News around the World

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[b]Space Tourism Within Two Years---2008-03-27 [/b] - cnn news reports

A small California aerospace company has just unveiled a new suborbital spaceship that will provide affordable front-seat rides to the edge of space for the millions of people who want to buy a ticket.

The company, XCOR Aerospace, of Mojave, CA, announced that its two-seat Lynx suborbital spaceship will carry people or payloads to where they will experience weightlessness and see the stars above and the Earth and its atmosphere below. This will launch XCOR into the emerging space tourism market, estimated at over a half-billion dollars.
"The Lynx will offer affordable access to space for individuals, researchers and educators,” said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. “Future versions of Lynx will offer ever-improving capabilities for scientific and engineering research and commercial applications."




The spaceship, roughly the size of a small private airplane, will first take off in 2010 and will be capable of flying several times each day.

“We have designed this vehicle to operate much like a commercial aircraft. Its liquid fuel engines will provide the enhanced safety, durability, reliability and maintainability that keep operating costs low,” Greason said. “These engines will also minimize the impact of these flights on the environment,” Greason added. “They are fully reusable, burn cleanly, and release fewer particulates than solid fuel or hybrid rocket motors.”

“Lynx will be the ‘Greatest Ride Off Earth,,” said XCOR test pilot, former pilot astronaut and Space Shuttle commander, Col. Rick Searfoss (USAF-Ret.). “The acceleration, the weightlessness, and the view will provide you with an experience that is out of this world. And the best part of it all is that you,ll ride right up front, like a co-pilot, instead of in back, like cargo.”

XCOR has nine years, experience developing reliable, reusable and non-toxic rocket propulsion systems and has already built and flown two different rocket-powered vehicles. The firm designed, built and flew a rocket propulsion system on its record-setting EZ-Rocket aircraft. The XCOR team then developed a more powerful engine with an advanced pump-fed fuel system for a larger aircraft now being flight-tested for a commercial customer.

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Nude wife photos stir up Sarkozy UK visit

Excerpts of news:Published: 26 Mar 2008

LONDON, England (CNN) -- French president Nicolas Sarkozy has started his first official visit to the UK -- the day after it was reported that an auction house is to sell nude pictures of his new wife.
Sarkozy and his wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, were greeted by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall after the presidential plane landed at London's Heathrow airport Wednesday morning.
The French couple then traveled to Windsor, outside London, where they were greeted by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh before being taken to the castle in a state carriage procession.



French President Nicolas Sarkozy ,wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy , queen Elizabeth

FRANCE'S sexy new First Lady was "spitting blood" with anger yesterday - after this photo of her starkers was released just hours before her state visit to Britain today.
Former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was furious that this racy print was showcased by auctioneers Christie,s ahead of a forthcoming sale.
The nude picture, taken 15 years ago, shows Italian-born Carla totally naked, with only her crossed hands covering her modesty.



To see the naked photo of Carla - click on this link……..WARNING : make sure you are over 18 years old & above……………thanks…
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/new...960507.ece

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London's Mayor has five children
3 April 2008 18:53 UK -- world news


Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has dismissed claims that revelations that he has five children by three different women will affect his mayoral campaign.
Talking to BBC London, he insisted voters had never taken an interest in his private life.
As well as two young children by his partner Emma Beale, he has two older daughters by one woman and a boy with another.
But Mr Livingstone conceded the issue would be used to attack him
The revelation comes a month before he faces the capital's voters in seeking re-election.
But there's a difference between private and secret and I think the media's got to understand that."
Mr Livingstone said journalists had been "looking into my private life for 40 years".
"We've had occasions where they have broken into my bank account which is a criminal offence.

