Updates...

Past one month have been surreal for me. Before i rant on my man Tiger Woods...let me share what happened.

On 30.10.09 (Friday)...6:30am...my aunty called and said my third uncle passed on (61 years old). He was not sick and even chatted with his wife the night before around 10pm. He passed on peacefully in his sleep. Funeral was on 2.11.09 (Sunday).

[My weekend plan for that week was to help my friend C out driving his in-laws from KL. He registered his marriage 09.09.09. His wife is from KL. My friend since young uses clutches to move. When he was small got hit by polio. But he got a very good mind...very good with computers.]

I called him up on Friday and told him i won;t be able to help out over the weekend because of my uncle's passing, but i can help him on Monday and Tuesday (the in-laws here from Sat till Tuesday). He told me not to worry he will ask another friend to assist.

Sat evening, my friend M called me up and say that C is in the hospital. Went in for check up in the morning (before the in-laws arrival)...cause his leg was swollen. The doctor asked him to be admitted for observation. I told M i won;t be able to visit C cause of my family matter...sort of taboo. Did not want to cause 'harm' to C.

My uncle's funeral was on Sunday afternoon. Those of young generations have to walk behind the car (final sent off)...went through city center. I think it was about 1-2 km walk...then we went into our cars and go off to the place for cremation.

Around 3pm...all over. Went home to rest.

Around 5pm, i called C up..did not pick up the phone. About 5:30pm, P returned call using C's phone. And told me that at around 3 pm, the hospital tried to drain the fluid out from C's leg. C is still unconscious. I told him to keep me updated.

On that day, M and J told the in-laws sight seeing. And only return about 10pm. M called me and was informed C is still not awake. He will go over to the hospital after sending the in-laws back to the hotel.

At 11pm, J called and informed me C is now in ICU (cause did not regain consciousness). They have not reach the hospital yet. C's wife informed them. 11:30pm, M called and asked me if i am sitting down. He said they just reached the hospital and at 11:20pm, C passed on. According to the hospital....because of difficulty breathing. I was shocked when i heard the news. I told M i will go over to the hospital (since he passed on..did not worry about the taboo thingy).

My wife went with me. When we reached there..the father and mother in law was there, so was the wife's sisters. C's sister was there too...crying. We started calling all the friends we know. Friends from Kl and Singapore flew back the next day. The in-laws was supposed to come for holiday instead helping out with the funeral.

Funeral was on Tuesday. Many people came to pay their last respect. The wake was held in a shop in town (meant for this kind of service)...same place with my uncle's wake.

Tuesday the newspaper simply put up the stories. During 09.09.09 wedding registeration, C and his wife got a lot of write up by the news reporters. But for this one...only one was true cause the wife allowed to be interviwed. The rest was crap. One of them even got C's surname wrong. Another wrote he went sight seeing with the in laws and fell ill when got back. It was not the case when C himself requested M to bring him to hospital before picking up the in-laws. Had this happened in the US....would have sued the newspapers.

Any way...at least he is now in a better place. May he rest in peace.

Greetings....

Helo You all..an early holiday greetings from mua....:)

Dear Friends

A big "Thank You” for your friendship, laughters
and memories during 2009 .
.Without you, I'm sure that 2009 would have been extremely boring.


I wish you all a magical Festive Season
filled with Loving Wishes and Beautiful Thoughts.

May 2010 mark the beginning
of a Tidal Wave of Love, Happiness, Good Health, and a Bright Future

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year 2010!

LOGIC, LEGAL AND BOTH

Something to share....:)


After having failed his exam in Logistics and Organization, a student goes and confronts his lecturer about it.


Student, “Sir, do you really understand anything about the subject?”

Professor, “Surely I must. Otherwise I would not be a professor!”

Student, “Great, well then I would like to ask you a question. If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my mark as it is and go. If you however do not know the answer, I want you give me an ‘A’ for the exam.”

Professor, “Okay, it’s a deal. So what is the question?”

Student: “What is legal, but not logical, logical, but not legal, and neither logical, nor legal?”

Even after some long and hard consideration, the professor cannot give the student an answer, and therefore changes his exam mark into an ‘A’, as agreed.

Afterwards, the professor calls on his best student and asks him the same question.

He immediately answers, “Sir, you are 63 years old and married to a 35 year old woman, which is legal, but not logical. Your wife has a 25 year old lover, which is logical, but not legal. The fact that you have given your wife’s lover an ‘A’, although he really should have failed, is neither legal, nor logical.”

When insults had class.

Hehe...something to share...from email.

The verbal cross-swords between Oscar Wilde and Churchill is pure gold!


Occasionaly clean ones.....




When Insults Had Class

These glorious insults are from an
era before the English language got boiled down
to 4-letter words. The exchange between Churchill
& Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband, I'd give you poisoned tea." He answered, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

> A member of Parliament to Prime Minister Disraeli:
> "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of
> some unspeakable disease."
> "That depends, Sir", said
> Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your
> mistress."

> "He had delusions of adequacy." Walter Kerr
> "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the
> vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
>
> "I have never killed a man, but I have read many
> obituaries with great pleasure."
> Clarence Darrow
>
> "He has never been known to use a word that
> might send a reader to the
> dictionary."
> William Faulkner (about Ernest
> Hemingway).
>
> Thank you for sending me a copy of your
> book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
>
> "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a
> nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
>
> "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his
> friends."
> Oscar Wilde
>
> "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my
> new play; bring a friend... if you have one."
> George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
>
> "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend
> second... if there is one."
> Winston Churchill, in response.

> I feel so miserable without you, it's almost
> like having you here."
> Comedian Kip Adota
>
> "He is a self-made man and worships his
> creator." John Bright
>
> "I've just learned about his illness. Let's
> hope it's nothing trivial."
> Irvin S. Cobb
>
> "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of
> dullness in others."
> Samuel Johnson
>
> "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run
> up." Paul Keating
>
> "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always
> yielded easily."
> Charles, Count Talleyrand

> "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
> Forrest Tucker
>
> "Why do you sit there looking like an
> envelope without any address on it?"
> Mark Twain
>
> "His mother should have thrown him away
> and kept the stork."
> Mae West
>
> "Some cause happiness wherever they go;
> others, whenever they go."
> Oscar Wilde
>
> "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses
> lamp-posts... for support rather than
> illumination."
> Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
>
> "He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
> Billy Wilder
>
> "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But
> this wasn't it."
> Groucho Marx

WE NEED EACH OTHER Thats LIFE!

Got this from an email...want to share with all of you.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed this warning :

"T here is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap . . . Alone. . .

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- the sound Of The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did no see it. It was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap. The snake bit the farmer's wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital.

When she returned home she still had a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. So the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard

But his wife's sickness continued.

Friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. But, alas, the farmer's wife did not get well... She died.

So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them for the funeral luncheon. And the mouse looked upon it all So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn't concern you, remember --- When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk..

YOU MAY WANT TO SEND THIS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER

HELPED YOU OUT...

AND LET THEM KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE. - REMEMBER - EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY. OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

One of the best things to hold onto In this world is a FRIEND.

Lord Bless My Online friends.

Sad state of affair..

Got this from CNN. If this happened to anyone i know...i sure do not know what to do...will make sure the $@#$!@ get what is coming for him.

