Wednesday, July 27, 2005

A new dating service in town



Single? Lonely? Need a companion? Or even take it
as a night out for some fun - no pain no gain. This
new dating service is different from the regular outfit.
Sounds interesting too.

This is how it works:

A minimum of 10 men and 10 women meet at a central
location, usually in a private, cosy, restaurant downtown.
Each member is given a score sheet to keep track of the
people that they meet.

Subsequently, they are paired off at tables for two, and
given an average of 10 minutes to get acquainted with
one another.

Members then gauge how they feel about the other and record
their sentiments on the score sheet. If you like the person
and wish to get to know them better, you should mark your
card with a “yes.” If both partners have marked their card
with “yes,” then a match has been made.

After the allotted 10 minutes, the bell rings and the men
get up and move on to the next table. The process is
repeated until all the couples have met. Then comes a short
break.

At the end of the night, the score sheets are handed in
and everyone gets to mingle further with one another. The
organisers then shift through the score sheets and notify
the participants if they have a match within 24 hours.

Real full story...Finding love the speed dating way

Monday, July 25, 2005

Awesome blog



You simply have got to check out this awesome blog.
I have bookmarked it.

I just love the illustrations. They are so cooooool and
so cuuuuuute - just looking at them makes me happy. I'm
sure they'll have the same effect on you. Also, I love
Paige's writing style - so.... what shall I say? Nice.
Yes, nice. She is just so nice too. Enjoy...

A Woman Who Found a Way to Write

This is an interesting read. It's from the NY Times.
Enjoy...

By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: July 24, 2005

MY mom always wanted to be a writer. In 1926, when she was
18, she applied for a job at The Washington Post. An editor
there told her that the characters she'd meet as a reporter
were far too shady for a nice young lady.

But someone who wants to write will find a way to write.
And someone who wants to change the world can do it without
a big platform or high-profile byline.

Besides raising five kids in high heels, my mom wrote with
a prolific verve that would have impressed one of her idols,
Abigail Adams.

In her distinct looping penmanship, learned from the nuns at
Holy Cross Academy in Washington, she regularly dashed off
missives to politicians. I'd often see form-letter responses
on her table from the White House or Congress.

She loved Ronald Reagan and when he landed in a firestorm,
she'd write to tell him to buck up. She also appreciated
Bill Clinton - his sunny style, his self-wounding insecurity
and his work on the Ireland peace process - and would write
to compliment him as well. (Literally catholic, she liked
both Monica and Hillary.)

She wrote to any member of Congress who made what she
considered the cardinal sin of referring to Edmund Burke
as a British, rather than Irish, statesman.

In 1995, after reading a newspaper analysis suggesting that
Al Gore was not sexy enough to run for president, Mom
swiftly dashed off a note reassuring the vice president that
he was sexy and that he'd done a great job as host of Pope
John Paul I's visit to Baltimore.

She carefully addressed it, "The Honorable Albert Gore Jr.,
Home of the Vice President, Observatory Circle; 37th Street
and Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C." The
letter was returned a few days later, stamped "Addressee
Unknown."

It was an omen.

She wrote her last name in black marker on the bottom of the
Tupperware she used to bring food to anyone in her building
or sodality or family who was under the weather or having a
party. On holidays, plates of food were always handed out to
those in the building who had to work or might be lonely
before she served her family.

When her dinner rolls stuffed with turkey and ham were snapped
up at my first cocktail party, as the expensive catered cheese
wheel and goose pâtés went untouched, she told me with a smug
smile: "Simplicity pays."

Mom - a woman who always carried a small bottle of Tabasco in
her purse - wrote out hundreds of recipes, adding notations of
her own, including Mamie Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge
(1955), which she deemed "Rich as Croesus, but oh so good,"
Mrs. Nixon's Hot Chicken Salad and Barbara Bush's High Fiber
Bran Muffins.

In the middle of her recipe cards, she wrote down a quote
that appealed to her: "The Talmud says, If I am not for myself,
who will be? If I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?"

