Original Star Wars Light Sabre Sold For $240,000. How Much Would Hishamuddin's Umno Keris Be Worth?

The light sabre used by Luke Skywalker in the movies 'Star Wars' and 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' has sold for $240,000 at a Hollywood auction.

The item topped the bidding at a Profiles in History auction held Thursday, according to a press release Friday. In total bidders paid around $3.5 million for more than 500 items of Hollywood memorabilia.

The second most expensive item in the auction was a droid helmet from 'Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi' which sold for $120,000.

Other major items included an original handwritten manuscript of the James Bond film 'You Only Live Twice', and a full-sized animatronic primate from the movie 'Mighty Joe Young', both of which sold for $96,000 each.

A Wolverine black leather battle-suit from 'X-Men' sold for $90,000 and a custom-built version of a 1937 Mercedes German staff car from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' went for $76,000.

The costume worn by Marlon Brando when he played Jor-El in 'Superman: The Movie' went for $72,000.

Light sabres were the weapon of choice for Jedi knights of Star Wars fame. They were constructed for the movies by adapting an advanced camera flash attachment to a handle that was made from rubber windscreen wipers from a British WW II tank, according to the Star Wars website.

***** So how much would Hish's notorious 'ketuanan keris' fetch in a lelong? Any guesses?
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Letter To A Concerned Citizen

Received by e-mail. For a little Sunday laughter.

A lady Canadian libertarian wrote a lot of letters to her government, complaining about the treatment of captive insurgents (terrorists) being held in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities. She received the following reply:

National Defense Headquarters
MGEN George R. Pearkes Bldg,
15 NT, 101 Colonel By Drive Ottawa,
ON K1A 0K2 Canada

Dear Concerned Citizen,

Thank you for your recent letter expressing your profound concern for the treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists captured by Canadian Forces who were subsequently transferred to the Afghanistan Government and are currently being held by Afghan officials in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities.

Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinions were heard loud and clear here in Ottawa . You will be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself, we are creating a new department here at the Department of National Defence, to be called 'Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers' program, or L.A.R.K. for short.

In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to divert one terrorist and place him in your personal care. Your personal detainee has been selected and is scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence in Toronto next Monday.

Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint. It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommend in your letter.

Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his 'attitudinal problem' will help him overcome these character flaws. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences.

We understand that you plan to offer counseling and home schooling. Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except sexually) since he views females as a subhuman form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will recommend as more appropriate attire. I'm sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka over time. Just remember that it is all part of 'respecting his culture and religious beliefs' as described in your letter.

Thanks again for your concern. We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job and care for our fellow man. You take good care of Ahmed and remember, we'll be watching.

Good luck and God bless you.

'Chinglish' Will Persist In China Even After Beijing Olympics, Says Survey

Chinese officials may be working overtime to eradicate Chinglish before the start of Beijing Olympics but the delightful admixture of Chinese and English will persist and even thrive far after the Games, a study claims.

"We have worked out 4,624 pieces of standard English translations to substitute the Chinglish ones on signs around the city," said Lu Jinlan, head of the organising committee of the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Programme (BSFLP).

But will it be the end of Chinglish? No, says The Global Language Monitor (GLM), which documents, analyses and tracks trends in language usage worldwide.

"Studies by the Global Language Monitor suggest that Chinglish will persist - and even thrive - far after the Games end," it said in a statement.

The GLM has listed several of the all-time favourite Chinglish words and phrases. For a Chinese, 'deformed man toilet' is restroom for handicapped persons, 'airline pulp' is food served aboard airlines, '3Q' is thank you and 'rocketry' is a rock wall.

According to it, Chinglish is the outgrowth of several convening forces, including the widespread acceptance of English as a global language, the fact that nearly 250 million Chinese are currently studying English as a second auxiliary or business language and the astonishing complexity and richness of the Mandarin language.

The difficulty is further evidenced on the official Olympic website of the Beijing Olympic Games - http://en.beijing2008.cn, where it states that "we share the charm and joy of the Olympic Games".

Hundreds of scholars have proofed the site and decided that the word charm is most appropriate in describing the Games.

In the past, words such as 'power', 'pride', 'heroic', 'majesty', 'triumph', and even, 'tragedy' have been used frequently to describe the Olympic movement but the word 'charm' has largely been ignored, the GLM said.

"Charm has a number of meanings including the 'individuating property of quarks and other elementary particles'. In this case, we assume the authorities were using the definition of charm as a transitive verb: to attract or please greatly; enchant; allure; fascinate; or delight," it said. (DNA News)
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It's 'No Hair, No Passport' In UK!

If you are bald and in Britain, beware. Chances are you might be refused a passport.

It happened to Ian Down, a bald father of three who also happens to be the photo editor of the Daily Mirror.

