I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You

It's not at all new, but I love this song so much. When ever I hear it, I have to stop what ever I'm doing and listen. Simply beautiful. It is the theme song from the movie The Mask Of Zorro

I REALLY can't imagine it with any different singers. Apparently, Tina Arena was originally supposed to be singing with Ricky Martin. Then, because he became unavailable, Marc Anthony filled the spot. I'm glad he did.

Racism

Racism is one of the things that I dislike about Korea.

Why Korea Should Embrace Multi-Culturalism
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended on Aug. 17 that South Korea acknowledge it is now a multiethnic society and make laws against racial discrimination. UNCERD said unrealistic emphasis on and excessive pride in the ethnic homogeneity of Korea is no longer in the national interest. The recommendation was important news and marked a watershed in Korean society.
The Chosun Ilbo spoke via phone and e-mail to Anwar Kemal, the expert who served as country rapporteur for South Korea. He said Korea should avoid using racially discriminatory expressions like “pure blood” and “mixed blood.” The Pakistani diplomat was appointed to the four-year term of rapporteur this year.
Why did UNCERD urge Korea to legislate laws against racial discrimination several times in the report?
We recognize Korea’s efforts to eliminate racial discrimination, but more is needed. We want Korea to legislate an anti-racial discrimination law in line with the UN standard. The Korean parliament should define what racial discrimination is: that is the first thing to do to eliminate discrimination against alien workers, foreign spouses of Korean people and children from multi-ethnic families. The Korean Constitution doesn’t ban racial discrimination in detail.
How is South Korea doing compared to other countries?
Korea has achieved amazing economic growth for the past 40 years. However, it has not opened itself to foreign workers sufficiently compared to developed countries like the U.S., Germany and Britain. Among developed countries, Sweden is the country that has made the most remarkable achievement in removing racial discrimination. A female immigrant from Burundi, Nyamko Sabuni, is the minister for integration and gender equality in Sweden.
Koreans have identified themselves with the nation for a long time. In Korea, nationalism was a means for promoting social integration and resisting foreign invasions.
I know. But now Korea is an industrialized country. It is not a weak country facing threats from foreign forces. Also, nationalism in this day and age is not based on ethnic homogeneity. Take the example of Brazil and the U.S. They are multi-racial countries. But their people are very patriotic.
Why is it so important to avoid using discriminatory expressions like “pure blood” and “mixed blood”?
Many people find them insulting and those expressions are not scientific. A DNA research leader like Korea shouldn’t use such expressions. All people’s blood is the same.
Is it inevitable for Korea to become a multi-racial society?
Korea has the world’s lowest birthrate. It will see its population drastically decrease 10-20 years from now. The number of money earners will decrease, and instead the number of pension recipients and retirees will increase. Korea is already suffering from a serious shortage of manual workers. The nation’s economy will be hit hard by the lack of labor forces unless it accepts immigrant workers.
Which one is better, assimilating foreign workers for social integration or respecting their culture and accepting the coexistence of heterogeneous cultures?
All foreign workers should be encouraged to learn Korean. They also need to have an orientation about Korean culture, labor ethics and etiquette. But it is unwise to keep them from preserving their own culture. It does no harm when foreign workers preserve their culture. Rather, it can help social stability.
(englishnews@chosun.com )

more on the hijab in soccer debate

Team wrapped up in headscarf debate

When a Girl...

This is kinda cute. A friend of mine posted it on Facebook (a guy, actually).

When a GIRL is quiet ... millions of things are running in her mind.
When a GIRL is not arguing ... she is thinking deeply.
When a GIRL looks at u with eyes full of questions ... she is wondering how long you will be around.
When a GIRL answers " I'm fine " after a few seconds ... she is not at all fine.
When a GIRL stares at you ... she is wondering why you are lying.
When a GIRL lays on your chest ... she is wishing for you to be hers forever.
When a GIRL wants to see you everyday... she wants to be pampered.
When a GIRL says " I love you " ... she means it.
When a GIRL says " I miss you " ... no one in this world can miss you more than that.
Life only comes around once make sure u spend it with the right person ....
Find a guy ... who calls you beautiful instead of hot;
Who calls you back when you hang up on him.
Who will stay awake just to watch you sleep.
Wait for the guy ... who kisses your forehead.
Who wants to show you off to the world when you are in your sweats.
Who holds your hand in front of his friends.
Who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you.
Who turns to his friends and says, " That's her!! "

ban on hijab

This is ridiculous.

