Ingredients: 4 or 5 parts Vodka 1 part Dry Vermouth
Directions: Stir well with ice and strain into Martini glass. Serve with a twist of lemon peel.
Steak Au Poivre
INGREDIENTS 2 New York strip steaks, each 3/4 pound and 1 1/2 inches thick 2 cups beef stock Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/4 cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked 1/4 cup heavy cream INSTRUCTIONS Bring the steaks to room temperature. Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring it to boil over high heat. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Set aside. Heat a 16-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and season on both sides with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Add the oil to the skillet and swirl the pan to coat the bottom. When the oil starts to smoke, add the steaks and decrease the heat slightly. Cook, turning once, for about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, wipe any excess oil out of the skillet and return to high heat. Add the whiskey, being careful it does not come in contact with an open flame. Cook for 30 seconds, scraping the sides and bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Add the stock and cracked pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in the cream and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until reduced by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cut the steak into thin slices across the grain, arrange on a warmed serving platter, and spoon the sauce over the top. Serve.
SOUR CREAM AND CHIVE POTATOES
4 lg. baking potatoes 1 (8 oz.) pkg. of cream cheese 1 tbsp. butter 2 to 3 tbsp. sour cream 2 to 3 tbsp. freeze dried chives
Bake potatoes at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Make sure to poke a few holes in the top of the potato before baking. Remove and allow to cool so you can handle them. Cut an opening in the top and spoon out the potatoes into a mixing bowl. Mash with butter, then add cream cheese and chives and mash. To make potatoes whippy add sour cream. Stuff the potatoes shells with the mashed potato and return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until hot. These potatoes are great to make ahead and freeze. NOTE: Use only large baking potatoes
Avocado Salad
1 head butterhead lettuce 1 or 2 thin slices red onion, separated into rings 1 pint cherry tomatoes 2 soft avocados, peeled and cut into chunks 1 tablespoon vinegar 3 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon (freshly ground) black pepper
Wash and dry lettuce. Line 4 salad plates with lettuce or define a small area on a large dinner plate with lettuce leaves. Place a few rings of onion on top of the lettuce. Cut cherry tomatoes in half or quarters (if large) into a bowl. Cut avocados to similar size; add to tomatoes. Drizzle with vinegar and oil and toss (if avocados are inordinately soft, they will become as much a part of the dressing as a part of the salad; that's OK). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss gently. Spoon tomato mixture on top of onion rings. Serves 4.
Above: This 'flying saucer' house, pictured on the side of Signal Mountain in Chattanooga, Tenn., Tuesday, March 11, 2008, will go up for auction on Saturday. The buyer needs a fascination for outer space, tolerance for gawkers and at least $100,000. Built by the late Curtis W. King in 1970, the circular house has multiple levels, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an entrance staircase that lowers and retracts with the push of a button. (AP/Photo Mark Gilliland) ------------------------------- CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A mountainside house being auctioned in Tennessee is perfect for anyone tolerant of gawkers and fascinated with outer space: It's built like a flying saucer.
The home "landed" on a twisting road leading to Chattanooga's Signal Mountain in 1970 — just after television executives grounded the run of the original "Star Trek" series. It will be sold to the highest bidder Saturday.
The circular house — ultramodern when it was built — is ringed with small square windows and directional lights and perched on six "landing gear" legs. It has multiple levels, three bedrooms, two baths and an entrance staircase that retracts with the push of a button.
Terry Posey, an agent with Crye-Leike Auctions of Cleveland, Tenn., said the current owner has had the property only four months and didn't want to comment. Posey posted an e-Bay ad and said he already has a $100,000 bid.
John Kleeman of Litchfield, Conn., an attorney and space culture enthusiast, said he knows of variations of the flying saucer design in Florida, Connecticut and California.
The flying saucer designs popped up about the time of the moon landings. "That's when all the excitement was," Kleeman said.
The Chattanooga home's unusual shape — sort of like two white Frisbees pasted together — poses some interior decorating challenges. The curve of the exterior creates a sloping ceiling and short side walls, but there's also a striking curved bar and a custom bathtub.
The house is larger than the prefabricated and movable UFO-shaped structures, known as Futuro houses, designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968.
"It really looked like a spaceship ready to take off," said realtor Lois Killebrew, who handled an open house at the first sale of the Chattanooga home decades ago.
The late Curtis W. King and his family built the unusual home because "they liked to do unusual things," Killebrew said.
Mar 14 - A theme park in South Korea unveils a wooden rollercoaster with the world's largest drop.
South Korea's largest and tallest rollercoaster, 'T-express' which has been labelled as the most extreme ride in the country has opened for business.
Passengers screamed and giggled as they experienced the g-force and 77 degree plunge on the wooden construction.
36 passengers can ride on the rollercoaster that travels up to 104Km per hour.
South Korea unveils a wooden roller coaster with what it claims to be the world's steepest drop for its kind.
South Korea's Everland amusement park says its new roller coaster takes thrill-seeking passengers at speeds of more than 100 kilometres an hour as they experience weightlessness 12 times during the three-minute ride
Above: In this photo released by the International Campaign for Tibet, police are seen in Jokhang Square in Lhasa, Tibet, where protests broke out Monday March 10, 2008. Angry protesters set police and army cars on fire in the center of Lhasa Friday March 14, 2008, as the latest protest by monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent, witnesses said. (AP Photo/International Campaign For Tibet)
WASHINGTON -- China must respect Tibetan culture, the White House said Friday in a tough statement after Chinese security forces reportedly used gunfire to end protests by Buddhist monks in Lhasa.
"Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture. It needs to respect multi-ethnicity in their society," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, amid reports that at least a dozen people had been injured in the violence.
"We regret the tensions between the ethnic groups and Beijing. The president has said consistently that Beijing needs to have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama."
President George W. Bush triggered angry Chinese reaction when he met the Dalai Lama in public in October during a ceremony at the US Congress.
At the time, Bush praised the Tibetan spiritual leader for keeping the "flame" of Tibet's people alive, and called on Beijing to open political talks with him about the future of the region which China has ruled since 1951.
The Tibetan capital of Lhasa erupted in violence Friday as security forces used gunfire to quell the biggest protests against Chinese rule in two decades, witnesses and rights groups said.
The violence comes amid an ever-growing international campaign by Tibetans to challenge China's rule of the Himalayan region ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
And it followed three days of protests by hundreds of monks in Lhasa, India and elsewhere around the world marking the anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
The Dalai Lama fled the region after the uprising was brutally suppressed and lives in exile in northern India.
The US State Department this week removed China from its list of the world's worst human rights abusers, classifying it instead as an authoritarian country undergoing economic reform and rapid social change that has "not undertaken democratic political reform."