Friend of gang rape victim blasts school officials over safety
By Moni Basu, CNN
October 29, 2009 7:30 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- She had come alone to the Richmond High School homecoming dance, gorgeous in a sparkling purple dress and faux diamond baubles. The DJ played salsa, meringue, rap. When the teenager disappeared, her friends thought she had gone home early.

Except she never said goodbye.

"We were going to go look for her," said Kami Baker, 16, a junior at the school.

The next day, Baker learned the ugly truth about what had happened to her friend.

She had been gang raped and beaten for almost two-and-a-half hours and left unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday night.

"I busted up crying," Baker said.

The campus incident in the Bay Area city north of Oakland has shaken students and their families. Baker was one of many people connected to the school and the community who lashed out at officials at a public safety hearing Wednesday.

Baker blamed school district officials for not doing enough to protect her school -- and her friend. She said none of the four officers who were at the homecoming dance was patrolling the school premises even though there were a dozen young men hanging out just a few feet from the gym entrance. She says school officials chose not to take any action.

"I looked outside of the gym and I saw 12 to 15 guys, sitting there, with no IDs," Baker said at the hearing. "The officers -- not only did they not check the IDs of those students or men sitting outside of of our campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no ... checking either. The assistant principal looked outside and actually saw those men, and did nothing about it."

Baker took the podium with her younger sister, Barbie, a freshman at the school, who had spent a chunk of Saturday evening with the rape victim.

"This story has disrupted the school's morale greatly, including my own. I am friends with the girl," Baker said. "When I started here, I felt extremely unsafe and so did she, due to the lack of police officers and security officers."

Baker later described the 15-year-old girl as a churchgoer who struggled to fit in at Richmond High.

Police investigating the rape have arrested five people -- two adults and three minors, who will be charged as adults, said Lt. Mark Gagan, the Richmond police spokesman.

As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, police have said. Another 10 people watched, without calling 911.

The victim was released from hospital Wednesday, Gagan said.

Baker took heart in her friend's progress as she recalled how a night of joy for carefree teenagers turned into one that no one wants to remember.

So irresposible....

Got this from CNN

Report: Stray jet's pilots were on laptops
(CNN) -- The pilots of the commercial jetliner that last week overshot its destination by about 150 miles have said they were using their laptops and lost track of time and location, federal safety officials said Monday.

The Airbus A320 was flying at 37,000 feet over the Denver, Colorado, area at 5:56 p.m. Wednesday when it last made radio contact, the safety board said.

Northwest Flight 188 had departed San Diego en route to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport carrying 144 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants. Northwest recently merged with Delta Air Lines.

"Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination," Delta said Monday in a statement.

Pilot Timothy B. Cheney, 53, was hired in 1985 and has more than 20,000 hours flight time; First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, was hired in 1997 and has about 11,000 hours of flight time, the report said.

Neither pilot reported having had an accident, incident or violation, neither had any ongoing medical conditions and neither said he was tired, it said.

They each had a 19-hour layover in San Diego; neither said he had slept or argued during the flight, but both said "there was a distraction" in the cockpit, according to the report.

The pilots said there was "a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls" from air traffic control, though both said they heard conversation on the radio, the report said.

Neither pilot said he noticed messages sent by company dispatchers, it added. It said the men were talking about the new monthly crew flight scheduling system put into place in the wake of Northwest's merger with Delta Air Lines.

"Each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure," the report said.

"The first officer, who was more familiar with the procedure, was providing instruction to the captain."Neither pilot said he was aware of where the plane was until a flight attendant called the cockpit about five minutes before the plane was to have landed and asked their estimated time of arrival, the report said.

"The captain said, at that point, he looked at his primary flight display for an ETA and realized that they had passed" the airport, it added. After 78 minutes of radio silence, the pilots re-established radio contact with air traffic controllers, it said.

After landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul, both voluntarily underwent alcohol breath tests, which proved negative, the report said.

The safety board said its investigators interviewed the pilots separately Sunday in Minnesota for more than five hours combined. The investigation will include scrutiny of the flight and voice data recorders, it said.

An airline spokesman said Monday the company has sent the passengers on the plane $500 travel vouchers to compensate them for their inconvenience, and that the pilots have been suspended until the conclusion of the investigations.

The NTSB on Monday interviewed the three flight attendants who were on the plane, a spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants said.

The lead flight attendant told officers she was unaware there had been an incident aboard, according to the report.

Police who met the wayward jet said the pilots were "cooperative, apologetic and appreciative."

The NTSB is hoping the plane's cockpit voice recorder either will confirm the pilot's account or provide evidence of another possible explanation, including whether the captain and first officer fell asleep.

Watch the co-pilot speak

The voice recorder is capable of recording only 30 minutes of audio, federal accident investigators said. The plane was in the air for another 45 minutes after radio contact was restored, meaning that if the recorder was working properly, anything the pilots would have said during the time they weren't answering radio calls would have been recorded over.

But a former accident investigator said the voice recorder may still provide valuable information, because the pilots could have discussed the earlier events on the way back to Minneapolis after overshooting the airport.

The flight data recorder also could prove valuable because it would have recorded actions taken by the pilots during the 78 minutes they did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers, the ex-investigator said.

Meanwhile, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which scrambled fighter jets for the wayward plane but did not launch them, said it was reviewing procedures for launching the fighters to track potentially hijacked or suspicious aircraft.

At issue is the Federal Aviation Administration's apparent delay in notifying NORAD the Northwest jet was not in contact with controllers, according to a senior U.S. official directly familiar with the timeline of the incident.

Watch how the military is looking at a possible FAA delay

The official, who declined to be identified because the military and the FAA are reviewing the incident, said the FAA's request for military involvement came after the plane passed the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. NORAD scrambled fighter jets at two locations. But as they approached the runway for takeoff, the FAA reported being back in contact with the Northwest flight, and the fighters stayed on the ground.

"My real question is why we did not know of the 'radio out' situation from the FAA sooner," the official said. "The FAA is also looking into that."

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, NORAD has regularly launched fighter jets to track aircraft in unusual situations such as when they deviate from flight plans, lose radio contact or enter restricted airspace.

According to a second U.S. official, NORAD is in constant contact with the FAA so it can respond when situations arise.

CNN's Mike M. Ahlers and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

Funnies...

Got this from email...have a great week ahead now..cheers..

Signs in English from Around the World

In a Bangkok temple:
IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER, IF DRESSED AS A MAN.

Cocktail lounge, Norway:
LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Doctors office, Rome:
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Dry cleaners, Bangkok:
DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS.

In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER...

On the main road to Mombassa, leaving Nairobi:
TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.

On a poster at Kencom:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO WE CAN HELP.

In a City restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS.

In a cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.

Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.

In a Tokyo bar:
SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.

Hotel, Yugoslavia:
THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Hotel, Japan:
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Hotel, Zurich:
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:
WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

A laundry in Rome:
LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

Meme: Save Yvonne's Sight

I was tagged by Daphne to Save Yvonne's Sight. Sorry for the delay..have been busy and away from the country.

Please feel free to pass this along...cheers and thanks....

Yvonne Foong (go read her blog for the full story) has the very rare condition called Neurofibromatosis Type II (NF II), which should not be confused with NF I. NF II is an autosomal dominant condition that causes benign tumours to grow in her brain, spine and peripheral nerves, and is distinguish from NF I by the presence of bilateral acoustic neuromas (among others). Yvonne was diagnosed at the age of 16.



