India may get the right coach soon: Ford is prime contender

Former South Africa coach Graham Ford remains the front-runner for Indian team coach's role but ex-England off-spinner John Emburey isn't looking that bad either.
Sunil Gavaskar has thrown his weight behind Emburey while among Ford's backers, Ravi Shastri is the most prominent name.A few Indian players are bewildered at Emburey's choice as he didn't make mark as coach in the county circuit. He was removed by Northamptonshire and then Middlesex. The general feeling initially was that Emburey got the call simply to project a semblance of competition for the slot.

The BCCI has invited Graham Ford and John Emburey to come to Chennai and make a presentation to the Special Committee on 9th June, after which a final decision on the next coach of Indian team will be made," BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.

Emburey was quoted by AFP as saying that he felt honoured to be considered for "one of the biggest jobs of the world game and one of the most difficult" and he would attend the June 9 meeting in Chennai.
He termed Indian cricket team as a "sleeping giant" and said "with the quality of players they've got and young players coming through, I'd really like to be a part of their development"."At this stage of my career, it is a way of moving forward onto the international stage", he said.

Emburey said Middlesex has received the news of his being considered for the Indian coach's post "very well"."They (Middlesex) see it as a move forward in my career. But it's not a foregone conclusion. There is another candidate and they have said the Middlesex job remains open for me", Embury said.

Emburey played in 64 Tests and took 147 wickets. He was also a capable batsman for an off-spinner, scoring 1713 runs at an average of 22.53 between 1978 and 1995. He took 76 wickets from 61 ODIs. Besides he also captained England in two Tests in 1988.After his playing career, Emburey coached Northamptonshire and Middlesex, two other teams he played for in first-class cricket.


Ford, who coached South Africa between 1999 and 2001 and currently Director of Coaching with Kent County Club, emerged as the front runner after the BCCI Search Committee meeting in Bangalore last evening, displacing Australian Dav Whatmore to succeed fellow Aussie Greg Chappell as India's coach.
Ford said he felt "very honoured" and "excited" to be considered for the job. "Anybody involved with cricket would like to be associated with Indian cricket", he told Times Now TV news channel.
"I am considering the position but I have a contract with Kent. I need to sort that out", Ford said. Asked if his removal as South African coach in 2001 in the wake of the match-fixing scam would go against him in the race for the Indian coach's post, he said "I don't think that should be held against in anyway.

Ford claimed his coaching will be successful with the team for its work ethics and long hours he spends with each individual."I will do a supporting act to get the players out there to give their best, empowering them and giving them the confidence to perform at the big stage", said Ford who had worked as assistant to late Bob Woolmer with the South African team before taking over from him after the 1999 World Cup. (Agencies)

Sidhu said that Ravi Shastri, who was the manager of the team during the Bangladesh tour, was the right candidate to fill the post of a 'professional man manager'.
"In the light of present circumstances, there was no dire need to appoint coach for the Indian team but BCCI must put emphasis on role of captain of team as captain always play an important role to get better performance," Sidhu told reporters.

Sidhu said that presently the presence of coach in the team is not keeping much importance as there are experienced and matured players in the side."Moreover well-matured and well-experienced players did not need coaching. Teams always need good and proper direction during the match and that could only be given by the captain and a proper management and not by the coach," he said.

Transexual becomes mayor in Cambridge

Jenny Bailey, 45, was installed Thursday as mayor of the Cambridge City Council, and her partner Jennifer Liddle, 49, a former council member, assumed the honorary title of mayoress, which is given to the partner of the mayor.

Both were born male, and had gender reassignment surgery in their 30s. According to the Local Government Association, Bailey is the first transsexual to serve as a mayor in Britain.

“This is fantastic,” Bailey said after being installed.

She has two sons with her ex-wife, who remains a friend.

Rob Hammond, Cambridge Council’s chief executive, said he knew there would be interest in the new mayor’s sex change.

“It is the council’s firm view that someone’s gender and sexual orientation has no bearing on their suitability to hold public office,” Hammond said.

Bailey, a Liberal Democrat, previously served as deputy mayor.

“People can take me as a role model if they want,” The Times newspaper quoted her as saying.

“But for transgender people, all we want is to disappear and become normal, so I don’t want to let it define me. When you go through transgender experience and come through the other side, you are just happy to get on with normal life, normal problems, so this is a wonderful opportunity.”

ANTI-RAPE CONDOM

The adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has taken on new meaning.

And with the RapeX anti-rape female condom, that pound is coming out of somebody's johnson.

RapeX is a female condom that damages a rapist's penis after penetration with sharp microscopic barbs that hook into the skin.

