Battle Of The Christmas Songs 2011

• Battle Of The Christmas Songs 2011

  
  So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Here at RealMusic Blog Towers, we’ve listened to a whole bunch of new music this year – but frankly, what’s new music when it’s now considered OK to play Wham!’s Last Christmas at crazy volumes? Nowt, that’s what. However, it’s not all about Mariah, Wham! and The Pogues, despite what radio stations may tell you. Because every year a new crop of Christmas hopefuls appear at the festive pop pedestal, and it’s up to you, dear reader, to decide whether to let them through or kick them into touch. Last year we had Coldplay, Train and Hurts. This year’s candidates, make yourself known…
  

  
  
  Justin Bieber & Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas
  If there was one record that truly didn’t need to be overhauled this season, it’s the Mariah classic All I Want For Christmas Is You. The original has it all – a coy Mariah, a sweet sentiment and a catchy chorus. But modern times call for modernisation – and that means wheeling in the big guns. Or Justin Bieber. And so we have Mariah trotting out the first verse in a skimpy Santa outfit, then Bieber screeching verse two while hamming it up to camera and clutching his chest like he’s in pain. Oh dear god, make it stop. Add in shameless product placement and a video so sickly sweet we’re still picking it out of our teeth and whoever’s responsible for this should be taken out and made to have dinner with Jeremy Clarkson. Oh, and did we mention the chilling bit where Bieber climbs aboard Mariah’s sleigh and they attempt some sexual chemistry? No, thought not.
  To watch, click here
  
  Bryan Adams – Merry Christmas
  For Bryan’s Christmas cracker he’s gone the whole hog, coming up with a tune that rhymes ‘choir’ with ‘fire’ and one that has sleigh bells jingling throughout – admirable. Couple that with the fact that the video is honest-to-god-real-life footage of a mini Bryan and his brother toddling around in 1961 and you don’t need a roaring fire to warm your stone cold heart – just watch the video and coo. The fact that the song’s a load of ol’ Christmas trite is beside the point. Honestly, you’re so picky sometimes.
  To watch, click here
  TOWIE – Last Christmas
  I’ll admit it – I’m a TOWIE virgin – even though I’m originally from Essex. Perhaps that’s why. So from my limited perspective, this seems to be a group of orange people talking about Christmas vajazzles and having a reem Christmas while singing badly over the top of a Casio-keyboard backing track. I’m assuming this could definitely make the top ten – think of it as like being on the 10.33pm from Fenchurch Street to Basildon on the Friday before Christmas. No, we wouldn’t recommend that either.
  
  X Factor Finalists – Wishing On A Star
  Ther X Factor finalists are all here – croaky Janet, fat Craig, moustachioed Marcus, super-shiny Misha B. And at the big key change towards the end, they’re joined by jumpered-up X Factor alumni JLS and One Direction. There are also sick children in the video, smiling even though they have tubes coming out of their mouths. If you buy this, sick children will not die. However, musically, inside, you will. It’s completely up to you.
  To watch, click here
  
  

'Estrop' and a Grommet

                                                                     Estrop



                                                                   Grommet  




 When rowing there isn’t a marked difference though the grommet does seem to hold the oar to the pin more firmly. Comfortable rowing depends on the grommet or estrop having the correct tension—too loose and the oar’s all over the place. Tension varies as the rope stretches and the amount of stretch depends on the type of line and how wet the rope is. The estrop is adjustable and, having three turns of rope, stretches less than the grommet but a well-made grommet shouldn’t stretch beyond what is normal for the type of rope.

The most obvious advantage of the estrop over the grommet is that, being attached to the oar, it’s more difficult to lose.  The other advantage is that when the oars are taken off the pins and stowed  in the boat for sailing in rougher weather, the estrop, with its long trailing end is good for attaching the oars to the thwart.



                                                 
                                                        