He got the pictures taken at a photo kiosk and submitted them along with the application form at the passport office.

The clerk looked at the flash reflecting off Ian's bald head and asked: "What's this mark?"

Ian tried to explain in vain that he could not be made accountable for losing his fight with his hair.

"I was shocked. I told them what it was but they said some countries might not let me in if they saw it."

Ultimately he had to go back to the kiosk and return with fresh photographs. The shine off his pate was less glaring than last time. The clerk reluctantly accepted the form.

New rules have been introduced for the electronic reading of passports, but shining pates are a no-no.

Ian's tale might come as a shock to over seven million men in Britain, who surveys say are losing hair. About 40 percent of men suffer hair loss by the age of 35. (DNA)

***** Luckily our pegawai2 are more relaxed than the Brits. In fact here we are so lenient about what there should be on our head that even serbans are allowed in lieu of helmets in places like Kelantan. Never mind the fact that in the event of a serious accident, God won't be around to save the pious serban user from getting his head and brains bashed in.

'Sikh Bengali Row' Called A Trivial Matter

A senior Malaysian Indian leader has urged the country's Sikh community not to get annoyed at being called Bengalis, calling it "a trivial matter".

Opposition lawmaker Karpal Singh, who has roots in Punjab, has sought to play down Sunday's gaffe by Perak state's Mentri Besar (chief executive) Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, who he said, had referred to Sikhs as Bengalis "in ignorance".

Urging the Sikh community "not to get upset", Karpal Singh said although Sikhs and Bengalis were different, it was a very "trivial" matter.

"In Malaysia, both are commonly referred to as the same, so there is no need to be offended. After all, a rose would smell as sweet by any other name," he said after attending Baisakhi prayers at a gurudwara Monday.

Some Sikhs in the audience walked out after Jamaluddin greeted the Tamils on the New Year and then the Sikhs, calling them Bengalis, a common misnomer in Malaysia.

Karpal Singh, who heads the opposition Democratic Action party (DAP), was elected to parliament in last month's general elections where he sits alongside his son, Govind Singh Deo.

While he has sought to take a lenient view, some in the Sikh community of an estimated 100,000 do not agree.

Khalsa Dharmic Jatha Gurudwara vice-president Baljit Singh said: "That very utterance has made the Sikhs a laughing stock of other communities. How can we expect society to know the difference between the two communities when the leaders themselves cannot?" he said, adding that Jamaluddin owed Sikhs an apology.

Jamaluddin, who made the reference at a function in Ipoh, later admitted his mistake.

In Malaysia, Sikhs have been mistakenly referred to as Bengalis for decades, The Star newspaper said.(Times Of India)

***** It is time for the Sikh community to listen to Mr Karpal Singh, drop the matter and move on. The Mentri Besar has admitted he had made a mistake and that should be sufficient. To stubbornly demand an apology is to prolong the issue unnecessarily and risk losing all the goodwill they have painstakingly earned through the years.

The other Malaysians frankly couldn't care less what the Sikhs are called or not called. That's the reality in Malaysia. By demanding an apology it doesn't mean that the Sikhs would not be called Banggali/Bengali by the other communities in the future. No amount of coercion, public display of anger or threats is going to change what has been deeply ingrained in the minds and vocabulary of some Malaysians.

To say that the Sikhs have become a 'laughing stock' is pretty misleading. On the contrary they are a respected lot in the country, well known for their diligence and talent. If at all anyone is to be blamed at this point in time, it is those Sikhs who are now publicly highlighting and giving free advertisement for the misnomer.
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100-Year-Old Saudi Man Takes 26-Year-Old As Third Wife

A more than 100-year-old Saudi widower has married for the third time - to a 26-year-old woman.

Ahmed Ateeq Al-Hariri Al-Zahrani, who lives in Taif, near Mecca, faced no opposition from either his bride-to-be or his family when he decided to marry for the third time. His previous two wives are dead.

"We didn't oppose dad's marriage. We agreed to his marriage and we wish him happiness for the rest of his life," Al-Zahrani's oldest son Abdul Rahman told the Saudi Gazette newspaper.

The guest list for the marriage ceremony included Al-Zahrani's sons, grandchildren and great grandchildren - numbering 120 - and some friends and family.

Asked if he would marry a fourth time, Al-Zahrani was quoted as saying, "I wish that but everything is in Allah's hands." (DNA)

***** To each his own.
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Was Moses High On Mount Sinai?

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Two plants in the Sinai desert contain the same psychoactive molecules as those found in plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca is prepared. “The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a classic phenomenon,” he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon where people are induced to “see music”.
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When Arafat Almost Kissed Benazir Bhutto!

A book dedicated to Benazir Bhutto by a former aide says that the slain Pakistani former premier was paranoid about shaking hands with men, but Palestinian icon Yasser Arafat came close to kissing her one day!

