Barcelona best team in the world

At the heart of the plot is Coach Josep Guardiola i Sala, who is often called Pep and whose only experience guiding a team was one season with Barcelona’s third division squad. When he was chosen to replace the Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, making him the Spanish Primera Liga’s youngest head coach at 37, many were hard pressed to see the rationale.

The question gained urgency after the team scored only one goal in Guardiola’s first two games in charge — a loss and a tie. But then, his cure for the team’s ailments seemed to kick in: Barcelona won 15 of its next 16 league games (the other was a tie), scoring 48 goals. With a little more than half the season to play, it is on pace to surpass the season-high 107 goals set by Real Madrid in 1989-90. The team enters the winter break with 41 points, its most ever at this stage, leaving second-place Sevilla 10 points behind and rival Madrid, last season’s champion, 12 points back, a lead no team has overcome to win the title.

“This team has the possibility of being one of the best in Barca history, ranking with the best of Cruyff, if it can sustain it,” said Carles Rexach, a retired coach and a former assistant to Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff led Barcelona from 1988 to 1996, when along with four league titles, it won its first European Cup (now the Champions League) and erased Barcelona’s stigma as second fiddle to Real Madrid.

The problem, he said, was not that Americans spend too much, but that foreigners save too much. The Chinese have piled up so much excess savings that they lend money to the United States at low rates, underwriting American consumption.

This colossal credit cycle could not last forever, he said. But in a global economy, the transfer of Chinese money to America was a market phenomenon that would take years, even a decade, to work itself out. For now, he said, “we probably have little choice except to be patient.”

Today, the dependence of the United States on Chinese money looks less benign. And the economist who proposed the theory, is dealing with the consequences, having been promoted to chairman of the Fed in 2006, as these cross-border money flows were reaching stratospheric levels.

In the past decade, China has invested upward of $1 trillion, mostly earnings from manufacturing exports, into American government bonds and government-backed mortgage debt. That has lowered interest rates and helped fuel a historic consumption binge and housing bubble in the United States.

China, some economists say, lulled American consumers, and their leaders, into complacency about their spendthrift ways.

4yrs after Asian tsunami

The whole world watched in horror 4 years ago as the worst natural disaster in the history of the earth as the tsunami hit almost seven countries killing 220 000 people and also destroyed many houses.Sri Lanka was one of the worst affected countries, with nearly 40,000 deaths. Nearly one million people in coastal areas were rendered homeless.

The Nation struggled to come to terms with the enormity of the tragedy for a number of days, but the massive outpouring of grief translated into an unprecedented relief effort with local and international support. The rehabilitation process in terms of rebuilding damaged structures including houses, schools, places of worship, hospitals is mostly complete, but the healing of mental scars will perhaps never be.

Four years on, the bitter memories of the tsunami still remain. There is one crucial difference, though. In 2004, only a handful knew even the meaning of the word tsunami (Japanese for massive tidal wave), leave alone seen one. With the tsunami behind us, there is almost 100 per cent awareness of the magnitude of the destruction that could be caused by a tsunami. People are now willing to evacuate their coastal dwellings at the merest warning or earthquake alert. This is a positive development, to say the least.

Singapore flyer is expected to be out of action for until the New Year

The Singapore flyer, which is the world's biggest observation wheel is currently undergoing repairs after some unknown faulty equipment caused the flyer to shut down for six hours. The Singapore flyer's control panel on the third floor caught on fire jamming the flyer. The authorities finally managed to get everyone safely down by winching them down ropes from the flyer. Many have questioned why the safety procedures that the flyer had were so inadequate. They felt that if the london eye had  broke down due to electrical failure then the authorities would be able to turn the heel manually so that the people who were stuck up there could be brought down easily.  However the Singapore flyer seemed to have none of this procedures in place and the only way the some of the people were brought down was after being winched down ropes after a six hour wait. The way the management handed the situation was also criticized as many who were stuck felt that no information was forth coming as to what was happening on the ground. People who were stuck included pregnant woman, young children and elderly one as old as 75 years old. Many questioned as what would have happened if a medical emergency arise. After some hours of wait pressing needs such as  hunger, thirst and the need to relive oneself become a primary concern. This episode highlighted the need for the authorities to have a better safety procedure and backup plan.      

