Lawer and old farmer

Taken from A Joke A Day
A New York lawyer went duck hunting in eastern North Carolina. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an older man asked him what he was doing. The lawyer responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, I'm going to retrieve it."
The old farmer replied. "This is my property, and you are not coming over here."
The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the U.S. and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything!
The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things here in North Carolina. We settle small disagreements like this with the NC Three-Kick Rule."
The lawyer asked, "What is the NC three-Kick Rule?"
The Farmer replied. "Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up."
The New York attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old southerner. He agreed to abide by the local custom.
The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees. His next too kicks caused the lawyer so much pain that he just about gave up. However, the New York lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet and said, "Okay, you old redneck southerner, now it's my turn."
The old North Carolina farmer smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. You can have the duck."

Sam Walton, the late founder of wal-Mart

"There is only one boss. The Customer, and he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else"

Sam Walton, the late founder of wal-Mart. When he passed away in 1992, he was the scond richest man in the world after Bill gates.

Precious sleep

Sunday March 27, 2011

By Dr RAYMOND TAN SUAN-KUO

http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2011/3/27/health/8350901&sec=health

There is still a lot that we don’t know about sleep.

THERE is a rare disease called Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI). Patients are unable to sleep, and they ultimately die, usually in their 50s.

In FFI, the thalamus gland in our brains, which plays an important part in blocking input from our senses whilst asleep, is damaged by proteins called prions in FFI. We still don’t know why it happens, nor how to treat or stop this rare disease.

Sleep is so important. Experiments depriving rats of sleep for two weeks result in their deaths.

A recent study looking at people who sleep an average of five hours a day versus those who sleep an average of seven hours a day showed a much higher incidence of hypertension, heart disease, depression and even suicides in the group with less sleep.

What a difference two hours makes.

Different parts of our brain play different roles in maintaining sleep. These include:

·Hypothalamus – governs circadian rhythms, which promote sleep and arousal.

·Pineal gland – produces melatonin, sensing darkness, and prepares brain to sleep.

·Hippocampus – involved in dreams.

·Pons – has a part in arousal and activation of dreams in Rapid Eye Movement (REM).

·Retina of the eye – arousal signal to brain, senses light.

We still don’t know why we need to sleep. We do know of the severe consequences if we don’t get enough sleep. Is sleep a period where the brain’s activity goes very quiet, and it gets its “rest”?

The answer is an emphatic no. Sleep is NOT being unconscious. It is a dynamic state with shifting levels of electricity, and ebbing and flowing of chemicals in the brain.

At night, we cycle several times through ever deeper phases of sleep. In stage 1 (light sleep), we drift in and out of wakefulness. Brain waves then slow down in stage 2, and become extremely slow in stage 3. Dreams then occur in the REM, where heart rate and breathing grow more rapid.

The Spanish are famous for their siestas (cat naps). The timing of the traditional siesta corresponds to a natural post-lunch dip in our circadian rhythms, and studies have shown that people who catnap are generally more productive and may even enjoy lower risk of death from heart disease.

Babies sleep between 12 and 18 hours a day. Interestingly, 50% of their sleep time is in REM dream sleep.

Children usually sleep from 8pm to 6am, averaging about 11 to 13 hours. About 25% of their sleep is in REM sleep. Studies have shown that children who sleep less are more prone to gaining weight, and also have poorer school grades and lower IQs.

Adolescents usually sleep from 1am to 10am, and they require about nine hours of sleep. Less sleep has again been implicated in poorer school grades. Also, early school hours often clash with their natural sleeping times.

Adults typically require 6.5 to 7.5 hours of sleep a night, and their sleeping times are usually between 11pm to 6am. Again, both sleeping shorter or longer than these normal seven hours results in higher morbidity, depression, and obesity.

Short, poor sleep are also novel risk factors for obesity and for type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that sleep restriction damages the body’s ability to regulate eating by lowering levels of leptin, the hormone that tells the body when it has had enough food, resulting in overeating.

Sleep disruption also causes an increase in insulin resistance in humans (thus causing the body to need higher levels of insulin).

There are, to date, 86 known sleep disorders, the most common of which is Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). Typically, these patients are either overweight or obese, and most are men. They snore loudly during sleep and have episodes of choking, gasping, and breathing stoppages (apnoeas), usually witnessed by their sleeping partners.