Retired Pakistani diplomat Arshad Sami Khan, who served Bhutto when she became prime minister for the first time, says that although she was "a liberated Muslim woman... she was extremely careful about her personal deportment and demeanour".

Bhutto's first instruction to Khan as the Chief of Protocol was that she does not shake hands with men, the author says in his book "Three Presidents and An Aide: Life, Power and Politics" (Pentagon Press, New Delhi), which former Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral will release in New Delhi on Thursday.

Khan quotes Bhutto as telling him: "Sami, make sure everyone knows this as I don't wish to appear rude by not taking a man's extended hand. So make it clear to all that I don't shake hands with men."

Bhutto was so paranoid about this that she would repeat it to Khan every now and then.

The instruction, Khan says, was duly followed until one day Arafat came visiting Karachi. The Palestinian leader had held Benazir's late father Z.A. Bhutto in great esteem "and thus looked upon her with the affections of an uncle".

As Khan climbed the gangway to receive Arafat, Bhutto whispered: "Don't forget to remind him that I don't shake hands with men."

The author says he told Arafat as much: "Excellency, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is downstairs waiting to receive you and may I take the opportunity to remind you that she does not shake hands with men!"

Arafat replied: "Yes, yes, yes, I've been told, I've been told. Thanks for reminding me again anyway."

But as Arafat alighted from the aircraft, "in one straight go he elegantly extended his hand to shake hers. She gave me the worst stare possible and then hesitantly pulled out a timid hand from beneath her shawl and gave it to him for a friendly shake.

"He shook it with the warmth and vigour of a friendly Arab and we moved on towards a smartly turned out Guard of Honour, with me a step in the lead.

"Patience not being one of her best traits, she couldn't wait to scold me. Whispering beneath her breath in broken Urdu so that Arafat wouldn't understand, she reproachfully asked: 'Didn't you tell him that I don't shake hands?'

"Before I could respond, Arafat caught on and said smilingly: 'Madam, you are lucky I didn't kiss you. As a profound Arab custom and expression of warmth, I'm used to kissing dignitaries that come to receive me; not once but twice - on both cheeks."

Khan says that he and Bhutto, joined by Arafat, laughed after that remark. The author adds: "I made sure the media edited out shaking of hands from TV and still photographs."

Describing Bhutto's assassination as "a monumental loss", Khan says contrary to her tough posturing "often to the extent of being impolite and indecorous with a foul temper, I saw her as an extremely kind hearted and religious minded person deep inside".

He says she was a wizard in politics and foreign affairs but mediocre in the fields of management and administration.

"Like her father, in her highly politicised mind, individuals, friends and loyalties were disposable commodities...

"Again like her father, she too held her intellect way above all and was thus opinionated to the extent of being dogmatic, in fact blinkered, which often cut her off from realities of life." (DNA)
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No Feat Too Minor For Malaysia's Record Breakers

The tallest pencil. The fastest pizza eater. The longest nonstop escalator walk.

When it comes to breaking records, it's hard to beat Malaysia. Almost no feat is too minor or outlandish for the Malaysian Book of Records, a biannual compendium of more than 2,000 national achievements that is a riposte of sorts to the gate-keepers of Guinness World Records. Barely a week goes by without another record-breaking attempt on local TV.

For a nation of 27 million people keen to punch above its weight, this frenzy of firsts and bests is a source of pride, even if urban sophisticates groan at its mention. Government ministers oversee record-breaking bids, lending an official seal of approval, though none made it through the longest underwater checkers marathon (70 games played over 24 hours).

Malaysians trace their zeal for records to the go-getting 1990s when former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad coined the slogan "Malaysia Boleh!" (Malaysia Can!) to hustle the country forward. He ramped up economic growth, erected the world's tallest building – the 1,482-foot Petronas twin towers – and predicted that Malaysia would be a first-world country by 2020 if it kept reaching for the sky.

The Asian financial crisis in 1998 clipped Malaysia's wings, though, and Taiwan's Taipei 101 has since sneaked past Kuala Lumpur on the skyscraper charts. Mr. Mahathir retired in 2003, and the breakneck growth of the 1990s has proved hard to emulate as China thunders past Malaysia and its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Can-do spirit

But that hasn't dampened the can-do spirit of Danny Ooi, the local entrepreneur who published the first Malaysian Book of Records (MBR) in 1998. He says the idea isn't to outshine Guinness World Records and its more famous book. Rather, he wants to inspire his countrymen to dizzying feats, and then to bask in the admiration of the world.

"We're not competing with world record books. We're doing our own. People come to Malaysia and they will know what we have and our highest achievements," he says.