Pirates outwit the Navy

In the past two months alone, the pirates have attacked more than 30 vessels, eluding the naval patrols, going farther out to sea and seeking bigger, more lucrative game, including an American cruise ship and a 1,000-foot Saudi oil tanker. The pirates seem to have been able to escape the military of at least nine nations to capture some of the biggest ships in the shipping industry. This rebellious pirate activities threatens to bring the entire shipping industry to a stand still.The pirates are recalibrating their tactics, attacking ships in beelike swarms of 20 to 30 skiffs, and threatening to choke off one of the busiest shipping arteries in the world, at the mouth of the Red Sea.The pirates are totally outgunned. They continue to cruise around in fiberglass skiffs with assault rifles and at best a few rocket-propelled grenades. One Italian officer said that going after them in a 485-foot-long destroyer, bristling with surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes, was like “going after someone on a bicycle with a truck.”

However the pirates are not the least bit worried about this and true to their motto they whiz around in their modified speed boats and evade the soldiers radar, which is supposed to be one of the best in the world. Despite tough talk, the guards are unarmed (because most countries do not allow them to bring weapons into port), so they are often forced to confront machine-gun-toting pirates with fire hoses.

Israeli person throws shoes at George Bush.

An Israeli journalist has embarrassed George Bush by hurling two shoes at the President and called him a "dog" for bringing death and sorrow to the country for six miserable years. President Bush was at the conference with the Israeli prime minister to sign a agreement that stated that all American forces would be withdrawn from Israel by the year 2011. However, this occasion is now being overshadowed over the fact that a "Green Zone Area", the area with the tightest security could let such a thing happen. The journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, got up during the meeting and said that he was going to give Bush a present from his country and the present was from all the orphans and people who died from the American campaign. He then proceeded to throw his shoes at the American President. The first shoe caught everyone by surprise and Bush had to be quick on his feet to miss it. As the guards and other journalists watched in horror, the israeli journalist proceeded to throw his second shoe which would had hit Bush in the face if the Israeli Prime Minister had not stretched out his arm to block it.

Other Iraqi journalists who witnessed the incident apologized to Mr. Bush for the man's behavior. Mr Bush, who was uninjured, tried to brush off the incident by making a joke. “All I can report is it is a size 10,” he said, continuing to take questions and noting the apologies. He also called the incident a sign of democracy, saying, “That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves,” as the man’s screaming could be heard outside.

Obama has started to create jobs.

Barack Obama has now started to put together a plan to make sure that people have jobs when he goes into parliament coming January. He promises that there will be such a wide scale project that will bet put in place that will match the size of the Inter State high way that took place a decade ago. The project is said to be able to provide at least a thousand people jobs for at least five years. Obama is certainly living up to his promises he made during his presidential campaign. He is bringing new  possibilities and hope that Bush did not not give to the American people. The American people will be very happy when they see Obama become president coming January. The current economic crisis has caused many people in the United States Of America to lose money and jobs. The new scheme provides a light at the end of a dark tunnel to those people.

I think that Obama has done a excellent job so far and he is truly trying his best to make this world a better place as he promised. He has now stated that he is thinking about removing the US soldiers in Iraq and has also proposed this new system where he creates more jobs for people so as to help them with their economic crisis.

Police kill two terrorists.

Police have rescued about 30 hostages and killed two of the terrorists who have brought about the death of 125 people. The terrorists had been seizing the Taj Mahal Hotel for 40 hours after they took about 30 people as hostages and killed many others. The chief police inspector claimed that the gunmen had to be trained as they were able to use AK weapons with ease and throw grenades with precision. The current death toll is 146 with several foreigners and police men killed and a 327 people injured. The terrorists still have another hotel captive and they threathen to kill anyone who stand in their way. The the new terror network claim to have ties with the tamil tigers but the police cannot confirm this. The Tamil tigers are a Ceylonese terror network that are trying to reclaim Pakistan and they are arch enemies to Indian Government.

