Monday, March 31, 2008

Buddhist Thought for the Day


On life's journey Faith is nourishment,
Virtuous deeds are a shelter,
Wisdom is the light by day and Right mindfulness is the protection by night.
If a man lives a pure life nothing can destroy him;
If he has conquered greed nothing can limit his freedom.

--Buddha

Chocolate Chip Pancakes


Recipe:

Chocolate Chip Pancakes
serves 2

3/4 cup of white flour
1 1/2 tablespoons of white sugar
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter - Melted
7/8 cup of milk
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
4 tablespoons of chocolate chips

In a medium size bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and the salt.In another bowl mix together the: melted butter, milk, egg, and vanilla, (wet ingredients).Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together until just combined.Pre-heat large non-stick frying pan for 3-4 minutes on medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of Vegetable oil. Using a cup measuring cup, scoop out the batter and pour it into the frying pan. Repeat so there are three pancakes in the pan.Sprinkle on about 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips on each pancake. Cook the pancakes until bubbles appear on the surface and start to pop. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the flip side.Repeat with remaining batter.Makes six 4-inch pancakes. Enjoy!


Chocolate Chip Pancakes

How To Practice Buddhist Loving-Kindness Meditation



Metta bhavana, or loving-kindness meditation, is one of the two simplest meditations in Buddhism. It helps develop positive feelings towards all other living creatures.

Coroner Exonerates Prince Philip


LONDON (AP) — A coroner rejected a conspiracy theory in the death of Princess Diana Monday, ruling there is no proof that Prince Philip or British secret agents had anything to do with the car crash that also killed her boyfriend Dodi Fayed.

In instructions to the jury, Lord Justice Scott Baker left open the possibility that the couple's driver and the paparazzi who pursued them through Paris on Aug. 31, 1997 caused the crash through recklessness. The panel was also asked to consider whether the crash was an accident.

"There is no evidence that the Duke of Edinburgh ordered Diana's execution and there is no evidence that the Secret Intelligence Service or any other government agency organized it," Baker told the 11-member jury.

Dodi Fayed's father, Mohamed al Fayed, who pursued the conspiracy theory for a decade, was indignant as he left the Royal Courts of Justice.

"It is terrible," Al Fayed said. "It's all biased."

French and British police both concluded that the crash was an accident, and that driver Henri Paul was drunk and speeding as the car carrying Fayed and Diana was pursued by paparazzi.

Baker told jurors to consider Paul's driving and the behavior of one or more of the paparazzi to decide "whether they were wholly indifferent to an obvious risk of death," or saw the risk and did it anyway.

If so, he said, the jury should find that the couple were unlawfully killed through the grossly negligent driving of Paul, the paparazzi, or both.

Investigators concluded that Paul was driving in excess of 60 mph, double the speed limit, when the Mercedes slammed into a concrete pillar in the Alma underpass.

"Had it been traveling more slowly, the outcome might have been different," Baker said.

Baker said the law obliged him to offer evidence for any possible verdict, and thus he was compelled to discard a possible finding that the couple were unlawfully killed in a staged accident — that is, that they were victims of a murder plot.

"Speculation, surmise and belief are one thing; evidence is another," he said.

However, Baker said there was some evidence — "albeit limited and of doubtful quality" — that the crash was staged, which he left for the jury to consider in choosing among the five possible verdicts.

He did not explain why, having dismissed the possibility of an establishment murder plot, he considered such evidence to have any relevance.

Baker said the inquest, which began in October, had heard lies, half-truths, speculation and rumors. He identified Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, as one of the liars — either in court or elsewhere.

He also raised sharp questions about the truthfulness of Al Fayed and his spokesman, Michael Cole — notably on the issues of whether Diana was pregnant and intended to marry Dodi Fayed.

"The only evidence that Diana was pregnant comes from the mouth of Mohamed Al Fayed," said Baker, referring to Al Fayed's claim that Diana told him so just hours before the crash.

"On the other hand there is a great deal of evidence that she was not pregnant, although you may think it cannot be proved with absolute scientific certainty that she was not," Baker told the jury.

Baker, who plans to finish his summation Wednesday, again expressed the hope that the inquest would bring an end to rumors about the death.

"There is no substance in them, it is in everyone's interests that this should be shown to be the case, rather than they be left in the air."

Kathie Lee Gifford Makes TV Comeback With 'Today'


Above: Kathie Lee Gifford makes an appearance on NBC's The Today Show. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Peter Kramer
-------------------------------------------
It has been officially confirmed that former "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" co-host Kathie Lee Gifford is returning to daytime as a co-anchor of the "Today" show's fourth hour, which was introduced in September.

According to Monday's announcement made by Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, the hosts of the first two hours, Gifford, who left her spot as Regis Philbin's sidekick eight years ago to pursue her singing career and spend more time with her family, will join Hoda Kotb, starting next Monday, April 7.

"I am truly honored to join the Today Show family, many of whom have been friends and colleagues of mine for years," Gifford said in a statement. "And I'm especially looking forward to working with Hoda, a bright and beautiful woman I admire very much. Together I hope we will bring a fresh and fun perspective to the topics that affect all of our daily lives."

The move marks Gifford's third morning show assignment after she reported for "Good Morning America" before becoming Regis Philbin’s co-host on "Live" for more than a decade.

Sitting alongside the program's established stars, Gifford, who is now 54, joked that the timing of her TV return "couldn't be worse" in certain ways: "I'm eight years older, 10 pounds heavier, a half-inch shorter, and just in time for HD television."

Gifford's addition to the crew, currently consisting of Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, the hosts of the first two hours, Ann Curry and Al Roker, who currently host the third hour, Natalie Morales, who was named a co-anchor of the fourth hour last September and will now move to the third hour and Hoda Kotb, also a co-anchor of the fourth hour, will make the job easier for some of the anchors.

"I am excited to welcome Kathie Lee to 'Today,'" executive producer Jim Bell says. "She is a morning television icon and is on a short list of personalities known by her first name alone. We are looking forward to her signature warmth and sense of humor in the fourth hour."

Asked about what made her decide to come back to television, Gifford, who is married to former NFL star and sports announcer Frank Gifford, credited Kotb as well as the fact that her son, Cody, was leaving for college in the fall.