The next edition of the book, due in April, will have 30 percent more entries, but fewer that are as hazardous as the most days spent inside a box of scorpions, for example. "Safety is important," says Mr. Ooi. The book retails for 98 ringgit ($30) in Malaysia, and is supported by dozens of pages of advertisements.

Eventually Ooi plans to build a Hall of Fame with displays of memorabilia and an arena for record-breaking attempts. A tireless publicist who wears monogrammed sky-blue flak jackets with "MBR Official" on the back, Ooi oversees a skeleton staff of 10 in charge of certifying national records. Some attend record-breaking events, others monitor public submissions, send guidelines to events organizers, and judge which merit inclusion. A website offers another way to send entries (www.malaysiarecords.com.my).

Many records are surprisingly humdrum: longest jetty, largest kitchen sink producer, biggest inflatable mascot.

As national record keepers, MBR spreads the awards between different areas of the country, making sure nobody feels left out.

The state of Sarawak, for instance, boasts the nation's first, and only, cat museum. Left unsaid is the global singularity of its feline theme.

The book doubles as a civics class, listing elected leaders since independence in 1957 and profiling deceased national heroes.

Ooi says his all-time favorite was a successful team attempt in 2003 to drape a Malaysian flag along the Great Wall of China. Twenty-three university students took 4 hours and 17 minutes to unfurl their 3.2-kilometer (2 mile) flag, beating the record set in 2000 by another Malaysian team who brought a 2-kilometer (1.2 mile) flag. "It's not easy to put a flag on one of the seven wonders of the world," says Ooi reverently.

Such record-breaking zeal is amply documented in MBR, but largely absent from the Guinness World Records, which has been compiling records since 1955. A spokeswoman says Malaysia represents a very low percentage of entries in its database of over 40,000 records (the US leads the pack, followed by Britain).

Guinness's loss is Malaysia's gain

On average, Guinness rejects 80 percent of submissions, whether for incompleteness, irrelevance, or sheer idiocy. That kind of cold shoulder was a crucial spur for Malaysia's go-it-alone book, says Ricky Yap, an editorial assistant at MBR. "Guinness didn't give enough recognition to Malaysia. We wanted to have our own book," he says.

Not everyone in Malaysia is wowed by the book and its circus sideshow superlatives. Some roll their eyes at its triviality. "Breaking the world record for the 100 meters, now that's something. Not eating the most sausages in one go. I mean, who cares?" says Shazli, a banker.

At an awards ceremony for the National Zoo, which holds a record for breeding birds in captivity, Ooi is too busy extolling the benefits of record-breaking to pay much heed to his critics. Why not focus on the positive and allow people their 15 minutes of fame? "It's inspirational," he says. "Seeing people strive can inspire the nation to excellence."

Malaysia's Records:Bigger, Better, Faster, More

TREE PLANTING: 110,461 trees planted in one minute. The event took place on Oct. 5, 2000, to celebrate World Habitat Day 2000.

LONGEST HULA HOOPING: Nine-year old Ashwita Ramesh Nair surpassed her previous record for the longest hula hooping for a total of two hours, 12 minutes and 17.4 seconds nonstop. The feat was achieved on Oct. 15, 2005.

PLANE PULLING: On Sept. 30, 1990, R. Letchemanah became the first Malaysian to use his hair to pull an aircraft. This Herculean task involved dragging a 32.5-ton (71,650 lbs.) Boeing 737 over a distance of 55.3 feet at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang.

TALLEST PENCIL: A.W. Faber-Castell (M) Sdn Bhd took four months to complete a 66.4-foot tall pencil made of kiln-dried Jelutong sawn timber. The pencil is now housed at the company's premises in USJ, Subang Jaya, Selangor.

LARGEST BEAN ART: A total of 250 students from the Central Academy of Art and 250 volunteers took two days and two hours to complete a 104-foot long, 87.9-foot wide, Buddhism Auspicious Design collage made entirely from 12 tons of beans.

MOST EGGS CRUSHED WITH THE WRIST: Sivasamy s/o Balakrishnan of Panaikkulam Village, Perak, crushed 25 eggs in 30 seconds. He placed the egg on the back of his wrist and bent his fingers backward to break the eggs. The feat was achieved on Sept. 20, 2005 at his work place, the Restaurant Naina Mohammed in Ipoh, Perak.

LONGEST ABBREVIATION: The longest know abbreviation is S.K.O.M.K.H.P.K.J.C.D.P.W.B., the acronym for Syarikat Kerjasama Orang-Orang Melayu Kerajaan Hilir Perak Kerana Jimat Cermat Dan Pinjam-Meminjam Wang Berhad. The shorter version of this abbreviation reads S.K.O.M.K.

SMALLEST SHREW: The smallest adult specimen of the pentailed shrew (Ptilocercus lowii) of Malaysia has a length of 3 inches. It has a head and body length of 4 inches, its tail is 5 inches, and it weighs as little as 1.2 ounces.

