Teenager Wins Lottery

A UK teenager wins the lottery only to be bitten by her dog on the backside.

The Show Biz Minute

Janet Jackson hospitalized, pair charged in Shia LaBeouf crash, more than 52 million tuned in to first presidential debate.

Wall-Street Financial Crisis: An Overview

The American Financial Institutions repeatedly opposed calls for greater transparency as to how they carry about their International Financial Transactions, this was the widespread view of the G8 members headed by Germany.

The Economic crisis at the Wall-Street has spiraled and has cast a shadow on markets around the world from Europe to Asia, things are never going to be the same again. The bail out which lost out on vote on Monday is being pushed ahead again by the Bush Administration which hopes that will help ease the financial crunch in the cash starved banking corporations.

The political fall out of the crisis was so huge, millions of Americans followed the debate between Barack Obama and John McCain live which took place in Mississippi to know which way the country is moving ahead.



There are some views though on what led to the current crisis take shape according to this news story, which says, the American Financial Institutions repeatedly opposed calls for greater transparency as to how they carry about their International Financial Transactions particularly hedge funds but also were insensitive to the considerable amount of risk involved in carrying out those murky transactions.

Further reading:

1.Don't be Panicked
2.Gigantic Fraud
3.Crisis (Marxian)- Economic Crisis - Wikipedia Article

The new Home-less in US

Ever since the US sub-prime(real estate) credit crisis started, life has never been the same for many of the America's middle class, the rot is so deep and contagious that it has begun to show up in the streets. The news story which I went through highlights some of these stories which are increasingly taking place across the America's once vibrant middle class. Jobs have been lost and in the course homes too result, the citizens are now spending their nights in their 4X4 homes parked in the lots.

You can read the full story here

An Excerpt from the article:

In a car park across the street from luxury mansions, the evening brings a strange sight. A few cars arrive and take up spaces in different corners. In each car, a woman, perhaps a few pets, bags of possessions and bedding. Across the street from homes with bedrooms to spare, these are Santa Barbara’s car sleepers. Homeless within the last year, they are a direct consequence of America’s housing market collapse.

UCLA Researchers Find Largest Known Prime Number

Mathematicians at UCLA have discovered a 13 million-digit prime number, a long-sought milestone that makes them eligible for a $100,000 prize

What Led to Financial Crisis ?

The Financial debacle at the Wall street has taken the world by surprise, President George W. Bush offered a bunch of explanations but held Washington completely blameless.

Rescuers Free Whale From Net

Rescuers have freed a whale that has been tangled in a shark net for more than a week

Half a billion dollar art sale

Expected to fetch at least 300 million euro (almost half a billion dollars), an art collection amassed over four decades by late fashion king Yves Saint Laurent and his companion Pierre Berge goes up for sale next February. Details of the sale were announced on Friday.

LA Train Collision: Freight Brakeman Sues

An attorney for the brakeman who survived the deadly train collision near Los Angeles says his client is seeking unspecified damages against the commuter rail service and the companies that provided its engineers.

Smoking Cigarette is Injurious to Health

Smokers get wake-up call with new graphic anti-smoking images on cigarette packets.

In memory of those who lost their lives and in affection of those who are still alive and in need of help.

It makes me wonder why these sorts of incidents happen, a series of violent actions. Firstly in Finland the guy in question Matti Sarri from Finland causing the bloodshed. In the other incident a Swedish student is said to have made a video involving violent actions using guns, the timely Police action is said to have unearthed some real motives behind the events that includes a video of threatening nature on You Tube. Then comes the news involving Swedish Twin sisters throwing themselves at the traffic on the Motorway in UK, all of the cases have a tendency of suicidal action.

Though I am not a psychologist, these behaviors I feel are developed in an individuals life over a period of time and they seek an outlet to the burning anger, anxiety and fear inside the patients suffering from such illness. Long time back (actually I read it only a few months back, but nature of today’s faster life where we take in huge loads of information it felt to me as if I have read this news article some light years back) I read in a news daily about a correction center that dealt with people with such kind of illness, I don’t remember the name of the institution, all I remember is that the institution is on an island in Sweden. The individuals behind the institute have a special interest for this initiative and it is a very popular place in known circles that deal with these kinds of incidents.

In the above cases, might be it was too late to discover their problems or who knows they could have been corrected so as to save precious lives including those of the perpetrator and the victims. After all a life is a life.