"Timing is everything in life. It was the right time when I left the show all those years ago, for my family especially, and my son's going off to college this fall," she said, adding with a laugh that he is "6-3 and obnoxious."

Source: eFluxMedia

Woody Allen sues American Apparel over ads


Woody Allen on Monday sued American Apparel Inc (APP.A: Quote, Profile, Research), claiming the U.S. clothing company used his image in advertising on billboards and the Internet without his consent.

The billboard ads, which depict Allen dressed as a rabbi, appeared in New York and California, according to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Allen, an Oscar-winning U.S. director known for his work in films such as "Annie Hall" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors," said in the suit he was neither contacted by the company, nor compensated for the use of his image.

"Allen does not engage in the commercial endorsement of products or services in the United States," according to the lawsuit.

He is seeking damages in excess of $10 million, according to the suit.

A representative for American Apparel did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The company makes and sells its own cotton apparel and has more than 180 stores in the United States and Canada.

Source: Reuters

Stones film premieres


Oscar winner Martin Scorsese spends the night together with the Rolling Stones for the premiere of their new film.

Lead singer Mick Jagger wanted Scorsese to shoot their mega concert in Brazil, but Scorsese convinced the band to do a smaller venue in New York to capture their intimacy on film.



Source: Reuters

Tibetan Exiles Protest at White House


Above: People attend the "Stand up for Tibet" rally in central Sydney March 31, 2008. About 300 people joined the lunchtime rally organised by the Australia Tibet Council, who are calling for the Olympic Torch to be kept out of Tibet. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (AUSTRALIA)

--------------------------------------------------
Mar. 31 - Tibetan exiles living in the Washington gathered across from the White House to demand that President George W. Bush condemn Chinese repression and boycott the opening ceremonies of this summer's Beijing Olympics.

The protest by the Capital Area Tibetan Association is timed to coincide with the opening of the Olympic torch relay in Beijing. The exiles believe recent acts of repression by Chinese authorities have given them a chance to bring attention to Tibet.



Source: Reuters

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Buddhist Thought for the Day


You only lose what you cling to.

--Buddha

French Architect Wins Pritzker Prize


Jean Nouvel, the bold French architect known for such wildly diverse projects as the muscular Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the exotically louvered Arab World Institute in Paris, has received architecture’s top honor, the Pritzker Prize.

Mr. Nouvel, 62, is the second French citizen to take the prize, awarded annually to a living architect by a jury chosen by the Hyatt Foundation. (Christian de Portzamparc of France won in 1994.) His selection is to be announced Monday.

“For over 30 years Jean Nouvel has pushed architecture’s discourse and praxis to new limits,” the Pritzker jury said in its citation. “His inquisitive and agile mind propels him to take risks in each of his projects, which, regardless of varying degrees of success, have greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture.”

In extending that vocabulary Mr. Nouvel has defied easy categorization. His buildings have no immediately identifiable signature, like the curves of Frank Gehry or the light-filled atriums of Renzo Piano. But each is strikingly distinctive, be it the Agbar Tower in Barcelona (2005), a candy-colored, bullet-shaped office tower, or his KKL cultural and congress center in Lucerne, Switzerland (2000), with a slim copper roof cantilevered delicately over Lake Lucerne.

KKL CULTURAL AND CONGRESS CENTER< LUCERNE< SWITZERLAND



AGBAR TOWER


“Every time I try to find what I call the missing piece of the puzzle, the right building in the right place,” Mr. Nouvel said this month over tea at the Mercer Hotel in SoHo.

Yet he does not design buildings simply to echo their surroundings. “Generally, when you say context, people think you want to copy the buildings around, but often context is contrast,” he said.

“The wind, the color of the sky, the trees around — the building is not done only to be the most beautiful,” he said. “It’s done to give advantage to the surroundings. It’s a dialogue.”

The prize, which includes a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion, is to be presented to Mr. Nouvel on June 2 in a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington.

Among Mr. Nouvel’s New York buildings are 40 Mercer, a 15-story red-and-blue, glass, wood and steel luxury residential building completed last year in SoHo, and a soaring 75-story hotel-and-museum tower with crystalline peaks that is to be built next to the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown. Writing in The New York Times in November, Nicolai Ouroussoff said the Midtown tower “promises to be the most exhilarating addition to the skyline in a generation.”

40 MERCER


Born in Fumel in southwestern France in 1945, Mr. Nouvel originally wanted to be an artist. But his parents, both teachers, wanted a more stable life for him, he said, so they compromised on architecture.

“I realized it was possible to create visual compositions” that, he said, “you can put directly in the street, in the city, in public spaces.”

At 20 Mr. Nouvel won first prize in a national competition to attend the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. By the time he was 25 he had opened his own architecture firm with François Seigneur; a series of other partnerships followed.

Mr. Nouvel cemented his reputation in 1987 with completion of the Arab World Institute, one of the “grand projects” commissioned during the presidency of François Mitterrand. A showcase for art from Arab countries, it blends high technology with traditional Arab motifs. Its south-facing glass facade, for example, has automated lenses that control light to the interior while also evoking traditional Arab latticework. For his boxy, industrial Guthrie Theater, which has a cantilevered bridge overlooking the Mississippi River, Mr. Nouvel experimented widely with color. The theater is clad in midnight-blue metal; a small terrace is bright yellow; orange LED images rise along the complex’s two towers.

GUTHRIE THEATER



In its citation, the Pritzker jury said the Guthrie, completed in 2006, “both merges and contrasts with its surroundings.” It added, “It is responsive to the city and the nearby Mississippi River, and yet, it is also an expression of theatricality and the magical world of performance.”

The bulk of Mr. Nouvel’s commissions work has been in Europe however. Among the most prominent is his Quai Branly Museum in Paris (2006), an eccentric jumble of elements including a glass block atop two columns, some brightly colorful boxes, rust-colored louvers and a vertical carpet of plants. “Defiant, mysterious and wildly eccentric, it is not an easy building to love,” Mr. Ouroussoff wrote in The Times.