Source: Agence France-Presse
Above: Clark T. Randt, Jr, US ambassador to China. [China Daily]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States told China on Friday to act with restraint when dealing with protesters in Tibet and again asked Beijing to talk to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
U.S. ambassador to China, Clark Randt, used a meeting with senior Chinese officials in Beijing to formally voice U.S. concern over violence in Tibet's capital Lhasa, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"He took the opportunity, because of what was going on in Lhasa, to urge restraint on the part of the Chinese officials and Chinese security forces and not resort to use of force in dealing with the protesters," McCormack told reporters.
Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks in past days grew into the biggest demonstrations the remote Himalayan region has seen in nearly two decades, with anti-riot police patrolling the streets months before the Beijing Olympics.
U.S.-based broadcaster Radio Free Asia reported on Friday that at least two people were killed when Chinese police fired on rioting Tibetan protesters in Lhasa.
"We believe Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture. They need to respect multi-ethnicity in their society. We regret the tensions between ethnic groups and Beijing," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters. "The president has said consistently that Beijing needs to have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama."
RELIGIOUS REPRESSION INCREASED
The U.S. embassy in Beijing issued a message urging Americans to postpone travel to Tibet and if they were already in Lhasa to seek safety in hotels and elsewhere.
"All care must be taken to avoid unnecessary movement within the city until the situation is under control," said McCormack, adding there were no reports of U.S. casualties.
Asked whether human rights issues changed Washington's view of China hosting the Olympic Games, McCormack said the United States saw the games as a sporting event.
"We believe, and have urged China both in public and in private to use the opportunity to put China's best face forward to the international community, not only during but in the run-up and after the Olympics," said McCormack.
Human rights groups have urged the United States to increase pressure on China over its human rights record in the run-up to the Olympic Games.
The State Department's annual report on human rights worldwide, which was released on Tuesday, called China's 2007 human rights record poor, but the host of this summer's Olympics escaped being listed among the world's worst offenders as it had been in previous years.
"The government's human rights record in Tibetan areas of China remained poor, and the level of repression of religious freedom increased," said the Tibet entry in the report.
"Authorities continued to commit serious human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and house arrest and surveillance of dissidents," it said.
Above: Tibetans join in a candlelit vigil attended by more than 1500 people in Dharmsala, India, Friday, March 14, 2008. The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader as well as the head of Tibet's government-in-exile, which is based in the north Indian hill town of Dharmsala, said in a statement that he was 'deeply concerned over the situation that has been developing in Tibet following peaceful protests.' (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) --------------------------
BEIJING - Protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent Friday, with shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing through the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa. A radio report said two people had been killed.
The U.S. and the European Union called on China to show restraint in the face of the protests and Washington said Beijing should respect Tibetan culture. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, appealed to China not to use force against demonstrators.
The Dalai Lama called on the Chinese leadership to "address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence." His statement was issued from India where he is in exile.
Pro-Tibet protests were also staged in India and Nepal. In Katmandu, Nepal police scuffled with about 1,000 protesters, including dozens of Buddhist monks, during a rally. About 12 monks were injured. Police arrested dozens of pro-Tibet protesters near the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, India.
In Lhasa, the largest demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing's 57-year-rule of Tibet began Monday, coming at a critically sensitive time for China as it attempts to portray a unified and prosperous nation ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
The demonstrations turned violent Friday when witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing vehicles in flames in Lhasa's main shopping district in the center of Lhasa. Crowds hurled rocks at security forces and at restaurant and hotel windows.
Shops were set on fire along two main streets surrounding the Jokhang temple, Ramoche monastery, and the city's main Chomsigkang market, and heavy smoke rose from the area. Protesters appeared to be targeting Chinese-owned businesses.
"It was chaos everywhere. I could see fires, smoke, cars and motorcycles burning," said a Tibetan guide who spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing retaliation by authorities. He said the whole road in the main Barkor shopping area surrounding the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire."
The guide said armed police in riot gear backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center, along with the broad square in front of the Potala, the former winter home of the Dalai Lama.
"As I approached Potala Square, I heard cannon fire, louder than rifles. Others told me police were firing tear gas along Beijing Zhonglu, west of the Potala," he said.
Radio Free Asia, which is funded by the U.S. government, quoted witnesses as saying two bodies were seen lying on the ground in the Barkor area, a shopping district in the old city where the protests have been centered.
This week's demonstrations began on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Chinese Communist forces invaded Tibet in 1950, hoping to reclaim a part of the former empire and command the strategic heights overlooking rival India.
Beijing continues to rule there with a heavy hand, enforcing strict controls on religious institutions and it routinely vilifies the Dalai Lama, winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize who fled to India amid the 1959 rebellion. In recent decades, China has methodically begun exploiting the region's timber and mineral wealth.
The protests were initially led by hundreds of Buddhist monks demanding the release of other monks detained last fall. It was a stunning show of defiance for Tibetan monks who are usually closely monitored by Chinese officials.
Political demands soon came to the fore and the protests attracted large numbers of ordinary Tibetans and more monks demanding independence. Some unfurled the Tibetan flag, a capital offense in China.
Tensions in the Tibetan capital were heightened in the past few days as the city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and police in a government crackdown, Radio Free Asia reported Friday.
On Thursday, monks in Lhasa started a hunger strike and two attempted suicide as troops surrounded monasteries, RFA reported.
The protests were also spreading to Tibetan areas outside Lhasa, a city of about 250,000 permanent residents, not including large numbers of soldiers and members of China's paramilitary People's Armed Police.
The U.S. Embassy e-mailed an advisory to Americans warning them to stay away from Lhasa. The embassy said it had "received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence."
Travel was also halted to Lhasa on Friday for foreigners, travel agents said. Hotels in the area were locked down at noon, said a hotel worker in downtown Lhasa.
It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet because China maintains rigid control over the area. Foreigners need special travel permits, and journalists are rarely granted access except under highly controlled circumstances.
A Western traveler told BBC World television Friday that police had attacked monks near monasteries and he saw military convoys moving into Lhasa carrying heavily armed troops.
Photographs taken by camera phone and forwarded to journalists by the Indian branch of Students for a Free Tibet showed an apparently peaceful protest march staged Friday in Xiahe, a traditionally Tibetan corner of the western Chinese province of Gansu.
The pictures showed robed monks — some displaying the banned Tibetan national flag — and lay people marching along a main street. Security forces with riot helmets and shields lined the way, but there was no sign of clashes.
Tibetans inside and outside the country have sought to use the Olympic Games' high profile to call attention to their cause. Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama — whom many Tibetans consider their rightful ruler — of trying to sabotage the games.