When my mom still hoped I would transcend takeout, she'd write
away for booklets for me: "150 Favorite Pickle Recipes From Iowa,"
"Confessions of a Kraut Lover" from Empire State Pickling and
"How to Cook With Budweiser," including a chocolate beer cake.

Without ever mentioning it to anyone, she constantly wrote out
a stream of very small checks from her police widow's pension
for children who were sick and poor.

She didn't limit her charity to poor kids. When 6-year-old
Al Gore III was struck by a car in 1989, she sent him a get-well
card and a crisp dollar bill. "Children like getting a little
treat when they're not feeling well," she explained.

She had a column, "Under the Capitol Dome," in the National
Hibernian Digest. In 1972, she chronicled her debut, at 63,
as a protester.

After Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers fired on a Catholic
demonstration in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, killing 13
people, Mom went to the Kennedy Center in Washington to picket
the British ambassador, who was going to a performance of the
Royal Scots Guards. She proudly wore her green Irish tweed cape
and waved a placard reading, "Stop killing innocent civilians."

"The triumph of the evening," she wrote in her column, "was when
the British ambassador had to be taken in through a basement door."

Sunday, July 24, 2005

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

We're lucky that Malaysia is a safe country - no bombings
and things like that. However, there are still incidents
that can put us in emergency situations such as road
accidents or muggings. In such emergencies, how would
rescue personnel know as to who to contact to inform
about our condition?

In this age and time, the phone is a valuable tool.
We can all leave a contact number for rescue people to
contact. This article which resulted from the recent
incidents in London is most helpful.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Becoming an Astronaut



Damaris B. Sarria's blog gives us an insight into
her job at the Kennedy Space Center and her dream of
becoming an astronaut. Here she documents the actions
she's taking in trying to become an astronaut. It's her
ultimate goal, her dream - according to her. Cool
pictures too.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Terrorism - is it justified?

There is so much violence in the world. Is it really
justified? Lives are disrupted, adjusted, lost. People
lose family members - sons, daughters, uncles, mothers,
fathers. The article below from The Guardian conveys
the pain of a mother losing her son, her only son and
brother to her daughters. My heart goes out to her and
others....

Straight from the heart
Wednesday July 13, 2005
The Guardian

On Monday, Marie Fatayi-Williams stood near Tavistock Square, where her son Anthony is feared to have been killed in last week's bus bombing, and delivered a lament of extraordinary power for her lost son. Tim Collins, the British army colonel who himself gave a historic speech on the eve of the Iraq war, says such genuine emotion is rarely forgotten

Caught in the spotlight of history, set on the stage of a very public event, Marie Fatayi-Williams, the mother of Anthony Fatayi-Williams, 26 and missing since Thursday, appeals for news of her son. Her words are a mixture of stirring rhetoric, heartfelt appeal and a stateswoman-like vision, and so speak on many levels to the nation and the world. Her appeal is a simple one - where is my son? If he has been killed, then why? Who has gained?

Article continues...

New EPF withdrawal rule

The Star
Thursday July 14, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR: Contributors to the Employees Provident Fund who wish to take out their savings under Incapacitation Withdrawal will now be interviewed by EPF officials.

The new requirement also applies to members withdrawing their savings to sponsor themselves or their children in private institutions of higher learning under the Education Withdrawal.

“This requirement comes into force with immediate effect following the discovery of fraudulent withdrawal cases,” said EPF Senior (Public Relations) Manager Nik Affendi Jaafar in a statement.

He said the EPF had implemented the requirement to ensure that only genuine cases were approved and contributors used their EPF savings for the intended purpose.

“Under the Education Withdrawal, those applying to study at public institutions of higher learning need not go through an interview.

“It only applies to those who are withdrawing to pay tuition fees at private institutions,” he added.

For contributors applying for Incapacitation Withdrawal who could not be physically present at the EPF counters, arrangements could be made for the interviews to be conducted at their homes or at the hospital, he said.

Nik Affendi said the new procedure was not to burden contributors but to ensure their savings were properly used.