MOST FREQUENT BEST MAN: As of March 2006, Ting Ming Siong of Sibu, Sarawak, is still the most frequent best man with 1,395 times from 1975 to present day.

Source: The Malaysia Book of Records, 2007. (By Simon Montlake | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor)

***** My, aren't we just proud of our marvelous achievements? Malaysia Boleh!!
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Bin Laden's Son Hopes To Meet Pope Benedict XVI

Omar Osama bin Laden, the estranged son of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has said he wants to meet Pope Benedict XVI and visit the Vatican.

Omar bin Laden, 26, expressed his wish to meet the pontiff in an interview with Italian private television station LA7 aired on Monday night.

"I would very much like to meet the Pope in St Peter's, but I have been told that it is not easy," said bin Laden, who describes himself as a practicing Muslim.

Omar bin Laden accompanied by his wife Zaina Alsabah arrived in Rome from Switzerland on Monday amid tight security, news reports said.

Zaina is a 52-year-old British divorcee and Muslim convert, previously known as Jane Felix-Browne. The couple currently lives in Cairo, Egypt.

During the television interview, Omar - one of 19 children believed to have been fathered by Osama bin Laden - also said he thinks the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network is still alive.

"I do not believe my father is dead, otherwise I would have known it; the world would have known it," he said.

In a previous interview recorded in Cairo by an Italian TV network in January, bin Laden said he had not seen his father for several years.

"The last time I saw my father was in 2000/2001. I was in Saudi Arabia and felt a terrible sorrow for all the victims" (of the September 11 attacks), he said.

"My father has a kind heart," said Omar bin Laden.

On Monday the activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) urged Omar bin Laden, to cancel plans for a gruelling horse race across the Sahara desert as a way to promote peace.

Along with wife Zaina, bin Laden is planning a 5 000 kilometre horse race across North Africa that is scheduled to begin in March.

He said he envisioned the race as an equine version of the Paris-Dakar car rally, which was cancelled this year because of terrorist threats.

"This is a noble intention. However, we ask that you please reconsider your idea," PETA said in a message. (Independent Online)
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Vatican Slams Harry Potter As 'Wrong Kind Of Hero'

The Vatican has slammed JK Rowling's Harry Potter as 'the wrong kind of hero' who poses a danger to children across the world.

In a damning article, the Vatican's official newspaper 'L'Osservatore Romano' has condemned the popular teenage boy wizard for promoting witchcraft and the occult -- the Church's latest view on the Potter series.

Under the headline 'The Double Face of Harry Potter', the article by an expert in English literature says: "Despite the values that we come across in the narration, at the base of this story, witchcraft is proposed as a positive ideal.

"The violent manipulation of things and people comes thanks to knowledge of the occult. The ends justify the means because the knowledgeable, the chosen ones, the intellectuals know how to control the dark powers and turn them into good."

"This is a grave and deep lie, because it is the old Gnostic temptation of confusing salvation and truth with a secret knowledge. The characterisation of common men who do not know magic as 'muggles' who know nothing other than bad and wicked things is a truly diabolical attitude."

The writer, Professor Edoardo Rialti of Florence University, has also tried to establish a parallel between the 'fantasy masterpieces' -- CS Lewis's 'Chronicles of Narnia' and JRR Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' -- with Potter, according to 'The Daily Telegraph'.

He argues that other than 'superficially apparent common points', there's nothing similar between the books.

While the works of Tolkien and Lewis show 'a transcendence and the beauty of the infinite', he claims Harry Potter books have an 'inverted and confused spirituality: A world where bad is good' and that they are characterised by a 'vague, new-age philosophy'.

A spokesman for JK Rowling has, however, declined to comment. (DNA)
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The Fibbing British

Brits really don't mind telling fibs, for not only does the average Brit man lie five times a day, but the women too lie at least thrice a day.

As for what these lies might be, well according to a new poll, the words 'nothing's wrong - I'm fine' is the most common fib.

The survey, for flavoured vodka brand WKD, found that the next most common fib was "Nice to see you" while "I haven't got any cash on me" was the third most common one.

And, women need not get their hopes up when their man tells them "I'll give you a ring" for it's the fourth most common lie that's told in the UK.

"Sorry, I missed your call" rounded off the list of the top five most commonly told fibs.

Other lies that made it to the list was "No, your bum doesn't look big in that", which came in at the eight spot, as well as "Of course I love you," which was 12th on the list, reports The Sun.

