A real-life Noah’s Ark

An hour outside of Amsterdam in Dordrecht, Netherlands, a ship is under construction. But this ain't your typical sailboat, bub. Johan Huibers is building a full-scale replica of Noah's ark.

Yes, that Noah's ark. And Johan, an expert builder, isn't skimping on the details. The ship, which he's been constructing for the past three years, is built to biblical specs. Johan culled information on the ark's size and shape directly from the good book. In the end, the ship is four stories high and the length of a football field. And yes, it's seaworthy.

The result is an incredibly impressive ship, especially considering it was realized simply by a man with a dream--or, perhaps, a nightmare. According to an interview with NBC's "The Today Show," Johan dreamt that Holland suffered a great flood. The next morning, he woke up determined to start preparing for that worst-case scenario.

The ship, which is not to be confused with the theme park in Kentucky that also honors Noah's ark, is generating a lot of interest in the search box. Over the past 24 hours, online lookups for "noah's ark photos" and "noah's ark real ship" have surged.

As for the craft proper, it's not complete yet, but it's getting close. The master plan is to sail the ship up the Thames in time for the London Olympics next year. Expect to see plenty of life-size plastic animals aboard (two of each type, of course).

Watch this video for a look inside "Noah's ark".

Source from: http://my.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/two-two-real-life-noah-ark-071442619.html

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Malaysian schoolgirl rakes in $10k by selling body

Kuala Lumpur (The Star/ANN) - A secondary school student in Malaysia made 30,000 ringgit (US$9,955) during the year-end school break last year by selling her own body, Malaysian newspaper China Press reported.

It said the student from Kuala Lumpur charged customers 250 ringgit to 800 ringgit each so that she could indulge in luxury items.

"I have sex at least five times a day. However, I take a week's break each month," she told the paper.

The girl said she was cutting down on her sexual services this year as she wanted to prepare for the SPM examinations.

According to the daily, the girl was among many students who used Facebook to earn money through sex and buy luxury items they covet and one even said she had listed her sex service on a website to earn money to buy an iPhone.

Most of them were from Johor Baru, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Customers are asked to pay up to 300 ringgit per session and 600 ringgit if the customer wanted an overnight sex session.

The paper reported that the girls charged 3,000 ringgit if their customers wanted to have them for a month.

It also said the girls offered telephone sex at 150 ringgit per call and sent a photograph of them in the nude through the mobile phone for 10 ringgit per copy.

The paper's reporter contacted one of the girls through SMS and Internet messaging service by posing as a customer.

Some girls, who posed as prostitutes, also used Facebook to cheat potential customers.

The paper passed on the information it had gathered on the sex service to the Johor police.

The police said they would investigate the matter.

Source from: http://my.news.yahoo.com/msian-schoolgirl-rakes-10k-selling-body-042001172.html

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Ibrahim raises spectre of May 13 at anti-Bersih rally launch

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Perkasa kicked off its Bersih 2.0 counter-protest here in Kampung Baru today by burning images of Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and issuing a warning to the Chinese to stay indoors as “anything could happen”.

Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who earlier appointed himself “war general”, said if electoral reform coalition Bersih goes through with its July 9 rally, he will not be held responsible for any untoward incidents which may occur.

“Imagine if chaos erupts. If the Bersih rally is not cancelled... I believe the Chinese community will have to stock up on food.

“Yes, anything can happen. And so I ask the police to act and use whatever powers are at their disposal,” he told some 500 supporters who gathered at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman here for the launch.

Ibrahim stressed, however, that Perkasa and the other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) opposed to the Bersih rally would not resort to violence as they were only interested in safeguarding the nation’s peace and prosperity.

But the Malay rights leader added that he would not be held responsible for the actions of those who might use the rally as a cover to commit crimes.

Ibrahim also suggested that Ambiga — described in a flyer being passed as “a dangerous Hindu woman” — was working for foreign powers seeking an excuse to interfere in Malaysia’s internal affairs.

He cited the former Bar Council president’s defence of Lina Joy’s right to convert from Islam and her involvement in the interfaith council as examples of her repeated “illegal actions”.

“Perhaps she is an agent of the Jews,” he said.

The Pasir Mas MP also repeated a claim made by Utusan Malaysia today that the opposition will use the rally to trigger an uprising similar to the ones seen in Egypt and Libya before forcing their choice of prime minister upon the people.

“If an emergency declared, will the Agong be able to appoint a caretaker leader? Maybe they (the opposition) will take to the streets and demand that they take over the government,” he said.

PR component parties and activists are gearing up to march on July 9 in the second such rally by election watchdog Bersih.

The first rally in 2007 saw up to 50,000 people take to the capital's street, before they were dispersed by police armed with tear gas and water cannon.

The 2007 rally has been credited for the PR’s record gains in Election 2008, where the opposition pact was swept to power in five states and won 82 parliamentary seats.

