Having good, green fun in the dark

[An excerpt from Straits Times, 29 March 09, prepared by Marcus Lau]

It was candlelight power yesterday as over 2000 people showed up at Esplanade Park to celebrate Earth Hour by candlelight. The event was organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. This event raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.Corporations such as Nokia, NEC, Philips and SingTel displayed their environmentally friendly practices. Elsewhere, many companies and hotels also switched off building-façade and non-essential lighting during Earth Hour.



My Thought: This event allows people around the world to be aware that the earth can be affected by global warming and other climate changes if we do not take action to save our resources.

17 Dead In German Teen’s Shooting Rampage

Comment from Poster:

Warning! Before reading this tragic Article, please take note that this is bloody and SHOULD not be read by young ones. Older ones, please do not do this at home.

A masked teenager in black combat gear went on a bloody rampage at his former school yesterday, killing 16 people before dying in a shoot-out with police, officials said.

The 17-year-old, whom police called Tim Kretschmer, entered the secondary school in Winnenden and Stuttgart, killing 10 students aged between 14 & 15 and three teachers in different classrooms with a handgun.

He wandered into several classrooms in Albertville-Realschule, where he left last year, spraying bullets indiscriminately at teachers and students.

“He was constantly recharging his weapon,” local police Chief Konrad Gelden said.

Police were alerted within three minutes and dispatched two vehicles to the scene where they discovered the bodies.

Seven others were wounded.

The gunman then fled the school and went to a nearby psychiatric clinic where he shot dead an employee and stole a car. He then sped off 40 km to Wendiligen.

By this time, an enormous manhunt has under way. Hundreds of armed police commandos and snipers were on his trail.

Cornered in a shopping centre carpark, he started a shoot-out, in which two passer-bys were killed.

Kretschmer was also killed, police say. Two of the policemen were injured but they are in stable condition in hospital.

German chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her condolences to the families and friends who have been killed in what was a ‘horrorendous’ crime.

“It’s a day of mourning for all of Germany,” she said.

This is the most evil deed I’ve heard of. And, for those young ones out there; don’t do this at your school.

By Chan Hsien Rong

This disastrous Article was adapted from The Straits Times, March 12 2009

My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this crime.

Dedicated to the hardworking German officers who helped make Germany a better place.

Eight Ways For Manchester United To Lose The English Premiere League.

United’s Entire Forward Line Busted For An Illegal Drug!

The Man Utd forward players are being charged with steroids, an illegal drug. The drug gives an energy boost; which allows the players to overtake their opponents easily. strikers Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Nani and Tevez will be fingerprinted while Park Ji Sung will have his ginsing tea analysed for the drug.

Owner Malcom Glazer Wiped Out By Financial Crisis!

Despite the stimulus plan by U.S. President Barrack Obama, Malcom Glazer, Man Utd’s owner, has gone broke. Man Utd will be kicked out and the points will be divided between the remaining teams.

Every centre-back injured!

Jonny Evans, United’s last centre-back, hurt himself in an accident by going head with a bar of soap. With every centre-back out, manager Alex Ferguson may consider a 10-0 line-up where everybody in his team will hog the space one meter in front of the goalie. For greater height in countering opponent’s corner kicks, Park Ji Sung will stand on Anderson’s head.

Berbatov wants to go back to Spurs!

Dimitar Berbatov, an ex- Tottenham Hotspur player, wants to go back to his team. Tottenham is planning a refund for him. His car will be waiting for him to send him to the airport.

Ronaldo instigates tunnel bust up against own teammate!

After the recent Steven Taylor incident where Ronaldo called Steven Taylor “a rubbish footballer,” Captain Gary Neville took offence to being called “a rubbish English.” However, he said it was a misunderstanding. What he meant was “my English is rubbish.”

Ashley Cole holds wild booze party, United’s English players arrested!

Chelsea player Ashley ‘Cashly’ Cole has been arrested for drunken behavior. This time, United’s English players have been arrested. Ferdinand, Rooney, Scholes, Carrick and Heagreaves were nabbed in a pre-dawn raid after neighbors complained of horrendous singing.

Alex Ferguson slips on banana peel; suffers memory loss!

The entire football world holds its breath today, waiting for Ferguson to come out of his memory loss. Earlier this week, he slipped on a banana peel in Liverpool’s Anfield stadium. No one knows how it got on the floor, although Liverpool manager Raphael Benitez was seen chomping on one minutes before.