The U.S. urged China to show restraint and respect toward Tibetans.
"Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. "We regret the tensions between the ethnic groups and Beijing. The president has said consistently that Beijing needs to have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. does not have any officials on the ground in Llassa and the U.S. is not aware of any American citizens involved in the protests or arrested in Tibet.
"Ambassador Randt, who was over meeting with senior level Chinese officials, took the opportunity to urge the Chinese government to act with restraint in dealing with the protesters," McCormack said.
European Union leaders also appealed to China to show restraint, and France's foreign minister said Paris was keeping its options open on whether to take further measures, possibly related to the Olympics.
The protests are believed to be the largest in the city since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989. Since then, China has pumped investment into the region, vilified the Dalai Lama and tried to weed out his supporters among the influential Buddhist clergy.
Beijing maintains that Tibet is historically part of China. But many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to crush Tibetan culture by swamping it with Han people, the majority Chinese ethnic group.
• If you use your cellphone, the plane will crash. • Cruise ships are all-inclusive. • If you rent a car with a credit card, you don’t need additional insurance. • Taking the train in Europe is cheaper than flying. • Recirculated cabin air on planes will make you sick. • X-ray machines at airport security checkpoints can erase your computer’s hard drive. • Your hotel card key can be used to steal your identity.
These are just some of the things many travelers believe to be true. And, in fact, with a couple of qualifications, they are nothing more than the latest batch of travel myths.
Myth: Let’s start with the Blackberry/cell phone myth. Every airline flight attendant makes more or less the same announcement, insisting you turn off your cellphones and Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and other personal electronic devices because “they interfere with the plane’s navigational systems.” If you ask if it’s a rule, the flight attendant will tell you it’s FAA policy. True or false?
False on both counts. First, the FAA has tested personal electronic devices, including iPods, Gameboys and laptops. Their scientists—for more than 25 years now—have bumped up the RF interference these devices give off, up to 100 times their normal levels, at distances of less than three feet from sensitive cockpit avionics. And guess what? Nothing happened. Nothing has ever happened. So did the FAA make a rule? Or a policy? Not exactly.
Under the current federal air regulations, the FAA simply states that it was unable to prove any connection or link between operating these devices and airplane system interference. But it hasn’t made a rule; it's left to each individual airline to set policy. So, if you insist on ignoring the flight attendant by using your Blackberry, you may be in violation of an airline’s policy (and subject to arrest for interfering with a flight crew). But no, the plane won’t crash because you were sending emails.
Myth: First-time passengers like to think that “all-inclusive” cruise means you can put your wallet away for a week. True or False?
False: Keep your wallet with you. Not long ago, what you paid for your cruise (exclusive of liquor) was the sum total of expenditures. Not anymore. Think of cruise ships today as multiple floating revenue centers. Some cruise lines are now charging a flat fee for unlimited soda, and even a wine-and-dine deal that includes wine or champagne with your dinner (about $125 for a seven-day cruise). But the key to cruise ship profitability can be summed up in two words: onboard revenue. A new rule of thumb for budgeting your next cruise: Take the basic cruise fare and multiply it by 1.75 per person.
Myth: Oops, you just backed into a parking meter. Not to worry, your personal auto insurance covers damages to your rental. True or False?
True: The answer in most cases is true, but with a big warning from us. Credit card companies promote their promise to cover your insurance if you rent a car using their card. As a result, a number of unsuspecting renters who don’t own a car—and thus don’t have their own insurance—think they are covered by their card. Not so. Almost all credit card companies offer something called “secondary insurance,” which only kicks in when you’ve exhausted all the limits of your primary policy. And if you don’t have a primary policy, then you are not covered at all. Even if you are covered, check your policy limits. If the car you own (for which you pay personal insurance) is only worth $5,000 and you total a car worth $20,000, you’re out $15,000.
Myth: Trains are the way to go within Europe if you want to save money. True or False?
Definitely False: While I have always been in love with trains, and I think back fondly to my days using a student Eurail Pass, the dollars-and-sense truth today is that trains are not economical alternatives to air travel. Low-cost European airlines are now cheaper than intra-European train travel. On Ryanair, an off-season round-trip flight from Rome to Frankfurt can be as low as $90. By comparison, a point-to-point train ticket from Rome to Frankfurt starts at $326 each way and takes about 12 hours of travel time.
Myth: The way cabin air is circulated makes the plane a prime breeding ground for colds and flu viruses.
True: A qualified yes because there's no scientific proof that breathing someone else's air in the cabin will make you ill. It's true that some airlines save money by recirculating air instead of purging and replacing it, so Greenberg's advice: Hydrate yourself while on the plane, wash your hands often, and turn off the air vent over your head to not only avoid a stiff neck but also keep your own air around you longer and put off breathing someone else's.
Myth: Back up your files because X-ray machines at security checkpoints can erase the hard drive on your laptop.
False: X-rays are a form of electromagnetic energy, but they're not magnetically charged. Electromagnetic energy is basically like light, and can expose your camera film just as light can, so watch out for that if you're one of the few photographers still using film. But sending your laptop through the X-ray machine won't damage it. There is something to be careful of, however. In the unlikely event that the security people let you take your laptop through a metal detector or examine it with a metal wand, you're at risk. These detectors send out a strong magnetic pulse that can erase hard drives.
Myth: Your plastic hotel key card can be used to steal your identity and credit card account information.
False: Simply put, hotels do not put your personal information on the card. At the most, they will encode the room number and activation date.
As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery…we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion, while love, compassion, and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.
Antipasti plate of Marinated Mushrooms served with any assortment of prosciutto or other cured meats, marinated mozzarella (buy it or try ours), olives (we have an easy recipe for Anchovy-Marinated Olives), and breadsticks or crackers.
An antipasti plate is one of the most low-effort and delicious ways to warm up a crowd before a meal—especially if you include these mushrooms. Serve an assortment of purchased cured meats and breadsticks with some homemade snacks like our Marinated Bocconcini and these lightly tangy and herby mushrooms. True to the nature of marination, these fungi get better with age, so make them a few days ahead for the best flavor. And if there happen to be leftovers, try them in a salad or sandwich.
Because of all the olive oil in the marinade, the mixture will solidify in the fridge. To serve, just remove the mushrooms from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes ahead and let them come to room temperature so the oil liquifies again.
These mushrooms will last up to 10 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Marinated Mushrooms
INGREDIENTS
2 cups olive oil 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed 1 pound small white button mushrooms, cleaned and stems trimmed 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 medium lemons) 6 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley 2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oil and garlic in a large frying pan over medium heat until warmed and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, add mushrooms, stir to coat, and let cool to room temperature. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat. Transfer mushrooms to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 24 hours and up to 1 week.
