Weather Channel

It's been the worst year for extreme weather since Noah had to build an ark - unless you've invested in the Weather Channel.
Tornadoes, droughts, subzero temperatures and heat waves have already brought boffo numbers to the cable outlet, with hurricane season right around the corner.
"It's all about extremes," said meteorologist Stephanie Abrams, who co-hosts a morning show with Al Roker.
Nearly 46 million people followed the network's coverage on TV or online during the freeze that covered a third of the country on Groundhog Day, and nearly 50 million relied on its services when tornadoes devastated Joplin, Mo.
It wasn't long ago when the Weather Channel didn't go anywhere beyond the coffee room in its Georgia-based studio. When it was launched in 1982, coverage was limited to maps and radar screens, with anchors ticking off temperatures as if they were reading stock market numbers. Today, top personalities hopscotch around the world, trying to get to locations right before storms hit.
Abrams said she's collected enough miles this year to qualify as a diamond member of Delta's frequent-flier program. Jim Cantore, a Weather Channel veteran with 25 years on the job, said he's been in the studio for a solid week only twice this year. They also produce documentaries and series with names such as "Storm Riders" and "From the Edge."
Reporting from the eye of the storm has become big business.

"When I first started, it was a little easier to find places to park a satellite truck," Cantore said. "Now there are dozens of trucks on the scene."
The team scoffs at images of weather folks holding onto trees in a roaring hurricane or chasing tornadoes. Safety first. But Abrams said being on the scene makes her a stronger advocate for viewers.
"I know what it's like to live on Pop-Tarts and Sun Chips, so you can empathize with people because we've lived it, too," she said.
The Weather Channel team doesn't believe interest in weather will cool down anytime soon. Walker predicts there will be at least one catastrophic hurricane this year and Cantore said the world's climate changes will continue to be extreme.
"The question is: Have we tipped the bucket over?" he said. "Is there anything we can do to turn the climate back? That we just don't know."

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Crop Circles

Crop circles are created by artists using lasers, GPS technology and microwaves, not UFOs, FOX News reports.
Richard Taylor, director of the Materials Science Institute at the University of Oregon, told FOX News that today’s designs are more complex than ever, with some featuring up to 2,000 different shapes. Mathematical analysis revealed that construction lines invisible to the eye are used to create the patterns, he added.

The difference between today’s crop circlers and those of the past is that artists today use lasers and GPS technology, as opposed to the ropes, planks of wood and bar stools that were once used, Taylor continued.
The most innovative technique, however, involves using microwaves to force corn stalks to fall over and cool horizontally. One research team claims to used a handheld magnetron ripped from a microwave ovens and a 12V battery to create crop circles. That technique could possibly explain the speed and efficiency of modern-day crop circlers and the incredible detail their designs exhibit, Taylor said.
But "crop circle artists are not going to give up their secrets easily," Taylor wrote. "This summer, unknown artists will venture into the countryside close to your homes and carry out their craft, safe in the knowledge that they are continuing the legacy of the most science-oriented art movement in history," Taylor said.

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Noaa Weather

St. Petersburg and the rest of the Tampa Bay region may get this hurricane season's first taste of a tropical storm front this weekend as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is monitoring a potential dangerous weather pattern in the tropics.

Dubbed Emily, the weather pattern was upgraded to a tropical storm Monday, and it is headed toward Puerto Rico and Haiti.
NOAA forecast models have been predicting that the storm could reach south Florida by Saturday.
The National Weather Services advises the public to monitor this weather event athurricanes.govor weather.gov/tampabaythroughout the week and into the weekend for updated alerts and a possible advisories.

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Gabrielle Giffords

The appearance of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on the House floor Monday night warmed hearts. It also renewed interest in whether the congresswoman, greviously injured in a shooting this January, would be able to run for re-election in 2012.
This morning, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman said the party was readying for Giffords’ permanent return. But a spokeswoman for the congresswoman said no decision on Giffords’ political future had been made.
“We are confident that she is going to come back to help us full time,” Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said on CBS’ Early Show. At the same time, the chairwoman acknowledged that her close friend “still has a long way to go in her recovery.”
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Wasserman Schultz added that Democrats were helping Giffords prepare for 2012: “We’re certainly getting her ready to make sure she can run for re-election at the point that they’re ready to decide on that.”

“As you've seen, she's got the heart of a lion, made remarkable progress,” Wasserman Schultz added. “But her supporters in Arizona and across the country, her colleagues, are making sure that she doesn't have to start from scratch when she makes that decision.”
In a brief statement, Giffords spokeswoman C.J. Karamargin rejected speculation that the congresswoman’s support for Monday’s debt deal was the launch of a 2012 campaign. “Congresswoman Giffords is focused on her recovery,” she said. “No decision has been made about 2012.”
Giffords’ spoke to fellow lawmakers on Monday, and according to Wasserman Schultz she recognized not just friends and close colleagues but the House sergeant-at-arms. However,Giffords did not speak publicly; her only comments on the vote came via Twitter and prepared statements.
Aides to Giffords have tried to tamp down speculation about their boss’ political future in recent months. Pia Carusone, the congresswoman’s chief of staff, told the Arizona Republic in June that Giffords struggles to form longer words and was nowhere close to returning to work.
There has also been speculation that Giffords’ husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, would run for the seat. Kelly has said that he is not interested.

