Boy's Letter: 'Grown-Ups Killed My Kitty'

Found on Site: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/06/boys-letter-kitty_n_1944988.html?ref=topbar

                                          Brothers Rayden and Devin Sazama

SALT LAKE CITY — An 8-year-old Utah boy wrote a letter to his local newspaper after an animal shelter worker failed to write a note to save his cat from being euthanized. "Yesterday grown-ups killed my kitty, my best friend, when they weren't supposed to," he said.

The letter appeared in The Herald Journal, of Logan, on Thursday. By Friday, it had received the fourth-most comments on the newspaper's website – behind three letters about Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Some berated the shelter for failing to keep the cat safe. Others criticized the family for letting the cat outside, failing to have it on a leash or not looking for the cat at the shelter sooner. Still others faulted the neighbors who had trapped the cat and denied having seen it when asked.

But the boy, Rayden Sazama, just wanted to share his love of his cat, Toothless.

"I just wanted to tell people about Toothless – that I loved him," he told The Associated Press through his father, Jason Sazama, on Friday. "And that people shouldn't lie."

Sazama said he's surprised how many people didn't get the point of Rayden's letter, which the boy dictated to his grandfather: "It was about a boy sharing his love for his cat – and saying, `C'mon grown-ups.'"

Toothless, a fluffy, black cat who roamed the cow pasture next door and often brought home "presents" of field mice, slipped out his kitty door Sept. 28 and didn't return home. By Sunday, Rayden and his younger brother, Devin, were going door to door, asking neighbors if they had seen the cat.

Everyone said they hadn't seen Toothless.

Jason Sazama checked the Cache Humane Society's website but didn't see any photos resembling Toothless. After two busy days on the road for work, he decided to swing by the organization's shelter Tuesday to see if Toothless had turned up.

The shelter had already closed for the evening, but a worker allowed Sazama inside, where Toothless sat in a cage. There was just one problem: Sazama still needed to pay the impound fee at a government building that was also closed.

The worker assured Sazama the cat would be fine, and he returned home, crowing: "I found Toothless! We'll get him tomorrow."

But when Sazama returned the next day, the receipt for his impound payment in hand, he discovered that Toothless had already been euthanized. The worker had forgotten to put a note on the cage.

The Cache Humane Society did not return a telephone message Friday from the AP. When reached by The Herald Journal, Director Brenda Smith confirmed Rayden's story, saying the boy's father had visited the shelter after business hours, when the worker was busy training another employee.

"She let him in to look for the cat, but unfortunately, in training someone she forgot to leave a note on the cat's cage," Smith told the newspaper. "I've just been sick about it, and so has she."

Sazama said he has no ill will toward the shelter.

"I had to explain to my son that several adults made mistakes here," he said. "The worker made a mistake, and I should have gone to the shelter sooner."

Sazama said he even understood why the neighbors trapped the cat; he hadn't known that Toothless had been visiting the neighbors' sandbox and leaving different kinds of presents there.

But Rayden said in his letter that the neighbors lied when he asked them if they had seen the cat. "My dad and mom tell me and Devin not to lie and that is right," he said.

"Now I don't know what to do," the letter concludes. "My cat Toothless is dead; the people that killed him didn't even give him to my dad so we could bury him. What do I do now?"

Doubts Over Jesus 'Wife' Scroll

Found on Site: http://www.3news.co.nz/Doubts-over-Jesus-wife-scroll/tabid/1160/articleID/269914/Default.aspx



Is a scrap of papyrus suggesting that Jesus had a wife authentic?

Scholars on Wednesday questioned the much-publicised discovery by a Harvard scholar that a 4th century fragment of papyrus provided the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus was married.
And experts in the illicit antiquities trade also wondered about the motive of the fragment's anonymous owner, noting that the document's value has likely increased amid the publicity of the still-unproven find.
Karen King, a professor of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School, announced the finding Tuesday at an international congress on Coptic studies in Rome. The text, written in Coptic and probably translated from a 2nd century Greek text, contains a dialogue in which Jesus refers to "my wife", whom he identifies as Mary.
King's paper, and the front-page attention it received in some US newspapers that got advance word about it, was a hot topic of conversation Wednesday at the conference.

Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was unmarried, although there is no reliable historical evidence to support that, King said. Any evidence pointing to whether Jesus was married or had a female disciple could have ripple effects in current debates over the role of women in the church.

Stephen Emmel, a professor of Coptology at the University of Muenster who was on the international advisory panel that reviewed the 2006 discovery of the Gospel of Judas, said the text accurately quotes Jesus as saying "my wife". But he questioned whether the document was authentic.

"There's something about this fragment in its appearance and also in the grammar of the Coptic that strikes me as being not completely convincing somehow," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.
Another participant at the congress, Alin Suciu, a papyrologist at the University of Hamburg, was more blunt.
"I would say it's a forgery. The script doesn't look authentic" when compared to other samples of Coptic papyrus script dated to the 4th century, he said.

King acknowledged Wednesday that questions remain about the fragment, and she welcomed the feedback from her colleagues. She said she planned to subject the document to ink tests to determine if the chemical components match those used in antiquity.

"We still have some work to do, testing the ink and so on and so forth, but what is exciting about this fragment is that it's the first case we have of Christians claiming that Jesus had a wife," she said.
She stressed that the text, assuming it's authentic, doesn't provide any historical evidence that Jesus was actually married, only that some two centuries after he died, some early Christians believed he had a wife.
Wolf-Peter Funk, a noted Coptic linguist, said there was no way to evaluate the significance of the fragment because it has no context. It's a partial text and tiny, measuring four centimetres by eight centimetres, about the size of a small cellphone.

"There are thousands of scraps of papyrus where you find crazy things," said Funk, co-director of a project editing the Nag Hammadi Coptic library at Laval University in Quebec. "It can be anything."
He, too, doubted the authenticity, saying the form of the fragment was "suspicious".
Ancient papyrus fragments have been frequently cut up by unscrupulous antiquities dealers seeking to make more money.

An anonymous collector brought King the fragment in December 2011, seeking her help in translating and understanding it. In March, she brought it to two papyrologists who determined it was very likely authentic.
On Tuesday, Harvard Divinity School announced the finding to great fanfare and said King's paper would be published in January's Harvard Theological Review. Harvard said the fragment most likely came from Egypt, and that its earliest documentation is from the early 1980s indicating that a now-deceased professor in Germany thought it evidence of a possible marriage of Jesus.

Some archaeologists were quick to question Harvard's ethics, noting that the fragment has no known provenance, or history of where it's been, and that its current owner may have a financial interest in the publicity being generated about it.

King has said the owner wants to sell his collection to Harvard.
"There are all sorts of really dodgy things about this," said David Gill, professor of archaeological heritage at University Campus Suffolk and author of the Looting Matters blog, which closely follows the illicit trade in antiquities. "This looks to me as if any sensible, responsible academic would keep their distance from it."
He cited the ongoing debate in academia over publishing articles about possibly dubiously obtained antiquities, thus potentially fuelling the illicit market.

The Archaeological Institute of America, for example, won't publish articles in its journal announcing the discovery of antiquities without a proven provenance that were acquired after a UNESCO convention fighting the illicit trade went into effect in 1973.

Similarly, many American museums have adopted policies to no longer acquire antiquities without a provenance, after being slapped with successful efforts by countries like Italy to reclaim looted treasures.
Archaeologists also complain that the looting of antiquities removes them from their historical context, depriving scholars of a wealth of information.

However, AnneMarie Luijendijk, the Princeton University expert whom King consulted to authenticate the papyrus, said the fragment fit all the rules and criteria established by the International Association of Papyrologists. She noted that papyrus fragments frequently don't have a provenance, simply because so many were removed from Egypt before such issues were of concern.

She acknowledged the dilemma about buying such antiquities but said refraining from publishing articles about them is another matter.
"You wouldn't let an important new text go to waste," she said.
Hany Sadak, the director general of the Coptic Museum in Cairo, said the fragment's existence was unknown to Egypt's antiquities authorities until news articles this week.
"I personally think, as a researcher, that the paper is not authentic because it was, if it had been in Egypt before, we would have known of it and we would have heard of it before it left Egypt," he said.