"I'm stuck in traffic", "What text?", "I had no signal", "Our server was down", "My alarm didn't go off," "The cheque is in the post," "My battery died," "The train was delayed," "I'll phone you back in a minute", "This tastes delicious" and "I'm going to the gym tonight" were all part of the top 20 list. (Asian News International)

***** Come to think of it, are we any different from the so-called fibbing Brits? In fact I feel that we Malaysians are more used to fibbing than people anywhere else in the world. With our government setting a 'good' example can anyone blame us?
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Kuwaiti Paper Satirizes ‘Islamic Car’ Project

In response to reports that the Malaysian automaker Proton was launching a new joint Malaysian, Turkish, and Iranian project to manufacture an Islamic automobile, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida published a satirical piece by columnist Muzaffar Abdallah suggesting improvements to the 'Islamic car'.

The following are excerpts:

"The Malaysian automaker Proton has agreed to 'Islamize' its cars, in a joint three-country project [involving] Malaysia, Turkey, and Iran, with [Iran] owning the patent. Let us not forget that Iran has recently failed in its marketing of the 'Sara' doll, which was meant to rival Barbie. I think Sara failed because of her heavy eyebrows.

"And now back to the subject of Islamizing Proton. The news agency report said that according to the plan, the car will have a compass pointing the driver in the direction of prayer [i.e. towards Mecca], and will [also] have a special compartment to hold a Koran.

"Having a good taste in cars, I hereby appoint myself member of the Supreme Council for Completing the Implementation of Islamization at Proton. Here are my suggestions:

· "A device will be added to the car that identifies passengers of the fair sex who are neither the driver's sister nor his mother...

· "Only water from the sacred Zamzam well will be used in the car radiator, instead of those ordinary green and red fluids.

· "Purchasers... will receive a black cover for the car, to hide it from the eyes of the sun.

· "The car will be equipped with a device for those who like to travel [abroad in their car], that will indicate which country is Christian and which is Muslim, and [precisely] what school of religious thought prevails in [each Muslim country]...

· "It wouldn't hurt for the car to also have a device warning driver and passengers of places of corruption and licentiousness that they may encounter on their way, such as dance clubs and pubs.

· "For Muslims who fast during Ramadan, it is a good idea to equip the car with a 'dates and milk' dispenser...…

"The next stage of this tripartite project will focus on Christians and Jews... For each religion - its very own vehicle!"

(Courtesy - Middle East Media Research Institute)
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10,000 Valentine's Day Red And Yellow Roses For Pak Lah From Hindraf!

Ethnic Indians staged a violent protest in the streets of Malaysia's largest city weeks ago to highlight their economic and social plight. Now they are planning a softer approach. Protest leaders announced Monday they would present Valentine's Day roses from 10,000 people to Malaysia's prime minister next month to drive home their demands for racial equality.

The "Valentine Roses Campaign" will be the first public event by the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, since police used tear gas and water cannons to crush a Nov. 25 demonstration in Kuala Lumpur by at least 30,000 ethnic Indians. The violence sparked fears of racial tensions in this Malay Muslim-majority nation and led to the arrest of five Hindraf officials last month under the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite imprisonment without trial.

Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy, who fled to London in December fearing arrest, said Hindraf plans to gather at least 10,000 supporters outside Parliament on Feb. 16 to hand red and yellow roses to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

A Hindraf activist in Kuala Lumpur, who declined to be identified because he is not a spokesman for the group, said that even though Valentine's Day is Feb. 14, the event is planned for two days later, a Saturday, because it is easier to gather people during the weekend.

"Red roses would signify Hindraf's love and peaceful struggle while yellow roses would signify the demand for justice for the five Hindraf leaders held under the draconian laws," Moorthy said in a statement. He stressed it would be "purely a peaceful gathering ... to enlighten (Abdullah) on the predicament and cry for justice of the minority Indian community," which claims the Malay-dominated government practices discriminatory policies in economic and religious matters. "It is hoped by accepting the roses, the prime minister would be compassionate and understand the needs of the Indian community," Moorthy said.

Abdullah is not scheduled to be in Parliament on Feb. 16, but Hindraf said it could change the venue to suit his convenience. Abdullah's aides could not immediately be contacted. The planned rally will likely face opposition from police, who have barred virtually all public demonstrations in recent months. A federal police spokesman who declined to be named, citing protocol, said he could not comment on the planned rally because police have not been informed.

The government says it does not discriminate against ethnic Indians, who form 8 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people. Malays make up about 60 percent of the population, while ethnic Chinese account for a quarter.

Many Indians allege that authorities deprive them of fair chances to get jobs and education, and that their temples are being systematically destroyed. (PR-Inside.com, Austria)

***** It would be interesting to see how Pak Lah gets out of this 'predicament'. He could of course get a mufti or two to pass a couple of fatwas declaring that it is haram for a male to receive Valentine's Day roses!
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Mohammed Is Second Most Popular Name In UK

In multicultural Britain, Mohammed is the second most common name for boys after Jack, while Grace is the most popular name for girls.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the most popular spelling - Mohammed, after the founder of Islam Prophet Mohammad-- had climbed five places to 17th in the annual list of top baby names.