"Yvonne, who runs a blog www.yvonnefoong.com is the author of I’m Not Sick, Just A Bit Unwell, (picture), has been raising money on her own to pay for her operations, is losing her eyesight. The operation is due in December and once again she needs to raise funds for it. The cost of the surgery is USD44,000 (RM154,770) and the cost of her hospital stay for two weeks is USD915 or RM3219."



"She has already raised RM10,000 of this but obviously still has a long way to go. She's hoping to raise the rest by republishing her book I'm Not Sick, Just A Little Bit Unwell in English and Chinese.The books are now available in Malaysian bookshops and from her website store. She is also selling T-shirts at bazaars and via her web site store. You can read about her surgery and donate to her fund here."



You can also help by sending on this meme. If you do, please follow these meme rules:

1. Create a blog entry titled "Meme: Save Yvonne's Sight"

2. List three things you love to see. Add in the picture of Yvonne's book cover. The URL is http://www.yvonnefoong.com/images/banner/my-story.jpg

3. End with the line, "Yvonne Foong is in danger of losing her eyesight thanks to neurofibromatosis (NF).


Please find out how you can help her by visiting her blog at http://www.yvonnefoong.com."

4. Tag 5 blog friends. Be sure to copy the rules, OK?


5. If you have a Facebook account, please check out Ellen's new invention, a "feme" pronounced FEEM, a meme designed for Facebook here. And if you want to blog about NF, that would be great too!




The 3 things I would love to see are:

1) A peaceful world..

2) Smile from a child..

3) A cure for cancer..






The People I Tag are:

1) Smallee

2) Ladybird

3) Florence

See the place from where you slipped:Life is about correcting mistakes!

This is lovely..

Monica married Nick this day. At the end of the wedding party, Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook with Rs.1000 deposit amount.

Mother: 'Monica, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life. When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Nick.

When you look back after years, you can know how much happiness you've had.'


Monica shared this with Nick when getting home. They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit can be made. This was what they did after certain time:

* 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Nick after marriage
* 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Monica
* 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali
* 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Monica got pregnant
* 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Nick got promoted
* ..... And so on...


However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the nastiest people in the world.... No more love...Kind of typical nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother: 'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!"


Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first.

Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.'


Monica thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account. While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home.

When she was home, she handed the passbook to Nick, asked him to spend the money before getting divorce.


The next day, Nick gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new deposit of Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've brought me.'


They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe. Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask. I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru all the good years in their life.

"When you fall in any way, don't see the place where you fell instead see the place from where you slipped. Life is about correcting mistakes."

A helping hand in need....

Please visit here and do what ever you can to help the family.

Thanks again brother Akmal for highlighting this. I also hope and pray what ever applications they sent to for financial aid...they will received it with not much red tapes.

Fwd: For those who appreciate good English...

Have a great week ahead!!!!


You think English is easy???

Read to the end...a new twist.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce .

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse .

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger, neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?


You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lockUP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special .

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP .

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP , so...it is time to shut UP !

Sad loss....

Got this from here.

Am sure a lot of people are angry about this case. Really hope something good will come out from this tragedy.

If i am not mistaken, the MACC involve in this case is Selangor branch. Selangor is now govern by Pakatan Rakyat. So when some people mentioned about the government.. is it State or Federal?


May Mr Teoh rest in peace and for those who did wrong him...may they reap what they sow.


THE DEATH, while under the care of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, in mysterious circumstances, of Teoh Beng Hock last week promises to weaken further the already fragile public confidence in the government and its agencies in our country.

Regaining public confidence will not be a walk in the park for the government given its abysmal record of dealing with deaths in police custody. The government should never have adopted such a patently careless and cavalier attitude when dealing with matters of public concerns. The loss of trust in the government and its agencies is extremely unfortunate because by doing the “right thing” they could have earned and retained our respect, confidence and gratitude.

The initial handling of the Beng Hock “death in custody” case by the MACC could hardly be described as professional and this has fuelled a million and one speculations. All this is extremely unfortunate, but understandable. People simply do not trust the very organisations that are supposed to protect them any more and, for many, the suspicion they harbour is based on their bitter personal experience of official encounters with the country’s enforcement agencies. Can the government fairly blame the people for feeling angry and resentful with the way the police, and now the MACC, apparently conduct their work?

I have never hidden my true feelings about the MACC. I have been critical of this organisation which, a few months ago, I described in my weekly Sin Chew column, as OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE. I wrote in my opening paragraph:

“What a waste of public funds! The creation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will go down in history as a feeble and pathetic final clutch at the straws by a sitting duck prime minister best remembered for his inexhaustible supply of good intentions but with nothing to show for them. The MACC was hastily conceived against a murky background of a web of duplicity and deceit. It was a desperate attempt at deluding the people of this country and the world anti-corruption community that the Abdullah Badawi administration still had a lot of fire in its belly to make corruption a high risk and low return business. The whole process was nothing more than a charade, a sleight of hand that we have come to expect from this government.

In the meantime corruption continues to be in robust good health.”

I also touched on the much hyped up ‘Hong Kong model’ upon which the new corruption fighting machine is apparently based – the less said the better about this. It is clear for all to see that the MACC falls far short of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption’s template on at least two counts. The first and most obvious short coming is an absence of a legal provision that will allow a MACC officer to call anyone to account for their wealth and lifestyle that are obviously beyond his known legal income. There is the anti-laundering provision, but this is not the same.

The second is its much touted independence. The MACC is NOT independent. No one believes it is independent because its leadership has allowed it to become a political instrument that is seen by the people to work to the Barisan Nasional agenda. This is because we have manning the MACC the self-same functionaries who developed second guessing into a fine art form under Mahathir’s special guidance. They cannot reasonably be expected to change their work practices which have become almost second nature to them.

I should feel happy because I have been totally vindicated by the recent events but I can not, in all conscience, bring myself to rejoice amidst a great human tragedy, the totally unexpected death of Teoh Beng Huat, a young loyal Malaysian of great promise who believed passionately in change for a better, safer Malaysia.

If the government wants to retain its legitimacy to govern, it must rededicate itself to the principles of international best practice predicated on justice for all, transparency and accountability in the conduct of the affairs of state. It must clean out its unsavoury stables of corruption because it is corruption that has reduced this country to its present sorry state. As for the MACC, in its present form it is of no use to either man or beast.

Its senior officers have to accept full responsibility for what has gone so horribly wrong so soon after its establishment. Seriously, they should get on their bicycles in full ceremonial uniform dripping with gold plated buttons and other bits and pieces and ride off into the sunset of shame and degradation. (By TUNKU ABDUL AZIZ/MySinchew)

Lost of an icon....

Was in the car when i heard over the radio ..."Michael Jackson is dead, died of cardiac arrest..." I thought i heard wrongly until they repeated the statement.

I am sure most of you have enjoyed his songs. And i am also sure, some of the young musicians have in one way or another influenced by Michael's showmanship, song writing and etc.

No one is perfect but when it comes to his songs..i think he is a perfectionist in that. May he finally find peace and hope his children will learn how great their dad is when they grow up.

Got this from CNN.

The music world lost Michael..the movie world lost Farrah Fawcett. May they rest in peace.

Joke...

Got this from email...

Why Chinese shouldn't give their child thus type of names

Caller : Hello, can I speak to Annie Wan (anyone)?