The Institute is a private initiative of a Swedish couple Lasse Siggelin and his wife Kirstin, (I went for a quick Google search and found what I was looking for, Thank God). And the Institute’s name is Hassela reform centre, located on the picturesque island of Gotland in Sweden.

Here you can read about it in the memory of those who lost their lives and in affection of those who are still alive and are in need of help. Thanks for reading.

An Island of last resort, an article about the special correction centre

An Excerpt from the article

"The "students", as they are called, are part of one of the world's most striking youth detention centres. They live in the main house or in smaller houses scattered throughout the village. Occasionally, there are "challenges" - the Irish boy, for example, who tried to hold up the post office with a knife, then went back to apologise - but for the most part, this small Swedish community accepts the 60 or so students who live in its midst as kids who need help to straighten themselves out."

Swiss Man Flies Over Channel on Jet Wing

A Swiss rocket man crossed the English Channel strapped to a homemade jet-propelled wing, aiming for a field near the white cliffs of Dover after a 10-minute solo flight.

*Warning* Parental G over 18 : Motorway madness by two sisters

The twin sisters throw themselves onto the motorway resulting in serious injuries, the newsmen described the behaviour of the Swedish women as deranged and has to be restrained by atleast six men, read the full story here

This is a raw footage from the BBC.

Raw Video: Woman pushed out of moving car

What appears to be a deliberate assault, a woman is pushed out of the car at very high speeds in this video and the police is on the look out for the suspect. The incident is reported to have happened in Dallas.

Another Suspected Shooting Threats after Finland shootings

Coming close on the heels of the class-room shootings in Finland where many students died including the shooter, a School in Sweden discovered similar threats which led to the schools closure for the day. Police is said to have arrested a student in Västerås , a Swedish city some 100 KM west of Stockholm for making a YouTube video of a threatening nature involving guns, police said to AFP according to the news report published in the TheLocal the Sweden's English News Portal.

The full story can be read at The Local

Västerås is a city in central Sweden on the shores of Lake Mälaren, Västerås

Computer Security Breach

Data Protection and Internet Privacy has gone for a toss at the Tennesse State University, this is just one of the incidents where data of scores of students approx 9,000 is suspected to be fallen into the wrong hands, this is one of the flip side of the information technology security.

Escorting Aid across the sea

Escorting food aid to battle ravaged Somalia and other parts of the world is a tricky business these days, there has been scores of kidnappings and taking over of the ship incidents from the pirates lurking along the coast of Somalia. But still there are a few who still take this journey to provide aid.

High Rise Rescue at a Construction Site in Phoenix

azfamily.com's Mike Watkiss reports a construction worker took a wild ride after falling from atop a Phoenix skyscraper.

Clock goes back at Marie Antoinette's palace

The Petit Trianon, Marie-Antoinette's hideaway in the grounds of Versailles, is about to reopen after a year-long renovation that restores it to the way it was the day the queen left on October 5, 1789.

How safe are you on the slippery wet roads ?

Winter is around the corner and most important thing on the minds of most of the people would be related to driving aids like changing to winter tyres etc. Now you don't have to worry about all the pitfalls ahead anymore, if the new driving aids developed by the researchers at the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden is to be considered.

Researchers are using solar powered devices fitted to the pavements to record the important road conditions like snow on the road, traffic jams and other perilous road conditions. And that is called a 'Smart' roadway. Check it out here how this roadway operates its important functions, which is still in the research stages.

Further reading :

1. An article on Safe driving

Printed T-shirts causing Cancers

Is our clothing safe for our daily use, this is what this article reflects on. T-shirts and other printed textiles are found to carry the dangerous chemical which can cause birth defects and even cancer. The chemical in question is nonylphenol ethoxylates, it is widely used in detergents and other laundry materials used in cleaning purposes. In the present case Swedish society for Nature Conservation SSNC found this substance in large ratios which is a cause for concern.

1. Full story here
2.Procter and Gamble (P&G) Nonylphenol and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates
3.Wikipedia on Nonoxynols
4. A World Health Organisation Review on Nonylphenol Ethoxylates


Another Link which is related to legislation is out of service due to maintenance at the site which you can check if it is available now

5.International digest of Health Legislation(idhl) at WHO

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Attracting Humming birds to your Garden.

How about attracting birds to your garden and moreover a humming bird, the idea doesn't seems bad, here it is check it out in this Video, How to attract Humming birds to your Garden.
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A rare Okapi captured in Wild

If you are a wild life enthusiast here's some good news for you, a rare wild Okapi which is one of the rarest of creatures in the wild was captured on the camera, according to this video.
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Sarah Palin and the Republican Campaign

The campaign for the 2008 Presidential elections has surely veered off the issues at hand. Both the Republicans and the Democrats trading some outstanding comments against each other, it was simply frustrating to see all that happen.

