Headlines....

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Read this thread for your dose of informative news from around the world. The topics include anything: ranging from economic industries, technology, music, business, latest research, cosmeology, funny and ridiculous stories, life and leisure, trivias, health, celebrities, gadgets! But I would be EXEMPTING POLITICS. We don't wanna cause ruckus 'round here. And besides, I think discussions with regards to the topic is banned.

Postscript:
When "reporting", you don't have to be stiff and sound like a real news reporter/anchor. Keep it real. :)

Philippines Soaring High
= The Philippines, despite turmoil in politics recently because of the upcoming elections slated for next year, is recovering slowly but surely! The country's budget deficit is percentaging lower, Philippine peso is getting stronger, averaging at P49 to a dollar from a previously pitiful P58 to a dollar just the past 6 months! Blame it on the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who pour out remittances from other countries that help boost our economy. Without them, the Philippines would be out of the map, that's for sure.

= Vietnam is also progressively working its way up! TIME magazine labelled them as "Asia's second-fastest-growing economy" and says "it's poised to kick its exports into higher gear." Some proofs:

- Intel has just disclosed a $1 billion investment in Ho Chi Minh City.
-Canon, Inc. already has two giant factories in the country and is building a third one! The new plant will be the largest inkjet printer factory in the world.
-Nike recently upped its annual shoe production in the country from 54 million pairs to 70 million, making it the world's second-largest source of Nike shoes. (Next to China. I don't quite fathom what it is with Vietnam and being second. :p)

TOMKAT
= I know it's a tad late for this now but Tom Cruise (love his new hair!) and Katie Holmes wedded in Italy! The wedding was held in the 15th century Odescalchi Castle. And you know what, their "I do" kiss lasted sooo long that the guests started screaming "Stop, stop!" Haha! But we don't mind. They're in love! Especially Tom. (Seen his wacky antics on Oprah declaring how much love he feels for Katie? Surrealistically in love.).

Most importantly, they've posted the bowl schedule: :D

2006-07 bowl schedule

Date/time
(all ET) Bowl Site Conferences Matchup

Tue., Dec. 19
8 p.m.
Poinsettia San Diego Mountain West vs. At-large team TCU vs. Northern Illinois

Thu., Dec. 21
8 p.m.
Las Vegas Las Vegas Mountain West vs. Pac-10 Brigham Young vs. Oregon

Fri., Dec. 22
8 p.m.
New Orleans New Orleans Sun Belt vs. Conference USA Troy vs. Rice

Sat., Dec. 23
1 p.m. Papajohns.com Birmingham, Ala. Big East or MAC vs. Conference USA South Florida vs. East Carolina

Sat., Dec. 23
4:30 p.m. New Mexico Albuquerque, N.M. Mountain West vs. WAC New Mexico vs. San Jose State

Sat., Dec. 23
8 p.m.
Armed Forces Fort Worth Conference USA vs. Mountain West Tulsa vs. Utah

Sat., Dec. 24
8 p.m.
Hawaii Honolulu Pac-10 vs. WAC Arizona State vs. Hawaii

Tue., Dec. 26
7:30 p.m.
Motor City Detroit MAC vs. Big Ten Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee*

Wed., Dec. 27
8 p.m. Emerald
San Francisco Pac-10 vs. ACC UCLA vs. Florida State

Thu., Dec. 28
4:30 p.m. Independence Shreveport, La. SEC vs. Big 12 Alabama vs. Oklahoma State

Thu., Dec. 28
8 p.m. Holiday San Diego Pac-10 vs. Big 12 California vs. Texas A&M

Thu., Dec. 28
8 p.m.
Texas Houston Big 12 vs. Big East or Conference USA Kansas State vs. Rutgers

Fri., Dec. 29
1 p.m. Music City Nashville SEC vs. ACC Kentucky vs. Clemson

Fri., Dec. 29
2 p.m. Sun El Paso Pac-10 vs. Big 12 or Big East Oregon State vs. Missouri