Fancy having sex with an Alien

		"And when they do appear, there will be a growing number of Chinese with their eyes on the skies"
A Chinese farmer has claimed that he had sex with an alien.  Click on thumbnail to view » Video: UFO closes China airport » UFO sighting causes stir at beach resort » UFO sightings in M'sia She was three meters tall, had 12 fingers and braided leg hair - and she wanted to make love with him, Meng Zhaoguo said. So the farmer from Heilongjiang and the robust extra-terrestrial seductress had intimate moments - while levitating - for about 40 minutes, claims Meng, who is the protagonist of what is perhaps China's best-known alien abduction report. Meng says he was working outside in Heilongjiang's Wuchang in 1994, when he saw a metallic shimmering on a mountainside. He went to investigate, believing it was likely a downed helicopter, when he blacked out. When he came to, he was confused and unable to communicate with other people. He had also developed an extreme fear of anything made of iron. Later that night, the female humanoid visited him, he says. "I didn't believe in aliens before I actually met them," he tells China Daily. "Seeing is believing. We cannot explain UFOs and aliens because our technology isn't advanced enough. But that doesn't mean such things don't exist." He passed a lie detector test conducted by the police.  Meng said he met other extraterrestrials after that. "The aliens showed me a piece of crystal through which I saw forests, icebergs and fossil fuels on the Earth. "They told me about the current situation facing Earth's resources and warned me about the importance of environmental protection," he said. The aliens also told him that the offspring of him and the female extraterrestrial would appear 60 years from when they had sex. Meng's account is met with both skepticism and belief - not only by the general public, but also the country's growing community of ufologists, who study reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Chinese interest in, and sightings of, UFOs have been increasing, especially since one shut down Xiaoshan Airport in Zhejiang's provincial capital Hangzhou for about an hour on June 7, making world headlines. The hovering object affected 18 flights and about 2,000 passengers. There have been eight more mass sightings since, with the latest shutting down the airport in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Baotou city for about an hour on Sept 11, ABC News reported. Unexplained sightings reported to the Beijing UFO Research Organization (BURO) have increased from about 100 in 2008 to more than 200 this year, says the organization's Secretary-General Zhou Xiaoqiang, who was also part of the Xiaoshan Airport investigation team. "As material and cultural life improves in China, more people are able to use cameras to photograph and film the strange things they see," the 62-year-old says. "Also, media broadcasts are making the UFO a more popular concept in China, and the Internet makes it easier to file reports." Zhou points out that sightings spike around festivals. "That's because fireworks, lanterns, kites are everywhere. For example, a flashing triangular UFO could be a kite with lights," Zhou explains. Zhou puts the chances that UFOs carry extraterrestrial visitors at "zero" and says there have been less than 10 abduction reports in the country. Wang Sichao, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Purple Mountain Observatory in Jiangsu's provincial capital Nanjing, says China's UFO reports are "more credible" than those in other countries. And there are fewer abduction reports. "The aliens that are reported here are all different. Some are humanoid, some have large heads and eyes, some conduct sexual experiments, some speak Chinese and others use a kind of universal language. But the one thing all these claims have in common is a lack of solid evidence." Meng describes the extraterrestrials he says he met - he had a second encounter with others after he met the female - as speaking Chinese. "The aliens showed me a piece of crystal, through which I saw forests, icebergs and fossil fuels on the Earth," he says. "They told me about the current situation facing Earth's resources and warned me about the importance of environmental protection." But that's not all they told him, he says. "They said that 60 years from then, there will be an alien born with the genes of an earthling farmer, and I can meet him or her," he says, referring to the offspring he says he sired with the extraterrestrial female. While many within China's ufology community are skeptical of abduction reports such as Meng's, International Chinese UFO Association sighting investigation department head Zhang Jingping believes people should remain open-minded. "We have invented aircraft, and we have landed on the moon. Why is it impossible that aliens are visiting us?" says the 42-year-old. Zhang has led research on Meng's case, including arranging for police to administer a lie detector test, which he says Meng passed. Wang says China has about 60 researchers and 10 NGOs involved in serious UFO studies. The country's ufology community was put on the map in 2005, when Liaoning province's Dalian city was selected as the World UFO Conference site. American nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman, who worked on classified government projects for 14 years and is perhaps the world's most celebrated ufologist, told China Daily at the conference that, "ufology is blossoming in China". He has since been "impressed" by the serious discussions in the country's press, he says. "China's space program is moving rapidly, and so is its serious discussion of UFOs," he says. "I am indeed optimistic that Chinese researchers will be making more contributions to our knowledge of this very important phenomenon - visits to Planet Earth by intelligently controlled alien spacecraft." Be they unexplained natural phenomenon or the cruisers of universe-trotting ETs - or something else entirely - UFOs are unlikely to stop appearing over China anytime soon.  And when they do appear, there will be a growing number of Chinese with their eyes on the skies

Interlok the Novel and the taboo word 'Pariah'

pariah, member of a low-caste group of Hindu India, formerly known as “untouchables” but now called Dalits. The word pariah—originally derived from Tamil paṛaiyar, “drummer”—once referred to the Paraiyan, a Tamil caste group of labourers and village servants of low status, but the meaning was extended to embrace many groups outside the so-called clean caste groups, with widely varying degrees of status. See also untouchable. 

