becoz male gynaes are a lot more sympathetic to women, simple as tat

yes, i reacted without tinking when i hear the word dreamgirl

i apologised for my words as i noe how hurting it may sound but i will not apologise for the candidness of it.  and i do not apologise for feeling what i feel abt the matter

but wat transpired next really disappointed me

if a good fren holds something against u and always tink tat things would have been vastly different if only u had ‘helped’, it means tat the fren do not believe tat u acted in his best interest and may be illusioned abt how different the outcome may haf been

he does not ‘blame’ me.   wtf!   wat rite has he to blame me in the first place?   when i haf not acted against my conscience in any way.   i haf been blunt and candid abt my feelings.   if tat does not put him in a good light and is of no help to him,  tat is juz too bad.  i m not going to lie juz to paint him in a different light.

the fundamental principle behind this matter is messed up to begin with.   i haf never agreed with the warped theory of how the fights always start.   yet he cannot or refuses to get my point and continues assuming the cause.

thanks for the ultimate insult, i will not dream on when it is clearly a nitemare

yes, we have good times as good frens and the last amicable streak has lasted a while

however, all the virtues of a good fren, be it attentiveness or care & concern cannot negate the damage done by this misperception.   the v foundation of tis association is shaken and has collapsed totally

believe wat u wish and tink wat u want of me

it doesn’t matter anymore coz i haf no use for a fren like u

dream on!

it’s for myself nw

no, tat is not rite, i should juz dump it, it is bad for me to keep things i dun like

wat should i do with the ill-fated tiger?

Arab oil ministers of OPEC said on Friday that the cartel should keep production unchanged when it meets later this month as crude prices are close to the target of 80 dollars a barrel.

“Why should we raise output?” the oil minister of OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, Ali al-Naimi, asked on arrival in the Egyptian capital for a conference of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from Saturday.

“We still have time (for the meeting). But right now, the price is ok, between 70 and 80 (dollars). It’s close to the target that we set at 75 dollars a barrel,” Naimi told reporters.

The oil ministers of Algeria, Libya and Qatar also supported a rollover of oil output when OPEC ministers meet on December 22 in Luanda, Angola, although they said the market was over-supplied.

“OPEC should probably not change production,” at the Luanda meeting, said Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil, but he added that crude prices were slightly low.

Oil “prices are a bit low. We don’t have a target, but it’s low. It is still better than last year this time,” Khelil said.

Last year, prices slumped to just above 30 dollars a barrel due to the impact of the global financial meltdown, before recovering to between 70-80 dollars at present.

Oil prices rallied on Friday following news of shrinking unemployment in the United States, the world’s top energy-consuming nation.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January jumped 1.12 dollars to 79.48 dollars a barrel in late London trading. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery rose 1.15 dollars to 77.61 dollars a barrel.

Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah agreed that OPEC should maintain its production levels, while Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem said that “we should not do anything in Angola” regarding output quotas.

OPEC president Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos of Angola said in November that a price of between 75 and 80 dollars a barrel would be satisfactory.

Khelil, however, said that “there is too much oil” in the market and warned that if the global economy does not recover fully, it could have an adverse impact on oil prices.

In December 2008, OPEC members, excluding Iraq, cut their total production quota to 24.84 million barrels per day, but industry reports show that their current output is more than two million bpd higher.

The Luanda meeting is expected to discuss the impact of global economic recovery on oil demand for next year and its influence on oil prices.

The Algerian minister said that demand for oil will be impacted by the incomplete recovery in the global economy.

“Demand for oil is already coming from China and Asia. But I think what is important is the recovery from the United States because unless the US recovers, then we have a problem with oil demand,” he said.

“If there is no recovery, there will be a reversal of the situation” for oil prices, he added.

The ranking for 2009’s top 10 highest-earning artistes is finally out. This list, compiled based on each artistes’ commercial viability, is put together with the help of representatives from various recording companies. After setting a record of raking in TW$7 billion last year, Taiwanese multi-hyphenate performer Jay Chou retains his top spot despite his slightly-dipped earnings of TW$5.5 billion (S$27 million) this year.

Right behind him are Taiwanese singer-songwriter, Lo Ta-yo, Chang Chen-yue, Jonathan Lee, and Zhou Hua Jian. They each earned S$23 million from their 58 sets of concert performances.

The second runner-up position belongs to Taiwanese girl group, S.H.E. Apart from filming 20 different commercials, the girls also released a self-penned book this year and raked in a total of S$18 million.

Taiwanese pop princess Jolin Tsai came in close behind the trio with a total earning of S$16 million. Apart from 24 corporate performances, and 11 commercial ads, the 29-year-old artiste went on a three-month long break in September after promoting her latest music album and has a slew of commercial offers waiting for her when she resumes work in January 2010.

Jolin’s good friend, Show Luo, is next with his S$11 million earnings this year. Taiwanese rock band is ranked at sixth placing with their combined takings of S$10.3 million followed by Angela Chang at S$10 million, Wang Lee Hom at S$9.82 million, Zhang Hui Mei (A Mei) at S$7.44 million, and Fahrenheit at S$7.1 million.

wanted to wear my knee high but skirt too long tdy

2 pairs of new boots : )

 

was doing a lot of hard thinking over the wkend

and came to this conclusion

is today, i like : )

cherish your loved ones, u never know when is your last moment with them

i love geeks !!

heard from WH tat HDB can make pyt without receipts for the alternative housing arrangements during the replacement of popped tiles period

called HDB QSM about it. i shouldn’t be short-changed

in inbox area of outlook, creates new mail

i love outlook !!

had probs posting picts of my yarn stash from sungei wang last nite.

feeling so inspired, esp when i made good progress on the train tdy

stitching is v fast. it’s the thot process as i visualise what i’m creating

Tiny magnetic discs just a millionth of a metre in diameter could be used to used to kill cancer cells, according to a study published on Sunday.

Laboratory tests found the so-called “nanodiscs”, around 60 billionths of a metre thick, could be used to disrupt the membranes of cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct.

The discs are made from an iron-nickel alloy, which move when subjected to a magnetic field, damaging the cancer cells, the report published in Nature Materials said.

One of the study’s authors, Elena Rozhlova of Argonne National Laboratory in the United States, said subjecting the discs to a low magnetic field for around ten minutes was enough to destroy 90 percent of cancer cells in tests.

In a commentary on the report, Jon Dobson of Keele University in Britain said antibodies could be used to direct the discs towards tumour cells.

“This provides an elegant and rapid technique for targeting tumour destruction without the side effects associated with systemic treatments such as chemotherapy,” Dobson wrote.

Asian markets rallied on Monday, but Europe and the Middle East hit reverse gear, as investors digested moves by the United Arab Emirates central bank to soothe worries over Dubai’s debt crisis.

Hong Kong surged 3.25 percent and Tokyo soared 2.91 percent on Monday as fears over Dubai’s debt problems receded following a move by the UAE central bank to provide extra liquidity.

However, in late morning European deals, Frankfurt fell 0.75 percent, London slid 0.64 percent and Paris shed 0.85 percent in value, with all three markets reversing opening gains in highly volatile trade.

The UAE central bank announced on Sunday that it was providing additional liquidity to banks, amid worries about the global banking sector’s exposure to Dubai. The move was welcomed by the International Monetary Fund.

“Shares in London have come under some pressure as traders focus on developments in Dubai,” said analyst Tim Hughes at spread-betting firm IG Index.

“The United Arab Emirates central bank commitment to providing liquidity for lenders has gone some way to help shore up confidence amongst investors.

“In the light of this, today’s move in London could equally just be put down to a normal pullback after Friday’s rise.

In the Middle East, stock markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi closed sharply lower, shedding 7.3 percent and 8.3 percent respectively amid a lack of buyers after Dubai World’s shock proposal to suspend debt payments. Related article: UAE markets plunge on debt woes.

Dubai’s benchmark DFM Index closed at 1,940.36 points, down 152.80 points from its close on Wednesday, just before the Dubai government’s shock announcement it wants to freeze debt repayments by its mighty Dubai World conglomerate for at least six months.

Leading securities, including construction and finance, plunged almost by the maximum-allowed limit of 10 percent after the bourse reopened Monday following a four-day holiday.

The financial market of the oil-rich Abu Dhabi also reacted negatively to the debt woes of neighbouring Dubai, dropping 8.31 percent to 2,668.23 points in midday deals.

“No doubt developments in Dubai will still be one of the major points of focus for traders, but barring any further bad news regarding the current debt situation, it is difficult to see any more significant weakness for shares at the moment,” added Hughes at IG Index.

British banks reportedly have a total exposure of 30 billion dollars to Dubai World, according to recent media reports.

“Dubai has not pushed the world over the edge,” said Commerzbank analyst Antje Praefcke.

“This recognition is increasingly taking hold on the markets this morning now that the central bank of the UAE has made it clear that it is backing the local and foreign banks of the Emirate.

“For this aim it has already created new financing options for the resident banks. This does not solve the possible insolvency of Dubai World, but it does make a run on Dubai’s banks unlikely.”

Last week’s Dubai news has sent jitters throughout world markets, stoking fears of a possible default by Dubai and its state-owned businesses, which together owe 80 billion dollars.

The announcement on Wednesday took many investors by surprise because it was made ahead of Thanksgiving in the United States on Thursday, and the Eid holiday period.

