Schumacher returns to F1

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher is making a sensational return to Formula One, Ferrari announced, to replace injured Felipe Massa in the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23.

The retired German motor racing legend, may end up replacing Massa for the remainder of the season, it added.

“The Ferrari-Marlboro team plans to give Michael Schumacher Felipe Massa’s car until the Brazilian returns to competition,” Ferrari announced in a statement on its website carried by Italian news agency ANSA.

The statement added: “Michael Schumacher says he is available and in the coming days he will pursue a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the European Grand Prix.”

Schumacher, 40, commented: “Ultimately I like challenges and this is a great challenge.”

“The important thing is that Massa gets better,” he continued, adding that he “just wanted to help the firm (Ferrari) when they needed it”.

Schumacher, who last test drove for Ferrari in April last year, was pleased, though, that the most recent update on the unlucky Brazilian was encouraging.

“The most important thing first thank God, all news concerning Felipe (Massa) is positive,” he was quoted as saying on the official Formula One website.

“I wish him all the best again. I was meeting this afternoon with (Ferrari team chief) Stefano Domenicali and (Ferrari president) Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe.

“Though it is true that the Formula One chapter has been completely closed for me for a long time, it is also true that for reasons of loyalty to the team I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation.

“But as the competitor I am I also very much look forward to facing this.”

News of his comeback to the sport he virtually made his own came 24 hours after the possibility had first been raised by his spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm.

“The whole thing will be considered by Ferrari. If they approach Michael, then he will consider it,” Kehm had told BBC Sport.

She added: “Usually, I would say he’s not interested because he’s fine with his life and he doesn’t miss anything but now the situation is so different – it’s very hypothetical – and Michael doesn’t want to step into that (discussion).”

Schumacher, who is on Ferrari’s pay roll as an advisor, will be filling in for Massa, who is recovering from surgery following his horrific high speed crash in qualifying for last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Only this month he had made it clear speaking at the German Grand Prix that he was not interested in making a full time comeback.

But the offer of a temporary return to the Ferrari cockpit obviosuly proved too much to resist for ‘Schumi’ who has recovered from a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February.

Massa’s private doctor Dino Altman said Wednesday the driver should not suffer any long-term effects from his crash and can now move around his bed.

“He doesn’t seem to have a long-term injury,” Altman told journalists in front of Budapest’s AEK hospital, where Massa was brought after his accident on Saturday.

“He stood up today and was walking around his bed,” he added.

“Felipe’s brain condition is improving and there is nothing to worry about.”

Altman ruled out any eye injuries as well as a gallbladder inflammation that was reported by a hospital doctor earlier in the day.

It was still unclear however when the Brazilian would be discharged from hospital, although “it might be in less than ten days.”

According to his father however Massa is due to be moved on Thursday to the same hospital in Paris which treated former three-time world footballer of the year Ronaldo’s knee injury last year.

“If he continues (to recover) at this pace he’ll be switched to a hospital in Paris where he will follow his recovery up to the time he can go home,” Titonia Massa said from Budapest in comments carried by Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

Renault reports big loss

French auto group Renault reported on Thursday a first-half net loss of 2.71 billion euros (3.8 billion dollars) as sales slumped 23.7 percent to 15.99 billion euros but said the outlook was improving.

The loss figure contrasted with a net profit of 1.58 billion euros in the first half of last year.

Despite the loss, Renault, which controls the Japanese automaker Nissan Motor, maintained its 2009 forecasts, expecting some parts of the market to recover from the global economic slump which has rocked the industry.

The company reported a big drop in its stocks of unsold vehicles but they remain high however.

Renault revised upwards its forecast global auto industry sales this year to more than 57 million vehicles, representing a fall of 12 percent from the figure in 2008 compared with its previous estimate of a downturn of 15 percent.

In Europe, the market “should improve over the second half of the year to show a fall of eight percent,” compared with a drop of 13.7 percent in the first six months, the company said.

Managing director Patrick Pelata said “Renault has been hit severely by the crisis.”

On Wednesday, the other French mass car maker, PSA Peugeot Citroen, reported a first-half net loss of 962 million euros.

The French government has supported the sector during the economic crisis by offering subsidies for buyers who scrap an old car to buy new, a policy adopted in some other European countries.

Renault said sales in the six months fell 23.7 percent to 15.99 billion euros but noted there had been a distinct improvement between the first three months of the year, when sales were down 30.8 percent, and the second quarter to June when they fell 16.9 percent.

The first-half loss was largely attributable to losses at associate companies, with Nissan in the red for 1.22 billion euros, AB Volvo 196 million euros and Russia’s Autovaz 182 million euros.

“Renault is holding up” against the slump, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said in a statement.

The group’s share of the global auto market was steady in the first half at 3.7 percent.

For the whole of the year, the company stood by its targets announced at the beginning of the year, of increasing its market share and achieving positive free cash flow, a reference to the rate at which the company earns cash compared to the rate at which the money is spent.

This measure showed a surplus of 848 million euros, higher than the figure allowed for under a cost-cutting and investment programme.

Inventories of unsold cars, a key factor for auto companies, were down by 2.0 billion euros on a 12 month comparison at the end of June when they were worth 4.4 billion euros, finance director Thierry Moulonguet said.

By volume, inventories fell 510,000 to 315,000 vehicles in the period.

Moulonguet said there was a constant rise in orders which were running at about the level of 2007 and the group had decided “to increase its production plans significantly.”

Pelata said “our solid order book makes us confident that the second half will be better than the first” and that measures to cut the wage bill were going well.

“The results are encouraging and confirm the thinking of our strategy for managing the crisis (even though) … market share is below expectations” for the first half, he said.

In the second half, Renault expected to see the full benefits of the relaunch of its Megane car range and also of the new Scenic model which was launched recently.

Ghosn said “we are already preparing Renault for conditions after the crisis with the mass marketing of zero emission vehicles from 2011, a broadening of the range of ‘entry-level’ models, by strengthening our presence in emerging markets and accelerating economies of scale with Nissan.”

Rolls-Royce profits soar six-fold

British engine maker Rolls-Royce reported on Thursday a six-fold rise in net profit to 1.86 billion pounds (3.03 billion dollars, 2.16 billion euros) for the first half of the year.

Rolls-Royce said in a statement that revenues rose 27 percent to 5.14 billion pounds in the six months to June and its order book jumped to a record 57.5 billion pounds. The group also raised its dividend.

singtel sms

saw tis on singtel website. i didn’t even know got such sms

NOTICE
We understand that some SingTel Mobile customers may have received the following SMS:

“Today is the day when SingTel, M1 and Starhub celebrate the mark of Singaporeans sending a total of 60 billions local messages. Forward this msg to 10 person and you will have $49 of outgoing calls free! After so, you may check your phone bill to verify. ”

We confirm that the SMS did not originate from SingTel and that no such marketing activity has been launched. Please ignore and delete this SMS if you have received it.

bonboniere or bonboniere78 or bonboniecoke

 

if i ever decide to twit

Microsoft, Yahoo agree on long-sought search deal

Microsoft Corp. has finally roped Yahoo Inc. into an Internet search partnership, capping a convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and finally setting the stage for them to make a joint assault against the dominance of Google Inc.

The 10-year deal announced Wednesday gives Microsoft access to the Internet’s second-largest search engine audience, adding a potentially potent weapon to the software maker’s Internet arsenal as it tries to better confront Google, which is by far the leader in online search and advertising. Microsoft didn’t have to give Yahoo an upfront payment to make it happen, as many Yahoo investors had hoped.

Google tried to stop Yahoo from falling into Microsoft’s camp. Last year it formed its own proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo, only to be forced to retreat from that alliance after U.S. antitrust officials threatened to sue.

The extended reach will allow Microsoft to introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker believes Bing is just as good, if not better, than Google’s search engine. Taking over the search responsibilities on Yahoo’s highly trafficked site gives Microsoft a better chance to convert Web surfers who had been using Google by force of habit.

“Microsoft and Yahoo know there’s so much more that search could be,” said Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. “This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

In return for turning over the keys to its search engine to Bing and promoting it, Yahoo will get to keep 88 percent of the revenue from all ads that run alongside search requests on its site for the first five years of the deal. Yahoo also will have the right to sell ads on some Microsoft sites.

Yahoo estimated the deal will boost its annual operating profit by $500 million and save the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company about $275 million on capital expenditures a year because it won’t have to invest in its own search technology. An unspecified number of Yahoo engineers will lose their jobs as the company scales back, Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz told analysts in a Wednesday conference call.

But the deal isn’t expected to close until early next year, and then it could take another two years before all the pieces of the partnership are in place worldwide. The companies first will give antitrust regulators time to review the proposed partnership’s effects on the Internet ad market and then it will take time to stitch together their different technologies.

Shares of Yahoo slid $1.68, or 9.8 percent, to $15.54, as investors expressed disappointment over the fact that the company won’t be getting an immediate windfall from the deal. Microsoft shares advanced 14 cents to $23.61. Google shares fell $5.51, 1.3 percent, to $434.34.

The alliance could give Yahoo a chance to recoup some of the money it squandered in May 2008, when it turned down a chance to sell the entire company to Microsoft for $47.5 billion. Yahoo’s market value currently stands at about $22 billion.

The two rivals began talking about a possible partnership as far back as 2005 before Microsoft intensified the courtship with last year’s attempt to buy Yahoo.

It took Bartz just six months to strike a deal with Microsoft — something that neither of her predecessors, Terry Semel and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, seemed interested in doing.

Shortly after her arrival, Bartz made it clear she was willing to farm out Yahoo’s search engine for “boatloads of money” as long as she as thought the company would still receive adequate information about its users’ interests. Although Yahoo won’t get any immediate cash, Bartz predicted the deal will still be a boon for the company.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users, and the industry, and I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” Bartz said Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Yahoo will have limited access to the data on users’ searches — which yield insights that can be used to pick out ads more likely to pique a person’s interest. The value of that information is why Microsoft wants to process more search requests.

Like Yahoo, Microsoft has invested billions in its search technology during the past decade, yet remained a distant third in market share while its online losses piled up. The company’s Internet services division lost $2.3 billion in the fiscal year ending in June, nearly doubling from the previous year.

Microsoft is counting on Bing, unveiled in early June, to turn things around.

Bing has been getting mostly positive reviews and picking up slightly more traffic with the help of a $100 million marketing campaign. Analysts believe Bing’s successful debut pushed Microsoft to reopen negotiations so it could expose its search engine improvements to a wider audience more quickly.

“The reason the deal happened now is the recent success of Bing. I think it put pressure on Yahoo, as well as Yahoo not being able to turn it around on its own,” said Gartner Inc. analyst Neil MacDonald.