However, when the seven other spellings of the name are taken into account, the total comes to 6,347 babies, making it the second most popular name of the year - up from 5,936 last year.

Although Jack topped the list with 6,772 babies, that figure fell 156 on last year, meaning if this trends continues next year, Mohammed and its variant spellings would become the most popular name in England and Wales.

The other spellings are Muhammad, Mohammad, Muhammed, Mohamed, Mohamad, Muhamed and Mohammod.

The last national census in 2001 had put the UK Muslim population at 1.6 million.

The official figures from the ONS tallies with a similar survey on baby names published by Bounty, the parenting club, earlier this week.

They confirmed Grace was the most popular name given to girls, pushing last year's top name, Olivia, to third spot.

These were separated by Ruby which is believed to have been given a boost by singer Charlotte Church, who picked the name for her daughter who was born in September.

The rest of the top five was made by Emily, which rose one place to number four and Jessica, which was last year's number three.

The celebrity factor also reflected in the top 50 with Jayden, the highest new entry for boys at 32, up from 68 last year, while Ava moved up 23 places in the girls' rankings to 41.

Jayden's rise could be attributed to Jaden Smith, son of movie star Will Smith, who appeared alongside his father in The Pursuit of Happiness.

Ava's surge in popularity is believed to be influenced by Myleene Klass, who named her daughter Ava in August.

An ONS spokesman said Leona almost trebled in popularity, with 238 babies given the name in 2007, following Leona Lewis winning last year's X Factor show.

Summer entered the girls' top 50 this year, rising 15 places to 44, replacing Anna and Paige, which dropped out of the list.
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Malaysian Villagers Dig For Gold In The Sand!

The term "golden sands" has taken on a whole new literal meaning at the Kampung Seri Pantai beach, Malaysian southern Johor state, local media reported on Thursday.

Hundreds of people have been flocking to the beach since last week after news spread that there was gold in the sand, the New Straits Times said.

The gold hunt continues well into the night with many, including housewives and children, combing the beach with torchlights and candles to look for "sparkly beads" buried in the sand.

It is not only the prospectors who have flocked to the beach, gold buyers are also on standby, ready to buy the precious metal off anyone who finds it.

Policemen have also been patrolling the area to prevent any untoward incident.

A villager, Zulhadnan Salehuddin, 39, said gold prospecting became frantic from last week after some villagers were said to have found between 1,000 ringgit and 2,000 ringgit worth of gold by panning the sand on the beach.

"It is amazing that we can find all these gold on the beach, without digging or mining. We use a steel or wooden dulang (wok-like pan) and swirl the sand with the seawater. The gold will appear," he said excitedly.

A gold buyer, identified only as Mat, said he had bought about 4,000 ringgit worth of gold from the villagers since last week. "The gold found here is of high quality and I buy them at 68 ringgit to 70 ringgit per gram, it was certainly no fool's gold," he said.

District police chief Harun Idris warned that people were exaggerating the size and value of gold discoveries. Those who were lucky might find gold worth 80 ringgit. "It's gold dust actually," the officer said. "It's not economically worthwhile."

The Kampung Seri Pantai beach is located about eight kilometers from Mersing town center, Johor state.

***** It looks like collective foolishness and avarice has taken root and is hyperactive in this part of Johor. Alas, greed has no religious and ethnic boundaries or peculiarities. It is the most universal of human characteristics.
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Vanity, Oh Vanity - The Image Conscious British

Mirror, mirror on the wall; who is the fairest of them all?-- British women ask this question as many as 71 times a day, a survey has revealed.

Taking things a little far in this looks-obsessed world, these women were found to go no longer than half an hour without a peek at their reflection, some even less.

Men also don't seem to be far behind-- the worst offenders look in the mirror 66 times a day.

The survey, commissioned by make-up firm Transformulas International, questioned around 2,000 men and women across the country, the Daily Mail reported.

It was found that nationally men checked their face 27 times on average each day, against 34 times for women.

Liverpool topped the poll as having the vainest women, with 71 peeks in the mirror each day.

Those in their 20s were found to be the most image conscious with men and women aged 27 topping the league by checking their appearance 52 times a day.

However, those in the 60s looked in the mirror just five times a day.

Rosalind Chapman, of the firm, said, ''British people often get criticised for not being as image conscious as our European counterparts but this survey is the proof that we love to check our appearance and look good.'' (UNI)
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Osama More Popular Among Pakistanis Than Their President!

Amid all the drama on Pakistan's political stage, one figure lurks unseen – Osama bin Laden. Last month, however, he made himself heard.

