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40*F
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Dec 17, 2006 7:56 am
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<---camel's 
I shall not die of a cold. I shall die of having lived.
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'Scheherazade" descended on a half -moon
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Dec 16, 2006 11:39 pm
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In pictures: Asian Games finale
The Asian Games have ended in Qatar, with a closing ceremony themed on the famous tale A Thousand and One Nights - which came complete with flying carpets.
<---'Scheherazade" descended on a half-moon during the ceremony, which ended the biggest Asian Games ever staged.
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flying carpet
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Dec 16, 2006 11:26 pm
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In pictures: Asian Games finale
<-----
The Asian Games have ended in Qatar, with a closing ceremony themed on the famous tale A Thousand and One Nights - which came complete with flying carpets.
In the end the Qatar team won the game and celebrated
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asian games finale
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Dec 16, 2006 11:24 pm
180 Views
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In pictures: Asian Games finale
YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING...
The Asian Games have ended in Qatar, with a closing ceremony themed on the famous tale A Thousand and One Nights - which came complete with flying carpets.
'Scheherazade" descended on a half-moon during the ceremony, which ended the biggest Asian Games ever staged.
Friday's extravaganza also included a gigantic fireworks display at Doha's Khalifa stadium.
The day's main sporting event was the football final, pitting the hosts against Iraq. Iraqis were united behind their team and enjoyed a rare chance to cheer.
In the end the Qatar team won the game and celebrated
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Tajik girls drop school to marry
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Dec 16, 2006 10:43 pm
189 Views
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By Dina Newman
<---Sarvinoz was married off - but then kicked out of her house The collapse of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Tajikistan have made girl children particularly vulnerable.
Girls are brought up to be good Muslims and obedient wives, but many are unable to fend for themselves if family links break down.
During the civil war, parents married off their young daughters in order to protect them from kidnapping and rape by soldiers on both sides. But after the war, many impoverished parents in the countryside could not afford to send their daughters to school.
"My parents told me - don't go to school, stay at home," says Sarvinoz, who at the age of 19 cannot read or write.
When she was 16 she was married off. But three years later she had to leave her husband's home as she did not get on with her mother in law, and they told her to leave.
Now Sarvinoz is wondering what to do. Although she would like to get an education and work as a teacher, at the moment she cannot even sign her name.
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World's tallest man saves dolphin
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Dec 16, 2006 10:32 pm
169 Views
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Towels were wrapped around the dolphins' teeth
Mr Bao in action
The world's tallest man has saved two dolphins by using his long arms to reach into their stomachs and pull out dangerous plastic shards.
Mongolian herdsman Bao Xishun was called in after the dolphins swallowed plastic used around their pool at an aquarium in Fushun, north-east China.
Attempts to use instruments failed as the dolphins contracted their stomachs.
Guinness World Records list Mr Bao, 54, as the world's tallest living man at 2.36m (7ft 8.95in).
Recovering
Veterinarians turned to Mr Bao after attempts to extract the plastic shards at the aquarium in Fushun, Liaoning Province, had failed.
Mr Bao was called in after surgical instruments failed
The mammals had lost their appetite and were suffering depression, aquarium officials said.
The heads of the dolphins were held back and towels wrapped around their teeth so Mr Bao could not be bitten.
He then extended his 1.06m-long arm into the mammals' stomachs.
Chen Lujun, manager of Royal Jidi Ocean World, said Mr Bao was successful and the dolphins were "in very good condition now".
Local doctor Zhu Xiaoling told the state media agency Xinhua: "Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins' stomachs.
"However the dolphins will be able to digest these and are expected to recover soon."
Mr Bao was confirmed as the world's tallest living man by Guinness World Records last year.
He overtook the previous holder, Radhouane Charbib of Tunisia, by just 2mm.
Guinness World Records say Mr Bao was of normal height until 16 but then put on a spurt that doctors were unable to explain, reaching his full height in seven years.
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China's passion for foot-washing
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Dec 16, 2006 10:27 pm
187 Views
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By fu[kcq]hsia Dunlop
What is your antidote to a frantic day's Christmas shopping? In China, one of the de-stressing options available to rich and poor alike is to go for a foot wash.
Foot-washing is one of the most popular leisure activities in China The young man sits at my feet, gazing up at me occasionally with almond eyes.
"How is this?" he asks me. "Is it comfortable? Too heavy? Too light?"
He massages ointments into my feet, rubs them and strokes them, easing away every tension.
From time to time he explains what he is doing in terms of Chinese medicine.
"This is the stomach," he says, as he focuses on one spot on the sole of my foot. "This is the kidney."
And after an hour and a half of his gentle ministrations, I am so happy and relaxed that I can hardly move.
Leisure activity
So-called foot-washing is one of the most popular leisure activities in China.
They soaked our feet, and then they kneaded, pummelled and slapped them in such perfect unison it was almost comical
I was first introduced to it by a sassy female restaurateur on a rainy afternoon in Hunan Province.
She and her friends had planned to take me sightseeing, but there was a thunderstorm raging outside.
"Let's go and have our feet washed," she cried. I had always assumed that foot-washing was a euphemism for more sleazy services. But I am always ready for an adventure, and in such respectable company, who could refuse?
So the four of us piled into the car and drove off to a luxury hotel, where we hired a private foot-washing room.
Soon, as we lay back in our easy chairs, four young women came in with wooden pails of hot water, fragrant with herbs.
They soaked our feet, and then they kneaded, pummelled and slapped them in such perfect unison it was almost comical.
My host spent most of the time on her mobile phone, doing deals and gossiping with her friends. The rest of us sipped chrysanthemum tea and watched television. It carried on raining all afternoon, but none of us cared.
That blissful experience was, for me, the first of many foot-washes all over the country.
Pleasure emporium
I started to notice the proliferation of neon signs advertising xi yu, "wash feet", in every Chinese city. And I have tried out all kinds of places.
Some foot-washing centres, obviously, are also brothels, and it is not always clear where the boundary lies
Some are cramped basements carved up into cubicles, others have the air of private medical clinics.
And some are extraordinary emporia of pleasure, vast cinema-like spaces where you can have your feet massaged while watching the latest kung fu DVDs.
In the more salubrious establishments, an hour and a half of indulgence might set you back £5 or £10.
But in the cheaper places, it will not cost you more than £1 or £2, so you do not have to be rich to afford the occasional visit.
Some foot-washing centres, obviously, are also brothels, and it is not always clear where the boundary lies.
Once I spent a surreal evening at a massage parlour with a restaurant tycoon and a food-writer, both middle-aged men.
I felt uncomfortable as they unhooked their trousers and loosened their clothing. I felt out of place, as two pretty, flirtatious girls crawled all over them in a vigorous massage.
The apparent loucheness of the situation brought out all my English reserve. But they just carried on chatting and smoking as normal. I was as baffled by the end of the evening as I had been at the start.
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86%
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Dec 16, 2006 12:23 pm
183 Views
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"Do you know what the rate of literacy is in the U.S.? 86%. Do you know how many married people have committed adultry? 87%. This is the only country in the world that has more cheaters than readers." --Neil Simon
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passion,,,,,,,,,,
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Dec 16, 2006 12:07 pm
182 Views
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Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.
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successful men
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Dec 16, 2006 12:00 pm
184 Views
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The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion. . . It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider - and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation - persevering in what he knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.
Alexander Graham Bell
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To link to this blog (celia2005) use [blog celia2005] in your messages.
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