Even with Yahoo’s help, Microsoft still has its work cut out. Combined, Microsoft and Yahoo have a 28 percent share of the Internet search market in the United States, well behind Google’s 65 percent, according to online measurement firm comScore Inc. Google is even more dominant in the rest of the world, with a global share of 67 percent compared to a combined 11 percent for Microsoft and Yahoo.

Microsoft and Yahoo are bracing for antitrust scrutiny into whether the combination would have an adverse effect on competition in the online ad market.

The U.S. Justice Department spent five months dissecting last year’s proposed search advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo before concluding that it would give Google too much control over the market. And under the Obama administration, the Justice Department is promising to pore over deals far more rigorously than it did when the proposed Google-Yahoo partnership came up.

Microsoft used its lobbying muscle to spearhead the campaign against Google teaming up with Yahoo, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Google turned the tables.

“There has traditionally been a lot of competition online, and our experience is that competition brings about great things for users,” Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said. “We’re interested to learn more about the deal.”

A key lawmaker on antitrust issues said the Yahoo-Microsoft plan “warrants our careful scrutiny.” Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, said the Senate antitrust subcommittee he chairs will review the deal “because of the potentially far-reaching consequences for consumers and advertisers and our concern about dampening the innovation we have come to expect from a competitive high-tech industry.”

Peter Kaplan, a spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Ballmer expects that support from online advertisers and Web publishers who would like a stronger rival to Google will eclipse any objections that Google might raise.

“We think this is one of these cases where the coming together will produce more effective market competition, not less,” he told analysts in Wednesday’s conference call.

Just getting Yahoo to succumb to its latest advance represents a coup for Microsoft and the boisterous Ballmer, who was rebuffed for so long.

Microsoft is doubling down on Internet search at the same time Google is attacking Microsoft’s bread-and-butter business of making software for personal computers.

Google is working on a free operating system for inexpensive personal computers in a move that could threaten Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows franchise. If it gains traction, Google’s alternative, called Chrome OS, could divert some revenue from Microsoft while the software maker is trying to grab more of the money pouring into search advertising.

Chrome OS, though, isn’t supposed to hit the market until the second half of next year. That means Microsoft could get a head start on Google in the duel to steal each other’s financial thunder.

Temasek says portfolio falls by S$40 bln end-March ‘09

Singapore state investor Temasek said on Wednesday its portfolio had fallen by S$40 billion as of end-March 2009 from a year ago.

“In our Temasek Review last year, we reported an annual value-at-risk of almost S$40 billion last March. This meant a 16 percent probability for our portfolio value to drop more than S$40 billion by March this year. Indeed, it has turned out to be so, and more,” CEO Ho Ching said in a speech.

Temasek had S$185 billion in assets as of end-March 2008, which fell to S$127 billion as of November 2008. Ho did not give the exact portfolio level.

This was the first public comment by Ho, also the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, after Temasek said last week that Charles “Chip” Goodyear will not become CEO due to differences over strategy.

Ho said Temasek would continue to look at internal and external candidates for her replacement.

new face of jetstar

i like the ads!  nice!

 

Currently busy shooting a new drama series, Joanne Peh who rose to fame from her titular role in Little Nonya, recently became the new image ambassador for Jetstar Airlines.

Jetstar Airlines invested a few million dollars in a promotional campaign that would be launched in Asia. Peh was informed by the airlines in June of her image ambassador role for Jetstar.

She said, “I was really surprised to be chosen! My manager had previously mentioned this job to me and I received a last minute confirmation from the company 3 days before we left for the shooting in Hong Kong.”

As filming for her new drama Your Hand in Mine is currently underway, under the cooperation of the filming crew, Peh managed to squeeze out six days to film the commercial. They had to rush immediately from one location to another while shooting in Hong Kong and the Bali islands.

The Australian production crew consisted of eight people, their professional attitude and efficiency has garnered the respect of Peh, “They were very professional and clear about the shots they wanted. I can wholly trust them.”

“There were many underwater shots taken in Bali and the cameraman had to enter the waters too. Despite the strong crashing waves, he stood firmly and held onto his heavy camera. I had to stand firmly too because I couldn’t say it was a shooting problem, I had to do even better.”

Peh excitedly continued, “We were in Hong Kong at 7am in the morning shooting in the middle of the road. The cameraman even lied down on the road to shoot some scenic shots! We were lucky there weren’t many cars in the early morning!”

Apart from her encounters with the policemen who tried to chase the crew away, the camera crew continued shooting while the PR crew explained things to the police, “The police would not come when we weren’t filming but they would start running over once the camera started rolling. It was hilarious, the police eventually told us to film on the sidewalks!”

Doing the Jetstar’s signature ‘jump shot’ at every shooting location was the most strenuous task for Peh. In Bali, she had to do the jump at 31 different onsite locations in one day, “My calves were hurting from the jumps. In Bali, we stayed at a two-storey hotel and it was an arduous task climbing up the steps. When I came back I realized I grew thinner!”

However tiring it was, Peh said, “Watching the end product gives me the biggest sense of satisfaction! The final product looks really good.”

Peh says that she has no qualms taking up future ambassador roles for fashion and beauty products, “I have not set any limits for myself. However, I would like to work with different international production crews because I can learn many things from the process.”

first choice tea

 

is not half bad!

to be honest, for the price, i wasn’t expecting a lot so i was pleasantly surprised when the tea turns out to be quite good

and though it’s not individual packed ( saves packaging, great inititative! ), it comes in a silver foil zipper bag !

i love the zipper bag.  shall continue drinking the house brand of cold storage

不哭泣因为我对情对爱全都不曾亏欠你

 

juz frenz ok?

Doctor says Massa’s life no longer in danger

The neurosurgeon who operated on Felipe Massa said Monday his condition was no longer considered life-threatening, although damage to his eye and other injuries could prevent him from returning to Formula One.

Robert Veres said Massa was in stable condition and remained sedated “to protect his brain,” which had experienced some swelling. Massa has been woken up from time to time for tests, and his motor skills seemed to be functioning properly, Veres said.

However, he said Massa would definitely not return to the track this season, and that his long-term future in the sport was in doubt.

“I don’t know (if he can return),” Veres said. “It’s too early to say anything concerning his future, regarding the race.”

Veres was one of three surgeons who operated on Massa’s multiple skull fractures Saturday, following his high-speed crash during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Massa was struck by a loose part from another car that bounced up and hit him in the helmet, giving him a concussion and sending his car into the protective tire barrier.

Several fragments of bone from the skull had to be removed during the operation, Veres said.

Doctors were particularly concerned about injuries to the 28-year-old Brazilian’s left eye, but Veres said they didn’t yet “know the quality of this damage.”

“We don’t know exactly because without operation it’s very hard to evaluate function,” Veres told reporters from the AEK military hospital, where Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo was also visiting Monday.

Veres said no more operations were planned at the moment, but couldn’t rule out further surgery if his condition deteriorates.

“Anytime can be worse because of the complications, the nature of these injuries,” he said. “He has a brain contusion. It’s fine now. A focal contusion because of the impact of the metal piece.”

Veres remained hopeful that Massa would walk again, as he was slowly recovering his motor skills and responding to doctors requests to move limbs. He remained on a respirator and would be sedated until his condition improved further.

Di Montezemelo said that Ferrari’s first priority was Massa’s health, but that the Italian team doesn’t “want to wait too long” to decide on finding a driving replacement.

“Our first priority is Felipe’s recovery, Felipe’s progress and so on,” said di Montezemelo, who was accompanied by team principal Stefano Domenicali, hospital director general Istvan Szilvasy and chief surgeon Lajos Zsiros. “Felipe’s been an important member of the Ferrari family for many years, since he arrived as a kid. We all hope that he can come back soon.”

Di Montezemelo said that Domenicali would remain with Massa and his family _ which included pregnant wife Anna Rafaela _ on Tuesday.

“Domenicali has to think and make good proposals for the future,” Di Montezemelo said. “We don’t want to wait too long for Felipe. First priority now is to find out about Felipe, only at that moment will we take a decision.”

Massa will remain in Budapest for at least several days, although he could be moved within a week depending on his progress.

F1’s governing body is investigating the crash, which comes amid a string of safety mishaps, including the death of an F2 driver last weekend after he was struck in the head by a loose tire from another car and crashed into a barrier.

No F1 driver has died on the track since Ayrton Senna’s crash at Imola 15 years ago. The three-time champion died from head injuries after a violent crash.

Why women lie

Why Women Lie ~ One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, ‘My dear child, why are you crying?’ The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family. The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires. ‘Is this your thimble?’ the Lord asked The seamstress replied, ‘No.’ The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies. ‘Is this your thimble?’ the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, ‘No.’ The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble. ‘Is this your thimble ?’ the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, ‘Yes.’ The Lord was pleased with the woman’s honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy. Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, ‘Why are you crying?’ ‘Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!’ The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney. ‘Is this your husband?’ the Lord asked. ‘Yes,’ cried the seamstress. The Lord was furious. ‘You lied! That is an untruth!’ The seamstress replied, ‘Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said ‘no’ to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt. Then if I said ‘no’ to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said ‘yes,’ you would have given me all three. Lord, I’m not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT’S why I said ‘yes’ to George Clooney. And so the Lord let her keep him. The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it’s for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others.

att2702257

att2702258

att2702259

att2702260

att2702261

beardburn

 

 

hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ericsson buys a North American chunk of Nortel

Swedish telecoms manufacturer Ericsson said Saturday it is buying a North American chunk of Canada’s failed Nortel Networks for 1.13 billion dollars. 

In a statement, Ericsson said it will take over the carrier networks division of Nortel relating to CDMA and LTE techology in North America — a deal that includes contracts with the likes of Verizon and Bell Canada.

CDMA is a mobile phone standard widely used in North America, where the global GSM standard is less commonplace. LTE is a next-generation standard for bigger and faster mobile phone networks.

The acquisition — at a firesale auction of Nortel assets in New York on Friday — will make North America the biggest region within Ericsson, which last year reported sales there of 2.7 billion dollars (1.9 billion euros). “The transaction is expected to have a positive effect on Ericsson’s earnings within a year after closing,” the company said.

Once Canada’s largest company, Nortel has been struggling since the dot.com collapse. It filed for bankruptcy protection in both the United States and Canada in January as it faced 107 million dollars in interest on its debt.

In June, it had announced an agreement to sell most of its wireless business to Nokia Siemens Networks for 650 million dollars, before a court order was issued for the assets to be auctioned instead.