Soccer Poem

I love the following poem because it expresses the true passion of the greatest sport on Earth, Soccer.
Soccer.
A large number had gathered,
Lots more had crowded;
They came with a common view,
And wore a particular hue;
From the beginning of the game,
They looked the same;
But time would tell-
If everything went well,
There should be a winner,
Before we took our dinner;
We were sharing our passions,
In front of our televisions.

The poet shows a deep understanding of the soccer game.
At first the poet says that many people have come to watch the soccer match and explains that many people have sat down in front of their televisions to watch the match. He says that they came to see many goals being scored and that they supported a particular team. The poet also says that the supporters have come to see many goals being scored. The supporters looked the same always hopeful. When the poet says only time will tell he is referring to the fact that only after 90 minutes the winner will be decided. The poet also says that the winner should be decided before dinner. And the last thing the poet says is the most important, that no matter what happens they will share passion.

Midfielder caims that Gunners are goal shy.

Cesc Frabregas, one of the most inspirational players in Arsenal claims that the Gunners are being goal shy and that they have controlled the game but not have the quality to finish. The Gunners have seen a host of chances gone wide even though they controlled the game at the Emirates. Arsenal had many chances to win the game but could noy find the magic moment to end the game. The Gunners have had a bit of a stumble in recent games, drawing with Tottenham and then losing to Stoke and Aston Villa. The Arsenal players seem to lack confidence, They have proved this multuiple times this season and have shown it on the pitch to. During the game against Manchester United they played one of the best attacking displays while they kept a solid defence. However in their next game against Aston Villa they played horribly and lost 2-0. During that game their passing was horrible and had even scored an own goal.

Super Oil tanker captured.

Super tanker Sirius star which has been carrying two million barrels of oil has benn hijacked by Smalian pirates. This is by far their riskiest move yet as they captured the ship in highly guarded areas and could have been easily found. However somehow they eluded capture and they seized the ship back to their port. The pirates have been becoming increasingly more active and have hijacked many more ships in the past mont. The also had captured a military aircraft carrier which had thirty tanks and many other sophisticated weaponary. The pirates have not been encountered yet although their base location is known. This is because they have many hostages not to mention highly sophisticated weaponary like rocket launchers and submachine guns. This has raised awarness of the area and many ships are staying out of it. The few that go have suffered the same fate as the Sirius Star.

Cleaner killed by white tigers.

Visitors to the Singapore Zoo on Monday were given a massive shock when they saw a man being killed by endangered white tigers. Several eye witnesses have given accounts that they saw the man throwing and flinging objects and brooms at the walls before he entered the enclosure. The crowd witnessed the incident when the man jumped into the moat that surrounded the enclosure. The crowd who had witnessed this thought it was part of an act. However, later he climbed over the wall that surrounded the enclosure and started to agitate the tigers by waving the brooms at them and making loud sounds with the pail. When the tigers approached him, he pulled the pail over his head and crouched in a foetal postion. The white tigers with claw the size of baseballs gloves gave him a few swipes which promptly started to make him scream in pain. Minutes after the cries about twenty zoo keepers arrived with pails and brooms and tried to ward off the tigers. There were two keepers who had live ammunition but did not use it. The man died of severe head trauma at the scene. Several of the zoo keepers have said that the man told them before he went to the enclosure that they were not going to see him anymore. However they did not take him seriously and just laughed. The authorities have called this suicide.

Elements of Poetry

What are the elements of poetry? Well when we think of poetry we think of rhyming stances and literature. However poetry is not just rhyming stances or good phrases. It could also be the way that people express their feelings and what the people think about a certain topic. Thus I think poetry is the people's emotion.