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Mohd Ashraf Hafiz Ab­­dul Aziz

When the High Court rejected her application to change her name, Aleesha Farhana, who was born Mohd Ashraf Hafiz Abdul Aziz, was devastated.
In recent weeks, she often spoke to her family about there being little time left for her to do much of anything, including celebrating the coming Hari Raya Puasa.
That’s when I realised how important gender recognition and acceptance was for her, and how without it, life was not worth living.
I had this strange fear that she was going to take her own life. Of course, the hospital and doctors now tell us she died of a heart problem and low blood pressure. It would not be proper for me to think otherwise.
We as a nation must not let her death go to waste, for we can learn something from this tragic loss of life. If we do nothing, then more lives will be wasted, and more families will be heartbroken or will suffer in silence.
Questions about sexuality, gender, belief, faith and personal freedom are important matters to the individuals concerned.
To many of us, they constitute the core of our existence. That’s why the government (and that includes the ministers, the National Registration Department, religious authorities and judges) should handle these issues with care and gentle consideration.
I know it’s difficult for this government to be gentle and respectful of minorities, or anyone different.
They have begun to believe their own spin: that they are the great protectors of the religion, race and general wellbeing of the Malays.
They have taken it upon themselves to decide for the Malays (who are by law Muslims) everything under the sun, big and small. For example, if the Malays want to sell a piece of property, chances are the Menteri Besar and his exco have to approve the transaction.
I tried to sell a small shoplot after owning the property for four years, but my application was rejected.
Maybe one day during a recession when prices have gone south, I will finally get the approval to sell from these great protectors of my race.
It seems that as a Malay, I am not considered fit enough to decide when I can sell my own property.
I am not fit to take advantage of the market situation. I must be really incapable and weak, like a walking handicap. My rights as a property owner are restricted, but the government will say it’s for my own good.
Not sexual perverts

I apologise for the digression, but this same lack of recognition of our right to choose is reflected in Aleesha’s case.
In future, if a Malay says she is a woman, whether by birth or by biological transformation in adult life (and scientifically or by hormonal testing one can easily establish that assertion to be largely correct), then I hope the National Registration Department will just accept that fact.
Why is the department so interested in denying her proper identity?
I know some will say that we must not give legal recognition to those tampering with God’s design, but this was not what Aleesha was asking for.
She was asking for official recognition of her true self, one that only she and God truly knew. Some scholars reprimanded me for not taking their viewpoints seriously.
Well all I can say is Aleesha’s viewpoint is the only one that is relevant. Its her body and her life.
Others can talk and talk because talk is cheap. Even if we were to go so far as to say that her decision to go for a sex-change operation amounted to tampering with God’s design, what should we then make of visits to the dentist to straighten crooked teeth, or using Botox to make the nose more attractive? Is that not also tampering?
Aleesha was not alone. There are thousands like her who continue to be ostracised, ridiculed and humiliated because of their sexuality.
They may not fit our image of the male or female stereotype, but they are not out to cause mischief.
They are not sexual perverts, nor do they suffer from the curse of God. Their identities are rooted in biology – they are who they are because of their genes and their hormones.
It would not cause anyone any harm if they were to be left alone and accorded the respect and rights that all human beings are entitled to.
Berita Harian yesterday called on us not to ridicule Aleesha. Well it’s too late now – she is gone.
If those in power had been more caring and had not overplayed their role as the great protectors, she may still be alive today.

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Qawwali

Anyone who complains that WOMAD is "too safe" must have missed the mosh pit that appeared at the front of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello's late Sunday set, where the frenetic dancing of the band's teenage fans briefly descended into cheerful anarchy.
But this was still a more civilized event than most. When one evacuee rescued from the front row by security realized she was missing a bag, the crowd politely broke off their revelry to help her retrieve it.
It's what you might expect from a festival that has cultivated a reputation for good manners and a family-friendly atmosphere.
"Our aim is to reach a family audience," WOMAD artistic programer Paula Henderson said. "We do children's workshops, and we have the funfair, a children's art project. It's a whole family event, and people feel they're very safe here."
The World Of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival has grown from its origins in southern England to become one of world's biggest international music festival, helping bring artists as diverse as the Asian Dub Foundation, Neneh Cherry and the Housemartins to prominence.
An estimated 35,000 people gathered this weekend at the Charlton Park estate near the town of Malmesbury in the leafy countryside of the southern English county of Wiltshire to soak up the sun to the sounds of some of the world's finest soul, electronica, dubstep, cumbia, flamenco, jazz, folk and rock.
From a musical perspective, the focus is more on introducing new sounds than booking acts that will draw huge crowds.
"We have AnDa Union here from China, who've never played in the UK before, Bombina, who have never played with us before," Henderson said. "We're trying to bring things that are slightly unusual, as well as big acts like Gogol Bordello, Alpha Blondy. It gives a real mix. It's just a question of making sure it all fits, like a jigsaw puzzle."
The festival's audiences thrive on variety at an event which boasts Cuban Creole choral singing, Ghanaian Afrobeat, and Ukrainian gypsy music played by New York punks on just one stage, in one afternoon.
"The only people who come here have an affiliation with the music, a love for the music," Lahore-based qawwali singer Faiz Ali Faiz said backstage at the event. "That's why they come."
ECLECTIC MIX

