm..

You’re my friend.

Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End!

2007-05-20T09:57:00.000+08:00

Watch the preview trailer

Most Malaysians are such cowards!!

2007-05-17T03:40:00.000+08:00

Recently we had one dog owner who wanted us to board his dog for one day. My wife and daughter have known him for sometime now. But I personally have never really taken to him. Theres something freaky about him. He speaks with what we call " marbles in the mouth" ie; pseudo-kinda-english. An english accent that is put-on. I should know. I was brought up speaking english as my mother tongue by my english born mum. At least I speak english the normal way!!

Then the same day in the evening after he had taken back his dog ( by the way my wife and daughter took three goddamn hours to clean his dog up of ticks galore!! ) my daughter found out from an online friend that his dog namely Arune was sick and had vomitted. Concerned my wife talked to this freak on her mobile. Its pretty obvious that this motherfucker ( chinese by the way!! )used this opportunity to accuse us of trying to mutilate and murder his filthy mutt.My wife tried in vain and in all honesty to defend herself. But to no avail as this motherfucker shouted and called my poor wife a "bitch" and accused her falsely in trying to kill and "mutilate" his filthy mutt. My poor wife couldnt get a word in!

The next morning he sent a nasty demanding sms to my wife's mobile.I decided to make my move. I was eagerly waiting for this shithead to try his luck one more time.

And I sent him no less than THREE messages from my mobile to his. And to my full expectation we have not heard from him since then.Ha ha ha!!

It always works when I do my part to fight back and give as good as it gets!!

My message to him if he reads this is....

" Fuck off you chinese mother-fucker and dont let us see you ever again!!"

Ohh by the way..Ive got a strong feeling that this motherfucker is GAY!!

Malaysia a hub for illegal wildlife trade!

2007-05-14T11:51:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Criminal gangs are using Malaysia as a hub for exporting millions of dollars worth of wildlife for the Chinese market, wildlife officials said Sunday.

Officials said trafficking of wildlife had hit alarming levels in Malaysia, which also plays the role of source and consumer.

Traders from Indonesia's Sumatra and Borneo island regularly smuggle the animals to middlemen in Malaysia, said Chris Shepherd of wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.

"Criminal syndicates are mainly behind the trafficking. It is growing at an alarming rate," he told AFP.

"Unless tough measures are put in place to contain the illegal activity, it will have a serious impact on the wildlife, including animals in the Malaysian jungle, which are also being poached," Shepherd added.

Traffic is a joint programme of the WWF and the World Conservation Union.

Shepherd said among the most sought after creatures are fresh water turtles, tortoises, many species of snakes, pangolins, Sumatran rhino, tiger and sambar deer.

Shepherd said the Malaysian middlemen smuggle the animals to Thailand and then to China to be eaten, adding that meat from the sambar deer and sun bear is also consumed in Malaysia.

Six people have been arrested so far this year for attempting to smuggle snakes and pangolins into Thailand, said Pazil Abdul Patah, a wildlife official in the northeastern Kelantan state, which shares a porous border with Thailand.

"I estimate the annual value of the illegal trade to be worth millions of dollars," he told AFP, adding that "the public have to come forward to tip us off of the illegal activity."

"If the trafficking is not stopped, I fear our wildlife will become extinct," he warned.

Pangolins, or scaly anteaters, found in Asia and Africa, are considered a delicacy in China and are prized for their use in traditional medicine.

Pet food recall expands to new wet brand

2007-04-01T04:34:00.000+08:00

WASHINGTON - The recall of wet and dry pet foods contaminated with a chemical found in plastics and pesticides expanded Saturday to include a new brand even as investigators were puzzled why the substance would kill dogs and cats.

Nestle Purina PetCare Co. said it was recalling all sizes and varieties of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. Purina said a limited amount of the food contained a contaminated wheat gluten from China.

The same U.S. supplier also provided wheat gluten, a protein source, to a Canadian company, Menu Foods, which this month recalled 60 million containers of wet dog and cat food it produces for sale under nearly 100 brand labels.

Menu Foods and the
Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the pet food industry, have refused to identify the company that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten.

Hill's Pet Nutrition said late Friday that its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food included the tainted wheat gluten. The FDA said the source was the same unidentified company. Hill's, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co., is so far the only company to recall any dry pet food.

Federal testing of some recalled pet foods and the wheat gluten used in their production turned up the chemical melamine. Melamine is used to make kitchenware and other plastics. It is both a contaminant and byproduct of several pesticides, including cyromazine, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency. Melamine is toxic only in very high doses and has been shown in rats to produce bladder tumors, according to the EPA.

The federal pet food testing failed to confirm the presence of aminopterin, a cancer drug also used as rat poison, the FDA said. Cornell University scientists also found melamine in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating some of the recalled food.

Earlier, the New York State Food Laboratory identified aminopterin as the likely culprit in the pet food. But the FDA said it could not confirm that finding, nor have researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey when they looked at tissue samples taken from dead cats.

Experts at the University of Guelph in Canada detected aminopterin in some samples of the recalled pet food, but only in very small percentages.

"Biologically, that means nothing. It wouldn't do anything," said Grant Maxie, a veterinary pathologist at the university. "This is a puzzle."

The FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food.

Menu Foods announced the recall this month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the company's products.

An FDA official allowed that it was not immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit. The agency's investigation continues, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Menu Foods said the only certainty was that imported wheat gluten was the likely source of the deadly contamination, even if the actual contaminant remained in doubt.

"The important point today is that the source of the adulteration has been identified and removed from our system," said Paul Henderson, Menu Foods chief executive officer and president. Henderson suggested his company would pursue legal action against the supplier.

About 70 percent of the wheat gluten used in the United States for human and pet food is imported from the
European Union and Asia, according to the Pet Food Institute, an industry group.

One veterinarian suggested the international sourcing of ingredients would force the U.S. "to come to grips with a reality we had not appreciated."

"When you change from getting an ingredient from the supplier down the road to a supplier from around the globe, maybe the methods and practices that were effective in one situation need to be changed," said Tony Buffington, a professor of veterinary clinical sciences at Ohio State University.

Sundlof said the agency may change how it regulates the pet food industry.

"In this case, we're going to have to look at this after the dust settles and determine if there is something from a regulatory standpoint that we could have done differently to prevent this incident from occurring," he said.

Britain is Taking Right Approach with Iran

2007-03-30T03:34:00.000+08:00

This weekend, Britain will mark the 25th anniversary of the start of the Falklands War, when Argentine forces invaded the small group of British islands in the South Atlantic, 1,500 miles off the coast of Argentina.

It was inevitable, given the coincidence of timing and the circumstances, that comparisons would be drawn between that conflict, which ended in a triumphant recovery of the islands by UK forces two months later, and the humiliation heaped on Britain in the last week by the seizure of 15 British sailors in the waters near the Persian Gulf.

Then, as now, the incident involved an obvious breach of international law by an odious regime, a serial offender against human rights. Then, as now, a large section of the British media chose to remain essentially neutral in the struggle (or even exhibited sympathy with the enemy), questioning the validity of the British claims, and seeming to give equal weight to the words of the prime minister in Downing Street and the autocratic government on the other side. Then , as now, even gung-ho hardliners in Britain expressed grave doubts about the idea that there might be a military solution to the crisis.

In the current interpretation of history that is where the similarities end. The key difference, according to
Tony Blair's critics in the UK, is that, whereas he wrings his hands and does nothing to halt this flagrant abuse of British rights and of the country's citizens, Margaret Thatcher, prime minister in 1982, boldly declared the outrage would not stand, assembled a massive naval task force to confront it and pulled off a magnificent military victory that restored international law and healed Britain's wounded pride.

Let me state, for the record, that I am an inveterate fan of Mrs Thatcher's and regard her as one of the giants of the 20th century for her contribution to the advancement of political and economic freedom around the world. But it is important to record that this version of events that occurred 25 years ago and the sorry contrast it seems to represent with what is happening today is simply hooey.

The first point to make is that it was the ineptitude and weakness of Mrs Thatcher's government in the face of mounting indications of aggression from Argentina that allowed the Falklands to be captured in the first place. Her ministers had spent a good deal of time and effort over the previous three years (by their own admission) hinting to an increasingly hostile Argentine government that they would essentially like to get rid of the Falklands, which were regarded by Whitehall as an expensive nuisance.

The critical decision that historians are agreed probably emboldened the Argentines to invade was the announcement by the Thatcher government a few months earlier of Britain's intention to scrap HMS Endurance, the only naval vessel on patrol in the area and the only military materiel even vaguely capable of defending the Falklands. This is particularly worth noting given the criticism now being leveled against Mr Blair for his programme of cuts in the Royal Navy's surface fleet. What's more, the criticism of the British naval commander in the Gulf incident echoes the criticism of the commander of Royal Marines on the Falklands when the Argentines invade in early April 1982. The Marines offered only token resistance and in fact surrendered shortly after the invasion after incurring only minimal casualties.

Second, while it is indeed true that the Thatcher government, under great political pressure from its own Conservative MPs and the Labor opposition, launched an enormous task force from Britain days after the invasion, it was far from clear that it would actually fight to retake the islands. For weeks as the task force sailed, Britain was involved in frantic diplomatic efforts to seek a settlement that would have averted war, but at considerable cost to international law and to Britain's honor.

A few weeks after the invasion Mrs Thatcher came perilously close to accepting a compromise on the future of the Falklands - brokered, by the way, by the US administration of
Ronald Reagan (of which more in a moment) - that would have provided for a kind of joint administration of the Falklands. In other words, Argentina would have been rewarded for its aggression by achieving something it had never managed before - a powerful say over the political control of the islands.

It was only thanks to the sheer idiocy of the Argentine government, led by the oafish General Leopoldo Galtieri, that the deal was not accepted. It is highly questionable whether Mrs Thatcher could possibly have survived the humiliation such a "compromise" would have represented. She would have been forced out, either by her own party, or by the electorate, after just one term.

In a further instructive twist to the debate about what Britain should do about its Iranian-held hostages today, it is worth noting that Mrs Thatcher and her government faced considerable opposition to a successful military recovery of the Falklands from an unlikely source - that administration of President Reagan.

The military junta in Argentina was Washington's valuable ally in the global struggle against communism. America had lingering historical objections to colonial British intervention in the western hemisphere. Jeanne Kirkpatrick, the US ambassador to the
United Nations at the time, and an early champion of a neoconservative foreign policy, was firmly on the Argentine side, a useful reminder that in those days some of the most influential neocons actually rather liked and supported fascist dictatorships.

It was only the steely and determined efforts of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger (later, pointedly, knighted by the Queen), the sheer bovine implacability of the Argentine leadership and the good judgment of Ronald Reagan himself that ensured the US eventually jumped the right way and provided diplomatic and military logistical support to the UK. So when you hear American conservatives bemoaning the fact that there is no-one of Mrs Thatcher's stature in Britain these days, remind yourself that the main reason she survived was no thanks whatsoever to their contributions.

Where does all this leave Mr Blair and his government as it seeks to recover Britain's sailors and restore its pride? This time, thank goodness, the US is firmly on our side. But it is not clear what difference that will make. The military options open to the British government look rather limited. It lacks the intelligence and the military capacity to mount a rescue mission from its meager task force in the Gulf. Though the US has much more firepower and presumably better intelligence, I'm guessing the US navy does not plan to start a war with
Iran in an effort to rescue 15 British sailors.