Anchovy-Marinated Olives
Be sure to pick up high-quality olives and anchovies from the refrigerated section of your supermarket. Stay away from the canned varieties, which are flavorless.
Game plan: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound cured green olives, such manzanilla 1/2 pound cured black olives, such as kalamata 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed 1 teaspoon ground cumin 4 medium cloves garlic, minced 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to coat olives. Place in an airtight container and let marinate, refrigerated, at least 4 hours.
China said Thursday the situation in the Tibetan capital Lhasa was stable after what rights groups described as the biggest protests there against Chinese rule in nearly 20 years.
"In the past couple of days, a few monks in Lhasa have made some disturbances in an effort to cause unrest," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters when asked about the protests.
"Thanks to the efforts of the local government and the democratic administration of the temples, the situation in Lhasa has been stabilised."
Qin refused to give details, but pro-Tibet independence groups said hundreds of Buddhist monks and others had demonstrated Monday and Tuesday on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
The pro-Tibet groups and Amnesty International said tear gas and electric prods had been used to disperse protesters, while up to 50 monks had been detained.
The London-based Free Tibet Campaign also reported that protests had spread outside the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region to neighbouring Chinese provinces with significant ethnic Tibetan populations.
In one such protest, 400 monks demonstrated at the Lutsang monastery in Qinghai province on Tuesday calling for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, according to the Free Tibet Campaign.
The protests in Lhasa and nearby coincided with demonstrations in India and elsewhere around the world by Tibetans who are seeking to pressure China over its rule of the Himalayan region ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
"The reports of protests outside Lhasa show that Tibetans know the eyes of the world are upon them and are determined not to let the momentum drop," Free Tibet Campaign spokesman Matt Whitticase said.
"Tibetans inside Tibet are aware that Tibetans in India are marching towards the Tibet border and have been emboldened by the support they are receiving from across the world."
The International Campaign for Tibet said the recent protests in Lhasa were the biggest there by monks since a wave of pro-independence protests in 1989.
Amnesty International condemned what it said was the harsh crackdown by China's security forces on this week's protests.
"Demonstrators have a right to protest peacefully," Amnesty Asia Pacific deputy programme director Tim Parritt said in a statement.
"China violates international human rights standards in denying their freedom of assembly and freedom of expression."
Canada's Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier expressed "serious concerns" about China's actions.
"We urge China to respect the right of Tibetans to peaceful protests and to take steps to improve the human rights situation in Tibet," he told the Canadian parliament.
China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 to "liberate" the region, and officially began its rule there a year later.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after the 1959 uprising and has since been based in Dharamshala, India.
Chinese troops killed tens of thousands of Tibetans as they quashed the uprising, according to the Tibetan government-in-exile's website.
Foreign ministry spokesman Qin also condemned this week's protests in India, in which 100 Tibetans have been trying to walk to Tibet in a Mahatma Gandhi-style peaceful march.
Indian police arrested the protesters on Thursday but they vowed to continue with their walk, which they said could take months.
"We're resolutely opposed to the Dalai Lama's group engaging in separatist activities," Qin said when asked about the march in India.
Qin said China had received assurances from Indian officials that they would not support any "splittist" activities from the government-in-exile.
The Dalai Lama has not given his blessing to the march, but on Monday spoke out about what he said were China's "gross" human rights abuses in his homeland.
Above: New York Yankees' Billy Crystal (C) stands for the national anthem before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Tampa, Florida March 13, 2008.
REUTERS/Scott Audette ----------------------- Comedian Billy Crystal's dream came true on Thursday when he played for the New York Yankees in a spring training baseball game, fouling off a pitch before striking out against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A lifelong Yankees fan, Crystal led off the first inning as the team's designated hitter, or "designated Hebrew," as he joked, and struck out swinging against Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Maholm on a 3-2 count.
Crystal, who starred in the movies "When Harry Met Sally" and "City Slickers" and has been a frequent host of the Academy Awards show, said it was an emotional moment.
"It was surreal," Crystal told reporters after the game. "It was great."
Wearing number 60 in honor of his 60th birthday on Friday, Crystal drew loud cheers from the sellout crowd of over 10,000 at Legends Field when his name was announced, when he came to the plate, and when he hit a foul ball down the first base line.
After he struck out, he waved to the crowd and hugged several of his Yankee teammates, including shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Alex Rodriguez, two of Major League Baseball's biggest stars.
He was pulled from the game after one at-bat.
Asked what he was thinking as he faced a Major League pitcher, Crystal said: "I thought, I can't believe this is really happening."
"I wish I was coming back tomorrow," he said.
Crystal, who played baseball well enough at a Long Island, New York, high school to earn a scholarship to college, autographed a ball for Maholm. "What are you, nine?" he said to the 25-year-old pitcher.
Crystal's friend and fellow comedian Robin Williams was in the crowd. "I was just so proud," he said.
Crystal says he's always wanted to play for the Yankees and credits Jeter with pushing the team to sign him to a one-day contract.
Above: Dolphins swim at an aquarium of Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, south of Tokyo, March 20, 2007.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon ------------------------- Mar. 13 - A dolphin who made a New Zealand bay her home helps a group of conservationists to save two stranded whales.
The female pygmy whale and its calf became stranded on Mahia beach and resisted human attempts to herd them out to sea. The situation changed when Moko the dolphin came on the scene
The case of two stranded whales saved by a dolphin off the coast of New Zealand could be the first such case in the world, a conservation worker said on Thursday.
Moko the dolphin, a regular visitor to the coast of Mahia on the east Coast of New Zealand's North Island, became an instant hero after leading two pygmy whales that had repeatedly stranded into deep water on Monday.
"As far as I know it's the only documented instance of this happening," said local Department of Conservation officer Malcolm Smith, adding he had checked with whale stranding specialists who were also unaware of any similar dolphin rescues.
Moko, who had been visiting the beach at Mahia on and off over the summer, arrived at the beach in the nick of time, Smith said.
The disoriented mother and calf had resisted attempts to herd them out to sea, and kept restranding on the beach, to the point where Smith said the pair would likely have to be killed.
Then Moko appeared, and came right up to the whales before leading them out to sea.
"Quite clearly the attitude of the whales changed when the dolphin arrived on the scene. They responded virtually straight away," Smith said.
"The dolphin managed in a couple of minutes what we had failed to do in an hour and a half."
Smith said the whales had not been sighted again in the area.
However Moko had returned and was continuing to play with swimmers near the shore, as she has down for about the past six months.
According to Department of Conservation figures about 700 whales strand on New Zealand beaches every year.