After the man is incapacitated, this ostensibly gives the woman time to escape. The condom can only be surgically removed (thereby catching the perp redhanded), but supposedly will not cause major damage if removed immediately.
Invented by Sonette Ehlers, a blood technician at the South African Institute for Medical Research, RapeX has been in existence since August 2005 and is to be inserted and worn when a woman is "on a train, working late, going out on a date with someone you don't know too well, going to clubs, or in any situation that you might not feel comfortable or even just not sure."

Rape plays a significant role in the high prevalence of HIV among women in South Africa.
South Africa is a country hardest hit by AIDS, a lot of which is fueled by an epidemic of rape: In a 2006 study of 1,370 South African men, nearly 20% revealed that they had raped a woman (and these are the ones ADMITTING it!)
By the end of 2005, there were five and a half million people living with HIV in South Africa, and almost 1,000 AIDS deaths occurring every day.

Ehlers, who has been working with rape victims for over 20 years, said that she got the idea from a combination of a young woman raped who said "If only I had teeth down there," and hearing about a young man admitted to a hospital for getting his penis caught in his trouser zipper and the excruciating pain.

RapeX is currently not available commercially, but the Web site says it should be available soon, and would retail for a little more than a regular condom.

Buffalo Advocates Stop the Slaughter!!!

Dear Buffalo Friends,
We have great news to report: YOU STOPPED THE PLANNED SLAUGHTER OF THE BUFFALO!!!!
This afternoon, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Yellowstone National Park held a joint press conference in Helena, Montana, to announce that they WILL NOT SLAUGHTER any wild buffalo that remain in Montana come Monday! All those buffalo babies, their moms, and their families will live on!

This is a major victory for wild buffalo and their advocates worldwide! THANK YOU!
While the larger issue is far from being resolved, we should all take a deep breath and give thanks for this incredible news that we all helped make happen. The power, prayers, energy, spirit, love, and ACTION of all the people who care about the buffalo made this happen!

Here are the buffalo you helped save: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/photos/bisonphotos0607maycalves.html

The word from Montana and Yellowstone is this: any wild buffalo found in Montana come Monday would be transported (captured and hauled in trailers) into Yellowstone National Park. They would be taken north, to Stephens Creek, and let go. This transport could be very hard on the buffalo, especially the small calves, so we are hopeful that it will not have to occur at all.

The long-term solution for wild buffalo is year-round HABITAT! Yesterday approximately 200 buffalo were forcefully pushed out of Montana (off of our National Forest lands), back into Yellowstone National Park. The agents used horsemen and a helicopter to conduct this operation. Today, the same thing happened, with about 50 buffalo (moms, babies, families) being pushed off of Horse Butte, deep into Yellowstone. Sadly, the buffalo were pushed extremely hard - especially by the helicopter - and they were shot with orange paint balls by the agents on horseback. It almost looked like a re-enactment from the shameful buffalo hunts of the 1800s. You can see footage from yesterday at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.

During today's operation, a baby buffalo collapsed from exhaustion and possible injury. BFC patrols stayed with this little calf and its mom until they were able to be strong enough to resume their trek to catch up with their family members who had been chased out of Montana. They made it!

This great victory is not without its shadow, as wild buffalo should be allowed to roam freely in Montana, especially on our public lands. We will keep fighting for the buffalo until they are wild and free. But we will celebrate that these buffalo will not be sent to slaughter and that is because you made it happen! Thank you all so much! You flooded them with calls, emails, faxes and IT WORKED! The governor and Yellowstone made the right decision.
Source: buffalofieldcampaign.org

World First Freefall Tattoo

Do you think it is possible to get a tattoo while you are skydiving? Yes, it is true.

Jonas got a WFFT tattoo made while skydiving with Nordin at a height of 4,000m (13,123 ft) in Sweden. WFFT means World's First Freefall Tattoo. This feat has created a new world record in the process.

Breastfeeding in Public Around The World

Women were not created as sexual objects to be looked upon as some kind of “toys”, and breasts were not created for that purpose either. Female breasts have a purpose, and that purpose is the reason they exist. They were given to us as the means of BREASTfeeding our babies!

Basically breastfeeding in public IS legal in the United States, though sometimes people simply don’t know it and therefore might complain about it. This means you can nurse your baby anywhere that you are allowed to be with the baby.

This is some of the collection of notes that I picked from the original source about attitudes towards public breastfeeding in different countries around the world. On this page are comments from Americas, Asia, and Africa.

