You Can Stop "Normal" Aging | PARADE Magazine

New research reveals surprising facts about our changing bodies.

You Can Stop ‘‘Normal’’ Aging
By Dr. Henry S. Lodge

Published: March 18, 2007

From your body’s point of view, “normal” aging isn’t normal at all. It’s a choice you make by the way you live your life. The other choice is to tell your cells to grow—to build a strong, vibrant body and mind.... more

CRICKET: Police say Pak coach was murdered

From SAJA E-mail Lists Amazing story: Jamaican police now say Bob Woolmer, the Pakistani coach, was murdered by strangulation. Keep track of the story here The World Cup will continue, depsite the death of Woolmer, who is a British citizen (and was born in India). Here is his official site, with tributes and more

For the Christian Right, Gay-Hating Is Just the Start

G and I listened and talked with Chris Hedges, the award winning journalist and religious/political  comentator as he talked about the rising danger of the Religious Right to our country...as presented in his new book, American Fascists, The Christian Right and the War on America.The following article deals with issues which he discussed..with great passion

He focused on the Rights efforts to dehumanize groups as evil deviants who could be used as scapegoats. The first have been gays, lesbians, Muslims and Secular Humanists...the same kind of beginning as in previous Fascist countries...These are serious threats....

For the Christian Right, Gay-Hating Is Just the Start

By Chris Hedges, Truthdig
Posted on March 19, 2007, Printed on March 22, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/49160/

On the morning of March 8 in Sioux Center, Iowa, a bus parked outside a hotel was found covered with anti-gay slurs, along with a hate-filled message on a piece of cardboard reading: "God does not love feary fags."

The bus was one of two that were transporting some 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, along with supporters, on the start of a two-month trip to 32 Christian colleges with policies that discriminate against those who are not heterosexuals. The Equality Ride, as it is known, organized by Soulforce, had first traveled to Sioux Center to visit Dordt College, a school that counts "sexual activity with someone of the same gender" as possible grounds for "an employee's discharge or a student's dismissal." .... more

Chris Hedges is the former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times and the author of "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" and "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning."

© 2007 Independent

Higher-Ed Superpower

By David Ignatius
Friday, March 9, 2007; A21

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- When people think about American power in the world, they usually list the country's forbidding arsenal of bombers, aircraft carriers and troops. Yet America's greatest strategic asset these days might not be its guns but its universities.

Higher education is arguably the last area in which the United States dominates the world. We're discovering the limits of military power in Iraq, the pressures of economic competition from China and India, the vulnerability of our financial markets to sudden changes abroad. But in this globalized world, American universities remain the gold standard. And thanks to aggressive university presidents, they are widening their lead................ more

ReligionLink - Islam: a guide to U.S. experts and organizations

AUG. 7, 2006

ISLAM
Islam: a guide to U.S. experts and organizations

Islam was put under a microscope by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Before that, although there were more than 1,200 mosques and more than 1 million Muslims regularly worshipping in the United States, Islam seemed a distant, foreign faith to many Americans.

Since then, the demand for accurate, nuanced and balanced information about Islam and Muslim people has grown, as has the number of scholars in the field. There is no official count, but scholars say demand and opportunity for academics who study Islam has risen significantly since 2001. Some say that jobs now outnumber qualified applicants, but note that a whole new generation of scholars is in graduate school. Job postings for scholars of Islam in American colleges and universities numbered 50 in 2002, 50 in 2003, 71 in 2004 and 67 in 2005, according to the American Academy of Religion, which runs an online employment service.

Classes – particularly those on politics, gender and contemporary Islam – are full, giving more students at more universities background in Islam. Knowledge matters, whether these students move on to careers in business, medicine, education or other fields. According to a 2005 Pew Research Survey, people who are most knowledgeable about Islam express more favorable opinions of Muslim-Americans and Islam than people who are less familiar with it........ More

# Indian online community: Sulekha.com

Welcome to Sulekha.com, the biggest and most popular member-generated community and social/professional networking hub integrating social media and local commerce services. Millions of Indians express, interact and transact through Sulekha’s portfolio of highly popular, complementary services in 25 cities in India and worldwide...... ...... ....More

Feeling tired? 6 tips for more energy

By Joy Bauer

TODAY nutritionist

Updated: 10:35 a.m. CT March 14, 2007

If you can’t get out of bed in the am, fall asleep at your desk in the afternoon, have trouble keeping up with your kids or find yourself dragging through the day, the following SIX strategies can help increase your energy level! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17598214/

SAJA/AAJA NEWSMAKER EVENT + MOVIE SCREENING

Journalists interested in Taiwan and/or international affairs are invited to a special reception hosted by Ambassador Andrew Hsia, Director-General of The  Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in New York (bio below)

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
6:30-8:30 pm; followed by a movie screening of "Splendid Float" (2004 Golden Horse Award winner for the Best Taiwanese Film and opening film at 2005 Asian American Film Festival (details below).