Humanities Question

There are many various ways that people could make a living. However the most popular way in Ancient Greece was to be a soldier. A person could also be a farmer which would mean that the person earns how much he harvests. Farmers either worked alone or with slaves to harvest the crops that the whole family planted. Farmers grew wheat, barley, grapevines( to make vine) and reared pigs,sheep and goat. Olive oil, wool, cotton. However if you are a soldier you will get paid a hefty some of money depending on your rank. If the soldiers survived till 60 years old then they were allowed to retire and they would get their own piece of land. Another popular job was being a trader. The popular items of trade were olive oil, cotton, wool and their artistic pottery. They would trade with other Greek city-states or with other asian or european countriesThere were three different classes in Greece. The three classes are the top class, middle class, and lower class. The top class were so rich that they could still live a luxurious live for about ten years without working. The middle class could last for about one month without a job if they spent their money wisely. However the lower class did not have such a thing as no work. Either they worked or they were killed. The methods of killing a slave was to feed them to hungry lions, throw them in a pool of eel. The crimes that could earn a slave these punishments were dropping glass, talking ill about their masters, trying to escape their masters, stealing from their masters or even making bad foodTheir social systems was broken up into three ranks. The best rank was the one that the top where only kings or wealthy people could be classified under. The rest of the Greeks were under the middle class which meant that they were normal people. The lowest class was the one that the slaves and prisoners were classisfied under. They had burnt marks on their face to show who they belonged to. The slaves could be owned by anyone as long as the proper amount of money was paid to the government. The slaves had no wages and days off and lived only to serve their masters. Sometimes if their masters did not have enough money they would sell the slave's limbs.

Taiwan ex-president arrested.

 A judge ordered the former president of Taiwan detained Wednesday on corruption charges, just hours after he was taken to a hospital after he accused police of pushing and rough-handling him before he appeared in court in Taipei.Chen Shui-bian, who according to Taiwan's Central News Agency is accused of embezzling 600 million Taiwan New Dollars, was led away in handcuffs after six hours of questioning by prosecutors.The ex-president, whose presidential term ended in May, held his cuffed hands up for journalists to see and shouted "Political persecution! Long live Taiwan!"Taiwan's Central News Agency said anti-corruption prosecutors were investigating the ex-president in a money-laundering case.Chen denies any wrongdoing.On Monday, Chen told reporters he believed he would be detained, saying authorities could "lock up my body, not my heart," the agency said. He has also insisted that the move was a political one.Chen's political party favors independence for Taiwan while the administration of current President Ma Ying-jeou favors closer ties with China Nine other people have been arrested in the case, including Chen's former treasurer, and they have agreed to testify against him. 

Effective communicator

Effective communicator. What does it mean to be an effective communicator? Well most people will think that it means that the person can converse well in their spoken language, mostly English. However, I think that being an effective communicator means that you can communicate to people in a manner that they are able to understand. For example if you can speak excellent english but cannot get people to understand what you want then you are not being a effective communicator. But however if you can speak the minimal english but is able to get the message across whether by using sign language or by pointing to what you want then you are exemplifying the characteristics of being an effective communicator.

Now this may not be the only way you can be an effective communicator. A person who uses strong words that is easy to understand but say a lot is also being an effective communicator. Being an effective communicator is one of the most important things that you will learn. For example, if you lived in a country where you could not speak the language that everyone uses, but you still manage to make every one understand what you are trying to say and use words like "Please", "Thank you" people would understand that you are being polite and they would be more than pleased to help. 

I would also like to thank rose and wincent for their comments. 

Five Fat Questions

What is the difference between the political system of Athens and Sparta? Why did they have this difference?

Why was the first gladiator created and why?

The Spartans were said to have powerful military and they were said to be able to fight armies ten times their size and still defeat them?

Why did the Greeks pray to the Gods in whom they believed in? Why did they believe in the Gods?

What caused the downfall of the Greeks?

What happened to the people of Greece after the downfall of Greece?