PAS has promised to bring some 300,000 protestors this year in hopes that it will galvanise support for the opposition in the next general election, expected to be called within a year.

Perkasa has pledged to send 20 buses from each of the 10 peninsular Malaysian states, in addition to supporters from 164 other non-governmental organisations. Umno Youth has also said it will march on July 9 to counter the Bersih rally.

Source from: http://my.news.yahoo.com/ibrahim-raises-spectre-of-may-13-at-anti-073331702.html

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Ibrahim Ali mahu menjadi Adolf Hitler dengan provokasi perkauman?

Penafian:

Saya menulis artikel ini di atas sebab saya juga adalah seorang rakyat Malaysia dan bersyukur dengan keadaan yang aman tenteram di negara tercinta ini. Artikel ini tidak membawa apa-apa maksud tersirat dan adalah pandangan diri saya sendiri.

Bersih 2.0 atau dikenali dengan nama penuh sebagai Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil Versi Kedua merupakan gabungan beberapa pertubuhan bukan kerajaan meminta supaya pilihanraya dapat dijalankan secara adil, saksama dan tidak berat sebelah.

Mereka (Bersih) telah membuat perancangan untuk mengadakan perarakan atau perhimpunan aman di Kuala Lumpur pada 9 Julai 2011. Perhimpunan itu tidak mendapat permit perhimpuan orang ramai daripada pihak polis dan mendapat pelbagai bantahan daripada pelbagai pihak termasuk parti-parti komponen Barisan Nasional (khususnya Pemuda UMNO) dan Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (PERKASA).

Kementerian Dalam Negeri telah memberi arahan kepada semua pihak agar tidak membuat apa-apa perhimpuan dan mereka yang engkar akan ditahan. Bersih dan PERKASA berkeras bahawa kedua-dua pihak akan bersemuka dan "bertempur" untuk tujuan masing-masing.

Pengerusi PERKASA, Ibrahim Ali membuat satu kenyataan pada sebuah ceramah (atau apa-apa yang difikirkan sesuai) menyebut. "Masyarakat kaum Tiong Hua (Cina) mungkin ramai-ramai, semua sekali, belilah bekalan makanan tambahan simpan di rumah. Apa sahaja boleh berlaku!" Kenyataannya itu telah menimbulkan persoalan kepada banyak pihak dengan maksud yang tersirat di dalam perkataan-perkataan itu.

Ibrahim juga berkeras dengan berkata Gerak Aman adalah untuk memelihara kedaulatan institusi diraja (dengan berarak ke Istana Negara) dan memelihara keamanan negara (dengan menghimpunan orang ramai untuk bangkit dan menentang Bersih). Apakah kurangnya PERKASA dan Bersih untuk menimbulkan kucar-kacir di negara kita?

Menurut Ketua Pemuda UMNO, Khairy Jamaluddin, kenyataan itu berusur perkauman dan patut dihukum mengikut Akta Hasutan. Beliau juga menegaskan bahawa kenyataan tersebut tidak mewakili keseluruh orang-orang Melayu khususnya.

Namun, Ibrahim Ali sememangnya seorang "pelakon". Oleh kerana beliau juga membuat bantahan ke atas penganut-penganut agama Kristian dengan melancarkan "Perang Suci" demi mempertahankan perkataan "ALLAH" hanya boleh digunakan oleh umat-umat Islam. Sekiranya beliau sememangnya seorang yang mempertahankan ketenteraman negara, adakah orang ini waras dengan melancarkan "Perang Suci"?

Kini, beliau (Ibrahim Ali) cuba menyatu padukan semua orang (tidak terhad kepada kaum) untuk menyertai Gerak Aman dan menyatakan bahawa, "Masyarakat kaum Tiong Hua (Cina) mungkin ramai-ramai, semua sekali, belilah bekalan makanan tambahan simpan di rumah. Apa sahaja boleh berlaku!"

Zaman moden ini tidak semacam dengan zaman pada 13 Mei 1969 kerana ramai orang lebih terbuka dan lebih peka terhadap perkembangan negara kita. Kenyataan itu tidak akan mengubah perspektif kaum-kaum di Malaysia. Kecenderungan mereka untuk membuat kacau bilau akan memberi gambaran yang tidak baik kepada kita, rakyat Malaysia dan juga penduduk di seluruh dunia.

PERKASA juga (pada bahagian akhir video di atas) membakar poster-poster di khalayak ramai. Selama ini, kita mempromosikan "Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita", disebalik slogan itu, kita seakan-akan orang-orang negara Barat.

Saya mengesa kepada orang ramai agar tidak terpedaya kepada muslihat-muslihat yang ingin mencari kesempatan untuk mengawal diri kita kerana Tuhan yang memberi mandaat kepada pemerintah kita, Tuhan tidak memihak kepada mana-mana individu kerana-Nya adalah Maha Adil dan Tuhan yang memeritah kita. 