‘F-bomb,' 'sexting' land in Merriam-Webster dictionary

Found on Site:http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/08/f-bomb-sexting-land-in-new-merriam-webster-dictionary-/1#.UFykS7Libe4

After apparently first landing in the late 1980s, "F-bomb" has finally left its mark in the newest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

The F-word derivative joins sexting, flexitarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach and 94 other new words included in the annual update, which will be published Tuesday, theAssociated Press says.
Back in October 2007, a "Kimberley" from Pennsylvania submitted the F-bomb for M-W's consideration. She defined itas a euphemism for "the notorious 'F' word, especially when a person uses that word frequently or capriciously."

Here's how the 114-year-old M-W defines the euphemism for that special word, which cannot be spelled out around these parts.
Take a gander at the top 25 new words.
Keep in mind that dictionaries are not bleeding-edge linguistic lighthouses; they lag the turbocharged lingua franca du jour, blessing words only after they're splashing about in the mainstream. And M-W has lagged its competitors -- sometimes by several years -- in adding other commonly used words.
So who are the cultural bombardiers, and when did F-bombs start falling? AP writes:

Kory Stamper, an associate editor for Merriam-Webster, said she and her fellow word spies at the Massachusetts company traced it back to 1988, in a Newsday story that had the now-dead Mets catcher Gary Carter talking about how he had given them up, along with other profanities.
But the word didn't really take off until the late `90s, after Bobby Knight went heavy on the F-bombs during a locker room tirade.
"We saw another huge spike after Dick Cheney dropped an F-bomb in the Senate in 2004," and again in 2010 when Vice President Joe Biden did the same thing in the same place, Stamper said.

"It's a word that is very visually evocative," Stamper told AP. "It's not just the F-word. It's F-bomb. You know that it's going to cause a lot of consternation and possible damage."
One place where it recently caused some consternation was at the Iowa State Fair, according to our Gannett colleagues atTheDes Moines Register.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals took down its booth late Thursday after concessionaires and other exhibitors complained about "profane language" heard and seen in subtitles during a 13-minute video, the paper writes.

"Supposedly, the raw language used by one factory-farm worker in the undercover video footage — he drops an F-bomb while describing the difficulty of snapping turkeys' necks — proved too much for Iowans' delicate ears," PETA wroteFriday.
Earlier today, PETA said its booth and its Glass Walls video"exposing the horrific cruelty of the meat trade" -- narrated by former Beatle Paul McCartney -- returned Saturday.

Will-Kate greeted by 'topless babes' in Solomon Islands

Found on Site: http://bit.ly/S5oxAk

Kate Middleton and Prince Williams were greeted with garlands by a group of topless women, draped in the island's traditional garb, to the village of Marau.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were welcomed to Marau, Solomon Islands before they travelled by boat to Tavanipupu, as part of the Royal couple's Diamond Jubilee Tour of South East Asia.
According to New York Daily News, Kate also saw a topless sculpture during a visit to the Cultural Village in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The 30-year-old reportedly raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, as she came face to face with a topless sculpture, seemingly trying to suppress her laugh in the wake of the scandal that has swept Europe.
Meanwhile Michael O'Kane, editor of the Irish Daily Star, was suspended Monday over the paper's publication of revealing photos of the royal couple.

While Star's British co-owner threatened to shut down the newspaper entirely, O'Kane said he didn't see what the big deal was.
"I did this as a service to our readers. I'm a little taken aback by the reaction in the UK. It only seems to be an issue in the UK because she is your future queen. But from our point of view in Ireland, Kate Middleton is just another of the fantastic line of celebrities," O'Kane told the BBC.

On the other hand, spokesman from Clarence House, in reaction to the editor made it clear what the big deal is.
"The complaint concerns the taking of photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge whilst on holiday and the publication of those photographs in breach of their privacy," the New York Daily News quoted the spokesman as saying.