Operator : Yes, you can speak to me.


Caller : No, I want to speak to Annie Wan (anyone)!


Operator : You are talking to someone! Who is this?


Caller : I'm Sam Wan (Someone). And I need to talk to Annie Wan (anyone)! It's urgent.


Operator : I know you are someone and you want to talk to anyone! But what's this urgent matter about?


Caller : Well... just tell my sister Annie Wan (anyone) that our brother Noel Wan (no one)has involved in an accident. Noel Wan (no one)got injured and now Noel Wan (no one) is being sent to the hospital. Right now, Avery Wan (everyone) is on his way to the hospital.


Operator : Look if no one was injured and no one was sent to the hospital, then the accident isn't an urgen t matter! You may find this hilarious but I don't have time for this!


Caller : You are so rude! Who are you?


Operator : I'm Saw Lee (Sorry).


Caller : Yes! You should be sorry. Now give me your name!!!
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ======
This is hilarious ...

Why Chinese shouldn't have Christian names:

Anne Chang = Dirty (Mandarin)
Anne Chin = Keep Quiet (Mandarin)
Faye Chen = Dusty (Mandarin)
Carl Cheng = Buttock (Hokkien)
Monica Cheng = Touching your buttocks (Hokkien)
Lucy Leow = You are dead (Hokkien)
Jane Tan = Frying eggs (Mandarin)
Suzie Leow = Lose till death (Hokkien)
Henry Mah = Hate your mum (Mandarin)
Corrine Tai = Poor fellow (Hokkien)
Paul Chan = Bankrupt (Mandarin)
Nelson Tan = Bird laying eggs (Mandarin)
Leslie Tong = Rubbish Bin (Mandarin)
Carmen Teng = Leg hair long (Hokkien)
Connie Mah = Call your mother (Cantonese)
Danny See = Squeeze you to death (Hokkien)
Rosie Teng = Screws and nails (Hokkien)
Pete Tsai Nose droppings (Hokkien)
Macy Koh => Never die before (Cantonese)

Pass around for some laughter*

Road blocks...

Not sure if this is true or not. But better becareful.

Dear all,
Please beware on the recent road block by our Police and domestic Trade &Consumer Affairs Ministry's Enforcement for "pirated disc" & nbsp ; & amp; amp;n bsp;

To all those CDs lover pls beware!!!.

Please do not keep any pirated or burned CDs, DVDs, or VCDs in your car. Police and Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs Ministry's enforcement division in Malaysia have started the operation to search and fine anyone who keep pirated disc inside their car especially through road block at all main road and expressways.

If any pirated or burned disc found inside your car will be charged RM400 per disc. Example 30 discs found means the fine will be RM12,000.

This is real. Another friend of mine from Seagate, today during lunch time, 5 CD x RM400, 2K .

One of the Plexus colleague brother-in-law caught by Police due to pirated CD in the car on the way to town for lunch with his colleague in the afternoon. One CD fined RM400...

Please disseminate this to all your friends who are driving in Malaysia while listening to CD !

Doggie....

This stray dog and her puppy roamed around my neighbourhood.

For 2 years, i was not a fan of this dog, because she simply growl at people. I think at the time she just gave birth and might be protective of her pups. Have to admit though, some of her puppies are quite cute. They were taken away from her because she gave birth at one of my neighbours house. Do not know how they manage to take the pups cause she very aggressive type. The puppy in this picture is from 'recent' batch.

Only for the past few months, she seem to be ok with me and we (me and my wife) started to gave her things to eat. Cause she takes care of the neighbourhood. She will bark at strangers, so at night a very good watch dog.

She got a very good ear. She can be quite far away and yet when we open the house door, she will come right over to check whether we are giving food or not. Besides us, there is also another neighbour who gave her food.

Her puppy is a bit fearful of people, took her long time to get near us. Even now if we go closer to her, she will run away and bark at us. Initially i probably would not able to take the picture of the pup...cause she will hide away at the neighbours drain.

So what do we feed them? Initially just bread and water. Then one day my wife cooked some maggie mee (almost expiring)...doggie finished the mee fast..:) Bought some cheap biscuits to feed them too. When we eat outside...got any leftovers, will bring home for them too. She is more of a night dog....day time...sleeps. The photos i taken of them, evening time.

Usually feed them around 6pm. A few times we came home late and she will make a 'complaint' sound...as if telling us "why is our dinner so late?"...:) The sound is different from the normal dog sound..:)

At night, when i turned into my lorong, she seems to recognise my car and from far can see her wagging her tail and coming towards my car.

She understand simple command like 'wait' (she usually does this when waiting for her food)...and 'shake a leg'....i use my leg to shake her paw...haha. She will automatically use her left paw and after that her right paw. She seems to be a smart dog only bad thing is, she does not like to share food with her puppy. So we have to use to bowls.

My wife sometimes will give her massage..she loves it and will sit very still. Too bad her puppy still afraid of us..otherwise will 'manja' her too..:)

Oh ya...she has eaten cheesecake, strawberry toast, chocolate cookies, pancakes (almost expire), hot dogs with mee and because of this...sometimes she will eat slow...if we give her biscults to eat. Good food, she will finish under 2 minutes.

One thing about the puppy, her tail i think is quite long, she will sometimes chase its tail..running round and round and seems irritated about it.

Hehe...that is all for now.

Her 'waiting' position for food. See the puppy moving...still afraid of us.

Puppy...when she was young...more chubby and cute..now a bit slim.

Her makan 'station'. She drinks a lot.


Checking out what her mom is doing.

Stevie Wonder and Tiger Woods

Have a great week ahead to all of you..:)


Stevie Wonder and Tiger Woods are in a restaurant having dinner. Woods turns to Wonder and says, "How's the singing career going?"

Stevie Wonder replies, "Not too bad.. How's the golf?"

Woods replies, "Not too bad, I've had some problems with my swing, but I think I've got that going right now."

Stevie says, "I always find that when my swing goes wrong, I need to stop playing for a while and not think about it. Then, the next time I play, it seems to be all right."

Tiger says, "You play golf?"

Wonder says, "Oh, yes, I've been playing for years."

Woods says, "But you're blind! How can you play golf if you can't see?"

Wonder replies, "I get my caddy to stand in the middle of the
fairway and call to me. I listen for the sound of his voice and play the ball toward him. Then, when I get to where the ball lands, the caddy moves to the green or farther down the fairway and again I play the ball toward his voice."

"But how do you putt?" asks Woods.

"Well," says Stevie, "I get my caddy to lean down in front of the hole and call to me with his head on the ground, and I just play the ball toward his voice.

Woods asks, "What's your handicap?"

Stevie says, "Well, I'm a scratch golfer."

Woods, incredulous, says to Stevie, "We've got to play a round
sometime."

Wonder replies, "Well, people don't take me seriously, so I only
play for money, and never play for less than $10,000 a hole."

Woods thinks about it and says, "OK, I'm for that, when would you like to play?"

Stevie says, "Any dark night you want."

Marriage in heaven?

Nice one from Kl aunty..:) Hope you all will enjoy it.

On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple is involved in a fatal
car accident.

The couple find themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St.
Peter to process them into Heaven. While waiting, they begin to wonder:
Could they possibly get married in Heaven?

When St. Peter showed up, they asked him.