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Shaggy Dog Too Late to Cheer Up Dying Boy

NOVEMBER 13, 1995 | ISSUE 28•14

BOSTON—Terminally ill 5-year-old Timmy McWinn, formerly of Medford, MA, had one wish before his tragic death last week: to be visited one last time by Bruiser, the McWinn family’s loyal and devoted English Sheepdog. Bruiser was McWinn’s companion and best friend during the better part of his short life.

Bruiser, seen here two weeks before being accidentally
abandoned in Canada by the McWinns, trekked 3,500 miles
to see young Timmy (inset), but arrived too late,
finding the boy in his final death throes.

Unfortunately, the lumbering, lovable canine did not arrive in time to cheer up Timmy, and instead of making his last moments on Earth more bearable, he merely added to the uncontrollable agony and horror the boy felt during his final death throes.

“Bruiser was Timmy’s best pal and play friend,” Timmy’s father, James McWinn said. “He provided him with his only real moments of joy. So when we accidentally left the dog behind after a family trip to Canada, Timmy was understandably heartbroken.”

McWinn’s condition worsened after returning from Canada, victimized by a degenerative brain disease which slowly ate away at his mind. Doctors could find no cure, leaving Jimmy with one dream and one dream only: that one day, before he left this earth, he would once again hold Bruiser in his tiny arms.

Despite flyers, mailings, inquiries with Canadian mounted police and a posted reward, the McWinns’ efforts to locate Bruiser roundly failed. No word of the sheepdog’s whereabouts came to the anxious family.

“We’d given up hope,” McWinn said. “Until one day, well, I guess what you’d have to call a miracle occurred.”

According to McWinn, sketchy reports began to trickle in that a dog matching Bruiser’s description had been spotted making its way across the country to where the dying Timmy lay. Bruiser, driven only by his love, was making his way across a continent, just to be with his pal Timmy again.

The McWinns, as well as the hospital staff and a crowd of well-wishing onlookers, were overjoyed when a weathered, weary Bruiser arrived in the parking lot of Children’s Hospital. Eagerly, the group rushed Bruiser to be at Timmy’s side, but it was too late.

“Timmy was still alive, but his higher brain functions had deteriorated to the point where he could not recognize the dog,” said Dr. Dan Pangloss, McWinn’s physician. “When he saw the large dog’s slavering jaws, he felt only one thing—stark, heart-stopping terror.”

Timmy began screaming what onlookers originally mistook for cries of joy. Only after several minutes could they make out the child’s actual words.

“He was yelling, ‘Get it off me! Get it off me! Make giant monster go away!’” nurse Ellen Bram said. “I tried to push the dog closer to Timmy’s failing eyes so he could make out the dog’s face, but he only screamed louder, calling on mommy to save him from the hungry, hairy demon. I’ll never forget how his little voice trilled into a macabre falsetto of sheer, unbridled agony.”

Timmy’s eyes rolled up into his head, and his diminutive body was racked by a series of painful convulsions. Within moments, and well before the dog could be removed, he was dead.

“It’s safe to say his death could not have been more horrific,” a hospital spokeswoman said.

Bruiser was immediately shot, and the dog’s corpse beheaded for laboratory testing.

Source from: http://www.theonion.com/articles/shaggy-dog-too-late-to-cheer-up-dying-boy,20787/#enlarge

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Chong Wei hopes to get lucky in his sixth outing in the world meet

Better luck: The plates on Lee Chong Wei’s two cars carry the number 6.

KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Lee Chong Wei’s favourite number is 6.

The number plates on his two cars are 6. His latest house address is No. 6.

In August, he will be competing in his sixth World Championships in London.

And he is hoping that six will be his lucky charm as he bids to become the country’s first world badminton champion.

“Six has been a lucky number for me. I am going for my sixth world meet and, hopefully, I will be lucky enough to win it this time,” said world No. 1 Chong Wei after a training session at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara yesterday.

“In Chinese, the digit six refers to luck also. And I think, I may need some of it this time after falling short in my previous world outings.”

Chong Wei has gone through a roller-coaster ride in his five previous World Championships campaigns.

He enjoyed a splendid World Championships debut in the United States in 2005, performing better than his seniors to reach the semi-finals.

He was a quarter-finalist in 2006 (Madrid), 2009 (Hyderabad) and 2010 (Paris) and he made it to the third round in 2007 (Kuala Lumpur).

Chong Wei said that his obsession with number six began when he won his first international title at the 2004 Malaysia Open.

He was then presented with a car registration plate bearing the number 6 by Ling Hee Leong, the son of former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik.

“The unique gift meant a lot to me because it was my first international title. Since then, I have been winning titles. So, I decided to stick to number six as my lucky charm. I tend to go after this number whenever I am in a position to choose,” he said.

Chong Wei also gave his World Championships preparations the thumbs-up.