During sleep, their airways collapse and they suffer from oxygen deprivation, resulting in hypertension, and heart attacks. They also experience higher incidences of road traffic accidents due to excessive daytime sleepiness. A recent horrific bus accident in Malaysia involved an overweight bus driver who admitted he was sleepy when the accident occurred. We can only wonder whether he suffers from OSA.

In the UK, the Department of Vehicle Licensing (our JPJ) makes it mandatory for all drivers of commercial vehicles with OSA to undergo treatment for their OSA before their licences are renewed annually.

Insomnia is when somebody cannot sleep or has difficulty falling asleep.

Narcolepsy is the entire opposite. Here, patients sleep at the drop of a hat, anytime throughout the day.

Sleepwalking or somnambulism is when a patient engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness (such as eating or dressing), which may include walking, without the conscious knowledge of the subject.

We must recognise the fact that sleep is a valuable commodity. Guard it religiously. Sleep at the recommended hours, for the recommended hours. Keep computers/TVs/CD players/radios out of the bedroom – these are potential sleep distracters.

Keep the bedroom comfortable, neat, clean and quiet. Remember to “cool down” to sleep. Relax for half an hour before sleeping by soaking in a warm tub, listening to some slow, easy music.

We cannot just switch off the computer and jump into beds. Our minds would still be a beehive of activity and many would find it hard to sleep.

Do not take substances like teas, coffees, carbonated drinks, chocolates just before sleeping. They are stimulants because they contain caffeine, which prevents us from falling asleep.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, and light directly inhibits the release of melatonin. That is why melatonin is sometimes called the “Dracula of hormones” – it only comes out in the dark.

Overall, research indicates improved sleep when melatonin is taken at the appropriate time for jet lag and shift work. However, more research needs to be done to see whether melatonin helps in the treatment of insomnia.

In conclusion, I would say that there is still so much we need to find out about sleep. What we do know is that sleep is very important and I wish you all a good night’s sleep!

Dr Raymond Tan Suan-Kuo is a consultant ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) surgeon, and snoring and sleep medicine specialist, at the Pantai Ampang Hospital.

Lady Gaga criticizes Malaysia gay lyric censorship

2011-03-27 10:40:00


http://www.sify.com/movies/lady-gaga-flays-malaysia-gay-lyric-censorship-news-hollywood-ld1k4Fafjid.html


Lady Gaga has urged young Malaysians to protest the censorship of lyrics in her hit song that encourage acceptance of gays.

The Associated Press reported last week that radio stations in Muslim-majority Malaysia were playing edited versions of "Born This Way" that use garble to replace the lyrics: "No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby."

Lady Gaga criticized the censorship during a visit Tuesday to Google company headquarters in Mountain View, California.

"What I would say is for all the young people in Malaysia that want those words to be played on the radio, it is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard," the pop star said in an interview that was posted on YouTube.

"You must do everything that you can if you want to be liberated by your society. You must call, you must not stop, you must protest peaceably," she added.

Broadcasters have said they are being cautious with Lady Gaga's song because Malaysia's government forbids offensive content. They risk fines of up to 50,000 ringgit ($16,000) and other penalties for breaking the rules.

Malaysian gay rights advocates complain that the censorship is part of discrimination they face in everyday life.