ESPRAT + G

Primarily Singapore’s focus is on financial and banking system. First, generally people in Singapore are well educated. Thus, they are skewed towards working white collar jobs rather than blue collar jobs. White collar jobs pay well thus most of the people could sustain the increasing cost of living and enjoy reasonable living conditions. 

Furthermore, the scarcity of land (about 600 sqm), the high land costs and labour costs are not attractive for other types of industries to nestle in Singapore. In particular, manufacturing industries are not in favor of setting up plants in Singapore. However, they are willing to establish their regional office or their research centre in Singapore due to the well educated and qualified people available.

The social system is based on multi-ethnic tolerance to each other’s race and religions. There are generally 3 main ethnic groups, namely: Chinese (75%), Malay (14%) and Indians (7%). The remaining 4% comprises of others. The different ethnic groups live in harmony and provide a diversity of culture. This diversity of these cultures emanate numerous delicious dishes from these ethnic groups. Its small wonder that many people label Singapore as a food paradise.  

The controlling party, People’s Action Party (PAP), has been in power since 1959. Mr Lee Kuan Yew was the Prime Minister at the “tender” age of 35 in 1959, till he stepped down in 1989 to become the Senior Minister. Mr Lee had ensured political stability for many years and had set out a solid foundation for stability and transition of political changes within the PAP, to ensure continuity of the PAP members to lead Singapore to greater heights. 

Though, a handful of opposition candidates had won seats in the parliament over 5 decades, none of the opposition parties have really posed a challenge to the one and only ruling party, the PAP. The present Prime Minister of Singapore is Mr Lee Hsien Loong, the son of the elder Mr Lee. 

Singapore is basically not rich in Arts, although the government is pushing hard to inculcate the Arts activities into the people, initiating schemes through the school system. The Art scene in Singapore generally follows the 3 ethnic backgrounds’ cultural festivals.

The 3 main cultural festivals are Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa (celebrated by the Muslims) and Deepavali (celebrated by the Indians). Due to excessive western influence, Christmas is “celebrated” by all Singaporeans, more as a public holiday to have leisure and entertainment.

Singapore’s National Day falling on 9 Aug each year is also grandly celebrated by all Singaporeans and is the pride and joy of the PAP government to showcase their achievements and effort in developing Singapore to where it is now. 

Technologically, Singapore is very advance in many aspects. Whether its computer programs or mobile phones or research & biotechnology. With high purchasing power, Singaporeans could easily afford technologically advanced products. The government had spent billions on R&D, and will spend many more billions on such high-tech industries as people are the only valuable resource in Singapore. 

Geographically, Singapore is well positioned for transshipment of vessels within the S.E.Asia region. Also, the Singapore airport sits in an ideally suitable location to not only serve the lesser developed S.E.Asia countries, but also the Oceanic region comprising of Australia and New Zealand. The sea port and airport is a gateway for Singapore’s thriving economy.

The ideal location of the ports serve Singapore well in terms of economic advantages. The well developed infrastructure such as the ports, the financial & banking system and political stability provides the almost perfect ammunition for Singapore to be economically strong even in bad times.  A good portion of Singapore’s GDP is contributed from the revenues obtained from these ports’ operations and the finance sector. Singapore has reserves of approximately USD 300 billion, which many of her neighbors cannot boast about.  

The Arts scene is developing in Singapore. Historically, Thailand and Malaysia has greater depth in History and Arts. Singapore’s Arts is sometimes influenced by the Western society. Originality lacks in the Arts scene as some of the Arts activities are copies from other parts of the world. This has also to do with the multi-cultural and multi-religious society that Singapore has been coined traditionally.   

As we are all Asians and proud of our Asian cultures and show deep respect for each other’s culture, the social environment within the region is sound and stable. There are no major social problems that could have a forceful effect on Singapore, though emotional sentiments evolve from time to time within the neighboring countries.  