Marilyn Monroe Check Up for Auction

Found on Site: http://bit.ly/O90t0e

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 4 (UPI) -- The last check Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe wrote before her death in 1962 is up for sale, Heritage Auctions announced. The document is expected to fetch about $10,000 when it is auctioned off July 24.

" As the 50th anniversary approaches of Marilyn's Aug. 5, 1962 death, demand for her memorabilia continues to increase and so do the prices for it," said Margaret Barrett, director of entertainment and music memorabilia at Heritage, in a statement.

The check is dated Aug. 4, 1962, and was for $228.80. It was used to buy a white chest of drawers from Pilgrim's Furniture, said Barrett. Monroe, star of "Some Like It Hot," "The Seven-Year Itch" and "The Misfits," was 36 when she died of a prescription drug overdose.

10 Inspirational Olympic Moments

Found on Site: http://www.oddee.com/item_98274.aspx

1. Derek Redmond – Injured Runner Helped to Finish Line By His Father

Derek Redmond was already a tragic hero. Having been forced to pull out of the 400-meter relay in 1988 due to an injury to his hamstring 90 seconds before he was to start, it seems Lady Luck was not on his side. When he returned to Barcelona in 1992, he had undergone eight operations, but was in relative good health. The first part of the relay went great; Redmond posted the fastest time and the team made it all the way to the semi-finals. But a mere 250 meters from the finish, Redmond re-injured his hamstring, and it seemed like victory was snatched from him once again. But a powerful thing happened. He refused to give up. As he hobbled along the final stretch, his father made his way past security to help his son cross the finish line. Sixty-five thousand people cheered them on. Although he came in last in the Olympic race, he came in first in the Human race.

2. Jesse Owens – Proved Hitler Wrong by Winning Four Gold Medals



Berlin, 1936. With The Third Reich firmly in power, Adolph Hitler set to show the world the superiority of Fascism and the blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryan Race he championed. But he didn't count on a young man named Jesse Owens. The 5'10” African American won the gold in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and with the 400-meter relay team. This infuriated Hitler, and he refused to shake the athlete's hand. Jesse Owen's achievements were touted the world over as proof that eugenics was bunk; however, back in the USA he was forced to ride the freight elevator to his own victory party because of his skin color!

3. Wilma Rudolph – Overcomes Polio, Wins 3 Gold Medals

Wilma Rudolph defied all odds. Born prematurely and stricken with polio as a child, it seemed she would never walk again, let alone run a race. Growing up as an African-American woman in the 1960s Southern USA compounded her problems. But that didn't stop her. She eventually shed the leg brace she had to wear by the age of 12 and began playing basketball, and eventually running in track and field. In 1960, she made it to the Summer Olympics in Rome. In the stifling heat she won 3 gold medals, the first American woman to do so. Dubbed “The Tennessee Tornado” she is still considered one of the fastest female runners, ever.

4. Kerri Strug – Completed Vault Despite Broken Ankle

In 1996, the US women's Olympic team dubbed “The Magnificent Seven” went head-to-head against the Russians, who had dominated the event for forty years. During her first vault, Kerri under-rotated her landing, badly injuring her ankle. But the contest was too close for her to throw in the towel. " We need you one more time for the gold,” said her coach. Kerri mustered up all her strength and vaulted a second time, landing on both feet for a split-second, and then collapsing in agony. It worked: Kerri scored a 9.712 and the Americans won the gold.

5. Billy Mills – Native American Wins Gold Medal in Stunning Last-Minute Sprint

Billy Mills didn't stand a chance. Orphaned at 12 years old and raised by his grandmother, the Oglala-Lakota-Sioux American Indian was raised in poverty on a reservation. Through perseverance he made it to Tokyo in 1964, a virtual unknown and underdog in the 10,000-meter race. He was such a long-shot, he had to borrow a pair of shoes to run, as the team sponsor said they only had enough for “winners”. But in the last leg of the race, Mills surprised everyone with an incredible sprint, which brought him to the finish with a time of 28:24.4, a new Olympic record that has yet to be beaten.