Organizers lined up an eclectic selection of acts for the event's 29th incarnation. Friday night saw West African reggae band Alpha Blondy headline on the Open Air stage, while Australia's CW Stoneking offered Deep South-inspired banjo blues on the Charlie Gilette stage.
Saturday saw London-based Brassroots pumping out hits by Beyonce, Radiohead and Cee-Lo Green on the trombone and tuba, Las Balkanieras delivering East European dancehall pop and Japanese folk duo Shunsuke Kimura and Etsuro Ono showing that it's not just Americans who can play the blues.
Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, who took to the Siam stage on Saturday night to one of the largest crowds of the weekend, are probably one of the most widely known acts.
They played their set to a packed tent.
"That was amazing, just amazing," said Tim from Ireland, at his first WOMAD, after the set. Like many, he had been turned on to Rodrigo y Gabriela by word of mouth, after a friend saw them play in Glasgow in 2009. So did they live up to expectations? "Absolutely."
Next year, the festival will celebrate its 30th birthday. While many music festivals have struggled to sell tickets in recent years as events proliferated and the economy flagged, WOMAD reported a 29 percent rise in sales this year.
"We're offering something that a lot of other events don't," Henderson told Reuters. "The music is very different to any other festival that exists, which is why we're keeping our audience and increasing it, whereas others may be losing it."
Plans for next year's anniversary are still in their infancy, but Henderson said she is looking to introduce more performance art into the line-up. As for acts, she'll be spending the next 12 months trawling the world to find the best it has to offer.
"Gogol Bordello took me three years to book, and Manu Chao I've been trying to get for about 10 years," she said. "Maybe for the 30th I can get him to come."

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Lok Sabha

A host of issues, ranging from price rise to demand for dismissal of Mayawati government and immediate execution of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru stalled Parliament on the second day of the Monsoon session today.
It was trouble from the beginning in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as BJP members in the Upper House and those from the BSP, SP and Shiv Sena in the Lower House raised several issues simultaneously by storming the well.
Both the Houses were first adjourned for nearly an hour till noon and then till 2pm because of the ruckus.
BJP members, led by M Venkaiah Naidu, made a strong pitch in the Rajya Sabha for suspension of Question Hour to discuss price rise. Inflation in June stood at 9.44 percent.
In the Lok Sabha, SP members trooped into the well seeking dismissal of the Mayawati government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh for committing atrocities against farmers.
Members of BSP, whose government in UP is in the dock over the issue of land acquisition, followed suit by carrying placards, blaming Congress-led government for the poor
conditions of the peasantry. They demanded immediate passage of the Land Acquisition Bill.
Shiv Sena MPs stormed the well raising slogans demanding that Mumbai terror attack culprit Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru be hanged immediately.
With the session being the first after the 13 July bomb blasts in Mumbai, the Sena members raised the issue of security in the financial capital of the country. It was the first working day of the Lok Sabha as it was adjourned yesterday after paying homage to sitting member and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. The Rajya Sabha was rocked yesterday over the 2G issue.
In the Lok Sabha, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia has given a notice for adjournment motion, backed by all the Left parties, on the issue of price rise.
Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete said his party would be pro-active in the House tomorrow also on the issue of better security for Mumbai.

Earlier, the ruckus began soon after tributes were paid to two former members who passed away recently.
In the melee, Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan ordered laying of papers listed for the day. The papers included Supplementary Demands for Grants (General) for 2011-12.
As soon as the Rajya Sabha re-assembled for Zero Hour, members from the BJP trooped into the well shouting slogans against the government demanding its resignation. As Khan, who was in the Chair asked for laying the papers, the BJP members reminded him of their notices for a discussion on corruption and price rise under Rule 167 which entails voting.
Khan tried to pacify the members saying that their notices have already been taken up for consideration by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).
Members, however, refused to relent and raised slogans seeking resignation of the “corrupt government”.
Khan told the members that all the issues they were raising have already been listed before the BAC. “What is your problem?,” he asked.
As the members from BJP continued shouting slogans in the well, almost the entire opposition including those from CPI, CPI-M, AIADMK, Shiv Sena and JD-U as well as from the BSP, which is supporting the government, were on their feet.
When all efforts to bring peace in the House failed, an exasperated Khan adjourned the House till 2pm.

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India Against Corruption

India Against Corruption

India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urged people to participate in large numbers in 'padyatras', burning copies of the government's draft of the Lokpal bill, candle light marches and other activities planned to support social crusader Anna Hazare's fight for an effective Lokpal to curb corruption.

In a statement issued here, Kejriwal said it was more than evident that the government and all the political parties were unwilling to enact a strong law against corruption because if they did so, many of them would face imprisonment.

"None of the large scams like the Adarsh,Commonwealth Games, Reddy brothers scam, fodder scam, health mission scam of UP, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha scam, Cash-For-Vote are covered in the government's Lokpal bill draft. What use is such a Lokpal bill? It is weak and ineffective. It has a very narrow jurisdiction and no corruption faced by a common man is covered under it," he said.

"Anna's fast from August 16 is our last hope. We cannot afford to fail this time. For if we fail, we may never get another chance. It's now or never", Kejriwal said.

A number of people across the country are planning various protest activities. "From August 1 to 9, people across the country will form small teams and undertake short and long 'padyatras'. They will talk to people on their way, hold meetings, distribute pamphlets and show the Jan Lokpal film. From August 9, mass burning/tearing of copies of the government's draft of the Lokpal bill, as a mark of non-violent protest, will be held. Anna is expected to start it from either Delhi or Mumbai. During August 9 to 15, 'prabhat pheris' will be held in mornings, where people will sing patriotic songs and educate others about corruption and the Jan Lokpal bill. In the evening, there will be candle light and 'mashal' marches," Kejriwal said.

He has urged people to switch off their lights from 8 pm to 9 pm on August 15 as a mark of support for the anti-corruption movement.