Location: Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, 1 East 42nd St., between Fifth and Madison Aves.

This is a unique opportunity to meet a leading international diplomat and ask questions about recent developments in Taiwan and the region. Drinks and Chinese food will be served. In addition, there will be an optional screening of the award-winning Taiwanese movie, "Splendid Float" (details below). When you RSVP, please indicate whether you will be staying for the movie, too.

RSVP REQUIRED: Please fill in the one-minute form

Journalists and journalism students are welcome to bring one guest each.

Last year, SAJA & AAJA hosted a similar event with the Sri Lankan ambassador
and plan to work on other countries as well. Suggestions and contacts for
others welcome - please write to saja@columbia.edu

ABOUT AMBASSADOR HSIA
Ambassador Andrew Li-Yan Hsia
Director-General
Taipei Economic And Cultural Office in New York

Place of Birth: Taipei, Taiwan
Family: Married to Lisa Cheng with two children

Education:
1985-1988 Research Studies, Queen Mary College, London England
1981 LL.M., University College, London, England
1980 M. Litt., International Law, New College, Oxford, England
1976 MA, Graduate School of Diplomacy, National Cheng Chi
University, Taipei
1972 LL.B., Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei

Career:
2001- Director General, Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in New York

1998-2001 Director-General; Department of International Organizations, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs
APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Senior Official

1996-1998 Deputy Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office,
Canada (Ottawa)

1994-1996 Director of Secretariat, Taipei Economic and Cultural
Representative Office, U.S.A.(Washington, D. C.)

1989-1994 English Interpreter to the Prime Ministers, Taipei, Taiwan

1992-1994 Deputy Director, Dept. of Information and Cultural Affairs, Ministry
of foreign Affairs (MOFA), Taipei, Taiwan

1990-1992 Special Assistant to the Political Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MOFA), Taipei, Taiwan

1989-1990 Chief, Administrative Section, Coordination Council for North
American Affairs, MOFA, Taipei, Taiwan

1982-1985 Specialist, Dept. of North American Affairs, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MOFA), Taipei, Taiwan

Honors:
1976 Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Scholarship
1985 Recipient of the Social Science Scholarship
1999 Recipient of Sun Yun-Suan Fellowship

o o o o o o

ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Splendid Float 2004 Fiction color 74min
Roy (James Chen) leads a double life. By day, he's a
Taoist priest in Taipei, mostly busy performing
funerary rites. By night he's Rose, one of four drag
queens who tour the towns and villages of northern
Taiwan, putting on lip-synch shows on the back of
their gaudily lit truck. After a show in Keelung, Rose
meets the macho young fisherman Sunny; they make love
and start thinking about finding a way to live
together. But then Roy is called to summon Sunny's
soul home from the sea; his lover has drowned in an
accident ... It's both sad and funny, weighty and
frivolous, absurd and romantic.

About the Director
Zero CHOU, born in Keelung, Taiwan in 1969. Creatively
and productively as she is, her works are both poetic
and philosophically provocative that .amazingly make
the content and the form an excellent combination..
She has been valued .the most talented documentary
director in the recent years of Taiwan., who has
often won the prizes in various film festivals.

A Conversation with Mira Nair, director of "The Namesake"

Mira Nair has been doing a lot of events around her highly-acclaimed new movie, but SAJA has asked her to a quieter event for us on Friday night. All are  welcome. No charge. She does have to leave at 7:15, so please be on time. We  will also be raffling copies a coffee-table movie about the book as well as its  soundtrack - we'll get Mira to sign them.

Please note a second newsmaker event next week below this event, with the Taiwan ambassador. Pass onto your friends in NYC.

South Asian Journalists Association, New York Chapter presents:

A Conversation with Mira Nair, director of "The Namesake," playing in NYC and  five other cities now - opening across the country over the next two weeks.

