INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

Hangout GupShup Cafe
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Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

:hmmm:
well said
99 pc correct i guess

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Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

My intention never was to suggest you don't post. I just thought it would a lot more streamlined setting for you, that's all.

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Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

**THE LADY OF SUBSTANCE

“MADHURI DIXIT”

(As I see her when she would receive Padma Shri…soon)**

The work of photo-shop which took 5 minutes!

Do you mind if your hubby interferes ...
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Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

INFOTAINMENT!
°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸°º

ON ANIMALS....
I BET YOU HAD NO IDEA....that:
Antlers and horns are not the same. Horns grow
throughout an animal's life and are found on both the
male and female of a species. Antlers, composed of a
different chemical substance, are shed every year.
AND that :
Arabian horses have one less vertebra in their backbones
than other horses.
AND that:
Male monkeys lose the hair on their heads in the same manner men do.
AND that:
It is the female lion who does more than 90 percent of
the hunting while the male is afraid to risk his life, or
simply prefers to rest.
AND that:
The giraffe's heart is huge; it weighs twenty-five
pounds, is two feet long, and has walls up to
three inches thick.
AND that:
Ancient Egyptians believed that "Bast" was the mother
of all cats on Earth. They also believed that cats
were sacred animals.

How were the "Hush Puppies" named?
For those not versed in the culture of the American South, hush
puppies are fried, puffed up cornmeal batter, often served with
fried fish, a regional treat that may not survive the onslaught
of national fast food chains.
In the most popular etymological explanation, the connection of
the dish to clamorous canines is direct. It’s said that hunters
would silence the howling of their hounds by feeding them this
food.
That’s the polite version, now you’re going to hear it down and
dirty. This version acknowledges a central theme in much of
post-Civil War Southern history: poverty. Poor people often
have to fill their gut from the bottom of the barrel. In this
region, some people ate salamanders (never mind “yech,” they
certainly were cheap). The reptiles were known as “water
dogs.” Nobody wanted it known that they were reduced to this
level. Hence the “hush.”

WHICH ARE THE RULING FAMILIES OF GULF STATES?
1. Saudi Arabia : Al-Saud ( or Ibne Aziz ).
2. Kuwait : Al-Sabah.
3. Qatar : Al-Thani.
4. SO Oman : Al-Qaboos
5. Bahrain : Al-Khalifa
6. UAE : ( A confederation of 7 emirates since Dec-1971 )
a) Abu Dhabi : Al-Nahyyan
b) Dubai : Al-Maktoom.
c) Sharjah : Al-Qasimi.
d) Ajman : Al-Nuaimi..
e) Fujeirah : Al-Sharqi.
f) Rasalkhaima : Al-Qasimi.
g) Ummulquwain: Al-Qasimi
The richest of the 7 is Abudhabi followed by Dubai & Rasalkhaima
while the poorest, comparatively, is Sharjah followed by Ajman &
Fujeirah. The President of UAE is Sh. Zayed, the PM is Sh. Maktoom,
while all the emirates have their Rulers and heir apparent' separately.
100% of credit on where UAE stands today is attributed to the magnificant
Administration and Management and Financial resources of Sh. Zayed.
ABUDHABI is the mini-manhattan of the Gulf. It's beauty and splendor is
is it's palatial buildings, gardens, plazas, shopping malls and the hospitality it extends to the expartriates. DUBAI on the other hand is more extravagant to "party" time and fun-n-frolic with a visible encouragement to a lot of things a businessmen or mini-screen world artists would desire. Strangely...the TV wallas have been away from exploring the beauty of ABUDHABI EMIRATE spanning from Abudhabi to Alain bordering with Oman ! ]

KHALIDA RIASAT.....
(she came, she saw, she conquered and suddenly left ! )
Khalida Riasat was one of the most accomplished artiste of PTV. She
made her debut in Bakhtiar Ahmed's production of Asghar Butt's
( A COLOMBO type mystery series ) "NAAMDAAR" for PTV-
Karachi Centre in 1974. She was a stock artist alongside Shakil and Myself. Thereafter it was no looking back for her and very soon she conquered the PTV serials, long plays and series.
In a Lahore TV play "TYPIST" she introduced a different culture which became very popular amongst typists.
Her best was a long play ( SABA AUR SAMANDAR ) with Lady Butt and
Usman Peerzada for Lahore Centre. She got the PTV Best Actress Award for her excellent performance in "WADI-E-PURKHAAR".
Her style and a different manner of delivering dialogue in Bano Qudsia's "DO KINARAY" was par excellence.
Always a chirpy and ever smiling lady, Khalida was a totally lively person by all count. Her acting was so down to earth that during a long play at KTV she literally cried in the scene requiring her to do so.
Khalida's elder sister Ayesha Khan is also into TV acting and has done well in many serials and long plays. Her best is AFSHAAN of Bajya as Shafi Muhammad's sister.
Khalida's eldest sister Tahira Chaudhry is an educationist. Having lived in Canada, Tahira is now back in Pakistan---based at Karachi.
Khalida was a dear dear friend of mine. We did not meet for over three years but **just about four months ( in May-96 ) before her death ( of cancer ) I met her at AKU Hospital where I asked her the reason of being there...she chirped
"Buss Bhai Chotti Motti Bimaree Paalnay Ki Aadat Si Hogayee Hai"...
I knew there was something seismic she was going through...but she was as chirpy as ever. May Allah Bless Her JANNAT Karwat Karwat ( A'meen ).**

OK, SO WHERE WAS NAPOLEON BORN?
Not in France. He was born on the Mediterranean
island of Corsica of Italian parents.

TOTAA KAHANI : Madness in parrots.
When caged by themselves and
neglected for long periods of time, these intelligent,
sociable birds can easily become mentally ill. Many inflict
wounds upon themselves, develop strange tics, and rip out
their own feathers. The birds need constant interaction, affection,
and mental stimulation; some bird authorities have determined that
some parrot breeds have the mental abilities of a 5-year-old human
child. Should a neglected parrot go mad, there is little that can be
done to restore it to normalcy. In England, there are "mental institutions"
for such unfortunate creatures.

WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE GAMES GIN AND CANASTA?
Both are descended from an ancient Chinese game,
mah-jongg, which is more than a thousand years old.
WHAT DO NERO THE ROMAN EMPEROR AND
HENRY VIII OF ENGLAND HAVE IN COMMON?
Both began as good rulers and ended up as tyrants.
Both also had a philosopher killed--Nero compelling
Seneca to commit suicide and Henry having Thomas Moore
beheaded.

WHO INVENTED THE FORM OF THE DETECTIVE
STORY IN ENGLISH?
Edgar Allen Poe.

HOW MANY GOWNS DID QUEEN ELIZABETH I OF
ENGLAND OWN?
Over 3,000.

Why do we call someone who looks down
on others a snob?
The origin of the word snob to describe such miscreants is a
mater of some dispute among etymologists, some of whom are
prone to stiff necks. There are those who simply say, “Who
knows?” Others say they know, tracing it to medieval English
universities, where family mattered. Entering freshman who
were not from the nobility had to register as “sine nobilitate,”
meaning that their dad was a nobody. Before long that phrase
got abbreviated as “s. nob.” And I bet you can guess what word
that became.
Snooty, by the way, comes from snoot, slang for one’s nose,
down which one tends to look if one is a snob.

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE (WORLDWIDE)
BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH?
30% ( majority of Hindus )

WOMEN WHO SNORE ARE FACED WITH
WHAT HEALTH RISK?
A study by researcher Frank Hu and the Harvard School of Public
Health found that women who snore are at an increased risk of high
blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
How does body hair know it's been cut and grow back?
Hair doesn't know it's been cut, and being dead tissue, doesn't much
care. The fact is that body hair will grow if you cut it, and it will grow if
you don't cut it--it is, in short, always growing (or at least, at any given
time, a substantial portion of it is.) You just don't realize it.

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF MARRIED COUPLES AGREE
ON POLITICAL ISSUES ( WORLDWIDE )?
Only about 59%

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE ADMIT TO SNOOPING IN
OTHER PEOPLE'S MEDICINE CABINETS?
39% of people.

WHAT TYPE OF FISH HAS GREEN BONES?
The Garfish.

WHAT'S THE ONLY PRIME NUMBER THAT IS
AN EVEN NUMBER?
2.

WHICH OIL COMPANY ANNOUNCED A MERGER WITH
EXXON IN DECEMBER 1998?
Mobil.

WHO TURNED DOWN THE ROLE OF 'SABRINA'
ON PTV-K SERIAL 'KASAK' OF HASINA MOIN (1993)?
Saira Kazmi

WHICH FIRST LADY (USA) WAS THE FIRST EVER TO WEAR
A RED INAUGURAL BALL GOWN?
Laura Bush.

STATISTICALLY, WHO ARE MORE PRONE TO
SHOPLIFT IN USA & U.K, MEN OR WOMEN?
Women.

WHICH U.S. STATE CLAIMS CHILI AS ITS
OFFICIAL DISH?
Texas.
( Then our KHEWRA should claim SALT! )

WHICH US STATE HAS NO STRAIGHT-LINE
BOUNDARIES?
Hawaii.

HOW MANY CRATES DID IT TAKE TO TRANSPORT THE
STATUE OF LIBERTY FROM FRANCE TO THE US?
214.

WHO SWEARS IN NEW SENATORS IN PAKISTAN?
The President.

WHICH KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE FELL IN LOVE
WITH QUEEN GUINEVERE?
Sir Lancelot.

WHO PROVIDED THE VOICE OVER FOR "OLIVE OYL"
IN FAMOUS CARTOON FEATURE "POPEYE"?
Mae Questel, provided the voices of both; Betty Boop and Olive Oyl?

Who performed the first blood transfusion, and when?
In 17th century England, doctors transfused blood from sheep
to humans. Several people died in the process, and finally the
government said, “baa” to all of that and ended the practice.
In the early 19th century, Dr. James Blundell, appalled by the
death rate for women in childbirth, particularly from
hemorrhaging, began to experiment in England with
transfusions of blood in dogs. Encouraged by the results, he
performed what appears to be the first transfusion of whole
blood from one human to another in 1818. Blundell established
the importance of keeping air out of the blood, and of keeping
a steady flow of blood. But transfusion remained relatively rare
until the discovery of blood types at the beginning of the 20th
century, and anti-coagulants a decade later.
Transfusions should never be confused with the process of
bleeding patients, which barbers did for centuries and HMO’s
continue to do today.
Despite their immense strength, lions do not have an easy life in the wild.
They suffer from parasites and disease, they get injured or even killed while hunting or fighting with each other, and they may starve when food is scarce.
**
**How many cubs die before they are 1 year old?
About two-thirds of all cubs die before they are 1 year old.
Adult males are usually old and battered by age 10, if they
survive that long, and they rarely live longer than 12 years.
Females may live longer, up to 16 years, and some are still breeding
at 15. In zoos, where they receive veterinary care and plenty of food—
and are not allowed to fight—lions can live as long as 25 years.
Fossils of elephant ancestors indicate they once lived
on what continents?
Fossils of elephant ancestors indicate they once lived on every continent
except Australia and Antarctica, but elephant habitat today is restricted to
Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. Elephants occupy an array of environments
in Africa and Southeast Asia—grasslands, marshes, forests, deserts, and mountains.
They are herbivores, or plant eaters, and need great quantities of food to sustain their
massive size. They also need a lot of drinking water and so are restricted to areas with
ample vegetation and adequate water.
The hippopotamus is semiaquatic. Which is NOT a trait of the hippo?
Sleeps underwater
The hippopotamus is semiaquatic, spending most of the day with only its eyes, ears,
and nostrils above the surface of a river, and it is capable of remaining underwater for
as long as 25 minutes, though it usually does so only for 3-5 minutes at a time. During
the day it feeds on aquatic vegetation and often swims more than 19 miles in search of
food, emerging at night to feed on land plants.
The tallest of all animals, the giraffe has an extremely long and muscular neck.
**
Most mammals have seven neck vertebrae. **
**How many does the giraffe have?
7. The giraffe, like most mammals, has only seven neck vertebrae, which are greatly elongated to support its extremely long and muscular neck. Due to the great distance between the animal’s heart and head, its vascular system is equipped with valves
so that sufficient blood reaches the brain.**
Why are diesel engines prefered for locomotives, freight trucks
and heavy machinery?
Deisel engines have better thermal efficiency then gasoline engines.