A year later he described Mr. Nouvel’s Paris Philharmonie concert hall, a series of large overlapping metal plates on the edge of La Villette Park in northeastern Paris, as “an unsettling if exhilarating trip into the unknown.”

Mr. Nouvel has his plate full at the moment. He is designing a satellite of the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, giving it a shallow domed roof that creates the aura of a just-landed U.F.O. He recently announced plans for a high-rise condominium in Los Angeles called SunCal tower, a narrow glass structure with rings of greenery on each floor. His concert hall for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation is a tall rectangular box with transparent screen walls.

Before dreaming up a design, Mr. Nouvel said, he does copious research on the project and its surroundings. “The story, the climate, the desires of the client, the rules, the culture of the place,” he said. “The references of the buildings around, what the people in the city love.”

“I need analysis,” he said, noting that every person “is a product of a civilization, of a culture.” He added: “Me, I was born in France after the Second World War. Probably the most important cultural movement was Structuralism. I cannot do a building if I can’t analyze.”

Although he becomes attached to his buildings, Mr. Nouvel said, he understands that like human beings, they grow and change over time and may even one day disappear. “Architecture is always a temporary modification of the space, of the city, of the landscape,” he said. “We think that it’s permanent. But we never know.”

Source: The New York Times

Bread is costing more dough


Increased fuel costs, extreme weather, and changing diets cause food prices to soar around the globe.

In the U.S., some American consumers are paying double or more for their bread

width="344" height="320">

Source: Reuters

Cherry Blossom Festival in DC


Above: Tourists walk among the blossoming cherry trees around the tidal basin in Washington DC, USA, 29 March 2008. The annual cherry blossom festival brings thousands of tourists to the U.S. Capitol city. EPA/MATTHEW CAVANAUGH
--------------------------------------
Mar. 28 - With the annual Cherry Blossom Festival kicking off in the US capital...organizers expect nearly a million visitors to be drawn to the city's tidal basin to see the show. The festival commemorates Japan's 1912 gift to the United States...three thousand cherry trees to mark a growing friendship between the countries.



Source: Reuters

The big turn off


Above: Residents of Sydney, Australia, enjoy picnic dinners near the waterfront just prior to the city's lights going out for Earth Hour last night. The event started in Sydney last year to raise awareness of the global climate crisis, and ballooned to encompass more than 35 countries this year.
Photograph by : Reuters
----------------------------------------
Towns and cities around the world are turning out the lights for an hour to highlight the threat from climate change.

Sydney's picture-perfect harbour was the first to be plunged into darkness to observe Earth Hour, the greenhouse awareness initiative launched in the city in 2007.

More than 2.2 million Sydney-siders took part in the event which will be observed around the world at more than 370 locations.



Source: Reuters

Tibet: China's ''cultural genocide''


Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has urged Beijing to give meaningful autonomy to Tibet and end China's "cultural genocide" in the region.

The Nobel Laureate, who won the Peace Prize in 1989 for leading a non-violent struggle for the liberation of his homeland, reiterated his assertion that he was not for a separate Tibet, but, sought meaningful autonomy for Tibet within China.

The Dalai Lama led an inter-faith prayer meeting at Rajghat on Saturday in remembrance of Tibetans who lost their lives during their recent protest against China.



Source: Reuters

Tibet tense as Olympic torch heads for Beijing


Above: Chinese riot police patrol the streets in Lhasa, Tibet March 29, 2008.

REUTERS/Stringer
------------------------------------
Tibet's capital Lhasa was calm on Sunday following a brief burst of unrest weeks after a bloody uprising against Chinese rule, but in Greece and Nepal flurries of pro-Tibet protest continued.

A small group of activists tried to stop the Olympic flame reaching the Athens stadium where Greece handed it to China, but they were quickly removed by police.

Details of an incident on the streets of Lhasa on Saturday remained unclear. A mobile text message to residents from police said security checks carried out earlier in the day had "frightened citizens" and caused panic in the city centre.

The International Campaign for Tibet and Radio Free Asia quoted witnesses as describing people "running in all directions and shouting". It was not clear if the security check was in response to a protest or if the check itself caused the panic.

"Severely battle any creation or any spreading of rumors that would upset or frighten people or cause social disorder or illegal criminal behavior that could damage social stability," read the text message, reprinted by the Free Tibet Campaign and International Campaign for Tibet.

Beijing is preparing to receive the Olympic flame on Monday, for the start of a domestic and international relay China's government had hoped would symbolize national unity ahead of Games in August.

Instead, China finds itself trying to deflect criticism over its policies in Tibet and its response to unrest there, and could face the prospect of weeks of protests as the Olympic flame circles the globe.

In Nepal, home to more than 20,000 Tibetans, police scuffled with Tibetan protesters, who have marched almost daily since mid-March, and detained at least 113.

DALAI LAMA

Tibet's anti-Chinese unrest began with days of peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in Lhasa which was followed by a citywide riot on March 14, and outbreaks of protest in other parts of China inhabited by ethnic Tibetans.

The Chinese government says Tibetan rioters killed 18 civilians in violence masterminded by the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese Communist rule.

Representatives of the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile say some 140 people have been killed in the unrest, most of them Tibetans killed by Chinese security forces. He denies he is behind the unrest.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency released on Sunday what it said was evidence given by a suspect detained over the Lhasa violence that showed the Dalai Lama was behind the unrest.

The Xinhua report said a meeting of the government-in-exile on the day of the riot had taken a decision to ask monks across China to demonstrate and to involve lay Tibetans, and plotted the launch of continuous protests by stages in Tibetan areas.

In a sign of the importance of the issue to the fragile relations between India, which plays host to the Dalai Lama, and its giant neighbor China, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo phoned India's National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan.

Dai said he hoped Narayanan could "understand and support China's actions" in Tibet, and the Narayanan responded that his country does not support independence for the region and or allow anti-Chinese political activities on its soil.

Speaking in Laos, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called the Lhasa unrest "violent and criminal", but said stability had returned.

"The Chinese government has the ability to solve this matter," Wen told Hong Kong reporters.