In Montreal, Nortel hailed the anticipated sale to Ericsson as “a very positive prospect for our customers who will be able to continue their relationship with a long-term partner” as well as for its employees, said president Mike Zafirovski in a statement. It added that Nortel would continue to seek buyers for its other businesses.

quiche alert

 

 

YY has very diverse food tastes.   he loves jap and italian and chicken rice

latest food fad is quiche!  which he told me he wants to try.  the last time i ate it was ages ago i tink and i told it’s a fairly common dish.  though i only rem eating it at the lobby of the pan pac BEFORE it had its renovation.  i tink it was some 10 yrs ago!

and it is pretty hard to find quiche on a sunday afternoon at raffles place.   i walked to pekin street to china sq coz i read online abt quiche from spinelli but nope, it’s not on their menu anymore

of all the places, i finally find it at coffee club which is juz outside the mrt station

the bacon & spinach quiche is on the sweet side but still nice

i’ve always liked quiche…yummy!

Crashed Iran plane ‘hit runway too fast’

An Iranian airliner which overshot the runway and hurtled into a perimeter wall killing 16 people appears to have hit the tarmac too fast, an aviation official said on Saturday.

“This plane should have landed at a maximum speed of 165 miles per hour but it in fact landed at around 200 mph,” acting Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) director Mohammad Ali Ilkhani told state television.

He said the licence of Aria Airlines, whose plane was involved in Friday’s deadly accident in the northeastern city of Mashhad, had been revoked.

The official IRNA news agency cited ICAO spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh as saying a total of 16 people were killed — 13 crew members and three passengers.

Nine crew members were from Kazakhstan while the other four were Iranians, Jafarzadeh said. The three passengers who lost their lives were all Iranians.

“The plane was carrying 153 passengers, and 31 were wounded in the incident,” Jafarzadeh said, adding that the plane belonged to Kazakhstan but was chartered to Iranian carrier Aria Airlines.

“We just heard a boom then the plane swerved to the right and then all I can remember were people praying to God,” one survivor, a man with his head covered in bandages, told Iranian state run television.

An old woman, lying on bed in hospital in a gown said people from a nearby village were first on the scene.

“It took the paramedics around 20 minutes to reach us; the ordinary people came first to our aid,” she said.

Mashhad, Iran’s second city, is a Shiite Muslim pilgrimage destination as it was the burial place of the eighth Shiite Imam, Reza.

Iranian media reported that the managing director of Aria Airlines, Mehdi Dadpey, was among those killed in the accident.

A senior transport official said on Friday that the incoming aircraft had overshot the runway.

“Instead of landing at the beginning of the tarmac, the plane landed in the middle of the runway,” the ISNA news agency quoted deputy transport minister Ahmad Majidi as saying.

“Because the tarmacs length is short, it went off the tarmac and crashed into the opposite wall.

The crash came just 10 days after another air disaster when a Caspian Airlines plane crashed near the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, killing all 168 on board.

Iran has been under years of international sanctions hampering its ability to buy modern Boeing or Airbus planes and it has suffered a number of aviation disasters over the past decade.

Its civil and military fleets are made up of ancient aircraft in very poor condition due to their age and lack of maintenance.

reminder

 

 

 

thanks for your reminder.   i know your stand from day 1 but having tat thrown in my face and in such a sentence construction is achieving your intent, to hurt mi and wake me up from any disillusions abt u and your actions.

Ericsson quarterly profits plunge

Telecom equipment giant Ericsson reported a 57-percent drop in second-quarter net profits Friday, a far weaker result than expected, as the economic crisis ate into the mobile phone market.

The Swedish company managed net profits of 831 million kroner (78.2 million euros, 110 million dollars), down 57 percent on the same period in 2008 and nearly twice as bad as the average predictions of analysts.

Experts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a profit almost double this.

“The effects of the global economic climate on the mobile infrastructure market are now more notable, especially in markets with currencies under pressure and a tougher credit environment,” said chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg in a statement.

Sales were up seven percent compared to the same period a year before, at 52.1 billion kroner, but this amounted to a three-percent fall when exchange rate fluctuations were taken into account.

The firm said it was also hit by restructuring costs. It announced 5,000 job cuts in January.

Ericsson’s shares fell 6.7 percent in morning trading on the Stockholm exchange.

Ericsson’s Finnish rival Nokia last week reported a 66-percent collapse in quarterly net profit to 380 million euros because of a drop in handset sales and weak prices.

The Swedish firm said however that demand for Internet services was picking up. That market accounted for just over a third of its sales in the second quarter.

“The consumer demand for new services and broadband capabilities are quickly accelerating and rollout of new technologies is ongoing in the world’s leading economies,” Svanberg said.

Two Ericsson joint ventures, Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson, also weighed on its results, the statement said.

regret?

 

 

no, i m more responsible a person den u in saying such things

and i believe all things happen for a reason

maybe tat’s wat 乐极生悲 means

thanks for showing mi heaven and giving mi hell

u noe something?  u r juz not worth it.

in the great schema of the things in terms of your ledger, wat little surplus u created last nite has all been wiped out by this huge deflicit called regret

Swine flu virus has spread to almost every country

Swine flu has spread to nearly every corner of the globe, the World Health Organisation said Friday, admitting it was still unknown how the virus would mutate in the northern hemisphere’s winter.

With the death toll still rising rapidly and countries rushing out new ways to check the spread of A(H1N1), the United Nations agency said it was only a matter of time before the pandemic which began in March affected every country.

“The spread of this virus continues, if you see 160 out of 193 WHO member states now have cases, so we are nearing almost 100 percent but not quite yet,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said at the organisation’s Geneva headquarters.

Hartl added that the A(H1N1) virus, which the WHO declared a pandemic in June, has resulted in around 800 deaths. Earlier this week, the agency had put the figure at more than 700.

Most of the deaths have been concentrated in the Americas, with the United States, Argentina and Mexico the three countries to have recorded the highest number of fatalities.

The crisis has prompted governments and corporations to stockpile anti-virals with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche reporting that sales of Tamiflu soared 203 percent in the first six months of 2009.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner on Friday urged that patents not be used in producing a swine flu vaccine — arguing that such a move could save millions of lives.

Using patent rights to preserve an economic advantage in this case “would condemn millions of people to death,” Kirchner argued at a Mercosur summit.

She said it would be “highly desirable” for the WHO to waive the normal patent laws that protect pharmaceutical companies in the face of the pandemic.

In Britain, Europe’s hardest-hit country, around 30 people have been killed and fears of the disease spreading have led authorities in India, China, Singapore and Egypt to quarantine at least 160 Britons, according to the foreign office in London.

Meanwhile Japan’s health ministry announced that its number of cases had topped 5,000.

And researchers in New Zealand said that up to 79 percent of the population could become infected, although only two-thirds of those may show symptoms.

Health experts have long warned the infections seen so far represent the tip of the iceberg and the situation is likely to worsen dramatically when the northern hemisphere enters the traditional flu season at the end of the year.

Hartl warned there remained many unknowns about the virus, adding that it was unclear how the virus would mutate at the height of the flu seasons given that it broke out in the northern hemisphere’s spring.

“There are many questions to which we don’t have the answer.”

The WHO has found, however, from data from Canada, Chile, Japan, Britain and the United States that the majority of cases are occurring “in younger people, with the median age reported to be 12 to 17 years,” the health agency said in a statement.

“As the disease expands broadly into communities, the average age of the cases is appearing to increase slightly.

“This may reflect the situation in many countries where the earliest cases often occurred as school outbreaks but later cases were occurring in the community.”

Britain, where 100,000 new cases were diagnosed last week, launched an Internet and phone service Thursday to help people identify symptoms and order drugs. The website recorded around 9.3 million hits an hour on its first day.

France is also struggling to cope with the crisis and has now told patients with flu symptoms not to check into hospital or call the emergency services but to contact their normal family doctor.

Elsewhere in Europe, Spanish authorities reported the country’s fifth death linked to swine flu.

A senior Vatican health official said the crisis could lead to a suspension of general audiences with the pope, which are attended by thousands of pilgrims from around the world each week.

EU ministers shun French carbon tariff proposal

green protectionism – tat’s a catchy new phrase

 

European ministers rallied on Friday against a French proposal to introduce so-called carbon tariffs on non-EU nations that fail to agree on a new global deal on climate change.

France was a vocal supporter of carbon tariffs during negotiations on the EU’s climate package and Paris insisted Friday they remain a plausible option if no deal is struck at December’s UN climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, called on delegates at a meeting in Aare, central Sweden to reject any such measures.

“The threat of taxes to harm developing countries would seriously make negotiations more difficult,” he said, referring to the talks in the Danish capital.

German State Secretary for Environment Matthias Machnig echoed the views of the Swedish presidency, describing carbon tariffs as “a new form of eco-imperialism” that would send out the wrong message.

“The signal would be, and that is what some of the developing countries always fear … that we are closing our markets to their products,” Machnig said.

Machnig said he was confident that a deal would be agreed in Copenhagen this December, but acknowledged “it’s a question of political willingness.”

Some rich countries say tariffs are necessary as they could dissuade polluting industries from shifting operations overseas to places with less stringent environmental controls.

But countries such as China and India reject that view.

They argue carbon tariffs are merely a pretext for protectionism that risk seriously harming their economies in the midst of a global economic recession.

France, however, argues that the carbon tariffs could be a viable alternative if the international community fails to reach an agreement on climate change.

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told AFP that it was important to have an alternative plan in the event of the climate talks breaking down.

“We have to have something in place if there is a need,” Borloo said.

“It’s a measure that perhaps will be necessary … the Americans have introduced (something similar) without any fuss,” he added.

A climate change bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month could allow import taxes on products made in countries that do not have statutory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.

“The World Trade Organisation has just said that it was completely within the rules,” France’s Borloo said, referring to the US bill.

Earlier Nicholas Stern, a climate change expert and economist from the London School of Economics, cautioned against using carbon tariffs, reminding delegates that the continued growth of emerging economies was also important to eliminate poverty.

“Let’s not get seduced into green protectionism,” Stern said in a presentation to ministers.

The tariffs differ from national methods used by countries such as Sweden, which taxes carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gas.

Sweden introduced such a national tax on carbon dioxide as far back as 1990, deeming it an inexpensive way of helping the environment without resorting to costly new infrastructure and technology.

It is under the Swedish presidency that the EU will finalise its joint position for Copenhagen.

The goal is to forge a global deal to tackle global warming after the existing Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

EU nations in 2007 committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to their 1990 levels.

Malaysian woman accepts flogging for drinking beer

A Malaysian woman sentenced to flogging for drinking beer has accepted the Islamic court’s order, saying she wants the punishment to be carried out soon, news reports said Thursday.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old model, was arrested on charges of drinking beer after Islamic authorities raided a hotel nightclub last year. She was sentenced Monday to six lashes with a rattan cane after pleading guilty in the Shariah High Court.

Consuming alcohol is a religious offense in Malaysia only for Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of the population. Offenders are prosecuted in Shariah courts, which handle cases mainly related to family and moral issues for Muslims. Most alcohol offenders are fined, but the law also provides for a three-year prison term and caning.