WHAT DO THE METEOROLOGISTS SAY ABOUT SEVERITY OF
WINTERS IN LAHORE? ( ON THE LIGHTER SIDE ! )
Meteorologists have finally figured out why Lahore, is so hard hit during the winter. It's because the city is at the precise point where all the cold air coming down from Murree meets all the hot air coming up from Islamabad.

Dead Letter Department:
Those direct marketing people really dig hard to find potential
customers. They even solicit new business from the dead.
According to a recent survey, 17 million American households
received at least one solicitation in the past six months
directed at a former member, now deceased.
I’d like to see the sales figures on those solicitations.

DID YOU KNOW....that ?

According to a survey, an estimated 50.5 million
people (worldwide) believe they have been defrauded into
buying something over the phone. A sub-committee has
estimated that while telemarketing fraud costs consumers
more than $150 billion a year, only about one in 100,000
victims reports the problem to authorities.

The first computer mouse was made of wood?

Ancient Egyptians believed the heart was the center of
intelligence and emotion. They also thought so little of the brain
that during mummification, they removed the brain entirely from bodies.

Bermuda shorts did not originate in Bermuda?
More…next week!

***RAJU*
**

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Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

Somehow—I take this article to be representing MY professional (banking career) life which started from Habib Bank in 1970.................... (Raju)

Wonderful piece….

I Never Write Right
By Linda Stafford

When I was 15, I announced to my English class that I was going to
write and illustrate my own books. Half the students sneered; the
rest nearly fell out of their chairs laughing.

"Don't be silly. Only geniuses can become writers," the English
teacher said smugly. "And you are getting a D this semester."

I was so humiliated I burst into tears. That night I wrote a short,
sad poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the Capper's Weekly
newspaper. To my astonishment they published it, and sent me two
dollars. I was a published and paid writer! I showed my teacher and
fellow students. They laughed.

Stormie Omartian on how to strengthen your marriage
"Just plain dumb luck," the teacher said.

I'd tasted success. I'd sold the first thing I'd ever written. That
was more than any of them had done, and if it was "just dumb luck,"
that was fine with me.

During the next two years I sold dozens of poems, letters, jokes and
recipes. By the time I graduated from high school (with a C-minus
average), I had scrapbooks filled with my published work. I never
mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They
were dream killers, and if people must choose between their friends
and their dreams, they must always choose their dreams.

But sometimes you do find a friend who supports your dreams. "It's
easy to write a book," that new friend told me. "You can do it."
"I don't know if I'm smart enough," I said, suddenly feeling 15 again
and hearing echoes of laughter.
"Nonsense!" she said. "Anyone can write a book if they want to."

I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. We
lived on a goat farm in Oklahoma, miles from anyone. All I had to do
each day was take care of four kids, milk goats, and do the cooking,
laundry and gardening. No problem.

While the children napped, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote
what I felt. It took nine months, just like a baby.

I chose a publisher at random and put the manuscript in an empty
Pampers diapers package, the only box I could find (I'd never heard of
manuscript boxes). The letter I enclosed read: "I wrote this book
myself, I hope you like it. I also drew the illustrations. Chapters
6 and 12 are my favorites. Thank you."

I tied a string around the diaper box and mailed it without a
self-addressed stamped envelope, and without making a copy of the
manuscript. A month later I received a contract, an advance on
royalties and a request to start working on another book.

Crying Wind became a bestseller, was translated into 15 languages and
Braille, and sold worldwide. I appeared on TV talk shows during the
day and changed diapers at night. I traveled from New York to
California and Canada on promotional tours. My first book also became
required reading in Native American schools in Canada.

It took six months to write my next book. I mailed it in an empty
Uncle Wiggley game box (I still hadn't heard of manuscript boxes). My
Searching Heart also became a bestseller. I wrote my next novel, ***When

***I Give My Heart, in only three weeks.

The worst year I ever had as a writer, I earned two dollars (I was 15,
remember?). In my best year, I earned $36,000. Most years I earn
between $5,000 and $10,000. No, it isn't enough to live on, but it's
still more than I'd make working part-time, and it's $5,000 to $10,000
more than I'd make if I didn't write at all.

People ask what college I attended, what degrees I have, and what
qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is none. I just
write. I'm not a genius, I'm not gifted and I don't write right. I'm
lazy, undisciplined, and spend more time with my children and friends
than I do writing.

I didn't own a thesaurus until four years ago and I use a small
Webster's dictionary that I bought at Kmart for 89 cents. I use an
electric typewriter that I paid $129 for six years ago. I've never
used a word processor. I do all the cooking, cleaning and laundry for
a family of six and fit my writing in a few minutes here and there. I
write everything in longhand on yellow tablets while sitting on the
sofa with my four kids, eating pizza and watching TV. When the book
is finished, I type it and mail it to the publisher.

I've written eight books. Four have been published, and three are
still out with the publishers. One stinks.

To all those who dream of writing, I'm shouting at you, "Yes, you can!
Yes, you can! Don't listen to them!" I don't write right, but I've
beaten the odds. Writing is easy, it's fun, and anyone can do it. Of
course, a little dumb luck doesn't hurt.

Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Maida Rogerson, Martin Rutte and Tim Clauss.