"The government says it will crush Anna's fast the way it crushed Baba Ramdev's movement. We are ready for that. We will offer ourselves for arrest if the government decides to arrest us. We are ready to face their batons and bullets. But we will not move from there. We will not retaliate. It will be a completely non-violent movement," he said. Kejriwal also urged people to take a week off from their work from August 16 and take to the streets and raise slogans against corruption. "Government can impose section 144 at the Jantar Mantar. But will it impose curfew in the whole country? If the whole country takes to the streets, we can force the government to enact a strong Jan Lokpal bill," he added.

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Fasting

Today, August 1, marks the first day of Ramadan, or the ninth month in the Islamic calendar in which practicing Muslimsparticipate in fasting from dawn until dusk. That means no eating, no drinking, and no intimate contact with your spouse from sunrise to sunset. The fast is intended to put the focus back onAllah, to teach Muslims about patience, humility, reverence, and acceptance of God. Ramadan happens in August because it was in that month when the Quran was first revealed to the prophetMuhammad. Religious prayer times are an integral part of Ramadan, and finding Quran recitationpassages by using the Quran online or, of course, the ubiquitous iPhone app can help the devoted pay their respects.
There's so much to learn about Ramadan, but here are five facts to keep you a little bit in the know.

1. WHO: The Muslim faith observes Ramadan. Once puberty is reached, it's essential that Muslims take part in Ramadan if they are healthy and able. If one is unhealthy or elderly and should eat during the fast, it's advised that they help feed the poor instead. Women pregnant, nursing, or menstruating are also allowed to break fast, so long as they make up the days some other time.
2. WHAT: Ramadan is a month-long spiritual journey of fasting from sun up to sun down that is intended to enlighten participants about self-sacrifice and higher realms of faith.
3. WHEN: The first day of Ramadan falls during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and after the first sighting of the new moon. The date of the fasting period will vary each year since it's based on the Islamic lunar calendar, but will always last between 29-30 days. For example, in 2010, it started on August 10, and in 2012, it will start on July 20.
4. WHERE: Many Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa, but the faithful are obviously worldwide. Prayer times change due to location, but mosques will be observing this holy month no matter what country they're in. In some westernized Muslim households, the house is festively decorated to make Ramadan more fun for the children.
5. WHY: The purpose of the fast is to focus on purity of both thoughts and actions. Self-discipline, self-reflection, and self-control are some of the virtues that Ramadan is aiming to instill in the Muslim followers. Empathy for those who don't have food every day and for those who aren't as fortunate is also a powerful lesson. Since it's a time for sharing as well, family and friends gather at night to eat supper together, and sometimes exchange gifts. The fast is broken after sunset each night with Iftar, the fast breaking meal that traditionally starts with eating a date.

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Quran Recitation

RAMADAN may be going high tech with new smartphone applications and other online platforms to better engage followers here.
But Muis, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, also wants more Muslims to focus on the Quran, hence the decision to make it the theme of this year's festivities.

Muis president Mohammad Alami Musa said it had chosen the holy book to encourage younger Muslims to see it as a companion and source of knowledge.
'The lessons in the scripture can guide them in their daily lives,' said Mr Mohammad, who was speaking at an event on Saturday to launch the holy fasting month, which starts on Monday.
Other events over the 29-day fasting period will include a Quran recitation clinic and an exhibition roadshow to better acquaint Muslims here with the holy book.
More than 200 volunteers will also distribute packages that have mineral water, dates and Quran introductory materials to fellow Muslims around Singapore.

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Labor Day 2011

A windjammer celebration is nothing without the vessels themselves. Fans of theses gorgeous vessels will be in luck, Labor Day weekend (September 2-4), as the Camden Windjammer Festival will play host to a glorious parade of sail and steam that includes both Penobscot Bay’s working fleet and many beautiful and unique private vessels too.
A community windjammer party also needs entertainment, and the Camden Windjammer Festival is pleased to announce that the line-up for the Labor Day celebration promises thrills, spills, music, and laughter for all the family.
On Friday September 2nd as the windjammers finish tying up there will be a free public contradance with caller Chrissy Fowler of Belfast (www.chrissyfowler.com) and the band Crowfoot (www.crowfootmusic.com) ongoing on Camden’s Public Landing from 3:30-5pm. Friday fun continues with the Schooner Passenger & Crew Talent Show in Harbor Park.  The Schooner Passenger & Crew Talent Show will feature acts funny, fantastic and fabulous from the decks of the windjammer fleet. Friday evening concludes with a fireworks display over Camden harbor, presented by Down East magazine.
Saturday night’s entertainment menu offers two options. At 7:30pm the Camden Public Library will be showing the 1937 Spencer Tracy version of the movie “Captains Courageous” in the Amphitheatre on Atlantic Avenue. Meanwhile at the Camden Opera House, the wonderful Maine humorist Tim Sample will be performing an all-ages show also at 7:30pm.
Born in northern Aroostook County and raised on the Maine coast, Tim Sample is widely recognized as Maine’s premier native humorist. Tim released his first album of “down east” humor in the summer of 1980. Since then he has recorded nine more albums, four of which were released on the Bert and I label, and written and/or illustrated several books including the regional best-sellers Saturday Night at Moody’s Diner and How to Talk Yankee.  Author Stephen King has compared Sample’s work to that of Mark Twain and Charles Kuralt referred to him as “Maine’s  humorist laureate “ .