Fri., Dec. 29
4:30 p.m. Liberty Memphis Conference USA vs. SEC Houston vs. South Carolina

Fri., Dec. 29
7:30 p.m.
Insight Tempe, Ariz. Big 12 vs. Big Ten Texas Tech vs. Minnesota

Fri., Dec. 29
8 p.m.
Champs Sports Orlando ACC vs. Big Ten Maryland vs. Purdue

Sat., Dec. 30
1 p.m.
Meineke Car Care Charlotte ACC vs. Big East or Navy Boston College vs. Navy

Sat., Dec. 30
4:30 p.m.
Alamo San Antonio Big 12 vs. Big Ten Texas vs. Iowa

Sat., Dec. 30
8 p.m. Chick-Fil-A Atlanta SEC vs. ACC Virginia Tech vs. Georgia

Sun., Dec. 31
7:30 p.m.
MPC Computers Boise WAC vs. ACC Nevada vs. Miami

Mon., Jan. 1
11 a.m. Outback Tampa Big Ten vs. SEC Penn State vs. Tennessee

Mon., Jan. 1
11:30 a.m. Cotton Dallas SEC vs. Big 12 Auburn vs. Nebraska

Mon., Jan. 1
1 p.m. Gator Jacksonville ACC vs. Big 12 or Big East Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia

Mon., Jan. 1
1 p.m. Capital One Orlando Big Ten vs. SEC Wisconsin vs. Arkansas

Mon., Jan. 1
5 p.m. Rose Pasadena, Calif. BCS vs. BCS Michigan vs. Southern California

Mon., Jan. 1
8:30 p.m. Fiesta Glendale, Ariz. BCS vs. BCS Oklahoma vs. Boise State

Tue., Jan. 2
8 p.m. Orange Miami BCS vs. BCS Wake Forest vs. Louisville

Wed., Jan. 3
8 p.m. Sugar New Orleans BCS vs. BCS Notre Dame vs. LSU

Sat., Jan. 6
noon International Toronto, Canada Big East vs. MAC Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan

Sun., Jan. 7
8 p.m.
GMAC Mobile, Ala. Conference USA vs. MAC Southern Mississippi vs. Ohio

Mon., Jan. 8
8 p.m. BCS title game Glendale, Ariz. BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2 Ohio State vs. Florida

Whoa! You ARE a fan. Shalot, I assume you are a female?


News Today: Well, yesterday's happenings.

Lance Corporal Daniel Smith (I've memorized all their names and their ranks now), part of the American Navy troop visiting the Philippines to help out Philippine soldiers, was convicted for charges of raping a Filipina he was dancing with one night (November last year in a bar). The girl said that Daniel Smith took advantage of her being badly drunk and pulled her inside a van. She resisted, she says, but was too weak to push him. The 2 other American soldiers - Staff Sargeant Dominic Duplantis and Lance Corporal Keith Silkwood (whoa, I got them right) who were with Smith that night supposedly "cheered him on" and didn't do anything to protect the girl but were all acquitted and immediately left the country, leaving Smith in the custody of the U.S. Embassy.

I don't think he did it, though, or for a clearer explanation, I think both parties agreed with the "action". The tone and voice of the "victimized" girl sounded unrealistic and false to me. They both agreed to do it and thus was not forced to do it. Smith is only 21 yrs. old, very young, just a little boy. :(

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Originally Posted by Shalot

Most importantly, they've posted the bowl schedule: :D

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Well thats my holiday viewing sorted :D

Dissident republicans possibly behind alerts

Dissident republicans are believed to be behind three separate security alerts in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours.

A security alert has finished in Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone following a telephone call to a Belfast newspaper warning that a device had been left in the area.

British Army experts made safe a blast bomb found in the garden of a house.