The exact reasons why are not known, but theories include sickness, and sloping sandy beaches interfering with whales' sense of direction.
The rationale for universal compassion is based on the same principle of spiritual democracy. It is the recognition of the fact that every living being has an equal right to and desire for happiness. The true acceptance of the principle of democracy requires that we think and act in terms of the common good. Compassion and universal responsibility require a commitment to personal sacrifice and the neglect of egotistical desires.
P*ONG 150 W. 10th St., New York, NY 10014 nr. Waverly Pl. 212-929-0898
You’ve always loved playing with your food. Too bad food hasn’t really been much fun since that seventh grade food fight you started.
That’s where Pichet Ong comes in.
Celeb pastry chef and classically trained architect Ong is bringing his unique blend of sweet and rich flavors in dishes that are visually stunning and whimsical to his new culinary arena P*ONG.
Best known for his desserts at Jean Georges Vongerichten’s 66 and Spice Market (where his “Thai Jewels” was named “Best Dessert” by New York Magazine in 2005), Ong brings a wider palate of flavors to balance out P*ONG’s menu.
Choose from a menu organized by flavor to get the full experience: for savory, try black pepper scallop toast with Seville orange marmalade, and for sweet, go with concord grape soda tapioca with Hawaiian ginger and Greek yogurt sherbet.
Chocolate Foie Gras Tacos with pineapple, hazelnut, cognac, and chocolate fleur de lis
Complement your food with a conceptual cocktail by stylist Yvan Lemoine. Consider the Exotica and it’s elements: the mangosteen (once a forbidden fruit in the US), gin, lemon, and moscato d’asti, or a Chocolate Mojito composed of passion fruit juice and mint ice (yum!).
Because nothing makes food more fun than fine drinks.
Kaffir Lime Meringue Cakes With Lime-Scented Papaya By Pichet Ong of P*Ong,
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves or the finely grated zest of 1 lime ½ cup confectioners’ sugar 4 large eggs, separated ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 1 cup sugar ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup plus 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice ½ cup heavy cream ½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter 1 ½ cups finely diced ( ¼ inch) papaya 1 teaspoon lime zest ¼ teaspoon minced Thai chili Maldon sea salt.
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the kaffir lime leaves or lime zest in a bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds. Repeat until the leaves are curled and brittle or the zest is dry and crumbly. Finely chop the leaves, if using. Set aside a large pinch of chopped leaves or zest, then sift the remaining leaves or zest with the confectioners’ sugar, pushing them through the sifter.
3. In a mixer, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until they form soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar, then gradually add ½ cup of the sugar and continue whisking until the peaks are firm and glossy. By hand, fold in ¼ teaspoon of the vanilla and the confectioners’-sugar mixture.
4. Drop 6 grapefruit-size dollops of meringue onto the baking sheet. Create a well in the center of each mound. Press the remaining kaffir lime leaves (or lime zest) through a sifter to dust the meringue tops. Put the baking sheet in the oven, close the door and turn off the heat. Leave for 4 hours.
5. In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, whisk together ½ cup lime juice, ½ cup sugar, cream, egg yolks, salt and ½ teaspoon vanilla until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in the butter. Cover and cool.
6. Just before serving, mix the papaya, remaining lime juice, 1 teaspoon lime zest and chili. Place a meringue on each of 6 plates. Spoon about 1 ½ tablespoons custard into the well of each meringue, and top with papaya. Sprinkle with a pinch of Maldon sea salt. Serves 6.
Per Down by the Hipster, on Monday night Williamsburg tavern Teddy’s capitalized on the Luv Guv’s downfall by serving up a Hypocrite’s Delight special consisting of a $5 Spitzer Spritzer made with — wait a minute — well liquor? We all know Eliot prefers the high end. Maybe the bar at Maze has something more to his liking.
Update: Metromix finds that Spitzer's Corner patrons are indeed in his corner, especially the guy who ponders what cheese might be paired with a Spitzer Spritzer: "This is a sex ring. This is like a Brillat Savarin or a Pierre Robert."
Spitzer Gets Scandal Special [Down by the Hipster]
Aaron Hoopes, the founder of Zen Yoga, demonstrates a yoga stance during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo February 25, 2008. Imagine Indian yoga, Japanese zen, Chinese tai chi and qigong, wrapped into a 20-minute warm-up to be completed before you've even had your first cup of coffee of the day. It may sound like the takeaway menu of an over-ambitious Asian fusion restaurant, but Hoopes says adapting ancient exercises and meditation practices to modern lives does not erase their deeper spiritual meaning. Hoopes' book outlines a series of exercises ranging from yoga stretches to the Chinese practice of tai chi. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon -------------------------------- TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Imagine Indian yoga, Japanese zen, Chinese tai chi and qigong, wrapped into a 20-minute warm-up to be completed before you've even had your first cup of coffee of the day.
It may sound like the takeaway menu of an over-ambitious Asian fusion restaurant, but Aaron Hoopes, the founder of Zen Yoga, says adapting ancient exercises and meditation practices to modern lives does not erase their deeper spiritual meaning.
"All these disciplines have been around for thousands of years," Hoopes said in an interview in Tokyo, where he was teaching workshops and promoting his book, Zen Yoga.
"I didn't make them up. I put them in a form people are able to access in a comprehensive and clear way."
Accessibility is a central theme in Hoopes' teachings. While Hoopes also works with athletes, he wants his package of stretching, moving and breathing exercises to appeal to people who would not dare to venture inside a conventional yoga studio.
Hoopes' book, published by Kodansha in 2007, outlines a series of exercises ranging from yoga stretches to the Chinese practice of tai chi. The author, who used to live in Japan and now lives in the United States, finds the two complement each other since yoga focuses on flexibility, while tai chi opens the joints.
"If you combine this concept of movement and circulation through the joints with the lengthening and strengthening of the muscles in yoga, then you get what Zen Yoga is trying to accomplish in getting the whole body working and flowing with energy," he said.
The Zen part of Zen Yoga is a little harder to define.
Zen is a school of Buddhism, and one of its central teachings is to improve awareness through meditation.
BODY AND MIND
"The concept of zen in Zen Yoga is not necessarily the Buddhist religious aspect of zen, but it's much more the concept of being present, being in the present moment, being mindfully aware," Hoopes said.
One way to achieve such mindful awareness is through breathing exercises.
Hoopes is, of course, not the first person to merge yoga with other spiritual practices and even Western forms of exercise. Walk into an average yoga studio and you will find courses ranging from hot yoga to power yoga to slimming yoga.
Many of the newer variations of the ancient practice are viewed with suspicion by traditionalists, but as stressed-out urban dwellers flock to yoga studios around the world, the diversity of styles is only likely to increase.