The right approach, as frustratingly dilatory as it seems, is the one the UK is currently taking. The Iranian attack is an outrage, but it presents an important opportunity to demonstrate to the world (which shouldn't need reminding, but does) just how vile a regime Teheran is. Let no-one be in any doubt as to who is the aggressor is. Produce the evidence that this was no hostile action by the British but simply an operation rooted in international law. Steadily ratchet up the diplomatic pressure on Iran, isolating the country in international opinion. All of that will lay a much better groundwork in global public opinion as the US and its allies prepare for the long difficult struggle to stop Iran from achieving regional hegemony under the shelter of its own nuclear umbrella.

It is frustrating work, but all of the alternatives are worse. What is certain is that bewailing British weakness through false analogies to a very different crisis a quarter of a century ago won't bring anyone home anytime soon.

Humiliated and shaking,..was she forced to confess?

2007-03-30T02:56:00.000+08:00

WEARING a black headscarf, her voice trembled as she spoke to her unseen interviewer.

Leading Seaman Faye Turney appeared on Iranian television in civilian dress to tell the world she and her colleagues had "trespassed" into Iranian waters.

Her eyes downcast and forehead furrowed, in a monotone voice the mother said she had been treated well and that her captors were "nice people".

The brief series of clips also showed some of the 14 other British service personnel eating, still in uniform.

The broadcast triggered fears that the woman sailor had been coerced by Iran's Revolutionary Guards into speaking.

The British government immediately condemned the Iranian move, with Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, saying she had deep concerns.

Ldg Smn Turney, who was shown looking tense and at times smoking, said: "Obviously we trespassed into their waters. They were very friendly, very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we had been arrested, there was no aggression on their part."

Unlike a similar crisis in 2004, the sailors were not wearing blindfolds, but this may suggest Tehran plans to treat them as suspects rather than prisoners, with a view to putting them on trial.

Unusually, the images were broadcast on Iran's Arab- language channel, rather than state TV, which broadcasts in Farsi, the main language of Iran. Broadcasting in Arabic ensures that the film will be shown across the Middle East, portraying Iran as the victors over America's closest allies in homes from Baghdad to Beirut.

Fuelling fears there had been coercion of the hostages, the Iranian embassy released a letter, which it said was from Ldg Smn Turney to her parents. She wrote that the British crew had "apparently" strayed into Iranian territory, a less emphatic statement than her TV interview, in which she had said the crew had "obviously" transgressed the boundary in the Persian Gulf.

Mrs Beckett said: "I am very concerned about these pictures and any indication of pressure on or coercion of our personnel. I am particularly disappointed a private letter has been used in a way which can only add to the distress of the families."

Earlier, the Iranian foreign minister appeared to make assurances that Ldg Smn Turney, 26, would be released.

However, Manouchehr Mottaki last night claimed he had been "probably misquoted" over that promise but said Tehran had agreed to allow British officials to meet the 15 sailors and marines in Iranian custody.

"Measures are underway (to arrange meeting). They can meet them," he said.

Mr Mottaki did not specify when, adding: "First they have to admit that they have made a mistake."

British ministers ordered a suspension of all bilateral government business with Tehran.

The pressure on Iran intensified after Emyr Jones-Parry, the British ambassador to the United Nations, pledged to seek Security Council action. The timing is crucial as the UK will take over the presidency of the UN Security Council next week, a point emphasised yesterday by Tony Blair.

The Prime Minister threw down the gauntlet by disclosing that Iran changed its evidence to try to prove the British crew had been in Iranian waters during the sailors' seizure at gunpoint. It provided one set of co-ordinates but, when the British pointed out these were in Iraqi waters, another set was given.

Mr Blair said there was "no justification" for the sailors' detention. He added: "It was completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal.

It is time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure to make sure the Iranian government understands their total isolation on this issue."

Defence chiefs also produced evidence showing the 15 sailors were captured in Iraqi waters. Both acts would be seen as embarrassing for Iran, leaving the regime increasingly isolated. However, Iran was emphatic the sailors had entered its territory.

Speaking before the interview with Ldg Smn Turney was aired, Mr Mottaki suggested for the first time that the Royal Navy party may have entered Iranian waters by mistake.

Downing Street last night made clear its disapproval of the broadcast and said such actions were against the Geneva and Vienna conventions on the treatment of prisoners.

Earlier, Vice-Admiral Charles Style, deputy chief of the defence staff, gave detailed co-ordinates which he said showed the party had been seized 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters. "It is hard to understand this change. We unambiguously contest both the positions provided by the Iranians," he said.

The boarding party from HMS Cornwall was seized after completing a routine search of an Indian-flagged cargo ship.

Vice-Admiral Style said the ship's master had confirmed his position was 29 degrees 50.36 minutes North, 048 degrees 43.08 minutes East, placing the vessel well within Iraqi waters, where it remained at anchor.

The Ministry of Defence also released a picture of a global positioning satellite device in HMS Cornwall's Lynx helicopter as it overflew the ship, confirming its position. Vice-Admiral Style said that coalition forces backed by the Iraqi navy had carried out 66 such boardings in the northern Gulf since March - four of them in the same area as the Royal Navy party were seized - without incident.

He said interviews with the Lynx crew, which was in the air at the time, and the master of the cargo ship indicated they had been "ambushed" by Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats.

A senior officer said it had taken the two Iranian patrol boats - equipped with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades - three minutes to reach them from the coast. In contrast, the boarding party had only SA80 assault rifles and sidearms.

Robert Phipps, a body language expert , last night said Lng Smn Turney's expressions in the broadcast revealed her true state of mind. Despite her insistence that she was being treated well, her mannerisms and words indicated a woman feeling pressurised and nervous, he said.

"The smile she gave was a fixed smile; it vanished as quickly as it appeared showing it wasn't genuine," he added.

"Her forehead was furrowed and it was like she had been told what to say."
'A BREACH OF CONVENTION'

PARADING hostages on television is a clear breach of the Geneva Convention - but it is questionable if the 15 sailors are covered by the law as Iran and Britain are not technically at war.

Paul Beaver, a defence analyst, said: "[The sailors] are being held without trial, have not been allowed consular access. We presume they have had access to medical provision.

"However, this is not an act of war, as we are not in the middle of a conflict with Iran. It doesn't really come under the convention."

He added that Iran had, in effect, carried out a criminal act by "kidnapping" the sailors.
Britain recoils - but 'gentle' images may offer hope of quick end to impasse

WATCHING a nervous young Faye Turney facing the cameras and the world, the overall impression I obtained was that the Iranians - or at least an element - were trying to find a way out of the impasse, writes CLIVE FAIRWEATHER.

Last night's TV depicting a demure, cigarette-smoking individual sporting a headscarf was a far cry from the brutal images we have often seen of captives in the Middle East, starting with the US diplomats held for 444 days in Tehran in 1980. Similarly, the battered faces of navigator John Nichol and pilot John Peters, shot down by Iraq in the first Gulf war, became an iconic image.

Last night's "gentle" images are an attempt by the Iranians to show they are more sophisticated and could mean that the affair need not be as long drawn-out as many have feared.

It seemed focusing on a young woman, complete with a heartfelt letter written by her to family at home, that the Iranians were studiously avoiding controversy. Faye herself was, I thought, making the best of a tricky situation. By co-operating in the way she has, she may have done as much, if not more, than Margaret Beckett to help ease tensions.

Even the admission in her letter that her party had "apparently" strayed into Iranian waters contains a get-out clause, which could be crucial.

That we are seeing such undemonstrative and "gentle" images augurs well, at this stage.

• Clive Fairweather, ex- second in command of the SAS, served as an adviser to Iranian forces in 1970

Comments

syntax, Edinburgh / 1:48am 29 Mar 2007

Tony Blair is weak and every country knows it.... There should have been a quick military response ! Get them out of there !!!

Maggie Thatcher wouldn't have wasted any time... Labour are crap. All spin and no substance !!

Angus Lindsay, Hong Kong / 1:52am 29 Mar 2007

We've seen it all before. It's the Islamic way. Human shields, hostages, "confessions". Achmadinnerjacket is a mischief-making, twisted, little creep whose downfall is as assured as that of all the tinpot dictators that preceded him.

Privateman, Anywhere but here / 11:02am 29 Mar 2007

If all the deskchair generals who inhabit this message board with their ludicrously over the top solutions were actually in charge of the military then God help us all.

#118 Who started this? Do you have any evidence whatsoever that that had anything to do with Iran?

The fact is Iran is well aware from its history that Britain has been poking its nose in the region since the 19th century (much longer ago than 9/11), first to prevent Tsarist Russia from having a sphere of influence in Persia and threatening Imperial India then, from the First World War onwards, to shore up our interests in the Suez canal and oil in the Middle East and their country. Remember we drew the borders of Iraq based on some ridiculous antiquarian view of Mesopotamia and a promise to give a kingdom to an Arab Sheikh? Recipe for future trouble. Remember Anglo-Persian Oil and its blatant exploitation of their resources? Remember we overthrew a government in Iran and installed the Shah because they sought to end that? Remember Suez (not supported by the USA)? Why doesn't it surprise you that they distrust us and our motives when we have a history of adventurism in the region? It was bad leadership by whoever allowed our servicemen to be so close to a water border inadequately defined which put them in such danger on an otherwise routine mission. May they come home safely and not be used by the blinkered, anti-Muslim lynch mob you all represent.

CindyUSA, USA / 3:43pm 29 Mar 2007

This business with Iran and the UK soldiers is so politics! I really think Iran is pushing their luck and wants war. Personally, I would appologize, kiss and makeup and get my kids home. The minute they are home is another matter. At that point I would make it clear the next time Iran moves in like that, we consider it an act of clear aggression and go from there.

I don't want another war with anyone, but Pulllleeeezzzzzzeeeee quit antagonizing the powers that be.

Iran is spitting in everyone's face and we are getting aggita over it. Get the kids out, say ur r sorry and then make it clear that we will not tolerate this type of behavior again.

Where is the NATO people?? Why isn't Russia, China, and Japan backing the UK. Why is it the US always has to be the ones to stand up for someone else's rights. I think the US and UK are the only ones with a "set" anymore. We are both always helping everyone else out and we get spit on, kicked and told GET OUT! These people are set on destroying themselves and I honestly don't get it.

Dougie Welsh, Canada / 4:14pm 29 Mar 2007

The Iran-Iraq region has been the "Cradle of Civilisation" for over 6000 years, and for over 6000 years, the peoples of the region have been fighting each other. They are not going to stop because WE think their system of life is wrong. It isn't wrong for them.

Our error lies in trying to make them into phony Brits and Yanks. They are not, and will never be! What they have done is follow ancient tradition to embarrass the leaders of their present enemies, as they have done for thousands of years. They have said "You can't teach us anything, you can't even protect your own soldiers!"

We need to do one of two things:

1. Pound them into the dust until they are no more than a distant memory and resettle the region with people who have a tradition of democracy.

or

2. Get the hell out NOW, and let them find their own solutions to post-Saddam life in the region. Even if that means standing by and watching as they kill each other by the millions.