Saudi-Arabia
State: Jeddah

If woman feed her baby and the peoples are seeing her, of course they like to see her breast more and more and may be they come hot and like to do sex with that lady who is feeding. And I think it is not good that any lady feed her babies in public places. If she want yes, she can move to the place where no one can see her.

Mexico
State: Tijuana, Baja California

I lived in Tijuana, Mexico from 2004 to 2006 and most women did not breastfeed. Breastfeeding was for the extremely poor, the radical left in the middle class, or the very well-educated. The majority of the middle class and the wealthy class did not breastfeed. As a result, breastfeeding my children in public in Mexico was uncomfortable as the men, who were not normally accustomed to seeing breastfeeding, would stare. I cannot comment on southern Mexico.

Chile.

In Chile women breastfeed their babies everywhere. It’s not considered a choice, formula is considered a supplement for when breastmilk is not available or enough (not very common or sometimes misdiagnosed supply issues).

Pakistan

The Pakistani society in influenced by the religion or the religion pundits. In rural area the breasfeeding in public in not a harm where mothers feed babies covered or otherwise. In cities, it is not seen in public. Even women avoid in presence of relatives. The topless beaches is a dream and the fundamentalists can enjoy two or three wives, legal or illegal but the poor are aspiring for one.

Guatemala.

We lived in Guatemala from 2002 to 2004 (I am originally from the U.S.) and I saw more breasts in those two years than at any other time in my life. Women would breastfeed anywhere and everywhere without covering up–in the queue at the bank, at the airport, in shopping malls and restaurants, in parks, on the sidewalk. It is viewed as completely natural and normal in Guatemala.

Indonesia
State: Jakarta

Most people will feed discreetly. But now more and more are open about it. Personally I have seen an Indonesian mother feeding her toddler with no care of her surroundings. She had her boob out and while one nipple is in her son’s mouth, the other nipple is being twirled and rolled by her son. I think her son uses the nipple as a comfort thing like sometimes babies need to roll the end of a pillow. I didn’t see any people staring at her.

Malaysia.

I think majority of city moms bottle feed. In rural areas, most mothers breastfeed. It is not uncommon to see a mother breastfeeding her baby in a bus or on a train or at a bus station. It is more uncommon to see a mother breastfeeding in Starbuck or in the city, actually. However, breastfeeding is catching on in Malaysia and a lot of awareness are being promoted

Taiwan

I hate to say that, but breastfeeding is not really common in Taiwan. But after the government and hospital try to promote the advantages of breastfeeding, breastfeeding people were getting more and more. But still less then 10%. Mostly people use formula feeding their babies. I never saw any woman breastfeeding in public. Well, most Asian people are really shy.

Brazil
State: Cear

In Brazil breastfeeding is highly recommended by doctors and campaigns on TV. Some mothers still use formula because they don’t have the support from their families. The state of Cear, where I live, is the state in the country with the highest rate of babies exclusively breastfed until their 4th month.

Ghana

In Ghana bottlefeeding is for orphans, babies whose mothers cannot produce enough milk, upper class wannabes and expatriates. Ghanaian women breastfeed - everywhere and anywhere. The poor ones just whip it out, let it show. The rich ones have special tops made so its not ALL hanging out. Growing up I used to watch my neighbour breastfeed her baby - all the kids would gather and stare in astonishment…and NO ONE had a problem with it. If you grow up thinking its normal, you will NEVER be offended.

What is your opinion about this subject?

Google Data Center Coverage

Recently, I visited secret area of Google Data Center (where they process search queries). Here is the spy photo that I was able to make! Now we know how they really work!

10,000 suicide bombers on the mosque premises in Pakistan

Pakistan's Lal Masjid, where a standoff between the mosque administration and the local police continues for over a fortnight now, has more than 10,000 suicide bombers on the mosque premises, the Khateeb of the mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz, has claimed.

The police and the Lal Masjid administration have been negotiating a trade-off ever since the Taliban 'on duty' in and around the Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid abducted four Islamabad police officials on May 19.

"The suicide attackers are ready to operate anywhere/anytime in Pakistan," Maulana Abdul Aziz told a press briefing at the Lal Masjid. He also claimed that it has more than one lakh suicide attackers across Pakistan.

"We consider suicide attacks are right in Pakistan in a few circumstances, while we consider them as absolutely justified in the context of Afghanistan and Iraq," Pakistan's News International quoted Abdul Aziz as saying.

"Our students enjoy the moments when a police or Rangers operation looms, and they get bored when the situation normalises," he said of the situation inside Lal Masjid. "We favoured the Taliban not only in the past, we favour them even today," he said

Refuting a general perception that the Musharraf regime and those running the affairs of the Lal Masjid were actually making fool of the people, the Maulana said: "We are not operating under the command of any intelligence agency.