St. Peter said, “I don't know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let
me go find out.” and he leaves.

The couple sat and waited, and waited. Two months passed and the couple are
still waiting. As they waited, they discussed that if they were allowed to
get married in Heaven, what was the eternal aspect of it all. “What if it
doesn't work?” they wondered, “Are we stuck together forever?”

After yet another month, St. Peter finally returns, looking somewhat
bedraggled.

“Yes,” he informs the couple, “you can get married in Heaven.”
'
“Great!” said the couple, “But we were just wondering, what if things don't
work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?”

St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard onto the ground.

“What's wrong?” asked the frightened couple.

“OH, COME ON!” St. Peter shouted, “It took me three months to find a priest
up here! Do you have any idea how long it'll take me to find a lawyer?!”

This is sick..

From Star. If this is true...may the culprit gets what is coming for them.

Dad and his friend raped me, says pregnant 15-year-old

JOHOR BARU: A 15-year-old girl who is seven months’ pregnant claims she has been raped for three years by her father and a friend of his.

It was learnt that the secondary school student, who lives with her parents, confessed to her aunt who took the girl to the Skudai police station to lodge a report.

Her 45-year-old lorry driver father and his 52-year-old plumber friend, were picked up at their homes in Kempas on Saturday.

They have been remanded until May 2 to assist in investigations.

Johor Baru (North) OCPD Asst Comm Ruslan Hassan said the girl was believed to have been raped repeatedly by both men since she was 12 years old.

“She told police that the father had repeatedly raped her at their house in Taman Sinaran while his friend had raped her at other locations.

“She also claimed that the last time her father raped her was early this month,” he said.

The girl has been sent to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital for a medical check-up.

In another case, five Indonesians, including two women, were detained during a raid on a Taman Daya house at about 6pm on Saturday.

They are being held in connection with 15 robbery cases in the city.

Nice one....

~Pride is concerned with who is right, humility is concerned with what is right.~

~And in the end, its not the years in your life that counts. Its the life in your years.~

~Don't look down on anyone UNLESS you are helping them up~



A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.


Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.


In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'


'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.


Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.


Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'


Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.


'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?


Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of every thing; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.


When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.


Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.


You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you (I JUST DID); to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendships you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.


If you don't send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone's day with this message!


May we all be COFFEE!!!!!

Sad case...

Got this from CNN....makes u wonder why some kids are so bad. Should be a law against bullying. For those who have children...please make sure they are protected from being bullied.

My bullied son's last day on Earth
By Mallory Simon
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Eleven-year-old Jaheem Herrera woke up on April 16 acting strangely. He wasn't hungry and he didn't want to go to school.

But the outgoing fifth grader packed his bag and went to school at Dunaire Elementary School in DeKalb County, Georgia.

He came home much happier than when he left in the morning, smiling as he handed his mother, Masika Bermudez, a glowing report card full of A's and B's. She gave him a high-five and he went upstairs to his room as she prepared dinner.

A little later, when his younger sister called him to come down to eat, Jaheem didn't answer.

So mother and daughter climbed the stairs to Jaheem's room and opened the door.

Jaheem was hanging by his belt in the closet.

"I always used to see these things on TV, dead people on the news," says Bermudez. "I saw somebody die and to see this dead person is your son, hanging there, a young boy. ... To hang yourself like that, you've got to really be tired of something."

Bermudez says bullies at school pushed Jaheem over the edge. He complained about being called gay, ugly and "the virgin" because he was from the Virgin Islands, she said.

"He used to say Mom they keep telling me this ... this gay word, this gay, gay, gay. I'm tired of hearing it, they're telling me the same thing over and over," she told CNN, as she wiped away tears from her face.

But while she says her son complained about the bullying, she had no idea how bad it had gotten.

"He told me, but he just got to the point where he didn't want me to get involved anymore because nothing was done," she said.

Bermudez said she complained to the school about bullying seven or eight times, but it wasn't enough to save him.

"It [apparently] just got worse and worse and worse until Thursday," she said. "Just to walk up to that room and see your baby hanging there. My daughter saw this, my baby saw this, my kids are traumatized."

She said Jaheem was a shy boy just trying to get a good education and make friends.
"He was a nice little boy," Bermudez said through her tears. "He loved to dance. He loved to have fun. He loved to make friends. And all he made [at school] were enemies."

Bermudez said she thinks her son felt like nobody wanted to help him, that nobody stood up and stopped the bullies.

"Maybe he said 'You know what -- I'm tired of telling my mom, she's been trying so hard, but nobody wants to help me,' " says Bermudez.

After Jaheem's death, the school board expressed condolences, saying the school staff "works diligently to provide a safe and nurturing environment for all students."

Trying desperately to understand what went wrong, Bermudez asked her son's best friend to recount what happened on the day Jaheem killed himself.

"He [said he was] tired of complaining, tired of these guys messing with him," Bermudez said, recalling the conversation with Jaheem's best friend. "Tired of talking, I think to his teachers, counselors and nobody is doing anything -- and the best way out is death."

Allegations of such severe bullying surprises experts familiar with the school district. It's anti-bullying program was considered exemplary and includes programs to raise awareness and a specially trained liaison. Students are even asked to sign a no-bullying pledge. But other parents told CNN they have complained about bullying as well.

Despite recent strides towards preventing bullying in schools and increased awareness programs, a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network study showed that 65 percent of teens are bullied each year and most believe adults can't help them.

Less than a month before Jaheem's death, a boy in Massachusetts killed himself after being bullied, harassed and called "gay."

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, says to be effective, awareness programs need to include education about the harm that can be done by teasing someone about sexuality or perceived sexuality.

"Anti-gay language is really the ultimate weapon for a bully who wants to degrade his or her peers," she says. "And any effective response to bullying has to take that on."

Bermudez doesn't understand why the children at school couldn't learn to get along. Because of it, she'll never get to see her son grow up.

"My baby, that's my only boy, and I lost him now," says Bermudez. "He was my first child and ... to lose him 11 years after, he didn't live his life."

She hopes her son's death will result in positive changes that will help other kids being bullied.

"Those that are being bullied -- they need to talk to their parents, they need to not hold back," she says. "I lost my son and now something has to be done."

Never judge a book by its cover....

Please go and watch this if you haven't. Great stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Susan Boyle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Boyle

Susan Boyle (born 1961)[2] is a Scottish[3] amateur singer and church volunteer who came to public attention on 11 April 2009,[4] when she appeared as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent.[5] Boyle found fame when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the competition's first round.[6]

Before she sang, both the audience and the judges appeared to express scepticism based on her unpolished appearance. In contrast, her vocal performance was so well received that she has been dubbed "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell."[7] She received a standing ovation from the live audience, garnering yes-votes from Cowell and Amanda Holden, and the "biggest yes I have ever given anybody" from Piers Morgan.[8] The audition was recorded in January 2009 at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, Scotland,[9] and was first broadcast on Saturday, 11 April 2009 in Britain.