Below are samples of comments  picked up from another blog in response to the controversy surrounding the Interlok Novel and its flaunting the Pariah word.

Some things are better left not talked about, it may be very true, lets take it easy….each race has its own unique culture and practices which may not be acceptable to many.
What can we do…they refuse to change and refuse to let GO…that is the world we all live IN !
komando


Interlok is a fiction and any resemblance to the real thing is purely coincidental. It is not a historical novel like that by Michener or Hailey.
James Albert Michener is a novelist of sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations ,in particular geographic locales and incorporating historical facts into the stories. Jim Michener was known for the meticulous research behind his work. Arthur Hailey is of the same genre. Each of Hailey’s novels has a different industrial or commercial setting and includes, in addition to dramatic human conflict, carefully researched information about the way that particular environment and system functions and how these affect society and its inhabitants.
Abdullah Hussain is neither a Michener nor a Hailey type.To be fair, he never claimed to be like them. He is simple man who became a laureate in Malaysian literature. That is an achievement. I could never be one. Interlok is also not a political novel. It is written to express Abdullah’s own concerns about his society and developments around it as he saw them. There is no political agenda.

I agree with you, Komando, about respecting different cultures in our rich tapestry of cultures and traditions. I also share the view expressed by HarisZ in the last paragraph of his essay. But I am only concerned about how teachers will treat the novel and their interpretations when they teach Malay literature to our kids.
If an enlightened approach is adopted, then Interlok might not be as “dangerous” or “damaging” as some of us think it is. As a keen reader, I am against censorship and the burning of books like Mao did during the Cultural Revolution.–Din Merican
dinobeano

One has to be an Indian to be sensitive to the word ‘pariah’. The other races will NEVER understand how derogatory this term is.
So don’t justify something you don’t know about. A novel too must conform to sensitivity of an entire community.
Can I then write a novel in derogatory terms about a Malay character in my story?
Lawyer


“Can I then write a novel in derogatory terms about a Malay character in my story?” Lawyer
This will be the likely scenario:
Umno lackeys will burn your effigy along with your books. Eventually you’ll be ISA-ed. End of cerita…
Tok Cik


Why should the Indians be concerned about the word “pariah”. It refers to the UMNO Malays whose Untuk Bangsa dan Agama crap became the cause of the racial divisions in the country.
Ask any communication expert, words are neutral meanings are not located in the words. Meanings of words lie with people not with the words.
When I say “pariah”, who do I mean” Of course, not the Indians, it is the UMNO Malays. There you see?
It is a all storm in the teacup about the word pariah in the novel. For crying out loud. It is only novel.
But I agree, if a community feels insulted, then that novel should be removed from the literature book for schools. These are young minds which we should be sensitive to.
Frank 



Frank,

Good of you to say that. In an earlier posting on the same issue, I did mention what’s wrong with it. It is Frank’s favorite word.
We don't have to be sensitive to the word Pariah because it’s already acknowledged as a word used in all dictionaries.
It is a caste which is untouchables in India.I don't know whether they want it to be replaced by Harijans.
Today there’s a good interview with the writer on Star’s Malay paper M2 which comes with the Sunday Star.
In it he asked everyone to read it from start to finish as he depicted on the ties between the three races which led to the formation of bangsa Malaysia.
The book was written 40 years ago. Take it in the context it is written.
 
Same as us Malays accepting what British colonial writers like Wnsted wrote about us.
There’s a nice picture of him with a cute grandson named Zakaria Matthew Basring who obviously has a Mat Salleh father.
Lawyer

It’s expected Tok Chik will reply to you in that vein.
I really don’t think so because so many books have been written about Malays especially with regard to amok, which is a Malay characteristic and also a dictionary accepted word.
Pak Abu


“Interlok is a fiction and any resemblance to the real thing is purely coincidental -  Din Merican

So is ‘The Satanic Verses’ by Salman Rushdie.
Mr Bean

.

Comments by Danil Daud

Fiction is about The Star Wars epic or fairy tales of Alice In Wonderland or Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs 
This is racist to the core.

The Indian community should seek council from that half-baked Ramon Navaratnam fella before they decide on their next course of action.