Adding to the woes, UAE property developer Nakheel, part of the debt-laden Dubai World, asked for a suspension in trading of all its Islamic bonds, the NasdaqDubai bourse said on its website on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Sydney jumped 2.83 percent, Seoul gained 2.04 percent and Taipei added 1.22 percent.

Tokyo shares rallied with confidence also buoyed by government plans for an extra stimulus of more than 31 billion dollars this fiscal year to tackle the surging yen and weak equities.

The US Secret Service is investigating how two White House gatecrashers beat several layers of security to attend a state dinner with President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Secret Service, in charge of White House security, is “conducting a comprehensive review of the incident which occurred at the White House State Dinner” late Tuesday, Special Agent Edwin Donovan told AFP.

The couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, boasted of turning up to the event on their joint Facebook page with the message “honored to be at the White House for the state dinner in honor of India with President Obama and our First Lady!”

Sporting a black dinner jacket and a flowing red and gold sari respectively, the couple posted photos posing with Vice President Joe Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and even three uniformed marines.

The breach could not have come during a more embarrassing occasion for the Secret Service than the dinner attended by 300 high-profile guests, a major event in Washington’s social calendar.

The White House pulled out all the stops, pitching a large marquee on the south lawn, decking tables with fuchsia and sweet pea arrangements and tall candles and drafting the National Symphony Orchestra to supply music.

An official White House guest list, which did not include the Salahis, read like a who’s who of the US security establishment. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were among those invited.

Other notables included film director Steven Spielberg, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, socialite Jhumpa Lahiri and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

“Initial findings identified a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedures to ensure that the two individuals named… were on the invited guest list,” Donovan said.

He emphasized that the couples “went through magnetometers and other levels of security, as did all guests attending the dinner.”

The Washington Post described the couple as polo-playing socialites and aspiring reality TV stars from nearby northern Virginia.

The pairs’ other Facebook photos showed a penchant for posing with the rich and famous, with past shots appearing to show them with polo-loving Prince Charles, President Obama, former president Bill Clinton, former presidential candidate John McCain, television stars Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby and former astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Michaele Salahi’s photos show her as a former Washington Redskins’ cheerleader and posing in a skimpy dress for the cover of a local style magazine.

Former White House homeland security advisor Frances Fragos Townsend said the couple could now face jail for lying to officials.

“If you lie to a federal official, either secret service or the social secretary, if they lied their way to get in, and it seems they would have had to have done that, that’s a federal felony,” she told CNN.

 

 

quoting victor/victoria

don’t read too much into it

 

 

 

 

 

 

the rain of my heart away

spending time with him helped lift my spirits tdy

 

 

 

 

 

my hesitation irks him

dun tink, juz act according to my heart

 

 

 

 

but it’s raining inside me

Keppel Corp. (KEP SP): The world’s biggest oil-rig builder said it won $304 million in contracts from Noble Corp. to upgrade and repair two drill ships in Brazil. SembCorp Industries Ltd. (SCI SP):The owner of the world’s second-biggest oil-rig builder said it won a $1 billion contract for a power and water project in Oman.

 

my car is my private KTV room where my idol croons along with me ( i m disillusioned, it’s the other way round….hehe)

 

 

Experts reveal the dangers of listening to music whilst driving in your car, but there are benefits too.

Most of us enjoy listening to music whilst driving, but be careful what you listen to and how loud – making the wrong choices can have deadly consequences, according to experts.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to hear that the tempo of music can affect the speed and reliability of your driving. Researchers at an Israeli university proved the link back in 2002.

They found that drivers listening to fast-paced tracks (120 beats per minute or more) had twice as many accidents as those listening to slower music. And those drivers are twice as likely to drive through a red light as drivers not listening to music at all.

‘In general, if music is above 60 beats per minute, listeners experience a faster heart rate and increased blood pressure,’ says consultant psychologist Conrad King. ‘It doesn’t matter if you listen to opera, classical or the latest rave music. It’s the speed of the beat that counts.’

More recent research, carried out at Memorial University in Canada, has found that listening to music too loud can seriously hamper reaction times and cause accidents.

The study found that participants took an average of 20% longer than normal to perform physical and mental tasks when listening at 95 decibels. That’s a potentially lethal delay for motorists, even at modest speeds. (As a guide, the typical car stereo has a maximum volume of about 110 decibels, but the loudest can reach 170 decibels or more.)

But it’s not all bad news. Dr Nicola Dibben, a music psychologist from the University of Sheffield, UK, has carried out extensive research on the subject of in-car music on behalf on an insurance company.

She confirms that listening to music helps drivers relax, concentrate and keep alert, and is far more effective than silence, conversation or listening to talk radio. In fact, she advocates singing along too.

‘Singing while driving stimulates not only the mind but also the body which, in turn, produces heightened alertness and reduced fatigue,’ says Dibben. ‘Singing may be less distracting than conversation because drivers recall words to songs they already know, or because it is fairly easy to learn the words to music where it uses repeated lyrics.

For safe listening in your car, follow these simple tips:

• Stick to mid-paced music if you want to keep calm in stressful driving situations – there’s a reason why many taxi drivers choose it!
• To ensure a calm and positive frame of mind, choose music which evokes pleasant memories. You probably have favourite summer tunes, for example.
• Avoid songs with overly aggressive lyrics. For many, tracks like Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ are less than ideal.
• Avoid music which is overly complex (eg songs with little repetition or, say, unusual remixes of well-known tracks) as they can be highly distracting.
• If going on a long journey, select music which varies in volume, tempo and style – it will stop you getting bored and help increase awareness.
• Listen at a comfortable volume level. Loud music will distract you – and, if really loud, annoy other drivers too.
• Never wear earphones or headphones whilst driving. If you want to listen to your MP3 player, plug it into your car stereo if you can.
• Do not attempt to change a CD whilst driving at speed. If you need to change volume or radio station, don’t take your eyes off the road.
• Sing along to the music you choose if you know it well enough, but don’t pretend you’re on stage.
• Resist the urge to play air guitar – or, indeed, any other ‘air’ instrument – whilst driving. ‘Playing’ the car door, with your arm out of the window, isn’t recommended either…

 

 

since he planted the seed…nah beh

muz try to shake off the thot

as i read in ‘Dirty Sexy Knitting’,

“I get that we’ll have nothing, be nothing, make nothing together, <insert name>.  But would it really have been such a terrible disaster?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not over the one with inhibitions lah, but over numbers. close fight

170 vs 180
in the end, 174 won….hehe

intended mistake somemore, as if !

 

 

to take his bait

dammit, he makes it so obvious

but TWO can play at a game

the date draws near and i know it’s eating him up coz ever though he has made his arrangements, he still bugs me everyday abt his plans

he’s like a broken record and i actually called him a sissy tdy for his broken record chain of thots…haha

he is usually very decisive and never the big sissy he is acting as nw

yes, i may cut him a lot of slack

but i will not ask again.  i will continue to assume your answer still stands

if u changed your mind and wants to change your plans as well to incorporate me, u jolly well ASK

 

 

 

 

 

this is so wicked !

tat he’s giving in to his own so called inhibitions.

but he’s still too proud to admit it

if my hunch is correct, and he really bows…haha…den i will know how good my instinct is.

3 days of leave. juz reinstated, yea!

yes i have read this before but it still never fails to touch me whenever i receive it again. for all the women i know, esp all my beautiful girlfriends. let’s strive to be flawless by remembering our worth

One Flaw In Women

Women have strengths that amaze men…

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,

but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy

and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.

They stand up to injustice.

They don’t take “no” for an answer

when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel

and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about

a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,

yet they are strong when they

think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss

can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They’ll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you

to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what

makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their

family and friends.

Women have vital things to say

and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

haven’t seen the afternoon sun in a long while

got flashpay for all at home without NETS card

Top-up value of up to $500 instead of $100 on EZ-link card : tat’s a BIG plus point coz how can i use it for other purchases when i need to keep topping up.

and merchant acceptance seems much wider den EZ-link

another reason is since EZ-link’s sorry business model news, i have never like the company. y do ppl use EZ-link? becoz we didn’t have a choice.
so nw tat i haf a choice, i m moving, period.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA SP): The carrier has begun hiring cabin crew after freezing recruitment in February, the Straits Times reported, without saying how it obtained the information. The world’s biggest carrier by market value also signed a three-year marketing agreement with government agency Tourism New Zealand, the agency said in an e-mailed statement. Singapore Airlines shares dropped 1.1 percent to S$13.90

Kathmandu Holdings Ltd. (KMD AU):The outdoor equipment retailer with shops in Australia and New Zealand began trading in Sydney for the time first Nov. 13. Its stock closed at A$1.76, 3.5 percent more than then A$1.70 paid by investors in an initial public offering which valued the company at A$340 million

i wana watch 2012

http://www.whowillsurvive2012.com/

http://www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com/

http://www.shutterisland.com/

http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

got the hulla hoops from gallen sports and started playing with it

and it hit my hand just below my thumb and bruised the whole area…..OUCH !!

主席 – 主要工作是休息
总裁 – 总是害人无辜被裁
老板 – 老在公司看天花板
经理 – 经常走动找人修理
主管 – 主要任务尽量少管
员工 – 原来只有我在做工

for tdy came thru. even though i tell myself not to intiate any contact but i will reply if contact comes thru first

QQ, YY et moi each took a shot of the cut oranges

same subject, different perspectives…interesting results

An angry crowd hurled missiles and tipped over a vehicle near the Eiffel Tower in Paris Saturday after a company promised a massive cash giveaway but then failed to deliver, police said.