***Enjoyed Today's Story?

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Re: INTERESTING LIVES and INTERESTING FACTS

Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655)

.........was a French dramatist and duellist born in Paris, who is now best remembered for the many works of fiction which have been woven around his life story, most notably the play by Edmond Rostand that bears his name.
In those fictional works he is featured with an overly large nose. Portraits suggest that he did have a big nose, though not nearly as large as described in Rostand's play.

Life and works
Cyrano was born into an old Parisian family and spent much of his childhood in Saint-Forget (now Yvelines). He went to school in Paris and spent his adult life there when he was not on campaign. He was not, therefore, a Gascon, but many of his fellow-soldiers would have been. The myth of his Gascon origins may even have been cultivated by him during his lifetime, since the swashbuckling manner of the Gascon soldiers was much admired in his day. The real Cyrano de Bergerac had little in common with the hero of the Rostand play.

Though not as famous as classical writers of this time, Cyrano de Bergerac was a successful writer. Even Molière borrowed a scene from Cyrano's work Le Pédant Joué. Cyrano's most prominent work is now published under the title 'Other Worlds', a collection of stories describing his fictional journeys to the Moon and Sun. The methods of space travel he describes are inventive and often ingenious, detailing ideas often broadly original and sometimes rooted in science. Cyrano rests alongside such minds as Kepler and Jules Verne under the genre of 'scientific travel fiction'. It should be noted, however, that Cyrano's primary purpose in writing these novels was to subtly criticize man's egocentric view of his place in creation, as well as the social injustices of the 17th century.

In his time, de Bergerac was a popular poet; in addition, he was a fine swordsman, as depicted, and though his abilities were exaggerated by Rostand, he fought many duels to defend his honour.

There has been considerable speculation about his sexuality among historians and other scholars. It is believed that around 1640 he became the lover of Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy, another writer and musician. But around 1653, they became engaged in a bitter rivalry. This led to Bergerac sending d'Assoucy death threats that compelled him to leave Paris. The feud extended to a series of satirical texts by both men. Bergerac wrote Contre Soucidas (an anagram of his enemy's name) and Contre un ingrat ("Against an Ingrate"), while D’Assoucy counterattacked with Le Combat de Cyrano de Bergerac avec le singe de Brioché au bout du Pont-Neuf ("The Battle of Cyrano de Bergerac with Brioché's Monkey on the Pont-Neuf").

Like the Roxane who appears in the Rostand play, the real Roxane was Cyrano's cousin, Mme. de Neuvillette, who lived with his aunt Catherine de Cyrano at the Convent of the Daughter of the Cross, where he was tended for wounds sustained from a falling beam.
[1] As in the play, he did fight at the siege of Arras, which should not be confused with the more famous final Battle of Arras (1654). One of his confreres in the battle was the historical Baron of Neuvillette, who was married to Cyrano's cousin. However, the play's plotline involving Roxane and Christian is almost entirely fictional - the real Cyrano did not write the Baron's love letters for him.

Cyrano was a freethinker and a pupil of Pierre Gassendi, a Canon of the Catholic Church who tried to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity. Cyrano's insistence on reason was rare in his time, and he would have been much at home in the Enlightenment that came a century after his death.

He died in Sannois in 1655, at the age of 36.

**In fiction, film, theater, and opera;
**In 1897, the French poet Edmond Rostand published a play, Cyrano de Bergerac, on the subject of Cyrano's life. This play, by far Rostand's most successful work, concentrates on Cyrano's love for the beautiful Roxane, whom he is obliged to woo on behalf of a more conventionally handsome but less articulate friend, Christian de Neuvillette. The play has been adapted for cinema several times, most recently as Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu in the title role. The most famous film version in English of Cyrano de Bergerac is the 1950 film, with José Ferrer in the title role, a performance for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Ferrer reprised the role in the 1960 French film Cyrano et d'Artagnan, directed by Abel Gance, opposite Jean-Pierre Cassel as D'Artagnan.

Much later, Cassel made a cameo appearance as Cyrano de Bergerac in The Return of the Musketeers : the character was depicted as fiftysomething (in contradiction wih the real Cyrano's biography) and attempting to travel to the Moon with the aid of a balloon.

Other film interpretations include Roxanne, starring Steve Martin and the romantic comedy "The Truth About Cats & Dogs".

The character has also inspired a notable song by the famous Italian performer Francesco Guccini, "Cyrano", where it epitomizes the refusal for hypocrisy and servitude to conventions and superficialities of modern show-business and political society. A fictionalized version of Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac is one of the main characters in Philip José Farmer's Riverworld novels. The play has also been rewritten by Geraldine McCaughrean. Her book entitled 'Cyrano' has been longlisted for the Carnegie Award 2007. Robert Heinleins Glory Road features a cameo appearance by him (unnamed, but recognizable).

A new opera of the play, CYRANO by David DiChiera is being produced by Michigan Opera Theater.

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**Greatwall of China
**_____________
**Ming village fortress
June 11th, 2007 **
**The tunpu (village fortress) in Anshun, Guizhou, was built in the Ming Dynasty for military use. **
**Today, it retains its original style and pace of life. **

History
Originally constructed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as fortresses, tunpus, echo a certain military function.
When the first Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, came to power, the army and locals in Anshun constructed villages as military sites. Each village included forts, sentries and toll gates.
In those days, soldiers spent most of their days working as farmers. It was only in times of war that they were called to unify and repel an enemy. People living in the tunpus were forbidden to marry people of other ancestries. Even after the passage of hundreds of years, residents of the tunpu retain their traditional Ming lifestyles, clothing and hair styles.