Flouting the pariah word typifies the Malay Malayan’s total disregard for the largely Malayan Indian -Tamil community.
danildaud

And they seek to promote this word in schools by coming up with despicable  reasons such as , that the word ‘pariah’ has found its way in the dictionary .If that is the case , somebody ought to whisper in Obama’s ear  since Ab Lincoln had denounced slavery a long time ago it should be alright for American kindergarten kids to sing ini-mini-minor-more catch the Nigger by his toe
danildaud

When I say “pariah”, who do I mean” Of course, not the Indians, it is the UMNO Malays. There you see?- Frank


Yup! but unfortunately ‘ Pariah’ the word , in the Malaysian context is a synonymous term which refers to a member of a low caste of southern India where the bulk of Malaysian Indians originated from.
danildaud

Prime Minister Najib when asked about the Interlok novel, to be used as a literature book for the Form Five Bahasa Malaysia subject, said to have contents offensive to the Indian community, have said the matter was discussed at today's Cabinet meeting but no decision was taken.

He said prior discussions should be held to calm the situation.

"We ask the Indian community to appoint several people to have a dialogue with the Education Ministry so that we can determine how to calm the situation," he said.

Last Saturday, a group of Indians set fire to copies of the novel and there has been pressure from some quarters to withdraw the novel from being used as a literature book.

Teoh Beng Hock Inquest Verdict Tomorrow

comments by Danil Daud

 

Lets see what the Coroner is up against. 

First there is death by misadventure ,a death due to unintentional accident without any violation of law or criminal negligence. Thus, there is no crime.

How would the masses react to this finding?

Then there is criminal homicide – Generally divided into two categories: murder and manslaughter. Murder is usually further divided into the first degree, which typically involves a premeditated intent to kill, and the second degree, which typically does not involve a premeditated intent to kill.
Manslaughter typically involves an unintentional killing that resulted from a person’s criminal negligence or reckless disregard for human life.
 
While most would have no qualms if murder of the 1st degree is rule out but what about murder in the 2nd degree or manslaughter for that matter?

And of cause suicide . The most convenient of verdicts!!




Alright there is also an open verdict meaning to say that the exact cause of Teoh’s death is not known.


This is Wikipedia’s interpretation of an open verdict:
 
The Open verdict is an option open to a Coroner’s jury at an Inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict strictly means that the jury confirms that the death is suspicious but is unable to reach any of the other verdicts open to them.[1] Mortality studies consider it likely that the majority of open verdicts are recorded in cases of suicide where the intent of the deceased could not be proved,[2] although the verdict is recorded in many other circumstances - Danil Daud

This is what a friend who is a lawyer living in the Big Apple has to say,

Teoh has gone to a better place as they always say when someone passes on. But on trial is not Teoh Beng Hock, but Malaysia’s own justice system.

Mr Bean 

The victim was alive when he hit the ground. This can easily be determined by whoever performed the autopsy. All they need is to come out with the right theory consistent with the facts. They settle on suicide. They figure out they would need a suicide note since there was no government witness who could testify to his motive. A suicide note was ‘found’ but it was late in the investigation. Issues of its credibility remained. But most devastating to the government theory of suicide is that this man had everything to live for. He was supposed to get married the next day.
Everything points to homicide. Not suicide.

Mr Bean

And interestingly enough the evidence adverse to the claim of suicide is in fact coming from the party that alleges suicide. As it often happens during trial.
It comes not through cross-examination but examination-in-chief of the witnesses for the party making the allegation.

Mr Bean

January 4, 2011

Teoh Beng Hock Inquest :  Tomorrow, the Verdict is….?

BERNAMA reports:

 

The much-awaited verdict of the inquest into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock is expected to be delivered at the Shah Alam magistrate’s court tomorrow.

Teoh’s family members will join lawyers and reporters and other interested parties on the second floor of the annex building of the court complex to hear coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas give the findings of the inquest at 2.30pm.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) director of the Legal and Prosecution Division Datuk Abdul Razak Musa told Bernama that there had been no indication from court officials of any postponement.

Teoh, 30, political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, 2009 on the fifth-floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after he had given a statement at the office of the Selangor branch of the MACC on the 14th floor of the same building.

The Attorney-General’s office directed the inquest to be held since Teoh’s death raised questions of whether it was suicide or homicide.

It was widely reported that he died hours after being questioned by the MACC into alleged misuse of Selangor government allocations.

The inquest had been scheduled to be completed within a month, but it dragged on until November 4 last year.Thirty-seven witnesses testified, including well-known Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand.