Tim’s show at The Camden Opera House will feature new material from his latest album “ Live at Stone Mountain Arts “ which was released in January of 2011. As with all Tim Sample performances the Camden Opera House show will be  “profanity free” and suitable for all audiences. For information on tickets call the Chamber at 236-4404 or visit the Opera House online at http://www.camdenoperahouse.com/events.cfm
On Sunday evening (September 4^th), the festival closes out with a free performance by the Dave Rowe Trio with special guest Denny Breau courtesy of Maine Today Media. Guitarist Breau is a triple threat: a consummate picker, evocative songwriter, and a singer with a voice that is warm and inviting but completely unpretentious. Hairy-chested, fiddle-driven nautical songs, rollicking bluegrass and Appalachian tunes, old-timey instrumental masterpieces, broad-shouldered Celtic classics, captivating originals, and Downeast wit pepper every show by Maine’s own Dave Rowe. His group’s inventive use of instrumentation on guitar, fiddle, electric bass, and tin whistles along with strong vocal harmonies which hearken back to the great folk bands of the 1960s creates an unique musical tapestry rarely heard in the contemporary folk landscape. The concert, scheduled to start at 7:30pm, will take place under the stars in Camden's Harbor Park, with Maine's prettiest harbor providing both a backdrop and inspiration.
The full schedule of events can be found at www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com, but suffice to say the weekend offers something for everyone. From sailing aficionados and blueberry pancake and clam chowder enthusiasts to aspirant crate-racers and boat builders, the weekend is looking mighty ship-shape.
The Camden Windjammer Festival is sponsored by Down East Magazine, Maine Today Media, Wayfarer Marine, Camden Harbour Inn, The Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce, Allen Insurance & Financial, Cellardoor Winery, the Hartstone Inn, and Point Lookout.
Also providing valuable support are The First, Camden National Bank, the Camden Downtown Business Group, the Camden Public Library, EBS, Elm Street Printing & Graphics, Eric Hopkins, Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League, The Maine Windjammer Association, the Town of Camden, Art Tibbetts Marine Contractors, Sikaflex, West Bay Rotary, and the Camden Rotary Club.
The Camden Windjammer Festival is a community led celebration of Camden’s maritime heritage and living traditions. For regular updates on the Camden Windjammer Festival.

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DB Cooper

After hijacking an airplane and extorting $200,000 from the FBI, DB Cooper calmly made a daring escape via parachute. Forty years later, new evidence suggests law enforcement may finally be hot on the trail of America's most elusive fugitive. But what is this new evidence?
On the night before Thanksgiving of 1971, a man who called himself Dan Cooper (a reporter working for one of the wire services misheard the name of the hijacker, and ever since then he has been referred to as DB Cooper, rather than Dan) wearing a suit and raincoat, walked up to the Northwest Orient desk at Portland's airport and spent $20 on a one-way ticket to Seattle.
On the plane, he donned a pair of dark sunglasses, ordered a whiskey, lit up a cigarette and coolly handed the stewardess a note. In capital letters, it read:
I HAVE A BOMB IN MY BRIEFCASE. I WILL USE IT IF NECESSARY. I WANT YOU TO SIT NEXT TO ME. YOU ARE BEING HIJACKED.
What happened next would give Cooper a place in the pantheon of American folk heroes.
Cooper asked the stewardess to relay the following request to the plane's captain: he wanted $200,000 and four parachutes, and in return, he'd allow 36 people to leave the aircraft when the plane landed in Seattle. The FBI, quickly contacted by ground control, organized the swap, and when the plane was sky-bound again, with just the pilot, co-pilot, one stewardess and Cooper on board.
The hijacker's instructions were to head for Mexico, maintaining an altitude under 10,000 feet. Then, somewhere over the lower Cascade mountains, 25 miles north west of Portland, Cooper released the plane's aft stairs, stepped out, and, with one of the parachutes strapped to his besuited back, jumped into the stormy, cold November night and was never seen or heard from again.
By the time military helicopters were scrambled, on November 24th 1971, to search the land north of Portland for a six-foot-tall white guy weighing 170 to 175 pounds, "DB" Cooper was long gone — presumably either dead or packing away his parachute and trudging through mud and rain to make his escape.
Over the past 40 years since that cold night, there have been more than 1,000 Cooper suspects, several deathbed confessions, a film (starring Robert Duvall), and well over a dozen books. As one person told legendary Cooper tracker Alex Hannaford, Cooper is the "Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest."
It makes sense why Cooper holds such an important place in American folklore — the hijacking is the only one in U.S. history to go unsolved and offers, for many, an opportunity to see one lone man thumb their nose at "the" man — the government. Also, there's been tantalizing little in the way of clues.