Some politicians and women’s rights activists have criticized the religious court’s sentence, calling it too harsh.

Caning is usually reserved for men in various crimes ranging from rape to bribery. But several Islamic lawyers have insisted that the penalty for Kartika is fair, saying she will be whipped with a thin rattan cane that does not cause severe pain.

Kartika told reporters in her northern home state of Perak on Wednesday that she wants authorities to carry out the penalty quickly so that she can resume her life with her husband and two children.

“I will accept this earthly punishment,” the national news agency Bernama quoted her as saying. “I want to advise youngsters to learn from my experience, not to repeat my mistake and cause shame to yourself and family.”

Kartika’s lawyer could not immediately be contacted Thursday.

Rattan canes are made from palm plants common in tropical parts of Asia. They have been used for decades for corporal punishment, but offenders in serious crimes are flogged with thicker canes that can cause bleeding and scars.

Kartika was the only Muslim caught in last year’s raid at the Pahang nightclub. Malaysian clubs and lounges typically serve alcohol and are not legally required to check if customers are Muslim before serving them, so the hotel nightclub operators were not charged with any offense.

The judge in Kartika’s case did not elaborate on why he imposed a relatively severe sentence, but local media noted that he had a history of being tough on alcohol offenders.

my heart is not as rational as my head

here we go again, the waiting game

i relented

how to live

from 我叫金三顺

去爱吧，就像不曾受过伤一样
跳舞吧，像没有人会欣赏一样
唱歌吧，像没有人会聆听一样
干活吧，像是不需要金钱一样
生活吧，就像今天是末日一样

South Africa tests first African-made AIDS vaccine

 South Africa has launched human trials of the first African-produced HIV vaccine, as scientists seek new approaches to battling AIDS in the world’s worst-affected country.

The locally produced vaccine, being tested in Soweto and Cape Town as well as a site in the United States, was the highlight of an international AIDS conference in Cape Town this week where the trial was officially launched.

A successful vaccine, while years away, could be the only solution for a country with nearly six million infections, where the financial burden of treating AIDS patients threatens to cripple the health system.

“If we don’t find a prevention strategy for South Africa we are in big trouble. We are not going to treat ourselves out of this epidemic,” Linda-Gail Bekker, a principal investigator on the trial, told AFP.

“We can’t afford to let six million people die. The question is, can we afford to keep the tap flowing. There is no question that a vaccine is the best way to treat an infectious disease.”

A total of 48 volunteers will take part in the study, 36 in South Africa.

The phase one trials will investigate whether the drug is safe for human use.

The vaccine, developed at the University of Cape Town and manufactured with input from the US National Institutes of Health, is the first to go on trial in the country since 2007.

That trial of a vaccine by pharmaceutical company Merck was stopped after studies found it actually heightened the risk of AIDS infection, striking a double blow to efforts to find a vaccine 30 years into the pandemic.

Disappointments in the vaccine effort have sparked arguments that more money should be spent on other prevention efforts such as microbicides — anti-HIV substances which reduce risk of infection — and male circumcision, which show more potential.

A report released at the conference of the International AIDS Society on treatment showed that for the first time in a decade AIDS vaccine research declined, by 10 percent in 2008.

“There is this notion of ‘let’s go back to the drawing board (but) you still gain an enormous amount of knowledge even though studies get stopped,” Bekker said.

Jerry Coovadia, co-chair of the world’s largest scientific AIDS conference, said the prevention research field was in a “taking stock” stage ahead of the release of results from several large-scale trials.

Some 25 million people have died from AIDS. While a preventative vaccine is seen as first prize, a so-called therapeutic vaccine could ease the lives of millions taking anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs.

David Sheon, spokesman for Norwegian drug company Bionor Immuno, said that for AIDS patients who have developed a resistance to current ARVs, a therapeutic vaccine is critical.

The company is testing a vaccine which appears to reduce the amount of HIV in the body, enabling some trial patients to stay off their ARVs for up to five years.

“Even those who are extremely involved in preventative vaccines acknowledge there is an urgent need for a therapeutic vaccine to treat the patients who actually already have HIV,” he told AFP.

“There is also a prospect a therapeutic vaccine may slow or stop the transmission of HIV.”

About 30 other clinical vaccine trials are underway around the world, but the most-watched is the biggest ever study in Thailand in which 16,000 people enrolled that began in 2003, with results expected later this year.

Positive results from that trial would bode well for South Africa’s vaccine which uses a similar method in its drug.

Police raid Jackson doctor for manslaughter link

Federal agents and detectives swooped on the offices of Michael Jackson’s doctor, as lawyers for the physician revealed police are treating the star’s death as possible manslaughter.

 
A spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confirmed that a search with the Los Angeles police took place at the offices of the Armstrong medical clinic in Houston, Texas, where doctor Conrad Murray practices.

Murray has emerged as the central figure in the mystery surrounding Jackson’s death in Los Angeles on June 25 and was the last person to have seen the tragic pop star alive at his mansion.

The official coroner’s report into the 50-year-old singer’s demise has deferred the cause of death amid speculation that powerful prescription drugs he was believed to be taking may have been to blame.

Suspicion has also focused on a dangerous sedative — propofol, which is known by the trade name Diprivan — used to induce unconsciousness in hospital patients ahead of major surgery, which reports say was also found at Jackson’s home.

Television reports showed several law enforcement agents entering Murray’s Houston offices in a dramatic new twist to the four-week-old investigation.

Murray’s lawyer Ed Chernoff confirmed in a statement that the search warrant served by investigators had been seeking evidence of manslaughter.

“We can confirm that a search warrant was executed today on Dr. Murray’s offices in Houston, Texas,” Chernoff said.

“The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter.”

The wording of the warrant provided the clearest indication yet that authorities are viewing Jackson’s death as a criminal matter.

Los Angeles police had previously refused to rule out homicide in the case but had shied away from making any formal announcement that the pop icon’s death could result in criminal charges.

In a statement issued by Murray’s lawyers late Tuesday, Chernoff said the doctor was anxious to assist authorities in their investigation and that a third meeting with police was to be scheduled after two earlier interviews.

“The coroner wants to clear up the cause of death, we share that goal,” Chernoff said. “We don’t have access to the most important information in this case… the toxicology report. We’re still in the dark like everybody else.”

Murray is currently in Las Vegas, his legal team said, and Chernoff insisted that “based on Dr. Murray’s minute-by-minute and item-by-item description of Michael Jackson’s last days, he should not be a target of criminal charges.

“Dr. Murray was the last doctor standing when Michael Jackson died and it seems all the fury is directed toward him,” Chernoff said.

“Dr. Murray is frustrated by negative and often erroneous media reports, he has to walk around 24-7 with a bodyguard. He can’t operate his practice.”

In the immediate aftermath of Jackson’s death, friends of the singer’s family said the clan was unhappy with “unanswered questions” surrounding Murray.

“They (the family) are suspicious of this doctor and they have real reason to be because any other doctor would say ‘Here’s what happened in the last hour of his life and I was there. I gave him some medicine,’” family friend and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said.

“(Murray) owes it to the family and to the public to say, ‘These were the last hours of Michael’s life and here’s what happened.’ That’s a reasonable expectation.”

Later Wednesday, an official from the Los Angeles Coroner’s office visited the Los Angeles office of Jackson’s former nurse Cherilyn Lee to obtain some of the singer’s medical records.

Lee said in interviews after Jackson’s death that the singer had repeatedly pleaded with her to obtain Diprivan for him but she had refused.

Porsche-VW tie-up nears as boss resigns

A widely expected tie-up with Porsche to bolster Volkswagen as Europe’s biggest carmaker got a jumpstart on Thursday as the Porsche boss who fought for its independence resigned.

 
Its chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking stepped down after a caustic dynastic feud between the Porsche and Piech families that control Porsche appeared to near an end and they agreed to wrap up landmark investment talks with Qatar.

The owners of the iconic but heavily-indebted German sports car maker also said in a statement they would try to raise another five billion euros (seven billion dollars) in fresh capital.

Decisions taken late Wednesday and early Thursday laid “the basis for the creation of an integrated group between Porsche SE and Volkswagen AG,” the statement said.

A bitter battle between VW supervisory board chairman Ferdinand Piech, a key Porsche shareholder, and Wiedeking came to a head with the news that he and Porsche financial director Holger Haerter would resign effective immediately.

Wiedeking and Haerter had devised a bold financial strategy to take over VW based on complex stock options in the much bigger group, but it collapsed and left Porsche 10 billion euros in debt.

Wiedeking — said to be the best-paid boss in Germany — was to get 50 million euros in severance pay, of which half would go to a “social foundation” to aid Porsche workers and “ageing journalists in need.”

According to German press reports however, he could end up with as much as 250 million euros. A Porsche spokesman told AFP those reports were “absolute nonsense.”

Haerter would receive 12.5 million euros, the automaker said.

Piech, grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche who designed the VW Beetle, now appears set to impose his vision of taking Porsche on as VW’s 10th brand.

The Porsche and Piech families’ decision to finalise talks with Qatar and raise fresh funds was taken at a late night meeting of Porsche’s supervisory board that began Wednesday in Weissach near Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, a day ahead of schedule.

The announcements were in line with plans prepared by Wiedeking for the company, which owns about 51 percent of Volkswagen and which Wiedeking wanted to keep independent.

The statement that announced his resignation said Wiedeking considered the step “a significant contribution to the appeasement of the situation and to support the forming of an integrated car manufacturing company” with VW.

The increasingly public boardroom spat between Porsche and VW had tarnished both companies, and was said to be blocking a deal with Qatar.

Porsche production chief Michael Macht, 48, is to succeed Wiedeking as head of Porsche’s core automaking division, the company said.

The low-profile Macht is close to Wiedeking and benefits from a reputation as a competent engineer and manager who knows the company well.

Some questions remained however, as the executive committee of VW’s supervisory board began a meeting of its own on Thursday in Stuttgart.

The first is whether Qatar would eventually buy a stake in Porsche and VW stock options owned by Porsche, or whether it would invest in an integrated group.

Porsche’s owners must also decide on a VW offer to take almost half of Porsche’s automaking activities now, with the rest possibly sold to VW later.

In May, Porsche abandoned Wiedeking’s ambitious plan to take full control of VW and its hefty reserves of liquidity, and was forced to find other sources of financing.

The German state of Lower Saxony, which owns 20 percent of VW and holds a veto over its strategic decisions, stood between Porsche and VW’s cash.

Lower Saxony regional premier Christian Wulff said Thursday that regardless of the outcome, Porsche would remain an autonomous group, along the lines of VW’s high-end unit Audi.