Dr Pornthip, who was invited by the Selangor government, raised controversy when she claimed that Teoh could have been murdered, leading to his body being exhumed for a second post-mortem.

However, when the court was expected to hear her expert view after the second autopsy, Dr Pornthip caused further uproar when she alleged that she had been warned been threatened and warned not to attend the inquest.

Appearing in court again on August 18, she said the second post-mortem indicated that Teoh was not assaulted or tortured, but maintained that his death was not a suicide.

British forensics expert Professor Dr Peter Vanezis, engaged by the MACC, testified that Teoh was not unconscious when he plunged to his death.

Dr Vanezis said the distribution of injuries indicated that Teoh was fully conscious and orientated at the time.He also had testified that the second post-mortem, which was supervised by him, revealed that none of the injuries showed that he was killed by other means or thrown out of the window.

Anticipating the arrival of a New Year 'So where do we go from here'

Where Do We Go From Here? How About Back To The Basics.

Our basic financial system appears to be broken. The Federal government is borrowing from our future and using the money to bail out crooks, cronies, and contributors. Here we are at the dawn of another New Year making resolutions especially at tightening  our wallets  anxiously waiting for  the second Great Depression that the alternative media is clamoring for, vis a vis the continuous trend of the dreaded "price hike" of fossil fuel and the domino effect 'price increase'  it has on other essential goods , all the while looking around for solutions and saviors.

I can tell you who WON’T save us: the Prime Minister, Parliament, the Cabinet, UMNO, Barisan Nasioanal , Pakatan Rakyat, the Security and Exchange Commission chairman, the Finance Minister,  the new outfit named MCLM , or even a new Prime Minister. No, what will get us out of this bind is the same thing that has gotten us out of binds in the past:

Getting back to basics.

Any football coach will tell you that when you’re down at half-time and getting whipped all over the field to focus on the basics of defending and tackling. A track coach will tell you when you’re way behind to focus on each step and to keep your arms in and your pace steady. A golf coach will tell you to keep your head down and your left arm straight. A business coach will tell you to cut your expenses and grow your customer base. Getting back to the basics is the surest way to resolve any crisis.

Our “leaders” won’t listen to reason, so what are the financial basics WE need to focus on to insure that we, as individuals, have a secure financial future and that we don’t have to be bailed out (a personal bail out is called bankruptcy)?

1. Live within your means starting TODAY. C’mon. Do you really need a new car, boat, house, flat screen TV, vacation home, truck, plane, furniture, or wardrobe? Contentment will take you a long way financially so cut those expenses.

2. Budget your income starting TODAY. From this point forward, make it a practice to know where every cent of your income is going. Even if you don’t make enough to cover your current expenses, write a budget anyway. Make your money go where you want it to go.

3. Formulate a plan to get out of debt TODAY. Whether you prefer the Dave Ramsey method of paying off small balances first or you prefer to pay off the largest interest rate accounts first, start a plan to eliminate debt from your financial life.

4. Seek ways to diversify your income TODAY. Anytime you can make extra money, you can use those funds to work on your debt or help cover your expenses.

5. Save something out of every paycheck TODAY. Ideally, the larger the amount the better, but don’t be intimidated if you cannot save that “magical 10 percent.” Any amount is a start, and getting started is the hardest part of the game. Just get started. Only RM 5? It’s a start. People have come to this country notwithstanding through the backdoor or someother dubious way ,  with less and accomplished a great deal.

So can you. Nothing fancy. No shrewd moves. No collateralized debt obligations, no mortgage backed securities, no credit default swaps or anything that isn’t easily understood by a 5th grader. The basics are just that … the basics.

Where DO we go from here? The answer is anywhere you wish but only after you have gotten the basics down pat

Satan up close and personal

                               
                                                                                                                                                                  

Satan or Saitan  ( also goes by the aliases Lucifer, The Antichrist,The Devil, Gucci Mane, Beelzebub, Scratch, Prince of Darkness, Lady Gaga, Kak Pidah , Mike Tyson and sometimes Jibbo) faggot Kevin , known as the Unholy Bitch of Darkness, or sometimes referred to as Maha Firaun of bengkok bridge fame , or the Pigtail persecutor , is basically a hardcore gangster who singlehandedly runs UN , MACC, PDRM etc.. , aka Musang. the fox


He once drew a penis on a toilet seat. This confirmed that he was indeed, the biggest Gansgter from Capital/Aman Hill of all time.