6. Joannie Rochette – Performed Flawless Routine Despite Mother's Death

Canadian Figure Skater Joannie Rochette's life went from dream to nightmare when her mother suddenly died the Sunday before she was to perform in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Still reeling from the news, Rochette nevertheless was set to make her mother proud. Before a crowd of 14,000 she performed with such conviction and heart that, by the time she was finished, icicles were clinging to everyone's tear ducts. “I have no regrets,” she said.

7. Lawrence Lemieux – Gave Up The Gold To Rescue Capsized Racers

Some people will do anything to win, but not Lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor. At the Seoul 1988 games, Lawrence was competing in the Finn class, a single-handed dinghy, when the waters became choppy and dangerous; two sailors from the Singapore team capsized. Although he was in 2nd Place, instead of continuing he decided to help his fellow athletes. He pulled them onboard and waited for the patrol boat to pick them up. Because of this, he technically came in 22nd, but the International Yacht Racing Union decided to award him 2nd Place after all, because of his good sportsmanship.

8. Nadia Comaneci – A Perfect 10 at Only 14

Nadia Comaneci is perhaps the best-known gymnast in the world. In 1976, the teenaged Romanian stole the hearts of spectators and judges alike; she was just 14 years old when she came to Montreal. She earned 3 gold medals that year, and her performance on the uneven bars earned her a perfect 10 – the first ever in a gymnastics event. Even the scorekeeper was unprepared – the crude digital readout could only show it as 1.0. Later, the competing age was raised, so the achievement is still unequaled.

9. Dan Jansen – Kept Trying Despite Tragedy Until He Won The Gold

Dan Jansen was always close with his sister – in fact it was she who suggested he become a speed skater. But when his dream finally came true, making it to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, that's when the tragedy began. Just hours before he was to compete in the 500 and 1,000 meters he was informed his beloved sister had died. Stunned and devastated, he nevertheless competed. But the grief was too much and too soon; Jansen stumbled and fell in both races. But he didn't quit. He came back in 1992, but the gold eluded him. But he STILL didn't quit. In 1994, he made a final attempt for the honor… and succeeded, not only winning the gold medal in 1,000 meters but also setting a new world record at 1:12.43. He dedicated the medal to his sister.

10. The Jamaican Bobsled Team

The subject of the Disney movie "Cool Runnings," the Jamaican Bobsled team sounds like a bit of a put-on. Island-living, ganja-loving, dredlocked Rastafarians sliding on ice? But they were real, and serious. When the team was introduced to the world at the 1988 Olympics, their green-and-gold uniforms stood out almost as much as their hearts. And although the inexperienced bobsledders crashed their sled, they showed true spirit by smiling and shaking hands with spectators as they walked their way towards the finish line. And in 1994, they beat both the US and France and came in 14th place overall. Praise Jah.

Jesus, The “Wine-Guzzling Socialist?” !!!

Found on Site:  http://spicezee.zeenews.com/articles/story77649.htm



Washington: A New Hampshire couple has pulled their son out of his local high school after the teen was assigned a book that refers to Jesus Christ as a "wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist".

Aimee Taylor said her oldest son, 16-year-old Jordan Henderson, was required to read ````Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America````, this fall for Bedford High School````s personal finance class.
The book is a first-person account of author Barbara Ehrenreich````s attempts to make ends meet while working minimum wage jobs in Florida, Maine and Minnesota.

But in addition to taking aim at the idea of the American Dream, and arguing for a higher minimum wage, Taylor says Ehrenreich also takes aim at Christians and other groups in the book and uses foul language -- all of which made Jordan unhappy.

"He started making some comments about the book and I said, ``Well, just read it. You know you have to read it for school``," Fox News quoted Taylor as saying.
"But finally he came home one day and said ``I`m not reading this book, I`m done reading this book, I am not reading any more of this book````, and he slammed it down and said, `This is junk!`" she revealed.
Taylor asked her son to show her what was so bad about the book and after he pointed out a few controversial excerpts she decided to read it in full.

"I finished the book that night, I could not put it down because I was just mortified by the take on this book as well as the language, and the Jesus Christian bashing was unbelievable to me, and that it was in our school was just amazing to me," she said.
One of the excerpts, Taylor points to is Ehrenreich````s description of a Christian service she attended in Maine.

