Electric nail files have been deemed the 'Most Pointless Gadget of All Time' in a new survey.
The files, which can be purchased for as much as 205 pounds, are supposed to give to give a perfect shape and smooth finish, reports the Sun of UK.
The survey, however, found that women are just as happy with a manual nail file costing just 2 pounds.
Laser guided scissors, which are supposed to help cut a perfect straight line, are the second most useless item listed in the top 20.
In the poll for review website reevoo.com, electric candles came third while sodastream stood fourth.
Rounding off the top five was foot spa.
The top 20 Most Pointless Gadget of All Time are:
1. Electric nail files 2. Laser guided scissors 3. Electric candles 4. Soda stream 5. Foot spas 6. Fondue set 7. Hair crimpers 8. Egg boiler 9. Electric fluff remover 10. Electric carving knife 11. Trouser press 12. Face steamers 13. Teas made 14. Mini disk player 15. Facial tanners 16. Egg slicer 17. Electric tin openers 18. Yoghurt makers 19. Towel warmer 20.Back scratcher.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Inside The World's First Billion-Dollar Home
Courtesy:
While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park . The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.
Nita Ambani was no ordinary tourist. She is married to Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, and the fifth richest man in the world. (Lakshmi Mittal, ranked fourth, is an Indian citizen, but a resident of the U.K.)
Forbes estimated Ambani's net worth at $43 billion in March. Reliance Industries was founded by Mukesh's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1966, and is India 's most valuable firm by market capitalization. The couple, who have three children, currently live in a 22-story Mumbai tower that the family has spent years remodeling to meet its needs.
Like many families with the means to do so, the Ambanis wanted to build a custom home. They consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles , respectively. Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world's largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion. The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.
The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York , designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air. When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing a four-year process, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.
The home will cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size because of its custom measurements and fittings: A hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments).
The Ambani home, called Antilla, differs in that no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.
Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.
Pricey Pad Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla's living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.
Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian; 85% of the materials and labor will come from outside the U.S. , most of it from India .
What do you think of Ambami's home? Weigh in. Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.
Where possible, the designers say, whether it's for the silver railings, crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms. Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.
On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries.
For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden. In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a "W" shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns. Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building's exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.
The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea
While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park . The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.
Nita Ambani was no ordinary tourist. She is married to Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, and the fifth richest man in the world. (Lakshmi Mittal, ranked fourth, is an Indian citizen, but a resident of the U.K.)
Forbes estimated Ambani's net worth at $43 billion in March. Reliance Industries was founded by Mukesh's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1966, and is India 's most valuable firm by market capitalization. The couple, who have three children, currently live in a 22-story Mumbai tower that the family has spent years remodeling to meet its needs.
Like many families with the means to do so, the Ambanis wanted to build a custom home. They consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles , respectively. Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world's largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion. The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.
The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York , designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air. When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing a four-year process, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.
The home will cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size because of its custom measurements and fittings: A hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments).
The Ambani home, called Antilla, differs in that no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.
Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.
Pricey Pad Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla's living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.
Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian; 85% of the materials and labor will come from outside the U.S. , most of it from India .
What do you think of Ambami's home? Weigh in. Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.
Where possible, the designers say, whether it's for the silver railings, crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms. Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.
On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries.
For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden. In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a "W" shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns. Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building's exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.
The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Chasing Happiness
Source:
"Taking all things together on a scale of one to 10, how happy would you say you are?" With that question and a global survey, the folks at the World Database of Happiness have ranked 95 nations on a happiness scale.
Switzerland's citizens closely trail the Danish, each reporting an average happiness level of 8.1 (out of 10), followed by Iceland (7.8), Finland (7.7), Australia (7.7) and Sweden (7.7), all the way down to grim Moldova (3.5).
While the Netherlands ranks only 15th on the list of the world's happiest countries, its industrial capital, Rotterdam , is home to the database, housed at Erasmus University . Its director, Ruut Veenhoven, has made his life's work researching which nations are home to the happiest citizens.
Veenhoven's research shows that Scandinavian nations come out on top, making up five of the 13 happiest nations. Denmark tops the list as a whole--its citizens rank their average happiness as 8.2 on a 10-point scale.
Inspired by Veenhoven's rankings, former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio (and self-proclaimed grouch) Eric Weiner embarked on a quest to visit the happiest places on earth. In his book The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Weiner immerses himself in the cultural fabric of the world's happiest countries to pinpoint exactly why residents of some countries, like Iceland and Switzerland, are so downright satisfied with their lives.
The Swiss, Weiner discovered, are efficient and punctual, comparatively wealthy and face hardly any unemployment. Their streets, air and tap water are squeaky clean and chocolate is a national obsession. But Weiner saw no joy in their faces, and reasoned that perhaps it's better to live in this middle range than to vacillate between gleeful moments of elation and gut-wrenching spates of despair. Swiss happiness, he writes, is "more than mere contentment, but less than full-on joy."
Because the country is dark and cold, Weiner was initially skeptical about Iceland 's ranking as the fourth-happiest nation in the world. He learned the small nation is quite literally a family; curiously, geneticists have found that all Icelandic citizens are related.
Certain phrases in the Icelandic language, Weiner writes, are even more telling. When people greet each other, the phrase they use roughly translates to "come happy," and when people part, they utter the equivalent of "go happy." The country is a favorite stamping ground of artists and cultivates a creative spirit; the government supports writers with generous subsidies.
To provide a stark contrast to Iceland and Switzerland , Weiner visited Moldova . The citizens of this former Soviet republic, according to database figures, rate their happiness at 3.5. The nation, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine , had been relatively prosperous, but since the fall of the Berlin wall, per-capita income has fallen to only $880 per year.
But it's not just about money. Nigeria and Bangladesh are poorer and happier, Weiner points out, but Moldova compares itself to Italy and Germany . The country also lacks a distinct culture and any semblance of national pride. Government officials even speak Russian--the language of their oppressors for much of the last century.
So just how does the United States fit into this picture? "Happiness is there for the taking in America ," Weiner writes. "You just need the willpower to find it, and enough cash." The surprising fact, though, is that America is not as happy--scoring 7.3 and ranking 17th in the database--as it is wealthy. U.S. residents are three times richer than they were in 1950, but the happiness ratings haven't shifted in the past decade. After Sept. 11, researchers found no significant decrease in measured levels of happiness.
"Americans work longer hours and commute greater distances than virtually any other people in the world," Weiner writes, but "they remain profoundly optimistic." Two-thirds of Americans say they are hopeful about the future.
Can we predict happiness based on a country's collective "personality"? Not quite. So far, the data reveal national happiness doesn't predictably track average income, type of government--democracy versus dictatorship--or even warm climate.
So with Moldova at the bottom of the happiness ratings are former Soviet republics Belarus , Ukraine and Uzbekistan , alongside such troubled African nations as Tanzania , Rwanda and Zimbabwe . Thus, while wealth doesn't seem to generate happiness, extreme poverty is more likely to produce the opposite.
It's comforting, though, that most people in the world report being satisfied with their lives. "Virtually every country in the world scores somewhere between five and eight on a 10-point scale," Weiner writes. "There are a few exceptions." So while, admittedly, those Scandinavians have it pretty good, the rest of us aren't too far behind. And that's something to be happy about.
"Taking all things together on a scale of one to 10, how happy would you say you are?" With that question and a global survey, the folks at the World Database of Happiness have ranked 95 nations on a happiness scale.
Switzerland's citizens closely trail the Danish, each reporting an average happiness level of 8.1 (out of 10), followed by Iceland (7.8), Finland (7.7), Australia (7.7) and Sweden (7.7), all the way down to grim Moldova (3.5).
While the Netherlands ranks only 15th on the list of the world's happiest countries, its industrial capital, Rotterdam , is home to the database, housed at Erasmus University . Its director, Ruut Veenhoven, has made his life's work researching which nations are home to the happiest citizens.
Veenhoven's research shows that Scandinavian nations come out on top, making up five of the 13 happiest nations. Denmark tops the list as a whole--its citizens rank their average happiness as 8.2 on a 10-point scale.
Inspired by Veenhoven's rankings, former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio (and self-proclaimed grouch) Eric Weiner embarked on a quest to visit the happiest places on earth. In his book The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Weiner immerses himself in the cultural fabric of the world's happiest countries to pinpoint exactly why residents of some countries, like Iceland and Switzerland, are so downright satisfied with their lives.
The Swiss, Weiner discovered, are efficient and punctual, comparatively wealthy and face hardly any unemployment. Their streets, air and tap water are squeaky clean and chocolate is a national obsession. But Weiner saw no joy in their faces, and reasoned that perhaps it's better to live in this middle range than to vacillate between gleeful moments of elation and gut-wrenching spates of despair. Swiss happiness, he writes, is "more than mere contentment, but less than full-on joy."
Because the country is dark and cold, Weiner was initially skeptical about Iceland 's ranking as the fourth-happiest nation in the world. He learned the small nation is quite literally a family; curiously, geneticists have found that all Icelandic citizens are related.
Certain phrases in the Icelandic language, Weiner writes, are even more telling. When people greet each other, the phrase they use roughly translates to "come happy," and when people part, they utter the equivalent of "go happy." The country is a favorite stamping ground of artists and cultivates a creative spirit; the government supports writers with generous subsidies.
To provide a stark contrast to Iceland and Switzerland , Weiner visited Moldova . The citizens of this former Soviet republic, according to database figures, rate their happiness at 3.5. The nation, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine , had been relatively prosperous, but since the fall of the Berlin wall, per-capita income has fallen to only $880 per year.
But it's not just about money. Nigeria and Bangladesh are poorer and happier, Weiner points out, but Moldova compares itself to Italy and Germany . The country also lacks a distinct culture and any semblance of national pride. Government officials even speak Russian--the language of their oppressors for much of the last century.
So just how does the United States fit into this picture? "Happiness is there for the taking in America ," Weiner writes. "You just need the willpower to find it, and enough cash." The surprising fact, though, is that America is not as happy--scoring 7.3 and ranking 17th in the database--as it is wealthy. U.S. residents are three times richer than they were in 1950, but the happiness ratings haven't shifted in the past decade. After Sept. 11, researchers found no significant decrease in measured levels of happiness.