“We will work together to become the world number one” automobile maker, Wulff added.

apt

我不想继续哭哭啼啼说我多么委屈 

 

 

世界是圆的我想我们会再见面
而心情是粉碎的也许这才是最完美的结局
今晚让我们彼此冷静地说声珍重再见
就像庆祝我们曾经轰轰烈烈爱过的每一天
今晚让我们断了可恨的争吵和不停的抱歉
留下一个吻或许一个拥抱
让这段感情停在这最温柔的一天
我不想继续哭哭啼啼说我多么委屈
我开始怀疑自己多少事事无能为力
我不想藉着密密麻麻悲伤的日记
继续欺骗着安抚着自己
我不想等到一天感情已经被谁代替
才经由朋友口中传来背叛的消息
我不愿这段情分走到最后无法呼吸
连一声问候连一点消息都觉得痛心
都感到多余
别让我恨你

over-ED

i texted tat ‘fyi, i am not angry with u’

this is for mi as a person coz i don’t wana cause anyone anguish

i got the reply ‘ok, let’s put the past behind us’

but i didn’t reply was i haf put everything behind mi, there is nuthing left, it’s over-ED

Nice

‘Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
So love the people who treat you right,
Forget about the ones who don’t,
And believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, take it.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy,
They just promised it would be worth living..’

Closure

I contemplated sending a sms to state tat there is no more anger as a closure stmt

but on 2nd and 3rd thot, i answered his calls on both occasions using a flat tone

so it’s good enuff a closure for anyone

i did not write him off totally

i m juz not interested in his life anymore

气

 

is oredi all gone

it seems a whole century ago tat the matter happened.   i can’t believe it has only been 48 hrs

my temper is quick to come and quick to go too.   i m honestly not angree at all nw but i m sticking by my initial decision

to be honest, i can contd status quo but i won’t be able to respect myself as much.  it’s not abt who else there is in ur life.   it’s abt who u choose to share ur life with and how well u wana lead ur life.

a lot of things tat are not done out of genuine concern are unsustainable

i didn’t lose anything that i didn’t own in the first place

Singer Chris Brown says ashamed of Rihanna attack

saying sorry after the deed is done will not change any facts

 

R&B singer Chris Brown issued his first full public apology on Monday for assaulting his then girlfriend Rihanna, describing his loss of control as “unacceptable, 100 percent” and asking for forgiveness from his fans.
 
Brown, 20, said in a two-minute video statement that he had wanted to speak out earlier but had been advised against it by his lawyers.

The singer of hits “Run It” and “Kiss Kiss” pleaded guilty last month to punching Rihanna in Los Angeles on the eve of the Grammy Awards in February. He is expected to be sentenced to five years’ probation in August.

“I have told Rihanna countless times and I am telling you today that I am truly, truly sorry that I wasn’t able to handle the situation differently and better,” Brown said in the video statement, made available to celebrity website TMZ.com.

Brown’s attack on Rihanna, 21, left the “Umbrella” singer’s face bloodied and bruised. The viciousness of the assault stunned both his fans and the music industry, where he had previously been seen as a role model, and it prompted heated debates on domestic violence involving young men and women.

Brown said he had done a lot of soul-searching since the incident, knew he had let down his fans, and was seeking help to ensure that he never repeated such behavior.

“I am very sad and very ashamed of what I’ve done,” he said “As many of you know, I grew up in a home where there was domestic violence and I saw personally what uncontrolled rage could do.

“What I did was unacceptable, 100 percent … I hope that others learn from my mistakes. I intend to live my life so that I am truly worthy of the term ‘role model’,” he added.

A week after the incident, Brown issued a statement saying he was sorry and saddened over “what transpired” but did not acknowledge having beaten Rihanna, whom he had been dating for about a year. They split up after the fight.

Brown is due to be formally sentenced on August 5 after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors in June that avoided a trial and a possible four-year prison sentence.

不要等到伤害的时候才去乞求原谅，不要等到失去的时候再去挽回。

 

有些失去是注定的，有些缘分是永远不会有结果的，爱一个人不一定要拥有，但拥有了一个人就一定要珍惜，不要等到伤害的时候才去乞求原谅，不要等到失去的时候再去挽回。如果我不小心流下一滴泪水，那是因为我还放不下.

 

everything u do is redundant nw.   原来一切都有迹可寻.   when i look back on my posting on 28 jun, things were already not alrite coz we did not resolve the last conflict.  yet i still cut him slack all the way.

 

我觉得不管在任何情况下，一个男生对女生说出难听的话，简直是没格

 

i haf nuthing to say so i won’t reply your emails/sms.   i will pick up your calls coz tat is basic courtesy.  i m no longer interested in your life.  and if i dun reply, it means tat i dun wana chat, so dun call mi

 

your apology dun mean anything.   u r sorry coz u started the whole conversation.   yes, u acknowledge your hurtful remarks.   so wat?    tis is one vicious cycle tat i refuse to be sucked into

 

u say tat i haven’t learnt and haven’t changed.   well, i could say the same for u.  

 

 and a lot of things u mentioned in the past make more sense nw.  if all ur frens agree with your views, good for u.   i also believe in the collective wisdom of my closest frens and the conclusion was for mi to run far far away long ago.   i didn’t follow their advice den but i m doing exactly tat nw.   i cannot run fast or far enuff from dubious characters.

 

 

 

love letters bring lovers together after 16 yrs

A British man and his Spanish former sweetheart have finally married 16 years after they drifted apart, reunited by a love letter lost behind a fireplace for over a decade, reports said on Monday.
 
Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez, both now 42, fell in love 17 years ago when she was a foreign exchange student in Brixham, southwest England, and got engaged after only a year together.

But their relationship ended after she moved France to run a shop in Paris.

A few years later, in a bid to rekindle their love, Smith sent a letter to her mother’s home in Spain. It was placed on the mantelpiece, but slipped down behind the fireplace and was lost for over a decade.

The missing missive was only found when builders removed the fireplace during renovation work.

“When I got the letter I didn’t phone Steve right away because I was so nervous,” Ruiz-Perez told the Herald Express local newspaper.

“I nearly didn’t phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again.

“But I knew I had to make the call.”

When they were reunited, it was as if time had stood still, said Smith, a factory supervisor.

“When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other’s arms. We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing.

“I’m just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be,” he said, after the couple married last Friday.

Deutsche Bank managers leave amid spy probe

Two managers at the biggest German bank, Deutsche Bank, have left amid a probe into alleged spying.
 

The head of security for the bank and its head of investor relations “have left the company,” the source said.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment when contacted by AFP, saying that it was waiting for the results of an internal probe launched in May by an independent company.

A spokesman did confirm however that prosecutors in Frankfurt, where the bank is based, were studying information provided by the public authority charged with the protection of personal data, based in nearby Darmstadt.

That group has requested more information from Deutsche Bank on two cases and said it has passed some along to judicial officials.

According to the business daily Handelsblatt, those cases concern alleged spying on supervisory board member Hermann-Josef Lamberti and outspoken shareholder Michael Bohndorf.

Prosecutors can take two to three weeks before deciding whether to launch a formal investigation that could then lead to legal proceedings.

For the time being, Deutsche Bank has only acknowledged one case of spying on a union leader who was a former member of its supervisory board.

Germany has been hit by several cases of corporate spying, at the telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, the national railway Deutsche Bahn and the discount retail chain Lidl.

Deutsche Bank and spying probe

Germany’s largest bank is involved in a probe into possible criminal wrongdoing after it hired detectives to carry out surveillance on some board members, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said authorities in the German state of Hesse have asked prosecutors to establish whether to open a criminal invvestigation into Deutsche Bank.

The report comes two months after the bank said it would ask external lawyers to investigate the activities of its own corporate security department, the FT said.

Deutsche has terminated the contracts of two people as its continues its own inquiry into possible unauthorised surveillance of board members and investors.

The newspaper cites three cases, including one involving detectives who undertook surveillance on a board member who was suspected of leaks in 2001.

The bank later apologised to the board member.

Some cases involve outside contractors hired by the bank, the FT said.

The bank has refused to comment until its investigation is completed.

Iconic Bird

YY asked me wat is the animal tat comes to mind when i tink of the zoo.  i told him ah meng.

he contd ‘wat abt the bird park” and i went “flamingo”

den he told mi abt the vote for iconic bird of jurong bird park

i like sassy the cockatoo best but QQ insisted i vote for Norman the white bellied sea eagle coz she saw him perform before

Lessons from mum

Lessons My Mother Taught Me…

1) My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION … “You wait! Just wait till your father comes back!”

2) My Mother taught me about RECEIVING … “You are going to get it when we reach home!”

3) My Mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE … “Look at me when I’m talking to you! Why are you staring back at me?!”

4) My Mother taught me about HEALTHY COMPETITION … “Aunty Mary’s son scored 100 marks for Maths! Why can’t you be like him?”

5) My Mother taught me about FINANCIAL PLANNING … “Make sure you marry a rich man/woman in future!”

6) My Mother taught me about HISTORY … “Many many years ago, when I was your age, I used to….”

7) My Mother taught me to be HOUSE-PROUD … “Chalet? Stay what chalet? You got no house to stay is it?!”
My Mother taught me about GENETICS … “You ..you’re just like your father!”

9) My Mother taught me about the WISDOM OF AGE … “When you get to my age, you’ll understand.”

10) My Mother taught me about JUSTICE … “One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like YOU…Then you’ll know what it’s like!”
AND FINALLY …

11) My Mother taught me about POWER … “I am YOUR mother, you better listen to ME!”

Madonna visits family of dead Marseille stage hand

 

 

Madonna won hearts in France Sunday as she visited injured survivors and the family of a stage hand who died during an accident which saw her concert date in Marseille cancelled.

The city’s mayor paid tribute to the US pop star’s “humanity” as she visited the home of 52-year-old French victim Charles Criscenzo’s family in nearby Aix-en-Provence before tending to colleagues being treated in hospital.

The black-clad US pop star landed at Marseille-Marignane airport at 1615 GMT and sped off with a bodyguard in a black Mercedes to the house where Criscenzo lived, where a security perimeter had been set up to keep media away.

Two men, Criscenzo and 23-year-old Briton Charles Prow, were killed on Thursday with eight more workers injured in the accident when part of the stage being built at the city’s Stade Velodrome collapsed.

The accident happened when a crane toppled over as they were preparing the venue for Sunday’s concert, which was immediately cancelled.

Madonna — whose two adopted children arrived with her in France, but left the airport in another car — went on to visit three injured workers still being cared for in two Marseille hospitals.

One, an American, was in a serious condition Sunday, according to local health officials.

Madonna arrived mid-evening at the Mediterranean port’s Conception hospital, without any official escort, and bearing a large bouquet of white roses, to visit a French technician who broke a hip in the accident.