Sooner or later, the survivors will stop shooting at each other and ask for our help. THEN, we might be able to save the remaining children.

Your comments?

Chloe is ONE Year old!

2007-03-27T14:50:00.000+08:00

Date: March 26th!

Our beloved funny face Chloe turned one year!. Here are a couple of photos of Chloe enjoying the heartfelt attention!

Chloe cant wait to get at her birthday cake!

Look at her new rugby ball!

I in particular do find Chloe such a cutie whenever she holds in her mouth or balances on her nose any object!.

*a million hugs for our dearest Chloe*

Amber_Mae Does It Again!!

2007-03-18T21:10:00.000+08:00

The greatest news came to my ears earlier this afternoon, when my wife told me that some people approached her with regards to Amber_Mae being selected and later confirmed to be part of an advertisement for a Johnsons & Johnsons advert (on screen!) for India!. Apparently Amber should be earning about RM1K per day and it will entail two days of shooting!.

Later that afternoon, fast approaching early evening, my wife got the confirmation mobile call that she (Amber) was definitely chosen. Whoa...I thought!. This is the next step towards true stardom for our golden retriever who already has won two significant awards at puppy.com events.

Could this be Amber's entry into the world of TV stardom and celebrity status internationally?. Sure looks like it!

Anyway,here are some more recent photos of our furbabies and the family minus yours truly. Becoz I was not around. Sundays are my day off work and I tend to stay at home and just laze about!.

Wouldnt you?.

My Answer 8 months ago chosen as Best Answer!

2007-03-15T15:55:00.000+08:00

Hey, msianmania, look what you got!
Congratulations, you've got a best answer and 10 extra points!

Your answer to the following question really hit the spot and has been chosen as the best answer:

Are u getting tried of hearing bout zidane? I AM!! r u?

Go ahead, do your victory dance. Celebrate a little. Brag a little. Then come back and answer a few more questions!

Take me to Yahoo! Answers

Thanks for sharing what you know and making someone's day.

The Yahoo! Answers Team

that's me!

Best Answer - Chosen By Voters ( Yahoo Answers )

Yeah. Im getting fed up of all this crap too!. Enuff is enuff. Zizou has won the Golden Ball award. He can retire in peace - I hope?. As for Materazzi - whatever he said to Zizou was uncalled for but Zizou should have shown that he is ABOVE all criticisms, racial condemnation - that he is truly a model of greatness not only as a football legend but as a MAN too!

He failed miserably in that sense!

He is not going to forget this very easily for a long, long time.

Its an added stain to his image and reputation from that day onwards.

Sad.

GM says "There's No Issue"!

2007-03-11T14:47:00.000+08:00

One of our regulars....a very kind and supportive guest who also resides at the hotel where I am currently performing saw the GM. Looks like things have been resolved amicably?.Lucky for us..that this took place. Or else..things might have got out of hand.Now,I can look foward and do my job without being branded a "crimminal" out to "deface" a hotel's good image.

I wish musicians in this country werent so rampantly abused and defiled!!.

So sad!

Well..you have it.

Welcome to Malaysia! Truly Asia! ( Urghh! )

Gestapo Country...??

2007-03-11T14:30:00.000+08:00

The Poor Old Man

The man says:
I don't care what people say about me.
I don't care how I will be remembered
I don't care if people will remember me
I don't care if they will forget me
I really don't care.

Yet, he gets angry over just a photo :
I think it was deliberately done
I was made to look like an idiot
I was taken in by Asiaweek magazine
I ...well...maybe I was tired...
I work almost 24 hours a day....!

Who cares, really?

================================

The man begins by defining Putrajaya:
"Putrajaya is the adminstrative capital...
"It will be the adminstrative seat for the leaders
of the future
"I hope they will never change the (adminstrative)
capital again."

Then suddenly (and desperately) Putrajaya
becomes a "township"(!):
"Why have critics not complained when the
Government developed other townships such
as Petaling jaya, Subang Jaya, Bandar Baru Nilai,
Shah Alam, Serang and Puchong (Star, 2.2.01)
"Development of townships is profitable and has
contributed a great deal to the country's economic
growth.
"Putrajaya is also a development project and
eventually, would generate profits like any other
housing project..(!)

Sad
Sorry
Slanted
State of mind...

From: Martin Stephen Jalleh

New Song For Fauziah Latiff by Ross Ariffin

2007-03-06T02:16:00.000+08:00

Cari kepuasan di dasar laut
Oleh Ramlah Zainal
roses@hmetro.com.my

Fauziah Latiff seronok sertai aktiviti selam skuba atas kesedaran memulihara hidupan laut

TIDAK semua wanita berani menceburi dunia sukan lasak. Apatah lagi sukan yang membabitkan kekuatan mental dan fizikal. Namun, ia sebaliknya bagi penyanyi popular Fauziah Latiff.

Bagi Fauziah, 36, atau lebih mesra dengan panggilan Jee, selain bidang nyanyian, cintanya adalah pada sukan lasak seperti menunggang kuda, kick-boxing dan selam skuba.

Bercerita lanjut mengenai selam skuba, Fauziah yang memiliki lesen menyelam skuba tahap ‘rescue’ berkata, dia mendapat pendedahan dalam aktiviti sukan air itu sejak kecil lagi.

“Aktiviti ini membabitkan semua anggota keluarga dan kami juga selalu menyelam skuba bersama-sama,” katanya.

Fauziah berkata, dia sangat menghargai aktiviti selam skuba kerana banyak perkara yang dipelajarinya menerusi sukan itu.

“Kepuasan akan datang dalam diri bila kita berada di dasar lautan dan pada masa sama sukan ini dapat merehatkan minda kita yang kusut.

“Saya sangat menghargai selam skuba kerana banyak perkara yang saya belajar menerusi sukan ini. Ia bukan sekadar dijadikan hobi semata-mata.

“Pada masa sama, kita boleh meningkatkan kesedaran mengenai pentingnya kita sama-sama memulihara hidupan laut seperti terumbu karang.

“Selam skuba sebahagian daripada pendidikan dan saya tidak bersetuju jika orang kata aktiviti ini khusus untuk golongan tertentu saja. Bagi saya, semua orang boleh menyertai sukan ini,” katanya.

Apa yang penting, Fauziah berkata, dia mendapat kepuasan setiap kali melakukan aktiviti yang diminatinya itu.

“Cabarannya ada apabila kita berada di bawah sana (dasar laut). Selalunya saya menyelam bersama rakan dan kami juga berkongsi nota mengenai hidupan laut yang kami temui ketika menyelam itu.

“Kita juga akan mengagumi keindahan di dasar laut, contohnya ketika berada pada paras 10 hingga 15 meter di dasar laut. Sebelum menyelam, aspek keselamatan paling dititikberatkan,” katanya.

Bagi Fauziah yang mendapat lesen selam skuba di Kalimantan, aktiviti selam skuba seperti satu percutian menarik baginya.

Antara lokasi selam skuba yang sering menjadi pilihannya ialah Pulau Sipadan (Sabah), Pulau Kapas, Pulau Perhentian (Terengganu), Pulau Tioman (Johor) dan Kalimantan Timur.

Fauziah ditemui ketika sidang media pelancaran program Fiesta Laut 2007 dan pelantikannya sebagai Duyung CoRal di Pusat Akuatik, Shah Alam, Selangor, baru-baru ini.

Majlis pada pagi itu disempurnakan Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai dan Presiden Persatuan Pemuliharaan Terumbu Karang Malaysia (CoRal Malaysia), Jamhariah Jaafar.

Justeru, pelantikan Fauziah sebagai Duyung CoRal seumur hidup dan ahli jawatankuasa CoRal Malaysia memang tepat pada masanya. Duta CoRal Malaysia pertama ialah penyanyi terkenal Zainalabidin dan disusuli pelukis dasar laut Malaysia pertama, Ajis Mohamad.

Fauziah mula mengenali CoRal Malaysia sewaktu menyertai program mewarna Jalur Gemilang di dasar laut ketika pembukaan tirai Bulan Kemerdekaan 2006 di Pulau Kapas, Terengganu.

Projek yang turut menerima pengiktirafan Malaysia Book Of Record (MBOR) sebagai Jalur Gemilang pertama diwarnakan di dasar laut menjadi tarikan Fauziah untuk terus menyumbang tenaga bersama CoRal Malaysia dalam usaha memulihara khazanah laut negara.

Dua lagi rekod yang dilakar CoRal Malaysia sejak ditubuhkan empat tahun lalu dan diiktiraf MBOR ialah Lukisan Dasar Laut Terpanjang Malaysia/Dunia 2004 dan kumpulan pertama mengibarkan Jalur Gemilang di dasar laut sempena bulan kemerdekaan tahun lalu.

Secara peribadi, Fauziah mengakui menerusi CoRal Malaysia, dia dapat berkongsi minat dan idea bernas dengan persatuan yang dianggotai 150 ahli.

“Menerusi program dianjurkan CoRal Malaysia, saya dapat membantu meningkatkan kesedaran kepada masyarakat mengenai pentingnya memulihara terumbu karang.

“Sebagai Duyung CoRal, saya berharap dapat menyedarkan masyarakat supaya menghargai khazanah alam dan tidak memusnahkannya,” katanya yang memastikan memakai krim pelindung matahari bila melakukan aktiviti sukan air.

Mengenai kerjaya nyanyian, Fauziah merancang membuat pembungkusan semula albumnya, Pesona dan dijangka siap pertengahan tahun ini. Pesona adalah album baru Fauziah yang diterbitkan Firmzz Sdn Bhd. Ia menampilkan lagu saduran karya komposer dan pemuzik Amerika Syarikat, Jim Brickman.

Lagu berkenaan ialah Berjanjilah, Seindah Cinta, Dilema Mimpi dan Kekasihku. Selain itu, ia memuatkan empat lagu lamanya yang diberi nafas baru iaitu Digamit Memori, Segalanya Berakhir Di Sini, Hari Yang Istimewa dan Sahabat.

“Ada satu atau dua lagu baru dalam album Pesona yang akan saya buat pembungkusan semula. Satu lagu akan mendapat sentuhan komposer Ross Ariffin. Alhamdulillah, album Pesona juga mendapat sambutan menggalakkan.

“Saya juga terbabit siri promosi bergerak Superstazz On Tour 06/07 bersama artis terkenal di Pulau Pinang, Kedah, Singapura dan di Johor pada awal bulan depan.

“Album penuh pula dalam perancangan dan mungkin selepas album pembungkusan semula ini siap nanti,” katanya.

Jennifer Hudson's Oscar Performance

2007-03-04T13:28:00.000+08:00

Click here

Chicago's own Jennifer Hudson Sunday night took home Oscar gold, winning the Academy Award for best supporting actress. This rising star grew up on the South Side.

It was the combination of her unforgettable voice and a role that seemed to be made for the South Side girl that won Hudson an Oscar.

Shari Nichols-Sweat is Hudson’s cousin and former voice coach at Dunbar High School where Hudson graduated in 1999. Even back then there was no doubt she had an exceptional talent.