Once he even called the Messiah a “butthole” and a “really big jerk who picks his nose sometimes” thus proving that he is super hardcore and a real “Muthafukin G Y’all”. Exile on Main Street

He has a pretty bad reputation and is generally disliked, except for people who listen to Namewee’s version of ‘Negara-ku’, Malaya hip-hop, trance , armenian chanting , and blink-182.

This led many theologians  throughout History to label Satan as the “Dork-in-chief”, or the “Lord of Dorkness”, although it is a fact known that Satan sometimes gets to have sex with Mongolian beauties , red-skinned vampire chicks, crack cocaine junkie girls and Ebola-contracting bats as well, but not much with dork or nerdy girls like dorks get to sleep with (or dream of doing so) at lower levels in the hierarchy. This policy has been widely criticized, due to the well researched fact that dorks like Bung ‘hole’ Munkee and nerds like Big Fat Roast-mah need sexy love too.

Satan is a self described Anarcho-Fascist (whatever that means) and donates heavily to Ab. Ali’s Perkasa and Al-Qaida respectively. He is also the sole “intelligent” being on this planet who cares watching or listening to infomercials and is enjoying it.

So whatever you do, stay away from him at all costs!

Shit is the word

Shit may just be the most powerful word in the English language.

You can be shit faced,

shit out of luck,
or have shit for brains

With a little effort,
you can get your shit together,
find a place for your shit or
decide to shit or get off the pot.
You can smoke shit,
buy shit,
sell shit,
lose shit,
find shit,
forget shit,
and tell others to eat shit and die.


Some people know their shit
while others
can’t tell the difference
between
shit and shineola.


There are lucky shits,
dumb shits,
crazy shits
and sweet shits.

There is bull shit,
horse shit,
chicken shit and
holy shit!


You can throw shit,
sling shit,
catch shit,
or duck when shit hits the fan.


You can give a shit
or
serve shit on a shingle.


You can find yourself in deep shit
or
Be happier than a pig in shit.


Some days are colder than shit,
some days are hotter than shit,
and some days are just plain shitty.


Some music sounds like shit,
things can look like shit,
smell like shit,
taste like shit,
and there are times when you feel like shit.


You can have too much shit,
not enough shit,
the right shit,
the wrong shit or
a lot of weird shit.
You can carry shit,
have a mountain of shit,
or find yourself up shit creek without a paddle.

When you stop to consider all the facts,
it’s the basic building block of creation.

And remember, once you know your shit,
you don’t need to know anything else!


Pass this along if you give a shit!!

‘Artificial virginity’ kit sparks controversy in Egypt

‘Artificial virginity’ kit sparks controversy in Egypt
Whether it’s seen as a clever little gadget to help a woman keep a secret or a devilish deception that threatens Islam, the Artificial Virginity Hymen Kit is not welcome in Egypt.
The kit allows a bride who is not a virgin to pretend that she is. A pouch inserted into the vagina on her wedding night ruptures and leaks a blood-like liquid designed to trick a new husband into believing that his wife is chaste. It’s a wink of ingenuity to soothe a man’s ego and keep the dowry intact.
Egyptian conservatives condemn the device as technology that will promote promiscuity in a culture that forbids premarital sex. Their protests are arising in a nation that over the last 40 years has gone from miniskirts and secularism to hijabs and religious devotion. But seldom have conservatives faced such brazen advertising.