In Sichuan province's Aba county, where police opened fire on protesters earlier this month, 26 suspects have been detained for their involvement, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Police seized guns, bullets, explosives and knives in Aba's Kirti monastery, as well as Tibetan flags and banners advocating independence for Tibet, it said.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, based in India, gave a different account, saying more than 100 monks from the Kirti monastery had been detained and that police raided rooms. It made no mention of weapons. The centre said 23 Tibetans had been killed in the March 15 violence.

PARAMILITARY POLICE MAN CHECKPOINTS

In Gansu province, whose southern, heavily Tibetan areas have seen widespread unrest, authorities posted notices on walls urging protesters to give themselves up.

The paramilitary People's Armed Police manned checkpoints in the region, armed with riot shields and clubs and rifles with bayonets.

U.S. President George W. Bush has urged China to exercise restraint in its response to the unrest and to meet representatives of the Dalai Lama, against whom Chinese state media has been waging an intense propaganda campaign.

"Dealing with such a person, who can blow hot and cold, the Chinese government has shown the greatest patience," Xinhua said in a commentary on Sunday. "It was the Dalai Lama clique that closed the door of dialogue," it said.

A meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Saturday urged dialogue on Tibet's religious and cultural rights. But in a joint text, the bloc avoided reference to the Beijing Games, after a week of public differences over whether to boycott the opening ceremony.



Source: Reuters

Rolling Stones film set for release


Above: Director Martin Scorsese stands next to Rolling Stones band members Keith Richards (R) and Mick Jagger (C) during a news conference regarding the documentary film about the Rolling Stones named "Shine A Light" in New York March 30, 2008.

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
------------------------------------
Director Martin Scorsese won't say the Rolling Stones are like the underworld characters in many of his movies, but he admits the band's music evokes memories of the rough, mob-tinged street life he grew up around.

The Academy Award winner and the legendary band founded in London in 1962 have combined on "Shine A Light," a concert documentary shot at New York's intimate Beacon Theatre in October 2006.

Scorsese and band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts held a press conference on Sunday ahead of the film's U.S. release on April 4.

"I don't know if I can make any direct associations," Scorsese said with a laugh when asked what similarities he sees between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and the brutal criminals he has depicted in films such as "Goodfellas," "Casino" and "The Departed."

But the native New Yorker says their music has always struck powerful chords with him, so much that he used the group's violence-laced song "Gimme Shelter" in three of his previous films.

"The music has been very important to me over the years. It dealt with aspects of the life that I was growing up around, that I was associated with or saw or was experiencing and trying to make sense of," Scorsese said.

"It was tougher, it had an edge. Beautiful, honest and brutal at times. And it's always stayed with me and become a well of inspiration to this day," he added.

The film offers 17 songs mainly comprised of concert warhorses like "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Start Me Up" and "Brown Sugar," and features guest appearances by blues legend Buddy Guy, White Stripes guitarist Jack White and singer Christina Aguilera.

The film's opening minutes show band front-man Jagger and Scorsese in a transatlantic teleconference tug-of-war over stage dimensions, camera placement and the song list.

Archival footage of the band and limited contemporary interviews also are included, but the film mainly is a straight depiction of the concert.

While Jagger initially wanted to film a larger concert -- possibly the band's February 2006 show at Brazil's Copacabana Beach that drew a crowd estimated at well over 1 million -- Scorsese pushed for the smaller venue.

Guitarist Richards said he was happy about the scaled-down show, especially because of his love of the Beacon Theatre.

"The Beacon Theatre is special for some reason ... The room sort of wraps its arms around you, and every night it gets warmer," Richards said. "And this band, you know, didn't start off in stadiums."

While filmed in a smaller venue, Jagger said the movie will have a larger-than-life look when it is shown in the huge-screen IMAX format. The film also will be released in theaters with regular screens.

"The funny thing is that Marty decided he wanted to make this small intimate movie and I said, 'Well the laugh is that, Marty, in the end, it's going to be blown up to this huge IMAX thing ...' But it looks good in IMAX," Jagger said.

The band was long on praise for Scorsese, who after five previous Best Director nominations finally won an Oscar for 2006's "The Departed."

"He's a fantastic director and ... very painstaking on the editing to produce the movie that you see," Jagger said.

"We didn't choose Marty, Marty chose us," said Richards.


Source: Reuters

Friday, March 28, 2008

Buddhist Thought for the Day


According to Buddhism, individuals are masters of their own destiny. And all living beings are believed to possess the nature of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra, the potential or seed of enlightenment, within them. So our future is in our own hands. What greater free will do we need?

--Dalai Lama

'Earth Hour' to plunge millions into darkness


Twenty-six major cities around the world are expected to turn off the lights on major landmarks, plunging millions of people into darkness to raise awareness about global warming, organisers said.

'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley said 371 cities, towns or local governments from Australia to Canada and even Fiji had signed up for the 60-minute shutdown at 0900 GMT on March 29.

"There are definitely 26 (cities) that we think, if it all goes to plan, we are going to see a major event of lights going off," he told AFP.

Cities officially signed on include Chicago and San Francisco, Dublin, Manila, Bangkok, Copenhagen and Toronto, all of which will switch off lights on major landmarks and encourage businesses and homeowners to follow suit.

Ridley said it was also likely that other major European cities such as Rome and London, and the South Korean capital Seoul, although not officially taking part, would turn off lights on some attractions or landmarks.

The initiative began in Sydney last year and has become a global event, sweeping across 35 countries this year.

From 8:00 pm local time in Sydney, the energy-saving campaign will see harbourside icons such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House bathed only in moonlight, restaurant diners eat by candlelight and city skyscrapers turn off their neon signs.

Organisers hope the initiative will encourage people to be more aware of their energy usage, knowing that producing electricity pollutes the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels which are contributing to global warming.

But they are also aware that it will be just a small step in solving the problem of rising temperatures around the globe.

"Switching the lights off for an hour is not going to make a dent in global emissions," organiser Charles Stevens, of the environmental group WWF, told AFP.

"But what it does do is it is a great catalyst for much bigger changes. It engages people in the processes of becoming more energy efficient."

Stevens said the initiative encouraged businesses to be more careful with their electricity use while at the same time sending "a fairly powerful message to governments that people are demanding action."

Some 2.2 million people participated in last year's 'Earth Hour' in Sydney, cutting the central business district's energy usage by more than 10 percent.

