News Stories

Dr. Slump - Arale & Goku

2006-12-20T13:22:00.000+07:00

Yummy Chocolate Fudge Fondue

2006-11-15T12:00:00.000+07:00

This smooth, glossy chocolate sauce is best served in little cups, surrounded by an assortment of flavour-contrasting dippers. (serves 6)

Ingredients

150g (5oz) light muscovado sugar
50g (2 oz) unsalted butter
200g (7oz) plain chocolate, chopped
1tsp vanilla extract
100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) soured cream
2 bananas
200g (7 oz) sweet raisin bread
Handful of strawberries (and cherries if available)

How to make

Put the sugar in a small heavy-based saucepan with 100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) water. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about four minutes until the syrup is bubbling vigorously and looks dark and treacly.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and immerse the base in cold water to prevent further cooking. Add two tablespoons water, taking care because the syrup is likely to splutter. Return the saucepan to the heat and cook, stirring, until the syrup is smooth and glossy.

Add the butter, chocolate and vanilla extract and leave until melted, stirring frequently until the mixture is completely smooth. Stir in the cream and leave to stand while you prepare the dippers.

Cut the bananas diagonally into chunky pieces. Cut the bread into small bite-sized chunks. Reheat the sauce until it is warm but not piping hot and pour into small serving cups. Arrange the fruit and bread around the cups to serve.

Source : China Daily

Forced laughter makes people happy

2006-11-15T10:34:00.000+07:00

Nearly a thousand people laugh heartily together for half an hour every morning in a park in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. The Guangzhou Daily took a closer look at those happy people.

They are members of a group named Laughing Club, and when they get together, all they do is laugh.

Zhang Lixin, the initiator of the club and dubbed the 'laugh leader', told the paper that he himself benefited from laughing. He started after he read some advice in a book and tried giggling after quarreling with his wife to relax.

After laughing for a few days, Zhang found himself more outgoing and relaxed. Soon his wife joined him, bringing the family more laughter and causing less bickering.

When he got to know a kind of 'laughing yoga' is good for the health, Zhang went to Bombay to learn from locals, and, integrating with Chinese medicine, developed what he learned into more than 30 ways of laughing.

The 'lion bellow' is to shout with the fingers outstretched near the ears. There is the 'open mouth laugh', the 'bow-pulling laugh', the 'welcoming laugh' and even the 'quarreling laugh', with different arm motions of every laughing manner.

The 'laugh movement' swept over Shenzhen in a matter of months, attracting tens of thousands of people to join, and has spread to nearby cities such as Guangzhou.

Every morning at the lakefront and at eight pm on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the mountain peak square in Lianhua Mountain Park, club members, largely middle aged and elderly people, gather to laugh and scream loudly.

An old man surnamed Jin told the paper he has been participating in the laugh sessions since last May, and that he is now more relaxed and better-tempered. Also, his stiff shoulders feel much better as he claps his hands when he laughs.

An increasing number of office workers are joining the happy squad. Mr. Wang, a civil servant in Shenzhen's Futian district, said he doesn't have any trouble sleeping after one of the laughing sessions.

Some companies have caught on to the laughing movement and have approached Zhang to train their staff.

Zhang believes laughing provides people with an easy way to de-stress from the pressures of modern society and work, which is why he is trying to popularize the pastime.

Source : China Daily

Young husband, old wife happy together

2006-11-15T10:16:00.000+07:00

Thirty-eight-year-old Li Yucheng married 68-year-old Ma Yuqin in the winter of 1997 with most of their relatives and friends fiercely opposed but are now living happily ever after, according to newsphoto.com on November 11.

The couple met in the village of Linghai, Liaoning Province in 1995 when Li joined a Yangko dance team directed by Ma. They soon fell in love and got married, with little support from friends or family.

"You can't imagine the hardships we've been through in the past nine years," Ma told newsphoto.com. "Relatives on both sides did their utmost to fight against our marriage. My son saw me like an enemy and wouldn't allow me to go back home."

"I can understand why they did that. After all I'm 30 years older than Li," she added.

So the newlywed couple built a shabby hogan in the paddy field one kilometer away from the village and lived there to avoid criticism from the village folk.

Nine years have past since their wedding, and most of their friends and relatives have changed their attitudes and accepted the couple.

They finally tolerated the peculiar marriage and saw clearly that Li was an honest and tolerant man, and Ma was a persevering woman.

Source : China Daily

I love this news, so jealous you two look so happy -_-'

Nicole Kidman is pregnant!

2006-11-15T10:04:00.000+07:00

Nicole Kidman is reportedly pregnant.

The Moulin Rouge actress allegedly broke the happy news to her country singer husband Keith Urban when she visited him at a California rehabilitation clinic, where he is being treated for alcoholism.

According to reports, Nicole - who has two adopted children with ex-husband Tom Cruise, Isabella, 13, and 11-year-old Conor - took two home pregnancy tests to be doubly sure before making the trip to the Betty Ford Clinic on October 29.

A source told the National Enquirer magazine: "Keith was happy, but uneasy, about the news. He knows how desperate Nicole has been to have a baby, but the timing couldn't be worse for him."

Despite Keith's reservations, the pair - who married in Australia four months ago - looked very much in love as they strolled round the gardens of the clinic hand-in-hand and canoodled on a bench.

Nicole, 39, was by her Grammy award-winning husband's side when he voluntarily enrolled himself on the 30-day rehab programme on October 19.

At the time, Keith - who has previously admitted to a cocaine addiction - released a statement, saying: "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me.

"One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have."