“No more worry about losing your virginity. With this product, you can have your first night back any time,” states the Web site of Gigimo, a Chinese mail-order company that sells the kit and other sexual products, including sex dolls and bondage toys, worldwide. “Add in a few moans and groans, you will pass through undetectable.”
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which controls 20 per cent of the seats in the Egyptian Parliament, have called for banning the kit and arresting anyone selling it on the black market. An influential cleric, Abdul Moeti Bayoumi, has issued a fatwa urging that peddlers of the US$29.90 (RM102) device be charged with banditry and punished for spreading immorality and sin.
“Egyptian girls are normally afraid to lose their virginity before marriage,” Sayed Askar, a lawmaker and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, recently told Parliament. “A product like that can make it easier and tempting for girls who don’t have strong wills to commit such a sin. It will be a crying shame and a blot on the government if they allow the selling of this product in our markets.”
Lina Samaan, an accountant, said the furore raises disturbing questions about her country and the double standards that often apply to women. “I think it’s a shame that we are discussing a product like this,” she said. “If most girls don’t have sex prior to marriage only because they want to keep virginity, then there is something wrong with the way we think.
“Sex is a right for every woman, but unfortunately we started turning to products like these because men — even nonreligious ones who have sex before marriage — wouldn’t marry a girl if she’s not virgin.”
The emotion over the kit speaks to a traditional society that is increasingly pious, whether it’s rich professionals seeking moderate Islam on Web sites of progressive imams or poor and middle-class families adopting strict religion as a buttress to the influence of Western media and a loss of confidence in a state that has failed to provide prosperity.
The government of President Hosni Mubarak is troubled by ultraconservative Islam imported from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Egypt’s leading Muslim cleric, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, is considering forbidding the niqab, or face veil, at the university and schools run by Al Azhar, Sunni Islam’s top educational institution. A similar edict barring nurses from wearing niqabs has been loosely enforced. Many parents, however, did not grow up with the economic and social problems that their children face. Single women have traditionally lived with their families until they found a husband.
But today’s inflation, joblessness and poverty are forcing many couples to delay marriage until money is saved and dowries are accumulated. With men and women single longer, dating, breakups and natural impulses challenge religion and tradition.
“Having something like the virginity kit can cause complete mayhem within the Egyptian social life,” said Farid Ismael, of Parliament’s health committee. “It can lead to the spreading of vice and the loss of all the good morals and values we had.” — Los An

Where does cabin crew sleep?

Mr Tony Fernandez will be flinging the entire Asian Constitution right at my face , hopefully he'll not run to that bald Yemeni home alone minister for advice.... cos if he does than i'll be staring at so many childish insulting acts..bla...bla...bla.

I was told to be brave by someone ...... anyway if worst comes to worst , I'll just blame the butler or maybe in this case... MAS.

so where do they really sleep..........

Boeing 747-400 KLM Airbus A340

Boeing 777

Singapore Airline

SQ-with inflight TV and telecommunications

Air Canada

and..........

AirAsia .........!

Ssssssshhh. ~~ Don't laugh too loud... you might wake her up.. ~!!!

Dear DANILDAUD,

We're the World's Best Low Cost Airline because of YOU!

We've grown tremendously in the past 8 years, from 2 planes to over 75 planes, from 1 million guests to over 60 million guests and from 200 staff to 6,000 staff - because you've believed the impossible.

It has been a challenging rise to the top but we're proof that an Asian brand can make it globally.
To us, being voted as the best by all of you is the most meaningful recognition we could ever receive -
for that, we are grateful.

We've taken the world by storm and now, there's only one thing left to do - to lead you into a new era
of flying.

Thank You.



Best regards,
Tony Fernandes

For His Memory - Jamie Bulger

Received this e-mail from detests citizens of the earth Do you remember February 1993 in England , when a young boy of 3 was taken from a Liverpool shopping centre by two 10-year-old boys? Jamie Bulger walked away from his mother for only a second, Jon Venables took his hand and led him out of the mall with his friend Robert Thompson. They took Jamie on a walk for over 2 and a half miles, along the way stopping every now and again to torture the poor little boy who was crying constantly for his mummy. Finally they stopped at a railway track where they brutally kicked him, threw stones at him, rubbed paint in his eyes, pushed batteries up his anus and cut his fingers off with scissors. Other mutilations were inflicted but not reported in the press. N.B. :- Remember, a 3year old cannot possibly defend themselves against a 10 year old, let alone of 2 them. What these two boys did was so horrendous that Jamie's mother was forbidden to identify his body. They then left his beaten small body on railway tracks so a train could run him over to hide the mess they had created. These two boys, even being boys, understood what they did was wrong, hence trying to make it look like an accident. This week Lady Justice Butler-Sloss has awarded the two boys ( now men ), anonymity for the rest of their lives when they leave custody with new identities. They will also leave custody early only serving just over half of their sentence. They are being relocated to Australia to live out the rest of their lives. They disgustingly and violently took Jamie's life away and in return they each get a new life! Please... .. If you feel as strongly as we do, ( and if you haven't already signed this petition ) that this is a grave Miscarriage of justice - Hit the forward button and add your name at the end, and send it to everyone you can ! Please forward this to: cust.ser.cs@gtnet.gov.uk and mark it for the attention to Lady Justice Butler-Sloss. There is power in numbers & these petitions do help. Maybe it'll prevent another child from a violent death & maybe it'll get greater, more appropriate convictions for these criminals.whatever their age. Please take a few seconds to forward it to your mail list & don't forget to add your name to the list. Thank you.