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UAE stages camel beauty contest
2 April 2008 -----world news


Ten thousand camels will be fluttering their long eyelashes in a unique international beauty pageant being held in the United Arab Emirates.
The contest in Abu Dhabi is one of the richest and biggest events of its kind, with more than $9m (£4.5m; 5.8m euros) and 100 cars in prizes up for grabs.
The contest will feature camels or "ships of the desert" from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Organisers hope it will remind Emiratis of traditional desert values.
The contest is part of the Mazayin Dhafra festival, which starts on Wednesday, and organisers say it is the biggest contest of its kind to be staged in the Arabian Gulf.
A panel of expert camel appreciators will choose the best animals for each age group.
Entry is open to anyone who can prove ownership of a pedigree camel, and the animals must be free from contagious diseases, and without any serious defects.
The ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, has sponsored the event.
It is said he wants Emiratis to help preserve their national identity through the respect of an animal central to Arab culture.
The first camel beauty contest in the UAE took place six years ago.
Camel racing is a popular sport, with money from the region's oil riches often placed in huge bets.
Long before the oil industry moved in, the Bedou tribes prized the animal known as the "ship of the desert".
Camels were the main measurement of wealth, along with horses and falcons.

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Nursing the Canada Caregiver
By JOYNE LAVIDES
http://www.philreporter.com-----4-5-08
excerpts : go to the link to read full story
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=113957

Writer,s Note: Names have been changed in order to maintain the confidentiality and security of the four caregivers interviewed in this article.

The significant influx of Filipino nurses migrating to Canada as live-in caregivers echoes an alarming phenomenon. Philippine statistics recorded that in the first six months of 2007, more than 1300 nurses applied under Canada,s Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) instead of applying as nurses to obtain a landed immigrant status. The impact is unprecedented. Nurses are deskilled and caregivers are encouraged.
Times have changed. Thirty years ago, Filipino nurses came to Canada and worked directly as nurses. Their education, training and experience were fully recognized as they capably filled shortages in Canadian hospitals. Today, Canada Immigration grants zero occupational points to foreign-trained nurses applying as independent immigrants. LCP is the only option available.

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Canadian Man Gets 18 Years for Knowingly Spreading HIV Friday, April 04, 2008
Source: World news

WINDSOR, Ontario — A man convicted of knowingly spreading the virus that causes AIDS was sentenced to 18 years in prison.Carl Leone pleaded guilty to 15 counts last April after failing to inform his sexual partners of his HIV status. Leone discovered he was HIV positive in 1997, seven years before he was arrested on June 6, 2004.
Five of Leone's 15 victims have been infected with HIV.

On Friday, Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn handed Leone 15 consecutive sentences totaling 49 years — a number Quinn reduced to 18 years to better reflect sentencing guidelines laid out in Canada's Criminal Code.

Quinn told the court that Leone's age, his lack of a criminal record and the fact he pleaded guilty to spare his victims the trauma of testifying were factors in his sentence.

The judge did not declare Leone a dangerous offender — a designation that would have jailed him indefinitely.
He will be eligible for parole in six years.
The 32-year-old's name will be added to Ontario's s*x offender registry.

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Fast food, German-style
8 April 2008 08:02 By Steve Rosenberg --world news

Germany likes to call itself the "Land of Ideas" - and over the centuries it has certainly had plenty of them. It was Germans who invented the aspirin, the airship, the printing press and the diesel engine.
But Germany has surely never produced anything quite as weird as the automated restaurant. I say "restaurant" - but it actually looks more like a rollercoaster, with long metal tracks criss-crossing the dining area.



The tracks run all the way from the kitchen, high up in the roof, down to the tables, twisting and turning as they go. And down the tracks - in little pots with wheels fixed to the bottom - speeds food.
Supersonic sausages, high-pace pancakes and wine bottles whizzing down to the customers' tables with the help of good old gravity. One pot is spiralling down so fast, it looks like an Olympic bobsleigh (but it's only Bratwurst).



Customers use touch-screen TVs to browse the menu and choose their meal
You can even use the computers to send e-mails and text messages while you wait for the food to be cooked. But all this may not appeal to those who like traditional waiter service.
Up in the kitchen, it is man, not machine, that makes the food. They haven't found a way of automating the chef, just yet.
Everything is prepared from fresh. When it is ready, the meal is put in a pot and given a sticker and a colour to match the customer's seat.
Then it is put on the rails and despatched downhill to the correct table. Manna from heaven, German-style.
Replacing waiters with helter-skelters and computers is fun for the customers. It also makes financial sense for the restaurant.
There are still some staff on hand to explain to rather bemused customers how to use the technology
I order steak and salad on the computer and wait for it to appear. A few minutes later, a pot glides down to my table with my "fast food" - and it is delicious.
After all, in a restaurant without waiters, there is no need to leave a tip... ================================================================





The Restaurant of the 3rd Dimension-`s Baggers®--Am Steinacher Kreuz 28-D-90427 Nuremberg
At `s Baggers® your high demands towards eating out will be fully satisfied: Premium quality meals and beverages ordered via touch screen arrive on a metallic track system...All good things come from above: freshly prepared, delicious meals and drinks ordered per touch screen are transported on metallic tracks directly to your table. We only use fresh, high-quality ingredients, many of which are organic produce, directly from the local region
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wow....sikat ang Germany....they are the first to invent this fast food kitchen...very unique.....