"Americans work longer hours and commute greater distances than virtually any other people in the world," Weiner writes, but "they remain profoundly optimistic." Two-thirds of Americans say they are hopeful about the future.
Can we predict happiness based on a country's collective "personality"? Not quite. So far, the data reveal national happiness doesn't predictably track average income, type of government--democracy versus dictatorship--or even warm climate.
So with Moldova at the bottom of the happiness ratings are former Soviet republics Belarus , Ukraine and Uzbekistan , alongside such troubled African nations as Tanzania , Rwanda and Zimbabwe . Thus, while wealth doesn't seem to generate happiness, extreme poverty is more likely to produce the opposite.
It's comforting, though, that most people in the world report being satisfied with their lives. "Virtually every country in the world scores somewhere between five and eight on a 10-point scale," Weiner writes. "There are a few exceptions." So while, admittedly, those Scandinavians have it pretty good, the rest of us aren't too far behind. And that's something to be happy about.
A dozen Asians among Britain 's best young entrepreneurs
A dozen young Asians, most of them ethnic Indians, are in the Daily Telegraph's Made It By 40 list of Britain's best young entrepreneurs, using a yardstick the paper said they all understand - wealth.
Heading the list - among several run by the paper this week - at number nine is Baljinder Kaur Boparan, who along with her husband Ranjit owns the chicken processing company Boparan Holdings. The family is said to be worth 130 million pounds ($250 million).
The others, with fortunes ranging from 56 to 106 million pounds, are:
* Mehan and Raj Sehgal of the fashion company Visage Holdings;
* Sanjay Vadera of the Fragrance Shop retail chain;
* Mayank Patel, who owns Currency Direct, a foreign exchange specialist;
* Sanjay Kumar of the textiles company Rajan Group;
* Arif and Munaf Patel, whose Faisaltex group of companies supplies socks, underwear and other children's clothing to discount stores;
* Shafqat Rasul, who runs E-Net Computers, claimed to be the biggest buyer of DVD and CD-media in the world;
* Sandeep Chadha, whose Supreme Imports Group is one of the largest sellers of batteries in Britain ;
* Raj Chatha, heads of the Halifax-based European Food Brokers, a major wine and beer company;
* Ajaz Ahmed, founder of Websign and interactive marketing agency AKQA, which employs over 650 people in New York , Washington DC, Amsterdam , Singapore , London and San Francisco .
All are 40 years or under, but their success does not surprise another former award-winning entrepreneur.
'These people are entrepreneurs, not businessmen. They love owning their businesses and hate being told what to do,' said Ab Banerjee, chairperson of Immediance, a global online trading platform for institutional investors and company shareholders.
'Their story is part of the way Indian immigration has taken place,' said Banerjee, a former Financial Times director whose Raw Communications was named by The Times newspaper as the fastest growing British private technology company in 2001, when he was only 36.
'The first generation came here, found jobs and put their children through the best education. The second generation has now come into their own,' he said.
However, the Daily Telegraph's list shows that many of the Asian entrepreneurs are still engaged in traditional Asian businesses: textiles, fashion, food processing and wholesaling.
Analysts predict the next generation of NRIs will dominate the world of finance. With a large number of them graduating from top universities to enter the banking and financial services sector, it's only a matter of time before they start out on their own.
'They have their entrepreneurial drive already. They will be money managers,' said Banerjee.
The drive and determination are evident in the Daily Telegraph list.
Chadha came to Britain with his parents at the age of two, but fled back to India at 15 in order to escape racist bullying at boarding school. He was the only Asian at school, and wore a turban.
Returning after a year, he cut his hair and began helping out with his father's business, selling fancy goods - imported clocks, watches, radios and toys - from the back of a van.
Today he is 40 and owns Supreme Imports, which sells 180 million batteries a year - roughly 20 percent of the British market - with a turnover of over 200 million pounds.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
It's just not cricket...Cheerleaders shake India
ReutersCheerleaders are taking Indian cricket by storm, but some are wondering if this conservative South Asian nation is ready for dancers with bulging breasts and gyrating bellies parading in packed stadia.
Many foreign cheerleaders have been imported to India with this month's inauguration of the India Premier League (IPL), a shortened form of traditional cricket that transforms the game into a more glitzy U.S.-style sponsored sport event.
But some outraged politicians say it is an affront to Indian culture while a few of the cheerleaders themselves complain lewd comment and insults from spectators is making their job a misery.
"It's been horrendous," Tabitha, a cheerleader from Uzbekistan , told the Hindustan Times newspaper."
"Wherever we go we do expect people to pass lewd, snide remarks but I'm shocked by the nature and magnitude of the comments people pass here."
The IPL has caught the imagination of India , a nation of 1.1 billion and the world's biggest cricket audience. TV rights sold for more than $900 million and players for eight teams, many imported from abroad, were auctioned for millions.
In contrast to the cliched cricket image of genteel spectators sipping tea while politely applauding their team, now scantily-clad dancers gyrate to Bollywood or Western-style dance music blaring out from loudspeakers in stadia.
Even well-known cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins flew to India to perform for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Photos of the dancers graced the front pages of most newspapers.
MORE VULGAR
"What the cheerleaders are doing during cricket matches is ten times more vulgar than what used to happen in dance bars of Mumbai," Nitin Gadkari, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra, home to the Mumbai Indians.
The BJP is India's main opposition party, which was part of a coalition which banned popular bars in Mumbai where girls would dance on stage to Bollywood tunes.
"If we could ban dance bars, how can we allow such vulgar dance in a cricket field. I am getting huge complaints and cheerleaders must be banned immediately from entering a cricket field," Gadkari said.
In the IT hub of Bangalore , Parvathi, a housewife, said U.S. cheerleaders were an affront to India .
"What is the purpose of this display? It is embarrassing," said Parvathi.
But Charu Sharma, chief executive of Bangalore Royal Challengers defended the cheerleaders.
"Let us not play this high handed moral belief game. It is only small maverick groups that are making a noise," Sharma told Reuters.
He told the Hindustan Times that security would be tightened for the dancers.
"We are aware of the concerns and can take nothing for granted. A security ring will be provided to them and everything that can be done will be done," Sharma said.
Some Indians said critics were hypocritical in a nation well known for its sensual Bollywood musicals.
"Our stars wear skimpy dresses in movies but nobody seems to protest. Why this double standards?" said Mohan, a marketing executive from Bangalore.
Coriander is Britain's best-selling herb
Britons' love for spicy aromatic Asian dishes has got them hooked to green leafy coriander, which according to a new survey, has now become the undisputed king of the kitchen as the best-selling herb in the country.
The herb, which is scattered on curries, baked in breads and simmered in soups, accounts for a quarter of all fresh herb sales, despite having only been grown commercially in Britain since the 1970s.
Basil comes in second with 19 per cent. This is followed by old favourite parsley, both flat-leaved and curly varieties.
The country's top ten herb chart was compiled by Fresh Herbs, an organisation representing British herb growers.
Parsley accounts for only 10 per cent of sales and basil 19 per cent.
"The popularity of coriander is being driven by our love of curry and Asian food," the Telegraph quoted a spokesman for Fresh Herbs, as saying.
"People have developed a taste for spicy aromatic dishes and are experimenting now more than ever with different fresh herbs varieties," the rep added.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
How To Make Money In The Middle East
Courtesy: Forbes.com
You don't need a kingdom to invest like a sheikh.
The Arabian Peninsula may be known for its arid deserts, but it's also home to a fertile oasis of economic growth. The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries-- Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)--channel their oil wealth into homeland economies and mammoth infrastructure projects. Grabbing a piece of regional trends in banking, construction and telecommunications could give your portfolio a boost.
In the last five years, gross domestic product in GCC countries has risen an average of 7%, according to Koon Chow, senior emerging markets strategist at Barclays Capital in London . In 2008, GCC countries should post 6% growth--a modest slowdown but much better than estimated global growth rates of 3.7%, as measured by purchasing power parity.
Including GCC interests in your portfolio adds a protective layer of diversification. Economists say Middle Eastern economies are decoupling from the U.S. because so much of their growth is focused internally. That means they're protected from America 's economic slowdown, since domestically focused industries won't be damaged by softness in U.S. demand. Meanwhile, oil revenues reinvested into local economies should help keep out Western credit-crisis woes.
Citigroup Middle East and Africa equity strategist Andrew Howell pegs the region's correlation to world markets at about 40%, which means the GCC is unlikely to follow U.S. equities' downward trend. Other emerging markets have a 90% correlation, making GCC investments a better bet.
Poorer but still fast-growing countries in the Middle East, like Egypt , are a valuable part of any region-wide investment strategy. T. Rowe Price's Africa and Middle East fund has 27.7% invested in the United Arab Emirates , 20% in Egypt , 17.1% in Qatar and 12.6% in Oman . Smaller holdings include equities from South Africa , Bahrain , Jordan , Lebanon and Nigeria .
The fund is up 3.29% in the year-to-date, much better than its S&P-linked equity Index 500, which is down 7.28%. You can buy into the actively managed equity fund with just $2,500 to get sizable exposure to the region.
Construction, real estate, telecommunications, banking and finance are some of the fastest-growing industries in the region. Local investors support these industries by directing oil wealth into domestic share markets, which desensitizes them to negative global trends. This makes GCC equities more appealing and likely to deliver above-average returns, says Barclay's Koon Chow.
But outside of certain free zones, accessing Middle Eastern equities is no easy task. Markets like the UAE and Qatar limit foreign ownership of local companies to 49%, and Saudi Arabia 's equities remain closed to foreign ownership. HSBC global emerging market equities analyst Alex Tarver warns that U.S. investors may find these new markets less transparent and efficient than what they're used to, and would do well to employ expert analysis before they put their money on the line.
These stumbling blocks have led to the creation of Middle East North Africa funds, many of which add risk and subtract reward. MENA funds tend to be heavily weighted toward North African equities, which are easier to access than Middle East stocks but boast less promising economic performance. To avoid disappointment, Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Strategist David Darst suggests checking country allocations to ensure balanced exposure to both regions before adding a fund to your shopping list.