“Members must realise such fraudulent withdrawals will deplete their retirement savings,” he said.

As a national savings scheme, the EPF took its role as the custodian of employees’ retirement savings very seriously, he added. – Bernama

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Act of Man not Act of God

Flyover collapse caused by human error

Update by The Star Newsdesk
PUTRAJAYA:
Human error caused the collapse of the half-completed NKVE-Jalan Meru Link flyover on Sunday.

That is the finding of the expert contractor entrusted to carry out a preliminary study on the mishap that injured nine Bangladeshi workers.

Acting Works Minister Datuk Mohd Khaled Nordin said he had briefed the Cabinet on the incident and the findings of the preliminary study by the expert contractor.

"According to initial findings, the incident was caused by human error. It happened when workers prematurely and without authorisation removed the temporary top stress-bars on both sides of the flyover.

"This caused the half-completed structures to collapse almost simultaneously," he told reporters after chairing the Ministry’s post-Cabinet meeting Wednesday.

Khalid, who is also the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister, said that one lane of the highway was opened to traffic Wednesday – a day earlier than expected - as works to ensure the safety of the structure was completed ahead of schedule.

Greater incentives for all medical staff



A good move by the government.

Better benefits:
All government doctors and health service personnel will enjoy more benefits, effective Jan 1 this year, under a move to retain them and attract new employees.For doctors, the incentives include their employment being extended to age 65 and tax-exempted allowances.

RM8 eat-all-you-can fruits carnival

A friend forwarded this knowing that I will go for it
and why not?! Check it out.

For just RM8, you can eat as much local fruits as you can at the Taman Warisan Putrajaya on July 23 and 24.

The programme "Jom Makan Buah" (Come and Eat Fruits) will start from 10am to 10pm. Those aged between 10 and 18 years old only need to pay RM6, said a statement issued by Taman Warisan Putrajaya yesterday.

It said the two-day programme would offer several local fruits including durian, pulasan, mangosteens, rambutan, salak, duku langsat and honey lemon.

Each visitor will also receive a bottle of mineral water free.

The fruit carnival is held in collaboration with the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA) and Marditech Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Putrajaya location map below.
http://www.i-putra.com.my/map_alamanda/flashalamanda.htm
(Taman Warisan is next to Deputy Prime Minister's Residence)

Monday, July 11, 2005

A mishap in KL - Flyover collapse: Nine Bangladeshis hurt


DEAD END: Workers putting up barriers after several
girders of the New Klang Valley Expressway-Jalan Meru
Link flyover near Bukit Raja collapsed Sunday. The
girders, forming a 10m stretch, collapsed at 1.40pm
onto the expressway bringing down 17 workers working
on them. --STARpic by AZHAR MAHFOF


It's most unfortunate about the flyover collapse.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

SINGAPORE 2005: LONDON ELECTED AS THE HOST CITY FOR THE GAMES OF THE XXX OLYMPIAD

So London has been elected host of the Olympiad 2012.


IOC/S. Romeu

06 July 2005

The host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad will be
the city of London.

Results of the vote.

Essential Facts and Figures.


Backing the Bid:
David Beckham
"It would be great if the Games came to Britain where the people really appreciate their sport. Holding the Olympic football tournament throughout the UK will be a huge benefit to the game itself and enable thousands of people around the country to be directly involved in the Olympics."
Source: http://www.london2012.org/en/news/

Monday, July 4, 2005

Live 8 rocks the world, but will it help the poor?


The crowd gathers during the Live 8 Italy concert inside Rome's ancient Circus Maximus July 2, 2005. Photo by Max Rossi/Reuters

By Mike Collett-White and Mark Egan

LONDON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - After a galaxy of stars
rocked the world in the largest live concert ever held,
organisers on Sunday looked to a summit of rich nations
to see if people power would change policy on poverty.

Over a million people listened to rock and pop musicians
at venues across four continents on Saturday to demand
that leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised
countries meeting in Scotland on Wednesday relieve
African debt and boost aid.

Read story...