Responding to a question that the strategy adopted by the Lal Masjid administration to solve different problems was helping Musharraf’s agenda to bring liberalism in the country and that analysts think that the clerics were operating on the direction of agencies and basically helping the regime to achieve its agenda, he said it was totally wrong.

“We are not operating under the command of some agency, and I am ready for ‘Mubahela’ in this regard,” he added. He said the Musharraf government was not taking any advantage to fulfil its agendas from the actions of the Lal Masjid.

Angelina Jolie doesn't eat because she feels guilty

After telling the world that he is worried about Angelina Jolie's dramatic weight loss, she is also Planning to Elaborate Wedding. her brother James Haven now allegedly reveals why Angelina is so skinny: she doesn't eat because she feels guilty about the starving people in Third World countries!

James told Closer magazine: "Angelina's life changed after she visited Ethiopia. Whenever she's there, there's often no food for her and she goes without."She's become used to periods of very little or no food, so she has a much smaller appetite and a different attitude to eating because of it."

He also says that it's hard for Angelina to order freely when she goes to expensive restaurants, because she feels guilty about what she eats compared to the starving people that she wants to help.

Laughing on the Internet

Hey readers,

So I have decided to publish what I believe is the correct method in which to express varying degrees of laughter on the interwebs. This is my personal interpretation of what it should be:

LOL- This is to be used when the other person says something they believed was funny yet you don't find it funny. It is just a matter of courtesy.

LMAO-When you find something funny and you get a good laugh out of it you use this.

LMFAO- More of the LMAO except maybe a bit more funny.

Haha-This is also when something is funny but you only get a chuckle out of it

Hahahahahahahahaha- This only occurs when the other person finds it genuinely hysterical. Usually the more hahaha the funnier it was.

I know I am missing some so please comment and tell me the ones that I am missing. This is not a end all solution and I hope to be able to update it as the comments and feedback come in. My ultimate goal is to try and start and create a master list that can be used for future reference. Now go use you new found knowledge and take over the intenets.

Google has bought FeedBurner

As you know, we're constantly looking for ways to identify and offer new tools for content creators and website publishers. Likewise, we constantly aim to give AdWords advertisers broader distribution to an even wider audience of users. For these reasons, we're very pleased to tell you that we've just acquired FeedBurner.

For those of you who aren't bloggers, podcasters, or feed creators, Chicago-based FeedBurner is a leading provider of feed distribution and management tools. A web feed is a way for online publishers to syndicate their content and deliver it straight to readers. Each day, FeedBurner delivers feeds to millions of users around the world and offers unique and useful tools for publishers to analyze, optimize, and monetize their content. Further, FeedBurner offers a feed advertising platform for advertisers to reach engaged feed readers through targeted in-feed ads and innovative techniques like RSS feed-driven ads.

We're excited to continue offering the exceptional tools of FeedBurner to content creators throughout the world, and our teams will work together to improve the experiences of feed users, advertisers, and publishers. You can sign up for FeedBurner's services and take advantage of their feed tools and features immediately.

Last.fm comes to Facebook

When Facebook’s new platform launched last month, to allow third parties to partner with the social networking site, who in return would provide the necessary hooks for those companies to port their applications and set-up-shop inside of the site, the omission of the popular music social network Last.fm was puzzling. Mike Arrington (over at TechCrunch) noted that their absence had left such a void that one user had even taken it upon themselves to roll a Last.fm Facebook app of their own. Then came news that CBS had acquired Last.fm and many presumed that this distraction was the reason that they hadn’t yet joined Facebook’s new platform.

Not the case. Last.fm simply hadn’t been invited — a decision made even more intriguing as one of its main competitors, iLike, had been included in the pre-launch programme and almost instantly became one the top five most popular Facebook apps.

As of today, Last.fm is missing in action no more.

“We’re pleased to announce the release of Last.fm Music, our first (and certainly not last) Facebook app”, writes Matthew Ogle on the official blog.

Since the launch of Facebook Platform last Thursday, certain parties have been wondering where our application was. The truth is that we were perplexingly left out of Facebook’s early development program, so while some of our competitors had six weeks to work on their stuff, we had to wait until Thursday like everyone else.

The new Facebook app adds Last.fm’s personalised music player to a user’s profile. Users can showcase any of their saved stations (or playlist), along with recently saved tracks. The clever bit is that this that the Flash-based streaming player can also be added even if you don’t have a Last.fm account — “if you don’t have a Last.fm username, the app creates a station based on the artists listed in your ‘favourite music’ section” — which really lowers the barriers to trying out the service.