"You'd want to know it is 'X' amount Morocco and 'X' amount Egypt , which are not the same as Abu Dhabi and Saudi and Dubai ," says Darst.
If you really want to invest like a local, you may want to explore the world of Islamic finance through Sharia-compliant funds. These mutual funds pick their investments in accordance with the religious rules that make up Sharia law, eschewing investments in industries deemed unethical, including gambling, alcohol and pornography. They also stay out of much of the financial sector, which is considered too close to gambling--a quirk that has kept them protected from the West's recent subprime lending crisis. (See "Managed By God.")
The region has also embraced sukuks, or Sharia-compliant bonds. Since interest is forbidden under Sharia law, companies enter sale-and-leaseback arrangements with trusts that issue certificates called sukuks. Convertible sukuks take the Islamic principle of shared risk to heart by converting into shares if the company goes public, and buyers of convertible sukuks may find themselves first in line for a company's initial public offering. The instruments may seem opaque, but many sukuk issues are now listed on the London Stock Exchange, making access and acceptance easier.
If you're looking for low risk and solid returns, steer clear of local currencies like the Saudi riyal or the Dubai durham . Many of the region's currencies are pegged to the dollar, an arrangement blamed for overheating local economies and importing inflation, which is as high as 11% in the UAE and 14% in Qatar . Analysts argue that revaluation is in order, a stance that received a boost last May when Kuwait de-pegged its dinar from the dollar, shifting to a floating basket exchange system. The move has been a boon for Kuwait 's economy, says HSBC's Tarver, and the dinar has appreciated 3.5% against the dollar.
If another Middle East country were to revalue or float its currency, assets denominated in that currency would automatically appreciate against the dollar. Market speculation is that Qatar and Saudi Arabia might be likely to make the move. But Barclay's Chow warns that even though the economic case for revaluation may be strong, investors shouldn't expect it to happen soon.
You don't need a kingdom to invest like a sheikh.
The Arabian Peninsula may be known for its arid deserts, but it's also home to a fertile oasis of economic growth. The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries-- Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)--channel their oil wealth into homeland economies and mammoth infrastructure projects. Grabbing a piece of regional trends in banking, construction and telecommunications could give your portfolio a boost.
In the last five years, gross domestic product in GCC countries has risen an average of 7%, according to Koon Chow, senior emerging markets strategist at Barclays Capital in London . In 2008, GCC countries should post 6% growth--a modest slowdown but much better than estimated global growth rates of 3.7%, as measured by purchasing power parity.
Including GCC interests in your portfolio adds a protective layer of diversification. Economists say Middle Eastern economies are decoupling from the U.S. because so much of their growth is focused internally. That means they're protected from America 's economic slowdown, since domestically focused industries won't be damaged by softness in U.S. demand. Meanwhile, oil revenues reinvested into local economies should help keep out Western credit-crisis woes.
Citigroup Middle East and Africa equity strategist Andrew Howell pegs the region's correlation to world markets at about 40%, which means the GCC is unlikely to follow U.S. equities' downward trend. Other emerging markets have a 90% correlation, making GCC investments a better bet.
Poorer but still fast-growing countries in the Middle East, like Egypt , are a valuable part of any region-wide investment strategy. T. Rowe Price's Africa and Middle East fund has 27.7% invested in the United Arab Emirates , 20% in Egypt , 17.1% in Qatar and 12.6% in Oman . Smaller holdings include equities from South Africa , Bahrain , Jordan , Lebanon and Nigeria .
The fund is up 3.29% in the year-to-date, much better than its S&P-linked equity Index 500, which is down 7.28%. You can buy into the actively managed equity fund with just $2,500 to get sizable exposure to the region.
Construction, real estate, telecommunications, banking and finance are some of the fastest-growing industries in the region. Local investors support these industries by directing oil wealth into domestic share markets, which desensitizes them to negative global trends. This makes GCC equities more appealing and likely to deliver above-average returns, says Barclay's Koon Chow.
But outside of certain free zones, accessing Middle Eastern equities is no easy task. Markets like the UAE and Qatar limit foreign ownership of local companies to 49%, and Saudi Arabia 's equities remain closed to foreign ownership. HSBC global emerging market equities analyst Alex Tarver warns that U.S. investors may find these new markets less transparent and efficient than what they're used to, and would do well to employ expert analysis before they put their money on the line.
These stumbling blocks have led to the creation of Middle East North Africa funds, many of which add risk and subtract reward. MENA funds tend to be heavily weighted toward North African equities, which are easier to access than Middle East stocks but boast less promising economic performance. To avoid disappointment, Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Strategist David Darst suggests checking country allocations to ensure balanced exposure to both regions before adding a fund to your shopping list.
"You'd want to know it is 'X' amount Morocco and 'X' amount Egypt , which are not the same as Abu Dhabi and Saudi and Dubai ," says Darst.
If you really want to invest like a local, you may want to explore the world of Islamic finance through Sharia-compliant funds. These mutual funds pick their investments in accordance with the religious rules that make up Sharia law, eschewing investments in industries deemed unethical, including gambling, alcohol and pornography. They also stay out of much of the financial sector, which is considered too close to gambling--a quirk that has kept them protected from the West's recent subprime lending crisis. (See "Managed By God.")
The region has also embraced sukuks, or Sharia-compliant bonds. Since interest is forbidden under Sharia law, companies enter sale-and-leaseback arrangements with trusts that issue certificates called sukuks. Convertible sukuks take the Islamic principle of shared risk to heart by converting into shares if the company goes public, and buyers of convertible sukuks may find themselves first in line for a company's initial public offering. The instruments may seem opaque, but many sukuk issues are now listed on the London Stock Exchange, making access and acceptance easier.
If you're looking for low risk and solid returns, steer clear of local currencies like the Saudi riyal or the Dubai durham . Many of the region's currencies are pegged to the dollar, an arrangement blamed for overheating local economies and importing inflation, which is as high as 11% in the UAE and 14% in Qatar . Analysts argue that revaluation is in order, a stance that received a boost last May when Kuwait de-pegged its dinar from the dollar, shifting to a floating basket exchange system. The move has been a boon for Kuwait 's economy, says HSBC's Tarver, and the dinar has appreciated 3.5% against the dollar.
If another Middle East country were to revalue or float its currency, assets denominated in that currency would automatically appreciate against the dollar. Market speculation is that Qatar and Saudi Arabia might be likely to make the move. But Barclay's Chow warns that even though the economic case for revaluation may be strong, investors shouldn't expect it to happen soon.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Porn star's campaign weapon is her bottom
She had no desire to be just another smiling face in Italian politics. So when porn star Milly D'Abbraccio designed her campaign posters, it was obvious she was going to show off her bottom.
Targeting her male fan base, the veteran of Italy's adult entertainment industry has plastered images of her derriere all around the Eternal City in a bid to win a seat in Rome's city hall. If elected, D'Abbraccio wants to create a red light area with strip clubs, erotic discos and sex shops called "Love City" just kilometers away from the Vatican. "It would be something cute, clean -- nothing to do with prostitution," said the actress whose films include The Kiss of the Cobra and Paolina Borghese , Imperial Nymphomaniac .
D'Abbraccio, in her 40s, isn't the first adult entertainer to dip her painted toenails into Italian politics. Ilona Staller, known as "Cicciolina," sat in parliament in the 1980s and was famous for her impromptu stripteases.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
World's Ultimate Unplugged Vacations
Courtesy: Forbes.com
It's getting harder to escape the blinking light of one's BlackBerry while on vacation. The handheld device is now supported in 135 countries and available from over 350 carriers and channels.
Travelers might also be surprised to hear cellphones ring in the Yosemite Valley, Galapagos Islands and even on Mount Everest. Not only are these remote destinations now rigged for basic cellphone service, wireless Internet is available at local hotels and resorts.
That's not so good for those seeking a reprieve from the daily grind.
Just 10 years ago, finding an area untouched by widespread digital technology was easy. But growing demand for cellphone coverage and wireless Internet access in even the most far-flung locales has changed that. Now those seeking a vacation from work and technology are left with two choices: travel far out of range or practice self-restraint.
Leaving The Wired World
Dropping out of the world's many cellphone networks requires finding a very remote vacation spot. Eighty percent of the world's population currently has cellular coverage of some type. By 2010, that number will jump to 90%, according to Wireless Intelligence, a data research service provided by the GSM Association, a trade organization of mobile operators.
As Internet, cellular and data coverage has expanded, the expectations of business executives to stay connected while on vacation have kept apace.
"If you take on a CEO job," says Adam Weissenberg, Deloitte's vice chairman and U.S. tourism, hospitality and leisure leader, "there's an expectation that you'll be available."
Deloitte's research has shown that demand for amenities like wireless Internet, particularly among business travelers, has prompted some previously unwired hotels and resorts to install it for a competitive advantage.
A Deloitte survey of 2,000 business travelers conducted last year also showed that one-third of respondents checked and replied to work e-mails and voice mails while on vacation.
Lisa Lindblad, who runs Manhattan-based Lisa Lindblad Travel Design, says that she never fields requests for so-called unplugged vacations. Instead, her clients want guaranteed access to the outside world.
How To Unplug
Those that don't should head to the Gobi Desert and Alaskan wilderness, two destinations where coverage is still minimal. While cellphone companies service parts of Mongolia, the country is mostly without a signal, including at the Three Camel Lodge in the Gurvansaikhan National Park. The lodge serves as a base camp from which to explore the foothills of the Gobi-Altai Mountains and nearby sand dunes. Guests, who are also without wireless Internet, stay in traditional, furnished felt tents used by nomadic herders.
The Ultima Thule Lodge is located in the Alaskan Wrangell Mountains, which is also out of cellphone range. Guests, who stay in rustic cabins, spend their time discovering glaciers, admiring the Northern Lights and viewing the wilderness by small plane. Travelers can also try Morocco where guests of the spa hotel Ksar Massa relax uninterrupted by technology on an isolated beach in the Souss-Massa national park.
At the Smith Fork Ranch on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains , guests have wireless Internet, but no cellphone service. Andy Adams, the ranch's general manager, says that executives are often so distracted by fishing, hiking and enjoying three-hour dinners, that there's "no time for them to sit there and start typing e-mails."