Friday, March 16, 2007 5:45-7:15 pm
Columbia Journalism School
116th St & Broadway, room 607B
Subway: #1 to 116th St/Columbia University
Ask for J-school when you enter the main campus

5:45-6:15: Networking
6:15-7:15: A conversation with Mira Nair, moderated by Aseem Chhabra + your Q&A
No charge. No RSVP required.

See SAJAforum.org coverage of "The Namesake"
Opening weekend box office numbers

Review Roundup

SAJAers Cover the Movie

Screenings later that night - perhaps a group can head downtown after...
Paris Theatre,4 West 58th Street
7:50pm | 10:20pm

AMC Theatres Empire 25,234 West 42nd Street
8:35pm | 11:35pm

Angelika Film Center,18 W. Houston Street
9:35pm | 10:20pm | 12:15am

THE NAMESAKE is the story of the Ganguli family whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act to meld to a new world without forgetting the old. Though parents Ashoke and Ashima (Irrfan Khan, Tabu) long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Paradoxically, their son Gogol (Kal Penn) is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol's name represents the family's journey into the unknown. Helmed by the Academy Award(r)-nominated Mira Nair, THE NAMESAKE is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri.

"A spellbinding exploration of love and belonging" - Elle

"Thoroughly engaging, terrifically moving" - Premiere

"A glory on a huge colorful canvas" - Wall Street Journal

*** Official Selection - Toronto International Film Festival ***

*** Official Selection - Telluride Film Festival ***

*** Official Selection - Dubai Film Festival ***

*** Official Selection - London Film Festival ***

Powerball Drawing Info 15 Mar 2007

06:52:50 -0500

04 27 30 39 44 Powerball 18
Powerplay 2

The estimated Grand Prize was:
$161,400,000 ($77,700,000 cash).
There was no Grand Prize Winner.

The next Powerball drawing will
be on Saturday, March 17th, 2007
with an estimated Grand Prize of
$183,000,000 ($88,200,000 cash).

Religion and U.S. Grand Strategy by Michael Vlahos - The Globalist > > Global Society

By Michael Vlahos

How did the U.S. invasion of Iraq become its "liberation?" How did a war designed to save the world from Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" become a war to save the Iraqi people? And looking ahead, how has the liberation of oppressed people everywhere — at times and places of our own choosing, whether they want to be liberated or not — become a core American mission? Michael Vlahos explains.

http://theglobalist.com/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=3230

Tanzania gives investors key concessions

Tanzania gives investors key concessions

Story by WASHINGTON AKUMU in Arusha 

Publication Date: 3/13/2007

Tanzania yesterday rolled out the red carpet for investors, with President Jakaya Kikwete unveiling a raft of sweeteners for foreign capital.

They include cutting the number of licences required by new businesses, new land ownership laws and fresh regulations to govern the relationship between workers and the owners of capital.... more

Iraq: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/index/Iraq

Teacher of the Year makes science real

New Hampshire's Carolyn Kelley uses 'the new three-Rs approach' to education: rigor, relevance, and relationship.

By Stacy A. Teicher | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

N.H. Teacher of the Year: Carolyn Kelley of the Seacoast School of Technology in Exeter.
MELANIE STETSON FREEMAN – STAFF


EXETER, N.H. - The only time Carolyn Kelley sits in her chair during this class is the minute it takes to set up the interactive whiteboard that's linked to her computer. On her desk sits the classic science room décor: a blankly staring skull. But that's it for bored looks. Once Ms. Kelley takes her place in front of the 15 high school sophomores seated at tables in a "U" formation, there's no lack of liveliness in the faces looking back. ........ more

Big lighting firm leads move to phase out incandescent bulb

A coalition led by Royal Philips Electronics is twisting the dimmer on Thomas Edison's famous invention.