The 29-year-old has one more international assignment – the Indonesia Open next week – before he heads to London for the world event.

And the Malaysian is hoping to win his third back-to-back title in Jakarta for a timely boost.

Chong Wei is the top seed for the Premier Super Series event and his main rival will again be China’s Lin Dan.

“I am happy with my preparations for the world meet so far. I am injury-free and I am focused on doing well. A good outing in the Indonesia Open will put me in good stead for the world meet,” said Chong Wei, who will leave for Jakarta tomorrow.

“It will be great if I can meet Lin Dan in the final but that does not mean I will take the others lightly. It is always best to tread with caution from the first round onwards.”

In Chong Wei’s half are South Korean Lee Hyun-il; China’s Chen Long, Wang Zhengming and Du Pengyu; Japan’s Tago Kenichi and Kazushi Yamada; Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen; and Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.

The lower half will have second seed Lin Dan; Denmark’s Peter-Gade Christensen; Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat; and South Korean Park Sung-hwan.

If Chong Wei wins the Indonesia Open, it will be his sixth title of the year.

He has also won the Super Series Masters Final, Malaysia Open, All-England, India Open and the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold.

Source from: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2011/6/18/sports/8926236&sec=sports

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No more free downloads as MCMC blocks 10 file sharing sites

PETALING JAYA: In a bid to combat piracy, the Government has declared war on filesharing websites with 10 such websites now blocked by the telecommunications industry watchdog.

The websites were among the most visited sites by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

On May 30, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had written a letter to all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ordering the block.

The letter was signed by Digital Security Services division acting senior director Eneng Faridah Iskandar.

The letter, which was leaked online, also stated that the websites were being blocked for breaching Section 41 of the Copyright Act 1987, which deals with pirated content.

An MCMC spokesperson confirmed the ban and said it was done on the request of the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry.

The ministry's enforcement division director-general Mohd Roslan Mahayudin confirmed that the request was made.

“It is standard procedure for the ministry to request MCMC to block sites that violate the Copyright Act 1987,” he told The Star.

Roslan said the ministry had requested that 19 websites, including the 10 listed in the letter, be blocked for violating the Act but added that it was up to MCMC to decide on which ones to block.

When asked about the fate of surfers who legally use the websites such as for storing non-pirated content, Mohd Roslan said they could always write to the ministry.

“Anyone who feels the ban is wrong can write to us and we will look into it,” he said.

Film maker Norman Abd Halim of KRU Studios said the move was long overdue.

“The unauthorised use of copyright work is destroying the industry. If everyone feels that works should be shared, then there is no value in these works,” he said.

Norman equated the move to South Korea's three-strikes law, where a person guilty of copyright infringement can have their Internet access suspended for six months.

However, irate users have vented their frustration by creating a Facebook page to protest.

By 8.30pm yesterday, there were 410 supporters who “liked” the page that was named “1M Malaysians Don't Want Block File Sharing Websites.”

FilesTube Media Search Engine, one of the sites ordered blocked, also commented on the page.

“We have posted information about this on our wall. We are with you.”

Before the page was put up, some Malaysians were already protesting via Twitter.

“You can't create a walled-up Internet garden,” read one tweet.

Some also made reference to the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantees which states that the Government will not censor the Internet.

MSC Malaysia is a national initiative that kicked off in 1996 and is aimed at transforming the nation into a knowledge-based economy.

Source from: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/11/nation/8879884&sec=nation

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Buffalo-Born Twin Friars Die On Same Day

Julian and Adrian Riester, 92

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Identical twins Julian and Adrian Riester were born seconds apart 92 years ago. They died hours apart this week. The Buffalo-born brothers were also brothers in the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor. Professed friars for 65 years, they spent much of that time working together at St. Bonaventure University, doing carpentry work, gardening and driving visitors to and from the airport and around town.

"It was fun to see them, just quiet, gentle souls," Yvonne Peace, who worked at the St. Bonaventure Friary for nearly 21 years, said Friday.

They died Wednesday at St. Anthony Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., Brother Julian in the morning and Brother Adrian in the evening.

Both died of heart failure, said Father James Toal, guardian of St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg, where the inseparable twins lived since moving from western New York in 2008.

"It really is almost a poetic ending to the remarkable story of their lives," St. Bonaventure spokesman Tom Missel said. "Stunning when you hear it, but hardly surprising given that they did almost everything together."

Julian and Adrian Riester were born Jerome and Irving on March 27, 1919, to a couple who already had five daughters. They took the names of saints upon their ordination in the Catholic church.

"Dad was a doctor and he said a prayer for a boy," Adrian once said, according to St. Bonaventure. "The Lord fooled him and sent two."

After attending St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, the brothers were turned away by the military because of their eyesight, the university said. One had a bad left eye, the other a bad right eye.