The first major "break" in the case came in February of 1980 when, nine years after the Cooper skyjacking, an eight-year-old boy found three packets of the Cooper ransom money on a local beach, still bundled up in rubber bands. It was just under $6,000 — the bulk of the $200,000 was still missing — but it was enough to put Cooper back in the papers.
Hannaford claims there have been over 1000 suspects these last four decades:
"As for suspects, there have been more than 1,000 over the past four decades. Military veteran William Gossett had had parachute training and was widely known to be obsessed with the Cooper hijacking. Towards the end of his life he reportedly told his sons and a retired judge that he was the hijacker.
According to attorney and Cooper sleuth Galen Cook, Gossett also owned a safety deposit box which contained $200,000 and that he ended his days on the run in Utah. The FBI, however, says there is no firm evidence implicating Gossett at all.
Another suspect is Kenny Christiansen, a former paratrooper who died in 1994. Eight years ago, after watching a documentary on the Cooper case on television, Christiansen's brother, Lyle, became convinced his elder sibling was Cooper. His efforts to persuade the FBI, however, proved futile."
But that's not to say the FBI isn't still pursuing Cooper. In fact, Ayn Dietrich, a former analyst with the bureau, is still now tasked with handling inquiries about the Cooper case.
Hannaford recently met with Dietrich, who told him:
"Being an open but not active case, we respond to every report or lead. Our case agent will check them out and determine whether they're credible. We're not out there combing for more evidence but we've kept it open in the belief that there could be something out there. The money has surfaced before and perhaps more will surface."
She insists all the suspects still being touted by Cooper sleuths have been ruled out — either because they don't match the DNA or fingerprints they have on file, or because the descriptions just don't match up. But then she opens up with something new — and this is where the latest evidence revealed this weekend comes from:
"You're the first to know this, but we do actually have a new suspect we're looking at. And it comes from a credible lead who came to our attention recently via a law enforcement colleague." I'm stunned. Dietrich says she can't tell me much more, but like all the Cooper sleuths I've met over the past few days, I too have become a little obsessed with the case. "The credible lead is somebody whose possible connection to the hijacker is strong," she says. "And the suspect is not a name that's come up before." Dietrich says agents have sent an item that belongs to him for testing at the forensics lab in Quantico, Virginia. "We're hoping there are fingerprints they can take off of it," she says. "It would be a significant lead. And this is looking like our most promising one to date."
It's a pending investigation, and she can't tell me any more. I push her to see if she can say whether the suspect is still alive. "Generally, the large majority of subjects we look into now are already deceased based on the timing of this," she says. I follow up with Dietrich a week after my visit, but she says it could be some time before the FBI gets the results back.
So are we now close to finally having a real suspect in the decades-old case? Maybe. Dietrich cautions that the FBI is not on the verge of a "big break," but is carrying out "due diligence" on the new information. But could we finally be closer to finding out the real identity of the enigmatic character known as DB Cooper? I hope so.

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Presidential Election Singapore

Presidential Election Singapore

This year's President's Star Charity - which is the last for outgoing President S R Nathan - garnered a record S$6.44 million in donations at the end of the two-and-a-half-hour show which was telecast live yesterday.

The amount has already surpassed the donations of previous years.

The show raised S$5.6 million last year and S$6 million in 2009. Yesterday's show featured a video tribute to Mr Nathan, who is not seeking re-election in the coming Presidential Election.

The show also featured performances by Italian teenage tenor trio II Volo, Singapore Idol alumni Sylvia Ratonel, Hady Mirza and Taufik Batisah, as well as celebrities such as Kym Ng, Belinda Lee, Hossan Leong and Sheikh Haikel.

Excluding this year's contributions, the President's Star Charity has raised more than S$100 million for more than 500 welfare organisations.

Viewers can pledge donations by dialling 1900 112-8821 (S$5), 1900 112-8822 (S$20) and 1900 112-8823 (S$100). The phone lines will close at midnight on Sunday.

With President Nathan at the close of the show are MediaCorp chairman Teo Ming Kian (second from right) and MediaCorp CEO Shaun Seow (right). In front of President Nathan is 10-year-old Adelyn Koh from the Singapore Association of the Visually-Handicapped, who played co-host. The hosts were Gurmit Singh, Glenda Chong and Soo Kui Jien.

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Friendship Quotes

The World Friendship Day was observed on July 30. However, some of the countries observe the friendship day on first Sunday of August.
India will observe the Friendship on August 7, 2011.


Earlier, on April 27, 2011, the General Assembly of the United Nation declared July 30th as official International Friendship Day.


The custom of celebrating Friendship Day is getting popularized by the frequent use of mobile phones and Internet. The custom of sending Friendship SMS, and Friendship messages, Friendship Quotes, Friendship scraps and Friendship greetings are getting popular vial cellphones and social networking websites.


The idea of a World Friendship Day was first proposed on July 20, 1958 by Dr. Artemio Bracho during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay.


Here are few Friendship day SMS for the Samaylive readers:

A single candle can illuminate an entire room. A true friend lights up an entire lifetime. Thanks for the bright lights of ur friendship.

A friend is sweet when it is new. And it is sweeter when it is true. But you know what? It is sweetest when it is u.

A coin is easy to earn, a friend is hard to find. The coin depreciates but a friend appreciates. I lost a coin when I smsed u, but it's okay because I got u.

If you open my heart, guess what u r gonna see? It's U. True friends are hard to find so I kept u.

What is a friend? She looks out 4 u, inspires u, laughs with u, cries with u, understands u, guides u and walks with u. That's what a friend is... u.


How long shall v b friends? Do u want a clue? As long as stars twinkle in the sky, till the water runs dry & till the day I die. We will b friends.

When ur down, I'll be there to cheer u up. When ur tired, I'll be there to lift u up. I'll be ur friend no matter what!

Time & distance are important between friends. When a friend is in ur heart, they remain there forever. I may be busy, but I assure u, u are always in my heart!


Do u ever recall the first day we met? R first hello? The day we became friends? Well, I do and I will always remember. For that very day, I knew I'd cherish u.

Some friends are remembered because of their smile. Some friends are remembered because of their style. But u are remembered because u r so nice to remember. Take care.


I admit I'll never be the perfect friend. I'll never be there always. I may not make u smile at times but there is one thing I admit I could do. To be the person I could be for u.