While no cities from China or India are involved this year, Stevens said it was hoped that the movement would expand in 2009, which he said would be a particularly significant year given that it is the deadline for United Nations talks to determine future action on climate change after the Kyoto Protocol.

Ridley, who began 'Earth Hour' last year while working with WWF Australia, said the initiative was about individuals and global companies joining together to own a shared problem -- climate change.

"Governments and businesses are joining individuals, religious groups, schools and communities in this terrific movement that's all about making a change for the better," he said.

"It's staggering to see so much support from across the globe in just our second year and we're hoping that this will continue to grow year after year."

Cities officially involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.

Source: Agence France Presse

Awesome Tiger Video



The Awesome Pawsome Tiger Scene, Giovanni Music Mix - The top video clips of the week are here

The Tyger
(from Songs Of Experience)
By William Blake, 1794

Tyger Tyger. burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes!
On what wings dare he aspire!
What the hand, dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger, Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Buddhist singing nun wins fans


Buddhist singing nun uses her golden voice to raise funds to benefit for the poor of Nepal.

Buddhist nun, Ani Choying Dolma, a 37-year-old Tibetan-Nepali known as Nepal's "singing nun", has soared to global fame with her eight albums of Tibetan and Sanskrit meditation songs.

The income from her CD sales has helped Dolma build the Arya Tara School, which has 58 students drawn from poor Nepali families, including some from neighboring India and Tibet.

Dolma wants to set up a kidney transplantation hospital in Kathmandu in the memory of her mother, who died of kidney problems.

Judith Colquhoun reports.

SOUNDBITE: Ani Choying Dolma, Singing Buddhist nun



Source: Reuters

English afternoon tea - for men


A London hotel designs an afternoon tea menu aimed at men.

Afternoon tea has its roots in nineteenth century England where sandwiches and cakes would be eaten in the early afternoon, to fight hunger pangs.

A typical menu consists of finger sandwiches, scones and tea. But the Mandeville hotel in London has decided to make a change to the traditional afternoon tea, swapping cucumber sandwiches for roasted sirloin and chicken satay, hoping to attract the heteropolitan man.




Source: Reuters

Chefs warn on side-effects of sushi boom


Above: Tuna on a sushi rotates on a conveyor-belt at a sushi bar in Kushiro in the eastern part of Hokkaido, northern Japan, February 10, 2007. As Japanese sushi conquers restaurants and homes around the world, industry experts are fighting the side-effects of the raw fish boom: fake sushi bars, over-confident amateurs, poisoned consumers.

REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao
-------------------------------
As Japanese sushi conquers restaurants and homes around the world, industry experts are fighting the side-effects of the raw fish boom: fake sushi bars, over-confident amateurs, poisoned consumers.

Once a rare and exotic treat, seaweed rolls and bites of raw tuna on vinegared rice are now familiar to most food fans. So familiar, in fact, that many hobby cooks in Europe and the United States like to make them in their own kitchens.

But chefs and sushi experts at an international restaurant summit in Tokyo warned of a lack of awareness in handling raw fish among amateurs and some restaurateurs who enter the profitable industry without sufficient training.

"Everybody thinks: 'sushi is so expensive -- I can buy cheap fish, fresh fish, I can make it at home.' It's not true. Not every fish is suitable to eat raw," chef and restaurateur Yoshi Tome told Reuters.

Tome's restaurant, "Sushi Ran" in Sausalito, California, was awarded a Michelin star and he often advises customers on preparing Japanese food.

He sees himself as an educator as well as a chef, and believes that more and better training opportunities are needed to prevent food scandals that could hurt the entire industry.

"I get these questions all the time -- people call me: 'Hey Yoshi, my husband went to fish a big salmon, we're looking to eat it as sashimi. We opened it and a bunch of worms came out. Can we eat it?'"

His answer: you cannot eat it as sashimi; but you can throw away the affected parts and cook and eat the rest.

In fact, Tome said salmon, which is prone to parasites, should never be eaten raw but be cooked, marinated, or frozen before being consumed.

He described another case in which an inexperienced restaurateur in the United States served raw baby crab. This lead to cases of food poisoning and prompted a recall of that type of crab. Tome serves the crab deep-fried at his restaurant and says it is perfectly safe if prepared the right way.

"Here in Japan, some people eat raw chicken, chicken sashimi. But we know chicken can have salmonella, so in the U.S. nobody eats raw chicken," he added.

SUSHI POLICE

Japan's bureaucrats drew criticism and ridicule a year ago with a plan to create a global "sushi police" that would assess Japanese restaurants overseas. Since then, there has been a change of tactics, and the emphasis is now on education and advice rather than uninvited checks.

Ryuji Ishii, who runs the Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp, the largest supplier of fresh sushi to supermarkets in the United States, finds that education is important not just for food safety purposes.

Ishii is rolling out his ready-to-eat sushi range in Wal-Mart supermarkets, having opened almost 90 sushi stalls since last September. They are planning some 400 stores in total.

But bringing raw fish and seaweed to middle America takes some work -- Ishii cautiously described the sales as "decent".

"The challenge is, we have never dealt with that market. So far, we've been dealing with a very upscale market, high-end supermarkets," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the two-day summit, organized by the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad.

"In order to become really mainstream, we have to overcome the Wal-Mart consumers," Ishii said. "We need more time to educate the consumers."

He tries to tempt shoppers with samples of the most popular type of sushi in the United States: the California Roll, made with avocado. Purists might argue that the California Roll, a U.S. invention, is not real sushi anyway, but Ishii says it allows customers to have a first taste of Japanese food and then get hooked on more exotic items -- the ones that include raw fish.

Source: Reuters

China says Tibet monks won't be punished


Above: A video grab shows a Tibetan monk talking to the media as he and fellow monks disrupt an official news briefing at the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred temple in Tibet and a top tourist stop in central Lhasa, March 27, 2008.

REUTERS/TVB via Reuters TV
-------------------------------------------
China will not punish a group of Tibetan monks for disrupting a government-organized foreign media tour of Lhasa and voicing support for the Dalai Lama, a senior official said in a bid to allay fears of repercussions.

Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the Chinese-controlled Tibet Autonomous Region, also said "separatists" were planning to disrupt the Olympic torch relay in Tibet.

However, he pledged to ensure the flame's security there and on its planned ascent of Mount Everest, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

On Thursday, about 30 monks at the Jokhang Temple, one of the holiest in Tibet, shoved their way into a briefing and spent about 15 minutes telling reporters the government was lying about recent unrest. They also rejected Chinese claims the Tibetan spiritual leader was directing the rash of protests.

These monks who staged the bold protest will not be punished, Xinhua quoted Baema Chilain as saying.

"But what they said is not true. They were attempting to mislead the world's opinion," he said. "The facts shouldn't be distorted."

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959, said on Friday China's media were using "deceit and distortion" in coverage of protests in Tibet. He said this could cause racial tension between Tibetans and Han Chinese with unpredictable long-term consequences.

"This is of grave concern to me," the Dalai Lama said in a statement on www.tibet.net, appealing to "Chinese brothers and sisters" to dispel misunderstanding and find a peaceful solution.

"I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples," he said.

The Tibetan leader has condemned the violence and denies he seeks more than greater autonomy for his homeland.

More than two weeks of unrest in Tibet and western China, including violence in Lhasa on March 14, and China's response ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August have sparked international controversy.

China hopes the Olympics showcase the achievements of the world's fourth-largest economy and its rise as a global power, but the Games have become a lightning rod for criticism.

"To our knowledge, some separatists from within and outside China are seeking to sabotage the Olympic torch relay within Tibet," said Baema Chilain.

The flame arrives in Beijing on Monday.

"We are confident and capable of ensuring the security of the relay and taking it to the top of the peak," Chilain said.

In Canberra, Australia, police wrestled one protester to the ground during an otherwise peaceful protest by about 100 Tibet supporters in front of the Chinese embassy on Friday. The Tibetan community has promised a bigger protest next month when the Olympic torch arrives.

In Nepal, where there have been demonstrations almost every day since the trouble began this month, about a dozen pro-Tibet protesters jumped the walls of a building housing the offices of the United Nations on Friday, calling for U.N. intervention following the unrest in the Himalayan region.

More than a dozen Western and Asian diplomats were scheduled to leave for Lhasa on Friday as part of a public relations exercise launched by China to limit the damage from the Tibet crisis, envoys said. They will visit for two days.

Critics of China say there is widespread discontent among Tibetans, including monks, who feel their religious practices are restricted, their culture is being suffocated by an influx of Chinese to Tibet and their autonomy is not sufficient.

About 1,000 paramilitary police entered Kirti monastery in Aba (Ngawa) prefecture, Sichuan province, searching for pictures of the Dalai Lama on Friday, Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign said. Telephone calls to the temple were disconnected.

The London-based Campaign said it had received unconfirmed reports from various sources in Tibet that three main monasteries in Lhasa -- Ganden, Sera and Drepung -- have been cut off since March 11, with no access to food, water and electricity.

"The monks in those monasteries are being starved. The reports have said that Tibetan laypeople have attempted to bring food to the monasteries but have been denied access," it said.

Baema Chilain, the Tibet official, said the monks at the monasteries and the Jokhang were being "temporarily confined to the premises as the authorities were investigating allegations that some of them led or participated in the violence".

The International Campaign for Tibet said it had reports of mass arrests of Tibetans in Lhasa, including those known to have studied in India -- where the Dalai Lama has lived since fleeing in 1959 -- and former political prisoners.

In Lhasa, prosecutors had issued arrest warrants for 30 people in connection with the Lhasa violence, Baema Chilain said. So far, 414 people had been detained, mostly ethnic Tibetans.

China says 19 people were killed in the unrest by Tibetan mobs, but the Tibet government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, estimated there had been 140 deaths in the violence.





Source: Reuters

Can We Get a Napkin, Please?


First there was the awesome "Grand Central Freeze" now it's the "Food Court Musical"

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Buddhist Thought for the Day


Much human misery arises from people despairing over things that despair cannot help. We should not worry about things that no amount of worrying will resolve. The important thing is to build a golden palace of joy in our hearts that nothing can disturb—a state of life like a clear blue sky above the storm, an oasis in the desert, a fortress looking down on high waves.

--Daisaku Ikeda

Ferrero Chocolate



There is a new chocolate delight from the Ferrero Chocolate people. It is the company's first dark chocolate treat and it is called Ferrero Rondnoir.



It had to have been one of the most interesting chocolates I've ever tried. What made it so interesting? The layers! Layers and layers of different tastes and textures.


First, you have the little tiny pieces of chocolate on the outside, then comes the wafer, after that is - the soft, creamy chocolate - and in the very middle is a regular piece of dark, chocolate!


Speaking of Ferrero Rocher, I came across a great recipe for Ferrero Rocher cupcakes. The hazelnut extract might be a difficult to find at your corner deli store but if you google "hazelnut extract" you come up with a a whole bunch of sources.

Make a chocolate hazelnut cupcake and give it a gooey ganache filling (like the gooey surprise in the chocolate) and top it with a chocolate ganache with hazelnuts bits in it and you have a Ferrero Rocher Cupcake. To complete the visual use gold cupcake wrappers.


Ferrero Rocher Cupcake Recipe




The cupcake recipe came from Laura of Sweets Made Here.


1/2 c boiling water
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c milk
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 T hazelnut extract
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
10 T dark brown sugar
6 T granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 + 1/8 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

In a bowl, whisk the boiling water into cocoa until smooth and whisk in milk, vanilla, and hazelnut extracts. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes, and beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to egg mixture in batches alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and beating well after each addition. Fill each wrapper slightly more than 1/2 way. They will rise a lot. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.


The Gooey Chocolate Hazelnut Filling Recipe

If you have some Nutella around, I think you could easily just fill this with Nutella. If not:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
2 t hazelnut extract

Bring heavy cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate chips to melt them. Add extract. Mix until fluffy. Let cool. Cut a cone in each cupcake and put a teaspoon or two of the ganache in. Replace the cone.

The Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache Recipe

This is the ganache recipe from Sweets Made Here. The only change I made was that rather than putting hazelnuts on top as she did, I mixed 1 Cup of toasted, ground hazelnuts into the ganache before spreading.

1/2 c heavy cream
8 oz good semi-sweet chocolate chunks
2 T light corn syrup
2 t hazelnut extract
Heat the cream on the stove until it boils. Pour over the chocolate and stir to melt, adding the corn syrup and hazelnut extract.

Foreign press arrive for Tibet tour


----------------------------

Mar. 26 - A group of journalists hand picked by China's government arrive in the capital, Lhasa, marking the beginning of a brief organised tour of the troubled region.

The Dalai Lama said that there should be no curbs on foreign media granted access into the Tibetan capital for the first time since violent demonstrations erupted in Lhasa more than two weeks ago.

Chinese officials say they have organised the trip in response to international pressure to allow direct access to Tibet.

The government, however, has limited the number of journalists allowed on the trip.



Source: Reuters

Foreign Journalists Arrive in Tibet


LHASA, China (AP) — The first group of foreign journalists allowed into Tibet in the wake of deadly anti-Chinese-government riots has arrived in the regional capital of Lhasa.

The protests, which peaked on March 14 when rioters set buildings on fire and attacked ethnic Chinese, embarrassed China in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics and led it to flood the area with troops and ban foreign reporters, making it extremely difficult to verify information.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs took a small group of foreign journalists, including an Associated Press reporter, to Lhasa on Wednesday. It is unclear how much freedom they will be given to report.


Source: Associated Press

Bush Confronts China on Tibet Crackdown


President Bush sharply confronted China's President Hu Jintao on Wednesday about Beijing's harsh crackdown in Tibet, joining an international chorus of alarm just months before the U.S. and the rest of the world parade to China for the Olympics.

In a telephone call with Hu, Bush "pushed very hard" about violence in Tibet, a necessity for restraint and a need for China to consult with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, the White House said.

After days of silence by Bush as other world leaders raised their voices, it marked a rare, direct protest from one president to another. As if to underscore how pointed Bush was, the White House said he used the call to "speak very clearly and frankly."

At the same time, Bush was forced to address an embarrassing blunder by the United States — the shipment of nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan and the failure to discover the error for more than 18 months. "It came up very briefly," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters. "Basically, the president indicated that a mistake had been made. There was very little discussion about it."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had previously registered concern about China's actions in Tibet, but Bush's call raised the protest to the highest level of the U.S. government. On the world stage, French President Nicolas Sarkozy notably has suggested a boycott of the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing in August.

The United States and Britain have ruled out a boycott, and Bush has said he will attend. He has taken the position that the Olympics are about athletic competition, not politics.

China has defended its use of force against anti-Chinese protesters in Tibet, describing demonstrations that broke out in the capital city of Lhasa on March 14 as riots and violent crimes.

"No responsible government would sit by and watch when faced with this kind of violent crime, which gravely violated human rights, seriously disrupted social order and seriously endangered the safety of public life and property," Hu told Bush, according to an account by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

China's crackdown in response to the most sustained uprising against Chinese rule in almost two decades has put Beijing's human rights record in the international spotlight, embarrassing and frustrating a Communist leadership that had hoped for a smooth run-up to the Olympic Games.

China on Wednesday showed some signs of relenting, allowing the first group of foreign journalists to visit Lhasa since the violence began. The reporters were taken to Potala Square, below the Potala Palace, the traditional seat of Tibetan rulers, which reopened Wednesday for the first time since March 14. Then reporters were taken a few blocks away where many shops had been burned out during the violence.

Hadley said Bush pressed for a resumption of now-suspended consultations between China and representatives of the Dalai Lama, and that there was an encouraging response from Hu.

"It was interesting that President Hu said that the government was willing to continue contacts and consultations with the Dalai Lama as long as ... there's an abandonment of Tibetan independence and stopping activities that involve crimes and the use of violence," Hadley said.

Bush and Hu also addressed the sensitive subject of Taiwan, as well as North Korea's failure to hand over a promised declaration of nuclear weapon efforts and political repression in Myanmar.

The White House said Bush told Hu that the weekend election in Taiwan of Ma Ying-jeou, who has promised to defuse tensions and expand trade with China, would provide "a fresh opportunity for both sides to reach out and engage one another in peacefully resolving their differences."

In the Xinhua account, Hu expressed appreciation to Bush for the U.S. position of adhering to a one-China policy that opposes independence for Taiwan.

Hadley said it was "pretty interesting" that Hu was quoted as saying China and Taiwan should resume consultations based on a 1992 agreement in which both sides recognize there is only one China but in which they agree to differ on its definitions.


Source Associated Press

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Buddhist Thought for the Day


Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain

--Unknown

Exclusive theater chain targets rich moviegoers


Get ready for the $35 movie ticket.

That's the estimated price of tickets for a new deluxe cinema to open this year in suburban Chicago, one of 50 U.S. multiplexes set for construction during the next five years through a new $200 million joint venture headed by Australian entertainment conglomerate Village Roadshow.

The theaters will boast boosted amenities, including plush reserved seating, special parking privileges and upscale food and beverage offerings with seat-side waiter service.

Some or all of those offerings are already available at deluxe cinemas in select U.S. markets that charge $20 or less for movie tickets. But Gold Class auditoriums will feature a 40-seat-maximum patron capacity and an even higher-end atmosphere, officials said Tuesday.

"It's an absolutely different environment than anything else that exists," Village Roadshow CEO Graham Burke said.

In addition to the cinema in the wealthy Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas plans to open a site in Redmond, Wash., home of Microsoft Corp, by year's end. About 20 additional sites are planned for rollout by 2010.

"The demand for luxury moviegoing in the U.S. is very strong," said Kirk Senior, CEO of the new Burbank-based joint venture.

Companies partnering with Village Roadshow in the joint venture include Act III Entertainment, a company co-owned by Norman Lear and Hal Gaba; Michael Lambert's Lambert Entertainment; and the Retirement Systems of Alabama, a pension investment fund.

Village Roadshow operates more than 100 Gold Class screens in Australia, Singapore and Greece, part of its roughly 500-screen worldwide theater circuit.