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The greatest domestic helpers from the Philippines are called the “ Super Maids “
Alice Sy  = domestic head hunter agent ---- careers websites

There is no question to the capacity of domestic helpers from the Philippines. They have earned both a source of living and the admiration of a lot of people around the world. Through their resilience, dedication to duty, and loyalty to their employers, they were able to give a better life to their families.
Domestic helpers are famous for their being good workers. Dedicated and loyal, it is not uncommon for wealthy families abroad to hire Filipino maids. In fact, many foreigners would rather prefer Filipina maids to maids from other nationalities because Filipina maids can come up with work that is of higher quality. They seem to be tireless and to never run out of energy. They are versatile workers, too. They can work from sun up to sun down, doing a variety of chores, such as cooking, babysitting, housekeeping, caregiving, and the like.

They were formerly known as DH - short cut for domestic helpers. Now, these domestic helpers from the Philippines, as initiated by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, are now called supermaids.

Indeed, their new title fits their superhero-like prowess.Just like Super Man and other superheroes, these domestic helpers from the Philippines seem to showcase titan-like energy. They can do house chores before the sun rises and rest close or after the midnight. They are all around. They can be housekeepers, cooks, baby sitters, and care givers. Just name it, and a Filipina will never say no.


SuperMaid doing her daily cleaning chores

But what pushes a Filipina from leaving her country and working abroad? To think of leaving your country and serve strangers in other countries is martyrdom. To abandon your family and not seeing your children grow is very sad. But they have an option. Most domestic helpers from the Philippines are sole breadwinners of their families. And to stay working abroad ensures their family of stability, at least in financial terms.
One thing that gives a Filipina the edge against other nationalities is the quality work that no one else could parallel. They never do second rate work that is why they are among the highest paid servants abroad. They are also treasured by their employees.
In the United States and elsewhere, there is a seemingly huge demand for domestic helpers from the Philippines. Filipina maids have sterling records when it comes to their dedication and quality of work, and these records have remained unstained up to this very day.
The Philippines is the number one supplier of super maids around the world. It has become the main export product  ( human labor ) of the country.

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Survey: Philippines, Thailand Most Corrupt Economies In Asia
March 11, 2008 7:05 a.m. EST
D.C. Morales - AHN News Writer

Manila, Philippines (AHN)-  The Philippines and Thailand were ranked as the most corrupt Asian economies by a survey conducted by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC). PERC consists of 1,400 expatriate businessmen who were surveyed in the region last January and February.
Third and fourth rankings in the corrupt economies category went to Indonesia and China, respectively.
PERC cited on the survey: "The Philippines is a sad case when it comes to corruption." It added that the situation in the country is "probably no worse than in places like Indonesia and Thailand" but corruption has become politicized and is openly discussed in the media, unlike in other countries.

The Philippines scored 9 out of a possible 10 points under a grading system used by PERC, with zero as the best score and 10 the worst. Thailand retained last year's ranking as the second most corrupt economy after the Philippines with a score of 8.

Indonesia is ranked third with a score of 7.98. Corruption is perceived to have worsened in Malaysia, which scored 6.37 in the survey, worse than last year's grade of 6.25. The country retained its number six ranking in the poll. China's score worsened to 7.98 from 6.29 last year with corruption seen to be as widespread as ever despite Beijing's efforts to clamp down on it.