Thief offers damages for stolen moped... 25 years on

An anonymous thief in western Austria has offered 1,400 euros (1,770 dollars) in damages to the former owner of a moped they stole... 25 years ago.

Police in Bregenz said they had received an anonymous letter and 1,400 euros in cash from a person asking them to deliver it "to the victim, in a penitent bid to make amends."

"In 1983, I stole a moped from outside the Metro cinema," the letter said.

"I wasn't aware at the time of the psychological and material consequences of such a crime," it added, requesting the police "to kindly find the details of the victim of this crime in their files."

If this was not possible, the money should go to a local social service, added the letter, which arrived in the police station mailbox Tuesday morning.

Police said they kept their files for at least 40 years and hoped to able to bring the former moped owner a surprise present for Christmas.

"Kiss of deaf."

A passionate kiss ruptured a young woman's eardrum in southern China, state media reported Monday, in what has been dubbed the "kiss of deaf".

The 20-something girl from Zhuhai city in Guangdong province was treated by hospital doctors after completely losing the hearing in her left ear, the China Daily reported, citing the Guangzhou Daily.

"The kiss reduced the pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out and caused the breakdown of the ear," the treating doctor, surnamed Li, was quoted as saying, adding the woman's hearing would likely recover in about two months.

The incident prompted newspapers to dispense kissing safety advice.

While kissing is normally very safe, doctors urge people to proceed with caution, the China Daily reported.

"A strong kiss may cause an imbalance in air pressure between the two inner ears and lead to a broken ear drum," said the English-language Shanghai Daily in a story headlined "Kiss of deaf."

Mumbai Terror attack

A suspected terrorist is seen with a rifle outside the Chatrapati Shivaj Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 82 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A previously unknown group, apparently Muslim militants, took responsibility for the attacks

STORY SO FAR

Gun battles at the Taj Hotel on south Mumbai seafront where army battalions have stormed in trying to rescue hostages held by the terrorists in various parts of the building. Media reports says that some foreign tourists are held hostage at the Trident Hotel by suspected terrorists. At least 101 people including 11 policemen and four terrorists have been killed and about 200 people suffered injuries in the Night of Terror. There are 7 foreigners among 15 taken hostage in Taj Hotel. US president-elect Barack Obama joined the American government in strongly condemning Wednesday's series of "horrific attacks" in Mumbai and asked Washington to work with India to root out and destroy terrorist networks worldwide.


A chef of Taj Mahal Hotel runs to safety after being rescued by security agencies in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish group's headquarters, killing people, and holding Westerners hostage in coordinated attacks on the nation's commercial center that were blamed on Muslim militants.

A grieving relative, bottom, of a terrorist attack victim is consoled by others outside the St. Georges Hospital in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital, killing at least 101 people, taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege Thursday, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.







An Indian Army soldier takes position outside the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish group's headquarters, killing people, and holding Westerners hostage in coordinated attacks on the nation's commercial center that were blamed on Muslim militants.




A usually crowded underpass that leads to the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus train station is deserted in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish group's headquarters, killing people, and holding Westerners hostage in coordinated attacks on the nation's commercial center that were blamed on Muslim militants.

A police officer watches the Taj Hotel, Mumbai's landmark hotel, after an attack in Mumbai, India's financial capital, on Wednesday night November 26, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said.

The Taj Hotel, Mumbai's landmark hotel, is caught fire after an attack in Mumbai, India's financial capital, on early Thursday morning November 27, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said.





The Taj Hotel, Mumbai's landmark hotel, is caught fire after an attack in Mumbai, India's financial capital, on early Thursday morning November 27, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said.



Army soldiers take position outside the Taj Hotel, Mumbai's landmark hotel, after an terror attack in Mumbai on Wednesday night November 26, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said.



Fire engulfs a part of the Taj Mahal Hotel as firemen try to douse it in Mumbai, India, on early Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A previously unknown group, apparently Muslim militants, took responsibility for the attacks.


Guests and hotel staff are being rescued by a firefighter at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said.

Firefighters inspect the site of an explosion in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008. Gunmen targeted luxury hotels, a popular tourist attraction and a crowded train station in at least seven attacks in India's financial capital Wednesday, wounding 25 people, police and witnesses said. A.N Roy police commissioner of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said several people had been wounded in the attacks and police were battling the gunmen. "The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," said Roy. Gunmen opened fire on two of the city's best known Luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. They also attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark. It was not immediately clear what the motive was for the attacks.

Unidentified guests of the Taj Hotel are seen outside hotel in Mumbai, India