"It would be nice if someone would read this sad-eyed crowd the Sermon on the Mount, accompanied by a rousing commentary on income inequality and the need for a hike in the minimum wage.
"But Jesus makes his appearance here only as a corpse; the living man, the wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist, is never once mentioned, nor anything he ever had to say.
"Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth," Ehrenreich wrote.

Still, wanting a second opinion, Taylor says she asked her "more lenient" husband Dennis to read the book, assuming he would tell her she was making a big deal out of nothing.

"Actually in the end he said, `This is a piece of junk, this book is garbage and does not belong in the school. No matter what you believe politically, this book should not belong in the classroom, it`s really inappropriate for their age`, he was really upset that we weren`t given notice about the book either," Taylor stated.
The Taylors contacted the principal with their concerns, but roughly three weeks later a review committee assembled by the school district ruled that despite its shortcomings, "the book provided valuable insight into the circumstances of the working poor and an opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of the `Financial Impact` competency," it said in a report.

Real-life Da Vinci Code Found in Mona Lisa's Eyes

Found on site:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Real-life-Da-Vinci-code-found-in-Mona-Lisas-eyes/articleshow/7097105.cms



LONDON:  In what mirrors the book and Hollywood movie 'The Da Vinci Code' , art historians claim to have uncovered a real-life Da Vinci code, after they found tiny letters painted into the eyes of the Mona Lisa.
They discovered the mysterious hidden message while studying magnified images of Leonardo Da Vinci's most famous painting which is hanging in the Louvre in Paris, British tabloid The Sun reported.

Art historian Silvano Vinceti said: "To the naked eye the symbols are not visible but with a magnifying glass they are clearly see. We know Da Vinci used symbols so we are confident that they are a message from him. "In the right eye appears to be the letters LV, which could well stand for his name. In the left eye there are also symbols. It is difficult to make them out but they appear to be the letters C and E or B which is in the Louvre in Paris."

The art historians from Italy's National Cultural Heritage committee also discovered a 72, or possibly an L and a 2, painted into a bridge in the background of the famous portrait.

The experts examined the Mona Lisa after finding a book in an antique shop that claimed there were tiny hidden symbols in the eyes. "The question now is, what do they mean?" Silvano was quoted as saying.
The Guardian newspaper suggested the letters may be a clue to the identity of the female model in the painting, which has been an enduring mystery for ages. In the bestselling novel and movie 'The Da Vinci Code' , an art historian, played by Tom Hanks, finds sinister hidden messages in the Italian genius's artworks.

Giant Jesus in Polish Countryside

Found on Site:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101105/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_poland_jesus_1



SWIEBODZIN, Poland (Reuters Life!) – A statue of Jesus Christ that its builders say will be the largest in the world is fast rising from a Polish cabbage field and local officials hope it will become a beacon for tourists.

The builders expect to attach the arms, head and crown to the robed torso in coming days, weather and cranes permitting, completing a project conceived by local Catholic priest Sylwester Zawadzki and paid for by private donations.

Standing on an artificial mound, the plaster and fibre glass statue will stand some 52 metres (57 yards) when completed, taller than the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms that gazes over Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Polish officials say.

The actual statue will measure 33 metres -- Zawadzki has said this reflects the fact that Jesus died at 33, according to Christian tradition -- and weigh 440 tonnes.
"I'm happy because this project will bring publicity to our town, not only in Poland but also from the global media. Other countries are showing a lot of interest," said Dariusz Bekisz, mayor of Swiebodzin, a town of about 21,000 people in western Poland some 100 km (60 miles) from the German border.

"More people will visit Swiebodzin and leave their money. Some will come for spiritual reasons, others out of curiosity," he said, adding no public money had been used in the project.

"The priest, Father Zawadzki, is a man of action who always, throughout his life, has built and created... In the future we're going to have to think about bringing the carnival to Swiebodzin too, just as in Rio," he joked.