Temporary hijab ban sidelines Edmonton soccer team
Last Updated: Thursday, December 6, 2007 12:04 PM MT CBC News
A Muslim female soccer team in Edmonton has had to postpone all their games until the Alberta Soccer Association makes a final decision on players wearing headscarves on the field.
Half the girls on the Al-Ikhwat team wear a hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim females in keeping with their belief of dressing modestly.
The provincial association has temporarily banned players from wearing hijabs on the pitch after a referee asked a 14-year-old girl to leave a game in Calgary last month. He said her headscarf posed a safety risk.
The Alberta Soccer Association follows international rules that forbid all headgear, including sweatbands, but said it will review safety issues before making a final ruling on hijabs.
Amereen Chowdhury, a Grade 12 student who's played with the team for a year and a half wearing her hijab, says it's not dangerous.
"Talk to us directly. Ask us what it's like so we can show then that it's not a dangerous issue. Our hijabs don't have pins in it and they are tucked into our jersey," she told CBC News.
"This is basically a lack of knowledge on their behalf because they don't know how it's like to run or to exercise or to be physically active with a hijab on."
The team plays in the Edmonton and District Soccer Association's indoor league. Mike Thorne, the group's executive director, said women wearing hijabs have been playing in Edmonton for more than seven years without any problems.
The EDSA is disappointed the team has been sidelined, Thome said.
"We feel a great deal of remorse over accepting this team into our program and having their expectations shot down by Alberta Soccer, and we hope this ruling will get reversed and they can go back to playing the game they love."
The earliest Alberta soccer officials are expected to meet on the hijab issue is mid-December.
Soccer associations in B.C. and Ontario have made exceptions for hijabs while Quebec has banned it.

statcounter

Odd. For some reason, my IP address keeps showing up as being in Gujarat, Ahmedabad, India.

cold

Kinda glad I'm not there! :P I just hope that Korea doesn't get the same effects from La Nina!

Coldest winter in years, Environment Canada warns
Updated Fri. Nov. 30 2007 1:00 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
The weather phenomenon La Nina will bring Canada the coldest winter in nearly 15 years, Environment Canada warned Friday.
Environment Canada's temperature forecast shows the majority of the country will experience a "temperature anomaly" of below-normal temperatures through the months of December, January and February.
Much of Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and parts of British Columbia and southern Ontario will also see above-normal precipitation.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, told The Canadian Press that the temperature and precipitation abnormalities are likely the result of the weather phenomenon La Nina.
La Nina, meaning the little girl, is the appearance of cooler-than-normal waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
"La Nina is thought to occur due to increases in the strength of the normal patterns of trade wind circulation," Environment Canada's website says.
"For reasons not yet fully understood, periodically these trade winds are strengthened, increasing the amount of cooler water."
These cooler waters result in wetter-than-normal conditions in the northern hemisphere and changes to the jet stream over North America.
"The shifted jet stream contributes to large departures from the normal location and strength of storm paths. The overall changes in the atmosphere result in temperature and precipitation anomalies over North America which can persist for several months," Environment Canada says.
In the past, La Nina caused drought and floods around the world. It also whips up more hurricanes in the Atlantic.
The effects of the weather phenomenon have already been felt in parts of Western Canada. Earlier this month, a fierce storm dumped nearly 80 centimetres of snow on Whistler, B.C. over 48 hours. The massive snowfall prompted management at the famous Whistler Blackcomb ski hill to open one week ahead of schedule.
With files from The Canadian Press

abaya

This was a gift from Egypt. Revo's dad is actually the one that picked it out!

working the nightshift a carcinogen?

This is a scary thought. I know so many people that are working (or have for long periods of time) graveyard shifts. As a traveler, I know that messing with sleep patterns really screws up the system.

Check out the official ACS (American Cancer Society) list of known and probably carcinogens (link also listed at the bottom of the article). It is kinda scary! Some of the things listed are things that you wouldn't even consider: mineral oils, wood dust, Chinese style salted fish!!!