The juxtaposition of the reception to her voice with the audience's first impression of her triggered global interest. Articles about her appeared in newspapers all over the world, while the numbers who watched videos of her audition set an online record.[10] By 20 April 2009, a mere 9 days after her televised debut, viral videos of her audition, subsequent interviews of her, and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River" had been viewed over 100 million times on the Internet.[11] Cowell is reported to be setting up a contract with Boyle with his Syco Music company label, a subsidiary of Sony Music.[12]

Television performance
In August 2008, when Boyle became aware that Britain's Got Talent would be holding auditions, she applied and was accepted for the audition, which took place in Glasgow in January 2009. Boyle, contestant number 4,321, performed a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the first round of the third series of Britain's Got Talent, which aired on April 11 and was watched by an average of 10.3 million viewers.[31] This performance was widely reported, and millions of people viewed a video of her singing on YouTube.[31] The strength of this reaction reportedly shocked and amazed Boyle, who later said she was "gobsmacked".[32]

Boyle is well aware that the audience on Britain's Got Talent was initially hostile to her because of her appearance, but she has refused to change her image:

“ I know what they were thinking, but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest. ”
—Susan Boyle, The Sunday Times[15]

Within the week following her performance on Britain's Got Talent, Boyle was a guest on STV's The Five Thirty Show.[42] She was interviewed via satellite on CBS's Early Show,[19] ABC's Good Morning America,[43] and NBC's Today, and via a telephone interview on FOX's America's Newsroom.[44] In an interview, Simon Cowell said Boyle had received an invitation to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show and predicted that if she did appear "there's every chance Susan Boyle will have the number one album in America".[43]

She also appeared via satellite on CNN's Larry King Live opposite Piers Morgan, who apologized to Boyle for not giving her "anything like the respect" she deserved when she walked out on the stage before singing.[45] Boyle went on to perform an a cappella verse of "My Heart Will Go On" on King's show about which Morgan remarked, "That was just absolutely stunning. To sing that with no musical backing is unbelievable." He previously invited Boyle to have dinner with him in London, and she accepted.[46]

Social analysis
Boyle's sudden fame has drawn much commentary on why this story was so widely reported and what it implies, while others drew moral lessons from people's reactions to her performance.[57] For instance, writing in The Herald, Collette Douglas-Home described Boyle's story as a modern parable and a rebuke to people's tendency to judge others based on their physical appearance.[58] Similarly, Lisa Schwarzbaum, in an article in Entertainment Weekly, said that Boyle's performance was particularly moving as it was a victory for talent and artistry in a culture obsessed with physical attractiveness and presentation.[59] Commenting on the audience's reactions before she started singing, Boyle said:

“ Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances. [...] There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example. ”
—Susan Boyle, The Washington Post[6]


After Boyle's performance, Holden said:

“ I am so thrilled because I know that everybody was against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical, and I think that's the biggest wake-up call ever. And I just want to say that it was a complete privilege listening to that. ”
—Amanda Holden, Britain's Got Talent[60]


Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of the Les Misérables musical, also praised the performance, stating:

“ Just like the judges and audience, I was gob-smacked by the emotional powerhouse performance of Susan Boyle's show-stopping rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream". Vocally, it is one of the best versions of the song I've ever heard—touching, thrilling and uplifting. I do hope she gets to sing it for the Queen. ”
—Cameron Mackintosh[31]


Echoing Amanda Holden's comments, Jeanne McManus wrote in The Washington Post that, in talent shows such as Britain's Got Talent, one of the main sources of drama is the collision between performers' sometimes exaggerated sense of self-worth and the opinions and reactions of their audience.[61] In Boyle's case, McManus believed that her initial demeanour and homely appearance caused the judges and audience to be "waiting for her to squawk like a duck".[61] Indeed, New York's Daily News said that it was this stark contrast between the audience's low expectations and the quality of her singing that made Boyle's performance such an engaging piece of television.[62] This article also noted that the idea of an underdog being ridiculed or humiliated but then enjoying an unexpected triumph is a common trope in literature and that this is why, when this theme made its unscripted appearance in reality television, it created an enduring and powerful effect.[62]

On the other hand, although this audience reaction was unscripted, it may have been anticipated. Writing in The Huffington Post, Mark Blankenship noted that the producers of the show would have been aware of the potential of this story arc, stating that the programme seemed to deliberately present Boyle in a manner that would enhance this initial reaction.[63] He does note, however, that "as fabricated as it is, her on-camera arc is undeniably moving".[63] The fact that Boyle is in her forties has also been cited as contributing to this strong emotional impact. In another Huffington Post article, Letty Cottin Pogrebin wrote that people may have been "weeping for the years of wasted talent", since most of Boyle's life has been spent in obscurity and those wasted years can never be recovered.[64] All the same, Pogrebin still classed Boyle's performance as a triumph for what she called "women of a certain age", as she saw it as representing a victory over a youth culture that often dismisses middle-aged women.[64]

Tanya Gold wrote in The Guardian that the difference between Boyle's hostile reception and the more neutral response to Paul Potts in his first audition reflected society's expectation that women be both good-looking and talented, with no such expectation existing for men.[65] In a similar vein, Mary Elizabeth Williams wrote on Salon.com that Boyle's performance reminded people that "not all fortysomething women are sleek, Botoxed beauties," going on to say that Boyle's sudden fame came from her ability to remind her audience that, like them, she is a normal, flawed and vulnerable person, familiar with disappointment and mockery, but who nevertheless has the determination to fight for her dream.[66]

Several media sources have commented that Boyle's success seemed to have particular resonance in the United States of America. Writing in The Scotsman, Craig Brown quoted a U.S. entertainment correspondent who compared Boyle's story to the American Dream, in that it represented talent overcoming adversity and poverty.[67] The Associated Press described this as Boyle's "hardscrabble story", dwelling on her modest lifestyle and what they saw as urban deprivation in her home town.[22] Similarly, The Independent New York correspondent David Usborne wrote that America is a country that will always respond to "the fairy tale where the apparently unprepossessing suddenly becomes pretty, from Shrek to My Fair Lady".[68] Piers Morgan, one of the show's judges, also commented on the unusual power this story seemed to have in the US, noting that "Americans can be very moved by this sort of thing", and likening Boyle's rise to fame from poverty and obscurity to that of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa.[50]

Finance scam...

Received this email..very scary nowadays. Have to be careful at all times.