Singapore and Hong Kong retained their rankings as the cleanest economies in Asia.
The annual survey covers only 13 economies in Asia and excludes other countries notorious for corruption, such as Myanmar and Bangladesh.
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POVERTY IN CUBA TODAY
Decaying houses , poor hungry homeless Cubans,  horse buggys for transportation , poor decaying hospitals buildings
[b]http://www.therealcuba.com/Poverty.htm   ---click here to more info & photos[/b]

MORE POVERTY THAN EVER BEFORE
Many Castro apologists try to justify the poverty in Cuba saying that you can find the same poverty in many other countries. But what these people do not say is that those other countries didn't have to suffer a revolution that caused tens of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, the loss of all liberties, and that supposedly was needed in order to improve the life of ALL citizens.


A homeless person

After more than 47 years, there is much more poverty in Cuba than ever before.
Except for Castro and his gang who are the new millionaires, the 11 million Cubans have to suffer the exploitation of the omnipotent state, rationed food, lack of housing and the indignity of being second class citizens in their own country.


Decaying buildings on the poor side of Cuban cities

It is the worse form of capitalism, the capitalism of the state.
But incredibly enough, there are some Latin American countries that want to copy this failed and obsolete system and there are even some moronic


Poor Cubans uses horse buggy for transportation

http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm  ---- click here to read more about Cuba,s universal healthcare system
THIS IS THE FAMOUS 'GREAT AND FREE HEALTHCARE' THAT REGULAR CUBANS RECEIVE

No ambulance for poor Cubans

One of the greatest fallacies about the so called 'Cuban Revolution' has to do with healthcare.
Foreigners who visit Cuba, are fed the official line from Castro's propaganda machine: "All Cubans are now able to receive excellent healthcare, which is also free." But the truth is very different. Castro has built excellent health facilities for the use of foreigners, who pay with hard currency for those services.

Argentinean soccer star Maradona, for example, has traveled several times to Cuba to receive treatment to combat his drug addiction. But Cubans are not even allowed to visit those facilities. Cubans who require medical attention must go to other hospitals, that lack the most minimum requirements needed to take care of their patients.
In addition, most of these facilities are filthy and patients have to bring their own towels, bed sheets, pillows, or they would have to lay down on dirty bare mattresses stained with blood and other body fluids.


Free universal healthcare for poor Cubans ………the room looks terrible, old, dirty and unsafe for sick people to stay. Lack of medicine , lack of doctors, lack  of modern medical equipments are the number one problem of poor Cubans.

An American reporter writes about the medical apartheid that she witnessed in Cuba
Those of you who saw Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko," would remember the scene where Moore and his guests walked into a Cuban pharmacy and asked for an asthma medication, Salbutemol, and immediately the clerk opens a drawer and gives it to one of the guests, a woman from New York, who then begins to cry when she learns that in Cuba that medicine costs only a fraction of what it costs in New York. According to Moore, his guests received the "the same care" that any regular Cuban would receive, "no more, no less." When Moore's group arrives in Havana, they are taken to a special section of a large showcase hospital.
But the scene at the Cuban pharmacy, as the whole portion of Sicko filmed in Cuba, was a fallacy conceived, scripted, staged and rehearsed by the Cuban regime with Moore's acting the part of the useful idiot.


The hospitals where they didn't take Michael Moore
Miami-based Cuban Human Rights activist Jose Carro says Moore's movie paints an inaccurate picture of healthcare in Cuba


Rusty dirty old hospital beds for poor Cubans who have the so called ”universal free healthcare” -- look what they get …..terrible conditions in the decaying hospital rooms of Cuba


Old decaying hospital buildings where poor Cubans go…
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CASTRO THE MULTIMILIONAIRE
Forbes magazine estimated Castro's fortune in at least 900 million dollars. Many of those who are familiar with the dictator's business believe that Forbes is being too conservative. The Cuban dictator runs Cuba as if it was his own farm and the 11 million poor Cubans as his slaves.
Castro's businesses include the Convention Palace (Palacio de Convenciones); CIMEX; MEDICUBA; resort hotels and much more.


Fidel Castro ---- the Richest man in Cuba - the longest ruling Dictator in the World……owns  all the business companies  in Cuba

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The two Cubas
http://www.therealcuba.com/two_cubas.htm  - click to see more photos

The refrigerator of a typical Cuban family, with the few items that they can buy using the ration card


Buffet at the Bucanero Hotel, where no Cubans are allowed and no ration cards are required

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