Graveyard shift soon to be listed as 'probable' cause of cancer
Thu Nov 29, 8:03 PM By Maria Cheng, The Associated Press
LONDON - Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer.
It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.
Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen.
The higher cancer rates don't prove working overnight can cause cancer. There may be other factors common among graveyard shift workers that raise their risk for cancer.
However, scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, the body's biological clock. The hormone melatonin, which can suppress tumour development, is normally produced at night.
If the graveyard shift theory eventually proves correct, millions of people worldwide could be affected. Experts estimate that nearly 20 per cent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts.
Among the first to spot the night shift-cancer connection was Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. In 1987, Stevens published a paper suggesting a link between light at night and breast cancer.
Back then, he was trying to figure out why breast cancer incidence suddenly shot up starting in the 1930s in industrialized societies, where nighttime work was considered a hallmark of progress. Most scientists were bewildered by his proposal.
But in recent years, several studies have found that women working at night over many years were indeed more prone to breast cancer. Also, animals that have their light-dark schedules switched develop more cancerous tumours and die earlier.
Some research also suggests that men working at night may have a higher rate of prostate cancer.
Because these studies mostly focused on nurses and airline crews, bigger studies in different populations are needed to confirm or disprove the findings.
There are still plenty of skeptics. And to put the risk in perspective, the "probable carcinogen" tag means that the link between overnight work and cancer is merely plausible.
Among the long list of agents that are listed as "known" carcinogens are alcoholic beverages and birth control pills. Such lists say nothing about exposure amount or length of time or how likely they are to cause cancer.
The American Cancer Society website notes that carcinogens do not always cause cancer. The cancer society doesn't make its own assessments of possible cancer-causing agents, but relies on analyses by the IARC and a U.S. agency.
Still, many doubters of the night shift link may be won over by the IARC's analysis to be published in the December issue of the journal Lancet Oncology.
"The indications are positive," said Vincent Cogliano, who heads up the agency's carcinogen classifications unit. "There was enough of a pattern in people who do shift work to recognize that there's an increase in cancer, but we can't rule out the possibility of other factors."
Scientists believe having lower melatonin levels can raise the risk of developing cancer. Light shuts down melatonin production, so people working in artificial light at night may have lower melatonin levels.
Melatonin can be taken as a supplement, but experts don't recommend it long-term, since that could ruin the body's ability to produce it naturally.
Sleep deprivation may be another factor in cancer risk. People who work at night are not usually able to completely reverse their day and night cycles.
"Night shift people tend to be day shift people who are trying to stay awake at night," said Mark Rea, director of the Light Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, who is not connected with the IARC analysis.
Not getting enough sleep makes your immune system vulnerable to attack, and less able to fight off potentially cancerous cells.
Confusing your body's natural rhythm can also lead to a breakdown of other essential tasks. "Timing is very important," Rea said. Certain processes like cell division and DNA repair happen at regular times.
Even worse than working an overnight shift is flipping between daytime and overnight work.
"The problem is re-setting your body's clock," said Aaron Blair, of the United States' National Cancer Institute, who chaired IARC's recent meeting on shift work. "If you worked at night and stayed on it, that would be less disruptive than constantly changing shifts."
Anyone whose light and dark schedule is often disrupted - including frequent long-haul travellers or insomniacs - could theoretically face the same increased cancer risk, Stevens said.
He advises workers to sleep in a darkened room once they get off work. "The balance between light and dark is very important for your body. Just get a dark night's sleep."
Meanwhile, scientists are trying to come up with ways to reduce night workers' cancer risk. And some companies are experimenting with different lighting, seeking a type that doesn't affect melatonin production.
So far, the colour that seems to have the least effect on melatonin is one that few people would enjoy working under: red.
-
List of known and probable carcinogens from IARC and National Toxicology Program listed on American Cancer Society website: http://tinyurl.com/2kl5ab
International Agency for Research on Cancer: http://www.iarc.fr/