By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Aiming to slow global warming through energy efficiency, a coalition led by the world's largest lighting manufacturer is planning to phase out energy-wasting incandescent light bulbs in the United States by 2016............... More

PAK: Editorial on current situation

Omar R. Quraishi, op-ed pages editor at Pakistan's "The News," asked me to circulate this. His e-mail: omarq@cyber.net.pk The News March 13, 2007 Editorial All the makings of a police state The events since Friday make extremely depressing reading for anyone remotely concerned about the state of the nation. The continued virtual house arrest of the suspended chief justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, is a black spot on this government that will be difficult -- one would say, almost impossible -- to erase from public memory. As if the humiliation of Justice Chaudhry being summoned to Army House and being asked to explain to the president (wearing army fatigues) the allegations contained in a now-controversial letter was not enough, one now learns that since Friday the suspended chief justice of Pakistan and his family have had their telephone lines disconnected, their mobile phones taken away and have been prohibited from watching television or reading newspapers. According to several reports, most quoting Justice Chaudhry's family members, the house of the suspended chief justice is swarming with officials of the intelligence agencies and no one is allowed to enter the premises, though retired air force chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan did manage to argue and walk past the guards and meet Justice Chaudhry. In doing all of this, the government has clearly overstepped its authority. Justice Chaudhry, if Article 209 has been followed and read properly, has had a reference filed against him for misconduct and abuse of office. However, preventing him from meeting people and restricting his and his family's movement, and not letting him establish contact with anyone outside his residence gives the impression as if the government considers him a dangerous criminal who is a clear and present danger to society. What the government has been doing since Friday is only going to exacerbate the crisis and lower its credibility -- already quite low -- in the eyes of (it can be safely said) most Pakistanis because they will think that if this can happen to a chief justice of the Supreme Court then ordinary citizens might just as well forget about receiving their constitutionally guaranteed right to due process and a fair hearing. By denying the suspended chief justice the right to move around freely, to meet whoever he wishes or even to talk to the media, the government is in violation of the Constitution, and specifically of the constitutional process by which a member of the Supreme Court is to be removed from office. Surely, the president, the prime minister, members of the federal cabinet and even the brother judges of Justice Chaudhry would agree that his is a case of convicting without even being given a fair hearing. Surely, it can be seen that Article 209 does not authorise the president, or anyone for that matter, with the power to restrict the physical movement of a judge against whom a reference has been filed and to bar him from using any link to the outside world. A lot of damage has already been done by this full frontal assault on the judiciary of the country. Of course, no one should defend a judge, no matter how august he may be, if he indulges in conduct unbecoming of his office and misuses his official powers. But allegations should not be equated with proof and conviction -- something that the government's actions suggest is the case -- and the method and process outlined in the Constitution need to be followed. This constitutional method does not have any provision for physically restricting a judge under investigation from moving about freely and stripping away his officially entitled privileges -- the latter can be done only after the investigation has been carried out and a recommendation for removal made by the Supreme Judicial Council and acted upon by the president. Even in that eventuality, the action should not be seen as high-handed and vindictive -- which seems to be the case now, despite the fact that the charges against Justice Chaudhry remain mere allegations. As has been reported widely, on the day of his suspe nsion following the filing of the presidential reference, Justice Chaudhry was stopped from entering the premises of the Supreme Court building and escorted to his house by a senior police official. Even now, with a reference filed against him but none of the charges proved, the suspended chief justice should be free to visit his office if he so wishes because there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents any judge of the Supreme or High Courts, and against whom a reference has been filed with the Supreme Judicial Council, from attending his office. There is one other point as well: ministers should not consider the people of this country to be bumpkins who cannot see what is going on. When told that Air Marshal Asghar Khan had met Justice Chaudhry who told him that he (Justice Chaudhry) had no access to the phone, TV or newspapers, one member of the federal cabinet expressed surprise and then went on to say that this itself was proof that the chief justice was free to meet people. Surely, the hordes of journalists, politicians and well-wishers standing outside the gates of Justice Chaudhry's official residence and denied entry by the security staff posted there speak of an entirely contrary situation, one that really puts official claims that he is free to meet anyone to shame. The government needs to extricate itself from this ugly situation before it spirals out of control. Any delay in repairing the damage can only convince most Pakistanis that they live in a country that has all the makings of a police state. Also, equally importantly, the government needs to understand that for the sake of its own credibility this farce needs to come to an end.

Child Reciting from the Holy Qur'an

  Recitation of the Qur'an

a little pregnant: Leftovers

http://www.alittlepregnant.com/alittlepregnant/2007/02/leftovers.html

make one of my brilliant ideas into reality on 43 Things

http://www.43things.com/things/view/524

http://www.43things.com/about/view/learn_more

Tips for improving your handwriting

By Dyas A. Lawson

You’ve decided you want to improve your handwriting and you’re probably hoping a fountain pen will do the trick -- maybe a friend told you it would. Maybe you’re just adventurous and you want to try your hand at calligraphy (or you might, once your handwriting improves). Good for you! more........