Hoopes himself is critical of some of the more recent yoga-related inventions, saying some of the styles have little to do with yoga.
His own interest in yoga reaches back to when he began training in karate first in the United States, then in Japan, some 25 years ago. He discovered yoga as a way to heal the aches and pains caused by his fighting, and found that it helped him improve his martial arts performance. He also has training in Chinese qi gong and tai chi.
"I created Zen Yoga to organise it all under one roof, as it were," he said.
Hoopes teaches practitioners who want to become Zen Yoga instructors themselves, and is working on various books, including a yoga book for children. He has released a DVD with his 20-minute warm-up program -- ideally to be completed before breakfast -- and will release another one next year.
His hope is that the short Zen Yoga routine will encourage people to build the practice into their daily lives, making a habit out of simple exercises such as shoulder-shrugging or wrist rotation to loosen the body and calm the mind.
"It's a spiritual discipline. You get the body to work properly, get mind to settle down... and that creates a fertile ground that allows the individual to mature, to grow and develop," Hoopes said.
Above: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer stands next to his wife Silda Wall Spitzer as he announces his resignation at his office in New York, March 12, 2008.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid --------------------------- NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned on Wednesday amid a scandal over a $1,000-an-hour prostitute, cutting short a career built on pugnacious investigations of Wall Street crimes.
Lt. Gov. David Paterson will replace him on Monday, Spitzer said.
"I am resigning from the office of governor. At Lt. Gov. Paterson's request, the resignation will be effective Monday, March 17," Spitzer announced.
Spitzer, a Democrat, had faced intense pressure to resign and impeachment threats from Republicans since the New York Times reported on Monday that he was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute.
Spitzer, 48 and married with three children, is a former New York state chief prosecutor who rose to prominence by investigating financial crime with a vigor that earned him the nickname Sheriff of Wall Street.
He also broke up prostitution rings as attorney general.
Spitzer had apologized to his family and the public on Monday for what he called a "private matter," but gave no details of what he was apologizing for and then shuttered himself in his New York City apartment for two days.
Some 70 percent of New York voters wanted Spitzer to quit, according to a WNBC/Marist poll conducted on Tuesday.
Spitzer, who attracted wide publicity but also resentment on Wall Street with his pursuit of financial crimes while he was the state's attorney general, became governor with nearly 70 percent of the vote in November 2006 on pledges to clean up state politics.
The Times, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported on Monday that Spitzer was the man identified as "Client 9" in a federal affidavit revealing details from an investigation into a prostitution ring.
Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen," a prostitute who charged $1,000 an hour, on February 13 in a Washington hotel and paid her $4,300, the court document said.
The complaint unveiled last week charged four people with running a prostitution ring dubbed The Emperors Club.
It was not known if Spitzer would face any charges stemming from the case.
Chicken soup is pretty universal. This Korean version is a hearty, healthy, and delicious way to change up an old favorite.
Soup 1 young chicken (2 to 3 pounds) May substitute 2 cornish game hens 1 teaspoon sesame oil 4 red dates (Chinese or Korean jujubes) ginseng rootlets 1/2 inch fresh ginger 6 cloves fresh garlic salt pepper 10 cups water
Stuffing 1/2 cup sweet rice 8 ginko nuts, shelled 2 fresh ginseng roots 1/2 small white or yellow onion 8 cloves fresh garlic 8 red dates (Chinese or Korean jujubes)
Garnish 2 scallions or green/spring onion 2 eggs
INSTRUCTIONS Put rice in a bowl and rinse until water runs clear. Cover with water and soak for 1/2 hour. Drain.
Clean poultry inside and out (use or discard gizzards and liver as you wish).Lightly salt (rub) both the inside and outside, and let stand for fifteen minutes. Wash ginseng root then trim the rootlets (do not discard, save for soup). Cut into bite size pieces.
Slice onion, then cut slices in half Wash and thin slice the ginger.
Put all stuffing ingredients into the cavity (Divide stuffing evenly if using 2 game hens), and close flaps over the cavity (sew with thread or use a skewer). Separate egg yolks from whites and place in separate small bowls. Lightly whip yolks together. Spread whipped yolks in frying pan and cook until lightly browned, flip and repeat with the other side. Remove from pan and cut into narrow strips.Repeat with whites.
Place poultry in a heavy pot and cover with water.Bring to a full boil over high heat, skimming oil and foam as needed.
Reduce heat to medium, add ginger slices, cover and cook for one hour. Remove and discard ginger, then add garlic, jujubes, and ginseng rootlets. Cook for an additional thirty minutes, adding water as needed to maintain 1/2 the original volume.
Add sesame oil five minutes before end of cooking. Fine chop the scallions/green onions.Garnish each serving with egg strips and green onions.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - You don't have to be a model or a movie star to see your face on a Times Square billboard. A public art project opening this week lets anybody go into a photo booth and see the results on a skyscraper for free.
"I in the Sky" is the brainchild of artist Raul Vincent Enriquez, who uses a series of still photographs to create a 30-second flipbook-style animation of his subject.
The clips will be shown on a giant electronic billboard on top of the Conde Nast building at 4 Times Square from March 6 until April 26. The building's owner, the Durst Organization, is donating the billboard space.
"You sit in the photo booth and hit the button and it takes about 30 photos of you and then we animate them," Enriquez said during a media preview in a 45th-floor hotel suite overlooking the billboard.
The booth is located in the Chashama art gallery on West 44th street, just off Times Square. Within 15 minutes, visitors can walk a few blocks over to see their faces. The animations will also be posted on a Web site at (http://www.durst.org/iinthesky).
Visitors to the gallery have started taking pictures in the test phase and Enriquez said he had been surprised to see people using it to hold up written messages -- both personal and political.
"It's all been Obama; everybody has Obama fever," he said, referring to Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who is in a tight race for the presidential nomination with U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
"I haven't seen any Hillary yet," Enriquez added.
He and his assistants who do the animation are careful to screen the photos but so far he said there had been nothing unfit to show.
"I've seen a lot of happy birthday kind of stuff, with the big heart or just 'I love you' -- typical romantic stuff," he said. "I've yet to see somebody break up on there, but that would be kind of fun -- 'It's just not working' or something."
DHARAMSALA, India, March 11 (Reuters) - Indian police have barred a group of around 100 Tibetans from marching towards the Chinese border to press their claims for independence and protest against the Beijing Olympics.
The marchers set off on Monday as part of global protests to mark the 49th anniversary of an uprising against Chinese rule, leaving from the town of Dharamsala, home to Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the refugees' "government-in-exile".
But on Monday night Indian police told the marchers they were not to leave the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh state until further notice.