**Main tunpu
Tianlong tunpu
The most popular destination for tunpu tourists in Anshun is Tianlong tunpu. Since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Tianlong has been the tunpu with the most armies and post houses. **
**A Ming-style teahouse is located at the entrance of the village. Waitresses there dress in Fengyang Han clothes, a style of clothing which originated in the Ming period, and is named after Zhu Yuanzhang’s hometown, Fengyang County, Anhui. A performance hall is lcated behind the teahouse. Visitors can see local performances there. **
**Entering the lanes of the village, you will see barracks. Jiudaokan Lane is typical of the village, because it crosses through a narrow, low gate porch with fire holes along the walls. **
**The mountains around the Tianlong tunpu are almost an archive of historical buildings. Ancient ramparts and the castle-style Wulong Temple are all national cultural relics. A Ming-era factory where soldiers produced weapons is in the rear of the mountain. Beacon towers, battlements and sentry posts dot the landscape. **

**Yunfeng Tunpu
Yunfeng tunpu is the most complete military defense post, built with stone gates and towers.
Yunshan tun is one of the spots. It is located in the canyons of the Yunjiu Mountain. The only way into the village is a twisting, stony stairway. Long walls were built besides the gate to connect it into the cliffs of the mountain.
A stony main street crosses the village from east to west. There are drama stages, a temple to the God of Wealth, ancestral temples and traditional Chinese medicine stores.
Residences and blockhouses are connected by twisting lanes and built into the mountain. The tunpu is built to be an ironclad defense.
**
Great dining enjoyments in Qingdao
**Qingdao, a coastal city on the Yellow Sea on East China’s Shandong Peninsula, is famous worldwide for its famed Tsingtao Beer, but another constant delight of locals and a beautiful memory for tourists is the city’s excellent seafood cuisine.
Seafood choices abound in Qingdao, and its residents’ cooking skills have been highly regarded for centuries. Trepang, abalone, sea snails, clams, oysters, squid, shrimp and crab dishes are common choices whether at a seaside snack bar, in one of the city’s many excellent “ordinary” restaurants or fine dining at a luxury hotel. Clams are a local favourite, and many people like to cook at home. Clams can accompany cold dishes, be served in a hot soup, or prepared as spicy fried dishes. Delicious and nutritious soups are also highly recommended. **
**Because of Qingdao’s rich seafood resources and its culinary legacy, there are special seafood fish dishes for each time of the day. Trepang is considered indispensable for local fine dining.
Some of the best places to sample the freshest seafood are found in fishing villages in the city’s mountainous Laoshan District. The seafood there is often fresh-caught, good to eat and relatively inexpensive. Summer and autumn are the best seasons to visit Laoshan. Its scenery, temples and seaside amusements make this a place for unforgettable sightseeing and dining experiences.
Another delightful place well-worth visiting is the Yunxiao Lu Food Street. Seafood there is reasonably priced and comes in a wide variety. Dumplings (jiaozi) with tasty seafood fillings are quite popular.
Newcomers to the area and its cuisine, however, should take special care of their stomachs. Often, an appetite is easily satisfied, but such pleasures can come at a price; the stomach sometimes suffers. Since vinegar can help protect the stomach and make the seafood more delicious, remember not eat too much at once, and ask for some vinegar and vegetables with your meals. Try especially pucai, a vegetable grown in ponds. Pucai is crisp and nutritious, and it is treasured by local residents.
But, since Qingdao is an exceptionally diverse city, because of its unique history and culinary history, if you get bored with seafood, there are many other treats available. On May 1¨C7 each year snacks from home and abroad are featured for tasting on Qingdao’s Huiquan Square; the 2007 instalment will be part of the Eighth China Food Festival. Chefs from more than 20 countries will show off their best dishes, and lectures on healthy dining will be given by experts.
Beer lovers look forward to August in this famed beer-producing city, because this is the time for the Qingdao International Beer Festival. Beer is a big part of life in Qingdao, and if you visit at other time of the year, the newly opened “Dengzhou Lu Beer Street” is ready to welcome you. The street is home to the original Tsingtao Beer Factory, established about a century ago by German residents in Qingdao. There are now about 40 beer bars and restaurants lining the nearly 1,000-metre-long street. Of special note, all the buildings on the street are in the late 19th century¨Cearly 20th century European-style. Fresh beer produced in the factory is available daily in the area’s bars, the freshest in the city. At the Tsingtao factory, the Tsingtao Beer Museum contains a detailed history of Tsingtao Beer and its production processes. Here you can sample the best in beer with others from around the world. **

**“Uncle Sam at the Great Wall”by: Han Han Vuong
January 23rd, 2007
Before 1979, foreign interest in China meant tourists pointing cameras at the Great Wall. ****Now the attraction is not the longest Great Wonder of the World, but the world’s fastest growing economy. According to Penn State doctoral graduate and Shanghai native, Aimin Yan, joint ventures and foreign investment doubled between 1992 and 1993, to reach $25.7 billion. ****“American companies, along with companies from other countries, are all scrambling to get into the Chinese market,” says Barbara Gray, a professor of organizational behavior who collaborated with Yan on a study of Chinese-American joint ventures. “We were curious about how organizations from different countries with different cultural backgrounds would collaborate, when they had different objectives and reasons for joining together.” **
**From interviews with representatives of four joint ventures, Gray and Yan developed a simple model of the dynamics of such a partnership. Like a three-piece domino chain, their model predicted that bargaining power (”what each party brings to the table,” says Gray) would forecast the level of management control (”the influence of each partner over key decisions”), which in turn would determine performance (”the degree to which each partner’s objectives are met”). Bargaining power could be any of three types (context-based, capital resource-based, or non-capital resource-based), while management control could be strategic, operational, or structural. **
**Yet when they surveyed 90 companies in the United States and their partners in China, they found, for the most part, that this domino model “was too simplistic,” says Gray. **
**For instance, although American companies usually had more context-based power (they can choose from several partners), Gray and Yan did not find that this flexibility translated into greater control. **
**On the other hand, capital resources (usually cash from the American side, land and buildings from the Chinese) determined not only operational control (meaning that everyday operations would most likely be supervised by managers from the top contributor), but also strategic control.
“Strategic control,” says Gray, “has to do with appointments to the board of directors, who make the long-term decisions for the venture. This direct relationship makes a lot of intuitive sense. If a company has to put money on the line, it would want to have direct control.” **
**Yet the third form of control — structural — was not proportional to the capital resources invested. “Structural control is the extent to which a joint venture is organized like the parent company,” says Gray. “Some American companies basically tried to take the organizational approach they have in the U.S. and replicate it in China. The problem is that people don’t necessarily motivate employees in the same way. For example, Chinese companies often provide housing for their employees. That’s not part of our reward package in the U.S., but in China it’s a very important aspect of employment.” **
**Rather than being tied to capital, structural control was connected to non-capital resource-based power — American technology or Chinese guanxi. Literally “connections,” these links to Chinese market and government heads are like the Western system of networking. “Chinese entrepreneurs,” Yan notes, “tend to trust people rather than organizations.”
In their domino model, Gray and Yan had hypothesized that the higher the level of control exerted by a partner, the more of its goals it would achieve. But their results showed that only the day-to-day operational control affects performance.
“We had thought that the company with the most membership on the board would influence what objectives were put forward. We’re coming to understand that it’s not simply control that affects performance,” says Gray.
“Factors such as whether the companies had mutual trust, whether they shared common goals in the joint venture, and whether these goals were written into the contract played a part in dictating the overal performance of the venture.” **