Source : China Daily

Surayud Chulanont, A soldier who answered to the people

2006-11-07T10:54:00.000+07:00

In the late 1960s, when Surayud Chulanont was leading a platoon of Thai soldiers against communist insurgents in the country's northeastern provinces, he was plagued by a recurring vision in which he encountered a band of guerrillas at close range. In it, after a spell of bloody fighting the rebels fled into the forest. Surayud gave chase, but paused over a body sprawled face down in a pool of blood. He turned over the corpse and realized he'd killed his own father.

Payom Chulanont, the father, was a former soldier who had left the army and his family to become a rebel leader. Surayud, now 59, was a teenager in cadet training school the last time his father had visited the family home. It was a strained reunion, during which Payom explained that he had lost faith in the army because he believed it was more concerned with enriching itself and cementing its influence than protecting the weak and powerless. Though they were later adversaries, Surayud credits his father with providing a foundation for his own beliefs about what it means to be a soldier and what role the military should play in Thailand. "He taught me how to be a good officer," Surayud says. "He taught me how to be a good citizen of this country." Those lessons drove Surayud to become perhaps the most important Thai military figure of the modern era. No man has done more to modernize and professionalize the Thai army and, despite significant—and lasting—resistance, infuse it with the ideals he learned from Payom.

During the insurgency, and for decades afterward, the military was notorious for interfering in elections, staging coups and abusing human rights with impunity. Reports of involvement in drug, weapon, timber and people smuggling were common. Surayud managed to maintain a spit-shined reputation, but his journey was not without controversy. On May 17, 1992, soldiers fired on a crowd of pro-democracy protesters in Bangkok, killing 52 and wounding more than 100. Surayud was then commander of the élite special forces. He had been lobbying his superiors to resolve the situation without using force, but his men had also been seen dragging protesters through the lobby of the Royal Hotel. Days later he told a national television audience that he deplored the loss of life and that he had not given any orders to shoot, an account that was never disputed. Still, the realization that he couldn't prevent the carnage crystallized decidedly contrarian views that had been gelling since he last saw his father: "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics."

By 1997, however, he had been assigned a desk job with few duties and was considering retirement. But the then Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who wanted to reform Thailand's army, asked Surayud to become commander in chief. Surayud accepted and immediately targeted what he calls the "military Mafia," transferring corrupt soldiers out of positions of influence or forcing them out of the service altogether. "I've made enemies," he acknowledges, "but I believe in the rule of law." While the task is far from over, even critics recognize his impact.

On the tactical front, he created rapid-response units to deal with threats along Thailand's borders, using them to fend off incursions by Burmese troops and ethnic Wa guerrillas seeking to attack refugee camps in Thailand or flood the country with drugs. He acted swiftly and harshly against armed infiltrators who harmed Thai citizens. But he also ended a policy of pushing refugees, especially ethnic Karens, back into Burma and into the jaws of the Burmese army. "He's been a friend to us," says Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee. Surayud has also sought in several instances to resolve potential bloodbaths with negotiated surrenders, such as in a 2001 standoff with the so-called God's Army during which Thai forces surrounded rebels who had killed six Thai citizens, cut off their supplies and waited for them to give up.

Under his term the army joined the U.N. peacekeeping effort in East Timor, the first time Thai soldiers had ever taken part in such a mission (they're performing similar duties in Aceh and will soon be dispatched to Afghanistan). Though Surayud regrets he was never able to win salary increases for his soldiers, he says he's proud that he managed to procure better rations, housing and equipment for them. For Thailand, his biggest accomplishment was the near-wholesale refurbishment of the military's public image. "He made people trust and believe in the army," says Adul Khiewboriboon, who has every reason not to. His son was killed during the crackdown on the 1992 demonstrations, but now he says, "Because of Surayud, we no longer fear our own soldiers."

Such plaudits did not translate into job security, however. Surayud clashed with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra due to the latter's promotion of a looser, more business-friendly approach to Burma's military junta. Last August the PM named Surayud supreme commander—a loftier but less influential post—and installed loyalists into the army's top ranks. The move, says Sunai Phasuk of Forum Asia, was "a major setback for political reform and the move to separate the armed forces from politics." Officers Surayud had sidelined for suspected misconduct were recalled, but he refused to criticize Thaksin—to do so would constitute military meddling in politics.

This October, Surayud faces mandatory retirement. Despite the unfinished business, he'll take with him praise from an uncommon coalition of fellow soldiers, human-rights activists, editorialists and defense analysts. There are periodic calls for the man who tried to remove the military from politics to enter the political arena himself. Surayud doesn't rule it out, but for now he plans to trade in his fatigues for saffron robes and become a Buddhist monk. After so many battles, he wants to seek peace.

Source : Times Magazine

Jobless, graduate turns to chat room

2006-10-26T10:10:00.000+07:00

A paper posted to a campus information board at Peking University reads "Graduate from Guanghua. Still unemployed. Looking for means to make a living. Thanks for your attention" on October 25, 2006 with Gao Jian standing beside it and using his cell phone.

Still jobless months after his graduation, Gao, a graduate from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, a renowned management school, has lost hope and resorted to 'pei liao' (a person who is paid to listen to other's problems), the Beijing News reported on October 26, 2006.

Gao had tried to find a job, and almost succeeded, but is still unemployed. He said many potential employers were so unprincipled that they would take back initial job offers after agreeing to give a potential employee a job. He said he had signed contract with a national department and later took a physical exam for a job at a renowned enterprise, but both rejected him without telling him why.

Gao denied that he had high expectations. "I have tried almost every kind of place, including a private enterprise with only 30 employees," he said.