It doesn't augur well for the Republican party campaign for the 2008 Presidential elections, to have reduced this campaign for a media frenzy show and the comment war which was the spectacle of the headlines through out the world during the last few days of the campaign.



The issues at hand for the US are typically different, with the mess in the Wall Street, sluggish economy and the fears of the investors are relentless, the Republican Campaign seems to be caught off the hook on some important issues plaguing the US and world economy.

Now with the Alaskan report due on the Sarah Palin's role on the ouster of the Alaskan trooper is scheduled to be released no less than three weeks before the final countdown, these elections seem to be heading to the wire.

And it will be very interesting to see which way Sarah Palin's campaign for 2008 Vice Presidential campaign goes with things looking pretty bad on the economy front and Obama pointing a finger at the present Republican administration.

Also an email is circulating the web regarding Sarah Palin's Alaska years and has nothing to do with this post, take a look here

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Becoming a cool blogger.

Blogging can be a useful experience if used with a careful and a standard approach towards writing a blog, there are lots of interesting blogs that I have had browsed so far and it feels so good to know many things in life.

So far so good. It has been a very good and informative journey for me as a blogger, though I still need to catch up with all that is happening, I feel that I am learning quite well.

Some times you try too hard to achieve your goals, the most intense for a blogger as I have come across many many blogs in my short stint as a blogger and I include myself too in this trend is, to be on top of the charts, top of the blogs, thousands of visitors and feeds, having a good page rank and so on. I think it is a wrong approach towards becoming a popular blogger, if you stick to basics and concentrate on what you can deliver the best, I feel the job is done. No need to scratch your heads till you go crazy and sleepless. Enjoy what you write and be straight what you want to convey and that's it, you become a cool blogger.
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iPhone has iPrivacy issue.

According to a news report, the Apple company's iPhone has some Privacy issue with it's usage, user info, particularly the screen shots, are logged into iPhone's cache memory and this could be used by potential hackers and forensic experts in digging out data from a device and also could lead to compromise the pass code of an iPhone.

Any storage device has this inherent feature of caching the data, where data is stored, even if it means that you have altogether deleted the data from your device and this special conditionality when using a storage device makes the retrieving of the lost data from a device possible. Though there are always ways to delete the data completely from your storage device, then this sometimes means, deleting all your personal profiles and other settings from the device and reloading them if you have such a backup.

Read the full story here

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Lost McCain Footage found in Sweden

A lost footage of the American Presidential front runner from the Republican Party John Mccain is said to be found with the Swedish National Television broadcaster SVT according to the news report published in DN, Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish News daily.

According to the News report published on the website The Local , Erik Eriksson, a Swedish Journalist who covered the war of Vietnam from 1968 through 1979 with the SVT and other US publications has released a book which he authored named, I saw Love and Death , along with a DVD, focusing on the period of Vietnam war.

The footage shows McCain and other Prisoners of War exiting a bus and standing on the Tarmac at the Hanoi Airport. According to the author, this is probably, the only footage of McCain from that period of time available now.

Further reading:

Full Story Here
War, Honor, John McCain
Vietnam War
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Large Hadron Collider Switched ON

Scientists have formally launched one of the ambitious projects in the history of science to study the physics of particles in space conditions by dugging up a tunnel across the border of France and Switzerland. Large Hadron Collider, as it is named, is the particle accelarator, simulates two beams of protons in opposite directions colliding with each other and creating phenomena such as the Big Bang, Scientists hope that they would be able to study theories deeper and the experiment could throw light on some new facts also, which the mankind has ever known.

But the project costs a little bit expensive drawing criticism of draining the budgets of the multinational collaborators. It has cost a whopping $ 9 billion.

CERN, European organisation for Nuclear Research is the official body conducting the experiment.

Further reading:

1. Full Story
2. CERN Major Events
3. Particle Physics

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" Tasting and Complaining " costs Thai PM his office

Thai Prime Minister was forced to resign from the office after a ruling by the court held that he violated a conflict-of-interest law by hosting cookery shows on Television. Thailand's internal politics is again in fresh turmoil due to the latest developments throwing the financial markets in doubt.

According the news reports, the former PM Samak Sundaravej hosted the popular TV show on cooking
" Tasting and Complaining " for seven years before becoming Prime Minister. He is a self proclaimed food enthusiast.