I was almost conned to the latest scam. They are no
> longer using sms. But through series of routine
> communications when you deal with phone banking.You might
> thought that how stupid I am to fall for such scam but not
> untill you heard their convincing conversations, then
> you'll no. Here, I am sharing you their modus
> operandi.>
> 1.You'll received an automated call reminding you about
> your credit card late payment.They will end the reminder
> with Press 0 for our customer service, 1 for others.(voice
> machine system. Sounds familiar?)
>
> 2.Once you press 0 for inquiry, a telephone assistant will
> answer it.
>
> 3.They will confirm that your name exist in their system
> and a cardholder. They will give you the detail when was the
> card was applied, date and venue. And the application was
> approved base don your copies of IC and 3 months payslip. (i
> believes most of us has handed over many times of our copies
> of payslip and ic to insurance agencies or brokers.)
>
> 4.the telephonist will then advice you to contact and lodge
> a report the Bank Negara. He is helpful that he also provide
> you with the Bank Negara fraud department direct line.The
> number is 03-86590241.
>
> 5.After feeling not so much amiss about the conversation
> with the telephonist. You feel the urgency to lodge a report
> at the Bank Negara.
>
> 6. Once you called the number, another guy will answer it a
> nice greeting. "Bank Negara Fraud Department, may i
> assist you?"
>
> 7.The 'officer' will then ask your name and IC and
> your contact no for him to contact you in 5 minutes, while
> he run your name in the system.
>
> 8.5 minutes later, the 'officer' will call you.
> He'll tell you that the conversation is recorded and
> you need to tell the chronology of your report.
>
> 9. The officer will then tell you : the investigation will
> take 3 days to be completed. In the meantime, Bank Negara
> will need to monitor your active bank accounts i.e: credit
> cards, saving.
>
> 10. They are also offered some kind of insurance to protect
> your money. In case within 3 days of the investigation,
> there is an amount of money missing from your account, bank
> negara will reimburse.
>
> 11. In order for them to monitor, they need to have all the
> 16 digit numbers on the cards.
>
> 12. The 'officer' will tell you that the number in
> the magnetic chip in your credit card will be change.
> However, they can't do it for your ATM card. Thus, their
> technical guy will contact you for a simple direction to
> make the changes.
>
> 13.A lady will call in about 10 minutes claim from the
> technical team. The verification of the complaint lodged
> take place. (same like phone banking).
>
> 14. The lady will then asked you how long for you to get to
> the nearest ATM machine for them to call back and give
> instruction.
>
> 15. They will call you back at the stipulated time and will
> give you a special instruction to change the magnetic
> number. HOWEVER, THE NEW 16 DIGIT NUMBER IS THE NUMBER IN
> WHICH ALL YOUR MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO.
>
> I was very lucky that I was earlier to arrived at the ATM
> machine. When i tried to call them back, it's either
> call reject or line is busy. My first instinct is to call my
> friend who works in the Bank Negara to check the number
> given (03-86590241) and called the AMBANK.
>
> Surprisingly, the number given does not belongs to Bank
> Negara (as it's always start with 2) and the credit card
> does not exist in Ambank. When I got to know that, I started
> calling my banks and have all my cards blocked and replace
> with a new one.
>
> According to the officer in CIMB Bank, they are familiar
> with the sms scam but this case is the latest in financial
> scam. Hope you guys spread the words around!

Shell Oil Comments - A MUST READ!

Some of you may have read this but no warm in getting a reminder.


Safety Alert! Here's some reasons why we don't allow cell phones in operating areas, propylene oxide handling and storage area, propane, gas and diesel refueling areas.



The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes during fueling operations

In the first case, the phone was placed on the car's trunk lid during fueling; it rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the gasoline pump.

In the second, an individual suffered severe burns to their face when fumes ignited as they answered a call while refueling their car!

And in the third, an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when the phone, which was in their pocket, rang while they were fueling their car.

You should know that:
Mobile Phones can ignite fuel or fumes

Mobile phones that light up when switched on or when they ring release enough energy to provide a spark for ignition

Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations, or when fueling lawn mowers, boat, Etc.

Mobile phones should not be used, or should be turned off, around other materials that generate flammable or explosive fumes or dust, (i.e., solvents, chemicals, gases, grain dust, etc.)

T o sum it up, here are the: Four Rules for Safe Refueling

1) Turn off engine
2) Don't smoke
3) Don't us e your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off
4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling

Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of 'static electricity' at gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires.

His results were very surprising:
1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.
2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while the nozzle was still pumping gas. When finished, they went back to pull the nozzle out and the fire started, as a result of static.
3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished. This is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires.
5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas
6) It is the vapors that come out of the gas th at cause the fire, when connected with static charges.
7) There were 29 fires where the vehicle was re-entered and the nozzle was touched during refueling from a variety of makes and models. Some resulted in extensive damage to the vehicle, to the station, and to the customer.
8) Seventeen fires occurred before, during or immediately after the gas cap was removed and before fueling began.

Mr. Renkes stresses to NEVER get back into your vehicle while filling it with gas.

If you absolutely HAVE to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping, make sure you get out, close the door TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull the nozzle out. This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever remove the nozzle.

As I mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with several other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware of this danger. You can find out more information by going to Once here, click in the center of the screen where it says 'Stop Static'.

I ask you to please send this in formation to ALL your family and friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas. If this were to happen to them, they may not be able to get the children out in time. Thanks for passing this along.

Joke..

Here is another email from KL aunty...:)

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.
David Bissonette

After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together.
Sacha Guitry

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher..
Socrates

Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.
Anonymous

The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, 'What does a woman want?
Dumas

I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.
Sigmund Freud

'Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.'
Anonymous

'There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage.'
Sam Kinison

'I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me, and the second one didn't.'
James Holt McGavra

Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming
1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it,
2. Whenever you're right, shut up.
Patrick Murra

The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once....
Nash

You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.
Anonymous


My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.
Henny Youngman


A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.
Rodney Dangerfield

A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: 'Wife wanted'. Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: 'You can have mine.'
Anonymous



First Guy (proudly): 'My wife's an angel!'
Second Guy: 'You're lucky, mine's still alive.'
Anonymous


SEND THIS TO ALL THE GUYS TO GIVE THEM A GOOD LAUGH.......AND TO THOSE LADIES WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR WHO CAN HANDLE IT!!!!!!!

Warning....area code 809...

Got this from email...some of you may have read it.

About Area Code......809

We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said 'Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly. I Have something important to tell you.' Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809.
'We didn't respond'.

Then this week, we received the following e-mail: Subject: Don't Ever dial area code 809, 284 and 876

This is very important information provided to us by AT&T. Don't Ever dial area code 809

This one is being distributed all over the US. This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has-been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the US or Canada , you will apparently be charged $2,425 per-minute... Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges.. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24,100.00.

Why It Works:

The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas)..

The charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam

Sandi Van Handel
AT&T Field Service Manager
(920)687-904

Warning...

Got this from Email...

PASS THIS ON EVEN IF YOU DO NOT USE IT

Recently this past week, Nicole Dishuk (age 31...newly graduated student with a doctoral degree about to start her new career as a Doctor...) was flown into a nearby hospital, because she passed out.

They found a blood clot in her neck, and immediately took her by helicopter to the ER to operate. By the time they removed the right half of her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain; the clot had spread to her brain causing severe damage.

Since last Wednesday night, she was battling.... they induced her into a coma to stop the blood flow, they operated 3 times... Finally, they said there was nothing left that they could do... they found multiple clots in the left side of her brain... the swelling wouldn't stop, and she was on life support...

She died at 4:30 yesterday. She leaves behind a husband, a 2yr old Brandon and a 4yr old Justin... The CAUSE of DEATH - they found was a birth control she was taking that allows you to only have your period 3 times a year... They said it interrupts life's menstrual cycle, and although it is FDA approved... shouldn't be - So to the women in my address book - I ask you to boycott this product & deal with your period once a month - so you can live the rest of the months that your life has in store for you.

*Please send this to every woman you know - you may save someone's life... Remember, you have a CYCLE for a reason!

The name of this new birth control pill is LYBREL . If you go to Lybrel.com http://lybrel .com/, you will find at least 26 pages of information regarding this drug.

The second birth control pill is, SEASONIQUE . If you go to the website of, Seasonique.com http://seasonique .com /, you will find 43 pages of information regarding this drug.

The warnings and side effects regarding both pills are horrible.

Please, please forward this information to as many daughters AND sons, co-workers, friends and relatives. Several lives have already been changed.

First Letter of My Name Tag

Got this from Monica...:) Thank you.


The Rules: Copy the questions below. Simply use the first letter of your name/nickname as your answer for each questions. You can't use any answer twice and don't use your own name for questions # 3 & 4. After you're done, tag 10 people.