death by cell phone update

A Death-By-Cell-Phone Story Falls Apart
By Patrick J. Lyons
Ever been so annoyed at some boor yakking too loud and too long on his cellphone that you find yourself wishing the accursed thing would just blow up in his hand? (Or have you ever had someone wish that on you?) Then consider this strange tale.
The technology press was alive yesterday with this news out of South Korea, as reported by the English-language Korea Times:
A 33-year-old excavator driver was found dead on Wednesday in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, after a suspected cell phone battery explosion, police said.
The man, identified only with his surname Seo, was found lying dead beside his excavator in a stone quarry in Cheongwon at 8:40 a.m. by his colleagues. His cell phone was found in his shirt pocket with its battery severely melted and his chest burned and fractured, the police said.
What a nightmare-in-everyday-life scenario it was — a constant companion and helpmate that suddenly turns into a live grenade. And plausible too: the overheating problem with lithium batteries may be rare, but it is widely known (another case of one catching fire while being charged on a nightstand turned up just a day later in New Zealand).
But the morbid fascination that the technology press would naturally have with the story out of South Korea was quickly laced with notes of puzzlement, bordering on skepticism — a feeling that investigators evidently shared: The reported injuries didn’t seem to quite match the supposed cause. From Information Week:
Police want to know why a 33-year-old quarry worker was found with broken bones, heart damage, and a melted cell phone in his left chest pocket.
The manufacturer, which turned out to be LG, wanted to know that, too. A company representative told the Korea Times that a foil coating on the battery would make it melt, not explode, if it overheated, and the man’s phone indeed looked merely to have melted.
It isn’t out of the question that an exploding cell phone could cave in someone’s ribs — it apparently happened to a welder in China in June, Information Week reported. But the high temperatures he was exposed to were thought to be to blame, not any fault in the phone, and the Korean quarry worker was working outdoors in the winter cold. How could it have killed him?
All that skepticism now appears to have been well warranted. Today, the police arrested a coworker of the dead man and charged him with manslaughter. They say he has confessed to accidentally killing Mr. Seo by backing into him with a drilling vehicle, and then trying to frame the cell phone.
It’s hardly consolation for Mr. Seo’s family, of course, but it is no doubt a relief for LG stockholders, not to mention a bit of a black eye for the all the news outlets that seized a little too eagerly on the initial story line. As the Korea Times noted today in a rueful editorial:
We have often seen cases of fierce competition for media coverage causing irresponsible reporting not based on facts but on rumors, speculation and unconfirmed sources. [ … ] Reporters, editors and publishers are struggling to meet both timeliness and accuracy. They try not to sacrifice one thing for the other. But, it is not easy for them to do both at the same time in a highly competitive environment.
Media outlets should learn a lesson from the cell phone case. They must be careful not to repeat the mistake of false reporting, which might cause irrevocable damage to businesses, the public, the government, or the country.
[The LEDE Blog New York Times]

BUT

Cell Phone Battery Explodes in the Night
James Niccolai, IDG News Service Thursday, November 29, 2007 7:00 AM PST
A New Zealand man was woken in the middle of the night when his cell phone battery exploded and burst into flames, the second exploding battery incident reported this week.
Norman Sievewright said he was asleep in bed about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when he woke to a loud bang and found his cell phone battery in flames on the carpet. The phone had been charging while he was asleep.
"It was very scary ... especially the fumes and stuff. The back has been blown off the phone," he told New Zealand's TVONE television news channel.
The phone was made by Nokia, which asked Sievewright to turn over the battery and charger so it can investigate. Until it has done so, "it would be inappropriate to speculate," a Nokia spokeswoman said via email.
In August Nokia issued an advisory about faulty batteries in some of its phones. It said 46 million Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries were vulnerable to a short circuit that could cause them to overheat while recharging, and offered to replace them for customers who are concerned.
Nokia did not issue a recall and said incidents had occurred with only a tiny fraction of phones -- 100 out of the 46 million. The batteries were manufactured by Japan's Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. and sold in a wide range of Nokia devices.
Nokia said it didn't know yet what type of battery was inside the phone in New Zealand, and attempts to contact Sievewright Thursday were unsuccessful.
Also Wednesday, police in South Korea said a worker may have died because his cell phone battery exploded in his pocket, the Associated Press reported. The man was found dead at his workplace in a quarry with a melted cell phone battery in his shirt pocket, according to the report.
The doctor who examined the man said the pressure caused by the explosion may have "damaged his heart and lungs" and led to his death, according to the AP, which quoted a local news agency. That phone was made by LG Electronics, reports said.
With close to 300 million cell phones sold in the world last quarter, such battery explosions are considered extremely rare.