**Adds Yan, “It’s still a competitive relationship.”
Gray is now developing an executive program at Penn State to teach the ways of cross-cultural negotiations. “Our work has led me to rethink some research that has been around on cross-cultural negotiations. In particular, to take into account what each partner thinks the other is doing and how culture influences these perceptions.” **

WHY I’M STILL MARRIED
December 29th, 2006
In this wonderful new anthology, due out February 2006 from Hudson Street Press, Aimee tells the story of (almost) meeting her husband on the Great Wall of China.
In the spirit of the bestselling The ***** in the House, Why I’m Still Married captures the passion, loss, joy, friendship, and humor that marks lifelong commitment through a brilliant kaleidoscope of voices, such as Julia Alvarez, Susan Cheever, Elizabeth Graver, Erica Jong, Aimee Liu, Bharati Mukherjee, ZZ Packer, and Marge Piercy.
Revealing the myriad ways in which women navigate the bumpy terrain of emotional intimacy, weather arguments and separations, adjust to parenting, avoid—or succumb to—the temptation of infidelity, and decide who does the dishes, this riveting collection is at once unique and universal, and will speak to any woman who’s ever been in a long-term relationship.

From Publishers Weekly
Whether they’re on their first marriage or their fourth, each of the 24 contributors to this thought-provoking collection has terrific stories and wisdom to share, and they all do it masterfully. “Nobody is a perfect match and we have to accept that,” writes Marge Piercy, who has learned to accommodate her husband’s quirks, just as he has hers. Editor Propp’s husband expressed his annoyance—anger, actually—over differences so viciously that after five years she began fantasizing about leaving. Instead, she went to the Internet, read about verbal abuse and learned to stand up for herself. NPR reporter Maria Hinojosa says, “I stay married because this is the one person who understands how to help make me into a better person.” You might not agree with everyone’s theories—Hannah Pine defends her choice to be a mother in an open marriage—but each one deals with the real problems, and pleasures, of marriage. As editor Trounstine puts it: “[m]arriage doesn’t have the excitement of the illicit or the thrill of the daredevil. It’s more like the quiet hum of the everyday and the occasional surprise of the sunset.”

**Chinese Festival — Tomb-sweeping Day
April 5th, 2006
Today is the Tomb-sweeping Day.
A fortnight after the vernal equinox is the Tomb Sweeping Day, one of the few traditional Chinese festivals that follows the solar calendar. The Day typically falls on April 4, 5, or 6.
The Chinese name for the Day, Qing Ming, literally means “clear and bright”, implying the coming of spring.
In ancient times, people celebrated the Day with dancing and singing, picnics, and kite flying. Colored boiled eggs would be cracked to symbolize the opening of life. The Emperor would plant trees on the palace grounds to celebrate the renewing nature of spring. In villages, young men and women would court each other.
Over time, this celebration of life became a day to the honor ancestors. Ancient Chinese believed that the spirits of the deceased looked after the family during this time. Sacrifices of food and spirit money could keep them happy, and the family would prosper through good harvests and more children.
Today, Chinese visit their family graves to tend to any underbrush that has grown. Weeds are pulled, and dirt swept away, and the family will set out offerings of food and spirit money. Unlike the sacrifices at a family’s home altar, the offerings at the tomb usually consist of dry, bland food. One theory is that since any number of ghosts rome around a grave area, the less appealing food will be consumed by the ancestors, and not be plundered by strangers. **
**Honoring Ancestors
Honoring ancestors begins with proper positioning of a gravesite and coffin. Experts in feng shui, or geomancy, determine the quality of land by the surrounding aspects of streams, rivers, trees, hills, and so forth. An area that faces south, with groves of pine trees creates the best flow of cosmic energy required to keep ancestors happy. Unfortunately, nowadays, with China’s burgeoning population, public cemetaries have quickly surplanted private gravesites. Family elders will visit the gravesite at least once a year to tend to the tombs.
While bland food is placed by the tombs on Qing Ming Jie, the Chinese regularly provide scrumptious offerings to their ancestors at altar tables in their homes. The food usually consists of chicken, eggs, or other dishes a deceased ancestor was fond of. Accompanied by rice, the dishes and eating utensils are carefully arranged so as to bring good luck. Sometimes, a family will put burning incense with the offering so as to expedite the transfer of nutritious elements to the ancestors. In some parts of China, the food is then eaten by the entire family. **
Kites
Besides the traditions of honoring the dead, people also often fly kits on Tomb Sweeping Day. Kites can come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Designs could include frogs, dragonflies, butterflies, crabs, bats, and storks.
n a survey conducted by the Beijing News at a public graveyard in Beijing, 90 per cent of respondents said Tomb-sweeping Day (April 5) should become a national holiday.
Most said the day is essential for Chinese and a holiday will make it easier to sweep the tombs of loved ones.
Also, it is a good way to pass on traditions and culture. If it is a holiday, the whole family can come, including those who work, which makes for a more together family, said a woman surnamed Peng.
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Gansu to conduct detailed survey of Great Wall