Met at the hospital by city mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin, she made no declaration before escaping the crowd to tend to the injured stage hand and making her way to a second hospital.

Speaking for the city, Gaudin said “we are very touched that a singer of her stature and talent has demonstrated such extraordinary human qualities” with this visit.

“Madonna wanted to come and visit those injured and the families of those killed,” the mayor’s special events deputy Maurice Di Nocera earlier told AFP. “She wanted something private and discreet.”

The singer was not, however, given permission to visit the stadium — the home of Olympique Marseille football club — with an accident investigation under way.

The US pop star, who was warming up for a concert in Udine, Italy when she heard of the accident, paid an emotional tribute to the two men as she performed there later Thursday night.

“Two men lost their lives, which is a great tragedy to me,” Madonna told her fans as she choked back tears.

“I feel so devastated to be in any way associated with anyone’s suffering. So let’s all just take a moment to say a prayer for Charles Criscenzo and Charlie Prow.”

“Our hearts go out to their families and their loved ones,” said the singer according to footage of the concert posted on the Internet.

The investigation by French prosecutors could lead to manslaughter charges. A judicial official said they were looking in particular at a possible error in how the stage roof had been raised.

Firefighters said the roof of the giant stage became unbalanced as it was being lifted into place by four cranes, toppling one of the cranes which fell crashing onto the 60-tonne metal-and-cable structure below.

A stage technician, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the roof would normally have been hauled into place by four motors, but that one of these had been replaced on Thursday by the crane that collapsed.

Madonna left for Barcelona where her next tour date is a sell-out gig in the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday, the latest stop in her almost year-long “Sticky and Sweet” world tour, according to her website.

Ticket reimbursements for the Marseille concert would begin on Monday, Madonna’s publicists said.

Malaysia prince sues Indonesia teen wife for libel

A Malaysian prince sued his runaway Indonesian teen wife and mother-in-law Monday for claiming he had raped and tortured the teen during their yearlong marriage, his lawyer said.

Tengku Temenggong Tengku Mohammad Fakhry, a prince in northern Kelantan state, filed a defamation suit in the High Court seeking 105 million ringgit ($30 million) in damages from Manohara Odelia Pinot and her mother, said lawyer Mohamad Haaziq Pillay.

The 17-year-old Pinot, a well-known socialite, returned to Indonesia in May and told media that the 31-year-old Fakhry had slashed her with razor blades and treated her as a sex slave. She reportedly said she was held captive in her room and drugged whenever she complained.

She allegedly escaped while accompanying the state royal family on a trip to Singapore and filed a police report in Indonesia shortly afterward.

The scandal has captured widespread media attention in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Fakhry’s lawsuit accuses Pinot and her mother, Daisy Fajarina, of concocting the allegations “out of spite” and “motivated by a desire of financial gains,” Mohamad Haaziq said.

“They have made my client out to be a monster and his reputation has been tarnished. My client is keen to get to the truth of the matter and clear his name,” he told The Associated Press.

Pinot and her mother, who are in Indonesia, have 21 days to respond to the suit. If they don’t, the case could go on in their absence.

“We can have judgment in default but they should come and defend themselves. This is the best forum for Manohara to seek justice instead of hiding behind the press and making baseless allegations,” Mohamad Haaziq said.

Pinot married Fakhry last year after she turned 16. Her mother has said Pinot had been kidnapped.

Mohamad Haaziq said Fakhry has filed to divorce Pinot and the case will be heard in the Islamic Shariah court on Aug 2. The court handles family matters for Muslims.

Becoz i liked u

 

so i put up with your self righteous juz frenz theory.   i thot it is enuff as long as u care seemingly a lot.

so i allowed u to twist facts and put things into another perspective to push all the blame to me

so i let your one or two positive attributes blind mi to the numerous other weird ways u were acting

so i allowed myself to be provoked and over-reacted to your bias views

so i gave u the opportunity to insult mi time and again.   wat u haf said to a girl is unforgivable.

but i will not allow myself to be walked all over which prompted your accusations

‘u do not really like me, if u like someone, u won’t be so sarcastic’

‘guess we can never be good frens’   to which i replied ‘Thanks but NO thanks !’

i have made up my mind this time

when matters are left unsettled, things will never go back to before

no amt of nudging or sms will make mi change my mind tis time

NO!   I DO NOT want to call u!   buzz off !

真正放不开也不必故作大方

 

from yishu, pure wisdom

having to act magnanimous when i’m still so affected is really hard

so i m doing everything i can to block all contact from the mosquito

thank goodness there’s modern technology, outlook is cool.  i haf set up rules & alerts to send mails from offending ppl direct to be permanently deleted

Rimmel

 

my fav makeup brand of the moment

it’s carried by watsons in msia, i reckon sg watsons should haf too

i luv the lipstick colours!!!   i m clearing out all my lipstick stash for rimmel colours

http://www.rimmellondon.com/AU/home.aspx

and the nail varnish colours are cool too.   i used french rose last wk.  i haf another colour called ‘Wish upon a star’

affected

 

 

i m trying v hard but i m still feeling so mad!

annoying character!

it’s my fault for not exercising self constraint coz i over reacted

i chose to b angry and allowed myself to be provoked

i wana always rem this feeling and be reminded of your idiotness

as for u?  i tink u r an idiot

u r totally right in saying tat to tink tat we have been talking for so long coz i totally agree tat it has been a total waste of time.   stop wasting my time.   u can burn in hell, for all i care

u tink tat everyone should gif u the benefit of the doubt and not mis-interpret wat u say when u dun mean it a certain way…HA…y don’t  reflect about why you are doing to cause the mis-interpretation.   your tone sucks, big-time

as for the part abt mi tinking twice before i reply to the one i like,  u r reli over-rating urself

protocol

 

 

there is a hands off protocol i follow for men tat my gfs likes.    to mi tat is the protocol i follow for my gfs

i do not like things to be done behind my back and i dun care for such ppl

cool down

 

 

v irked by his tone and manner, so i tell myself not to react to the moment

take a deep breath and calm dwn.  he is not worth it

meaningful

1. I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.
我?勰悴皇且?槟闶钦l，而是我在你面前可以是?。

2. No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won’t make you cry.
?]有男人或女人是值得你?樗?餮?I，值得的那一位，不???憧蕖?/SPAN>

3. Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to, doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.
那人不是你所想般?勰悖??淮?砟侨瞬皇侨?娜?獾?勰恪?/SPAN>

4. A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.
一??真正的朋友是向著你伸手，??幽阈撵`的人。

5. The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can’t have them.
?炷钜??人最差的方式，就是你坐在他身旁，而知道你不能?碛兴??/SPAN>

6. Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.
就算你不快?芬膊灰??眉，因?槟阌啦恢?勒l??凵夏愕男θ荨?/SPAN>

7. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
在世界?你可能只是某人，但?δ橙四憧赡苁侨?澜纭?/SPAN>

8. Don’t waste your time on a man/woman, who isn’t willing to waste their time on you.
不要花?r?在一??不???r?在你身上的人。

9. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.
可能神要我??在遇到那位?Φ娜酥?跋扔錾弦恍╁e的人，?我??遇到那位?ο壬?/SPAN>/?π〗?r懂得珍惜。

10. Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.
不要因?橥杲Y而哭，要?樵???生而微笑。

11. There’s always going to be people that hurt you so what you have to do is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time around.
???世界永?也??幸恍??δ愕娜耍?阋?龅木褪抢^?去信人和小心你下次信的人。

12. Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and know someone else and expect them to know you.
在你?L?了解其他人和盼望其他人明白你之前，先把你自己?成一??更好的人和了解你自己。

13. Don’t try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.
不要太努力去找，最好的?|西是在你最??不到的?r候出?。

REMEMBER: WHATEVER HAPPENS, HAPPENS FOR A REASON.
??: 所有事也是因果循?的。

Being happy is the priority of living,
If u wanna be sad,
Be sad 4 something thats worth it.
珍惜你所?碛械模?c幸所曾?生的。
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

TWO-LINE RHYME

TWO-LINE RHYME WITH THE MOST ROMANTIC FIRST LINE, BUT THE LEAST ROMANTIC SECOND LINE

My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife,
Marrying you screwed up my life.

I see your face when I am dreaming.
That’s why I always wake up screaming.

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.

Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss,
But I only slept with you because I was pissed.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl’s
empty and so is your head.

I want to feel your sweet embrace;
But don’t take that paper bag off your face.

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes –
Damn, I’m good at telling lies!

My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?

My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe ‘Go to hell.’

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts tequila, one part lime

British bank Lloyds slashes 1,200 more jobs

Britain’s state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group, struggling to recover from the financial crisis, is to axe 1,200 more jobs, the country’s biggest union, Unite, said.

Niu yr, Niu character

i can b v stubborn

insulted

 

 

no, i do not tink u r joking when u hurl insults at me

i tink u r damn bloody rude

y do i even waste time toking to u

i asked for it so i m angree with myself

Email sign off

I find people who don’t bother with a proper email sign-off, even when dealing with customers, extremely unprofessional.

it may not be a big thing but how is your client supposed to get in touch with you when there isn’t even a phone number?

and such casual and informal type of business mails does NOTHING for the corporate image.