Thailand's politics is on the boil since past a few years when Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted from the office in September 2006 by the Army Junta in a coup over the charges of corruption and abuse of power.

Further Reading :

1. Full Story
2. Politics of Thailand
3. The Economist Report on Thailand

Obama slightly ahead of McCain in the Presidential Race

There has been conflicting statements and counter statements, things which took place in the past and her present focus on things ahead of the campaign have almost took America a little bit hard on the political scene, Sarah Palin's recent past as according to the news reports does indicate clearly that she is somewhere more religious than she appears, and it is every one's personal right to be religious, but the political community would have definitely not liked the idea of mixing religion with politics and also caught off the hook on some key issues like Iraq War policy and many more things related to the Alaskan oil and gas project.

Well, ever since she took the center stage for the Vice Presidential race, the political obituary is almost nearing complete, analysts say that it is a close race, presidential race is deadlocked, I think Obama is distinctly ahead towards the road to Washington, because the Obama campaign doesn't have any new surprises for the American people of getting distracted from the main issues.
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Lets talk about flowers !

When we get to hear the news from this part of the world, we are taken aback sometimes. The last time we heard about Colombia was when FARC rebels ended up losing captivity of their celebrated catch in the form of Ingrid Betancourt, but there are other reasons also Colombia is known for, this is what this story tells us and it is quite fun to know that Colombia is the second largest exporter of cut flowers to the world taking its sales to over a $ 1 billion in exports only the last year.

Read the full story here

But this story involves a little bit of twist, the practices involved in the industry in growing these flowers, which are about 62% of all the flowers sold to USA. There are reports of high pesticide usage in the industry. You can read about it here

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U.S. Open Mens Tennis Finals Today at 5pm ET at Flushing Meadows

Serena Williams wins 2008 U.S. Open title beating Jelena Jankovic 6-4,7-5 in straight sets to win a 1.5 million dollar prize money at the Flushing Meadows, New York, USA.

Having lost to Elena Dementieva at Beijing Olympics in China, she has come back in a big way, and also won against her sister Venus in the quarter finals.

While Jelena Jankovic won a runners up prize money of 750,000 US dollars. It was a close match and at one moment Jelena Jankovic was leading 5-3, 40-0 in the second set, but could not win the set, eventually losing the title to Serena.

Serena having won the US Open title will again become the no:1 Player in the world having won the US Open titles also in 1999 and 2002.

The US Open Mens Final Tennis match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, who is appearing in his first grand slam final appearance, is to be played at 5 pm ET today.

Andy Murray entered into the final of the U.S. Open defeating Rafael Nadal earlier in the rain interrupted semi-final match. Though Andy Murray has a 2-1 career win record against the Federer, Swiss would be looking for his 13th Major slam title one short of Pete Sampras 14 slams an all time record.

Snoring dangerous to health: Report

Have you ever felt tired after a sleep ? Do you feel sleepy in the day time at times and often get caught in catnaps ?. Moreover, do you snore at normal levels ?

A new report on snoring concludes that snoring can be dangerous to health even at normal levels and can leave the person sleepy and prone to catnaps, you can read the story here.

There are numerous sleep disorders that affect the sleep in our daily lives, some of the common sleep disorders are

1. Bruxism: Involuntarily grinding or clenching of the teeth while sleeping
2. Delayed sleep phase syndrome DSPS: Inability to fall asleep and get awake at socially acceptable hours, but healthy sleep, advanced sleep phase syndrome ASPS and Non-24 hour sleep syndrome are less common than the DSPS.
3. Sleep walking or somnambulism: Activities performed while one is asleep, they can include eating, dressing and more without the subject being involved in the actual know how etc.,

Further reading:
1. Sleep Disorders an overview.
2. National Institutes of Health on Sleep Disorders.
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Plastics suspected in Brain Disorders: NTP report

Bisphenol A (BPA) A chemical used in manufacturing of many types of Polycarbonate plastics used in the human food container cycle, is under spotlight again for its possible side effects on human health, it has been in use since a long time back.

Though there is still no consensus on the issue world wide, with European Union's Food Safety Authority and Japan dismissing the assessments as not a significant threat in the year 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Canada, on April 18th 2008 announced that it is banning the use of polycarbonate in the manufacturing of Baby bottles and other related products, Wal-Mart followed the course of action banning the sale of the polycarbonate plastic off its shelves at the same time.

With the final report released by the National Toxicology Program NTP in the US on September 3 2008. Finally, it appears the chemical has got some strains.