In his post on the campus forum, Gao said he felt he was cheated after so many failed attempts at finding a job. He said he has experienced other ups and downs in his life and is ready to share his experiences with those who have similar problems in chat rooms to help them out.

He claimed his aim is to help them rather than just engage in casual chats and the pay would be whatever the person seeking help wants to pay.

Some students asked Gao what he would base his advice on, and Gao said his experience and extensive reading of psychology texts. Other students told him he must fit into society. "Why should I ask for help in job-hunting? Why do enterprises come to recruit on campus when they don't want to hire anyone indeed?" retorted Gao, adding he has always been shy about asking-for-help.

Ma Huaxiang, deputy Party secretary of the school, however, denied Guanghua students have problems finding jobs. He cited a survey on current Guanghua graduates, which puts their annual average earnings as high as 170,000 yuan, with that of those in foreign-funded banks being 500,000 yuan..

The deputy secretary refused to comment on Gao, explaining the student has no link with the school since he has graduated.

Source : China Daily

Steve Irwin - Crocodile Hunter

2006-09-06T08:54:00.000+07:00

Steve Irwin, 44, the hyper-enthusiastic, danger-courting Australian wildlife conservationist who gained a worldwide following for his television show "The Crocodile Hunter," was killed by a stingray Monday while filming at the Great Barrier Reef for a new documentary series called "Ocean's Deadliest."

Irwin was swimming off the northeastern Australian coastline, 60 miles north of Cairns, when the ray's whip-like tail struck him, and the poisonous barb apparently punctured his heart. He was taken by his boat, Croc One, to a rescue helicopter that flew to the community of Low Isle. Despite attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead.

Irwin was known for getting melodramatically near claws and jaws of land and sea creatures. This was the allure of his television franchise, mostly seen by American audiences on the Animal Planet cable channel during the past decade.

"While most shows use long lenses, we get right up close so the audience feels like they're smack in the middle of the bush," Irwin told Entertainment Weekly magazine. "One time, a 10-foot saltwater croc grabbed me on the hand and - whap! - pulled me into the water. Luckily, I swung around and landed on his head, which gave him a bit of a shock and gave me just enough time to get away."

In the tradition of Jacques Cousteau, Irwin was credited with popularizing wildlife science. He staked out animals in their habitat while lecturing to viewers in a whisper and keeping ever alert to a sighting. He was typically gowned in khaki shorts and short-sleeve shirts, giving him the appearance of an African explorer, and his shaggy blonde hair, parted in the middle, gave him a friendly, boyish air.

His signature was an explosion of exclamations, typically "Crikey!" when in awe, "Gorgeous!" when showing off some reptile's charms or "Danger! Danger! Danger!" when even he knew it was wiser to keep a distance from an aroused animal.

He boasted in his thick Australian accent of hand-feeding the world's most venomous snakes without being bitten. However, a 13-year-old female saltwater crocodile once took a large bite from part of his legs, a snack Mr. Irwin defended from the animal's perspective: "The poor little female was just defending herself."

He carved such a distinctive personality that he launched a mini business empire of toys and games based on his programs. He starred in a feature film in 2002 - "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," in which the CIA goes looking for a fallen satellite that has been swallowed by a crocodile - and was a pitchman for Pentax cameras and FedEx.

Irwin also was much parodied, memorably on the "South Park" comedy show, and his catchphrases were used in college drinking games. He lampooned himself on the NBC show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" by wrestling an inflatable crocodile in a kiddie pool - one of hundreds of promotional appearances he made all over the world.

He was a national icon in Australia, where Prime Minister John Howard invited Irwin to a prawns and Chablis barbeque welcoming President George W. Bush in 2003. To much derision, Irwin had called Howard "the greatest leader Australia has ever had and the greatest leader in the world," and he soon backed down by saying, "Oh, mate, politics. Give me a break. It's far safer in a crocodile farm." At times, Irwin's derring-do led to negative press, most famously in 2004 when he cradled his infant son while feeding a dead chicken to crocodiles inside a zoo pen. He claimed the child was never in danger, and Mr. Irwin was never charged with any crime.

When not filming his specials, Irwin and his American-born wife oversaw the Australia Zoo, a popular wildlife park started by his parents.

"Our whole passion to be on this planet is to educate people about wildlife," he said in 1998. "I will die doing that. I have a gift."

Stephen Robert Irwin was born Feb. 22, 1962, in Essendon, Victoria, in Australia, where his father worked as a plumber and his mother was a maternity nurse.

His parents were amateur naturalists, and in 1970 they moved to the Queensland community of Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast. They bought four acres to start their park. which opened to the public in 1973.

Irwin spent much of his youth helping his parents nurse injured birds and raise kangaroos. He was overjoyed on his sixth birthday when his parents bought him his very own 11-foot-long scrub python.

One of his defining early childhood experiences was "jumping" a crocodile in the Australian outback with his father's permission. The father-son team caught with their bare hands or bred nearly all the 150 crocodiles at their park.

After high school, Irwin joined the government's Crocodile Management Program, a plan to relocate the aquatic reptile when they came into contact with people, and he distinguished himself nationally in the art of crocodile capture.

His work also took him to Australian rainforests, and he became accomplished in studying goannas, a type of lizard.

"Living like a possum, I'd occasionally come down out of the trees for a feed," he wrote in a memoir. "Fortunately God blessed me with orangutan arms. To study arboreal animals, you've got to become one: I could climb anything."