The al-Qa'ida leader released a tape in which he declared war on President Pervez Musharraf and urged Pakistanis to rise up in "armed rebellion" against him in revenge for the assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad. As polls show that Bin Laden is more popular in Pakistan than the President, it was an ominous message.

It is a constant embarrassment to Pakistan's leader, whose administration has received billions of dollars from the US for enlisting in the "war on terror", that America's principal target is almost certainly on Pakistani soil. While Islamabad insists with waning conviction that he is hiding in Afghanistan, Western intelligence agencies are convinced that Bin Laden is in Pakistan's "federally administered tribal areas" along the Afghan border, probably in North or South Waziristan.

Here, al-Qa'ida has managed to restore its network, according to recent assessments. The London bombers went to Waziristan for training and support. After a disastrous attempt at military intervention which left hundreds of Pakistani soldiers dead, Islamabad did a deal with tribal leaders last year under which they were supposed to keep out foreign militants. Instead, cross-border raids and suicide bombings in Afghanistan rose sharply. Pakistan has now sent the troops back in at US urging, but the tribal areas remain a law unto themselves. (Raymond Whitaker; The Independent On Sunday)

***** Thank God that Osama is not more popular here than our Prime Minister. I wonder if he is held in better regard in Malaysia than say Najib, Zainuddin Maidin or Nazri. However I'm quite sure that he is at least more popular than Samy Vellu or Khir Toyol.
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Cabinet Mandate For Hishammuddin To Contest Unesco Board Seat. Every Malaysian Must Be Very Proud

The Cabinet today gave Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein the mandate to vie for a seat on the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

He will contest for one of the six seats in the executive board's Electoral IV Group which represents 43 countries of the Asia-Pacific including Malaysia, in the election scheduled for Oct 24 during Unesco's 34th biennial conference from Oct 16 to Nov 3 in Paris. The membership of the board is for four years from 2008.

In a statement today, Hishammuddin said he would be away in Paris from Oct 12 to 25 to attend several meetings and meet up with ministers and leaders from the region to express Malaysia's desire to go for the seat.

"Malaysia's involvement in Unesco will enhance the country's visibility at the international level and it will serve as the best platform to realise the strategy of internationalising the country's education," he said.

He also said that Malaysia would be able to use every opportunity, best practices and latest developments in the field of education in other countries for the benefit of Malaysia's own education system.

The Education Ministry would also be able to market its educational experiences and products to a higher level and turn the ministry into one of the most outstanding in the world, he said.

Malaysia will also vie for seats on three Unesco subsidiary organs -- the International Bureau of Education (IBE), the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) and the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) -- and the World Heritage Committee (WHC).

Malaysia will be represented at the Unesco conference by officials from ministries of Education; Higher Education; Science, Technology and Innovation; Culture, Arts and Heritage; Women, Family and Community Development; Information; Energy, Water and Communications; and Foreign Affairs as well as public institutions of higher learning. (Bernama)

***** Is that applause and sounds of rejoicing I hear from millions of grateful Malaysians on knowing that our wise education minister is standing for this Unesco post?
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'Phonetics For Dummies' Guide For President Bush

How do you keep a leader as verbally gaffe-prone as US President George W. Bush from making even more slips of the tongue?

When Bush addressed the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the White House inadvertently showed exactly how -- with a phonetic pronunciation guide on the teleprompter to get him past troublesome names of countries and world leaders.

The White House was left scrambling to explain after a marked-up draft of Bush's speech popped up briefly on the UN website as he delivered his remarks, giving a rare glimpse of the special guidance he gets for major addresses.

It included phonetic spellings for French President Nicolas Sarkozy (sar-KO-zee), a friend, and Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe (moo-GAH-bee), a target of US human rights criticism.

Pronunciations were also provided for Kyrgyzstan (KEYR-geez-stan), Mauritania (moor-EH-tain-ee-a) and the Zimbabwe capital Harare (hah-RAR-ray).

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the draft, labelled the 20th version and complete with typos and speechwriters' cellphone numbers, had been turned over in advance to help UN interpreters who must simultaneously translate leaders' speeches into several languages.

Bush's text also had to be loaded onto a teleprompter to appear on screens in front of the podium as he spoke. "There was an error made," Perino told reporters. "I don't know how the draft of the speech that was not final was posted but it was and it was taken back."

"Anyone giving a major speech or delivering a broadcast, like on the morning and nightly network news, has phonetics for cues just for the possibility they're needed," she later explained.

Bush is no stranger to the occasional faux pas, and often jokes about his habit of mangling the English language.

One of his highest-profile gaffes came in May when, at a welcoming ceremony for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, he nearly placed her in the 18th century.

At a speech during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney earlier this month, Bush seemed to confuse the organization with OPEC and spoke of Austrian troops in Iraq when he meant to say Australian. (Sify News)
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