Arab Trade Unions: A New Force

TIMOTHY CRAMTON

ARCHIVE    |    LATEST    |    LOG IN

MARCH 15, 2011 4:00 A.M. http://www.nationalreview.com Trade unions have played a surprising role in the Middle Eastern uprisings. Where will they turn next? The revolutions that have swept throughout the Middle East caught not only American policymakers and regional governments by surprise, but also opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. One group that was not caught off guard, however, was the region’s independent trade unions. While Arab states have long sought to regulate, or indeed to run, their countries’ trade unions, in recent years these groups have increasingly asserted their independence from government control. The wave of Arab protests started with the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old Tunisian fruit vendor. Bouazizi’s death might have been just one more forgotten tragedy had it not been for the Tunisian General Union of Labor, which, while nominally “independent,” was until then controlled by the Ben Ali government. During the protests following Bouazizi’s death, the union cut its ties with the government and embraced true independence, organizing its half-million members to join the protests. Not only did the Tunisian General Union of Labor play a lead role in ousting Ben Ali, but its continued agitation led to the resignation of the prime minister and senior Ben Ali aides earlier this month. Egypt proved the pattern to be the rule rather than the exception. Between 2004 and 2008, 1.7 million Egyptian workers had already launched almost 2,000 strikes. As protesters gathered on Tahrir Sqaure, Egyptian workers united to form the Egyptian Federation for Independent Unions, effectively destroying the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation. Whereas the state-controlled union ordered workers to stay on their jobs, the new Federation led them to strike and to join the protests that ultimately brought about Mubarak’s downfall. In both Tunisia and Egypt, the newly independent trade unions seek democracy, economic stability, and more liberal — rather than religious — government. But Washington should be wary. Historically, Arab trade unions have failed to find a compromise between repression and political co-optation. Not only in Tunisia and Egypt, but also in Algeria and Syria, governments have used unions as mechanisms of authoritarian control. In Lebanon, where trade unions have remained nominally free, they act as extensions of political parties and, in Lebanon’s chaotic politics, major sources of instability. The new unions are no panacea. For example, the Egyptian Federation for Independent Unions calls for wage reform, education, and a more rigorous fight against corruption, all which appear positive; but it also seeks guaranteed employment and wealth redistribution, the first unrealistic and the second an infringement on liberty. The Tunisian General Union of Labor likewise seeks Communist-style wealth redistribution. Arab unions have traditionally also embraced reactionary foreign policies. The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the flagship labor organization in the Middle East, has never been friendly to America. The ICATU’s members embraced Saddam Hussein in his conflict with the United States, and they have pledged assistance for the most militant Palestinian factions. Trade unions might be a valuable tool in the fight against autocracy, but bringing down a dictator is not the end of the process of democratization. Not every union professing to fight tyranny will be like Lech Walesa’s Solidarity in Poland. In Arab states, trade unions could force would-be dictators to remain accountable to the people. But if foreign powers embrace them unconditionally, the new Arab unions might substitute tyranny of the majority for true democracy. Over the past decades, American administrations have looked the other way while governments in various parts of the world have created Potemkin civil institutions. No longer should the White House accept this fiction. It should not recognize nor should Congress allow American aid to go to unions that are mere extensions of political parties. The United States provides nearly $2 billion a year to Egypt, hundreds of millions to Lebanon, and tens of millions to Tunisia. Congress should condition its aid on true independence of those countries’ unions. America need not be an enemy to independent Arab unions. In Egypt and Tunisia, the unions are at their most influential position in decades, and are a bulwark against the ambitions of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. However, should the Obama administration become complacent now, it might help substitute one engine of dictatorship for another. — Timothy Cramton, a junior at Cornell University, is an intern at the American Enterprise Institute

EDITORIAL: Foreign interventions in Bahrain and Libya

Although Bahrain’s monarch had requested the Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising six Gulf countries, to send their forces to contain the protests in Bahrain, it is nonetheless a foreign intervention. The 1000-strong contingent sent by five neighbouring countries of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, will be used to suppress Shia protesters, who are demanding political and economic rights in a country ruled by a minority Sunni elite. Arguably, Saudi Arabia was more worried than the rest of the Gulf countries because its oil-rich, Shia-dominated eastern area borders Bahrain and if the Bahraini Shias manage to gain the upper hand, it might spell disaster for the Saudi monarchy’s own existence, which has kept its Shia population backward and deprived for decades. It is in the interest of all reactionary monarchs of the Gulf to not let things get out of hand, hence this collaboration. There is no reason to open fire on unarmed protesters, but when an insecure minority is ruling over a restless majority as in Bahrain, perhaps this is inevitable. It would be pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s retired military officers and civilians are being rapidly hired by Bahrain because they are reputed to be most aggressive. It is not certain if the Bahrainis, who have been out on the streets for a month, would be able to sustain their struggle in the face of a brutal crackdown that now seems on the cards.