Visitors may attend to small details, like asking the staff to fax an important paper, but most, says Adams , try to avoid spending their week-long vacation--which can cost up to $21,000 when renting a riverside cabin--on work.
Destinations like these, which offer either Internet or cellphone service, can actually aid executives in setting boundaries on vacation while remaining reachable. But they are increasingly harder to find, particularly as demand for cellphone and Internet service grows in places like China, India and Africa. Even once-isolated areas like Antarctica and the Australian outback now have cellphone or high-speed data service.
Weissenberg says the key to unplugging is moderation and delegation. He recommends leaving a list of 10 people who can handle different tasks, hiring a savvy assistant who knows what merits interrupting your vacation and setting a limit on the number of times you check e-mail each day.
"If you let technology run your vacation," he says, "you can easily run into that trap of being [online] the whole time."
It's getting harder to escape the blinking light of one's BlackBerry while on vacation. The handheld device is now supported in 135 countries and available from over 350 carriers and channels.
Travelers might also be surprised to hear cellphones ring in the Yosemite Valley, Galapagos Islands and even on Mount Everest. Not only are these remote destinations now rigged for basic cellphone service, wireless Internet is available at local hotels and resorts.
That's not so good for those seeking a reprieve from the daily grind.
Just 10 years ago, finding an area untouched by widespread digital technology was easy. But growing demand for cellphone coverage and wireless Internet access in even the most far-flung locales has changed that. Now those seeking a vacation from work and technology are left with two choices: travel far out of range or practice self-restraint.
Leaving The Wired World
Dropping out of the world's many cellphone networks requires finding a very remote vacation spot. Eighty percent of the world's population currently has cellular coverage of some type. By 2010, that number will jump to 90%, according to Wireless Intelligence, a data research service provided by the GSM Association, a trade organization of mobile operators.
As Internet, cellular and data coverage has expanded, the expectations of business executives to stay connected while on vacation have kept apace.
"If you take on a CEO job," says Adam Weissenberg, Deloitte's vice chairman and U.S. tourism, hospitality and leisure leader, "there's an expectation that you'll be available."
Deloitte's research has shown that demand for amenities like wireless Internet, particularly among business travelers, has prompted some previously unwired hotels and resorts to install it for a competitive advantage.
A Deloitte survey of 2,000 business travelers conducted last year also showed that one-third of respondents checked and replied to work e-mails and voice mails while on vacation.
Lisa Lindblad, who runs Manhattan-based Lisa Lindblad Travel Design, says that she never fields requests for so-called unplugged vacations. Instead, her clients want guaranteed access to the outside world.
How To Unplug
Those that don't should head to the Gobi Desert and Alaskan wilderness, two destinations where coverage is still minimal. While cellphone companies service parts of Mongolia, the country is mostly without a signal, including at the Three Camel Lodge in the Gurvansaikhan National Park. The lodge serves as a base camp from which to explore the foothills of the Gobi-Altai Mountains and nearby sand dunes. Guests, who are also without wireless Internet, stay in traditional, furnished felt tents used by nomadic herders.
The Ultima Thule Lodge is located in the Alaskan Wrangell Mountains, which is also out of cellphone range. Guests, who stay in rustic cabins, spend their time discovering glaciers, admiring the Northern Lights and viewing the wilderness by small plane. Travelers can also try Morocco where guests of the spa hotel Ksar Massa relax uninterrupted by technology on an isolated beach in the Souss-Massa national park.
At the Smith Fork Ranch on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains , guests have wireless Internet, but no cellphone service. Andy Adams, the ranch's general manager, says that executives are often so distracted by fishing, hiking and enjoying three-hour dinners, that there's "no time for them to sit there and start typing e-mails."
Visitors may attend to small details, like asking the staff to fax an important paper, but most, says Adams , try to avoid spending their week-long vacation--which can cost up to $21,000 when renting a riverside cabin--on work.
Destinations like these, which offer either Internet or cellphone service, can actually aid executives in setting boundaries on vacation while remaining reachable. But they are increasingly harder to find, particularly as demand for cellphone and Internet service grows in places like China, India and Africa. Even once-isolated areas like Antarctica and the Australian outback now have cellphone or high-speed data service.
Weissenberg says the key to unplugging is moderation and delegation. He recommends leaving a list of 10 people who can handle different tasks, hiring a savvy assistant who knows what merits interrupting your vacation and setting a limit on the number of times you check e-mail each day.
"If you let technology run your vacation," he says, "you can easily run into that trap of being [online] the whole time."
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Olympic torch run ends in Delhi minus violence
Guarded by as many as 17,000 security personnel, the Beijing Olympic torch was taken through a 2.3 km stretch in the Indian national capital today (Thursday, April 17th) with Tibetans protesting in various places in the country.
For over five hours, the majestic Rajpath was turned into a security fortress with the Prime Minister's office and Ministries of Defence, External Affairs and Finance lining the torch route from Rashtrapati Bhavan shut down.
The truncated run that lasted for about 40 minutes was smooth and incident free.
With a three-layered security ring akin to Republic Day arrangements in place, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit handed over the Olympic flame to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi after it was lit by Vice-Chairman of Beijing Olympics Organising Committee Jiang Yu with the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan forming the backdrop.
'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh, one of India's greatest athletes, had the honour to lead the relay before the torch changed hands with nearly 70 celebrites including sportsmen, film stars and politicians taking short runs culminating at the India gate.
Sportsmen Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati, Aslam Sher Khan, Dhanraj Pillay, Zafar Iqbal, Wilson Cherian, Khazan Singh, K Malleswari, K Kunjurani, Bishen Singh Bedi were among others who took part in the event. The Indian film industry was represented by popular actors Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan.
Around 60 Tibetans were detained as they attempted to block roads and entered into minor clashes with police in various parts of the city.
The public was kept out and all the access roads to the historic stretch was cut off for several hours to ensure a smooth passage of the torch relay which was earlier plagued by disruptions in London, San Francisco and Paris.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Smoking encourages infection
Smoking is a health hazard known to all. But if you're still not able to kick the habit, here's another reason why you should - smoking encourages infection, says a new study.
According to a new study, nicotine affects neutrophils, the short-lived white blood cells that defend against infection, by reducing their ability to seek and destroy bacteria.
Neutrophils are generated by our bone marrow, which they leave as terminally differentiated cells.
Although nicotine is known to affect neutrophils, there has been no study until now of the mechanisms at work when nicotine is present during neutrophil differentiation.
David Scott from the Oral Health and Systemic Disease Research Group at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Kentucky, USA, along with a team of international colleagues decided to investigate how nicotine influenced the differentiation process.
The authors suggest the processes they observed as contributing to impaired neutrophil function partially explain chronic tobacco users' increased susceptibility to bacterial infection and inflammatory diseases.
In the study, the research team modeled the neutrophil differentiation process beginning with promyelocytic HL-60 cells, which differentiated into neutrophils following dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) treatment both with and without nicotine.
The researchers found that nicotine increased the percentage of cells in late differentiation phases (metamyelocytes, banded neutrophils and segmented neutrophils) compared to DMSO alone, but did not affect other neutrophil differentiation markers that they examined.
However, the nicotine treated neutrophils were less able to seek and destroy bacteria than nicotine-free neutrophils. The nicotine suppressed the oxidative burst in HL-60 cells, a function that helps kill invading bacteria. Nicotine also increased MMP-9 release, a factor involved in tissue degradation.
"It must be acknowledged that our study model, DMSO-differentiated HL-60 cells, are not entirely similar to normal neutrophils. However, this leukemic human cell line does permit the reproducible study of differentiation while retaining many of the key effector functions of primary neutrophils," said Scott.
The study is published in the open access journal BMC Cell Biology.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
US man sells domain name for $2.6 mn
When Chris Clark bought the domain name pizza.com in 1994, he never thought in his wildest dreams that it would fetch him 2.6 million dollars after 14 years.
Forty-three-year-old Clark maintained the site for just 20 dollars a year and has finally sold it for a whopping 2.6m dollars, after accepting an offer from an anonymous bidder after a week-long online auction.
The North Potomac, Maryland, native sounded ecstatic over his new fortune.
In an interview to the Baltimore Sun newspaper, he said: "It's crazy, it's just crazy. It will make a significant difference in my life, for sure."
Clark bought pizza.com when the world wide web started, hoping that it would help to get a contract with a pizza firm for his consulting company. Though he sold his business in 2000, he kept paying the 20 dollars annual fees for maintaining the domain, which he also used to sell advertisements.
However, the decision to sell it came in January when he heard that another domain - Vodka.com - was sold for three million dollars in 2006.
"I thought, 'Why don't I just try to see what the level of interest is?' If someone's willing to pay that much for Vodka.com, maybe there's more interest in pizza.com," he said.
On Mar 27 the online auction was launched and the first bid was 100 dollars, which skyrocketed to 2.6m dollars just a week later.
He accepted the latter offer and now Clark is expecting to get the cash in his hand after the transaction gets completed.
He said he repents not buying more domain names in the 1990s.
Forty-three-year-old Clark maintained the site for just 20 dollars a year and has finally sold it for a whopping 2.6m dollars, after accepting an offer from an anonymous bidder after a week-long online auction.
The North Potomac, Maryland, native sounded ecstatic over his new fortune.
In an interview to the Baltimore Sun newspaper, he said: "It's crazy, it's just crazy. It will make a significant difference in my life, for sure."
Clark bought pizza.com when the world wide web started, hoping that it would help to get a contract with a pizza firm for his consulting company. Though he sold his business in 2000, he kept paying the 20 dollars annual fees for maintaining the domain, which he also used to sell advertisements.
However, the decision to sell it came in January when he heard that another domain - Vodka.com - was sold for three million dollars in 2006.
"I thought, 'Why don't I just try to see what the level of interest is?' If someone's willing to pay that much for Vodka.com, maybe there's more interest in pizza.com," he said.
On Mar 27 the online auction was launched and the first bid was 100 dollars, which skyrocketed to 2.6m dollars just a week later.
He accepted the latter offer and now Clark is expecting to get the cash in his hand after the transaction gets completed.