Hudson was just 17 when she belted out “Inseparable” at a high school performance, but Hudson had been singing since she was a young girl. In a recording of that performance, it is clear she had talent early on.

She grew up in a Chicago church and joined the choir when she was only 7 years old. And it was there that Hudson found her biggest inspiration: her grandmother. Hudson made sure to give her credit on Oscar night.

Her grandmother's name was Julia Kate Hudson. Hudson’s middle name is Kate. Like her grandmother, she too was a soloist in the church. But unlike her grandmother, who didn't pursue a professional career to stay home with her family, Hudson has achieved the ultimate.

“And my theory is that I have her voice and so it is my duty and my goal and my dream to be able to do this for her,” Hudson said Sunday night.

No doubt grandma would be proud.

It doesn't quite rival an Oscar, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave his own honor to Hudson.

He named Monday 'Jennifer Hudson Day'' in Illinois, saying that she made the whole state proud.

Is Taylor Hicks the first 'Idol' fluke?

2007-03-02T05:16:00.000+08:00

NEW YORK (AP) — "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks needs his Soul Patrol to step up. They were certainly there for him around this time last year, when he was building up a feverish fan base, named the "Soul Patrol." The things about him that irked Simon Cowell — that mop of gray hair and the herky-jerky dance moves that conjured up images of dorky dads loose at a wedding reception — were instead embraced by millions, who later handed him the "Idol" title over the likes of talented hotties Katharine McPhee and Chris Daughtry.

It was like a made-for-primetime fairy tale, starring the soulful-voiced Hicks. But as the all that hoopla died down, Hicks faced a tougher task: making the transition from reality TV star to established soul singer.

So far, not so good — well, not Carrie Underwood "good."

His self-titled, post-"Idol" album, released in December, debuted at No. 2 on the charts. While it has sold a respectable 640,000 copies, it has slid significantly to a dismal rank: 136 this week. Discs by previous winners Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia and Ruben Studdard performed a lot better in the weeks after they were issued. And finalist Chris Daughtry is near the top of the charts with the self-titled debut of his band Daughtry — they have sold over 1 million records.

Geoff Mayfield, a senior analyst at Billboard, said he's got "a strong suspicion that (Hicks) might be the first winner who falls shy of a million units."

There's a reason for that, said Tom Corson, executive vice president of J Records, a label within Sony-BMG, which signs the show's singers. Hicks took a little longer than some of the other Idols to complete the album, he said, and his first single, "Just To Feel That Way," debuted on radio's airwaves only three weeks ago.

"It's a work in progress, and, would we have liked to sell a little bit more? Yeah. But (the album is) still gold and on its way to platinum," Corson told The Associated Press this week. "And, if the single performs, we'll turn it around, so we're quite — we're quite optimistic about things as it stands right now."

The power ballad "Just To Feel That Way," in which he urges a lover to try to make the relationship work, sits at No. 26 on the adult contemporary radio charts, Mayfield said.

"With Taylor, you're going into an adult format," Corson said. "We hope it translates younger, but the music right now is much more adult. It's a longer burn, a longer process."

Hicks' target audience is a bit more passive, said Corson, who noted that "it just takes a little longer to get those people to buy."

And Hicks, who is out on a nationwide tour in support of the album, has a plan to boost sales.

"It's slow and steady wins the race," he said Tuesday in a phone conversation with the AP. "You know, to have overnight record success, you know, it's tough to do. You have to massage the record buying audience as much as you have to massage the live performing audience, you know?"

So he's going to take a grassroots approach.

"I think the best thing for me as an artist is to get out and be with the people and tour the record," he said. "And go to the radio stations and be personable."

Is the Soul Patrol, whose members proudly brandished "Pick Hicks" signs on "Idol" last year, still going strong?

"I mean, it's been a packed house every night," said Hicks. "It's a very musical show and it's very real and very raw. And that's who I am as an artist."

Hicks, who has studied the stage moves of passionate, soulful performers like James Brown and Sly Stone, could have a better shot at success in front of a live audience than on the radio, said Mayfield.

"I think he could have at least some legs as a live performer," he said. "The one thing I can tell you is I'm sure that a lot of thought was given to this album, and it just doesn't appear to be a particularly friendly radio climate for whatever niche you would assign to what he does. And I'm not even really sure how to classify him."

That could be the problem, said Barry James, a program director at the Chicago-based radio station 100.3, which plays a boomer-friendly mix of classic dance and R&B hits.

"Taylor is a terrific club, local band singer," James said in an e-mail to the AP. "He is, however, so narrowly imaged that he'll never break out of it. He's Michael McDonald's little brother (for lack of a better term)."

James said he HAS an image, "but it's not one with broad appeal. Is he sweet? The bad boy? The sexy chick magnet? The whacked out artist? The `dark' one? The answer is none of the above."

One thing, though, is certain: The guy needs a radio hit if he wants to make on impact on major markets, said Sharon Dastur, a program director at the New York-based radio station Z100, which plays Top 40 songs. His chances for that are hampered by the album's classic rock feel, she said.

"I think that if he just made it more of a current pop sound, but still he could showcase his soulful vocals in a more current way, that it would still be true to the way he writes and the way he performs," Dastur said.

It's too early to tell how things might end up, said Hicks, but, in the meantime, he's happy to be onstage. And he's very thankful for that moment on "American Idol," an undeniably successful launching pad.

And he knows his "Idol" win was no fluke.

"I think you have to set yourself apart," Hicks said. "And, you know, you really can't pull the wool over 34 million people live. That's just tough to do, you know?"

On the Net:

Taylor Hicks Official Site

American Idol

UK man wins Malaysia legal battle

2007-02-25T17:46:00.000+08:00

A British man has been awarded more than £400,000 in damages by a Malaysian court after he was prevented from leaving the country for 16 years.

Ronald Beadle, from Derbyshire, was trapped in Malaysia after the country's Inland Revenue Board ordered that his passport be seized over a tax dispute.

The judge ruled that the Inland Revenue Board had acted arbitrarily and abused its powers.

However, she did not accept that Mr Beadle had been falsely imprisoned.

Nor did she allow his claim for loss of earnings, arguing that it was purely theoretical that he could have made a living elsewhere.

Retire

The dispute started out as a simple mix-up over tax, and turned into a 16-year legal odyssey.

In 1981, Malaysia's Inland Revenue Board ordered that Ronald Beadle's passport be seized over a disputed sum of £3,000 ($5,874).

But it was not until 1998 that a court ruled it was his employers and not he who had failed to pay up.

In the meantime, Mr Beadle was forced to remain in Malaysia and was unable to return to Britain, even for his father's funeral.

Now the court has awarded him almost £440,000 ($861,551) in damages.

Mr Beadle, who first came to the country as a serviceman in the 1960s, says he would still like to retire in Malaysia.

Malaysia: Caught in the middle

2007-02-22T03:30:00.000+08:00

By Jonathan Kent
BBC correspondent in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia lies at the heart of South-east Asia, the region described by the United States as the second front in its so-called war on terror.

But it is torn between its economic, cultural and political links with the US, and its status as a champion of the Islamic and developing worlds.

On February 15, 1,500 people protested outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur at an opposition anti war demonstration.

Police tried to close the protest down.

A week later, 200,000 attended a rally backed by the government, who then challenged the Islamist opposition party PAS to organise a bigger one.

Malaysian politics now looks like a competition to see who can bang the anti-US gong the loudest.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad led the way.

"They now no longer respect borders, international laws or even simple moral values. And they are now talking of wars, of the use of military conquests in order to change governments," he said.

"They are even talking of using nuclear weapons. It is no longer just a war against terrorism, it is in fact a war to dominate the world."

Despite these strong words at last week's Non-aligned Movement summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has been a key ally in the US war on terror.

Last year, both US Secretary of State Colin Powell and President George W Bush asked Malaysia to set up a regional counter-terrorism centre.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, told me that plans were coming along well for the centre: "We have identified the premises and we are going to identify the officials to head it, and we hope we should be able to get it going by this year."

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed
PM Mahathir is critical of US policy

The situation is complicated by domestic politics.

Dr Mahathir's party draws its support from Malay Muslims.

In recent years many have switched to backing PAS.

September 11 temporarily silenced the Islamist opposition, but the government fears war in Iraq could play into their hands.

However, PAS research chief Dr Zulkifli Ahmad says his party is determined not to whip up sentiment and be branded as extremist.

"We are going to rope in the entire support against aggression; Muslims, non-Muslims, the NGOs, the political parties, even the government for that matter, and we are going to take it beyond Islam because this is an aggression against humanity," he said.

All around me in an American burger chain are young Muslim men, one even wearing a Malaysian for Peace t-shirt, and their girlfriends, headscarves drawn tightly about their faces.

It sums up the contradiction here.

A lot of people don't equate Washington with the West any more... they're capable of making a distinction between Washington and ordinary Americans
Chandra Muzaffer, veteran commentator

"In Malaysia, especially for the last 20 or 30 years, what other foreign culture have we been exposed to except American culture?" explained disc jockey Patrick Teoh.

"I am bombarded for 18 hours a day with American television, I am listening to American songs, everywhere I drive I am confronted with the big McDonalds sign and my children want to have McDonalds burgers for lunch," he said.

Outside Kuala Lumpur's Central Market many people, particularly Muslims, are reluctant to say what they think about the US.

Those who will speak however tend to draw a distinction between America, its people and their government.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar, President of the International Movement for A Just World and an observer of Malaysian politics, is not surprised.

"A lot of people don't equate Washington with the West any more... they're capable of making a distinction between Washington and ordinary Americans. This is really beginning to emerge," he said.

"I say this because you see reports of this sort even in the peripheral media, some of which are quite shrill when it comes to Islamic issues, but they're capable of making those distinctions and I think that's very good."

It is the links between the two governments that are likely to suffer most in the event of war.

The threat of military action against Iraq is eroding the sympathy generated by the attacks on New York and Washington.

Even a moderate Muslim country cannot afford to be seen to be too friendly with an America seemingly bent on war in the Middle East.

Tun Mahathir on Al-Jazeera recently in a one-on-one interview claimed that " there is no such thing as a moderate muslim country ". Hmmmm...agree or not?

How Disney's TV gang has grown up

2007-02-22T03:20:00.000+08:00

When Disney's All New Mickey Mouse Club unveiled its new cast in 1993, few would have predicted the cultural impact the young recruits of the US children's television show would have.

Whether through talent, rivalry or some sort of showbusiness alchemy, the Mouseketeers produced three of today's biggest pop stars - Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.

Between them, they have sold more than 100 million albums, won 10 Grammy Awards and made a large mark on pop music.

Timberlake was the first to forge a singing career after the show ended in 1994, forming boy band *NSync with fellow Mouseketeer JC Chasez the following year.

The group's manager, Lou Pearlman, also put together a girl band, Innosense, featuring Spears.

But Aguilera faced a tougher struggle in her quest for musical success, pedalling home-recorded demo tapes to record companies for four years before landing a contract with RCA Records.

By this stage Spears had gone solo and, in 1998, released her debut single ...Baby One More Time.

Helped by a raunchy video, which saw the 17-year-old dressed as a schoolgirl, the single sold more than nine million copies worldwide.