In the early 1990s, he took over his parents' park and headed a cougar conservation effort. He also filmed a 10-hour television documentary about his work called "The Crocodile Hunter." But the producer, John Stainton, was so mesmerized by Irwin's own amateur video tapes that Stainton persuaded an Australian network to devote an entire series to Irwin.

The show proved popular in limited syndication, and the Animal Planet channel began airing the program in 1996. It became the channel's most popular offering, won a Daytime Emmy Award for best children's series and led to spin-offs such as "Croc Files."

In 1992, he married an Oregon-born naturalist, Terri Raines, who became his filming and writing partner. She and their two young children, Bindi Sue and Robert, survive, as does Irwin's father.

Irwin's insistence on face-to-face meetings with his subjects sometimes brought him trouble from authorities.

While filming in Antarctica in 2004 for a documentary, he was criticized by animals rights groups for allegedly violating an Australian prohibition against human interaction with the wildlife.

"Totally beat up, mate," he told an interviewer. "Like I'm tobogganing over there, the penguin's over there - what's the big deal? Don't know what they're on about there. Don't understand that one at all."

Nothing came of the controversy, but Irwin had long spoken out about the need for such proximity to animals.

"The day has come where we can't keep looking at wildlife on a long lens on a tripod, which, historically, nature documentaries have done," Irwin said. "Then there's this voice of God telling you about the cheetah kill. After 450,000 cheetah kills, it's not entertaining any more."

At 4, he almost lost his nose to his father's sulfar crested cockatoo and was thereafter frightened of parrots.

Source : The Hutchinson News

Coffee Lovers Good News

2006-08-16T10:10:00.000+07:00

Are you the one who love coffee? Yes, I do! so this news is actually for you then!

For decades, coffee lovers sipped their favorite beverage under a cloud. Coffee, like cigarettes and greasy food, was thought to be unhealthy stuff.

But, despite the occasional new red flag ¡ª and the fact that caffeinated coffee does cause real sleeping problems for many people ¡ª most of the scientific news on coffee these days is downright sunny.

"Coffee has gotten a bad rap," says Peter Martin, professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and head of a research group that has received grants from coffee producers. "In the past, people were mostly interested in demonstrating how bad coffee was. ... Unfortunately, a lot of these negative findings stick with people over time."

Among the ills linked to coffee in the past: pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer and heart disease.

Follow-up studies refuted the cancer links. And the newest, biggest studies show that coffee ¡ª though it can temporarily raise your heart rate and blood pressure ¡ª probably does not contribute to heart disease, at least in most people.

"At this point, I wouldn't say coffee is good for your heart, but I would say that it is unlikely to be bad," says Frank Hu, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Meanwhile, the possible benefits of coffee now include decreased risks of:

Parkinson's disease.

Alzheimer's disease.

Suicide.

Liver damage in alcoholics.

Gallstones.

It won't surprise coffee drinkers to hear that the beverage, at least when caffeinated, also has been found to improve mood and memory, increase safe driving in tired drivers and boost endurance in athletes. Some speculate that coffee might aid weight loss, but that has not been proven.

One possible coffee benefit that has excited interest lately is an especially important one: Large studies now suggest that people who drink coffee have a significantly reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Because diabetes is a major, growing cause of disability and death, researchers are trying to figure out just what ingredients in coffee might confer the benefit. One thing they know: It's not the caffeine. Decaffeinated coffee seems to work at least as well as the high-test version.

"A cup of coffee is about 2% caffeine and 98% other stuff," says Terry Graham, chair of the nutritional sciences department at the University of Guelph in Ontario. The "other stuff" might easily include "another 50 or 100 active compounds," Graham says.

Among them are quinides, fats that are produced when coffee beans are roasted. Some studies suggest these fats may favorably affect blood-sugar control.

Scientists also are interested in anti-oxidants ¡ª substances that may protect against cell damage and inflammation. One recent study showed that coffee is the biggest source of anti-oxidants in the American diet (both because coffee is rich in the substances and because we consume a lot more coffee than blueberries and broccoli).

No scientist would suggest coffee as a substitute for more nutritious anti-oxidant-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

And most aren't ready to urge non-coffee drinkers to take up the habit. Caffeinated coffee, especially, remains a problem for many people, including insomniacs and anyone prone to coffee-induced jitters. And while most experts believe a daily 8-ounce cup or two is OK for pregnant women, the safety of larger amounts remains in question. Nursing moms should abstain, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.

But the rest of us? We can drink up without guilt.

Source : UASToday.com

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

2006-07-16T10:10:00.000+07:00

Actually I don't like peanut but I may try this one once...

For the best flavour, use a good-quality peanut butter with no added sugar. The crunchy coating is made by rolling the cookie mixture in roasted (but unsalted) peanuts before baking. (makes about 20)

Ingredients

115g unsalted butter, softened

125g crunchy peanut butter

140g light muscovado sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2tsp real vanilla essence

225g self-raising flour

200g roasted unsalted peanut halves

several baking trays, greased

How to make

Put the soft butter, peanut butter, sugar, beaten egg, vanilla and flour in a large bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

When thoroughly combined, take walnut-sized portions of the dough (about a tablespoon) and roll into balls with your hands. Put the peanut halves in a shallow dish, then roll the dough in the nuts. Arrange the balls well apart on the prepared trays, then gently flatten slightly with your fingers.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 12-15 minutes until light golden brown.

Let cool on the trays for a couple of minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container and eat within five days or freeze for up to a month.