Trouble flared among the crowd of around 7,000 people when they realised the Internet company Rentabiliweb was not going ahead with the publicity stunt to give away some 40,000 euros (60,000 dollars).

Police arrested around 10 people and nine were remanded in custody as anger erupted in the shadow of the Paris landmark.

Metal barriers were erected in an attempt to contain the crowd but people clambered over them. Angry youths also hurled missiles at police.

The police said: “Following traffic problems in the Champ de Mars (park near the Eiffel Tower) area and large crowd movements, the police asked the organiser not to go ahead with distributing the money.”

Rentabiliweb “lamented the excesses which occurred” and added precautions been taken in an effort to ensure the event ran smoothly.

Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier, chairman of the company which also runs the website Mailorama.fr, said the money intended for distribution would instead be given to charity.

The French interior ministry said it would lodge a formal complaint over the botched publicity stunt.

The police said they had told the event organiser that giving out money as a means of advertising was banned and stressed it could be a risk to public order.

But the Paris force added that it did not have the legal powers to stop people who wanted the money taking to the streets.

Gerard, a Parisian in his 40s who had turned up to get his hands on the free cash, wondered “if it wasn’t actually a hoax.”

“What is certain, is that they have got a lot of advertising from it,” he added.

Rentabiliweb announced with great fanfare last month that it planned to give away the huge sum in 5,000 pouches containing a bank note of between five and 500 euros each.

saw a purple shoyru at ann’s place and reminded of my beloved neopets

of coz we hardly ever play nw but i popped by to check out my acct anyway

Account Type: Ultimate Riches!
Current Balance: 57,405,305 NP
Interest Rate: 12.5% per year
Yearly Interest: 7,175,663 NP

is a persistent little girl

she’s been on my back to finish wrapping all her P1 books and she doesn’t relent

but i’m glad it’s all done now

juz a few other missing things eg. her art folio to be prepared before 1st Jan

she has been looking forward to pri skool for a yr nw, admiring her pencil box as a nightly ritual before sleeping

In a clinic in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, Ratib Samur makes his way from one patient to the next armed with little more than a small box filled with enraged bees.

He uses the bees to sting those who have come to him for help — and amid the territory’s deepening isolation, his clinic has been transformed into a hive of activity.

Since the Islamist movement Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 the coastal enclave has been sealed off from all but vital aid by both Israel and Egypt, limiting the ability of Gazans to seek medical care abroad.

It has meant growing demand for Samur’s bee venom treatment.

“The bee stings are really great,” says Mohammed al-Dayya, paralysed from the waist down because of muscular atrophy.

The 25-year-old used to be treated in Egypt, but has had to resort to the bees because of the closures. Confined to Gaza, he wheels himself into Samur’s clinic each week to get stung, which he says has stabilised his condition.

“I no longer have this pain that used to keep me from sleeping,” he said during a recent session. “This treatment made my condition stable and now it won’t get worse before I am able to travel.”

Most claims of apitherapy — the medical use of bee venom — are anecdotal and have not been proved to the satisfaction of scientists, although believers say it help relieve pain from multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis and certain other ailments.

Bee stings however also entail risks of serious allergic reactions, and of course the process of getting stung is not one most people would enjoy — at Samur’s clinic, patients often get four to six stings a time.

Samur admits his treatment is no substitute for advanced medical care.

“I cannot help him walk again, but my treatment basically focuses on easing the pain and preventing his condition from deteriorating further,” said Samur, who studied agricultural engineering in Egypt.

When the 53-year-old opened the clinic in 2003 after testing out bee venom treatments on his family and friends, he was greeted with scepticism.

“It became more acceptable when I got brilliant results from the treatment with a number of patients, and it increased even more after the Israeli siege,” he said.

Israel generally allows people to leave Gaza for emergencies but grants only a limited number of permits for medical treatment abroad.

The lack of medical options and the economic crisis gripping the territory has sent hundreds of men, women and children flocking to Samur’s clinic, where he pricks them with bees raised in dozens of backyard hives.

A course of three injections costs just 2.50 dollars (1.60 euros).

Many of his patients suffer from wounds inflicted during Israel’s assault on Gaza at the turn of the year aimed at halting Palestinian rocket attacks. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed before the fighting ended on January 18.

Ismail Matar has been receiving bee stings to treat the shock he suffered when a friend was killed before his eyes by an Israeli air strike.

“My friend was torn apart right in front of me by shrapnel from an Israeli missile,” the 23-year-old said.

“I was in psychological shock. I was not strong enough to move my legs, I could barely see, and none of the drugs worked. But now, after seven months of treatment with bee stings, I am much better. I can walk again.”

The natural remedy, which contains large amounts of the anti-inflammatory agent melittin, has been used in other nations to treat multiple sclerosis and arthritis, but there is little experimental evidence of its effectiveness.

“The bee venom treatment is a complement to medicine,” Samur says. “I don’t diagnose the illness, but rely entirely on the opinion of the doctor.”

He also refuses to treat people with heart disease, diabetes or cancer.

Patients such as Nivine Ajur, a 32-year-old mother of six who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, swear by the treatment.

“I have been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for five years and nothing helped because there is no treatment for this disease in Gaza,” she said as a bee plunged its stinger into her wrist.

“I could not climb stairs at all but now, after five months of treatment, I can climb them six times a day.”

In another corner of the clinic 10-year-old Mohammed Barud does not flinch even as bees gather on his ear lobe just below his hearing aid.

“I’m used to this, and I am not afraid,” he said.

“My hearing gets better every week and I will keep coming here until I can take out this hearing aid. The doctor told me I would have to wear it my whole life.”

Eight decades after pioneering the concept of broadcasting, NBC is on the verge of a startling move that illustrates broadcast television’s decline.

Cable TV operator Comcast Corp. is expected to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal, perhaps as early as this week, bringing the network of Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Hope, Milton Berle and Tom Brokaw under the corporate control of the company that owns the Golf Channel and E! Entertainment Television.

“This is highly symbolic,” said Tim Brooks, who had worked at NBC for 20 years and now writes books on television history.

Starting Sunday, Vivendi SA has an option to sell its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. Majority owner General Electric Co. is expected to buy it and then sell a 51 percent stake of the entire NBC Universal unit to Comcast, which serves about a quarter of the nation’s subscription TV households.

Broadcast people, the folks who remember when television was ABC, CBS, NBC and little else, used to look down upon cable.

The idea of broadcast TV was implied in the name; the networks tried to reach the broadest possible audience. For cable it’s important to do something specific and do it well, and the audience doesn’t need to be as large.

NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker recognizes this. Cable properties such as USA, SyFy, CNBC and The Weather Channel mean more to NBC Universal’s bottom line than staggering NBC, fourth place in the ratings.

And those cable properties _ more than the flagship “Peacock” network _ were the draw for Comcast. By owning more content, Comcast further hedges its bets as mainly a distributor of shows in case viewers ditch their cable TV subscriptions and migrate to the Internet, mobile devices or a platform that has yet to emerge. The company could charge for the shows or sell ads wherever the viewers are.

In a sense, NBC would become a pioneer again, as it seeks to stay relevant amid intensifying audience fragmentation.

NBC was established as the nation’s first radio network in 1926. Its parent company, the Radio Corporation of America, made radios and realized the best way to get people to buy the product was to make sure there were interesting things to listen to.

“Without NBC, there wouldn’t be broadcasting as we know it,” said Walter J. Podrazik, a consulting curator at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

NBC was the leading radio network, so powerful in those days it had two networks: NBC-Red and NBC-Blue. It was forced by the Federal Communications Commission in the early 1940s to divest itself of one network. NBC-Blue eventually became ABC. In fact, all three original broadcast networks can be traced back to NBC. One of its original owners, Westinghouse Electric Co., bought CBS in 1995.

Some of NBC’s radio profits were funneled into researching the new television technology. NBC began television broadcasts in 1939 by covering the opening of the New York World’s Fair.

RCA’s chief David Sarnoff took to the airwaves to introduce that broadcast, and his description of the moment _ “the birth of a new art bound to affect all society” _ was prescient and maybe even understated. The Nielsen Co. reported that just last year, the average American watched four hours and 49 minutes of television each day.

“He was as much a cheerleader as he was an investor,” Podrazik said, “and he was right.”

In 1947 came the first NBC program that’s still around today _ Sunday morning’s “Meet the Press.” But 1948’s “Texaco Star Theater” with Milton Berle was television’s first big hit. Many people bought their first TVs, or crowded around the few ones available, to see a comic who’d mine for laughs each week by wearing a dress.

Television’s early years had NBC and CBS fighting for dominance, with CBS more often than not gaining the upper hand. NBC settled for innovation, and the work of executive Sylvester “Pat” Weaver is still apparent today. He introduced the concept of multiple ads appearing on shows, instead of programs that had single sponsors, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Weaver expanded television’s day by introducing the “Today” and “Tonight” shows, which became huge profit centers for the network.

“Tonight” was particularly influential, with Steve Allen, Jack Paar and, for more than a quarter-century, Carson. His monologues were the bedtime stories for millions, and he introduced hundreds of talented artists to the public. “Saturday Night Live” is a new generation’s comic touchstone.

NBC News expanded in the 1960s, and the evening news report with David Brinkley and Chet Huntley made “Good night, David” and “Good night, Chet” simple catch phrases. News is a strong suit for NBC today, with Brokaw retiring at the top and Brian Williams continuing the legacy. The “Today” show has been No. 1 in the ratings for 726 consecutive weeks.