The government is in good stead when negotiating deals with the neighboring countries because of the ideal geographical position of Singapore. Politically, this will be an advantage. The political stability of the neighboring countries does have an impact on the political situation in Singapore.  However, the political strength of the incumbent party (PAP) has continuously ensured political stability regardless of political turmoils in the neighboring countries.

Singapore is surrounded by Muslim countries namely Indonesia, West Malaysia and East Malaysia. To a certain extent, Singapore is in a similar situation as Israel in the Middle East, but not in the same league in terms of conflicts and attacks.

Technologically, Singapore is way ahead of her geographical neighbors. Singapore usually has the latest 21st Century cutting edge technologies. The neighbors tend to take the cue from Singapore in many technological aspects.

What do governments do?

I think governments are like the heart of the country as it is the thing that controls the country preventing riots and represent the people. Even if there are kings in the nation, there will always be some kind of government present. The government controls where people can live and who has to join the army. It also collects the taxes paid by people and spreads it out to help the people. There two different kind of governments. Firstly there the kind of government that consists of only a few high ranking officials close to the King. The officials would consult the king on every matter. The advantages of this kind of government is that the King always knows what is happening in every part of his country. The disadvantage is that the government is not efficient as it takes a long time to pass laws or collect taxes. The second kind of government is the kind of government where there are many people in the government. The simple tasks of collecting taxes would be left to the government and the king would only be consulted in very important tasks.

Suspected US missile strike in Pakistan kills nine.

A suspected US attack has left many people injured and nine dead in Northwestern Pakistan. A anonymous Pakistani source has confirmed that it looked like a US missile strike. This is the forth suspected US attack which Pakistani's believe is being launched by unmanned drones. The Pakistanis have said that this unnecessary attacks have caused many innocent lives to be lost. The Pakistani government have already launched several complains to the US but no action has been taken. 

The US government has not said anything about this comments but there are a few theories which claim that Bush ordered the attacks so that Obama would have a hard time in office and not win the next election.

Display the five student outcomes.

The five student outcomes of HIS are community contributor, person of high character, active learner, effective communicator. I think a community contributor means that the person helps other people or contributes to the community. I contributed to the community by doing community service at Tzuchi where we have to pick up garbage and put it in the proper bin for recycling. I think a person of high character is  person who respects other people. I was a person of high character when we were doing rock climbing because I always supported my teammates, even how badly they were doing. I think an active learner, is a person who listens in class and does their homework on time. I was an active learner this past week because I have been handing in all my homework and listening in class. I think effective communicator does not mean a person who can speak good english. I think it can go more than that. I think and effective communicator is a person who can convey their ideas in an easy manner where other people can understand easily. I was a person of high character when I helped my team complete our humanities project.

Barrack Obama wins election

Barrack Obama, the first African American to become a president has a lot of hope and expectations on him from all corners of the world. French President Nicholas Sarkozy wrote, "Your election raises in France, in Europe, and beyond throughout the world, immense hope."

The thing that made Obama the most exciting was that he was not Bush. He promised to tie relationships with other countries and to help the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and to bring the United States of America back to the list of one of the most powerful countries in the world.

I think that Obama can bring the change needed by the world and can become one of the greatest presidents of the USA.

Taliban kill foreign aids worker.

The worker was killed by gunmen who were riding on a motorbike after she preached about christianity in Afghanistan. This comes only weeks after Taliban tried to negotiate with the king of Afghanistan for peace. The Taliban have claimed full responsibility for the attacks. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death, saying on its Web site that it killed the "foreign woman" for preaching Christianity in the country.

 

I think that the murder of the helper was a tragic event as she was trying to help the country prosper and because she preached about christianity. It is also sad because the Taliban were on the edge of negotiations when this murder happened which may cause an uproar. 

Lawsuit

A judge has thrown out a Nebraska state legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served because of his unlisted home address.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God. He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

I think these kind of people are mad and they are attention-seeking people.