He said he repents not buying more domain names in the 1990s.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Life's little mysteries: Why do women wear high heels and why did the kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
This article was extracted from "The Economic Naturalist" by Robert H Frank (£7.99), published by Virgin Books on April 3.
Why do women wear high heels? Why are soft drinks in round containers while milk cartons are rectangular? And why did kamikaze pilots bother with helmets? Here, ROBERT H FRANK uses economics to explain the weird and wonderful situations we encounter in everyday life.
Why do women endure the discomfort of high heels?
High heels are uncomfortable and make walking more difficult. Prolonged use can injure the feet, knees and back. So why do women keep wearing them?
The short answer seems to be that women in heels are more likely to attract favourable notice.
In Sense And Sensibility, Jane Austen describes the character Elinor Dashwood as having a "delicate complexion, regular features, and... remarkably pretty figure".
But Austen describes Elinor's sister, Marianne, as "still handsomer. Her form, though not so correct as her sister's, in having the advantage of height, was more striking".
In addition to making women taller, high heels force the back to arch, pushing the bosom forward and the buttocks rearward, thus accentuating the female form.
"Men like an exaggerated female figure," writes fashion historian Caroline Cox. The problem is that if all women wear high heels, such advantages tend to cancel out.
Height, after all, is a relative phenomenon. It may be advantageous to be taller than others, or at least not to be several inches shorter. But when all wear shoes that make them several inches taller, the relative height distribution is unaffected, so no one appears taller than if all had worn flat heels.
If women could decide collectively what shoes to wear, all might agree to forgo high heels. But because any individual can gain advantage by wearing them, such an agreement might be hard to maintain.
Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
On the heels of significant military setbacks in 1944, the Japanese military launched a campaign of kamikaze attacks, in which pilots attempted to crash their planes into American warships. Their aeroplanes were heavily laden with explosives, so a crash meant almost certain death for the pilot. Why, then, did these pilots wear helmets?
One reason is that in at least some instances, kamikaze pilots survived their missions. Another is that planes commonly experienced severe turbulence before reaching their targets, and in these cases Japanese military commanders had clear reasons for wanting their pilots to be adequately protected.
Perhaps even more important, the aviator's helmet had become emblematic of what it meant to be a pilot. Kamikaze pilots were pilots, and all pilots wear helmets.
But the most compelling explanation for why kamikaze pilots wore helmets is that it was not the express intention that these pilots commit suicide. Their charge was to destroy their targets by any means necessary. But the hope was that the pilots would return safely, even though the expectation was that most would not.
Why do women's clothes button from the left, while men's button from the right?
It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers might adhere to uniform standards for the various features of garments bought by any given group.
What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is precisely the opposite of the one for men. If the standard were completely arbitrary, that would be one thing. But the men's standard would appear to make more sense for women as well.
Around 90 per cent of the world's population is right-handed, and it is easier for right-handers to button shirts from the right. So why do women's garments button from the left?
This is an example in which history seems to matter. When buttons first appeared in the 17th century, they were seen only on garments of the wealthy. At that time it was the custom for rich men to dress themselves and for women to be dressed by servants.
Having women's shirts button from the left thus made things easier for the mostly right-handed servants who dressed them. Having men's shirts button from the right made sense not only because most men dressed themselves, but also because a sword drawn from the left hip with the right hand would be less likely to become caught in the shirt. Today, virtually no women are dressed by servants, so why is buttoning from the left still the norm for women?
In economics, a norm, once established, resists change. At a time when all women's shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women's shirts that buttoned from the right.
After all, women had grown accustomed to shirts that buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch.
Beyond that practical difficulty, some women might also have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed would assume they were wearing men's shirts.
Why are petrol caps on the driver's side of some cars but the passenger's side of others?
One OF the most frustrating experiences of driving a hire car is to pull up at a fuel pump as you would when driving your own car, only to discover that the fuel tank is located on the other side. Car manufacturers could eliminate this difficulty simply by putting petrol caps always on the same side of the car. Why don't they?
In countries in which motorists drive on the right side of the road, such as the U.S., it is easier to turn right than to turn left across oncoming traffic. A majority of drivers will thus buy fuel at stations they can enter by turning right.
Suppose fuel tanks were always on the driver's side of the car. Drivers would then have to park on the right side of an open pump in order to fill their tanks.
During busy times, all spots on the right sides of pumps would be filled even while most spots on the left sides of pumps remained empty.
Putting petrol caps on different sides of different cars means that some cars can access pumps from the left. And this makes it less likely that drivers will have to queue for fuel.
Why do women wear high heels? Why are soft drinks in round containers while milk cartons are rectangular? And why did kamikaze pilots bother with helmets? Here, ROBERT H FRANK uses economics to explain the weird and wonderful situations we encounter in everyday life.
Why do women endure the discomfort of high heels?
High heels are uncomfortable and make walking more difficult. Prolonged use can injure the feet, knees and back. So why do women keep wearing them?
The short answer seems to be that women in heels are more likely to attract favourable notice.
In Sense And Sensibility, Jane Austen describes the character Elinor Dashwood as having a "delicate complexion, regular features, and... remarkably pretty figure".
But Austen describes Elinor's sister, Marianne, as "still handsomer. Her form, though not so correct as her sister's, in having the advantage of height, was more striking".
In addition to making women taller, high heels force the back to arch, pushing the bosom forward and the buttocks rearward, thus accentuating the female form.
"Men like an exaggerated female figure," writes fashion historian Caroline Cox. The problem is that if all women wear high heels, such advantages tend to cancel out.
Height, after all, is a relative phenomenon. It may be advantageous to be taller than others, or at least not to be several inches shorter. But when all wear shoes that make them several inches taller, the relative height distribution is unaffected, so no one appears taller than if all had worn flat heels.
If women could decide collectively what shoes to wear, all might agree to forgo high heels. But because any individual can gain advantage by wearing them, such an agreement might be hard to maintain.
Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
On the heels of significant military setbacks in 1944, the Japanese military launched a campaign of kamikaze attacks, in which pilots attempted to crash their planes into American warships. Their aeroplanes were heavily laden with explosives, so a crash meant almost certain death for the pilot. Why, then, did these pilots wear helmets?
One reason is that in at least some instances, kamikaze pilots survived their missions. Another is that planes commonly experienced severe turbulence before reaching their targets, and in these cases Japanese military commanders had clear reasons for wanting their pilots to be adequately protected.
Perhaps even more important, the aviator's helmet had become emblematic of what it meant to be a pilot. Kamikaze pilots were pilots, and all pilots wear helmets.
But the most compelling explanation for why kamikaze pilots wore helmets is that it was not the express intention that these pilots commit suicide. Their charge was to destroy their targets by any means necessary. But the hope was that the pilots would return safely, even though the expectation was that most would not.
Why do women's clothes button from the left, while men's button from the right?
It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers might adhere to uniform standards for the various features of garments bought by any given group.
What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is precisely the opposite of the one for men. If the standard were completely arbitrary, that would be one thing. But the men's standard would appear to make more sense for women as well.
Around 90 per cent of the world's population is right-handed, and it is easier for right-handers to button shirts from the right. So why do women's garments button from the left?
This is an example in which history seems to matter. When buttons first appeared in the 17th century, they were seen only on garments of the wealthy. At that time it was the custom for rich men to dress themselves and for women to be dressed by servants.
Having women's shirts button from the left thus made things easier for the mostly right-handed servants who dressed them. Having men's shirts button from the right made sense not only because most men dressed themselves, but also because a sword drawn from the left hip with the right hand would be less likely to become caught in the shirt. Today, virtually no women are dressed by servants, so why is buttoning from the left still the norm for women?
In economics, a norm, once established, resists change. At a time when all women's shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women's shirts that buttoned from the right.
After all, women had grown accustomed to shirts that buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch.
Beyond that practical difficulty, some women might also have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed would assume they were wearing men's shirts.
Why are petrol caps on the driver's side of some cars but the passenger's side of others?
One OF the most frustrating experiences of driving a hire car is to pull up at a fuel pump as you would when driving your own car, only to discover that the fuel tank is located on the other side. Car manufacturers could eliminate this difficulty simply by putting petrol caps always on the same side of the car. Why don't they?
In countries in which motorists drive on the right side of the road, such as the U.S., it is easier to turn right than to turn left across oncoming traffic. A majority of drivers will thus buy fuel at stations they can enter by turning right.
Suppose fuel tanks were always on the driver's side of the car. Drivers would then have to park on the right side of an open pump in order to fill their tanks.
During busy times, all spots on the right sides of pumps would be filled even while most spots on the left sides of pumps remained empty.
Putting petrol caps on different sides of different cars means that some cars can access pumps from the left. And this makes it less likely that drivers will have to queue for fuel.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Top Ten April Fool's Day Hoaxes...
(As judged by notoriety, absurdity, and number of people duped)
#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest:
In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
#2: Sidd Finch:
In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.
#3: Instant Color TV:
In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.
#4: The Taco Liberty Bell:
In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
#5: San Serriffe:
In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades
#6: Nixon for President:
In 1992 National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little
#7: Alabama Changes the Value of Pi:
The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.
#8: The Left-Handed Whopper:
In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."
#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers:
In its April 1995 issue Discover Magazine announced that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.
#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity:
In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.
#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest:
In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
#2: Sidd Finch:
In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.
#3: Instant Color TV:
In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.
#4: The Taco Liberty Bell:
In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
#5: San Serriffe:
In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades
#6: Nixon for President:
In 1992 National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little
#7: Alabama Changes the Value of Pi:
The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.
#8: The Left-Handed Whopper:
In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."
#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers:
In its April 1995 issue Discover Magazine announced that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.
#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity:
In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.
The origin of April Fool's Day
The origin of April Fool's Day remains clouded in obscurity. Basically no one knows exactly where, when, or why the celebration began. What we do know is that references to 'All Fool's Day' (what April Fool's Day was first called) began to appear in Europe during the late Middle Ages. All Fool's Day was a folk celebration and elite participation in it was minimal (which is why it's so difficult to trace the exact origin of the day, because the people celebrating it back then weren't the kind of people who kept records of what they did). But what is clear is that the tradition of a day devoted to foolery has ancient roots. As we look back in time we find many ancient predecessors of April Fool's Day.