When the wave of insurgency started from Tunisia and spread to Egypt, in both cases yielding results quickly and relatively peacefully, an optimistic illusion was created that this would be replicated in all Arab countries where the public had risen. It has turned out that all Gulf countries are not at the same juncture of history where their regimes had been hollowed out from within and needed just the kind of push that the people in Egypt and Tunisia provided. Yemen’s long-serving dictator is not yielding to the protesters’ demands to relinquish the office of president, which he has been holding for the last 32 years. There have been protests in Oman as well without much hope for success. In Libya, there are reports that the tables have been turned by Gaddafi’s use of military force and a vow to fight till the last drop of blood. The rebel forces in Libya that had taken over eastern towns are now being pushed back through the use of navy, air force and artillery bombardments. The imbalance of power between the two sides is so great that an untrained, lightly armed, scattered guerrilla force cannot win over a conventional military force in set-piece battles. Being largely a desert excepting the northern periphery, it will not be easy for the rebels to sustain guerrilla warfare against Gaddafi’s air power. It seems that Gaddafi still has the backing of his military and certain tribes who are aiding him.

In this scenario, saner heads in the West are advising the hawks led by France against military intervention in the name of ‘humanitarian’ action. It has been proved in recent years that such intrusions are, after all, not entirely altruistic and are driven by vested interests. The UN Security Council is unlikely to yield to the proposal of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. It is dangerous thinking, this talk of military intervention and will lead to the expansion of war in Libya and the region. A fig leaf has been created in the shape of the Arab League’s endorsement of a no-fly zone, but this is unlikely to impress anyone. The Arab League has lost credibility over the years and cannot necessarily be taken as representing the interests of the Arab people. Gaddafi may have resiled from anti-imperialist Arab nationalism and may be cracking down on his people, but this should not be used an excuse to call for a foreign intervention. The Arab people must be given the opportunity to settle their affairs themselves. *

Publisher: Salmaan Taseer

Editor: Rashed Rahman 
editor@dailytimes.com.pk

Daily Times

41-N, Industrial Area
Gulberg II, Lahore
Pakistan

Fruit seller ignites a revolution

Reports by Shahanaaz Habib
Photos by Glenn Guan

The Star visits the family and village of Mohamed Bouazizi, a poor fruit seller who set himself on fire to protest against official harassment. The incident triggered a revolution in Tunisia and also sparked off protests against autocratic governments in several Arab countries.

IT was early Friday, just before 8am. After picking olives from a farm, Manuobya looked in on her 26-year-old son Mohamed Bouazizi, who was still asleep and something stirred inside her.

“I felt a kind of love and affection that I never felt before. I said to myself: ‘Mohamed, you are so tired. May God give you a car and another job,’” she tells Sunday Star during an interview at her home in a village near Sidi Bouzid.

Just the night before, Manuobya recounts, Mohamed Bouazizi, who sold fruits from a push cart, was talking about working harder to earn enough to buy a pick-up truck which would make it easier for him to transport his produce. And that night, he gave his mother quite a lot of cash.

“He told me: ‘You know, mother, I’ve never got so much money as I have this week.’

Painful reminder: Manuobya caressing a giant poster of her late son Mohamed Bouazizi who has become a hero in his country and the Arab world.

“He told his sister Leila: ‘If you succeed in school, I will pay for your education.’

“He said to his brothers: ‘If you do well, I will buy you what you want,’” Manuobya relates, looking both sad and proud at the same time as she talks about Mohamed Bouazizi.

Her son, she remembers, was in such good spirits that Thursday night.

And he was teasing, playing and laughing with his eight-year-old half-brother Ziyad a lot more than usual before they went to sleep.

Manuobya says she even ticked them off for making “so much noise” for fear it might disturb the neighbours.

Before he went to bed, Mohamed Bouazizi told his mother of his plans for the next few days.

Where it all started: A view of the Government building in Sidi Bouzid where Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight on Dec 17.

He said he was getting nicer fruits and would work on Friday and Saturday, and rest on Sunday to go to Sfax (a town in Tunisia) to see his elder brother Salem.

But a few hours later, things changed forever for Mohamed Bouazizi, his family and Tunisia.

On that fateful Friday of Dec 17, after Mohamed Bouazizi had woken up, dressed and gone to his usual spot in the small of town of Sidi Bouzid to sell fruits from his cart, a municipal inspector, Faida Hamdi, and her three aides came after him.

Manuobya says Mohamed Bouazizi was the happy sort but the “police and the government always want money from him and won’t let him do his job”.