Marchers said they expected to reach the borders of the district by around Thursday evening, and continued their march as planned on Tuesday morning.
"Tibetan refugees have the right to return to Tibet," said Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress. "This is the first major obstacle we are facing, but we remain committed to marching."
Kangra police superintendent Atul Fulzele told Reuters he had received orders from the central government to restrain the marchers, since they were in breach of an agreement not to conduct "anti-Chinese activities" on Indian soil.
India's home ministry at first said the restraining order had been issued by the Himachal Pradesh government, and later declined further comment.
The marchers vowed to press on anyway.
"If stopped, we are going to practice non-violence," one of the coordinators of the campaign, Lobsang Yeshi, told Reuters. "If arrested we will try to resist."
"If they detain us, we will start again as soon as we are released," added veteran Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue.
As the Olympics approach, Tibetans are trying to reinvigorate their freedom movement and protest against what they see as China's illegal occupation of their homeland.
But their protests ran into trouble.
China detained between 50 and 60 monks who led a march towards Tibet's capital Lhasa, according to a report by the U.S. government-funded radio station, Radio Free Asia.
In Nepal, many protesters were hurt when police used batons to break up a march on the Chinese embassy, while in Greece activists complained of harassment by police when they lit a torch at Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic Games.
The protests marked the anniversary of a 1959 uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule, which was crushed by the People's Liberation Army, driving the Dalai Lama into exile.
The Dalai Lama last week rejected a Chinese accusation he was trying to sabotage the Olympics, saying he always supported Beijing's right to host the Games.
NEW YORK — As Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies go, Monday night's didn't seem to promise much controversy, like Van Halen's induction last year or the Sex Pistols' the year before that unless you consider the induction of dance-pop icon Madonna into the hallowed hall to be scandalous.
And apart from a handful of Eliot Spitzer quips, the evening — which also saw the inductions of John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, the Ventures, the Dave Clark Five, Little Walter and '70s hitmakers Gamble and Huff — didn't have much controversy either. That is, until Madonna opened her mouth.
After an innuendo-filled introduction from Justin Timberlake (during which he lauded Madonna for her "shapely body of work" and for how she's "always been a woman on top" who "fully enjoys that position"), the sinewy singer ascended the stage and thanked seemingly everyone who helped shape her career, from her earliest dancing teachers to the critics who have blasted her over the years, and told her she was "talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn't sing, that I was a one-hit wonder — they helped me too, because they made me question myself and they pushed me to be better, and I am grateful for their resistance."
Then, Madonna clarified a story Timberlake told during his introduction. He'd recalled getting an injection of vitamin B12 in the butt from Madonna during recording sessions for her new album. Timberlake said that, during the sessions, he started feeling ill. That's when Madonna proceeded "to pull a Ziploc bag of B12 syringes out [of her purse]." He said she then instructed him to "Drop 'em."
"I don't know what you say to that, so I immediately dropped my pants," he said. "She gave me a shot in my a-- and looks at me and says, 'Nice top shelf.' That was one of the greatest days of my life."
Madonna, however, remembered the incident slightly differently. "Everything he said is basically true, but I didn't say 'Drop 'em.' I said, 'Pull your pants down.' I like to be accurate because you know I am a control freak."
After quoting from the Talmud, she called Timberlake — who'd said, "She became the biggest name on the planet the old-fashioned way: She earned it" — a "f---er." Moments later, she blurted out the word "mother----er" for no discernable reason.
Those words served as a fitting preamble for the punk-paced covers of Madonna songs from a leathery and topless Iggy Pop, who, along with the Stooges, paid tribute to the singer with covers of "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light," during which Pop tossed out an F-bomb. At one point during that performance, the cameras panned to a horrified-looking Clive Davis.
After Pop hobbled offstage, Billy Joel — there to induct his pal John "You'll Always Be the Cougar to Me" Mellencamp — spit out a string of obscenities too, eliciting laughter from an audience that included Chevy Chase, Michael J. Fox, Meg Ryan and even Princess Firyal of Jordan.
The night got off to a much slower start, by comparison. After some opening remarks from Rolling Stone founder and Rock Hall chairman Jann Wenner, legendary R&B singer Patti LaBelle stirred the decked-to-then-nines audience with a towering rendition of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now," which was written and produced by inductees Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
"You've been touching the world with your music for so many years," LaBelle exclaimed, honoring the team responsible for '70s-era soul hits from Lou Rawls, the O'Jays, Jerry Butler and many others. "You've touched my life. You've done a wonderful thing. Keep on touching, brothers."
Also inducted — posthumously — was legendary blues harmonica player Little Walter, who died in 1968; he joined the hall in its sidemen category, as he was a frequent collaborator of Muddy Waters'. Ben Harper said of Walter, who helped pioneer the use of electronic distortion, that "he defined an instrument, he defined a sound, he defined a genre."
Surf-rock icons the Ventures were inducted next, and followed up the honor by performing two of their biggest hits, "Walk, Don't Run" and the theme from "Hawaii Five-O." John Fogerty, who introduced the Ventures, praised the band for having recorded 250 albums over the course of their career. "Nowadays, some of us would be happy to sell 250 records," he joked, making a reference to the dire state of the music industry.
A pink shirt-sporting Lou Reed strutted onstage to induct revered songwriter Leonard Cohen. His often disjointed tribute to Cohen included a recitation of the genius musician's lyrics — printed out on at least 30 pages Reed pulled from his pocket. "We're so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is," Reed noted, before Damien Rice delivered a rendition of Cohen's "Hallelujah." "This is a very unlikely occasion for me," Cohen, wearing a black tux, admitted. "It is not a distinction that I coveted or even dared dream about. So, I'm reminded of a prophetic statement of [music critic and longstanding Bruce Springsteen manager] Jon Landau in the early '70s. He said, 'I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is not Leonard Cohen.' "
After Madonna's induction and Joel's hilarious introductory speech, Mellencamp — sounding like he'd just downed a shot of molten steel — emerged to claim that "nobody put themselves behind the eight-ball more than I did." He spoke of having surgery when he was just six weeks old, explaining that doctors had worried he'd be paralyzed below the neck. The 56-year-old rocker said he never knew of the surgery until his teen years, when a classmate asked him about the scar behind his neck. "I'm lucky to be standing here for any number of reasons," he said, after snuffing out a cigarette as he mounted the stage.
Last came '60s popsters the Dave Clark Five, whose singer, Mike Smith, died just two weeks ago. Clark admitted it was a bittersweet time for the English group. "We wanted it to be the five of us here, but we know he's smiling down on us, knowing he's a hall of famer," Clark said, adding that he's absolutely delighted that his band's being inducted into the "American" rock hall.