Eventually they joined the friars of Holy Name Province in New York City. They received separate assignments before reuniting at the seminary at St. Bonaventure from 1951 to 1956. After serving parishes in Buffalo for 17 years, they returned to St. Bonaventure in 1973 and spent the next 35 years there.

They had separate rooms in the friary but one telephone extension that rang into both, Peace recalled. It was usually the more talkative Adrian who answered, though Julian possessed a quiet authority. They never said who was born first.

"Brother Julian was like the big brother. Brother Adrian would defer to him," Peace said. "They picked up one of our friars at the airport one time and the friar said, `Can I take you to dinner?'

"Brother Adrian looked at Brother Julian and said, `We aren't going to dinner?' `No, we'll go home,'" Peace said. "So that was it. No discussion, no contradicting. `No, we aren't going today.'"

Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Church in St. Petersburg. Afterward, the brothers' bodies will be flown to Buffalo and buried Wednesday at St. Bonaventure Cemetery, across the street from the university.

Source from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/julian-adrian-riester_n_871156.html

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Giant rats killed 2 babies in South Africa

A giant rat in South Africa (Gambian pouched rat)

Giant rats as big as cats have killed and eaten two babies in separate attacks in South Africa's squalid townships this week.

Lunathi Dwadwa, three, was killed as she slept in her parent's shack in the Khayelitsha slum outside Cape Town and another girl was killed in Soweto township near Johannesburg the same day.

Little Lunathi was sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor of her family's breeze block and corrugated iron home on Sunday night when she died. Her puzzled parents didn't even hear her scream.

When her mother discovered her lifeless body, she saw that her daughter's eyes had been gouged out.

Bukiswa Dwadwa, 27, said: 'I can't forget how ugly my child looked after her eyes were ripped out.

'She was eaten from her eyebrows to her cheeks, her other eye was hanging by a piece of flesh.'

Her father Mncedisi Mokoena said police told him: 'Nothing could have done that but rats'

And today police revealed that a baby girl died in the Soweto township when she was attacked by rats while her teenage mother was out with friends.

'We were called to the scene of the death of an infant due to a rat attack on Monday morning at around 9am,' said police officer Bongani Mhlongo.

'The mother of the child was arrested on charges of culpable homicide and negligence.'

The deaths appear to be part of a spate of deadly rat attacks in the country.

Last month, 77-year-old grandmother Nomathemba Joyi died after giant rats chewed off the right side of her face.

Source from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393836/Giant-rats-eat-babies-South-Africa-townships-separate-attacks.html#ixzz1OIziLsF0

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White Rabbit Without Ears

A rabbit without ears was born nearby Fukushima nuclear power plant recently. The news of the rabbit was shown on Italian new, Corriere della Sera Corriere TV.

On May 21, a two minutes footage of a white, no ears rabbit was posted on Youtube. It has became an instant and big impact on the net. The video was viewed about a million times.

The owner of that particular, Mr. Sugimoto Hiroko has been living in the town for a long time. 18 years ago, he began to rear rabbits. The first nuclear power plant in Fukushima is more than 30 kilometers away from the rabbit hutch.

Rabbits normally give birth in spring season. They will give birth in a den inside the cabin and the owner wasn't aware of the rabbit without year. One day, he went to check the status of the baby rabbits and he found out a baby rabbit which has yet to open its eyes, was born with a pair of ears.

Interviewed on May 28 has uncovered the fluffy white rabbit with the size of a palm and with. no rabbit ears. Along with it,  there are three other rabbit without this problem.

The exact cause remains unclear, many people are speculating that it could be an effect of radiation. Conversely, many also claim that the video is a hoax.

The user who uploaded the video claims they are a resident of Namie, a town which lies about approximately 7 km north of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, well within the 30 km evacuation zone. According to a May 11 map published by the Japanese government, the area around Namie is measured to be approximately 30 μSv/h, significantly higher than the 10 μSv/h measured in the towns of Tomioka and Narahar where the plant is located.

According to the explanation posted along with the video:




After the incident, while the government was reporting there were no immediate health effects and evacuation was unnecessary, those of us in Namie weren’t being given any information about what was going on.

I thought I was going to be silenced in some cover-up between the national and prefectural governments. I was working outside at home when the #3 reactor exploded and my face and throat were scalded. I thought I was going to die at any moment.

I continued to feed my rabbits the grass from outside of my house, and sometime after the rabbit with no ears was born. It was the first deformity I have ever seen with my rabbits. Rabbits reproduce faster than humans, and so perhaps this is a vision of the children that will be born after this incident.

Of course, it’s very possible that this is just a natural mutation. When accused of posting the video to intentionally cause panic, the user pointed out: “Please don’t get me wrong; I have not explicitly stated that this is a result of the radiation.”

The user added that they sent the rabbit to a research institution for proper examination, and will post an update once the results are known.