“They say he is selling fruits illegally. They want a rasuah (bribe) from him, so he is always fighting to do his job,” Manoubya elaborates.

When Mohamed Bouazizi refused to pay the bribe, Faida and her aides tried to seize the fruits. He then phoned his uncle, who is also his stepfather, for help.

But this angered the municipal officers even more.

“Faida told him that she would leave the other fruit sellers alone but not him and that she would come after him every day.

“She grabbed the fruits but when she wanted to remove the weighing scales, Mohamed Bouazizi wouldn’t let her because the scales were not his.

“That was when Faiza slapped him on the face, spat at him and said terrible things about his dead father,” relates Manuobya, who heard details of the incident from eye witnesses, including her son’s friends.

She believes the public humiliation – being slapped and spat on by a woman who also insulted his late father – was too much for her son to bear.

“He was so shocked and utterly humiliated. It was so shameful and, to him, a loss of dignity.”

When Mohamed Bouazizi, who wanted to seek justice, knocked on the municipal office door, the people there would not entertain him.

“Nobody would listen,” his grief-stricken mother says.

That was when Mohamed Bouazizi made his desperate and last cry for help.

He drenched himself with petrol and then lit himself up – right in front of the government building.

People rushed to douse the flames with their jackets, and someone even grabbed a fire hydrant but found it empty.

It was too late. Within seconds, Mohamed Bouazizi was charred but still alive. And that was how his stepfather Omar found him.

“I couldn’t recognise him because he was totally burnt. Then he uttered the Kalimah Shahadah (a Muslim declaration of faith).

“And I knew from the voice that it was Mohamed Bouazizi. Those were the last words he spoke,” says Omar, adding that both of them were supposed to have gone for Friday prayers that day.

Mohamed Bouazizi was rushed from one hospital to another because they could not treat the severe burns. He lived on for another 18 days and died on Jan 4.

By this time, news of what had happened to the poor fruit seller who just wanted to make a living spread through Tunisia like wildfire. His town, Sidi Bouzid, was the first to rise up.

Noha Farah left her children at home and went to the government building every day to protest and shout for change and for the president to quit.

She says she knew Mohamed Bouazizi personally.

“I always bought fruits from him. He was a very nice person. I cried when I saw what had happened,” she shares.

Through Facebook and Twitter, word spread and the protests grew all over Tunisia, shocking the world.

Here was Tunisia– an educated, moderate and stable country.

Yet its people, fed up with poverty, unemployment and a rotten corrupt system, spontaneously rose up to kick out their leader of 23 years, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

They wanted to reform their government which made it tough for people like Mohamed Bouazizi to make a living.

And soon, the Tunisian revolution caught on in other Arab countries.

Egypt managed to chuck out its strongman Hosni Mubarak who ruled the country with an iron fist for 30 years.

Libya is still in the process of trying to oust its leader of 41 years, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The spark for change has also been lit in Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq and even Saudi Arabia. And although Manuobya wishes every night that Mohamed Bouazizi’s death is just a bad dream because she misses him dreadfully, she believes what he did was for a greater good.

“It is unbelievable what has happened. I thank God that things are better for all of Tunisia. I’m happy that He has opened the door for a lot of Arab countries. Freedom is a good thing,” she adds.

Manuobya followed the events in Egypt closely until Mubarak fell and her focus now is on what is happening in neighbouring Libya.

She wants the “evil” Gaddafi who has killed too many of his people to be replaced.

“God help Libya,” she says.

A neighbour, Alfiyah, tells how women, including strangers, drop by to visit Manuobya from time to time and offer words of comfort because they know how painful it is to lose a child.

“The women say ‘thank you for your son and for changing Tunisia’. The situation in Tunisia is still not all that we have hoped for but it is still early days yet,” she adds.

Noha Farah, however, feels something is still missing.

“We are happy but our happiness will not be complete until the Libyan revolution ends and the people there are also free,” she says.

Overnight, Mohamed Bouazizi has become a hero in his town, country and the Arab world.

Muhammad Han Zuli, 31, who speaks flawless English and lives in Sidi Bouzid, has tremendous respect for the fruit seller who triggered off a revolution.

“He gave us the best things in the world – freedom and democracy.”

http://thestar.com.my