Singapore law suit

Singapore's High Court on Tuesday ordered a prominent government critic, Chee Soon Juan, his sister and his political party to pay $416,000 in defamation damages to the prime minister and his father. Mr. Chee, his sister, Chee Siok Chin, and the Singapore Democratic Party had been convicted for implying that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, had been involved in corruption. On its Web site, Mr. Chee’s party said the ruling might bankrupt it. Mr. Chee was forced into bankruptcy in 2006 by a separate $300,000 fine for defaming the elder Mr. Lee and another former prime minister, Goh Chok Tong. Singapore’s leaders often use defamation lawsuits against critics; opposition leaders say they are a political weapon used to silence them.

The same fate had been suffered by many other political leaders who were gaining popularity.

Christian Bussineesman killed in Iraq

A christian businessmen was shot dead in Iraq after the conflict in Iraq between the two religions continues. The businessman was shot as the tension between the muslims and christians continue to rise. Some fear that the killing may cause and all out war.

Is a stack of 5 1nt coins more dense or a stack of 20 1 nt.

The stack of 20 1 nt coins is more dense than the stack of 5 1nt coins because the density will change as long as the volume or the mass of the object is different than the mass of the object will. The volume is more and the mass is more for the 20 stack so the 20 stack is more dense.

Taliban are seeking peace

Taliban are seeking peace and holding talks with the government of Afghanistan and are seeking to sever ties with the al queda terrorist association. The al queda had been supplied a major amount of weaponary recently and they were looking to attack the united states of america. The taliban were responsible for the twin tower bombings and had been listed as a terrorist organization until recently.

The talks are being hosted by the king of Afghanistan. According to sources taliban leader  Mohammed Mullar Omar high on the us most wanted list was not present but his representatives were keen to stress that it would be good if they worked together.

Suicide bombers kill 20 people

As Muslims celebrated the close of the fasting month a group of suicide bombers killed at least 20 people in attacks on two mosques during early morning prayers in different areas of Baghdad early Thursday, the authorities have said.

The attacks were the second wave this week during a lengthy public holiday. In the middle class district, an area of southeast Baghdad with a mixture of people of different religions, a car bomber rammed a taxi into an armored vehicle guarding the entrance to a compound, killing eight people, including two Iraqi soldiers. The attack took place in neighborhood whose population is heavily religious. This is the second attack this week and the authorities fear that the bombings may continue and has urged the terrorists behind the bombings to stop.

Searchers believe that they have found the body of a missing man.

Searchers think that they have found the wreckage of missing millionaire Steve Fosset who has been missing since last year . These reports have come after a rescue team located a  plane wreckage in a forest. The search team were dispatched after the credit cards of the missing man was found by a hiker on 23 september. The sheriff of the county has revealed that the credit cards belong to the missing man and that a team had been dispatched to comb the wreckage.

Fosset had said that he was going for a pleasure ride and that he was to come back for lunch after several hours at a hotel owned by a hotel magnate. When Fosset failed to return a search including thousands of volunteers a hundred officials and about a dozen planes was carried out. The search was officially suspended on October 7 2006. Fosset was famous for flying around the world in a balloon and in a plane without refueling. He became rich from financial investments and financial service industry.

Why did we spend three days studing mass and volume.

The relationship between mass and volume have with matter is that mass and volume define what is matter. For example, if the object has mass and volume than the object is a matter. Some things like air have indefinite volume and can be compressed to a certain limit. These objects are still matter because they have a volume and mass. Examples of objects that are not matter are light, shadow, dream and ideas. That is why I conclude that I think we learned mass and volume for three days is because it is the key points that identify matter.

Stampede kills 100 people in India.

A stampede kills a hundred people in India. Reports state that there were more than two thousand five hundred people trying to get up to the hilltop temple when the stampede broke out. The pilgrims were going to the temple to pray because it was the first day of a religious festival in India. The temple stampedes are not unusual because a month ago a hundred and thirty people were killed because they were trying to flee the same temple after false rumors were passed that there was a landslide. In January last year two hundred and fifty people were killed in a pilgrimage in Maharashtra. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/india.stampede/index.html 

Copter crash

In UK a copter crashed in Maryland and killed for of the five people on board. This is the latest disaster in aviation. Experts have said that planes were more safer because at least they could glide but a copter would gostraight down. The accident was technical problems.