There’s been no such consistency in prime time through the years, however.

NBC slumped in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the “Supertrain” series became a shorthand for a comically inept idea. Spinoff ABC surpassed NBC in ratings. One man changed all that: Bill Cosby’s sitcom dominated television in the mid-1980s, as millions of Americans checked in each week on the Huxtable family.

In the 1990s, NBC’s promotion team dubbed Thursdays as a “must-see” night of television. The slogan stuck because it was true. The network’s run of memorable series including “Cheers,” “Seinfeld,” “ER,” “Frasier,” “Friends” and “The West Wing” represented a golden age. NBC was not simply the most popular network. It was the best. That seems more distant each year, and not just in time.

NBC’s decline has been slow, steady and sad. Their “must-see” series all ran their course, replaced by nothing comparable. Each of their rivals minted influential, highly popular reality series _ Fox’s “American Idol,” ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and CBS’ “Survivor” _ yet the best NBC could do were the moderately successful “The Apprentice” and gross-out show “Fear Factor.”

Worse yet is Hollywood’s impression that NBC now is more interested in saving money than in producing memorable television.

Famed producer John Wells said as much in criticizing the network for canceling his expensive drama “Southland” this fall before the season’s first episode aired. Jay Leno’s move to prime-time, replacing more expensive scripted show at the 10 p.m. slot, reduced NBC’s audience and influence even more.

NBC is turning, some of its fans fear, into something comparable to a cable network in ambition and reach.

Yet Comcast may give the network hope as audiences turn to video on the Internet and mobile phones. NBC is a founding partner in Hulu, an ad-supported site that lets viewers watch shows for free. NBC’s combination with Comcast could let the network take advantage of the cable operator’s efforts to reach additional platforms.

The fact that Zucker would likely stay at the helm, reporting to Comcast executives, suggests that the cable operator won’t be making major changes overnight.

A Comcast takeover is largely symbolic now, though practical reality ultimately may overshadow that as NBC and other broadcasters face declining audiences.

“The question,” Brooks said, “is what will they do with it?”

US President Barack Obama has arrived in Singapore for the APEC Leaders Summit.

Air Force One with Mr Obama on board touched down at the Paya Lebar airbase at close to 8pm on Saturday.

Mr Obama brought forward his departure from Japan to arrive in Singapore just in time to join the other APEC leaders at the Singapore Evening at the Esplanade.

Greeted by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Esplanade, Mr Obama joined world leaders for a glittering dinner.

In keeping with APEC summit tradition, the leaders wore custom—made tops reflecting the host economy’s culture.

This year, the colourful Peranakan—inspired designer shirts were crafted by Singaporean designer Wykidd Song.

Male leaders were given long—sleeved linen shirts with mandarin collars, a style inspired by the blend of Chinese, Malay and Indian culture found in Singapore. They chose from blue, red or green variants.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, the two female leaders, were supplied with V—necked blouses in red silk, with elaborate embroidery and lace.

Mr Obama’s early arrival in Singapore also meant that the leaders’ group photo taking ceremony was held on Saturday evening, as planned. APEC organisers had said on Friday that they would scrap the traditional group photo on Saturday in favour of Sunday when leaders would simply be dressed in their business suits instead of the custom—made attire.

Themed “Our World, One World”, the Singapore Evening was one that showcased Singapore’s creative talents and unique culture.

The key highlight was a half—hour musical and multimedia extravaganza, featuring local artists like Singapore Idol winners Taufik Batisah and Hady Mirza as well as homegrown songbird Kit Chan.

After the show, they enjoyed their evening by the Marina Bay waterfront, tucking into local and Western dishes that represent multi—cultural Singapore — made less spicy and pungent than usual to cater to the foreign taste buds.

Brazil said Friday it would offer a “voluntary” cut of at least 36 percent in greenhouse gas emissions at the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen next month.

The goal could see carbon reductions of up to 39 percent and is set against Brazil’s forecast level of emissions in 2020.

The target was presented by Environment Minister Carlos Minc and government chief minister Dilma Rousseff at a news conference in Sao Paulo following talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil is the fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, largely because of carbon released through deforestation of its vast Amazon forest by ranchers and farmers.

Rousseff said the country’s target is between 36.1 percent and 38.9 percent, with about half the projected cut would come from slowing deforestation of the Amazon.

Brazil posted encouraging news on that front this week, when it said Thursday it had experienced the smallest loss of the rainforest over the past year in more than two decades.

The remainder of the cuts would come from making efforts in farming, industry and improving energy efficiency.

Under government estimates, Brazil would produce 2.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2020 if the cuts are not taken into account, based on an average economic expansion of six percent. That economic growth forecast is seen as improbably high by some observers.

Should the 39-percent target hold, between 975 and 1,050 tons of the planet-warming gases would be reduced under government calculations, leaving the country emitting between 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion tons — less than the 2.1 billion it produced in 2005.

The success of the UN climate conference rests on developed countries agreeing to pay tens of billions of dollars to developing countries such as Brazil to entice them to cut emissions even as they pursue economic expansion.

Minc noted that by saying “Brazil is a country that has no obligation to take on targets, but (its decision) could influence” other nations to follow suit.

The UN conference takes place December 7-18.

General Motors will have to spend at least twice the three billion euros (4.5 billion dollars) it is budgeting to turn around its European unit Opel/Vauxhall, a union chief predicts.

“I think that a restructuring involving a progressive strategy will cost more than six billion, or nearer seven billion euros,” Armin Schild, an IG-Metall official who sits on Opel’s supervisory board, told the weekly Witschaftwoche.

“I am wondering where the money will come from,” he said in an interview to be published in Monday’s edition of the magazine.

International ratings agency Moody’s has estimated the cost of the restructuring at five billion euros, according to a German press report Tuesday.

General Motors has named executive vice president Nick Reilly as interim head of the unit to “oversee the creation of a strategy to position Opel/Vauxhall for long-term success.”

The US giant had signed a preliminary deal in September to sell a majority stake in Opel but changed its mind last month, embarrassing the German government and raising fears of sizeable job cuts.

The move also prompted the departure of Opel boss Carl-Peter Forster.

Berlin had strongly backed a sale to Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and state-owned Russian lender Sberbank, but roused suspicions that it was in return for lower job losses in German plants.

Other European countries where Opel has factories like Britain, home to Vauxhall, Spain and Poland feared they would bear the brunt of the sale.

The proposed deal also caught the attention of EU regulators, who were checking whether German aid was only offered to Magna, and not to other bidders, and therefore broke EU rules.

Berlin may finally cough up aid in any case, as GM asks European governments including Germany to provide part of the cash it needs to turn Opel around.

The weekly Der Spiegel predicted Saturday that despite some argument within the new centre-right coalition government, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble were prepared in principle to assist GM.

However union leader Schild expressed doubt that GM had executives competent to restructure Opel or would give them sufficient autonomy.

According to the Sunday paper Welt am Sonntag, quoting “well-informed” sources, the Opel board will decide next month who will be the company’s new permanent chief.

It said there were two possible candidates to succeed Forster, without naming them.

Meanwhile an Opel spokesman said GM would be moving its European headquarters from Zurich to Ruesselsheim, Opel’s base in Germany.

The spokesman gave no date for the move and no indication of how many jobs would be involved. GM subsidiary Chevrolet would still be run from the Swiss city, he said.

Sees increased demand from business travellers

* Aims for full-year profit despite loss in Q1, Q2

* Will redeploy capacity in profitable routes

* Focusing on yields instead of market share

* Cuts jet-fuel hedging to 22 pct from at least 30 pct

Nov 11 , the world’s biggest airline by market value, has not given up hope of making a profit this financial year as it sees a recovery in premium-class bookings, its CEO said on Wednesday.

The airline, which said three months ago that it might post its first full-year loss if business conditions did not improve, said it has seen some recovery in business class bookings as banks relax restriction on business travels.

“We are seeing a definitive pickup in bookings in business class. Banks have started to relax the rules on travel for their executives, so we started to see bankers in suits back in business class and first class,” SIA Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng said at a media briefing.

He said the airline has reduced its fuel hedging to 22 percent of its fuel needs by the end of October from over 30 percent, as it sees oil prices staying at around current levels.

SIA, like any other premium airlines, has seen falling passenger and cargo demand this year as a global recession hurt business and leisure travel, forcing it to reduce capacity by 11 percent for the fiscal year starting April.

The airline has also cut staff salaries and working hours.

Chew said the Singapore flag carrier, 55 percent-owned by state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL], has no plans to cut its capacity further and would reinstate routes that it had cut previously.

He said the company would now focus on generating yields instead of gaining market share.

Singapore Airlines reported on Tuesday a worse-than-expected quarterly loss as the global economic slowdown hit margins, but the airline said the outlook has improved.

It reported a net loss of S$159 million compared with a net profit of S$324 million a year ago, following a net loss of more than S$300 million in the first quarter of this financial year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S predicted the company to post a full-year profit of S$132.4 million in the financial year of 2009/10 from S$1.06 billion in previous year.

Chew also said that the company was still studying the possibility of listing its budget-carrier unit Tiger Airways and has not set a definitive time frame yet.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., the largest telephone company in Southeast Asia, said its profit rose 10 percent last quarter on growing income from its Asian units.