Aliens invade Earth! All football matches cancelled!

Breaking news! Citizens of the Earth, our planet has been invaded by a horde of vicious aliens. But do not despair. Let us stop them as one planet, one people. By the way, all football matches have been cancelled. Sorry, Manchester United fans. You’ll have to wait for your trophy next year.

This article is part of the writer’s imagination and is a work of fiction. If any of the above really happens, it will be absolutely coincidental.

By Chan Hsien Rong

Kids Race to Eat Right

National football team striker Alexander Duric and team captain Indra Sahdan spent a Saturday afternoon inside Cold Storage Supermarket, Novena Square outlet. 

They were teaching children, including their own, to pick out healthy food option in a game -- The Kids Hunt. 

Children between the ages of 2 and 12 rushed through the shelves to pick out healthy food items within a stipulated time.

The Kids Hunt aimed to promote and teach children the importance of good nutrition to live a healthy lifestyle from young.

Duric, with daughter Isabella, six, and son Alessandro, four, won the celebrity leg of the hunt.

Indra's daughter, Elysa, six, and son, Ilyas, four, emerged second.

Cold Storage will have another healthy race -- The Cold Storage Kids Run -- at the Padang in May.

Registration fees are $20 until March 27 and $30 until it closes on April 26.

For more details or to sign up, visit www.kidsrun.com.sg

(from page A2 mypaper Monday, March 9, 2009)

By Grace Ow

Meanings

aimed = verb to point or direct; to do something

healthy = adjective having good health, freedom from disease, pain, or defect physically and mentally; well; sound

nutrition = noun process by which a human/ an animal/ a plant takes in food for growth, good health and replacing injured tissues

promote = verb to move forward, to help bring about the growth of something (e.g. general welfare, popularity, sales, grade in school, etc.)

stipulated = verb to make a specific demand or arrangement as a condition in an agreement.

Is there a link between gaming and violence?

 Studies by Iowa State University’s ¹Distinguished Professor Craig Anderson, one of the world’s most scholars on media violence, show that playing violent video games causes people to think and act more ²aggressively, although it will not turn “normal 12-years-old into school shooters”.

      

       On the ground, psychiatrists and social workers are reporting more gaming-related problems among youths.  At Touch Cyber Wellness and Sports, counselors have seen more than 140 cyber-related cases in the past three years.

 

       Dr Brian Yeo, a consultant ³psychiatrist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said that he sees at least one patient daily who has gaming or Internet related issues.

 

       In the Study of Violence, which included the first ⁴longitudinal study, it was concluded that people who played violent games are more aggressive over time. The more common⁵manifestations of aggression are verbal, like raising voices or ⁶spurting ⁷vulgarities. Gamers begin to accept and even expect violence in their own lives.  Studies have also shown that some gamers develop “hostile attribution ⁸bias”, that is, attributing hostile intentions to even ¹benign actions.  Games share another link to smoking too.

 

       While there is increasing acceptance of links between games and aggression, gamers and game companies, ⁹advocate that video games are very powerful learning tools – as demonstrated by how people playing games that encourage them to be nice to others in the game, will also exhibit such “pro-social” behaviour in real life.   A multiplayer online role-playing games, World of Warcraft which boasts more than 11 million players around the world, claims that such games encouraged to work with others, possibly promoting positive values like team work, loyalty and self-sacrifice.

 

      AsiaSoft, publisher of games like Maple Story, has created pop-up messages to remind gamers to take breaks.  By the fourth hour, the gamers are asked to quit the game.  This is done in order to have moderation.

 

       Dr Nicolas Khoo, 31, co-founder of the Cyber –sports and Online Gaming Association said studies have shown that parental involvements is ¹⁰vital in managing the violent effects of gaming.

 

[Excerpts from the Sunday Times, 8 March 2008 – by Susan Lau]

      

 

Vocabulary

1Distinguished –(adj) renowned, famous, excellent

2aggressively – (adv)  implies a disposition to dominate often in disregard of others' rights or in determined and energetic pursuit of one's ends

3psychiatrist – (n) one who studies a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders

4longitudinal study – (n) a study on effects over a period of time.

5manifestations – (n) the act, process

6spurt- (v)  to gush forth

7vulgarities –(n) offensive in language

⁸bias - an inclination of temperament or outlook ; especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment

⁹advocate - one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal

¹⁰vital - of the utmost importance