1. What is your name? Nightwing
2. A four letter word: Nite
3. A boy's name : Nelson
4. A girl's name : Natasha
5. An occupation : Negotiator
6. A color : Navy blue
7. Something you wear : Necklace
8. A type of food : Nachos
9. Something found in the bathroom : Nailclippers
10. A place : Nigeria
11. A reason for being late : No reason
12. Something you shout : Nooooooooo!
13. A movie title : Nancy Drew
14. Something you drink : Nestea
15. A musical group : Nickmatics
16. A street name : Nenas Road
17. A type of car : Nissan
18. A song title : Nobody Does it Better by Carley Simon
19. A verb : Need


Please feel free to join in...:)

warning...

Email from a friend....take special care and if this can happened in Cherasit can happened anywhere in Malaysia...so please read.


Hi all,This incident happened to me and be very careful if you ever encounter suchcase in future.On Thur 5 Feb, I was driving home after work in the afternoon. quite anumber of cars on the road. I was driving near the UE3, Taman Miharja,


Cheras when 2 Indian guys on a motorbike honked me and pointed to the passenger-side wheel. I slowed down, not stopping but they kept honkingand pointing to the wheel. Finally, I stopped at the side of the road in front of the UE3 complex. The 2 guys stopped and came down from theirbike. One has the "BMW" name and logo on his blue shirt. While theotherguy squatted in fron of the passenger-side wheel (I cant see him), the


"BMW" guy came to the passenger side. My car is always locked when Idriveand I lowered the passenger=side window about 2 inch to talk with him.Speaking in Malay, he told me my wheel has smoke and oil. I hesitated evaluating the situation, and he then bend down at the wheel and came upshowing me his finger with some oil on it. He said my brake oil is leakingand cannot drive and ask me to go down out to see the wheel. Pointing to


Taman Pertama which is just nearby, I told him I stay there and will go tomy mechanic there for check-up. He kept insisting I dont drive as my brakesare not working and can get an accident. He kept asking me to go down and look at the wheel. I said no and I drove off. Giving this "GoodSamaritan"the benefit of the doubt, I drove home very slowly in case I really cannotbrake the car. 10 min later I arrived at my mechanic shop which is quite near to my house. I ask the mechanic if there is any oil in the wheel, hetouched it and said yes and possible brake oil is leaking. He took it intothe workshop and took out the wheel. Lo and behold, there was no leak, all dry.

There was some oil at the brake pd and at the back of the tyre. Hetook out the driver-side tyre and it was dry too. He told me the onlypossible answer was that someone must have poured oil into my wheel. He washed the tyres and cleaned up the oil and then I went off.I didnt tell the mechanic what had happened earlier but putting 2 and 2together, I think I know what happened.The 2 Indian guys stopped me. While one was talking with me, the other guy


squatting at the wheel must have poured some oil into my wheel, making methink my car's brake oil was leaking and in panic, I might go down andcheck (that's why he kept asking me to go down and see). If I go out of the car to see, the following things can happen:-1. one guy will drive off with my car (hoping in panic I'll leave the carkeys in the car) while the other will ride off in his motorbike.2. they will threaten and rob me (with or without injury)


3. they will say they can repair my car very fast with no hassle andcharge me a bomb.Looking at the crime situation in KL these days, I think either one of thefirst 2 possibilities will happen. Thank God, I was alert and didnt panic.


So for you drivers in KL, please be careful and be alert at all times whiledriving. Dont be so gullible and take all "Good Samaritan" word astrue.If it happens drive to the nearest police station or mechanic workshop.


The worst thing that can happen is to buy 2 brand new tyres (if tyres arekaput) or pay to repair for the damage done to the car. Cheaper than yourlife or your car.So drive carefully. Cheers.Dear Friends - In short don't STOP and proceed to drive home or to the police station. There are no more "Good Samaritan" around (all deadby now)....but thieves and robbers ONLY after your money and life.

What do u think..?

This is from CNN. Do you think companies should use government money/bail out to pay bonuses?

AIG's insistence on bonuses raises ire in Washington

CNN) -- White House officials and some members of Congress reacted strongly Sunday to news that insurance giant AIG had intended to pay out $165 million in bonuses and compensation. The company has received at least $170 billion in federal bailout money.


In a letter to the White House, AIG Chairman Edward Liddy, shown here in December, vows to curb bonuses.

Under pressure from the Treasury, AIG scaled back the bonus plans and pledged to reduce 2009 bonuses -- or "retention payments" -- by at least 30 percent. That did little to temper outrage at the initial plan, however.

In a letter Sunday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold urged the Obama administration to explore "legal options" to prevent the millions in AIG payouts.

"I write to ask why any bonuses would be legally required, given the company's abysmal performance," says Feingold, D-Wisconsin.

Feingold asked whether the bonuses could be canceled or recouped from recipients, and whether the administration will sue AIG executives for breaching their duties to shareholders

"There are a lot of terrible things that have happened in the last 18 months, but what's happened at AIG is the most outrageous," Lawrence Summers, head of the National Economic Council, told ABC's "This Week."

"What that company did, the way it was not regulated, the way no one was watching, what's proved necessary, it is outrageous."

And on "Fox News Sunday," White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was "really upset by the news."

"He stepped in and berated them, got them to reduce the bonuses following every legal means he has to do this," Goolsbee said.

In a letter to Geithner, obtained Saturday by CNN, AIG Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy said his company was taking steps to limit compensation in AIG Financial Products -- the British-based unit responsible for issuing the risky credit default swaps that have brought the company to the brink of collapse. The default swaps amount to insurance against losses from bad loans, which have increased dramatically since the U.S. housing boom peaked.


In the letter to Geithner, Liddy said the unit's 25 highest-paid contract employees will reduce their salaries to $1 this year and all other officers in the unit will reduce their salaries by 10 percent. Other "non-cash compensation" will be reduced or eliminated. But he told Geithner that some bonus payments are binding legal obligations of the company, and "there are serious legal, as well as business consequences for not paying."

Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told Fox that bailout recipients should have to follow stricter compensation rules, and said Congress should look into whether the bonuses are "legally recoverable."

"We can't just violate legal obligations, I understand that," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "But I do want to find out at what point these legal obligations were incurred. Who said, and at what point, 'We're going to give these bonuses no matter what?' And I do think it's inappropriate for those people to stay in power at that company."

Frank said that if banks complain that the Obama administration has made things too tough, "They can give the money back. We made that easy."

Goolsbee said AIG was following "a policy that's really not sensible, is obviously going to ignite the ire of millions of people."

"We've done exactly what we can do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again," Goolsbee said. Summers told ABC that the administration was taking "every legal step possible to limit those bonuses."

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, told "Fox News Sunday" he believes it's important to know whether the bonuses are actually commission payments for products sold by brokers, saying he would withhold judgment until that is clarified.

However, "I do think that these entities that are receiving government money, our money, I do think they have to play by a different set of rules," Corker said. Hopefully, those different rules will discourage companies from accepting bailout funds, he said.

Liddy, however, makes clear in the letter that he took steps to limit his employees' compensation with trepidation. He said the company will have trouble attracting and retaining "the best and the brightest ... if employees believe that their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury."

AIG lost a record $62 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. It has more than 74 million insurance policies issued in 130 countries around the world.