Source from: http://sankei.jp.msn.com/life/news/110529/trd11052912010002-n1.htm

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Humorous Stories

"I made a terrible mistake" says Heir to British Throne.

Prince William Divorces Kate Middleton After 5 Weeks

LONDON — Barely a month after marrying 29-year-old Kate Middleton in a royal wedding ceremony watched by an estimated 2 billion people worldwide, Prince William announced Tuesday that he and Middleton have divorced and that the entire marriage was "a tremendous mistake in every possible regard."

"I really don't know what I was thinking — we're a terrible match, I don't love her and never have, and, to be honest, I never really had any interest in being married in the first place," announced the now unattached Prince William to a dead-silent British press corps.

"People thought our wedding was some sort of fairy tale, but I assure you it was all just some ghastly ceremonial farce that got out of hand. I'm just relieved it's over, frankly. And I'm glad I'll never have to see that awful woman again."

Prince William then told the assembled reporters, "Well, see you all later," smiled, and walked back into Buckingham Palace.

Source: The Onion: America's Finest News Source

Malaysian activist to apologise 100 times on Twitter in defamation settlement

A MALAYSIAN social activist was being forced today to tweet an apology to a magazine 100 times in a bizarre defamation settlement, the Digital Journal reported.

Fahmi Fadzil agreed to the punishment after lawyers for Female Magazine took action against him in January over claims he made on Twitter. Fadzil had accused the magazine of unfairly treating his pregnant female friend, who was employed by the company.

"17/100 I've DEFAMED Blu Inc Media & Female Magazine. My tweets on their HR Policies are untrue. I retract those words & hereby apologize," his latest apology tweet said.

Fadzil agreed to spread the 100 tweets over three days, from today until Saturday.

The tweets were gaining Fadzil notoriety on his Twitter account, with many followers tweeting their support. The tweet trend #defahmi was also gaining ground Thursday, with some commentators questioning the magazine's legal move.

"They thought they got a good deal, but instead turned themselves into laughingstocks. Fahmi Fadzil, you genius #defahmi," one tweeted.

Source: news.com.au

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夢醒時分 The moment when a dream is awakened...夢醒時分 The moment when a dream is awakened...

你是否和我一樣，發覺身邊的親戚和朋友，似乎少了許 多。
I wonder you feel the same as me ; all the sudden I realized friends and relatives around me seems to get less and less.

以往接近過年時，各種聚餐排得滿滿的，而今年，似乎沒聲沒息。
Those years when the New Year drew near, all sorts of gathering appointments almost completely filled the diaries, but this year seems so quiet.

即 使是平常日子，電話少了，與大家見面也少了。
Even in normal time, phone calls become less and less, face to face meet up also become much less.

也許，大家各忙各的；或者，目前流行“宅 生活”，儘量避免出門。
Perhaps, everybody is busy with their own things, or perhaps, nowadays people prefer to stay in.

也 不盡然如此。再想一想，很多老友和親戚，已經不在了。嗟！大吉利是，他們都還好好的，只是離開了馬來西亞。
However, it is not entirely like this, thinking further, actually old friends and relatives are not around any more. God bless, they are still alive and well, they just left the country, Malaysia .

去了中國大陸開工廠；王子不做工程師，移民到澳洲開小食檔；阿 風離開本地大學，去香港做講師；青蛙去了台灣，開展事業第二春；還有的到了美國、英國，唔，還有去印尼的……。
They have gone to China to set factory; ah Wang quit his engineer job and migrated to Australia to set up his little food store business, ah Fong left the local University went to Hong Kong as a lecturer. 'Frog' went to Taiwan to pursue his second career life. Others went to Americia , England, even Indonesia ...

起 初，以為這只是個別現象，逐漸的，旁人也有同樣發現；原來，這不是個別現象，而是社會現象；這不是少數，而是相當大的數目。
At first, I thought these are individual cases, but gradually, people around me realized the same, these are not individual cases but a general symptom of our society. they are not small numbers but the pretty big indeed.

外 交部早前披露了一個數字，說明這個現象是多麼真實，多麼貼近。
Department of Foreign Affairs released the figures earlier, it confirmed the situation is real.

從 去年3月到今年9月，已經有30萬 大馬人移民他國；其中20萬人是今年1月 到8月出走的數目。
From March 2008 thru September 2009, a total of 300,000 Malaysian migrated to other countries, among them 200,000 left between Jan - Aug 2009. (in 8 months)

累 積下來，已經有超過200萬大馬人移民，接近今天印尼外勞在大馬的人口。
Cummulatively, 2 million Malaysians migrated, this figure is close to the number of Indonesian workers in Malaysia today.

不同的是，移居他國 的大馬人，多是專業人士、中產階級。
The difference are, those migrated are mostly professional and middle class people.