Legal troubles

Aguilera followed at a respectable distance, sending Genie In A Bottle to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in the summer of 1999.

But she was unhappy at being marketed as a bubblegum pop princess.

"The image started really upsetting me," she told the New York Daily News in 2002. "I wanted more attention on my vocals and to be seen as a daring artist like Madonna."

Justin Timberlake at the Grammys
Justin Timberlake has won four Grammys

She took her manager Steve Kurtz to court in 2000, claiming he had exercised "improper, undue and inappropriate influence" over her personal and professional activities.

Timberlake had pulled off a similar coup a year earlier, splitting from svengali Lou Pearlman after a lengthy court battle.

While Aguilera and Timberlake fought for control of their careers, Spears was going from strength to strength.

Her second album, Ooops I Did It Again, won plaudits from rock bibles Rolling Stone and the NME and went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

As she kept up the pace on the pop treadmill, Timberlake - now her boyfriend - was making his next move.

Maturing sounds

Securing the services of cutting-edge hip-hop producers the Neptunes, he shocked *NSync fans with the R&B-flavoured single Girlfriend.

Aguilera was also branching out, enlisting former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry to help her write Beautiful, the key track on her confessional Stripped album.

Spears also saw the need to take musical risks, but had to be careful not to alienate her teen audience.

Christina Aguilera
Aguilera has changed her image several times
As a result, her self-titled third album was somewhat schizophrenic, with I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman describing her marketing department's dilemma.

Nonetheless, it achieved respectable sales and kept Spears at the head of the pop pack.

In 2003, the star teamed up with Aguilera and Madonna for a performance at the MTV awards.

Both of the younger stars engaged in a kiss with the pop icon, but it was Spears' embrace that dominated headlines, showing Aguilera that she still laboured in her colleague's shadow.

Meanwhile, Timberlake had split with both *NSync and Spears to launch his solo career.

His friendship with the Neptunes paid off when he was offered a handful of demos that had been rejected by Michael Jackson.

The songs formed the basis of his debut album, Justified, with single Cry Me A River gaining the most attention.

Upper hand

Many assumed it was about his relationship with Spears, and the implication in the lyrics that she had cheated on him fuelled gossip columns for months.

But the end of Spears' relationship with Timberlake seemed to coincide with the start of her decline.

Britney Spears
Spears has sold more than 50 million albums
She tarnished her image as a teenage role model by admitting she had lost her virginity and enjoyed smoking.

And in 2004 she married twice, putting musical career on hold while she raises her two young children.

In the meantime, Timberlake and Aguilera have capped their success with new albums and a handful of Grammy awards.

But Spears retains the upper hand. Forbes magazine says she is the 12th richest woman in showbusiness (and the highest earning Mouseketeer) with a net worth of $100m (£54.1m).

Her recent stay in rehab and shaved head may show the star has troubles to address, but her fans will be eagerly awaiting her musical return.

Britney Spears flees rehab again!

2007-02-22T03:10:00.000+08:00

Britney Spears left a live-in rehabilitation facility early Wednesday, less than a day after checking in, according to several reports.

It was the second time in a week that Spears entered a rehab facility and checked out before her first day was finished.

The television news magazine "The Insider" initially reported that Spears called a car service, walked out of the Promises Malibu Treatment Center and left the facility early Wednesday morning.

Later, the TV show "Extra" and the celebrity Web site TMZ.com said the 25-year-old pop star had left the center far short of the usual 45-day stay. TMZ said she couldn't handle rehab and went home.

Entertainment TV shows and Web sites reported Friday that Spears had gone in and out of rehab that week. Some reports identified the facility as
Eric Clapton's Crossroads center in Antigua, in the Caribbean, but the AP wasn't able to confirm those reports.

Eddie Michaels, a spokesman for the public relations agency that handles Promises, said he had no comment. He would not confirm that Spears had been there or that she had left.

There was no response to an e-mail sent Wednesday to Spears' manager, Larry Rudolph. On Tuesday, Rudolph said Spears had voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed treatment facility.

"We ask that the media respect her privacy as well as those of her family and friends at this time," Rudolph was quoted as saying. He didn't disclose why she entered rehab.

Spears had a meltdown weekend that included shaving her head, tattooing her wrist and clubbing with friends. On Friday night, she sheared off her hair at a salon. Spears was later seen wearing an inexpensive blond wig.

Since filing for divorce from Kevin Federline in November, Spears has been photographed pantyless, wearing skimpy outfits and partying heavily.

Federline's attorney earlier confirmed that Spears and Federline would continue to share custody of 5-month-old Jayden James and 17-month-old Sean Preston this month, following terms of a January custody agreement.

Federline manager Dan Dymtrow said there would be no comment on the latest Spears' departure.

On the Net:

http://www.promisesmalibu.com

Mount Hood rescue aided by beacon & a dog...

2007-02-21T02:47:00.000+08:00

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. - Thanks to a high-tech electronic gadget and a big warm dog named Velvet, three climbers rescued after a harrowing fall and a night in the wind and cold high on Mount Hood are expected to be fine.

They were found at about the 7,400-foot level on Monday and hiked down the mountain with their rescuers.

"I'm really glad they were there for us," Matty Bryant, one of the three climbers, said of the rescue teams. "They did an incredible job. They were amazing."

Searchers credited the group's rescue to two things — Velvet, a black Labrador mix who provided warmth as the three climbers huddled under sleeping bags and a tarp, and the activation of an emergency radio beacon the size of a sunglasses case that guided them to the group.

"The most important part of this rescue is that they did everything right," said Lt. Nick Watt of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

The three climbers set out on Saturday with five other friends — all in the 20s and 30s and from the Portland area — to scale the 11,239-foot mountain, Oregon's tallest.

However, a storm moved in and on Sunday they started their descent in blowing snow.

"You had no visual reference around you to determine if you were going up or down," said one member of the group, Trevor Liston. "You could make out a climber at 30 feet at best."

Then he saw the group of three — all roped together with Velvet — disappear over an icy ledge.

Liston and the four others used a rope to lower one of their climbing party over the edge in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the trio.

Then they used a cell phone to call for help as the wind howled at up to 70 mph.

Liston, who described himself as a veteran of Mount Hood climbs, said all eight had experience at either rock climbing or mountaineering.

They'd known about the Mount Hood disaster in which three climbers died in December. But Liston said that wasn't the reason the group decided to take Mountain Locator Units, the small beacons that can send out radio signals to rescuers.

"We've been up on the mountain for many years," Liston said. "With the group we were going up with this time, we just wanted another extra level of security, just in case something happened, especially with winter conditions."

In addition to Bryant, 34, a teacher in the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, the rescued climbers included Kate Hanlon, 34, a teacher in the suburb of Wilsonville.

The other woman, whose name was not released, was being treated for a head injury in Portland, said Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "She's going to be fine," he said.

Velvet, owned by Bryant, had minor cuts and abrasions on her back paws and legs from prolonged exposure to the snow, but she was cleared to go home.

"The dog probably saved their lives" by lying across them during the cold night, said Erik Brom, a member of the Portland Mountain Rescue team.

Liston said he felt that he and his companions were well-equipped for climbing Mount Hood in the winter with cell phones, global positioning system gear and the locator beacons.

"We'd been in those conditions up on this mountain before," he said. "We've walked out in whiteouts before. We didn't know it was going to be that bad. But we were prepared that it might be snowing and blowing."

Liston said he understands critics who say people climbing Mount Hood during the winter are putting not only their own lives at risk, but also the lives of rescuers dispatched when something goes wrong.

"It's a kind of delicate balance," he said, "about doing winter climbing, and pushing some of those limits, and not doing it, and only climbing in the summer in shorts and T-shirts.

"It's kind of a point of pride you might say for a lot of climbers — that you can take care of yourself out there."

Still, Liston said, "Things happen."

The Piano

2007-02-19T20:55:00.001+08:00

Fears over China military build-up...

2007-02-18T15:47:00.000+08:00

China's recent missile test has raised fears about the country's growing military capabilities.

The US and other nations all voiced their concerns about an arms race in space. There were also complaints from neighbours like Japan and Taiwan who worry about China's military power.

So why the fuss?

After all, the technology that China used to blast the ageing weather satellite out of the sky was not new: the US and the former Soviet Union had it 20 years ago.

And Beijing says that it only has peaceful intentions in space.

'Wake-up call'

But the test clearly demonstrates that China can compete in space - even though it is still a long way behind the US.

And that is enough to get Washington worried.

Senior Republican Senator Jon Kyl has called the test a "wake-up call" that underlined the vulnerability of US security and communications satellites in space.

China has already had two successful manned space missions and is planning a third, with long-term plans to eventually put a Chinese astronaut on the moon.

But its military space programme is top secret, with only a few senior government and army officials in the loop. That partly explains the long silence in Beijing after the January test - not everyone knew what was going on.

Military build-up

Regardless of who knew what and when, the test has once again underlined the growing power of China's armed forces.

Chinese soldiers. File photo
China says it spent $36bn on its armed forces in 2006

China wants a powerful military to match its powerful economy.

Beijing may be a nuclear power with the world's largest army, but much of its military hardware is outdated. So it has been spending vast amounts of money to modernise its military.

Last year, China claimed to have spent $36bn (£18bn) on its armed forces. But the US and other observers believe that the actual figure may be two to three times that amount.

Beijing has defended this increase saying that its military spending is still only a fraction of the US defence budget.

China's bill comes to about 1.5% of its gross domestic product in 2006 - compared with US spending which is more than 6% of GDP.

'Lagging behind'

On top of that, China's military still lags well behind the US armed forces.

For example, the country's naval capability is still extremely limited, making it unable to project its power beyond coastal regions.

It still does not have an aircraft carrier, although one is now thought to be in development.

But that has not stopped the US and neighbours like Japan, India and Taiwan worrying about China's growing military strength.

Taiwan recently claimed that China now has 900 missiles pointing at the island.

Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province and has threatened to use force if the island declares formal independence.

'Responsible player'

China has been quick to try to easy fears in Washington and other capitals, saying that its rise is a peaceful one that does not present a threat to any other country.

Beijing claims it is a responsible global player, and has regularly contributed troops and personnel to UN peacekeeping missions.

But at the same time it continues to isolate Taiwan, and still deals with so-called rogue states like Iran and North Korea.

Relations with Japan have only just started to recover after years in the deep freeze, following disagreements over Tokyo's attitude towards its wartime past.

In Washington, there are plenty of hawks who talk of an arms race with China in the years ahead.

While that is the case, it is likely that China's military build-up will still be regarded with suspicion in many parts of the world, regardless of Beijing's protests to the contrary.

The Tiger ( Me ) in this Pig Year...

2007-02-18T04:40:00.000+08:00

In the east, the tiger symbolises power, passion and daring. This fearless and fiery fighter is revered as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household -- fire, thieves and ghosts. Restless and reckless by nature, they are always impatiently geared for action.

However, because of their suspicious nature, they are prone to waver and make decisions. While they are quick tempered, they are equally sincere, affectionate and generous. Blessed with a marvellous sense of humour, they love babies, animals, jazz or anything that spurs their imagination.

Are you a tiger personality? Read your forecast for 2007

This year will be about purpose and conviction for the determined tiger. You move away from all
that is false and walk into the light both personally as well as in your professional life.