Is air a matter?

A matter is a object that takes up space and has mass. If you were to weigh a empty balloon and a balloon with air, the balloon with air will be heavier. This proves air has mass. To prove that air takes up space you can a syringe with a rubber stopper and the end and try pushing it in. No matter how hard you try the syringe will never go all the way in. 

My culture

Singapore is a migrant country. Citizens of Singapore came from India, China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. My grandfather and grandmother came from a Indian state called Kerala, in the 1930s. They speak a language called malayalam and are known as Singaporean Malayalese. My family follows the Hindu traditions. We pray to hindu gods at home everyday and go to temple once a week. We celebrate many important Hindu festivals like Deepavali, festivals of the lights and the Tamil New Year. On certain auspicious days in the indian calendar we refrain form eating meat. For married woman, they have to wear a thali around their necks and a red dot on their fore heads to show they are married.On auspicious days, the grandchildren fall at grandparents legs and seek their blessings for a good future and health. My grandparents still expect us to follow old indian traditions like not cutting our fingernail and hair on Fridays and not sweeping the floor with a broom on certain auspicious days as they believe it will sweep away our good luck.  

Surviors of hurricane Ike shocked by the storm's power.

Hurricane force winds were felt as far as Kentucky as survivors are shocked by the storms ferocity. The 115 mph winds were blamed for the deaths of at least 15 people and brought heavy rain in which caused low lying areas such as Chicago to flood and in the gulf of mexico rescuers are still looking for and estimated 20000 people who dismissed the storm evacuation order and decided to brave out the storm. A strong gust of wind ripped of the roof of the hangar of an airlines at the Northern Kentucky airport. Another death blamed on the hurricane winds was that of a man who was killed after a strong gust of wind caused a nearby tree to collapse on his trailer and kill him. Much of the Texas-Louisiana was declared a major disaster area.

Typhoon Sinalaku slams into Taiwan as China waits for their turn

Typhoon Sinalaku hit the llan county with heavy rain and strong winds. Taipei was affected badly and some parts of Hsinchu was flooded. Many low lying areas were flooded and China is now waiting to be hit within a few days. The storm was said to be a category 4 storm although some parts of Taiwan escaped. 

Wind slams as Ike nears a Category 3 hurricane

Hurricane Ike hits the island of Gavelston as it nears power and become a category 3 hurricane.The wind could be felt at the national airport 50 mile away from the storm.The storm has caused 1.3 million customers to lose electricity and fires have broken out across the island. The wind is much stronger than expected and authorities fear that high-rise apartments may be hit harder than predicted. They have announced that it is no longer save to evacuate as it is too late  

Why students should blog?

Students should blog because it allows them to express themselves, freely and also read what other people feel about certain issues. I like blogging because I can write freely without worrying whether my answers are right or wrong.I also like reading other people blogs because I can read what they think

Ike weakens but forecasters warn of war drama ahead

With winds around 105mph Hurricane Ike, the Category 3 storm is expected to devastate the gulf of Miami waves as high as fifty feet crashed down and killed seventy-three people.

    

French Hostages Freed

Two French citizens who had been kidnapped in Nigeria have been released reported the French foreign ministry.They are expected to be in France over the next few days. The two had been seized over an oil industry hub.   

North Korea nuclear deal faces setback

  An international effort to denuclearize the N. Korea ran into another major setback after it emerged that N. Korea had started reassembling it's main nuclear reactor. North Korea began disabling the reactor at Yongbyon last year in return for economic aid, and its removal for a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Allegedly, North Korea had started to rebuild the nuclear reactor  because it was not removed from the US list. The White House has demanded N. Korea inspectors to be allowed to come into the suspected facilities without warning.