Thank you for touching my life in ways u may never know. My riches do not lie in material wealth but in having friends like u - a precious gift from God!


I believe in angels, the kind that heaven sends. I'm surrounded by angels but I call them my best friends.

If U need a friend and there are a hundred steps between us, u can take the 1st step to get near me and i will take all 99 step to be there for u.


A true friend is one who overlooks ur failures and tolerates ur successes.

Life without friendship is like the sky without sun.

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver the other gold.

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TSA

Apparently we are not the only ones who are getting a little tired of all those YouTube videos of shirtless kids in airports screaming during TSA pat-downs. The agency recognizes that this doesn't look too good and is really pissing people off, so starting in August the TSA is going to use a radical new screening method based on the Israel system of pinpointing terrorists. And if there's anything we know about Israel, it's that they are the bad-ass experts at snuffing out suicide-bombing lunatics. Don't mess with Israel. They are like The Fonz of the Middle East.
I hope you are ready for this because if you thought going through Customs was a pain in the ass now, get ready for it to be even more awkward, uncomfortable, and intrusive. When you go to the airport this week be prepared for the TSA agents to ...
... talk to you some more.

Yup, it's going to be even worse than being on a play date with a parent you can't stand. Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole announced this week that actually having a convo with parents to try to figure out why the kid keeps setting off the detector may work just as well as putting the tyke through a strip search. Now that's a brainstorm! Best of all, it will cost all of us taxpayers less than all that fancy technology that takes pictures of you naked and reads your mind or whatever.
So the upside: Your kid may not be publicly humiliated so much. Airports are already staffed with a number of "behavioral detection officers," who are already watching you as you stand there in line, trying to assess whether you look nervous because you are not sure if the bottle of Suave shampoo in your carry-on breaks any liquids size rules, or if it's because you are a maniac plotting world destruction.
The downside: You may get racially profiled. Sorry, this is just the way it goes, Israel admits that, too. So while we may not see as many screaming kids or outraged breastfeeders, get  ready for a whole new crop of controversial videos that is sure to keep the hating on the TSA party going for many, many years to come.

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Guyana

Flight 523 from New York had just touched down and passengers were applauding the pilot's landing in the South American country Saturday when something suddenly went wrong.
The Boeing 737-800 slid off the end of a rainy runway, crashed through a chain-link fence and broke in half just short of a deep ravine. Yet all 163 people on board survived.
Officials were starting to probe the cause of the crash even as they marveled at the lack of fatalities.
"We must be the luckiest country and luckiest set of people in the world to escape so lightly," said Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, who said more than 30 people were taken to the hospital. Only three had to be admitted for a broken leg, bumps, cuts and bruises.
The Caribbean Airlines plane had left John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday evening and made a stop in Trinidad before landing in Guyana. The airline said it was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members.
Geeta Ramsingh, 41, of Philadelphia, recalled how applause at the arrival quickly "turned to screams."
"The plane sped up as if attempting to take off again. It is then that I smelled gas in the cabin and people started to shout and holler," she said.

When the plane crumpled to a stop, Ramsingh said she hopped onto the wing and then onto the dirt road outside the runway fence.
The plane came to rest off the end of the 7,400-foot runway at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, which sits on a ridge in a forested region just south of the oceanfront capital of Georgetown.
The plane stopped a little short of a 200-foot ravine that could have resulted in dozens of fatalities, said President Bharrat Jagdeo.
"We are very, very grateful that more people were not injured," said Jagdeo, who came to the crash site before dawn.
George Nicholas, Caribbean Airlines chairman, told reporters that officials with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board are scheduled to arrive today to take over the investigation. He said investigators from Guyana and Trinidad, the airline's base, will help.

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Princess Anne

Standing on the battlefield at Culloden some years ago, my companion considered the dreich, dreary moor and said: "Thank God we lost." This is heresy in the Highlands, so I glanced up sharply as he went on: "If Charlie had won, we'd all be Catholics." It's fair to say that monarchy inScotland, if it is considered at all, remains wrapped up in some ancient prejudices.
It is remarkable how little Scots obsess on the reigning family when compared with our neighbours in the Union. The Royals visit in the summer, but unless you live in Deeside you wouldn't know. There is a summer garden party at Holyrood, invitations to which are referred to ironically (but with secret pride). The Royal Yacht, where Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall had a pre-nuptial swally, is parked in Leith Docks, gawked over by tourists and the occasional Scot wanting to see where Princess Diana lost her virginity. Lèse majesté is a national pastime.
The reasons go back a long way. Our king, James VI, became James I of England in the 1603 union of the crowns. When his Stuart line was thrown out by William of Orange, the incomer was welcomed by many Scots. But William never visited, nor did his successor Queen Anne, who saw through the union of parliaments in 1707.