The company, also known as SingTel, said in a statement Wednesday that net income for the July-September period rose to 956 million Singapore dollars ($688 million), up from SG$868 million a year earlier.

“Our strong financial results were achieved amid a cautious economic climate and despite the negative currency impact,” SingTel Chief Executive Chua Sock Koong said in a statement.

SingTel’s stakes in operators in Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Pakistan and Bangladesh account for more than half of the company’s profits.

Operating revenue rose to SG$4.1 billion from SG$3.9 billion a year earlier.

Asian banking powerhouse Singapore on Friday cleared the final hurdle for complying with a global clampdown on tax cheats by signing an agreement with France to share tax information.

The signing enabled the city-state to get off a “grey list” of countries that have not yet fully implemented standards set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the industrialised nations’ club.

The Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) was signed by Singapore’s Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his French counterpart Christine Lagarde, part of an international effort to crack down on savers who keep secret deposits overseas and so evade their national taxman.

It was the 12th such agreement signed by Singapore — the minimum required by the OECD for a country to enter the elite “white list” of financial centres — and will come into force after formal passage by both parliaments.

“I am particularly pleased to sign today the 12th protocol which allows the withdrawing of Singapore from the OECD grey list,” Lagarde said.

The French minister said it was a “significant breakthrough” to see “such an important financial place” like Singapore reaching the OECD white list.

Shanmugaratnam said Singapore, which rejects allegations that it is used by foreigners as a haven for so-called “hot money” from illicit sources, will not stop at 12 agreements.

“We expect to sign several more by the end of the year and will continue to negotiate such DTAs,” he said.

The United States has been spearheading the OECD drive, forcing Switzerland to end its cherished tradition of banking secrecy under a landmark settlement in August that could see hundreds of US bank account holders prosecuted.

New legislation backed by the White House would force foreign financial institutions and companies to divulge information about their US account-holders or risk being frozen out of the giant US financial system.

After entering the white list, Singapore signed a deal to incorporate the OECD standards into its existing DTA with Southeast Asian neighbour Brunei, an oil-rich sultanate whose currency is pegged to the Singapore dollar.

Singapore, a top Asian corporate centre and a favourite banking destination for the world’s millionaires, has denied being a haven for tax evaders.

Local banks rejected allegations in September by a US-based human rights group that Myanmar’s military rulers were stashing billions of dollars from gas-industry revenues in Singapore.

The city-state last month passed a law aimed at tightening the screws on cross-border tax cheats to comply with the OECD standards.

Shanmugaratnam said after the signing with France that for Singapore to retain its position as a top financial centre, the system had to be trusted and well-regulated.

“We’re not defensive on the issue because we are currently held in high regard by all leading regulators,” he told reporters.

“We see this move as a right move that has to be taken by all countries.”

Singapore has assured depositors that there will be no indiscriminate prying into taxpayers’ accounts even after it complies with the OECD standards.

yes i made the move from blogger to wordpress some yrs back when google bought the company and FORCED everyone to get a google acct. tat, in my opinion, is done in very bad taste

i wouldn’t have made the move if i hadn’t been forced to sign up at a site i didn’t want to

i rem the mass migration when ppl abandoned blogger and whole blogs were ported at the press of a button

tdy, i decided to return to blogger for simple monetary reasons : google adsense

but it’s only my new crochet ideas blog tat’s going to be on blogger and not my regular blog

my dear buddy who came up with the personality test summed it up nicely and accurately on my dislike or non inclination towards certain brands

i haf a non-mainstream mentality. it’s nuthing against the products but the very popularity of the brands turn me off

therefore, i don’t google, i don’t use nokia fones & i don’t have any apple products

it makes perfect sense to me

what a joke! plsssssss…..dun act as if u haf the consumer’s interest at heart when it’s juz an reaction from losing the rights

no, i m no starhub supporter over singtel coz at least singtel didn’t raise my mobile phone price plans yr after yr the way starhub is charging for EPL on cable….i know loads of ppl incl my own family who has given up cable when we are treated like meat on chopping board

if there’s anything i can’t stand, it’s hypocrites !!

StarHub said on Thursday that “what could have been proposed three years ago has no relevance,” in response to comments made by SingTel Singapore’s chief Allen Lew.

At a results briefing on Wednesday, Mr Lew said the offer by StarHub to carry the SingTel Barclays Premier League on its network comes “three years too late”.

StarHub counter—argued that there were also a number of things in the telco space that the competitor could have done over the past ten years, which would have made the playing field more level.

StarHub said a more fruitful discussion would be to focus on what can be done for consumers going forward, such as having the convenience of one set top box.

StarHub said, going forward, it will support a universal set—top box solution that would be operator agnostic and connected to the new national broadband infrastructure. This is also aligned with consumers’ interest.

The telco said the only reason why SingTel would not accept its proposal is that SingTel would like to have its set top box as the preferred box in homes.

Meanwhile, StarHub said it approached SingTel formally on Wednesday, about its offer to carry SingTel’s British Premier League channel and ESS channels on the StarHub TV network. It said its proposal provides an option for consumers.

The Ministry of Health has alerted all hospitals to take immediate measures to ensure safety in the use of infusion pumps when administering drugs.

This follows a pharmaceutical error at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital — where two cancer patients are now under observation, with one potentially in grave danger.

Mrs L K Ng, aged 51, and Mrs Yip Poh Hung, aged 44, were given chemotherapy drugs via an infusion pump — but settings on the pumps were inaccurate, despite two pharmacists checking to ensure accuracy before the infusion pumps were given to the women.

The ministry said it will share the findings and risk reduction strategies with other hospitals after KK Hospital completes its detailed root cause analysis.

If things go wrong, Mrs Yip Poh Hung’s organs could be damaged seriously. She is being given an antidote — Vistonuridine — specially flown in from the US. Although stable at the moment, she still needs to be observed carefully. She had consumed five days worth of cancer drugs in just five hours.

The hospital said the antidote being given to the patient is safe to use, even though the drug has not been approved for general use in Singapore. The drug has not even been approved by the FDA in the US. But the hospital is citing a recent study to vouch for its safety.

“They have tested this drug and out of the 17 patients, all actually recovered well. So that is why it is important to have this particular drug for our patient here,” said Associate Professor Tan Kok Hian, director, Clinical Quality, KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital.

The hospital said her chances of full recovery are “very high”.

Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA), which gave the last minute green light for the special use of the antidote in this instance, said: “Our regulatory framework has a system in place that allows HSA to consider special concession for clinicians to use unregistered medicinal products under exceptional medical circumstances, when there is no registered alternative available in Singapore.

“This is to ensure that patients are not denied access to critical treatments in the case of unmet medical needs.” The HSA added that there have been past approvals granted in life or death situations where no alternative is available in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the pharmacists in question have been assigned “light duties”, while they assist in investigations.

Hospital officials said they have apologised to the patients and their families. The hospital is also waiving current medical fees for the next cycle of chemotherapy treatment. As for further compensation, the hospital said the issue has not surfaced.

As a safeguard, the hospital has now decided to use only one type of infusion pump, so that the rate and calibration will be clearer and chances of error will be further diminished.

“We have a variety of pumps — the default rate is set at one rate and another pump is set at another rate. So sometimes if you are using the different pumps you should know the default rate and to set it accordingly. Unfortunately, it is very rare, there was an error and it wasn’t recognised,” said Prof Tan.

“KK is also sorry about this incident and we take full responsibility for this error and we would also like to say sorry to the patients and their families who are involved,” added Prof Tan.

Some patients, the hospital said, were concerned about their own medication after learning about the incident. However, doctors said the patients’ fears were assuaged and they were informed that the chances of such errors are extremely rare.

The hospital said investigations are ongoing.

Brazil’s sprawling Amazon jungle this year lost 7,000 square kilometers (2,700 square miles) of rain forest, a huge area but also a whopping 45 percent drop from 2008 losses, an official reported Thursday.

“It’s by far the best result we’ve seen since INPE began its study in 1988,” the director of Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research, Gilberto Camara, told President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his environment minister at a meeting here.

Camara said deforestation in the Amazon basin has “fallen significantly” and steadily since 2004, when some 27,000 square kilometers (10,400 square miles) of forest disappeared.

Between July 2008 and July 2009 deforestation claimed 7,000 square kilometers, compared to 12.900 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) in the previous 12-month period, Camara said.

INPE’s estimates have a 10-percent margin of error, he added.

The steady drop in deforestation is partly attributed to the “Arco Verde-Terra Legal” program that brings together 43 Amazon localities to practice sustainable farming, and regulates land transfers in the Amazon basin.

Lula’s administration has made deforestation control the centerpiece of its fight against global warming and aims to reduce clearing in the Amazon by as much as 80 percent by 2020.

surprised and touched, he can be very sweet sometimes

i was shocked tat he went to search for my fotos

my disbelief is beyond words….he has left me speechless

tat was my verdict on tue nite coz i was quite disappointed by his reply to my predicament

i had branded him “worthless”

but he redeemed himself the next morn

he has nbr failed the ‘leave’ test so far it’s mean of me, i know

so is he worthless or m i setting unrealistic expectations?

A new species of dinosaur that roamed the Earth 197 million years ago, likely an ancestor of the enormous brontosaurus, has been discovered in South Africa, scientists said Wednesday.

Dubbed Aardonyx Celestae, a combination of Afrikaans and Greek that means “Earth Claw”, fossils of the seven-metre (23-feet) long dinosaur were uncovered in the central Free State province by a team of post-graduate students from Johannesburg’s Witswatersrand University.