OD

First i needed a caffeine fix so….badly but after i made myself a milk tea, my teh si arrived.

omg! my too sweet teh si is making mi so sick tat i feel like i’m gonna puke at any moment

and my milk tea is still waiting to be drank

OD! major OD! of coconut kuek and swiss rolls too, sold for charity

太委屈

the full song, i had a look and the full lyrics seem to be missing from previous post

当她横刀夺爱的时候
你忘了所有的誓言
她扬起爱情胜利的旗帜
你要我选择继续爱你的方式
你曾经说要保护我
只给我温柔没挫折
可是现在你总是对我回避
不再为我有心事而着急
人说恋爱就像放风筝
如果太计较就有悔恨
只是你们都忘了告诉我
放纵的爱也会让天空划满伤痕
太委屈连分手也是让我最后得到的消息
不哭泣因为我对情对爱全都不曾亏欠你
太委屈还爱着你你却把别人拥在怀里
不能再这样下去穿过爱的暴风雨
宁愿清醒忍痛地放弃你也不在爱的梦中委屈自己

太委屈

this is our song literally…my fav parts

不哭泣因为我对情对爱全都不曾亏欠你

不能再这样下去穿过爱的暴风雨
宁愿清醒忍痛地放弃你也不在爱的梦中委屈自己

there is no compromising in love

狠下心肠

it is a difficult decision and something tat i haf been struggling with for weeks, alternating between starts & stops.

yet as time passes, it is becoming clearer tat it is something i haf to do. since i created tis mess, i need to clean it up.

no, i refuse to dance to anyone else’s tune but mine

开始抓狂了

 
i nbr expected such a huge response

the sensitivity tat i once loved  is causing mi more heartpain nw,  i can’t bear to see him guessing yet i know i m doing wat is best for both of us in the long run

he could be tinking the worst of mi, judging from his assumptions which will make mi lagi sad but serves to reaffirm my decision is rite.   if he even doubts mi, it juz goes to show how fragile our rship is

watever it is, he is suspecting something though i m v sure it’s v far from the truth.   if the boat is so easily rocked, i need more seaworthy vessel

心动

 

 

每次听了都有一阵感动
 

有多久没见你
以为你在那里
原来就住在我的心底
陪伴着我的呼吸有多远的距离
以为闻不到你的气息
谁知道你背影这么长
回头就看到你过去让它过去
来不及
从头喜欢你
白云缠绕着蓝天
如果
不能够永远都在一起
也至少给我们
怀念的勇气
拥抱的权利
好让你明白
我心动的痕迹
过去让它过去
来不及
从头喜欢你
白云缠绕着蓝天
如果
不能够永远都在一起
也至少给我们
怀念的勇气
拥抱的权利
好让你明白
我心动的痕迹
总是想再见你
还试着打探你的消息
原来
你就住在我的身体
守护我的回忆

 

偷得浮生半日闲

 

 

这是唐代诗人李涉的作品
《题鹤林寺僧舍》
终日昏昏醉梦间，
忽闻春尽强登山。
因过竹院逢僧舍，
偷得浮生半日闲。

此诗是一首回环诗：
宋代有人将诗文改为:

偷得浮生半日闲，忽闻春尽强登山。
因过竹院逢僧话，终日昏昏醉梦间

 

Craving

for sea coconut/longan drink from 126

smurf movie!

 

 

OMG!   lala la la la la la la la la la….lalalalalalalalalalalal

China says has proof Rio Tinto staff stole secrets

China has said it had evidence proving detained Rio Tinto staff stole state secrets, as the affair threatened to boil over into a diplomatic row with Australia summoning the Chinese ambassador.

Stern Hu, the Australian national in charge of the Anglo-Australian mining giant’s Shanghai office, faces criminal charges for stealing state secrets for foreign countries, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

“Competent authorities have sufficient evidence to prove that they have stolen state secrets and have caused huge loss to China’s economic interest and security,” Qin told reporters.

Chinese authorities collected evidence against Hu before arresting him and other Rio Tinto staff on Sunday, Qin said. Shanghai authorities earlier confirmed the others were three of Hu’s Chinese colleagues.

Qin said Hu’s issue should be treated as an isolated incident and that China did not want it to affect trade relations between China and Australia.

“It’s improper to exaggerate this individual case or even politicise it, which will be no good to Australia,” Qin said.

Australia’s Mandarin-speaking Prime Minister Kevin Rudd rejected opposition calls on Thursday for him to discuss the case with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“The key thing is not for politicians … to begin trying to politicise issues like this but rather let’s get on with the practical business of working with the very difficult case on the ground,” Rudd told reporters in Rome.

However the Australian foreign ministry announced that the acting Chinese ambassador had been called in to discuss the issue, with a lack of consular access to Hu one of the issues raised.

Following the meeting, Chinese authorities said Australian consular officials would be able to meet Hu on Friday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith earlier said there was no suggestion that Australian passport-holder Hu’s detention was linked to Rio’s fraught iron ore talks with Beijing or its recent decision to snub a massive Chinese cash injection.

“I’ve seen nothing which would cause me to in any way believe or form the conclusion… that the events associated with Mr Hu are in any way related to Rio Tinto’s commercial activities,” he said.

Smith said the spying claims came as a “surprise.”

The four Rio Tinto executives are being held by China’s secretive state security ministry, which handles counter-espionage operations.

A Rio spokesman told AFP it was not giving out any more information on the case due to its “sensitive” nature, but the company also indicated it had been taken by surprise.

“We are not aware of any evidence that would support such an investigation,” the company said in a statement.

The incident has cast a shadow over Australia’s relations with one of its largest trading partners, in which Rio Tinto plays a key role as a major supplier of iron ore and other raw materials to China’s growing economy.

Last month, the debt-laden miner rejected a 19.5-billion-dollar cash offer from China’s Chinalco after deciding that rising commodity prices made a rights issue and joint venture with BHP Billiton more attractive.

The miner has also spearheaded difficult talks with China over new iron ore contracts, which missed a key deadline at the end of June.

Australian media have reported speculation that the detentions were linked to alleged manipulation of the iron ore market, while the Chinese press has accused Rio of withholding products to drive up prices.

China’s state-controlled Securities Times also quoted unnamed “industry insiders” as speculating the detentions may have been over suspected involvement in bribery.

“I will be fascinated to hear what evidence they have that Mr. Hu is a spy,” opposition senator Barnaby Joyce told Sky News.

“It sounds awfully like a trumped-up charge to me.”

China keeps tight security grip on Urumqi

Riot police and soldiers kept a strong presence in China’s Urumqi city after days of bloodshed, as taxis hit the streets and some businesses re-opened in tentative signs of normality.

In one of the most striking examples of a city trying to heal following unrest that began on Sunday and left 156 people dead, security forces ended their main partition of Han Chinese and Muslim Uighur districts.

Urumqi’s mayor said late Wednesday the city was back under control, after thousands of Han Chinese roamed the streets vowing vengeance and to defend themselves in response to initial violence authorities blamed on Uighurs.

There were no signs of the vigilantes, many of whom had been carrying poles, shovels and other makeshift weapons, and public buses as well as taxis were again plying the city’s main thoroughfares.

But even though more shops had also re-opened after a three-day government-mandated business closure, many were still shuttered and residents remained extremely doubtful that life would return to normal any time soon.

“How can it return to normal with so many soldiers,” said a Han woman surnamed Li in central Urumqi. “I’ve counted 42 military trucks so far and more trucks just came by.”

And the big bazaar in the main Uighur district remained shut, with Uighurs saying the closure was another example of the different rules they have to live by compared with the Han Chinese.

“They said we could re-open after three days. But today is the fourth day and they are not letting us open,” said a clothing shop owner.

Meanwhile, although the number of security forces on the streets were not nearly as earlier in the week, riot police armed with batons and soldiers were still very visible throughout the city of 2.3 million people.

Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang, whose eight million Uighurs have long complained about discrimination and repression under Chinese rule — accusations the government denies.

Those feelings of repression led to Sunday’s protests, according to exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who the government blames for orchestrating the unrest.

Kadeer denies instigating the protests and also said Wednesday the death toll from the unrest was far higher than the figure of 156 given by Chinese authorities.

The vice-president of the Uighur World Congress, Asgar Can, put the death toll from the unrest at between 600 and 800, saying the estimate was based on eyewitness accounts of the violence.

Chinese President Hu Jintao abandoned a Group of Eight summit in Italy and returned to China on Wednesday to deal with the crisis, in what observers said was an unprecedented move.

However by Thursday neither he, nor any other senior leader from the Chinese government in Beijing, had commented publicly on the crisis.

The situation in Xinjiang continued to raise concern abroad, particularly in Muslim countries.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on China Wednesday to secure a quick end to the “atrocity” in Xinjiang and said his nation would bring the matter to the agenda of the UN Security Council.

“We expect a swift end to the events amounting to atrocity, the prevalence of common sense… and the immediate implementation of the necessary measures in line with universal human rights,” Erdogan said.

Turkey, a non-permanent member of the council, will ask the body to discuss ways of ending the violence, he added. China is one of the five permanent, veto-wielding members of the council.

“This is a humanitarian task that falls on our shoulders,” the prime minister said

Aik Cheong

Milk tea is reli good !

至少走得比你早

 

 

duno wat to make of ur reaction.  afterall, u came up with all the fanciful excuses and direction of our rship

i m forcing u to face the issue sooner rather den later

u said  it’s the beginning of the end of our rship, but i didn’t kick u aside like wat u r saying, y r u taking it so hard?   when we haf only been JUZ frens

至少走得比你早, so true lor!

 

也许太习惯我在你左右
虽然离开你有很多理由
可看见你这样惊讶也足够
你没有想过我会说分手
除非以为我甚么都忍受
就算你这时候努力挽留
不过是你不能接受我先走
我想得比你多
陪你一起更寂寞
我性格比你强
怎样做你的绵羊
我年纪比你小
不信快乐找不到
抬起头开了口最后我比你骄傲
从此不坐你的牢
想不到你的好
记得和你的争吵
想到老可到老
可是和你做不到
如果你爱得比我少
至少我走得比你早最后我比你骄傲
从此不坐你的牢
想不到你的好
记得和你的争吵
想到老可到老
可是和你做不到
如果你爱得比我少
幸好我走得还早轰轰烈烈地开口
轰轰烈烈地开口

OMG!

 

 

i was toking rubbish….din expect it to come true…uncanny !

The End

since u will never admit it, let me end it for us : )

i’m moving on. u don’t need to coz u were never involved, i understand

much ado abt nuthing

facing it, accepting it, embracing it, putting it to rest

burning up

definitely need starfruit juice to put out the fire

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

the one i call first thing when i sit dwn before my pc even started up

Morning sun

my desk gets a glimpse of the morning sun! and i luv it

he cares

 

 

tat’s really all tat matters…i know what to do now

safety video for kiwi

New Zealand’s national airline has come up with an imaginative way of encouraging passengers to pay attention to the pre-flight safety video — showing cabin crew in the nude.

The Air New Zealand video for domestic flights features staff covered in body paint mimicking their uniforms, their modesty concealed by careful camera angles and strategically placed seat belts and other equipment.

“We wanted to find a way to deliver these important pre-flight messages to our domestic travellers in a way that was genuine, engaging and fun,” said Air New Zealand general manager for marketing, Steve Bayliss.

The safety video follows a domestic advertising campaign using the same eye-catching stunt. Even chief executive Rob Fyfe had a brief cameo role as a baggage handler.

pity it’s not u

 

 

u confuse mi, as always.   of coz i m happy.

whether u admit it anot, u noe and i noe how things have evolved.   it wasn’t easy to come tis far.

i have given it my best shot

watever the outcome, i wish u the best and hope u find love and happiness soon

watever it is, i m THE best, NEVER second best

花蝴蝶

 

 rama-rama merah

无论怎么讲 我都觉得虚伪
陪伴你那么久 你说是受罪
从前到现在当我是谁
你这花心蝴蝶~~

California fiscal emergency

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger formally declared a fiscal emergency in the largest US state and called state legislators back into a special session to close a budget deficit expected to reach 24 billion dollars over the next two years.

The move came as California, which has a 2.8-billion-dollar cash shortage, said it would not be able to pay some of its bills starting Thursday.