March 9th, 2006
LANZHOU, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) — A comprehensive survey of the ancient remains of the Great Wall will be carried out this year in the northwestern province of Gansu, a local heritage official said.
“A detailed survey plan, including the methods, objects and scope for investigation, is being drawn up by heritage protection experts,” said Zheng Lansheng, an official with the provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.
The Great Wall was first built in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). It is generally considered to start at Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu and stretch 6,000 km to the Shanhaiguan Pass on the shores of Bohai Bay in the east.
The wall was rebuilt many times through the centuries, and many sections of it have suffered serious damage from wind and water, as well as human destruction.
Previous surveys show that a 600-km-long wall built during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC to 206 BC) is located in Gansu.
However, many parts of the remains have been undermined due to a lack of effective protection in the province.
The province has become China’s pilot for the preservation of the Great Wall.
“Besides the experts, we will also make use of aerial, telemetric and archeological technologies to get an overall and accurate report on the current conditions of the Great Wall in theprovince,” Zheng said.
The plan will be submitted to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for approval before it is carried out, he said.
Length of the Great Wall to be remeasured

March 9th, 2006
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhuanet) — China will remeasure the length of the Great Wall with the help of aeronautic remote sensing technology, according to the China Great Wall Institute.
Experts from the institute and the State Mapping Bureau will jointly carry out a program on comprehensively measuring and surveying the Great Wall.
Meanwhile, the Beijing municipal cultural relics bureau will organize a team of experts to explore current conditions and produce detailed information about the Great Wall section in Beijing.
The current recorded length of the Great Wall, which is 7,300 kilometers, is not likely to be very accurate due to the relatively backward measuring equipment and methods used in the past.
The program will not only confirm the actual length of the wonder of the world, but can also provide pictorial data of its overall layout, which is significant to the preservation of the cultural relic.
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China launches Great Wall protection project

**February 28th, 2006
China launches Great Wall protection project
2006-02-27 16:15:46
SHIJIAZHUANG, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) — China has been carrying out a ten-year project to protect the Great Wall, said Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
About 46 experts from 11 provinces, including Hebei, Gansu and Liaoning, convened at Shijiazhuang, capital of north China’s Hebei Province to discuss the project last week.
The ten-year project aims to make clear the basic information about the Great Wall, map out specific protection plans, add fundsfor Great Wall protection and repair wall damage.
The Great Wall stretches for about 6,000 km, traversing Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Liaoning.
The wall’s construction began during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), when separate sections were built in scattered strategic areas. **
**The latest finding shows the oldest Great Wall was built in the Qi State during the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC-476 BC). When Qinshihuang conquered all the other six states and became the first emperor of a unified China, he ordered his general, Meng Tian, to link the disparate parts of and extend the walls. **
**China closes down “Great Wall of Love”
**
February 28th, 2006
China closes down “Great Wall of Love”
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 05:36:26 +0100 (MET)
BEIJING, Feb 24, 2006 (AFP) - Beijing authorities have closed down a controversial project that allowed couples to carve sweet nothings on a “great wall of love” next to the genuine Great Wall, state media said Friday. The project charged couples 999 yuan (123 dollars) to inscribe a message on a stone of the marble wall, which was erected at the foot of a popular tourist section of the Great Wall near Beijing, the China Daily reported. But the fake wall, launched on Valentine’s Day, attracted widespread criticism for being a cheap marketing ploy that encouraged vandalism and showed disrespect for the historic structure. “The project … is a violation of cultural heritage protection regulations,” the paper quoted Hao Dongchen, an official at the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, as saying.
The wall of love was 88.5 metres (292 feet) wide and 7.5 metres (25 feet) high, with 9,999 marble stones. The marketing team behind the wall had hoped to raise more than a million dollars but, even before its closure, it seemed people had not fallen in love with the concept. Only four couples paid to inscribe messages, the paper reported. Less than 2,500 kilometres remain of the original 6,300-kilometre Great Wall, which was first built in the Qin Dynasty (221 to 206 BC). It was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644 AD) to keep out northern tribes that threatened the Chinese heartland.

*Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Date: 24/2/2006 *

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WHO WAS KING ARTHUR?

***Most people have heard of King Arthur, ***
***but how many really know what he really was?

***We know of a character half mythological in his existence, but is there more to King Arthur than meets the eye? Indeed, in understanding King Arthur, can we grasp a better understanding of other icons, such as those of the present day like Elvis Presley, or Marilyn Monroe, or Diana, Princess of Wales? I think the Arthurian Legend speaks volumes. Camelot and co: ***

***The story is a simple one. ***

***A questioning boy realizes his destiny when he pulls a sword from a stone, guaranteeing him invincible powers. This is the beginning of the story of the greatest of British heroes, King Arthur. And what we see is a representation of spiritual action leading to a form of charisma, as if young Arthur has transformed himself from a doubting wreck to a potentially great man. It is the story of all mythological heroes. ***

***Arthur goes on to establish Camelot and his Knights of the Round Table, assisted by the magician Merlin, and wife Guinevere. Slowly, a deeper spiritual quest manifests, imbuing each knight to transform himself. This is the quest for the Holy Grail, which will bring purity. And the search consumes them, puts them all on their own heroic path. ***

This form of transition is vital to Arthur and the Knights, but also to society as a whole. For as the quest for the Holy Grail continues, the story of Merlin, the great pagan wizard, fades into its final outcome, as he becomes entrapped by his own magic. This is not only a story of the mythological character, but also the story of the times. For the story narrates known history, with a transformation during the Dark Ages from paganism to Christianity. Merlin is that paganism, guaranteed to die out, whilst the Holy Grail represents the purity of the new Christian ideals arising.