The PSNI said the device was capable of causing death, injury or damage and condemned the recklessness of those involved.


Yesterday, what was described by police as a viable mortar device was found near a PSNI station in Craigavon.

Another device found in a pub at Cloghcor, just over 6km from Strabane, in Co Tyrone, was taken away for examination.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shalot

Most importantly, they've posted the bowl schedule: :D

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A girl after my own heart. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shalot

Mon., Jan. 8
8 p.m. BCS title game Glendale, Ariz. BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2 Ohio State vs. Florida

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Go Buckeyes! :D

Personally, I think Michigan got a rum deal. If USC would have beaten UCLA then Florida would not have leap-frogged over Michigan in the BCS polls. People were allowing their bias against a rematch between Ohio State and Michigan to influence their votes. And Urban Meyer is just whiny. It's not a coach's place to lobby for their team in the press room; he should have done his lobbying on the field. If Michigan deserves to go, then they deserve to go. I actually laughed when Meyer said that he was trying to think of the Ohio State players' best interests (saying it wasn't fair to have them play Mich again)--when he doesn't really give a darn about them, he just used it as another sales pitch.

At least the Rose Bowl is happy. It looked like it might have ended up being USC and Wisconsin (who I still think is very good; if they hadn't had Michigan on their schedule, who knows what would have happened?) but now they get Michigan and Wisky's shoved back to the Capital One bowl or something. But they do play Arkansas, who I hope they beat soundly. My dad and uncle will have their Big Ten/SEC "who is better?" debate finish.;)

I just hope that the BCS never installs a playoff. :sick:

This was on Morning Edition this morning on NPR:

Conspiracy? Not on this Flight



Morning Edition, December 6, 2006 · The Conspiracy Museum is closing. That's the Dallas attraction showcasing the Kennedy assassination and other plots. There's no conspiracy behind the closing. It's being replaced by a Quizno's, and moving even closer to the scene of the shooting. In an unrelated story, an American Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Nashville. A woman was lighting matches on board. The FBI concluded she had gas, and was just trying to cover the smell.

How embarrassing would this be? If the other passengers didn't know it was her, they know it now!

www.npr.gov

I love reading the news from all over the world!

By the way, an Italian girl was shot in the head a whopping SIX TIMES! But guess what, she didn't die. Conclusions? They have yet to find out. How quierd..(a portmanteau made by Toni - combining Weird and Queer)

Well the headlines here today had to do with a prediction of a 30 degree celsius change in temperature over 3 days. It was -27 celsius on Thursday (close to -40 with the windchill) and they expect it to be +3 on Saturday, and it seems to be true. Today it was -3 on my drive to school, and probably a bit warmer now. Very odd, but nice for me, it feels so warm! :D

It is a negative 27 celsius there in your place? I wonder what the temperature is inside our freezer. :cold: I hope we had negatives too, in my country. :p

The coldest that we could get though was just 10 degree celsius. And you could only experience that when you go high up in the mountains. Wish we could experience a White Christmas.

Not a headline in my area, but interesting nonetheless...

Quote:

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Philip Morris: 'Please Talk To Your Cooler Children About Cigarettes'

December 6, 2006

NEW YORK—Philip Morris, the largest manufacturer of tobacco products in the United States, released the first in a series of television commercials yesterday urging parents to take the time to educate their hipper, better looking, and more rebellious children about the dangers of smoking. "If your child is idolized by other kids, always gets the girls, and has no patience or respect for authority figures, please talk to him immediately about cigarettes," said the ad's narrator over a montage of Hollywood stars apparently smoking after intercourse. "Parents need to keep an eye on their charismatic and persuasive children, who are at the highest risk of smoking at an earlier age, when it's most respected by their peers." According to Philip Morris' new print-ad campaign running in Maxim and Sports Illustrated, it is unnecessary for parents to discuss the dangers of cigarettes with lame children who like board games, science, and their parents.

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Source: The Onion