Source : China Daily

Brad Jolie First Baby

2006-06-30T10:41:00.000+07:00

Superman Returns

2006-06-29T15:13:00.000+07:00

In all the hype leading up to his return in “Superman Returns,” I keep reading how Superman never changes. “Polite. Selfless. Noble,” Entertainment Weekly writes. “Exactly the kind of guy Superman has always been since his debut in Action Comics No. 1 in 1938.” Even the film’s director, Bryan Singer, has gotten into the act. “The world may change,” Singer told the Associated Press, “relationships change, things change, but Superman endures."

Well, sure he endures — he’s Superman — but never-changing?

Superman was a fugitive from a chain gang
Superman’s done nothing but change. Before DC Comics instituted its “code of conduct” in the 1940s, he was a roughneck who tossed criminals around for fun. If they died of heart failure as a result, it was no skin off his nose. A rejected princess tried to stab him; he spanked her. A would-be assassin was crushed between a boat and dock, and Lois recoiled in horror. His stoic response: “But he deserved it.”

He was a social reformer out of the gritty 1930s Warner Bros. school. He battled war profiteers (Action Comics no. 2) and greedy mine owners (no. 3). He tore down slums (no. 8). He became a fugitive from a chain gang to expose a sadistic guard (no. 10).

His powers kept changing. He ran faster than an express train, then a speeding bullet. He could change the course of mighty rivers, then time itself. The line about leaping tall buildings in a single bound is beside-the-point since everyone now knows the dude can fly.

By the 1950s he’d become as muscle-bound as his adopted country. In the introduction to the George Reeves TV series, the American flag unfurled behind him as he stood there, chest out, our most famous illegal immigrant, ready — like so many immigrants before him — to fight for Truth, Justice and the American way. But who could fight him without kryptonite? Invulnerability is conceptually cool but dramatically dull, so writer/artist John Byrne downgraded his powers in the 1980s. So did the producers of “Lois & Clark” in 1993, and “Superman: The Animated Series” in 1996. They wanted to give the villains — and drama — a chance.

Even his origin kept changing. Initially Krypton was populated by a race of supermen whose physical structure was millions of years more advanced than our own. Eventually the red sun/yellow sun dynamic was introduced. As for why Krypton died? It was old (Action Comics No. 1) . No, it was being pulled closer to its sun (“Superman: The Serial”). No, it was...whatever. One constant: Superman’s father, Jor-El, the planet’s leading scientist, warned the Kryptonian council (i.e., its politicians) of the coming disaster but his findings were ignored. “Upstart scientists with apocalyptic visions!” is how one Council member put it in “Superman: The Animated Series.” Imagine, politicians ignoring scientists on matters of global doom. Glad we’ve progressed beyond that.

Sex and the Superhero

Really, what didn’t change in the Superman storyline? Lex Luthor morphed from evil scientist to a billionaire industrialist (where the “evil” is implied). In the 1948 serial, Perry White kept a picture of Abraham Lincoln in his office; in 1993’s “Lois & Clark,” he kept a picture of Elvis Presley. The “S” on Superman’s chest: Did he mean it to stand for “Superman” (i.e., did he give himself that immodest name?), or is it simply his Kryptonian family crest, which happens to bear a resemblance to our letter “S,” allowing others — namely Lois Lane in “Superman: The Movie” (1978) — to anoint him a “super man”?

Yes, let’s talk about Lois. Let’s talk about sex. Let’s talk about the most famous romantic triangle in comic book history. The X-Men series has the Cyclops/Jean Grey/Wolverine deal, but that’s a fairly common romantic triangle in which the men are two basic types: good guy and bad boy. If you’re male, you’re made to identify with one of these types. If you’re female, you have to choose one of these types. It’s all fairly simple. Which is why it doesn’t resonate.

Superman’s romantic triangle resonates. Clark loves Lois, who loves Superman, who wants Lois to love him as Clark. This is the true origin of Superman. Superman’s creator Jerry Siegel once told the New York Times that back in high school, “I had crushes on several attractive girls who either didn’t know I existed or didn’t care I existed.” But what if he could do super things? he wondered. Wouldn’t they like him then? Superman was thus borne out of sexual frustration. He was borne out of adolescent fantasy.

This fantasy has meaning even into adulthood. Clark Kent is everyman not because he’s meek and mild but because every man feels he’s super in some way. I’m super-smart with numbers. I’m super-nice to animals. I have this superness inside me. Why doesn’t anyone see it? You could even make the metaphor explicitly sexual: When I take off my clothes, I’m super. When I take off my clothes, I make her fly. No one else can make her fly.

As a male, in this romantic triangle, you’re not one or the other; you’re both. That’s why it resonates. As a female, in this romantic triangle, you don’t have to choose between one or the other; you get both. Both the quiet Midwestern family man and the exotic superhero. The man you love is the man who loves you, and the only question is whether you’re smart enough to realize it.

Source : MSNBC.MSN.COM

Pregnant Pop Star Britney Nudes

2006-06-29T14:51:00.000+07:00

LOS ANGELES - Oops, she lost her clothes. A six-month pregnant Britney Spears has posed nude for the cover of the August issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine and an accompanying photo spread inside, much in the style of the famous 1991 Vanity Fair cover of a naked and heavily pregnant Demi Moore.

On the Harper's Bazaar cover, a dark-haired Spears covers her breasts with her arms and crosses her legs at the knee, as she sits smiling into the camera.

Harper's said pop singer Spears "was never more beautiful" than when it photographed her a week ago and that it was the first time it had printed a nude photo on its cover.

The magazine added, "Since word leaked out about the shoot Monday, people have been desperate to get their hands on the exclusive photos which were posted on various Web sites without permission from the magazine."