Eventually, Arthur is killed, and in his death a transformation appears in society, changing from a wasteland to the Medieval world. Of folklore past: The story of Arthur has a folklorist beginning in the many tales in ancient Britain of the Fisher King, a wounded hero who transforms society by searching for his own cure - a cure that requires his death for society to change, thus encompassing all aspects of the modern icon, who changes society best if he dies young and tragically.

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*"Someone Had A Dream" *

  • The car you drive was designed and built because** someone Had a dream. **
  • The highway on which you travel is there because *Someone had a dream. *
  • The telephone you talk on and the Worldwide network to which it is connected, was constructed Because** someone had a dream. **

***Achievement begins with a dream.

Yet there are many, many dreams which wither and die without
Ever coming to pass. ***

***We will never know the benefits which they
Could have brought. Great accomplishments come about not only
Because someone dreamed of them, but also because someone
Believed in the dream enough to walk the long, hard road of
Making that dream a reality.

It takes a dream. And then it takes more than a dream. What is
Yours? And what are you doing about it? ***

**Stop and think for a Moment about all the great things **
**that have ever been achieved. **
**Someone had a dream. **
**Someone just like you. **

**The world is filled with possibilities today. **

***Take your pick, and then make it happen.

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MICROWAVE OVEN
(How commonly it is used…BUT do we know what it is?)

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"Yet there are many, many dreams which wither and die without
Ever coming to pass. "

TRUE

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JOB aur KAAM

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ALL LIFE IS CIRCLE:

**The atom is a circle, orbits are circles, the earth, moon, **
**and sun are circles. **

**The seasons are circles. **

**The cycle of life is a circle: **

**baby, youth, adult, elder. The sun gives life to the earth who feeds life to
the trees whose seeds fall to the earth to grow new trees. We need to
practice seeing the cycles that the Great Spirit gave us because this
will help us more in our understanding of how things operate. **

**We need to respect these cycles and live in harmony with them. **
***Great Spirit, let me grow in knowledge of the circle

Oyate nimkte wacin yelo
in the Spirit of my People
Red Tree Woman

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One Flaw In Women
**
***By the time the Lord made woman,
He was into his sixth day of working overtime.
An angel appeared and said,
Why are you spending so much time on this one?"*

And the Lord answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her?
She has to be completely washable, but not plastic,
have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable
and able to run on diet coke and leftovers,
have a lap that can hold four children at one time,
have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart - and she will do everything with only two hands."

The angel was astounded at the requirements.
"Only two hands!? No way!
And that's just on the standard model?
That's too much work for one day.
Wait until tomorrow to finish."***

But I won't," the Lord protested.
"I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart.
She already heals herself when she is sick
AND can work 18 hour days."***

The angel moved closer and touched the woman.
"But you have made her so soft, Lord."***
"She is soft," the Lord agreed,
"but I have also made her tough.
You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."
"Will she be able to think?", asked the angel.
The Lord replied,
"Not only will she be able to think,
she will be able to reason and negotiate."
The angel then noticed something,
and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.
"Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model.
I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one.""That's not a leak," the Lord corrected, that's a tear!"
"What's the tear for?" the angel asked.
The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy,
her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love,
her loneliness, her grief and her pride."
The angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord.
You thought of everything! *Woman is truly amazing."*
And she is!

Women have strengths that amaze men.***
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.
They don't take "no" for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes
the world keep turning.
They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideals.
They give moral support to their family and friends
Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

***HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

PLEASE pass this along to all your women friends and relatives to remind them just how amazing they are...!

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u better take it off arjay cos this article is wrong and false...such NO VOTE system is present in INDIAN costitution but not in ours :-(

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Oye bacchay...get a copy of the constitution from Urdu Bazar and read it page by page...Insha'Allah koi paanch saal mein poora parh lo gi aur samajh bhi lo gi.....and I repeat what I wrote in between;

***Yes such a feature is available, but obviously these seemingly notorious leaders have never disclosed it.

******This is called "49-O".

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THE MILLS OF GOD

In literature the idea has often been conveyed of GOD ruling over a great mill which grinds out the destinies of men.

One finds the expression "The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small".

One may escape punishment for a time for wrongdoing, but eventually it comes. Justice may be a long time coming, but its coming is inevitable.

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I actually wouldn't mind reading the constitution of Pakistan. I'm guessing its in Urdu. Does anyone have a digital copy and/or the translation? Meray Urdu mein number baray kam aye thay :(

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=============
:biggthumbRUDYARD KIPLING:biggthumb
=============

When the report went around that Rudyard Kipling was getting a shilling a word for his writings, some Oxford students sent him a shilling, accompanied by this message;
"Please send us one of your words."
And right back came the unexpected answer;
"Thanks"

ek tumhari chahat main
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A Single Day

*If I had but a single day,
Where would I go ? What would I say?
How would I choose my time to spend?
What would I do before day's end.
If I only had one day?
If I had but a single day,
Would I relive some yesterday?
Would I recall all my regrets,
The jobs undone, the useless frets,
If I only had one day?
If I had but a single day,
Would fear of some tomorrow play
Upon my mind and steal from me
The present opportunity,
If I only had one day?
If I had but a single day,
Would labor claim my night and day?
Would every waking moment be
Consumed to grasp prosperity,
If I only had one day?
If I had but a single day,
Would I sit back from all the fray
And wait for someone else to take
Initative to make it great,
If I only had one day.
If I had but a single day,
Would I find time to kneel and pray?
Would kindness, love, and charity
Toward others take priority
If I only had one day.
Indeed, I have a single day.
I can't recover yesterday.
Tomorrow is beyond my grasp.
I can't control future or past.
For I only have this day. *

A smile on your face is the light in the window that tells people you
are home.