SCEPTICISM
Zawadzki is avoiding media for the time-being and Polish church leaders could not immediately be reached for comment. But the editor of Poland's Catholic Information Agency (KAI) sounded a sceptical note.
"Everybody has a right to do what they want. Swiebodzin's Jesus project doesn't touch my religious sensitivity. These kinds of monuments don't have much to do with spirituality," editor Tomasz Krolak said.
"People should think more about building within themselves rather than making big monuments."
Local townspeople seemed bemused by the whole affair.

"Building Jesus is an interesting idea, but I'm afraid we can't beat Rio. I don't treat this 100 percent seriously," said local resident Piotr Pinio.

Others thought the money could have been put to better use.
"There are far more important aims to which we could put the money -- sick children, for example, orphanages, old people. Do we really have to build a big Jesus statue to make people believe," said Mieczyslawa Hundert.

Poland remains one of the most religiously observant countries in Europe and its churches are regularly packed on Sundays, especially in the countryside and smaller towns.

Four-Year-Old Sets Indian National Record For Push-Ups

Found on site: http://taqaza.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12032:four-year-old-sets-indian-national-record-for-push-ups&catid=24:amazing-stuff&Itemid=124

Ronak Vitha may be barely out of diapers, but he still managed to set a record for push-ups in his homeland of India by pumping 1,500 arm bends in just 40 minutes. If that isn’t amazing enough, consider the fact that he has been training for this moment for years!



His mother, Ruchi Vitha of Rajkot, India, realized that her son’s body was unusually flexible when at the tender age of two, he joined in on family stretching exercises. She and her husband hired Satyajit Chaurasia, a famous celebrity personal trainer, to work with their son to help him prepare for his record-setting goal.
“He has been doing pushups since his toddler days. When he was 2 years old, we used to practice yoga at home, stretching exercises, and he used to perform yoga on his own, something that was very difficult for us to do…Then we made him do one or two pushups, and the next day he did 10 on his own,” said Ronak’s proud mother.



 Trainer Chaurasia coached Indian actor, Aamir Khan, for the film, Ghajini. Similar to the American film, Memento, this Hindu action-thriller feature a hero who, while battling amnesia, is faced with many violent encounters of all sorts.

At the age of four when building blocks and kindergarten appear to be the biggest challenges in a child’s life, this little boy has already established goals for himself. And he is going somewhere. God knows how far he can reach from the lofty perch on which he now stands!
The video below depicts Ronak performing speed pushups in several different ways. His perseverance and determination are commendable, to say the least.



“I want to become a tennis player and also have a body like Aamir Khan’s in the film, Ghajini,” the little boy said. And who dares not to believe him?

More zzzs Please: Singapore Sleep Society Wants an Hour More in Bed

Found on Site: More zzzs please: Singapore Sleep Society wants an hour more in bed | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/sleep/singapore-sleep-society-sleep-hour-more-movement-2010-292164#ixzz0uOnynL3o



Are you getting enough sleep?
Many adult Singaporeans do not get the daily six to eight hours of sleep that are needed for optimal well-being, according to Dr Lim Li Ling, president of the Singapore Sleep Society. And to address this dire need, the Society is launching the Singapore Sleep Awareness Week 2010 (March 19-28), in celebration of the World Sleep Day (March 19).

"Lack of sleep is a common and largely under-recognized cause of daytime sleepiness and other health problems in countries such as Singapore, where the lifestyle is hectic and round-the-clock activities (such as online shopping and games) are available," said Dr Lim to Today Online. Most people who have problems falling asleep generally have bad habits that are not conducive to healthy sleep, he added.

Chronic sleep deprivation can cause excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue and weariness, lack of concentration, irritability, a lousy mood, as well as affect cognitive function such as problem solving, learning and memory, says Dr Jenny Tang, medical director of the Asthma Lung Sleep and Allergy Centre at Gleneagles Medical Center. It can also affect one's immune system.

As part of the Sleep Awareness Week, a series of public seminars, workshops and symposiums have been scheduled throughout the week, as well as a Facebook movement to "Sleep An Hour More" for working adults. Pledge your commitment to "switch off your mobile phone, computers or TV, tuck in early, sleep in later or take a nap in the day, and remember what it was like to enjoy good sleep and wake up feeling refreshed."