Throughout antiquity numerous festivals included celebrations of foolery and trickery. The Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival observed at the end of December, was the most important of these. It involved dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. People exchanged gifts, slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day. By the fourth century AD the Saturnalia had transformed into a January 1 New Year's Day celebration, and many of its traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas.
In late March the Romans honored the resurrection of Attis, son of the Great Mother Cybele, with the Hilaria celebration. This involved rejoicing and the donning of disguises.
Further afield in India there was Holi, known as the festival of color, during which street celebrants threw tinted powders at each other, until everyone was covered in garish colors from head to toe. This holiday was held on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna (usually the end of February or the beginning of March).
Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. And there were also popular Northern European customs that made sport of the hierarchy of the Druids.
All of these celebrations could have served as precedents for April Fool's Day.
During the middle ages, a number of celebrations developed which served as direct predecessors to April Fool's Day. The most important of these was the Festus Fatuorum (the Feast of Fools) which evolved out of the Saturnalia. On this day (mostly observed in France) celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. The church, of course, did its best to discourage this holiday, but it lingered on until the sixteenth century. Following the suppression of the Feast of Fools, merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival.
There was also the medieval figure of the Fool, the symbolic patron saint of the day. Fools became prominent in late medieval Europe, practicing their craft in a variety of settings such as town squares and royal courts. Their distinctive dress remains well known today: multicolored robe, horned hat, and sceptre and bauble.
There have been quite a few attempts to provide mythological explanations for the rise of April Fool's Day.
For instance, it was once popular to attempt to christianize the celebration by locating its origin somewhere in Biblical traditions. In one such version, the day's origin is attributed to Noah's mistake of sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters had subsided (thereby sending the dove on a fool's errand). A second story tells that the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from Pilate to Herod" (an old term for sending someone on a fool's errand) was often pointed to as proof of this origin theory.
But there are rival mythological explanations linking the celebration to pagan roots. For instance, April Fool's Day was often traced back to Roman mythology, particularly the myth of Ceres and Proserpina. In Roman mythology Pluto, the God of the Dead, abducted Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld. Proserpina called out to her mother Ceres (the Goddess of grain and the harvest) for help, but Ceres, who could only hear the echo of her daughter's voice, searched in vain for Proserpina. The fruitless search of Ceres for her daughter (commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia) was believed by some to have been the mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st.
British folklore links April Fool's Day to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was traditional in the 13th century for any road that the King placed his foot upon to become public property. So when the citizens of Gotham heard that King John planned to travel through their town, they refused him entry, not wishing to lose their main road. When the King heard this, he sent soldiers to the town. But when the soldiers arrived in Gotham, they found the town full of lunatics engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. Their foolery was all an act, but the King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. And ever since then, April Fool's Day has supposedly commemmorated their trickery.
The most widespread theory about the origin of April Fool's Day involves the Gregorian calendar reform of the late sixteenth century.
The theory goes like this: In 1582 France became the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar established by the Council of Trent (1563). This switch meant, among other things, that the beginning of the year was moved from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th (known in England as Lady Day) and April 1st, had various jokes played on them. For instance, pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were given the epithet Poisson d'Avril, or April Fish. Thus, April Fool's Day was born.
The calendar change hypothesis might provide a reason for why April 1st specifically became the date of the modern holiday. But it is clear that the idea of a springtime festival honoring misrule and mayhem had far more ancient roots. In addition, the process by which the observance of the day spread from France to protestant countries such as Germany, Scotland, and England is left unexplained by this theory. These nations only adopted the calendar change during the eighteenth century, at a time when the tradition of April Foolery had already been well established throughout Europe. Finally, it is not clear what evidence, besides conjecture, supports the theory. For which reason, while there's certainly a possibility that the calendar-change hypothesis contains a germ of truth, it should not be regarded as fact.
Throughout antiquity numerous festivals included celebrations of foolery and trickery. The Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival observed at the end of December, was the most important of these. It involved dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. People exchanged gifts, slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day. By the fourth century AD the Saturnalia had transformed into a January 1 New Year's Day celebration, and many of its traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas.
In late March the Romans honored the resurrection of Attis, son of the Great Mother Cybele, with the Hilaria celebration. This involved rejoicing and the donning of disguises.
Further afield in India there was Holi, known as the festival of color, during which street celebrants threw tinted powders at each other, until everyone was covered in garish colors from head to toe. This holiday was held on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna (usually the end of February or the beginning of March).
Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. And there were also popular Northern European customs that made sport of the hierarchy of the Druids.
All of these celebrations could have served as precedents for April Fool's Day.
During the middle ages, a number of celebrations developed which served as direct predecessors to April Fool's Day. The most important of these was the Festus Fatuorum (the Feast of Fools) which evolved out of the Saturnalia. On this day (mostly observed in France) celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. The church, of course, did its best to discourage this holiday, but it lingered on until the sixteenth century. Following the suppression of the Feast of Fools, merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival.
There was also the medieval figure of the Fool, the symbolic patron saint of the day. Fools became prominent in late medieval Europe, practicing their craft in a variety of settings such as town squares and royal courts. Their distinctive dress remains well known today: multicolored robe, horned hat, and sceptre and bauble.
There have been quite a few attempts to provide mythological explanations for the rise of April Fool's Day.
For instance, it was once popular to attempt to christianize the celebration by locating its origin somewhere in Biblical traditions. In one such version, the day's origin is attributed to Noah's mistake of sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters had subsided (thereby sending the dove on a fool's errand). A second story tells that the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from Pilate to Herod" (an old term for sending someone on a fool's errand) was often pointed to as proof of this origin theory.
But there are rival mythological explanations linking the celebration to pagan roots. For instance, April Fool's Day was often traced back to Roman mythology, particularly the myth of Ceres and Proserpina. In Roman mythology Pluto, the God of the Dead, abducted Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld. Proserpina called out to her mother Ceres (the Goddess of grain and the harvest) for help, but Ceres, who could only hear the echo of her daughter's voice, searched in vain for Proserpina. The fruitless search of Ceres for her daughter (commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia) was believed by some to have been the mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st.
British folklore links April Fool's Day to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was traditional in the 13th century for any road that the King placed his foot upon to become public property. So when the citizens of Gotham heard that King John planned to travel through their town, they refused him entry, not wishing to lose their main road. When the King heard this, he sent soldiers to the town. But when the soldiers arrived in Gotham, they found the town full of lunatics engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. Their foolery was all an act, but the King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. And ever since then, April Fool's Day has supposedly commemmorated their trickery.
The most widespread theory about the origin of April Fool's Day involves the Gregorian calendar reform of the late sixteenth century.
The theory goes like this: In 1582 France became the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar established by the Council of Trent (1563). This switch meant, among other things, that the beginning of the year was moved from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th (known in England as Lady Day) and April 1st, had various jokes played on them. For instance, pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were given the epithet Poisson d'Avril, or April Fish. Thus, April Fool's Day was born.
The calendar change hypothesis might provide a reason for why April 1st specifically became the date of the modern holiday. But it is clear that the idea of a springtime festival honoring misrule and mayhem had far more ancient roots. In addition, the process by which the observance of the day spread from France to protestant countries such as Germany, Scotland, and England is left unexplained by this theory. These nations only adopted the calendar change during the eighteenth century, at a time when the tradition of April Foolery had already been well established throughout Europe. Finally, it is not clear what evidence, besides conjecture, supports the theory. For which reason, while there's certainly a possibility that the calendar-change hypothesis contains a germ of truth, it should not be regarded as fact.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Best wishes on the occasion of the Festival of Colours (Holi)
Women get their faces painted to convey message of religious harmony on the occasion of Holi in Indore, India.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
ESSENCE OF BHAGVAD GITA...
ESSENCE OF BHAGVAD GITA:
Whatever has happened, has happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever is going to happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry?
What did you bring with you, which you have lost?
What did you produce, which has been destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born.
Whatever you have, you have received from Him.
Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.
You came empty handed and you will go the same way.
Whatever is yours today was somebody else's yesterday and will be somebody else's tomorrow.
SO WHY WORRY UNNECESSARILY?
Change is the law of the universe.
Whatever has happened, has happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever is going to happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry?
What did you bring with you, which you have lost?
What did you produce, which has been destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born.
Whatever you have, you have received from Him.
Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.
You came empty handed and you will go the same way.
Whatever is yours today was somebody else's yesterday and will be somebody else's tomorrow.
SO WHY WORRY UNNECESSARILY?
Change is the law of the universe.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Priti and my 18th Wedding Anniversay photographs...taken on Sunday, March 16th, 2008...
Priti and my marriage has entered adulthood today (Sunday, March 16th). We are celebrating our 18th Wedding Anniversary today.
There has been a miraculous improvement in Priti's health between today and exactly eight weeks ago when (on Sunday, January 20th) she was admitted to Apollo Hospital ICU in a very critical condition and put on life support. She was on life support for the next four days.
We are celebrating our marriage anniversary today because of Priti's miraculous recovery caused by the prayers, wishes and support of hundreds of friends, relatives and office colleagues - and due to the dedicated efforts of our team of doctors and the wonders of modern medical science. After five weeks in hospital and three weeks on dialysis thereafter, she is completely cured of septecemia and recovering her strength gradually. Hopefully, her kidneys will also recover in due course.
I am thankful for all the support my family has received that has enabled us to see this day...and enabled our family to be together to take the attached photographs.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Large number of women work with low salaries: ILO
A large number of women work with low salaries and without any social protection, says a new report of International Labour Organisation.
"More women are working than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights or voice at work," the ILO report issued for International Womens Day says.
"Global employment trends for women - March 2008", says that the number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007 compared to 1.8 billion men. However, the number of unemployed women also grew from 70.2 to 81.6 million over the same period.
"Women continue to enter the world's workforce in great numbers. This progress must not obscure the glaring inequities that still exist in workplaces throughout the world," said ILO Director General Juan Somavia.