Schwarzenegger said in his proclamation that the cash shortage will grow to 6.5 billion dollars by September unless the state legislature makes huge cuts in services ranging from education to poverty programs.

If the state is unable to pay its bills, the governor said: “Californians will be placed at serious risk because essential public assistance services are no longer being provided.”

Schwarzenegger also issued an executive order mandating that many state offices close the first, second and third Friday each month through June 2010.

Employees at those offices, which issue everything from drivers’ licenses to building permits, will have their pay reduced by those three days each month.

State hospitals, prisons and the California Highway Patrol will not be subjected to such cuts.

The state, whose economy would rank eighth in the world if California was a country, has been struggling with fiscal problems throughout 2009. Schwarzenegger and legislators thought they had averted the worst of the crisis when they devised a package of potential solutions in mid-February, but voters rejected all of those proposals in mid-May.

The cash shortage has become more acute due to dwindling tax revenues. California has been hit harder than most states during the national economic crisis, with unemployment of 11.5 percent and a high rate of house foreclosures. The national unemployment rate is 9.4 percent.

The governor had given legislators until Tuesday night, the end of the state’s fiscal year, to come up with a comprehensive plan for solving the budget crisis.

“Though the legislature failed to solve our budget problem yesterday, rest assured that solving the entire deficit remains my first and only priority, and I will not rest until we get it done. I will not be a part of pushing this crisis down the road – the road stops here,” Schwarzenegger said.

 

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My plate

Looks like a lot but somehow doesn’t feel v substantial/tangible

Jackson Neverland funeral ruled out as will surfaces

The family of Michael Jackson ruled out holding a poignant funeral at the star’s Neverland estate on Wednesday as the details of the tragic pop icon’s will were made public for the first time.

An army of journalists and crowds of fans had flocked to Jackson’s sprawling Neverland Ranch estate on Tuesday after reports the King of Pop’s body would be placed on display for a public viewing before a private service on Sunday.

However the Jackson family dispelled frenzied speculation that the funeral could see Neverland evolve into a permanent resting place for the singer similar to Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis.

“Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland,” a statement released by the family’s public relations firm said.

“Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly.”

Local media reported a public memorial for Jackson may now be held at the Staples Center or the bigger Los Angeles Coliseum, venue for the 1984 Olympic Games. Reports suggested a ceremony could be held Tuesday.

The Jackson family’s representatives declined to comment.

The confusion over Jackson’s funeral arrangements came as the picture surrounding the star’s estate appeared to clear with the emergence of a 2002 will filed at Los Angeles Superior Court.

In yet another surprising twist to the aftermath of Jackson’s death, it was revealed that soul legend Diana Ross had been named as a back-up guardian to the singer’s children in the event of his mother Katherine’s death.

The five-page document also revealed the singer’s assets were to be left in the Michael Jackson Family Trust but the terms of the trust were not disclosed.

Documents filed in addition to the will valued Jackson’s estate at more than 500 million dollars, although it was not clear how that figure had been reached. Jackson was believed to be heavily in debt at the time of his death.

While Katherine Jackson was named as carer for her son’s children, the 65-year-old Ross was named as guardian if the singer’s mother died before him.

Three associates for Jackson — attorney John Branca, music executive John McClain and accountant Barry Siegel — were named co-executors of the will.

There was no mention anywhere of Jackson’s father Joe in the will while the document also confirmed no provisions had been made for ex-wife Debbie Rowe.

On Monday a court granted Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the singer’s children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7, and appointed her as temporary administrator of her son’s estate.

A judge rejected a move by Branca and McClain to have Katherine Jackson removed as administrator of the estate. A hearing has been set for July 6.

Jackson died from an apparent cardiac arrest on Thursday aged 50. A cause of death has not yet been determined pending the results of toxicology tests.

However there was renewed speculation linking the singer to powerful prescription drugs Wednesday amid reports that the sedative Propofol — often used as an anesthetic in hospitals — was found at his home.

“There is no conceivable way this drug can be properly prescribed for home use,” a source told TMZ.com, which described the drug as an “extremely dangerous and potent” substance only available to medical personnel.

Earlier, a former nurse who cared for Jackson told CNN the star pleaded with her to provide him with Diprivan — the brand name for Propofol — in the last months of his life.

Police detectives are reportedly seeking to identify and interview “multiple doctors” who treated Jackson in the years before his death.

Later Wednesday, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) declined to confirm reports it had joined the probe as investigators sought help in pinning down the source of prescription medications.

“We routinely offer assistance to any agency regarding the Federal Controlled Substance Act, however, at this time we have nothing further to comment about the death of Michael Jackson,” a DEA statement said.

Meanwhile Jackson had shot to the top of the charts in the United States on Wednesday with Billboard revealing that the singer’s music occupied nine of the top 10 spots on the Top Pop Catalog Album chart.

吻得太逼真

Love tis line : 多么伤人让我爱上薄情的红唇

Didn’t realize got this meaningful part till now.

(我不知为什么你现在对我毫无感觉
以前种种快乐就好像成为一种罪恶
我的心情你不闻不问
或者其实所谓爱情都只是彼此填满寂寞空虚
或者是一种冲动的幻觉
让自己失去理智到最后得到教训
何时有感觉到何时没有知觉
就算你突然失去音讯你我之间早可能不该继续)

吻得太逼真

无论怎么讲我都觉得虚伪
陪伴你那么久你说是受罪
从前到现在当我是谁
你这花心蝴蝶

昨夜陪你醉伤到我心碎
你竟说我和你不配
完全忘记往日为何
能与我彻夜缠绵

和你吻吻吻吻吻你吻得太逼真
让我把虚情假意当作最真心的亲吻
怪自己来不及区分
你对我是酷爱是敷衍
我想问问问问问我该怎么脱身
你却说花花世界不必当真
多么伤人让我爱上薄情的红唇

拿什么心肠面对我的善良
能不能想一想你让我多伤
你的爱就像完美毒药
对手断肠你依然漂亮

不敢想曾与你度过多少真实的晚上
一转眼热恋后身受重伤

和你吻吻吻吻吻你吻得太逼真
让我把虚情假意当作最真心的亲吻
怪自己来不及区分
你对我是酷爱是敷衍
我想问问问问问我该怎么脱身
你却说花花世界不必当真
多么伤人让我爱上薄情的红唇

深渊万丈你把我的爱
用尽后丢弃荒野埋葬
你犯的罪状没人知道
用什么证明你的亲吻真的残忍

(我不知为什么你现在对我毫无感觉
以前种种快乐就好像成为一种罪恶
我的心情你不闻不问
或者其实所谓爱情都只是彼此填满寂寞空虚
或者是一种冲动的幻觉
让自己失去理智到最后得到教训
何时有感觉到何时没有知觉
就算你突然失去音讯你我之间早可能不该继续)

你吻得太逼真我已无法脱身
最后悲剧发生我爱的深你没责任
都怪我太认真把薄情的红唇亲吻

M2 card reader

Is so convenient to haf, esp for diehard sony ericsson fone users

Conditioner

Works! A little bit less grass like but limp leh

Sex for a week boosts sperm quality

Men seeking to become a dad should have sex each day, or ejaculate daily, for a week before their partner ovulates in order to maximise sperm quality, according to a study presented on Tuesday.

Australian fertility specialist David Greening recruited 118 men whose sperm had a higher-than-normal level of DNA damage.

Before the test, on average 34 percent of the group’s sperm was rated as damaged, meaning that it was classified as “poor” in quality. Among individuals, this ranged from 15 percent to 98 percent.

The men were asked to ejaculate daily for seven days, but were not given any drugs or told to make any changes to lifestyle.

After seven days, their sperm was examined again.

The average of damaged sperm fell to 26 percent, placing it in the category of “fair” in quality.

Fourth-fifths of the men saw an increase in sperm quality, and many of them moved into the “good” range and out of the “poor” or “fair” categories.

However, one-fifth saw a decline in sperm quality.

Greening, an obstetrician and endrocrinologist at Sydney IVF, an Australian company that carries out assisted reproduction, said the improvements were “substantial and statistically highly significant.”

Daily ejaculation not only boosted sperm quality for most of the men, it also helped sperm motility — another big factor in successful fertilisation — even though volumes of semen declined, he said.

Greening presented his findings at a conference in Amsterdam of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), which provided details in a press release.

The research did not investigate whether the improvement in sperm quality led to better pregnancy rates. But previous work has shown that sperm that is less damaged and more mobile has a better chance of leading to a healthy baby.

“These results may mean that men player a greater role in fertility than previously suspected, and that ejaculatory frequency is important for improving sperm quality,” said Greening.

Why this is so is unclear.

Greening said he suspected that the longer sperm stays in the testicular ducts, the greater its exposure to rogue oxygen molecules that damage cells.

His advice to couples would be to have sex, or to ejaculate, daily in the runup to ovulation or to sperm donation for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

“The optimal number of days of ejaculation might be more or less seven days, but a week seems manageable and favourable,” he said.

“It seems safe to conclude that couples with relatively normal semen parameters should have sex daily for up to a week before ovulation date.”

Corny Vegetable Humour

Testing picts upload

nervous !

Coz the gameshow series I’m organising is starting in 30 mins.

I’m so excited ! I do hope the participants have lotsa fun with the quiz questions.

Haven’t been this nervous in a long while

10 things i hate abt u

on the ledger tat i was toking abt, not ranked, juz as attributes come to my head

i m updating both sides of the ledger simultaneously so it looks like every attribute is being negated

kind ; low EQ
loving ; bad comm skills
candid ; assuming
disciplined ; denial
cute ; accusing

Plane with 153 crashes off Comoros, child rescued

Reports that a 5-year-old boy survived a jetliner crash in the Indian Ocean are now in question.

Rachida Abdullah is an immigrations officer in the Comoros, where the plane went down. She says there were early reports that a 5-year-old boy had survived the crash and was found floating at sea. Now, she says, it appears the survivor is a 14-year-old girl.

Neither report could be independently confirmed.

A Yemenia Airbus jet with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean on Tuesday as it tried to land during strong winds on the island nation of Comoros. There was no word on other survivors.

At least three bodies were recovered, authorities said.

Reports that a 5-year-old boy survived a jetliner crash in the Indian Ocean are now in question.

 

 

A Yemeni aviation official says a young boy who was plucked alive from the Indian Ocean after a passenger jet crashed was found floating 10 miles (15 kilometers) out to sea.

Mohammed Abdul Qader, the Yemeni civil aviation deputy chief, says the boy is 5 years old and has been hospitalized in the Comoros. He had no further details.

A Yemenia Airbus jet with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean on Tuesday as it tried to land during strong winds on the island nation of Comoros. There was no word on other survivors.

At least three bodies were recovered, authorities said.