The former teen idol whose hit songs include "Oops, I Did It Again," Spears has frequently complained that she is hounded by paparazzi and earlier this month appealed to them to leave her alone. She also recently came under criticism for driving with her baby on her lap while fleeing a photographer.

In an interview with NBC "Today" show host Matt Lauer, she tearfully admitted to being "an emotional wreck," and defended husband Kevin Federline from sniping in tabloids.

Source : www.msnbc.msn.com

Chinese Newspaper, China Daily

2006-05-16T10:10:00.000+07:00

China Daily, established in 1981, is the only national English-language newspaper in China. The average daily circulation is more than 200,000, one-third of which is abroad in more than 150 countries and regions.

Newspaper Group

As a newspaper group, China Daily also runs China Business Weekly, China Daily Hong Kong Edition, Reports from China, Shanghai Star, Beijing Weekend, 21st Century, 21st Century Teens Senior Edition, 21st Century Teens Junior Edition and the China Daily Web site (www.chinadaily.com.cn).

Mission: Voice of China

Committed to helping the world know more about China and the country's integration with the international community, China Daily is regarded as one of the country's most authoritative English media outlets and an important source of information on Chinese politics, economy, society and culture. It is often called the "Voice of China" or "Window to China." China Daily also serves as important source for high-end Chinese readers who want to know more about the world.

World-wide Readership

Our readers are from all over the world. Domestic readers mainly include foreigners and high-end nationals, for example, diplomats and governmental policy makers. Overseas subscribers are mostly government officials, members of parliaments, staff members of international organizations and multinationals, professors, researchers and students in universities and institutes.

The Staff & Correspondents

Headquartered in Beijing, China Daily also has branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou and correspondents in all major cities in China. English-speaking staff reporters, correspondents and editors with the newspaper group are known for their professionalism, ethics, enthusiasm and creativity. The newspaper's linguistic standards are reassured by teens of foreign staff members from the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and India.

A Member of Asia News Network

China Daily is the only representative for China in the Asian News Network (ANN), a non-government media organization consisting of 14 major English-language newspapers, whose total circulation is more than 20 million.

China Daily CEO Roundtable

China Daily has launched various platforms for exchanges between China and the outside world; and to date, it has hosted dozens of sessions of the China Daily CEO Roundtable (http://ceoroundtable.chinadaily.com.cn/), a high-profile forum for multinationals doing business in China.

Source : China Daily

Jolie Ready for nothing on Birth

2006-04-28T17:25:00.000+07:00

Blaming her hormones for the fact she can't stop giggling, Angelina Jolie addressed the serious topic of Global Education Week on Thursday's Today, in a segment that was taped in the African nation of Namibia ¨C which interviewer Ann Curry described as "the edge of nowhere."

While the topic of helping the world's children go to school was the focus of the sit-down, Curry did bring up how Jolie and Brad Pitt are awaiting the birth of their child, intimating that Namibia might be a strange place to have it.

"We just don't know where it's going to happen or where it's going to be," Jolie conceded.

When Curry asked if there's a doctor nearby, Jolie replied, "We've been smart about it. Things will be as they will be. I'm ready for anything."

And the gender of the child? "I'd like to keep that to myself," said Jolie, who proved outspoken when it came to the subject of schooling for the world's poor.

"The lack of education causes death," she said. "More children die under the age of five when parents are not educated, More people get AIDS when they haven't had an education. Statistics prove that if every child was in school every year, 700,000 less people would get AIDS."

As spokesperson for Global Education Week, Jolie takes a personal interest in the subject partly because her own two children ¨C Maddox, 4, from Cambodia, and Zahara, 1, from Ethiopia ¨C likely would have lacked for every opportunity.

There is no possibility she could have gone to school," Jolie said of Zahara. "In all probability, what would have happened to Maddox, he would have been one of the kids doing the garbage picking in the street, and he would have been on his own.

Jolie appeared surprised when Curry compared her concern for education to that shown by another woman ¨C first lady Laura Bush. "She should nudge her husband," said Jolie.

When Curry pointed out that the United States does spend a considerable amount of money to insure that poor people get an education, Jolie acknowledged, "They do. But (the Bush program) 'No Child Left Behind' means NO child left behind. Britain gives three times more than us right now. They're not richer than us. So, I don't know what the great excuse is."

As for her giggling? "That's what I've gotten from the pregnancy," said Jolie. Brad said that to me, too. I just get hysterical now. It goes on for hours. ¡ It's hormonal."

Source : China Daily

World's Sexiest Woman

2006-04-28T15:53:00.000+07:00

British actress Keira Knightley was voted the world's sexiest woman in a magazine poll on Thursday, beating model Keeley Hazel and Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson into second and third place respectively.

The poll, which British magazine FHM said was based on two million votes, saw homegrown model and TV presenter Kelly Brook slip to 5th from first last year, while Angelina Jolie, expecting a baby in mid-May, came fourth.

Beyonce Knowles was the sexiest pop star at number seven and Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova the top sportswoman at number 56.

FHM said the poll was the only one of its kind voted for entirely by the British public.

Injure Yao Ming May Play in World Championship

2006-04-28T15:45:00.000+07:00

China's Yao Ming is recovering well from a broken foot and could be fit to play in August's world championships, a spokesman for the player's management team said on Wednesday.

Zhang Mingji of "Team Yao" told the China Radio International (CRI) Web site that the 7ft-6in Houston Rockets center would start rehabilitation soon and could be training again in eight weeks.

"I believe there is still a possibility for Yao to participate in the world championships," Zhang said.