In fact, no monarch dropped by until George IV in 1822. This is telling, because with his arrival we perked up, naming every square and bridge we could after him. Our previous disdain clearly masked a hankering. For similar reasons, Scotland was fond of Victoria; it's said that on the train north she would draw her blinds to block out the blighted English north, opening them only when she was over the border. Oh yes, we liked that. But she was still a bit up herself – she wanted a statue on Arthur's Seat – so rumours flourished, culminating in Mrs Brown, a film about how it was the rough love of a ghillie that got her over the death of Albert.
The Queen Mother was certainly discussed, because she was from the county of Angus. But the main question was whether she had been subject to a child-swap, and was actually the daughter of a village woman, so was a "wee bauchle fae Kirriemuir." And the Queen? The usual apathetic respect, except from the Archers, a group of elderly men who dress as Robin Hood, act as her bodyguard, and who between them own 103% of the land. The Duke of Edinburgh? Please! Prince Charles? Little interest, even if his talking to flowers mirrors the title of one of Scotland's most famous poems, Hugh MacDiarmid's A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle.
The small warm glint in the Scottish demeanour is saved for Princess Anne. The hardest-working royal is often in Scotland and, for a time, she was thought to be about to become 'Princess Lyon', a sort of Queen of Scots. Barely a rugby game passes without her supporting Scotland from the stands. Her connection – despite racy rumours – is due to her son Peter playing for the Scotland under-18s while at Gordonstoun public school.
This loyalty has been noted, and that affection will transfer to Zara with her decision to get married in the Canongate Kirk, that holds the remains of Adam Smith. Such things aren't quickly forgotten. One could argue that Anne's family appeals to Scots because they are (for royalty) down to earth. That might be true, but the truth is that we like them when they like us. Which is why, even in the full pomp of his power, first minister Alex Salmond isn't ready to try to ditch the monarchy yet.

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Syria

Over 124 people were killed Sunday in a fresh government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters across Syria, activists said.
At least 97 people were killed when the Syrian army stormed the flashpoint central city of Hama, activists told the German Press Agency.
"Hama is used to massacres by the Assad family, but we tell this tyrant the more you kill us the more we are determined to oust you," the activist, who requested anonymity, told the German Press Agency by phone.
In 1982, a government crackdown caused the deaths of up to 20,000 people in the city, when the town's Sunni population attempted to revolt against then president Hafez Assad's minority Alawite sect.
On Sunday, tanks stormed the city at dawn, shelling different neighborhoods. Electricity and water supplies to the main areas were cut before the attack began, said Omar Idlibi, a Syrian activist based in Lebanon.
Troops surrounded one of the major hospitals to prevent the wounded from reaching it. Over 100 people were injured in the attacks.
Activists also said that four buses filled with security forces personnel arrived at the Southern entrance of Hama, located around 200 kilometers north of Damascus.

Activists believe that Sunday's attacks are decisive in their battle against the regime.
"The harsh crackdown is a means of telling protesters even if Ramadan starts we will keep killing you if you go out to the streets," Idlibi said. "But we tell them we will continue and won't stop no matter what means you use on us."
Activists wrote on the Syria Revolution page online that "if this campaign fails to achieve its goal, it will mark the beginning of the end for the regime."
On Friday, protesters vowed that pro-democracy protests would be held every night in the fasting month of Ramadan and continue until dawn.
Local human rights advocates say that more than 1,500 civilians have been killed since protests calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad began in mid-March. Over 350 security personnel have also been killed.
In the southern Harak town, in Daraa province, several including a three-year-old girl were killed after security forces stormed the town.
Tanks have surrounded Harak and black smoke was covering the city and no one can reach the town as all roads are blocked, an activist in the provincial capital Daraa said.
"I just want to address the Arab world and tell them their silence is killing the Syrian people, this regime has no mercy," the activist said.
In the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, at least six people were killed when tanks stormed al-Joura district early Sunday, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said. Some 50 people were injured.
Syrian troops were also advancing elsewhere in the country, as tanks entered the Damascus suburb of Moadamiyya, where over 200 people have been arrested in recent days, regional media reported.
Meanwhile State-run agency SANA praised the Syrian Arab army on the occasion of the August 1 national day, saying it "represents an honorable and brilliant image of the military institution ... through its valor in providing security and stability for all citizens."
It continued the government line of blaming terrorist groups for the unrest, saying the army was confronting "criminal acts of armed terrorist groups who terrified the people, killed innocents and sabotaged private and public property.

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Jaipur

Jaipur

A team of Vastrapur police was sent to Jaipur in connection with investigation of the Vikram Rabari case. The investigators want to know whom Rabari met and where he spent the days before he was nabbed by police from a government hospital in Jaipur earlier this month. Rabari had tried to commit suicide allegedly because of 'harassment' by police.

"We have seized Rabari's mobile phones for further analysis. We are also verifying the documents found from his office and residence, and trying to get clues for further investigation. We are yet to find out the number of debtors who had got loans from Rabari or his associates. Search is on for the two suspects who helped Rabari flee from the city," said a Vastrapur police official.

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Friendship Day

On the first International Day of Friendship, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Sunday urged the global community to work together to build a peaceful, more prosperous world, where old friendships flourish and new ones are made.“Friendship harmony tolerance mutual respect and mutual concern, these concepts are part of the Organization’s [United Nations] very fibre” said Ban. “They inform our activities, from peacekeeping and defending human rights to our collective efforts to achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“And they are now the focus of the International Day of Friendship, a new observance established by the General Assembly in a resolution that highlights the potential of friendship to ‘build bridges’ and ‘ inspire peace efforts’,” he said.
Ban recalled that the UN Charter proclaims that one of the purposes of the UN is to develop friendly relations among nations, words that also appear in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The constitution of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), he added, also stressed the need for peace based not only on the political and economic arrangements of Governments, but on the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.
The Secretary-General said individual friendships brought humans face
to face with diversity and different points of view, as well as joy and support,notwithstanding the tests that can encumber even the best of relationships.
“The same pillars that support sturdy personal friendships  trust, respect, mutually beneficial decision-making also have an important place in the community of nations,” he said.
He quoted the late Woodrow Wilson, a former President of the United States, who once said: “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.

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