Joint ventures/mergers may consume you as anxiety about the future grips you mid-year. However,
major breakthroughs in July allow for others changing their perceptions towards you and you
build goodwill.

Those involved in sales/marketing are ambitious and may decide to move to greener pastures in October. Domestic life is peaceful, loved ones on your side and you enjoy memorable moments during happy weekends. Love life is steady and harmonious.

Famous people: Charles de Gaulle, Groucho Marx, Queen Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe
Lucky days: Monday, Thursday
Lucky numbers: 7, 9

Year of the Pig : A Good Year for the Entertainment Industry! - Yay!!

2007-02-18T04:22:00.000+08:00

Kwai Lan Chan, internationally known Master of Imperial Feng Shui, offers her annual tips on the occasion of this Chinese New year of the Fire Pig to improve your luck in the coming months.

Hollywood, CA (PRWeb) February 16, 2007 -- Kwai Lan Chan, president of ImperialFengShui.com, releases her annual advisory for the coming Chinese New Year, the year of the Fire Pig, complimentary for all her students world-wide and for those who may be seeking answers to perplexing problems that seem to be keeping them stalled on the path to prosperity. Her students and those who have attended her seminars attest to the facts that, by redirecting the energies of homes and offices, vast improvements have come about.

As Chinese all over the world prepare for the coming New Year which begins on the Gregorian calendar February 18, 2007, Master Kwai Lan Chan urges others to join in the processes of clearing the clutter away from home and office environments and thank their personal God for gifts received in the past year and anticipated for the coming year.

Master Kwai Lan Chan finds this time of year her busiest as worldwide students contact her for assistance in preparing for the New Year which heralds a change in the energies that affect every person on the planet. For example, last year, the Year of the Dog, Master Kwai Lan Chan noted that it would be a very good year for lottery wins and many students reported having done just that. The energies of the New Year are different, as any student of Feng Shui will attest, and, therefore, Master Kwai Lan Chan offers simple tips for the coming year.

Based on thousands of years of observation by the Chinese Feng Shui scholars, her predictions are centered on the energies of both the universe and immediate surroundings which affect life progress at any given time. For that reason, her annual tips are of a general nature and more specific assistance may be acquired by contacting her personally. In general terms, then, the following are characteristics that may be expected in the Year of the Fire Pig:

* This year contains many elements of water and metal indicating that we can expect a great deal of water and cold weather. Mud slides may occur where there is not enough vegetation to absorb the water.

* Romance is indicated but not commitment. It is strongly suggested that romantic attachments remain in just the close relationship stage until a more auspicious time for carrying it further into a commitment.

* Entertainment is stronger than usual in the Year of the Fire Pig and will be a good year for this industry.

* Travel and business are strongly indicated as positives in this New Year. However, the energy is not strong for investing. Real estate investing should be winners if caution is taken to insure a cushion of profit before the investment is made.

* Remodeling of houses this year should not be started in the northwest, southeast, or north east portions of the house. The work should begin in another location before proceeding.

* For people who were born in the Year of the Pig, there is a travel advisory to allow plenty of time to go from point A to point B. Rushing to get somewhere because you are late may result in traffic accidents.

* People born in the Year of the Pig should be extremely careful about lending money or gambling in any way.

* Year of the Pig birth sign people are advised to carry a Rabbit symbol with them. By seeing the Rabbit often and concentrating on that energy (known as chi in Chinese), any negative chi for the Pig birth sign people can be altered favorably.

* Women are advised to pay special attention to health issues this year. Although it is a good year for having children, pregnant women should be extra attentive to their over all health. Elderly women should seek treatment for any stomach issues. In general, any woman who is not feeling well is advised to have an immediate check-up.

* Water fountains placed in southwest, south, or southeast locations are auspicious for attracting wealth and this year.

* The theft star is in the north and can be countered by placing a blue carpet in that area.

* Northeast is the sickness location for the Year of the Fire Pig and should be counteracted by the placing of a calabash (see website http://www.KwaiLanChan.com for information on this.

* For romance, place 9 roses in the east. You may visit www.fengshuiromance.com
* The center point in your environment this year relates to sickness energy. A heavy metal ornament is recommended for this area.

For those who already understand the basics of Feng Shui including the placement of objects in the environment which redirect negative energies, care must be taken not to put those objects in the wrong place. The aim is to align the environmental energies with those of the individual. As the chi cycle is in constant change, those placements need to be reconsidered for the coming year. More specific information can be found by contacting Master Kwai Lan Chan personally. Master Kwai Lan Chan's new edition of her Ebook "Cracking The Feng Shui Code" with 38 years of auspicious tips is now available for purchase, please email her magicalfengshui @ gmail.com

What's your take on this?

2007-02-18T04:12:00.000+08:00

HONG KONG - Sunday marks the start of the Chinese New Year and it's a lucky one for those starting out in life. But the rest of us are in for a rough ride. Expect epidemics, disasters and violence in much of the world.

"The Year of the Pig will not be very peaceful," said Hong Kong feng shui master Raymond Lo.

Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of trying to achieve health, harmony and prosperity by using specific dates, numbers, building design and the placement of objects.

The pig is one of 12 animals (or mythical animals in the case of the dragon) on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, which follows the lunar calendar. According to Chinese astrology, people born in pig years are polite, honest, hardworking and loyal. They are also lucky, which is why many Chinese like to have babies in a pig year.

"Any children born in The Year of Pig will receive help from others throughout their lives," Lo said.

Ronald Reagan was a pig. So are
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Woody Allen and Elton John. Not to mention
Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But a word of caution to the presidential candidate.

The pig finished last in the race that determined the zodiac's order, behind the dog.

Other animals in the zodiac are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey and rooster. The zodiac runs on a 12-year cycle, and each year is associated with the five elements that Chinese mystics make up the universe: metal, water, wood, fire and earth.

Therein lies the trouble.

Pig years can be turbulent because they are dominated by fire and water, conflicting elements that tend to cause havoc, Lo said.

"Fire sitting on water is a symbol of conflict and skirmish," he said. "We'll also see more fire disasters and bombings."

He noted that the Russian AK-47 rifle, a weapon of choice among insurgents around the world, was invented during a pig year.

"So it will not be surprising to see more gunbattles, murder with guns and bombing attacks in 2007," he said.

Malaysian feng shui master Lillian Too agreed.

"I wish I could say that there won't be natural disasters, but I am afraid it could be as bad as last year," she said.

"There could be epidemics," she said. "I am very worried about bird flu. Eat healthy foods and take care of your health."

Few Chinese seemed to be worried about the warnings, though, as they prepared for their biggest bash of the year — Saturday's Lunar New Year's Eve — celebrated by one-fifth of the world's population.

It's an occasion to have family feasts, buy new clothes and exchange red envelopes stuffed with gift money.

Not everything about the future looks bleak.

Most soothsayers said the world economy will continue to boom, though they advise people to be cautious about their investments.

"Because of the water element in the Year of the Pig, the economy will continue to grow, which also paves the way for another round of interest rate hikes," said Peter So, a celebrity fortuneteller in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong soothsayer Alion Yeo is predicting
North Korea will undergo a power struggle that will bring leadership changes around May. Last year, the Year of the Dog, Yeo warned that the North Korean nuclear crisis would worsen.

The North conducted a nuclear test in October.

Singapore fortuneteller John Lok predicted the situation in
Iraq will not settle and
President Bush will have a bad year.

He also said the next president of France may be a woman — no surprise there since one of the main candidates is a woman, Segolene Royal of the Socialist party.

While the pig is beloved by the Chinese, the animal is offensive to Muslims, who consider it unclean. For that reason, Chinese New Year celebrations have to be handled with care in Malaysia and Indonesia, mainly Muslim countries with large ethnic Chinese minorities.

For the first time in its history, Indonesia introduced a special set of postal stamps to mark the Lunar New Year. But concerns over Muslim sensitivities led the postal service to drop plans to put a large pig on the stamps. It chose a Chinese temple instead.

"We took the middle path," said Hana Suryana, director of the Indonesian postal service.

Still, that was progress for a country where ethnic Chinese, who make up 5 percent of the population and have long faced discrimination, once were not allowed to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

"That has changed now, but we still feel uncomfortable celebrating the day in a large way because there are some people who cannot accept that Chinese culture is a part of Indonesian culture," said Jhony Tan, a trader in Jakarta's bustling Chinatown.

Yusri Mohammad, president of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, said he had no problem with the Chinese celebrating the pig year in his country. He said decorative pictures of pigs in shopping malls are fine — as long as Chinese don't start using live pigs or eat pork in public.

For me personally...any year will be as good as you make it!

My son Adam's official Oscars review at Cinema Online!

2007-02-15T02:37:00.000+08:00

CO's forumers debate over this year's Oscar nominations

By Adam Ariffin

Who do they want to get this?
9 Feb - The annual event of the year- The Academy Awards is back! This time, the heat is on the 79th round.

The Academy Awards®, also affectionately called the Oscars®, is the oldest, best known, most influential, most prestigious, and most famous of film awards.

More...

Our Faith Is One Year Old Today!!

2007-02-14T02:54:00.000+08:00

"Happy Birthday" Dear Faith (Dalmatian) and may you have many many more wonderful days like this!! Just look at them!! From left to right: Chloe,Faith and of course Amber_Mae!

Westminster Kennel Dog Show Photo Slideshow

2007-02-13T13:09:00.000+08:00

Westminster Kennel Dog Slideshow!

I Laughed When I Saw These Photos!

2007-02-07T07:39:00.000+08:00

Must have been taken by my daughter - who else?!

Some Nice Photos of Our Faith!

2007-02-07T07:36:00.000+08:00

Some photos of Faith I came across at puppy.com taken by somebody at the 2007 K9 carnival in Jan where our Amber_Mae won her two trophies!

The 79th Academy Awards

2007-02-04T03:32:00.000+08:00

Fans snap up Harry Potter deluxe edition!

2007-02-04T03:28:00.000+08:00

NEW YORK - It's months away from being on bookshelves, but fans can't get enough of the seventh — and final —
Harry Potter book, no matter the cost.

Not only is "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows" topping the charts of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, a deluxe edition, priced at $65, is No. 2, outselling the "You" diet book, Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and an
Oprah Winfrey-endorsed memoir by
Sidney Poitier.

Publicist Kyle Good of Scholastic Inc., the U.S. publisher of
J.K. Rowling's fantasy series, said Saturday that a similar deluxe edition of Potter 6, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," had sold around 100,000 copies.

The deluxe "Half-Blood Prince," according to Scholastic, includes a 32-page insert of art and illustrations, a "custom-designed slipcase," and a "full-cloth case book, blind-stamped on front and back cover, foil stamped on spine."

Barnes & Noble.com shoppers can get a bit of a break on the deluxe "Deathly Hallows," which the superstore was offering for a mere $45.50. The regular edition has a list price of $34.99, although Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com were selling it for $18.89. Wal-Mart had it at $17.27.

Many stores said they don't make money on the Potter books, but hope instead that customers will make additional purchases.

Rowling announced Thursday that "Deathly Hallows" would come out July 21. The previous six books have sold more than 325 million copies in 64 languages and broken countless sales records. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," published in 2005, had an announced first U.S. printing of 10.8 million copies and sold 6.9 million copies in its first 24 hours.