“We knew that there were likely to be some fossils in these bone beds… but we did not expect to find anything of this magnitude,” said Adam Yates, the scientist who supervised the work.

The Aardonyx appears to be ancestors of the massive sauropod dinosaurs, the largest backboned animals ever to walk on land, he said.

The fossils from a partial skeleton unveiled Wednesday came from a young dinosaur, Yates said.

“Growth rings in the rib and shoulder blade sections show that Aardonyx was not full grown — it was probably less than 10 years when it died near a river or stream,” he said.

Yates said the Aardonyx was a vegetarian, with a wide gaping mouth and a powerful back. Its claws measured about five centimetres (two inches) long, and it likely walked on two legs, but was strong enough to drop on all fours as well.

The fossils will be put on display at the Transvaal Museum in the South African capital Pretoria.

Dutch banking and insurance group ING reported a sharp switch into quarterly profit on Wednesday as it restructured after a government bail-out and said it was moving into an “exciting” phase.

For the third quarter, it reported net profit of 499 million euros from a loss of 478 million euros in the same period of last year.

The bank, which received a 10-billion-euro capital injection from the government a year ago to help it through the global financial crisis, said: “ING achieved a strong commercial performance in the third quarter (of 2009).”

This illustrated “the strength of our banking and insurance franchises even in this challenging economic environment,” chief executive officer Jan Hommen said.

The bank said that its third quarter performance was driven by higher interest margins, more income, and lower expenses thanks to “cost-containment initiatives”.

Operating expenses had been reduced by just over a billion euros in the year to date, expected to reach 1.3 billion euros for the full year.

Staff had been reduced by 10,239 by the end of the third quarter, “surpassing the full-year expected reduction of 7,000,” said the statement.

The underlying net result for the third quarter came was 778 million euros, ING said, compared with 229 million euros in the previous quarter and a 568-million-euro loss in the third quarter of 2008.

Assets value dropped by 882 million euros in the third quarter, due to the impact of impairments on mortgage-backed securities and negative revaluations on real estate investments.

ING announced last month that it planned to sell off its insurance operations and raise 7.5 billion euros — five billion of which would go to paying back its government emergency funding.

The group also benefited, in January, from the government standing guarantee for up to 80 percent of a 27.7-million-euro United States credit portfolio, for which the European Commission requires ING to pay the state 1.3 billion euros in fees in the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot of work ahead, but this is the beginning of an exciting new phase for ING,” Hommen said.

“Our resolution with the European Commission on restructuring will put behind uncertainty and enable us to focus on the future. We are also raising equity to repay the first half of the capital received from the Dutch state a year ago, which is an important milestone on our road to recovery.”

E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.

“The questions of life’s origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration,” said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.

Funes, a Jesuit priest, presented the results Tuesday of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology _ the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos.

Funes said the possibility of alien life raises “many philosophical and theological implications” but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue.

Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona, said it was appropriate that the Vatican would host such a meeting.

“Both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe,” he told a news conference Tuesday. “There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe.”

Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile attended the conference, called to explore among other issues “whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds.”

Funes set the stage for the conference a year ago when he discussed the possibility of alien life in an interview given prominence in the Vatican’s daily newspaper.

The Church of Rome’s views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited.

Scientists have discovered hundreds of planets outside our solar system _ including 32 new ones announced recently by the European Space Agency. Impey said the discovery of alien life may be only a few years away.

“If biology is not unique to the Earth, or life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound,” he said.

This is not the first time the Vatican has explored the issue of extraterrestrials: In 2005, its observatory brought together top researchers in the field for similar discussions.

In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God.

“How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?” Funes said in that interview.

“Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God’s creative freedom.”

Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered “part of creation.”

The Roman Catholic Church’s relationship with science has come a long way since Galileo was tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant his finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

Today top clergy, including Funes, openly endorse scientific ideas like the Big Bang theory as a reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.”

The event snubbed proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design, which see a higher being rather than the undirected process of natural selection behind the evolution of species.

Still, there are divisions on the issues within the Catholic Church and within other religions, with some favoring creationism or intelligent design that could make it difficult to accept the concept of alien life.

Working with scientists to explore fundamental questions that are of interest to religion is in line with the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made strengthening the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

Recent popes have been working to overcome the accusation that the church was hostile to science _ a reputation grounded in the Galileo affair.

In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the ruling against the astronomer was an error resulting from “tragic mutual incomprehension.”

The Vatican Museums opened an exhibit last month marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first celestial observations.

Tommaso Maccacaro, president of Italy’s national institute of astrophysics, said at the exhibit’s Oct. 13 opening that astronomy has had a major impact on the way we perceive ourselves.

“It was astronomical observations that let us understand that Earth (and man) don’t have a privileged position or role in the universe,” he said. “I ask myself what tools will we use in the next 400 years, and I ask what revolutions of understanding they’ll bring about, like resolving the mystery of our apparent cosmic solitude.”

The Vatican Observatory has also been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world’s best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has his summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

ever though the situation in SG is very different. health insurance or at least hospitalisation insurance is top on my list of priorities.

friends, pls make sure your shield plan from whichever of the insurance companies is as charged and not with limits. i juz realised my old plans are NOT as charged and i m doing something abt tat now.

we have to take responsibility for our own financial needs too. so i am doing yet another review in totality of everything i bought. my adviser has kindly given me a template to fill out. let me know if u need it too

The number of US veterans who died in 2008 because they lacked health insurance was 14 times higher than the US military death toll in Afghanistan that year, according to a new study.

The analysis produced by two Harvard medical researchers estimates that 2,266 US military veterans under the age of 65 died in 2008 because they lacked health coverage and had reduced access to medical care.

That figure is more than 14 times higher than the 155 US troop deaths in Afghanistan in 2008, the study says.

Released as the United States commemorates fallen soldiers on Veterans Day, the study warns that even health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration (VA) leaves many veterans without coverage.

The analysis uses census data to isolate the number of US veterans who lack both private health coverage and care offered by the VA.

“That’s a group that’s about 1.5 million people,” said David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program who co-authored the study.

Himmelstein and co-author Stephanie Woolhandler, also a Harvard medical professor, overlaid that figure with another study examining the mortality rate associated with lack of health insurance.

“The uninsured have about a 40 percent higher risk of dying each year than otherwise comparable insured individuals,” Himmelstein told AFP.

“Putting that all together you get an estimate of almost 2,300 — 2,266 veterans who die each year from lack of health insurance.”

Only some US veterans have access to medical care through the VA and coverage is apportioned on the basis of eight “priority groups.”

“They range from things like people who were prisoners of war, who have coverage for life, or who have battle injuries and therefore have coverage for their injuries for life,” said Himmelstein.

Veterans who fall below an income threshold that is determined on a county-by-county basis can qualify for care, but many veterans are “working poor” and fall just above the bracket.

“The priority eight group, the lowest priority, are veterans above the very poor group who have no other reason to be eligible and that group is essentially shut out of the VA,” according to Himmelstein.

The study comes as the US Senate weighs health care reform legislation and whether to offer government health insurance.

Himmelstein warns that congressional proposals could still leave veterans uncovered and favors a national health care program similar to those in Britain and Canada.

SG finally gets pandas….it’s been a loooooooooong wait !!

China’s Hu arrives in Singapore with panda offer

Nov 11 – China will give Singapore two giant pandas to mark 20 years of friendly ties between the two countries, Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Wednesday.

Hu arrived in Singapore on Wednesday for an annual summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, after visiting Malaysia where he made the first official visit of a Chinese leader in 15 years and signed several agreements on trade and investment.

After reviewing an honour guard upon arrival, Hu met Singapore President S.R. Nathan and the city-state’s founding father, Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew.

Lee recently caused a ruffle among Chinese netizens when he called for the United States to remain engaged in Asia as a balance to China.

The gift of pandas, a popular attraction at zoos around the world, is often used by China as a diplomatic tool. China earlier this year gave two pandas — Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names said together mean reunification — to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, as a sign of warming relations.

The pandas, a male and a female, will arrive in the second half of 2011 and be housed at Singapore’s new River Safari, according to Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the country’s zoo operator.

after 3 hrs of our labour of love….my ride is wonderfully smooth

the touch test is the ultimate test of how well the ride is maintained

all the amt of waxing and polishing i have done in the past had nbr made it tat smoooooth

clay, wax, detailer : and tat’s juz the exterior

learnt how to use the products properly

now the question is how hard is it to maintain it

i can’t resist running my hand all over my ultra smooth ride over and over again

to look at. i mean him

i really tink so

i look at his picts and i can’t bear to force myself to continue looking *shudder*

he’s around, dinner

too bad, he’s not

i want to go home!!

but on leave tml and tons to clear : (

* They say that marriage makes a man dizzy, and it’s true. As soon as I got a wife, I lost my balance at the bank.

* Men want 3 qualities in wives: Economist in kitchen, artist in home & devil in bed. But they get artist in kitchen, devil in home & economist in Bed.

* Q: Why do women live longer than men?
A: Shopping never causes heart attacks, but paying the bill does!

* Before marriage: Roses are red, sky is blue. U r beautiful, I luv u.
After marriage: Roses are dead, I’m blue. U r my headache, one day I’ll kill u.

* Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, and then when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that.

* Man: Is there any way for long life?
Dr: Get married.
Man: Will it help?
Dr: No, but the thought of long life will never come.