Here's some sleeping tips from Dr Lim (from Today Online).

• Work out a sweat. Exercise helps one feel relaxed and less stressed, but don't exercise for at least four hours before bedtime.
• Avoid alcohol near to bedtime. And don't drink caffeinated beverages such as coffee and colas eight to 10 hours before bedtime.
• Have a bedtime routine that can help you unwind. Don't think about work before you sleep! Also, steer clear of stimulating activities such as online games before bedtime.
• Ditch heavy suppers. Eating close to bedtime can cause symptoms such as heartburn, which can disturb sleep.
• Go to bed and get up at about the same time every night and day respectively, including weekends. This will help anchor your circadian (biological) clock and establish a consistent rhythm of sleep.
• Use the bed mainly for sleeping and sex, not other activities. Can't get to sleep after 20 mins? Get out of bed and engage in a relaxing activity like light reading and go back to bed when you feel sleepy.

1,000 Images Per Page on New Google Search

Found on Site: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/07/20/google.images/index.html#fbid=KL8SuwuguWw



Google took the wraps off a new look for Google Images Search on Tuesday, putting up to 1,000 images on the first results page and implementing a new image-based ad format.

Google Images Search hadn't received a major update since 2001, said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience, during a briefing for reporters at Google's San Francisco offices.
The new look is designed to reduce the number of clicks it takes to find the image you're looking for and to provide more information about a particular image without having to click through to the result.

For basic searches such as "Yellowstone," Google Images Search will now return up to 1,000 images on a single page, using something called "infinite scroll" to navigate down the page looking for the right image.
The company also built a thumbnail preview that pops up when you hover over a given image with information such as the URL where it is located, said Ben Ling, director of search products at Google.
Users of Microsoft's Bing Image Search will find the interface familiar. Bing also uses its version of an "infinite scroll" to let users scroll through images without clicking through any number of search results pages, and offers up some background information in a thumbnail preview.

On the business end,Google announced that advertisers on Google Images Search pages will be able to insert an image into their text ads.

The idea is that such ads will be more relevant and catchy, hopefully enticing more users to click on those ads and generating more traffic for Google's advertisers and more revenue for the search company.
Around 10 percent of Google Images Search users are seeing the new interface at the moment, and it will roll out for the rest of its users over the coming week.

Indian-Origin Man Offers World's Costliest Car Wash

Found on Site: http://sify.com/finance/Indian-origin-man-offers-world-s-costliest-car-wash-imagegallery-auto-khuoQmefgbg.html


 
An Indian-origin man has started offering the world's most expensive car wash service in Britain at 7,200 pounds.

Thirty-year-old car enthusiast Gurcharn Sahota, who runs Elite Detailing and Products Ltd, takes up to 250 hours to systematically clean each vehicle with 100 cleaning fluids and wax and he ends up polishing the car inside and out five times.

He uses a computerised microscope to take a close look the bodywork for the minutest scratch that is not visible to the eye, London's Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday (July 20, 2010).
When I was younger, I washed neighbours' cars and my dad's car whenever I could. They never paid me, I loved it so much I did it for free. Things have built up from there and now I'm cleaning some of the fastest, most powerful sports cars in the world.

'People come to me and they want the best treatment going for their car. If you've got a 500,000 pound car then a few grand for cleaning is worth it. Sometimes I'll work through the night to get a car looking absolutely pristine. They're world class motors that deserve a world class wash,' Sahota was quoted as saying.
Sahota lives with his parents - Gurbinder, 55, and Amarjit, 53 - in Derbyshire and he has converted the double garage into a workshop, complete with a Formula 1-style pit for scrubbing the underneath of cars.
'I treat every car like an individual project, I want them to leave my workshop looking better than they have ever done. I have my processes which I go through and I am meticulous about each one.

'I just want perfection. Finishing is the best part because you know what it was like when you started. That gives me great satisfaction.'

And his proudest moment?
It was cleaning the world's most expensive car - the McLaren F1 GTR estimated to cost 3 million Pounds.