'Potter' star to appear on London stage..

2007-02-04T03:24:00.000+08:00

This photo,supplied by Peter Thompson Associates, is a recent but undated photo of Daniel Radcliffe, the boy wizard from 'Harry Potter' movies, who opens on the London stage in the Tony Award-winning drama 'Equus' on Feb. 27, 2007, poses with Joanna Christie. Previews begin on Feb. 16. The 17-year-old will perform nude in one scene. Radcliffe has ignited a bit of a media firestorm by posing for racy promotional photos. (AP Photo/Peter Thompson Associates, Uli Weber) .

Bird Flu Discovered in the UK!

2007-02-04T03:15:00.000+08:00

LONDON - Britain confirmed its first outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in a domestic flock on Saturday, saying the virus has been detected on a farm owned by Europe's largest turkey producer where 2,500 turkeys died.

As a precaution all 159,000 turkeys will be slaughtered on the farm in Holton in Suffolk, about 130 miles northeast of London, said Britain's Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg. He said he expects the outbreak to be contained.

Television news footage showed piles of slaughtered birds being funneled into an open tractor trailer before being taken away for incineration.

Landeg said the virus was detected in only one of 22 turkey sheds on the farm, which is owned by Bernard Matthews PLC.

Workers have been offered antiviral drugs and are wearing protective clothing, said Health Protection Agency virologist Maria Zambon. She added that the virus does not transmit easily to humans and has not been found to be transmitted through food.

Experts stressed the situation did not pose a public health threat.

The is the first instance of H5N1 in Britain since a wild swan in Scotland was found to have the virus in March. Turkeys and chickens are more susceptible to H5N1 than wild birds, who can carry the disease over long distances without showing symptoms.

"This virus is going to be in bird populations for years to come and the way in which we'll deal with it is by implementing the well-rehearsed plan to stamp it out at source," Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. influenza coordinator, told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

Bird flu has killed or prompted the culling of millions of birds worldwide since late 2003 when it first began ravaging Asian poultry stocks. It has killed at least 164 people worldwide, but remains difficult for humans to catch. Experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a global pandemic. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with infected birds.

Black Book: Release Date - March 9th 2007

2007-01-31T01:30:00.000+08:00

Holland 1944 - The final years of the Second World War find the beautiful singer Rachel Stein (Carice Van Houten) taking refuge with the Tsjempkema family in rural Holland. Once a popular and wealthy singer, Rachel has been waiting out the war like many Jews in Europe, separated from her family and a moment away from being caught by the Gestapo.

The Trailer
Now..this looks like an interesting watch!

Rascall Flatts - God Blessed the Broken Road

2007-01-29T19:43:00.000+08:00

Another great song by Rascall Flatts!

Rascal Flatts!!!

2007-01-29T00:19:00.000+08:00

Biography

Known for their slick-sounding singles and appealing to a more youthful demographic, Rascal Flatts feature Gary LeVox (born July 10, 1970), Jay DeMarcus (born April 26, 1971) and Joe Don Rooney (born Sept. 13, 1975).

A native of Columbus, Ohio, DeMarcus moved to Nashville in 1992 to find work as a musician. In 1997, he convinced his second cousin LeVox, also of Columbus, to come to Nashville to pursue a career as a singer.

DeMarcus met Joe Don Rooney, a native of Picher, Okla., when they both got jobs in Chely Wright's band. Meanwhile, DeMarcus and LeVox were gigging in a Nashville bar with a part-time guitarist. When their guitarist couldn't make it to a show one weekend, DeMarcus invited Rooney to sit in. Happy with the resulting sound, they recorded some demos and signed with a Disney imprint, Lyric Street.

Beginning in early 2000, they sent three glossy, pop-flavored songs into the Top 10: "Prayin' for Daylight," "This Everyday Love" and "While You Loved Me." Though held in contempt by traditionalists, the trio sold more than 500,000 albums. A late-blooming fourth single, "I'm Movin' On," reached a more mature audience, propelling their self-titled debut album to platinum status and spawning an inspirational book of the same name.

"These Days," the first single from their 2002 album Melt, hit No. 1. They also won the CMA Horizon Award in 2002 and toured heavily with Toby Keith. In 2003, they won their first Vocal Group of the Year award from the CMA. The trio also caused a ruckus that year when Rooney appeared naked from behind in their music video, "I Melt." The follow-up single, "Mayberry," reached No. 1 in 2004. That same year, DeMarcus married Allison Alderson.

In early 2005, the band's album Feels Like Today picked up steam, due to the single, "Bless the Broken Road," which held on to the No. 1 spot on Billboard's country airplay chart for five weeks. The song also won a Grammy for country song, an award given to the songwriters. Feels Like Today ended up becoming the top-selling country album of 2005, even though it was released a year earlier. It also included the hits "Skin (Sarabeth)" and "Fast Cars and Freedom."

In 2006, the trio released "Me and My Gang" and played for more than a million fans on their tour. Hits from the album include "What Hurts the Most," the title track and "I Wish." That same year, Rooney married Playmate of the Year Tiffany Fallon. They also had a country hit with "Life Is a Highway," from the animated movie, Cars. They also won their fourth CMA vocal group award in 2006.

911 Conspiracy US Soldiers Taunt Iraqi Children with Water?

2007-01-28T23:59:00.000+08:00

If this doesnt work for you out there click this link:

What do you think of this?

Whats most important here is that do you think this video is of US soldiers taunting iraqi kids?

Fact or Fiction?

Or simply bullshit?

3 vids of our furbabies at play and more...

2007-01-25T01:08:00.000+08:00

Vid of our furbabies in action 1!
Vid of our furbabies in action 2!
Vid of our furbabies in action 3!
Enjoy!!

1 Theory: Diana's Death

2007-01-20T23:08:00.000+08:00

Now that we've reached the one year anniversary of Diana's tragic death, the media is crawling with "new" Diana stories.

After twelve months of investigation, the French government has finally completed its report on the crash The September 1 National Enquirer claims to have the world exclusive on the 5,000 page report.

Among the supposed details revealed in the report:

1. Driver Henri Paul had five drugs in his system, including the mind bending sex drug Ecstasy, as well as a high level of alcohol.

2. Di suffered massive injuries that would have been fatal no matter how quickly paramedics got her to the hospital, but she died peacefully.

3. The princess was the only victim besides bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones not killed outright in the crash.

4. Although awake immediately after the crash, she was unconscious by the time she reached the hospital, and could not have uttered the last words attributed to her there.

The more reputable USA Today had its own updates. Julian Nundy's August 28th story revealed, "...Al Fayed has suddenly turned on Rees-Jones and Kes Wingfield, another bodyguard who was driving a decoy car. Fayed has accused the men, who have both left their jobs with him, of being incompetent and unprofessional. This is a far cry from his first allegations that Diana and his son were deliberately assassinated in ajoint operation by the British and French secret services in a plot to stop the mother of the heir to the British throne from marrying a Muslim. Putting the blame on the two bodyguards could be a way of diverting attention from the Ritz..."

As to the famous mystery car, which may have sideswiped Diana's car, leading to the disaster, it still remains at large, if it ever existed.

A year later, much mystery still surrounds the tragic death of Princess Diana. At this rate, it may always be so.

Princess Diana's Death

2007-01-20T21:26:00.000+08:00

WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT: THE ACCIDENT

At precisely 12:15 A.M. on Sunday, August 31, 1997, the security staff of the Ritz Hotel were alerted.

Dodi and Diana were ready to depart through the rear entrance of the hotel. The green Range Rover and the decoy black Mercedes (the latter driven by the hotel's senior limousine driver) pulled out into the Place Vendome, circles the square and then returned to their parking spots. The photographers there were stymied.

Meantime, the second black 1994 Mercedes S-280, with Henri Paul at the wheel and Trevor Rees-Jones in the passenger seat, sped away from the rear of Ritz; Dodi was behind Paul, Diana on his right, behind Rees-Jones. In the excitement, only Rees-Jones fastened his seat belt. It was 12:20 when the car sped south on Rue Cambon, then went along Rue de Rivoli and past the splashing, illuminated fountain and Egyptian obelisk of the Place de la Concorde. By the time the Mercedes was hugging the Seine and heading toward the underpass, the few paparazzi on motorbikes had dropped behind. Photographs of speeding cars (more to the point, of their occupants) are notoriously difficult to obtain at night; besides, the windows of the Mercedes were heavily tinted. Nor did any of these men wish to risk their lives by edging their bikes close to a speeding vehicle.

Hence, the "Paparazzi killed Diana" theory turns out to be bull.

By the time Henri Paul and his passengers entered the Alma tunnel, the photographers were almost a quarter mile behind, keeping the car in sight but not endangering themselves by approaching the speeding Mercedes. It would be enough to arrive at Dodi's apartment, where several other colleagues of the pursuing paparazzi had already been alerted.

But another limousine driver entered the tunnel not far behind Paul, and this driver made a sworn statement of what happened---events that occurred within a few seconds, changing the course of countless lives and, it may be said without hyperbole, altering the course of late-twentieth-century history. The driver's account, it must be said, was in every way supported by police and by later forensic investigations of the site. And it is important to add that all police and official investigations discounted the proximity of paparazzi with blinding flashbulbs, on motorcycles.

Paul entered the tunnel on the left of two lanes and speeding at sixty to perhaps eighty miles an hour, which is not at all unusual in European cities---and then he found his car was behind a slower vehicle. Careful though this driver might otherwise have been, it is easy to imagine Dodi urging him on: "Faster! Lose them! Go on!"--- as friends and colleagues recalled, he usually did. Life was a chase Dodi wanted to win, a game in which he wanted both to be in the limelight and to retain his privacy. Henri Paul, in a healthier condition, may well have been more cautious, but as Claude Luc said, Fayed employees did what they were told---period.

Paul veered the Mercedes to the right, to pass the car ahead of him in the left lane. But then everything went out of control, and the right rear of the Mercedes swerved and hit the right wall of the tunnel with a loud crash. Attempting to correct the situation, Paul turned sharply left---and within seconds the Mercedes crashed into one of the reinforced concrete dividing pillars that separated the lanes from oncoming traffic and also supported the roof. The time the sound, like an explosion, was nearly deafening.

The car ricocheted again, hurtling across the drive and spinning around before coming to a full stop. It has been immediately reduced to a barely recognizable mound of steel: the front end telescoped into the engine, which was forced almost through the driver's seat. Inside the pile of rubble, Henri Paul and Dodi al-Fayed were dead, their bodies hideously mangled. Trevor Reed-Jones was seriously injured, but Diana, Princess of Wales, was near death. It was 12:24 AM.

How Did Hitler Really Die?

2007-01-20T21:03:00.000+08:00

Since his supposed death on April 30, 1945, many trees have fallen to create articles and books concerning: is Hitler dead; how did he die; is he alive, and so on. Although he would be EXTREMELY old if still alive today, hiding in a well guarded mansion in Argentina, enough lies and contradictions have been put forth concerning the death of Hitler and Eva Braun, and the disposal of their bodies, that speculation about how and if Hitler died persist to this day.