他 們有很多出走的理由，追求事業發展，為了孩子前途，尋找個人更大空間……，概括一句：對馬來西亞失望。
They have many reasons to leave: pursue career development, for the future of their children, in search of better life and environment... In one sentence, they lost hope of Malaysia .

50年前，大家說，馬來西亞真 好，好過香港，甚至日本。
50 years ago people said: Malaysia is very good, better than Hong Kong and even Japan .

30年 前，大家說，馬來西亞還不錯，比得上韓國、台灣（不提香港和日本了）。
30 years ago people said: Malaysia is not bad, comparable to S. Korea and Taiwan . (No mention of Hong Kong and Japan any more).

20年前，大家說，馬來 西亞還可以，至少超越中國、泰國（不能和台、韓比了）。
20 years ago people said: Malaysia can do lah, at least better than China and Thailand (Cannot compare with Taiwan and Korea lah)

10年前，大家說，馬來西亞再差， 還不至於像越南、印尼（中國已是不同級別）。
10 years ago people said: No matter how bad Malaysia is, cannot be worse than Vietnam and Indonesia ok-lah. ( China is already in a different category).

今日，越南和印尼的經濟成長率遙遙領先大馬，社會活力和知識發 展也勝過一籌；距離愈來愈近了。
Today, the economic growth rate of Vietnam and Indonesia already far exceeded Malaysia , Social activity and intellectual development of the country is also better, the gap between us and them is closing up.

怕甚 麼，還有菲律賓和柬埔寨、緬甸。
Why worry? there are still Philipines , Cambodia and Myanmar behind us.

但 是，一位經濟學家最近到菲律賓考察之後，認為再過20年，大馬可以取代菲律賓，出口馬籍女傭到全世界了。
However, according to an economist who recently surveyed Phillipines, he think in 20 years' time, Malaysia can replace Phillipines to become the World exporter of Malaysian maids.

半個世紀以來，馬來 西亞是在大宅院裡，用封建方式，分配祖宗家業，消耗社會資源，浪費和逼走人才；不談競爭力，忽略生產力，討厭績效制。
Over half a century, Malaysians live in the big old imperial housing complex, closed up and survive on properties left behind by the ancestor; continued to consume up social resources, wasteful, and drove away talents; they never talk about competitiveness, totally neglected productivity, and hated meritocracy.

亞洲金融風暴來襲 時，大馬把門關起來，以為避過一劫，有人還自我陶醉，自以為是天才策略。
When Asia economic storm hit in 1997, Malaysia closed their doors, thinking we beautifully avoided a disaster, they even think of themselves as genius, being able to handle the situation so well.

然 而，其它國家面對風暴，走出風暴，進行體質改革，跨步向前，登上另一個水 平；大馬卻還在原地踏步。
However, just look at other countries in our neighbourhood ; they stood up, faced the storm, and walked out of the storm. They overhauled their system, improved the processes and marched forward ; they moved up to a new level. And Malaysia , still walking on the spot . . !

馬來西亞，該醒一醒了。
Dear Malaysia , it's time to wake up !
We are very very late now !

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Iconic Pudu prison wall torn down

KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): With just a few strikes from an excavator, parts of the iconic Pudu Prison wall came crashing down last night, marking the beginning of a new era for the historical area.

Even before the clock struck 10pm, people were crowding Jalan Pudu to witness the tearing down of part of the 394m prison wall.

Cameras were flashing the moment an excavator started demolition of the wall from inside the prison area at about 10.20pm.

Curious onlookers also hurried to pick up fallen bricks to take home as souvenirs.

An excavator knocking down the wall of the iconic Pudu Prison, the more than 100-year-old jail that is a historic part of Kuala Lumpur. Over the next 10 years, the site will be transformed into a modern mall and residential area. — IBRAHIM MOHTAR / The Star

The wall was full of mold, algae and weeds, indicating its old age.

According to a City Hall worker, two excavators would be used during the four-day demolition that will end on Thursday.

“A total of 25 workers will be involved in this project. We have put up plastic barriers along the demolition site and Jalan Pudu will be closed from 10pm until 5am during this period,” he said last night before the demolition work started.

“Cleaning up of the debris will be done in the morning at about 8am.”

Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun was spotted among the crowd.

“I regret to see one of the oldest landmarks in Kuala Lumpur being destroyed. However, I will speak to the Government regarding the preservation of the wall facing Jalan Hang Tuah,” he said.

End of an icon: Passers-by watching the demolition of the Pudu Prison in Kuala Lumpur last night.

He said the architecture of Pudu Prison reflected the work of builders during the English colonial times.

An ex-prisoner Suharto Abdul Wahab said he went last night “to make sure the wall came down.”

“It is a pity that the building is going down because of its historical value. But I don’t have any sentimental memories,” said Suharto, who served time in the 1980s for drug possession.

“During that time, each cell could fit about eight or nine people. We were packed like sardines.”

Long-time resident of the Pudu area, Yong Kong Kin, 61, came with his son to witness the demolition.