Yao broke his left foot in NBA action for the Rockets against the Utah Jazz on April 11 and after surgery four days later, faced up to six months out of the game.

He would return to China in June, Zhang said, two months before the start of the world championships in Japan.

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) confirmed on Wednesday that Yao's compatriot Yi Jianlian would not be joining him in the NBA -- in the short term at least -- after withdrawing from the 2006 draft.

The forward's team Guangdong Hongyuan informed the CBA of his decision, according to a Xinhua news agency report.

"It's not a good time for Yi to play in NBA," basketball administration vice president Hu Jiashi said.

Center Tang Zhengdong will, however, train with the Los Angeles Lakers this week and has a chance to impress scouts ahead of the draft.

The 22-year-old had been cleared by his Jiangsu Nangang club and the CBA to train with the Lakers for a week starting from April 27, the Beijing Morning Post said.

The Toronto Raptors were also interested in Tang, the paper said, and would organise a private training session for him in the same week.

Impressing his North American hosts will not be Tang's only obstacle to becoming an NBA player.

He must also obtain release from state basketball administrators, who have expressed concern about young players missing national team fixtures while warming benches for NBA teams.

Source : China Daily

Biggest Embroidery Shoe in the World

2006-04-17T10:37:00.000+07:00

A little kid stands by the world's biggest embroidery shoe at a shoe exhibition in Shenyang, N. China's Liaoning Province Saturday, April 15, 2006. The 2.8m-long, 0.71m-wide, and 0.84m-tall shoe is able to hold three little kids inside.

Source : China Daily

Brad and Jolie to have baby in Namibia

2006-04-17T10:34:00.000+07:00

Namibia, Africa :MOHAWK NATION! Brad Pitt, sported his new daring do of a mohawk (like father, like son) while playing catch with his 4-year-old Maddox this past Wednesday. Mum-to-be Angelina Jolie sat adopted daughter Zahara on her bump (pictured below) as she gives the girl a loving hug on holiday.

South Africa -- A local governor in Namibia said Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt told him they will have their baby in his country and are considering giving the child a Namibian name, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Samuel Sheefeni Nuuyoma, the governor of the Namibian province where the couple is staying at a heavily guarded lodge, said he had breakfast Friday with the two stars, according to The Sunday Times of South Africa.

He said Jolie had made those choices because "she loves Namibia."

Namibian immigration officials confirmed earlier this month that the couple and five other people, including two children, arrived in Walvis Bay on a chartered jet from Paris, prompting speculation their baby will be born in Africa.

The couple has been shielded from reporters by heavy security at a secluded beach resort near Walvis Bay, in an area where Namibia's desert sand dunes descend spectacularly to the sea.

But the Sunday Times carried what it billed as "exclusive" pictures of Jolie hugging 1-year-old Zahara and Pitt carrying sleeping Maddox, 4, to a sports utility vehicle. Both Pitt and Maddox sported matching haircuts.

It also had a photograph of a security official chasing a photographer along the beach.

The newspaper also said Pitt had managed to evade paparazzi and go riding on an all-terrain vehicle in the Namibian desert and the couple and the two children have visited various game reserves and wildlife foundations.

Nuuyoma said he wanted his guests to feel "at home and free."

"Namibia is a country where everyone has the right to freedom of movement, and they must not feel inhibited when they visit this beautiful country of ours," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times. Nuuyoma could not immediately be reached for more comment.

Source : China Daily

Safe Sex Promoted by Gay

2006-03-22T12:01:00.000+07:00

Packed with people late at night, it seems like any other bar in Beijing.

But unlike most nightspots in the capital stands a man in the middle, surrounded by PowerPoint presentations.

His topic is sex, condoms and AIDS.

The speaker, Xiao Dong, is the founder and head of a volunteer team engaged in AIDS prevention among homosexual men. The team tours gay bars to offer advice.

Established in May last year, Xiao's team now has 43 members, most of whom are homosexuals, including a handful of gay prostitutes.

"Our mission is to spread the word on AIDS among gay men, a topic that has been hiding in the closet for a long time," said Xiao, 29.

"It is quite urgent that we give gay men the basics on how to prevent AIDS."

Homosexuality is not illegal in China, and it was deleted from the official list of mental disorders in 2001. However, the group is still plagued by discrimination and stigma that are born of ignorance.

Xiao said the gay community is at high risk for AIDS but had long been neglected by the government and the public, even as attention begins to focus on the spread of the disease in the country.

"Newspapers highlight the plight of needle-sharing drug users who contract HIV and hospital patients infected through blood transfusion," Xiao said. "But little has been said about the spread of AIDS among gay men."

"The taboo against talking about sex in general and homosexuality in particular in the country remains a block against getting information to those in need," said Xiao, a former journalist who quit his newspaper job early last year.

More on China Daily

Sex Education in Shanghai

2006-03-21T17:30:00.000+07:00

Shanghai, the largest metropolis of China, finished a five-year international sex education program on Monday, local health officials was quoted as saying by Shanghai Daily.

The paper said on Tuesday that it was the first time the city worked with international agencies to provide sex education to students and single workers.

Shanghai was one of 12 provinces and municipalities that took part in the program launched by Chinese health authorities and the U.S.-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health.

The American organization provided funding and expertise to help local officials set up the program, which was aimed at youngsters aged between 10 and 24.

"By 2005, the program had covered 167 neighborhoods, 296 companies, 595 middle schools and 8 universities," said Xie Lingli, director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Committee. "We gave courses, educational pamphlets and services to more than 340,000 students, 90,000 unmarried young workers and 20,000 parents."