Actor Tom Hanks inducted the band, and told stories about first seeing them on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Finally, Joan Jett, Fogerty and Mellencamp capped off the long night, playing the group's "Bits and Pieces" and "Glad All Over."
Above: A woman has a drink on an armchair made of ice at the first ice-bar in Chile, in Vina Del Mar city, about 75 miles (120 km) northwest of Santiago, February 12, 2008. The bar, plates, glasses and armchairs are made of ice and temperature in the bar is maintained at -5 degrees Celsius. REUTERS/Eliseo Fernandez (CHILE) ------------------------ Ice bar in north China offers people a chance to experience a world of ice from chairs and tables to glasses.
Winter nights in China's northeastern Harbin city were never boring. Just a few hours drive south of Siberia, Harbin's winter temperature can go to minus 20 degree centigrade.
The city lights up every year with ice lantern sculptures and people performing on ice.
Above: Monks chant prayers before a pro-Tibet march in Taipei March 9, 2008. Activists on Sunday called for the boycott of the Beijing Olympics and the freedom of Tibet from China during a pro-Tibet march in downtown Taipei. REUTERS/Nicky Loh (TAIWAN) ----------- Mar 10 - Exiled Tibetans mark the 49th anniversary of an uprising against Chinese rule.
With the Beijing Olympics only months away Tibetans world-wide are hoping to breathe new impetus into their demands for an end to what they say is China's illegal occupation of their homeland.
Paul Chapman reports.
SOUNDBITE: Kelsang Gope, unofficial representative of the Tibetan National Olympic Committee, saying (English): "Our torch, our flame, is burning always for the cause of Tibet, for the cause of Tibetans living in Tibet under the pressure of the Chinese government. So we wanted to give them hope and also all people suffering under oppression."
NEW YORK (AP) -- Locals say this city makes the world's best bagels from the best water, piped in from rustic reservoirs up to 150 miles north. Yet few know of a secret ingredient in their source water: a dash of pharmaceuticals.
Research studies have turned up minute amounts of more than 15 drugs or their byproducts in several pristine-looking rivers, a reservoir, and aqueducts feeding the country's biggest water system.
Though barely measurable, these pharmaceuticals are present in a variety worthy of a medicine cabinet: drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high blood pressure; hormones for menopause; the active ingredient in a popular sedative; and caffeine -- all bound for the city that never sleeps.
How did they reach waterways? The vast watershed, while mainly rural, stretches almost from Pennsylvania to Connecticut and encompasses lots of human activity. Human and veterinary medicines are excreted or discarded, and eventually enter source waters mostly through residential sewage or farm runoff.
And while these waters are processed at wastewater treatment plants upstate, much of the pharmaceutical residue passes right through, studies show.
It's unknown how much lingers each day by the time 1.1 billion gallons reach the faucets of more than 9 million people in the city and northern suburbs via a century-old network of aqueducts and tunnels.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which runs the city's water system, responded to an Associated Press survey of water utilities, saying it has not tested its drinking water for pharmaceuticals, despite the findings in its watershed.
The tests that detected pharmaceuticals in the upstate source waters were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of Health.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview and issued only a brief general statement: ''New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system'' -- regulations that do not address pharmaceuticals in trace amounts.
As in other cities, human health risks from trace pharmaceuticals are uncertain, since concentrations in New York source waters are way below medical doses and undergo dilution as they mix with fresh water en route to the city.
Already, though, troubling studies indicate that traces of pharmaceuticals may be harming fish in New York City's Jamaica Bay, within sight of Manhattan's skyscrapers. Researcher Anne McElroy at Stony Brook University has found feminized male flounder there, and she links them to high levels of the female hormone estrone or other estrogenic chemicals discovered in the waterway.
Estrogen also has been found in the city's watershed in recent years. Upstate, the geological survey and state health agency also detected the heart medicine atenolol; anti-seizure drugs carbamazepine and primidone; relaxers diazepam and carisoprodol; infection fighters trimethoprim, clindamycin, and sulfamethoxazole; pain relievers ibuprofen, acetaminophen and codeine; and remains of caffeine and nicotine.
Despite all that, the federal government considers the New York City system to be so clean that it need not filter most of its water, as most big cities are required to do. When the filtering waiver was extended last year, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg exulted: ''I've always thought that New York City has some of the best water around, and now we've got confirmation from Washington.''
However, filtration is meant mainly to remove germs, and the federal government hasn't required any testing of pharmaceuticals in source or drinking water. Though it lacks conventional treatment plants with filtering processes, New York City does disinfect and add chemicals to its drinking water. Plus, it is building a filtration plant for water from its Croton watershed -- its smallest and closest source.
Patrick Phillips, a geological survey hydrologist who has studied drugs in the city's watershed, says recent sewage treatment upgrades probably catch some, though the systems aren't designed to. The city also is building a plant to disinfect with ultraviolet radiation the water taken from the major, upstate sectors of the watershed. Research shows that ultraviolet can degrade some pharmaceuticals.
''I think both the state and the city are aware that these things could be an issue and you could be proactive about it,'' Phillips says.
Few New Yorkers seem aware of their possible presence. The AP contacted more than two dozen water-testing companies across the metropolitan area, and none had ever been asked to check for pharmaceuticals.
Douglas LeVangie, a sales executive at Simpltek, says even the company's home water tests for disease-causing germs sell modestly in New York City, with its global reputation for wholesome water.
Often a remedy for a cold, a hot toddy is at once delicious and invigorating. This take on the classic gains extra power from honey liqueur and the rich apple essence of Calvados. Of course, a good clover honey may be used as well as an apple brandy, but we prefer the full-bodied flavor of the Bärenjäger and the Calvados. Either way, this toddy is sure to make everyone a bit warm and toasty.
What to buy: Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur is a classic German liqueur that is a unique blend of highland honey and fine spirits. It can be found at a well-stocked liquor store or online. If you can’t find it, high-quality clover honey can be substituted.
INGREDIENTS 1 part Calvados or apple brandy 1 part Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur (or honey) 4 parts boiling water Dash freshly grated nutmeg 1 cinnamon stick (optional) 1 lemon wedge
INSTRUCTIONS Pour brandy and honey liqueur or honey into a heatproof glass. Add water and nutmeg and stir with a cinnamon stick or bar spoon. Float lemon wedge on top and serve.
Part Time Female Ninja Warrior, Part Time Afghan Crocheter (Woolen Thingies not the Afghani people), Part Time Sock Collector, Part Time Photographer of Whimsical and Quirky Inanimate Objects, Part Time Nuclear Physicist (just on the weekends), Part Time Sous Chef (just on weekends currently mastering the art of the Nuclear Brunch)