“Although it is sad that the building is being demolished, it is necessary for the historical building to go because the ‘new’ society needs to make way for development,” he said.

Related Stories:
Prison holds fond memories
Heritage enthusiasts slams demolition
Mixed reaction to demolition of Pudu Prison

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Source by: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/22/nation/6519729&sec=nation

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New logo updates (2nd series)

The Star Green logo was use during the Environment Day celebrated all around the world. Printed on the Saturday Star.








Another RENOMA logo but with the word PARIS on the bottom of the logo.
















Malaysia's Recycle Logo was started to be use on 2001. Although I still working on the font used on the words below the recycle logo, I will continue to try my best to make one.

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Man who found — and sold — the missing iPhone unmasked

Apple's Steve Jobs, seen here on April 8, will be the opening night speaker at the "D: All Things Digital" technology conference, organizers said, a rare public appearance by the co-founder of the California company. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)

Twenty-one-year-old Redwood City, California, resident Brian J. Hogan, the man identified by Wired.com as the guy who found — and later sold — Apple's missing iPhone in a bar last month, has a message for Apple, the engineer who originally lost the precious gadget, and the tech world at large: Sorry about that.

Following a trail of "clues" on social-networking sites and confirming his ID with a source "involved in the iPhone find," Wired named Hogan on Thursday as the bar patron who made off with Apple's top-secret iPhone prototype and then sold it to Gizmodo for $5,000 after an Apple software engineer left the precious phone on a bar stool.

Up until now, Hogan's identity has been a mystery to the public, but the 21-year-old college student (or at least, he was a college student as of 2008) may have sensed that he was in trouble after all the hoopla over Gizmodo's gigantic iPhone scoop last week and the subsequent fallout, including a raid on Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's house by San Mateo sheriff's deputies armed with a search warrant.

Hogan has now lawyered up, and in a statement released through his attorney, the young man says he "regrets his mistake in not doing more to return the phone," and that he thought his $5,000 deal with Gizmodo was only "so that they could review the phone," Wired reports.

According to Hogan's attorney's statement, Hogan didn't see the lost iPhone until another patron at the Redwood City bar came up and asked him if it was his; Hogan apparently then asked a few other patrons if they'd lost the device before heading out, iPhone in hand, according to Wired.

Initial reports had it that the man who'd taken the iPhone tried repeatedly to call the Apple Care support line to return the phone, but according to the statement in the Wired story, Hogan never personally called Apple, although a friend of his offered to. The owners of the bar where the iPhone was lost also told Wired that Hogan never bothered to call them about the lost hardware, although the anguished Apple engineer who mislaid the iPhone "returned several times" to see if it had turned up.

Meanwhile, CNET is reporting that Hogan had help in finding a buyer for the lost iPhone. The "go-between," according to CNET: 27-year-old Sage Robert Wallower, a UC Berkeley student who "contacted technology sites" about the handset. Wallower told CNET that he "didn't see it or touch it in any manner" but knows "who found it," adding, "I need to speak to a lawyer ... I think I have said too much."

No one has been charged yet in the case of the lost iPhone, but a deputy district attorney for San Mateo County tells Wired that Hogan is "very definitely ... being looked at as a suspect in theft." (In California, finding a piece of lost property isn't a case of "finders keepers"; if you find a lost item and keep it without making "reasonable" efforts to find the real owner, you could be charged with a crime.)

Gizmodo's Jason Chen also has yet to be charged; law-enforcement officials have reportedly said they'll hold off on searching the computers and servers seized from Chen's house until they decide whether California's shield law for journalists applies to him.

Wired: iPhone Finder Regrets His ‘Mistake’
CNET: The people involved in sale of iPhone revealed

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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The Malay Mail

The Malay Mail is a newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, first published in December 1896 when KL was the capital of the then new Federated Malay States, making it the first daily to appear in the FMS.

Currently, The Malay Mail is a tabloid, promoted as "The Paper That Cares" and is linked to the broadsheet New Straits Times via Media Prima Berhad. It is an afternoon paper and has several editions.

In 2006, Media Prima unveiled plans to change the direction of the paper and has offered voluntary separation scheme to senior writers and journalists of The Malay Mail. Its former weekend edition, The Sunday Mail, published its last edition on 23 April 2006.

On 20 May 2006 the Sunday Mail was replaced with the Weekend Mail. However, on 8 November the same year, the Weekend Mail was suspended indefinitely by the Internal Security Ministry for breaching guidelines and conditions under the Printing and Presses Act 1984 (Act 301). This was because the "reports and photographs in the paper's Nov[ember] 4–5 issue focusing on sex and sexual issues were contrary to values practised by Malaysians."

A unit of media company Redberry is poised to acquire 75 per cent of the Malay Mail, one of the country's oldest newspapers, which has been struggling with continued losses despite a change of ownership.

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