In addition to courses, the city also set up hotlines providing sex information, service centers for pregnant girls, Websites for online consultation and 601 service spots providing consultation and education about reproductive issues.

"Migrant people also benefited from our program. We gave lectures and received a good response," Xie said.

Migrant parents and children were given courses together in an attempt to teach parents how to talk to their kids about puberty and sex.

Officials said the biggest concerns for young workers are pregnancy and contraception, unsafe sex and sexual development.

Source : Xinhua News

Update News for Google

2006-03-21T17:16:00.000+07:00

A U.S. federal judge issued a ruling in the spat between Google and the Department of Justice over a government request that the company turn over search-query data.

The 21-page order, issued on March 17 in San Jose, California, by U.S. District Judge James Ware, mandates that Google turn over 50,000 random Web addresses in its search engine index. And the Justice Department would have to pay for this data.

Judge Ware said in his order that the Justice Department wanted the data so it could back a Bush administration initiative to defend a federal law created to shield children from online pornography.

Google, which had cited user privacy as its chief argument for its refusal to comply with, has praised the ruling because of its requirement to release only a limited set of data.

"This is a clear victory for our users and for our company, and Judge Ware's decision means neither the government nor anyone else has carte blanche when demanding data from internet companies," wrote Google Associate General Counsel Nicole Wong in a blog posting.

In its subpoena, served last summer, the government asked for a random sample of 1 million Web site addresses from Google's search engine index and for the text of all queries filed during a specific week.

The decision drew cautious praise from a privacy advocate. Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, said: "It's a well-reasoned decision, and it does minimise privacy and civil liberties implications."

Givens added that she still didn't think the government needs Google's data: "They can design a research study that would accomplish much the same. It's a bad precedent for the government to be strong-arming search engine companies for such sensitive data."

Source : Xinhua News

Marry a Chinese Girl for Song and Dance

2006-03-18T13:51:00.000+07:00

In a case of life imitating reality television, a 20-year-old woman in China has launched a national song-and-dance competition for top prize -- her hand in marriage.

Not only will the twinkle-toed bachelor get to marry the woman, he will also receive 100,000 yuan (12,300 dollars), a diamond ring and a chance to sign a contract with a record company, the Beijing Daily Messenger said Thursday.

Tryouts begin next month in five Chinese cities with the winner to be selected by professional dancers and an audience at a final competition in the southwestern city of Chengdu, the report said.

What about love for the woman identified only as "Jiao Jiao", or beautiful, and her prospective husband?

That can be slowly nurtured, Jiao Jiao's agent was quoted as saying.

Jiao Jiao's parents have financed the scheme, contributing 300,000 yuan, in the hopes that she will become famous.

This week, the report said, a Shanghai cartoon company expressed interest in hiring Jiao Jiao to sing the theme song in one of its animated films.

Source : China Daily

Japanese Blooming Luck

2006-03-18T13:44:00.000+07:00

Little is as important in the Japanese spring than knowing when cherry trees will bloom.

Last year's prediction was off by several days, leaving forecasters at the Meteorological Agency red faced.

Stung by a storm of criticism, the agency has revised its forecasting model to predict when the delicate pink flowers, a national obsession, will emerge.

"It is true that last year our predictions for the cherries were off by about four days, and we got a lot of complaints," an agency spokeswoman said.

Global warming, it seems, is to blame.

Until this year, the agency based its prediction on data from the past 50 years but global warming is making those figures less trustworthy and the period has been narrowed to 30 years.

The arrival of warmer weather prompts the blooming and Japanese follow the event intensely as it moves south to north over about a month. Media publish frequent updates.

The traditional appeal of cherry blossom viewing is said to lie in its poignant reminder of the shortness of life, but for many people it is an excuse to celebrate in often raucous "hanami" (cherry-viewing) parties.

Planning these parties is a matter of prime importance, which is why accurate predictions are crucial.

The cherries began to bloom in the western prefecture of Kochi on Thursday. Tokyo's trees are predicted to start blossoming on March 22.

The weather agency has erred in more than cherry blossom predictions in recent months.

Last autumn, they said the winter just ending would be warmer than usual. Instead, it was the most severe since World War Two.

"Newspapers say our reputation is at stake over the cherries, but that isn't true," the spokeswoman said. "We give weather predictions and cherry predictions the same scientific treatment."

Source : China Daily

Yao Ming News Update

2006-03-18T11:43:00.000+07:00

First post for news update of Yao Ming, the Chinese Basketball Player superstar of the Rocket Team..

Yao Ming's All-Star Accolades Validated

There are a lot of people who feel Yao Ming's all-star hopes hinge on an internet voting frenzy orchestrated by his loyal compatriots in China.

But the 25-year-old Yao's recent performances have silenced his critics and validated his selection as the starting all-star centre ahead of Shaquille O'Neal.

"This is the best I have seen him play since he's been in the league," Yao's Houston Rockets teammate Jason Terry said. "He is playing like a beast."

Yao, who was the top vote getter for last month's National Basketball Association All-Star Game in Houston, is considered one of the most dominant players in the game.

And in five of his past six games, Yao has scored 30 or more points and averaged a superb 32.8 points and 11.2 rebounds.

The Rockets steam towards the playoffs without their other star Tracy McGrady, who could miss the remainder of the regular season because of a back injury.

The Shanghai-born Yao is helping fill the void but he's going to need some help from his teammates.

While Yao has shot 56 percent in the last three games his teammates have combined to shoot just 33 percent over the same period.

Source : China Daily