* Why do couples hold hands during their wedding?
It’s a formality just like two boxers shaking hands before the fight begins!

* Wife: Darling today is our anniversary, what should we do?
Husband: Let us stand in silence for 2 minutes.

Russian energy giant Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas firm, said on Monday that net profit plunged 49.8 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the figure 12 months earlier owing to higher expenses.

Half-year profits fell to 305.8 billion rubles (10.6 billion dollars), compared to 609.4 billion rubles (21 billion dollars) in the first six months of 2008, the company said in a statement.

Operating expenses and financial charges rose sharply as the cost of purchased gas soared 105 percent, reflecting an increase in prices for gas from Central Asia.

“The increase in the cost of purchased gas was mainly caused by the increase in prices for gas from Central Asia and increase in gas trading activities on the European market,” it explained.

The company, which ships 65 percent of its exports to Europe, was also hard hit by a drop in European demand amid the economic downturn as states turned to stocks held in reservoirs in the former Soviet Union.

But Gazprom head Alexei Miller last month said European demand for gas had grown in recent months to exceed pre-crisis levels.

The company, which has its roots in the Soviet Union’s Gas Industry Ministry, now has 17 percent of the global gas market and 60 percent of the Russian market. The state retains a controlling stake of 50 percent.

It said that net sales in the first half fell by 6.6 percent to 1.6 trillion rubles (56.6 billion dollars).

Sales of gas to Europe and other states had increased by 6.0 percent as higher prices across the world compensated for drastic falls in export volumes, it added.

Gazprom said its debt for the six months to July had increased 31 percent to 1.3 trillion rubles (48 billion dollars) from 1 trillion rubles (34.5 billion dollars) at the end of last year.

for prawn mee soup now…drool~!

DBS Group Holdings Ltd (DBS SP): Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, posted a bigger-than-estimated increase in 3rd-quarter profit as a rebound in the economy boosted loans and fee income. Net income climbed to S$563m ($403.3m) from S$379m a year earlier, the Singapore-based bank said in a statement today. That beat the S$438m median estimate of 5 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SMM SP): The world’s 2nd-biggest oil-rig maker, is buying an offshore drilling rig from Seadrill Ltd., the company said today in a statement. Sembcorp’s subsidiary PPL Shipyard has exercised its right to acquire the West Elara, a jack-up drilling rig that operates in shallow waters, for $10.8m, the company said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange.

Sembcorp Industries Ltd (SCI SP):Owner of the world’s 2nd-biggest oil-rig maker, said 3rd-quarter profit gained 2.2% on increased production of offshore structures at its marine unit. Net income rose to S$148.1m ($106m), or 8.26 Singapore cents a share, in the 3 months to Sept. 30, from S$144.9m, or 8.08 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Sales gained 3 percent to S$2.58bn.

City Developments Ltd (CIT SP): Singapore’s 2nd-biggest developer, added 1.7% to S$10.02. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc (MLC LN), the operator of more than 120 properties worldwide, has received “unsolicited” offers for a number of its hotels and may sell some of them when prices improve, Chief Executive Officer Richard Hartman said yesterday. City Developments owns 52% of the hotel operator.

CapitaLand Ltd (CAPL SP): Said its China businesses are benefiting from the nation’s improved consumer sentiment, the Business Times said, citing company executives. The occupancy rate at the company’s serviced-residence properties has rebounded to around 85%to 90%, compared with 1st-half occupancy of 65% to 70%, the Singapore-based newspaper said, citing Ascott Group Senior Vice-President Gerald Yong. He added the 4th quarter
should be “very positive,” the report said.

sandals felt quite comfy but NOT all the models. i only find one model tat supports my arch well and feels comfy…i’m going to cycle in them

of me on mon morn, thus the email to update on his sun?

religion! i actualli forgot abt tis. can’t sense it but i haf this nagging feeling something is not rite.

pity though

’s freakish

so warm and humid this morn…argh

tml, ya, partly mine but no, i dun ever wana go thru the pain of organising for big day liao

which involved hello kitty in the latter…even in my dreams, i rem karen like hk stuff and i was getting something for her….hahaha….hilarious

first dream was of MTB explaining himself to me

2nd dream featured uncle and lotsa butterflies and hello kitty

both were funny and happy dreams. i could sense how immersely happy i was in both dreams

someone said he used to write thick pages of love letters

wow, i m impressed !

State-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday reported a net loss of 1.8 billion pounds (2.0 billion euros, 3.0 billion dollars) during the third quarter.

The announcement comes at the end of a week in which Britain’s government increased its stake in RBS to 84 percent in the wake of the financial crisis.

British Airways on Friday said the company’s net loss more than quadrupled during its first half, forcing the carrier to slash an extra 1,200 jobs in an “essential” cost reduction programme.

BA posted a loss after tax of 217 million pounds (242 million euros, 361 million dollars) during the six months to September 30 compared with a loss of 49 million pounds during the equivalent period in 2008.

“Aviation remains in recession,” BA chief executive Willie Walsh said in comments accompanying news of the company’s deep loss.

“With (BA) revenue likely to be one billion pounds lower this year, we can’t stand still and further cost reduction is essential,” he warned.

British Airways said it would cut an extra 1,200 jobs, taking the total planned reduction to 4,900 by 2010.

Most of the new losses would be outside Britain and follows a high response from staff agreeing to work part-time or take voluntary redundancy to help secure the airline’s future.

BA also announced Friday that group revenues dropped nearly 14 percent to 4.1 billion pounds in the first half.

Some commercial airlines across the world are suffering badly from the massive global economic slump that has slashed demand for air travel and sparked a major cash squeeze for the sector.

However Irish low-cost airline Ryanair on Monday said its net profit had shot up 80 percent to 387 million euros (570.8 million dollars) in April-September compared with the same period a year earlier.

On Thursday, Italian flag carrier Alitalia reported its first operating profit since its takeover by an alliance of Italian business interests last January.

Meanwhile in a bid to improve its fortunes and claw back ground lost to British rival Virgin, BA in late September launched an all-business class service from London to New York.

Previous attempts at all-business class services from airlines such as Maxjet and Silverjet failed in the run-up to the worst downturn since the 1930s.

To further help reduce overheads, British Airways earlier this year decided to scrap all free meals apart from breakfast on its short-haul flights.

BA suffered an annual loss of 375 million pounds in its 2008-09 financial year, which it blamed on high fuel costs.

Law enforcement officials in New York announced charges against 14 people in a widening probe into the largest ever alleged hedge-fund insider trading scheme on Wall Street.

US Attorney Preet Bharara and New York’s assistant FBI director Joseph Demarest said the accused took part in insider trading schemes that “generated more than 20 million dollars in illegal profits.”

They included hedge fund managers and trading firm executives, lawyers and corporate insiders, the prosecutor and FBI officer said in a statement.

Of the 14, eight were arrested early Thursday, while a ninth was being sought, and later released on bail. Five other defendants had already been charged and have pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to insider trading crimes.

The FBI sweep was linked to the ongoing probe into alleged insider trading by Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire Sri Lankan founder of the hedge fund Galleon Management LP.

Galleon was shut down last month and Rajaratnam and five others were arrested in what prosecutors called “the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history.”

Twenty people have now been charged in the insider trading probe.

Bharara said the arrests of Rajaratnam and the five others had been a “wake-up call for Wall Street” and that Thursday’s announcement meant “the alarm bells have only grown louder.

“Over the last three weeks, we have charged 20 defendants with more than 40 million dollars worth of alleged insider trading,” he said.

The central figure among those charged Thursday was Zvi Goffer, who worked for Galleon and set up the hedge fund Incremental Capital.

Goffer is alleged to have played a key role in the ring in which he “paid sources for inside information” about companies, including news of mergers and acquisitions, then made deals on the stock market, according to the criminal complaint filed in a federal court in Manhattan.

Others charged Thursday with insider trading include current and former employees at Galleon, Ropes and Gray law firm, and Incremental Capital.

The criminal complaint said evidence had been gathered using telephone wiretaps and informants. It also said Goffer issued participants in the alleged ring with prepaid cell phones meant to make detection of the scheme harder.

Rajaratnam faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly using insider information from heavyweight companies including Google, IBM, Hilton and Moody’s.

Rajaratnam’s fund was estimated to be worth 3.7 billion dollars when it was shut down.

Demarest, the FBI deputy head for New York, described insider trading as “betting on a game when you already know the outcome.”

He warned would-be Wall Street cheats that the FBI net was closing.

“If you traffic in inside information, there’s always a chance the person you conspire with is working for us. If you talk on the phone, we may be listening,” he said.

The eight arrested Thursday were released on bail, six of them for half a million dollars and the others for 100,000 dollars and 250,000 dollars.