Further reading:
1. Full Story Here
2. Bisphenol A (BPA)
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Hit and Run cases

In an almost a decade old case a man has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment by a New Delhi court in BMW 'hit and run' case. You can read this story here. There is another incident under the influence in Frankfurt which is the latest news which you can read it here

Further reading:
1. An article on Driving
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Models going hungry, How ?

Modelling as a career is lucrative, but the practices in the industry are not. On and off we get to hear the news Models getting in trouble with unhealthy dietary plans which lead them to severe health problems and in some cases we came to know about on stage drama's like models falling off the ramp in a dizzy state and in extreme cases some models died. How horrific ? I am talking about Ana Carolina Reston the model from Brazil. If you look at some of the facts, I am simply amazed, How crazy this industry is.


Though there is more awareness, but do you feel the work has been done and all is well and fine, this article discusses the same issue. I personally think Anorexia can be done only with boycotting big pageant shows which put on show, models with such astonishing figures who are actually more closer to death than they appear. Behind the screens there has been lot of research being done on eating disorders, but that is just different from self imposed or a industry stipulated guidelines, where you starve yourself to nightmares.

Further Reading:
1. AnyBody - AnyBody's Vent - - I've fought to stop models starving ...
2. Feed the Model
3. Research on Anorexia

Broken relationships and the secrets behind.

Have you ever had a broken relationship ? We are sometimes left pondering, what might have gone wrong, answers to all of the mystery reasons to all of the questions seems to have been discovered.

There is a Scientific reason behind broken relationships between Men and Women according to a new research done by a team of researchers from Sweden and United States. According to the research some men tend to carry a specific genetic variation that makes it harder for them from lasting bonds with women according to the news report published in the Sweden's English Language Website TheLocal.

A lead researcher Hasse Wallum at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden made this Observation " It's not necessarily that they are less capable of love, rather it's probably about a reduction of their social competence". The study involved several institutions from Sweden and United States and published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings are based in a large part of genetic information gathered from about 550 pairs of Swedish twins and their partners involving a total of about 1000 men and women each.

A specific gene called AVPR1A, as well as codes for receptors of vasopressin, a hormone found in the brain which affects behaviour related to forming bonds and building relationships.

The research conducted by Wallum and his colleagues discovered that men and not women, which have one or two copies of a specific variation of the gene, have twice as high a risk for encountering problems in their relationships or marriages.

"I want to emphasize that men who carry this allele are not doomed to failure in their relationships. The effect is relatively modest. But the risks are greater than for other men. It is possible that they are also more prone to infidelity," said Wallum.

This research developments are bound to affect the way partners now perceive each other, one man might even say to his partner, hey I have this allele 334 to blame for my behaviour in relationships, but it is not that simple in real life, the researcher concludes. Isn't it ?

Source:The Local

Coming of age with Blogs !

One way to keep it up with the latest trends in technology is to keep browsing the web and study, know a few things about it, if you do get interested in, dig deeper into it. Nothing is impossible these days.

I remember the first time, when I started with Blogs way back in 2003-04, in fact I did even registered with one blog, though conveniently misplacing its details, like an abandoned property. It was fun with Blogger, when Google purchased it in 2003, I seldom could find any time after that, and this led to my neglect towards
Blogs or someone might even accuse me of a un-blogger like an attitude, but I will strongly refute such an allegation, given my tight schedules at that time, and I will enter my defense with a not guilty plea in case of such a scenario, though I still don't have enough time, but Blogging is my priority these days.


Google was still fighting it out and it was a good competitor at that time as far as I can remember, of what it is today. Knocking off the traditional giants like Microsoft and Yahoo. And now with all the Networking sites lighting up the LCD's etc. trends are predicted to further migrate towards new types of technologies. Technology in our times is faster than anything else, even the makers of these technologies often surprise themselves to see all the things happening so fast, one could have researched and developed Nano-technology, but the market trends speak different language, they depend heavily on the user-trends, the way way user reacts to it, the way it will sway leaving everything behind.

One way to keep up with such trends is to keep browsing the web for new technologies, know a few things about it, if you do get interested in, dig deeper into it. Nothing is impossible these days.

But changing templates can be a rude business sometimes, I started with the good old template of the yesteryear's on the Blogger. And it has come a long way since then, I am a novice when it comes to Web Designing, but needed to with stand the test of time, so had to work with it. I tried a hand at it but could only manage to change its color, I will come up with some interesting sites which I have found in course of my small template hunt, which should help us in our ordeal in my next post.