Source: Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Buddhist dog prays for worldly desires


Buddhists clasp their palms together to pray for enlightenment, but Conan, a chihuahua, appears to have more worldly motivations.

The dog has become a popular attraction at a Japanese temple after learning to imitate the worshippers around him.

"Conan started to pose in prayer like us whenever he wanted treats," said Joei Yoshikuni, a priest at Jigenin temple on the southern island of Okinawa.

"Clasping hands is a basic action of Buddhist prayer to show appreciation. He may be showing his thanks for treats and walks," he said.

Conan, a two-year-old male with long, black hair and a brown collar, sits next to Yoshikuni in front of the altar and looks right up at the statue of a Buddhist deity.

When the priest starts chanting and raises his clasped hands, Conan also raises his paws and joins them at the tip of his nose.



Visitors to the temple look on with curiosity.

"It's so funny that he does it," said Kazuko Oshiro, 71, who has frequented the temple for more than 25 years.

"He gets angry when somebody else sits on his favourite spot. He must be thinking that it's his special place," Oshiro said.

Conan, originally a temple pet, has become so popular that people come in to take pictures almost every week, the priest said.

Yoshikuni estimated that the temple receives 30 percent more visitors, especially young tourists, than it would otherwise.

"I'm glad that people feel more comfortable visiting the temple because of Conan," he said as he jokingly joined his hands and bowed to the dog.

Source: Agence France Presse

France Calls on China to End Tibet "Repression"



Above: France President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers a speech in Cherbourg, north western France, March 21, 2008. Sarkozy called on Monday for an end to violence in Tibet and said France would be willing to facilitate talks to end it.

REUTERS/Mychele Daniau/Pool
-----------------------------------------------
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged China on Tuesday to show responsibility over the unrest in Tibet but refused to rule out a possible boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.

"I don't close the door to any option, but I think it's more prudent to reserve my responses to concrete developments in the situation," Sarkozy said, when asked about a possible boycott.

"All options are open but I appeal to the sense of responsibility of Chinese authorities," he said.

Like other western governments, France has so far rejected the idea of boycotting the games but Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called for an end to China's "repression" of protests in the region.

Source Reuters

Rice urges China: Talk to Dalai Lama


U.S. Secretary of State Rice urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama, as tensions in Tibet continue.

China alleges the exiled Dalai Lama is conspiring to wreck the Beijing Olympic Games by masterminding a wave of protests that began with peaceful rallies. China says 19 people have been killed as those rallies turned to riots, the Tibetan government-in-exile puts the death toll at about 130.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday urged the Chinese government to pursue a more "sustainable" policy toward Tibet and said the only way to do this was for it to talk to the Dalai Lama.

"We believe that the answer for Tibet is to have a more sustainable policy for the Chinese government concerning Tibet." Rice told reporters at a news conference with India's external affairs minister.

"We are going to continue to encourage that dialogue because ultimately that is going to be the only policy that is sustainable in Tibet," she said.

China alleges the exiled Dalai Lama was conspiring to wreck the Beijing Olympic Games this summer and masterminded the wave of protests that began with peaceful rallies in Tibet's capital Lhasa on March 10, the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Five days later, the marches erupted into a riot in Lhasa in which China says 19 were killed. The Tibetan government-in-exile in India raised its death toll in the clashes to 130 on Monday. China has barred foreign journalists from Tibet and surrounding areas, making independent verification difficult.

Rice repeated her call for restraint and for all sides to avoid violence.

"There also needs to be a day after the current events and that really requires a sustainable process of dealing with the problems (in) Tibet, the grievances of Tibetans, and we believe that the Dalai Lama could play a very favorable role given his belief in nonviolence, given his stated position that he does not seek political independence for Tibet and given his unassailable ... moral stature," Rice said.

"At this particular point in time, to have contact (with him) I think is a good thing, not a bad thing, because he is a moderate voice on these issues and he is a voice that frankly I hope the Chinese will listen to more," Rice added.



Source Reuters

Monday, March 24, 2008

Buddhist Thought for the Day


Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

--Alan Watts

Climate Change Chocolate Bar


Bloomsberry, LLC, a Salem, MA-based chocolate maker that sells its bars in whimsical wrappers, have now teamed up with TerraPass, a green energy broker, to offer these "Climate Change Chocolate" bars.

The wrappers have printed on them 15 tips to reduce your carbon footprint on the world, and in addition have included in their sale price, enough carbon energy credits from TerraPass to offset your carbon footprint for one day. Climate Change Chocolate comes with a verified TerraPass offset of 133 pounds of carbon dioxide reductions, the average American’s daily carbon impact.

They are available at Whole Foods.

Nestlé Crunch Crisp Bar


There’s something hypnotic about the TV ad for the new Nestlé Crunch Crisp bar, wherein disparate layers of cookie wafers, milk chocolate, and mysterious white “airy crispies” are magically assembled into one united candy product. In part, it’s probably because watching anything get assembled layer by layer in a computer-animated fashion is compelling, but the appeal of the ad also stems from the fact that this bar clearly comes out swinging on the crispy front. No joking around, no sandy-tasting Twix crispiness or halfhearted, muted crispiness of the standard Nestlé Crunch. This is a crispiness jihad, bursting with the fierce earnestness of a company determined to crisp the dickens out of its product.

The Crisp bar has sharply divided online candy bar critics. Chocolate Obsession calls it “the horrific love child of a Nestlé Crunch and Kit Kat,” and one of the blog’s comments pithily observes: “It taste[s] more like X-LAX than CANDY.” (A bon mot about a bad bonbon!) Candy Addict, by contrast, declares it a “really great snacking experience” and hails the “quite tasty” wafer cookie component.

When stacked up against its lowbrow gas station checkout counter brethren, the Nestlé Crunch Crisp bar acquits itself heroically. The multiple wafer layers (topped with crispies) give the illusion of a bar that’s much larger and more elegant than it is. And the chocolate cream/chocolate coating layers, while not of Scharffen Berger quality, aren’t bad. We've kneecapped countless other experimental mass-market products for tinkering with successful formulae and screwing everything up. Here, happily, a bit of industrial experimentation created something tasty.

Source chow.com
US ZIP Codes