My fav train door to work

Lee Bai’s Poem (Chinese Version) Chuang qian ming yue guang Yi shi di shang shuang Ju tou wang ming yue Di tou shi gu xiang (English Version) The moon light is pouring down on my bedside Like white frost spreading on the ground I look ! up the bright round moon in the sky And lower my head thinking of my dear hometown (Singlish (Phua Chu Kang) Version) Bedfront Moon Bright Bright Think Is Floor White White Lift Head See Moon Moon Bow Head Miss Home Home… (Ah-Beng Version) Bedfront Orr Pi Sai (pick nose) Think Think Go Pang Sai Pick Up Tai Gor Tai (handphone) Bullshit While Lau Sai (Latest Reservist Army Version) Bedfront Lau Bark Sai (tears drop) Thinking About Exercise(reservist mobilization) Drop Dead Look Into The Sk (run until no breathe) Tong Kor Sia Lang Zai? (my suffering nobody knows) (Osama version) No friend at my side Think think Bush will fight Lift head but where to hide? This time don’t know when will die ? (Bush version) Can’t sleep since that night Think think where he hide ? Bomb bomb friends will say I pai No choice ask them go fly kite

can’t access my inbox again

sigh, after i d/l , installed windows live msger….i hate windows live msger

as irritating as he and me and our love/hate rship is, he is a safe bet to me

there is no danger of a breakup and mi accum bad karma again coz he is not the one and i m not the one.

why him den?

coz i feel v safe in the knowledge tat no feelings will be hurt by me

the reasoning may sound abit warped but i’m being candid here

wat’s the worst tat can happen?

he finds his one and i move on or vice versa which happens first

i like being in ctrl and being able to see the end clearly

a line from one of grasshopper’s song

i always love this line

how true

wat a love/hate/hate/love rship

Britain is to force state-rescued banks RBS and Lloyds Banking Group to sell assets in a massive shake-up of the banking sector but will support them with 30 billion pounds, the government said on Tuesday.

The government expects new banks to be born as a result of the break-ups which are the result of pressure from EU competition authorities.

The parts being separated from the parent groups add up to about 10 percent of Britain’s troubled retail banking market.

In return for more state aid, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will have to cut bonuses paid to top staff and increase lending to recession-struck businesses and individuals.

Lloyds announced that it would launch a record 13.5-billion-pound rights issue. This represents the biggest-ever sale in Britain of new shares to existing shareholders.

Tuesday’s announcement meanwhile comes one week after the European Commission approved the state aid in plans to break up and sell Britain’s nationalised bank Northern Rock.

“Today will be the day that we see the beginning of the greatest changes in UK high street banking ever,” said senior trader Manoj Ladwa at ETX Capital.

“The creation of three new banks, dramatic divestments from both Lloyds and in particularly RBS, mammoth fund raising for both banks including the British taxpayer dipping into their pocket.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the shake-up would create competition and place the two banks on a more solid footing.

“I believe at the end of the day the banks will be paying money to the British public and not the other way round,” Brown said.

Despite pumping 30 billion pounds (33 billion euros, 49 billion dollars) into the two banks, Tuesday’s move means that the taxpayer’s exposure has been cut by more than 300 billion pounds, finance minister Alistair Darling added.

This is largely because of Lloyds’ decision not to participate in the toxic asset protection scheme.

“To promote greater competition in UK banking, and meet EU state aid rules, the banks will… be required to make divestments of significant parts of their businesses over the next four years,” the Treasury said in a statement.

Britain’s biggest retailer, supermarket giant Tesco and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group are rumoured to be interested in expanding their own banking services.

“We are going to see at least three new banks operating on the British high street in the next four years and that is very good news for the British taxpayer, the British consumer,” Treasury Minister Paul Myners told the BBC.

Under the plans, the state will pump 25.5 billion pounds into Royal Bank of Scotland, which in turn will place 282 billion pounds of high-risk debts into the government’s toxic asset insurance scheme — lower than originally planned.

As a result of the move, the state’s economic interest in RBS will climb to 84 percent. In addition, RBS will have access to a contingency fund of eight billion pounds.

In trading here, RBS shares plunged 8.52 percent to 35.36 pence on the FTSE 100 index of leading companies, which was down 2.20 percent.

Lloyds stock rose briefly as the group also said that a record rights issue would allow it to avoid the state’s toxic asset insurance plan — but it will pay a 2.5-billion-pound break fee.

The government said it would take part and maintain its 43-percent stake in Lloyds.

Royal Bank of Scotland will sell its RBS-branded branches in England and Wales, and NatWest branches in Scotland, as well as its Churchill and Direct Line insurance division and parts of its investment banking arm.

Ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, RBS had revealed on Monday that it would axe about 3,700 jobs across its British retail operations.

Lloyds Banking Group added on Tuesday that it would offload Lloyds branches in Scotland, its Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, and the Intelligent Finance online unit.

“UK consumers will in theory enjoy increased choice and lower pricing, while rivals such as HSBC will be glad to see their rivals paying for their mistakes,” said analyst Keith Bowman at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers.

The Treasury has reached agreement “in principle” with EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes over the restructuring.

Regulatory authorities are concerned that such state-backed banks have an unfair advantage over other institutions which weathered the global financial storm without government aid, such as Barclays and HSBC.

Happy faces at finishing point…little sweat…hehe

yawning bug hitting me…i should b pretty well rested tdy

tons to do, need my ‘pick me up’ peppermint tea

totally craving for it now since my meeting when everyone was toking abt tis

we catered botak jones for townhall…yummy!

i tink i should do this

at ppl wearing event apparel till evening

i did tat after cycle singapore tis yr

tdy i didn’t get to bathe till after tkd

我怕我会上瘾, 我怕我会习惯, 我怕有一天我会失去你

是我永远的避风港

　　郭静 – 在树上唱歌

　　作词：姚若龙 作曲：陈小霞

　　你说的每个笑话我都笑了
　　是你变幽默还是我变快乐
　　好久不见你说我大不相同
　　偷偷告诉你 我的心去整型了
　　不想对每件事都那么严格
　　弄得全世界好像只剩挫折
　　爱一朵花不猜它能开多久
　　放宽了心情 把什么都变美了
　　想要光着脚丫 在树上唱歌
　　好多事物全被缩小了
　　心里不想放的就去了 算了
　　让太阳把脸庞给晒得红彤彤
　　想要吹着口哨 在树上唱歌
　　要像开往远方的火车
　　可以那么轻快地穿过山洞
　　大树上还很空 你要不要陪我
　　
你说的每个笑话我都笑了
　　是你变幽默还是我变快乐
　　好久不见你说我大不相同
　　偷偷告诉你 我的心去整型了
　　不想对每件事都那么严格
　　弄得全世界好像只剩挫折
　　爱一朵花不猜它能开多久
　　放宽了心情 把什么都变美了
　　想要光着脚丫 在树上唱歌
　　好多事物全被缩小了
　　心里不想放的就去了 算了
　　让太阳把脸庞给晒得红彤彤
　　想要吹着口哨 在树上唱歌
　　要像开往远方的火车
　　可以那么轻快地穿过山洞
　　大树上还很空 你要不要陪我

　　想要光着脚丫 在树上唱歌
　　好多事物全被缩小了
　　心里不想放的就去了 算了
　　让太阳把脸庞给晒得红彤彤
　　想要吹着口哨 在树上唱歌
　　要像开往远方的火车
　　可以那么轻快地穿过山洞
　　大树上还很空 你要不要陪我

<下一个天亮>
词:姚若龙 曲:陈小霞

　　用起伏的背影 挡住哭泣的心
　　有些故事 不必说给 每个人听
　　许多眼睛 看的太浅太近
　　错过我没被看见 那个自己
　　用简单的言语 解开超载的心
　　有些情绪 是该说给 懂的人听
　　你的热泪 比我激动怜惜
　　我发誓要更努力 更有勇气
　　
等下一个天亮 去上次牵手赏花那?散步好吗
　　有些积雪会自己融化
　　你的肩膀是我豁达的天堂
　　
等下一个天亮 把偷拍我看海的照片送我好吗
　　我喜欢我飞舞的头发
　　和飘著雨还是眺望的眼光
　　用简单的言语 解开超载的心
　　有些情绪 是该说给 懂的人听
　　你的热泪 比我激动怜惜
　　我发誓要更努力 更有勇气
　　
等下一个天亮 去上次牵手赏花那?散步好吗
　　有些积雪会自己融化
　　你的肩膀是我豁达的天堂
　　
等下一个天亮 把偷拍我看海的照片送我好吗
　　我喜欢我飞舞的头发
　　和飘著雨还是眺望的眼光
　　时间可以磨去我的棱角
　　有些坚持却永远磨不掉
　　请容许我 小小的骄傲
　　因为有你这样的依靠
　　
等下一个天亮 去上次牵手赏花那?散步好吗
　　有些积雪会自己融化
　　你的肩膀是我豁达的天堂
　　等下一个天亮 把偷拍我看海的照片送我好吗
　　我喜欢我飞舞的头发
　　和飘著雨还是眺望的眼光

kicking in, i’ll taking this on

does product support, sales mgr and relationship mgr sound familiar?

lol, same structure, also US firm but different level of professionalism. i swear by the blue box!

really eye opening to see substandard RM

Wisdom:

When I Was Married 25 Years, I Took A Look At My Wife One Day And Said,
“Honey, 25 Years Ago We Had A Cheap Apartment, A Cheap Car, Slept On A Sofa Bed And Watched A 10-Inch Black And White Tv, But I Got To Sleep Every Night With A Hot 25-Year-Old Blond.”

“Now We Have A $2M Home, A $245,000.00 Car, Nice Big Bed And 50″ Plasma Screen Tv, But I’M Sleeping With A 50-Year-Old Woman. It Seems To Me That You Are Not Holding Up Your Side Of Things.”

My Wife Is A Very Reasonable Woman. She Told Me To Go Out & Find A Hot 25-Year-Old Blonde, And She Would Make Sure That I Would Once Again Be Living In A Cheap Apartment, Driving A Cheap Car, Sleeping On A Sofa Bed And Watching A 10-Inch Black And White Tv!!