"The workplace and the world of work are at the centre of global solutions to address gender equality and the advancement of women in society. By promoting decent work for women, we are empowering societies and advancing the cause of economic and social development for all," said Somavia.
The report also shows improvement in the status of women in labour markets throughout the world but they have not substantially narrowed gender gap in the workplace.
"More women are working than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights or voice at work," the ILO report issued for International Womens Day says.
"Global employment trends for women - March 2008", says that the number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007 compared to 1.8 billion men. However, the number of unemployed women also grew from 70.2 to 81.6 million over the same period.
"Women continue to enter the world's workforce in great numbers. This progress must not obscure the glaring inequities that still exist in workplaces throughout the world," said ILO Director General Juan Somavia.
"The workplace and the world of work are at the centre of global solutions to address gender equality and the advancement of women in society. By promoting decent work for women, we are empowering societies and advancing the cause of economic and social development for all," said Somavia.
The report also shows improvement in the status of women in labour markets throughout the world but they have not substantially narrowed gender gap in the workplace.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
My wife has returned home this evening...
After 36 days in hospital (out of which 13 days were in ICU - the first 4 days of which were on life-support systems), Priti has returned home this evening (at 8 p.m.).
Priti is completely cured of septicemia and all her major organs, excepting for her kidneys, are functioning normally. By God's grace, her kidneys will also recover - until then she will be on twice a week dialysis.
Five weeks ago, this time, we had no assurance from the doctors whether Priti would leave the ICU alive. The marvels of modern medical science, coupled with prayers and good wishes from innumerable friends, relatives, office colleagues, SOS-India children and mothers and countless well wishers have brought Priti back to her family. My thanks to all of you.
My thanks also to the relatives and friends who have donated the innumerable pints of blood that were required during the early days of the crisis. Thanks also to all those who extended moral and physical help (including night stay duty) - and to the relatives and my Campus Law Centre friends for their direct and indirect financial support.
God bless you all!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Priti's Septicemia is almost cured...she has moved from bed to wheelchair...
Happiness...Priti's TLC count, this morning, has come down below the critical 11,000 mark - it is now 10,700. The blood poisoning seems to have been cured, though we will observe the count for a couple of days more for stability.
Priti is clear that her kidneys have started functioning a bit. The doctors have to confirm. A biopsy is planned.
Yesterday, after three and a half weeks of being in a horizontal position, Priti moved from bed to wheelchair.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Priti is making slow but steady progress...
Priti is making slow but steady progress. Her TLC count had come down to 14,800 three days ago - but then shot up to 16,200 the next day (after dialysis), giving us a bit of a scare. However, it came down to 13,300 the day after, and, this morning, after a very early morning dialysis, has come down further to 12,700. We are within reach of normalcy - which will be indicated by a TLC count of 11,000.
Doctors have discovered a thyroid problem - this could have been the reason for her sluggishness and lethargy and lack of appetite. It is being treated...in fact, this morning, Priti is extremely chirpy, God bless her! She is also eating well.
The prayers and wishes of all our friends, relatives and well wishers are working very well...I request you all to keep up the good work. I thank the children and mothers of SOS Children's Villages around the country and my co-workers for their regular prayers for my wife recovery.
Priti's kidneys are showing some movement towards recovery (in terms of urea and cretinine indicators). It is early days yet - but I am convinced that they will recover.
Priti's stay in hospital has been extended. She will not come home this week but, maybe, early next week. The antibiotic treatment will continue until the TLC count stabilises below 11,000. The alternate day dialysis will continue until the kidneys show stronger recovery.
Priti's BP, platelet count and HB count are stable and normal.
Thank you so much for your support. And those who gave blood - thanks again.
Doctors have discovered a thyroid problem - this could have been the reason for her sluggishness and lethargy and lack of appetite. It is being treated...in fact, this morning, Priti is extremely chirpy, God bless her! She is also eating well.
The prayers and wishes of all our friends, relatives and well wishers are working very well...I request you all to keep up the good work. I thank the children and mothers of SOS Children's Villages around the country and my co-workers for their regular prayers for my wife recovery.
Priti's kidneys are showing some movement towards recovery (in terms of urea and cretinine indicators). It is early days yet - but I am convinced that they will recover.
Priti's stay in hospital has been extended. She will not come home this week but, maybe, early next week. The antibiotic treatment will continue until the TLC count stabilises below 11,000. The alternate day dialysis will continue until the kidneys show stronger recovery.
Priti's BP, platelet count and HB count are stable and normal.
Thank you so much for your support. And those who gave blood - thanks again.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Priti's septicemia is almost cured...she is talking and eating normally...
Priti's TLC count is now down to 14,300 - just 3,300 points away from absolute normalcy. At this rate, she should be cured and out of the hospital by Tuesday/Wednesday. Her HB count is a normal 9.3. Her platelet count is 1,20,000...which is also high enough and good.
Priti's urea and cretinine counts are high - her kidneys are still not doing the job they are supposed to do. Therefore, alternate day dialysis continues - the next one being today.
We are hoping and praying that her kidneys resume functioning in a week or two.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Update on my wife's condition...
Priti is making steady progress, thanks to the wishes and prayers of innumerable friends and well wishers. Her TLC is down to 17,100 - down from 80,000 over two weeks ago. The requirement is 11,000 - this will show that the septicemia (blood poisoning) is out of her system. Hopefully, she will reach this figure in 3/4 days. Her BP is steady at 130. Her platelet count is maintained at an excellent 1,50,000. Her HB count is 9.8 - better than her normal count of just 7.4 earlier. She has stopped vomiting out bile - her liver seems to have recovered and she has started eating reasonably from yesterday.
Priti was slightly depressed for a couple of days - she was not talking, eating or opening her eyes. This has changed a bit yesterday - she is responding to family and friends. All that is now needed is for her kidneys to resume functioning. Until then she is on alternate day dialysis - to remove toxins from her system.
If the TLC count comes down to 11,000 in 3/4 days, she could be discharged from hospital and return home by middle/end of next week.
Family, friends and well wishers (including the vast SOS family worldwide - the organisation I work for) have rallied behind my daughters and me in our hour of crisis with prayers, blood donations and even financial support. I would like to place on record my thanks to my law college friends, some of who are now leading judges and lawyers of India, who organised a collection drive to help meet a part of Priti's hospitalisation costs. May God bless all my family members and friends for caring so much.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Priti is out of ICU...
Priti being transferred to her room...
Priti has been moved out of ICU after a 13 day stay and is now comfortably settled in her own private room in Apollo Hospital.
The prayers and wishes of friends, relatives, office colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances and well wishers (not to mention the large numbers of blood donations) have ensured that she is out of danger - she is no longer critical.
Priti's TLC is down to 24,000 (it was 80,000+ last week). This means that the septicemia is slowly but surely receding.
Her platelet count has gone up from under 20,000 to 1,77,000 (without the support of any plasma or platelet transfusion in the last 3 days). Her blood pressure is finally stable (it has gone up to 120+ from under 70).
Priti's HB is 8.9 - it was only 7.4 yesterday, but a blood transfusion in the evening has pushed it up.
We are now waiting for her kidneys to start functioning again. A MR scan two days ago indicated that the collapse has been "acute" - so the recovery may take a little longer. She needs dialysis every alternate day. Please pray for her complete recovery.
I thank all friends, relatives, office colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances and well wishers for their support and prayers.
Priti has been moved out of ICU after a 13 day stay and is now comfortably settled in her own private room in Apollo Hospital.
The prayers and wishes of friends, relatives, office colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances and well wishers (not to mention the large numbers of blood donations) have ensured that she is out of danger - she is no longer critical.
Priti's TLC is down to 24,000 (it was 80,000+ last week). This means that the septicemia is slowly but surely receding.
Her platelet count has gone up from under 20,000 to 1,77,000 (without the support of any plasma or platelet transfusion in the last 3 days). Her blood pressure is finally stable (it has gone up to 120+ from under 70).
Priti's HB is 8.9 - it was only 7.4 yesterday, but a blood transfusion in the evening has pushed it up.
We are now waiting for her kidneys to start functioning again. A MR scan two days ago indicated that the collapse has been "acute" - so the recovery may take a little longer. She needs dialysis every alternate day. Please pray for her complete recovery.
I thank all friends, relatives, office colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances and well wishers for their support and prayers.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Priti is critical...
On Saturday, January 19th, Priti - my beloved wife of 18 years - underwent a minor gynecological operation in a reputed hospital near our home. The operation was a success. Priti was scheduled to return home the next morning.
While Priti rested in her room with my mother-in-law sitting by her bedside, my two daughters and I went to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory lunch.
Our happiness was terribly premature. Destiny has not been kind to us. On Saturday evening, hours after the operation, Priti had to be rushed to the ICU in a critical state. Apparantly, a blood transfusion post-surgery caused a severe reaction in Priti's body - some of her organs (kidneys and lungs) had shut down and her blood had got badly infected - she had become a victim of blood poisoning (septicemia).
On Sunday morning, she was shifted to one of the best hospitals in Delhi (Apollo) - and she has been in the ICU there ever since, on life-support. She remains extremely critical. Please please pray for her.
She may have a surgery this morning.
Friends, relatives and office colleagues have overwhelmed us with their support. We have received innumerable pints of blood - more has been committed.
Priti's life hangs on a thread - my daughters Piya and Panvi and I need your prayers.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The origin of the guitar...
It is very difficult to trace a line back to the exact birth of the instrument we know as the guitar today, as there is a lot of myth and uncertainty surrounding its origins. This is mainly due to the fact there have been a number of similar instruments throughout the ages. Many historians claim the guitar originated at various points in time. Some believe the guitar in its earliest form dates back some 4000 years, however no-one really knows for sure. This is due to a number of artworks that depict guitar-like instruments being used at various times throughout history. Many ancient Egyptian paintings portray musical instruments that could be mistaken for the guitar.
A popular theory is that the guitar could have been invented by the classical-era Greeks. This is due to confusion, however, mainly with the similarity of its name with the Kithara. The Kithara was in fact a type of harp or lyra, which bares little resemblance with the guitar other than in name.