HOW HITLER DIED

Some of the theories/ variations include:

1. He ate poison and shot himself at the same time.
2. He ate poison, but didn't shoot himself.
3. He shot himself, but didn't take poison.
4. One of Hitler's supposed "doubles" was killed, creating the illusion Hitler was dead, allowing the "real" Adolf Hitler to escape.
5. Somebody else killed Hitler.

- ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVES -

The burning of the bodies was also witnessed by several men who were on guard duty on the garden side of the bunker. They were Hofbeck, Karnau, and Mansfield. Each offer their contrasting memories of the event.

Hofbeck, who was on guard at the door of the garden exit, stated on November 25, 1995...

"Linge, Gunsche and Kempka immediately poured petrol over the bodies. I had previously seen some of the cans they used standing on the topmost turn of the staircase. I don't know how much petrol was used, but it was probably at least five, but no more than ten, cans full. While this was being done, I was the one who let Kempka, Gunsche and Linge in and out of the exit by opening and shutting the door for an instant each time. At the time there was again heavy firing going on. After the cans had been emptied, Dr. Goebbels, Bormann, General Krebs, General Burgdorf and Schadle as well as Kempka each stepped outside the bunker door for a short moment and saluted the dead by raising their right arms."

"Everybody involved then quickly returned to the bunker, whereupon I again shut the door. Immediately after this Bormann handed up a box of matches from the top turning of the staircase, which Gunsche, Linge or Kempka took. Kempka then wet a rag with petrol. Either he or Gunsche lit this rag and Gunsche threw it on the bodies, for which purpose I again opened the door. At this moment, the artillery fire had slackened. Through the partially opened door of the bunker we then saw a huge flame rising up, followed immediately by heavy smoke."

"After the bodies had been set alight, all the people mentioned above returned to the interior of the bunker. I remained on guard and again opened the door a short time later, which however was only possible for a brief moment because heavy petrol fumes and smoke blew towards me. There was a wind blowing towards the exit. On opening the door I could see that the bodies were still burning. I had the impression that they had shrunk together. On both bodies the knees were drawn up somewhat."

"Being very much moved by this experience, I gave over my post to one of my subordinates. At 2200 I again had a look out of the door of the bunker. However, there was nothing left to be seen of the bodies..."

Hermann Karnau described the burning on November 13, 1953:

"When I came near the garden exit, I chanced upon two bodies lying next to each other in the open about 2 to 2.5m from the exit. I immediately recognized one of these bodies as Adolf Hitler. It was lying on its back wrapped in a blanket. The blanket was folded open on both sides of the upper body, so that the head and chest were uncovered. The skull was partially caved in and the face encrusted in blood. The face, however, could still be clearly recognized. The second corpse was lying with its back upwards. It was completely covered by the blanket except for the lower legs. The lower legs were uncovered up to the knees. On the feet I recognized Eva Hitler's shoes, which were familiar to me from frequent encounters in the bunker. These were black suede shoes."

Mansfield was questioned on July 1, 1954 about what he had seen of the events of April 30, 1945.

He stated that he had to leave his post in order to fetch his equipment from the guard's day room in the bunker and described how he saw two bodies being carried up the stairs and laid on the ground near the bunker exit. He clearly recognized Eva Braun but did not recognize Hitler, owing to the body being wrapped in a blanket.

Mansfield further related:

"Through the window looking towards the bunker exit I saw several men of the Leibstandarte-- I believe I recall that one of them was Jansen-- running towards the garden exit from the Old Chancellery. The men were carrying petrol cans. I immediately closed the shutter of the window looking towards Unter den Linden in order to continue my observations. When I opened the shutter, however, heavy clouds of smoke blew towards me, so I quickly closed it again without having seen anything. Shortly after that I again opened the shutter of the window looking towards the garden exit and now saw that the bodies were burning brightly. I also saw several cans of petrol being thrown out of the bunker exit to land near the bodies. There were no people to be seen.

WAS ADOLF HITLER MURDERED IN SOME OTHER WAY?

Hugh Thomas, in his book "The Murder of Adolf Hitler," puts forth a theory about Hitler's death that MAY explain various Bunker resident's contradictory statements about where the fatal gun wound was located, as well as why no shot was heard.

As Thomas paints the scene, "He (Hitler) is still shuffling around the anteroom when Linge returns. Linge... offers him a cyanide capsule from a small brass case, and the use of the Army pistol that Linge withdraws from the drawer of a table. Staring blankly and uncomprehendingly at his manservant, Hitler calls him a 'stupid peasant' and turns his back."

"Linge picks up the cyanide capsule and vainly tries to force it into Hitler's mouth from behind--forcing the mouth open by closing his powerful middle finger and thumb across the Fuhrer's mouth, from side to side in the cheek pouch. Despite his feeble state, Hitler manages to turn his head away from the strong grip and lower his head. Linge's increasingly violent efforts can't succeed, even though he is by now half facing the Fuhrer."

"But the affront has been made, the first act of violence committed. Savagely Linge turns the prematurely aged man around and throttles (strangles) him from behind. Terrified, he holds up the Fuhrer in front of him while the frothing stops and struggles cease."

"He is still holding the corpse almost at arm's length, when Stumpfegger comes into the room... Stumpfegger beckons Linge to lay the corpse down on the floor. Checking that Hitler is dead, he reaches in his pocket and produces an ampule-crushing forceps. The cyanide capsule is quickly and professionally crushed under Hitler's protruding tongue."

New `Idol' season shows mean streak

2007-01-20T05:46:00.001+08:00

"Even the juggling was pathetic." With that cutting blow, Simon Cowell ended Jason Anderson's moment in the spotlight. Anderson, all of 16, stormed out of his "American Idol" audition into his family's arms, obscenities flowing as freely as the tears.

High school can be vicious enough. But not as nasty as Cowell, who also told the would-be singer/juggler that he "summed up Minneapolis, mate — useless."

The "American Idol" juggernaut has become ever more popular in this, its sixth season. But it sure seems meaner, too. At least that's the talk this week as the judges — not just the acerbic Cowell, but the usually genial Randy Jackson and the kind but loopy
Paula Abdul — up the torture quotient, taking train-wreck TV viewing to a whole new level.

Young or old, pretty or ugly, male or female: No category of contestant has been spared in this week's audition coverage. The judges have even taken swipes at contestants behind their backs, making snide remarks after the singers have left. "Obnoxious," Cowell sniffed of one who'd just been voted into the next round. "What a strange guy," Jackson said of another.

And if you argue the contestants are asking for it by merely deciding to appear, consider the supportive boss of Dayna Dooley, who flew her and her sister to Minneapolis from California, so strongly did he believe in her singing. After panning her performance, the panel repeatedly insinuated to Dooley that she was inappropriately involved with her boss. Then they called the nice man in, told him his employee was "terrible," and proceeded to make the same insinuation to him — while his wife sat just outside the room.

"It just seems like they're being a lot meaner," says Jessica Rhode. She should know. After the 21-year-old makeup artist was given a thumbs-down by the panel, she collapsed to her knees and wept, begging the judges for some constructive advice. "It would take an hour," Cowell retorted. He told her to be happy: Now she could move on, knowing she'd never be a singer.

"That was the worst thing, in my opinion," Rhode said in a telephone interview. "I expected at least one of them to say something nice. I was like, is this really necessary?"

The cruelest moment undoubtedly came in Seattle, where a spirited young man named Kenneth Briggs, who liked to compare himself to
Justin Timberlake, was told by Cowell: "You look a little odd ... you look like one of those creatures that live in the jungle, with those massive eyes ... a bush baby." Once he left, the three judges were shown cracking up hysterically at the "bush baby" remark.

Their behavior brought a rebuke from the hosts of ABC's "The View." "The whole thing, it's terribly sad to me," said moderator
Rosie O'Donnell. Publicists for "American Idol" said the show's producers and judges were unavailable for comment.

Even the doors were mean. In a malfunction that seemed expressly designed to deepen the humiliation, one side of the double doors to the Minneapolis tryout room was locked or jammed. That meant Cowell got to smirk or roll his eyes every time a poor soul — Rhode was one of them — knocked into the wrong one during a hasty exit.

At least Stephen Horst managed to pick the right door.

"That's what my sister told me after the show," Horst says. It was the best thing she could think of, after the pummeling the 28-year old vocal coach took from Jackson.

Horst, of New York City, is a positive thinker if there ever was one. "I believe everything happens for a reason," he says. "I had a dream, and I went after it. Life is short, and you have to enjoy every sandwich."

So Horst, on his own dime, traveled to Minneapolis and stayed at a hotel during the audition process. He chose to sing Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." Maybe it was the song choice, or the singing itself, which veered into a sudden falsetto, or the fact that he was a vocal coach. Jackson went on a rampage.

"I thought it was awful," he said. "You shouldn't be a vocal teacher. I wouldn't take vocal lessons from you, I wouldn't tell anybody to take vocal lessons from you." Cowell feigned indignation. "Are you going to take that, Stephen?" he baited Horst.

"I was stunned," Horst said. "Randy just didn't like me." He's moving ahead with his music career, and doesn't plan to watch the Fox show anymore. "I need to create a new past," he says.

That's the kind of positive thinking that has helped Paris Bennett in her career. Bennett, unlike most of those at this week's auditions, was an "American Idol" success story, coming in fifth last year and eventually earning a record deal.

Yet she, too, endured her share of negative comments. Cowell once told her that her speaking voice reminded him of Minnie Mouse. She was 17 at the time.

"You can let it knock you down, or you can take it as constructive criticism," Bennett said in a telephone interview. She said her grandmother and her mother, both singers, had taught her to look at the positive, not the negative.

"It all just depends on how you take it," she said. She obviously took it well. In March, her debut album comes out. The first single, "Ordinary Love," was released this week.

'Mona Lisa' died in 1542, was buried in convent

2007-01-20T05:37:00.001+08:00

An expert on the "Mona Lisa" says he has ascertained with certainty that the symbol of feminine mystique died on July 15, 1542, and was buried at the convent in central Florence where she spent her final days.

Giuseppe Pallanti found a death notice in the archives of a church in Florence that referred to "the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, deceased July 15, 1542, and buried at Sant'Orsola," the Italian press reported Friday.

Born Lisa Gherardini in May 1479, she is thought to have been the second wife of Del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant, with whom she had five children.

While intrigue has surrounded the identity of the woman in the famous unsigned, undated Leonardo da Vinci painting housed at the Louvre in Paris, Lisa Gherardini is widely accepted to have been the subject.

Sant'Orsola, where she died at age 63, now disused and in ruins, is near the San Lorenzo basilica.

"It was in this convent that Mona Lisa placed her youngest daughter Marietta, who later became a nun. And it was there that Lisa, as stipulated in the will of her husband who died four years before her, ended her life," Pallanti told the daily La Repubblica on Friday.

Pallanti, author of "Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardo's Model," has spent nearly three decades combing Florence's archives.

Another researcher, Da Vinci expert Carlo Pedretti, praised Pallanti for the discovery and urged a search at the site for Lisa Gherardini's remains.

"Thanks to modern techniques, scientists can determine her physical aspect, maybe even her face and thereby make an important contribution" to establishing her identity, he told the ANSA news agency.