The guitar as we know today appears to be an ancestor of the lute. The lute had four strings which would be plucked, not strummed as with a guitar. The body was oval in shape and had a rounded back. The downside of this construction was that the lute was not a very loud instrument, meaning it could not be played along side other instruments. Although missing many of the elements of today’s guitar, it is an important step in the guitars evolution.
The first written mention of the guitar as a distinct instrument is from the 14th century. In this very early form the instrument had three double courses (or pairs) of strings plus a single string (tuned the highest in pitch), similar in comparison to the lute, as mentioned earlier.
The next step was in the vihuela, which originated in Spain sometime in the 15th century. The vihuela had a slightly ‘pinched’ waist – less pronounced than today’s guitar and a smaller body then the lute. It also had added treble strings, again arranged in pairs and was made to be strummed rather than plucked as the lute was.
It wasn’t until the 16th century that the two instruments were ‘combined’, in a manner of speaking, when an instrument was made with a body like that of the vihuela but closer in size to the lute.
The guitar became popular throughout Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries and by the late 17th century a fifth course of strings had been added below the other four.
By the mid-18th century the guitar began to take its modern form. The double courses were changed to single strings, and a sixth string was added above the existing five. It is very unclear whether this took place in France or in Italy, but the resulting instrument was very similar to that of which we know today.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
World's weirdest sports...
Source:
On a safari in Nepal, Phil Noble discovered the sport of elephant polo.
Elephant polo is among the offbeat sports that Phil Noble has photographed.
“Incredible, absolutely incredible,” said Noble, who visited Nepal in 1999 to take photographs for a travel feature for the Press Association, the British wire service.
“There were seven elephant polo teams there from all over the world, and an umpire riding a massive bull elephant who rode around ensuring fair play,” said Noble, 32, who joined Reuters in 2006. “There were two other guys running around the field removing any elephant dung dropped on either goal line which could have prevented a goal from being scored.”
Through his camera lens, Noble has seen some of the wackiest sports on the planet.
In August 2006, he was in Wales to shoot the bog-snorkeling world championship, which featured 100 contestants — some wearing pajamas — with snorkels and flippers in a muddy trench about 150 feet long and 4 feet deep. Rules governing the sport forbid using conventional strokes.
“People of all ages, of all sizes, jumped into this smelly trench and tried to get from one end to the other as fast as they could,” Noble said. “Spectators were cheering wildly when a woman who weighed about 400 pounds jumped into the mud, and they cheered one man who jumped in wearing a fairy-godmother costume, and another who wore a Superman cape.”
One of Noble’s photographs of bog snorkeling is included in a recently published book, “Reuters Sports in the 21st Century” (Thames & Hudson).
“Like Phil, many of our photographers have a passion to cover the quirkier side of sports,” said Jassim Ahmad, a photo editor at Reuters who managed production of the book. “When we were putting this book together, it was unbelievable to learn of all the weird, wonderful sports going on in the world.”
Noble, who lives with his wife, Paula, and their two children in Manchester, England, has zoomed in on his share of oddball sports in his home country. He once covered a cheese-rolling championship in Summerbee, where participants clench large wheels of cheese between their legs before releasing them down a hill and giving chase.
“The cheese wheel is about the size of a soccer ball, and the first guy who catches his cheese wins,” Noble said. “But the hill is so steep, it’s actually quite dangerous. In fact, an ambulance crew waits at the bottom of the hill, just in case.”
Noble has also covered sheep racing in Wales and toe wrestling in England.
“Obviously, you cannot ride sheep,” Noble said. “So people knit jockeys out of wool and fasten the knitted jockeys to the sheep and race them on a course made out of bales of hay. It’s sort of like a rodeo, but on a smaller scale.”
Noble has his sights set on covering a number of other little-known championship events in England and beyond, including cricket matches on ice, lawn mower racing and desert golf.
“When I golf, I have a habit of finding bunkers,” Noble said, laughing. “As much time as I spend hitting out of sand traps, I would give Tiger Woods a run for his money in desert golf.”
Although he has photographed “everyone in England from Prince Charles to David Beckham,” Noble says he gets great satisfaction in “covering people you can actually relate to.”
“When it comes to covering mainstream politics or sports, you can’t get anywhere near most celebrities for a little conversation or to get to know them a bit, because they are always off limits,” he said. “One of the best parts of my job is that I do get to meet regular people, like the men and women who compete in these lesser-known sports.
“Take the winners of the bog-snorkeling and cheese-rolling events. Except for the fact that one of them dived into a smelly, muddy swamp and the other chased a cheese wheel down a steep hill in order to become world champions, they are really no different than you and me.”
On a safari in Nepal, Phil Noble discovered the sport of elephant polo.
Elephant polo is among the offbeat sports that Phil Noble has photographed.
“Incredible, absolutely incredible,” said Noble, who visited Nepal in 1999 to take photographs for a travel feature for the Press Association, the British wire service.
“There were seven elephant polo teams there from all over the world, and an umpire riding a massive bull elephant who rode around ensuring fair play,” said Noble, 32, who joined Reuters in 2006. “There were two other guys running around the field removing any elephant dung dropped on either goal line which could have prevented a goal from being scored.”
Through his camera lens, Noble has seen some of the wackiest sports on the planet.
In August 2006, he was in Wales to shoot the bog-snorkeling world championship, which featured 100 contestants — some wearing pajamas — with snorkels and flippers in a muddy trench about 150 feet long and 4 feet deep. Rules governing the sport forbid using conventional strokes.
“People of all ages, of all sizes, jumped into this smelly trench and tried to get from one end to the other as fast as they could,” Noble said. “Spectators were cheering wildly when a woman who weighed about 400 pounds jumped into the mud, and they cheered one man who jumped in wearing a fairy-godmother costume, and another who wore a Superman cape.”
One of Noble’s photographs of bog snorkeling is included in a recently published book, “Reuters Sports in the 21st Century” (Thames & Hudson).
“Like Phil, many of our photographers have a passion to cover the quirkier side of sports,” said Jassim Ahmad, a photo editor at Reuters who managed production of the book. “When we were putting this book together, it was unbelievable to learn of all the weird, wonderful sports going on in the world.”
Noble, who lives with his wife, Paula, and their two children in Manchester, England, has zoomed in on his share of oddball sports in his home country. He once covered a cheese-rolling championship in Summerbee, where participants clench large wheels of cheese between their legs before releasing them down a hill and giving chase.
“The cheese wheel is about the size of a soccer ball, and the first guy who catches his cheese wins,” Noble said. “But the hill is so steep, it’s actually quite dangerous. In fact, an ambulance crew waits at the bottom of the hill, just in case.”
Noble has also covered sheep racing in Wales and toe wrestling in England.
“Obviously, you cannot ride sheep,” Noble said. “So people knit jockeys out of wool and fasten the knitted jockeys to the sheep and race them on a course made out of bales of hay. It’s sort of like a rodeo, but on a smaller scale.”
Noble has his sights set on covering a number of other little-known championship events in England and beyond, including cricket matches on ice, lawn mower racing and desert golf.
“When I golf, I have a habit of finding bunkers,” Noble said, laughing. “As much time as I spend hitting out of sand traps, I would give Tiger Woods a run for his money in desert golf.”
Although he has photographed “everyone in England from Prince Charles to David Beckham,” Noble says he gets great satisfaction in “covering people you can actually relate to.”
“When it comes to covering mainstream politics or sports, you can’t get anywhere near most celebrities for a little conversation or to get to know them a bit, because they are always off limits,” he said. “One of the best parts of my job is that I do get to meet regular people, like the men and women who compete in these lesser-known sports.
“Take the winners of the bog-snorkeling and cheese-rolling events. Except for the fact that one of them dived into a smelly, muddy swamp and the other chased a cheese wheel down a steep hill in order to become world champions, they are really no different than you and me.”
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Pak channel airs photos of Benazir Bhutto's assassins...
A Pakistani TV news channel has aired photographs of two men it said were involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto after an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday, December 27th. One of the two grainy photos -- which "Dawn News" channel said were clicked by an amateur photographer -- showed a youth wearing sunglasses aiming a pistol at Bhutto's back while she waved through the sun-roof of her bulletproof vehicle to her supporters.
The other picture, apparently taken before the shooting, showed the same youth standing next to another man who had a white cloth wrapped around his face. "Dawn News" described the second man as the "suspected suicide bomber".
The position of the youth with the pistol in the photo coincided with the position of the shooter seen in video footage of the attack on Bhutto released by the interior ministry yesterday. In that footage, the face of the shooter is obscured but his hand can be seen holding a pistol that is used to fire three to four shots towards Bhutto.
New Year celebration rehearsal...
People wearing animal masks march during a New Year celebration rehearsal in Taipei, Taiwan. Hundreds of people are expected to pour into the square near Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper, in a gala on 31st December.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Go ahead, egg my Hummer...
A Hummer owner in Russia's second city St. Petersburg has given anti-globalists the green light to pelt his oversized vehicle with rotten eggs, Russian news agencies reported last week.
"Peter Antiglobalist" activists told news agency RIA they found a driver willing to let them express their dissatisfaction with consumerism by throwing things at his luxury sport utility vehicle, a spokesman said.
A Moscow car dealer puts the base price of a Hummer H3 at $49,500.
"Luxury is a false value, clouding modern society's vision. Advertising posters, TV shows and slick marketing constantly tells us that buying things is the most important value in our society," RIA quoted the spokesman as saying.
The anti-globalists said throwing eggs and tomatoes at the Hummer will help draw attention to their cause.
The vehicle's owner said he will then sell it and donate the proceeds to an orphanage.
"Peter Antiglobalist" activists told news agency RIA they found a driver willing to let them express their dissatisfaction with consumerism by throwing things at his luxury sport utility vehicle, a spokesman said.
A Moscow car dealer puts the base price of a Hummer H3 at $49,500.
"Luxury is a false value, clouding modern society's vision. Advertising posters, TV shows and slick marketing constantly tells us that buying things is the most important value in our society," RIA quoted the spokesman as saying.
The anti-globalists said throwing eggs and tomatoes at the Hummer will help draw attention to their cause.
The vehicle's owner said he will then sell it and donate the proceeds to an orphanage.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
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