When you're a mom and you go to clean your teenaged daughter's room, you expect to find dirty clothes on the floor, candy wrappers, and maybe a pack of cigarettes or some weed. But a mother in Bedford, Texas found a lot more in her little girl's room: 27-year-old Eric Gahagen, of Central City, PA who had allegedly driven 1500 miles to have sex with the 14-year-old. According to police, Gahagen told them the two had met online (damn Internet!) and had exchanged text messages since last year, before the two agreed to meet last weekend. At some point, Gahagen allegedly climbed into the girl’s second-floor bedroom window and hid there for more than 24 hours . . . until good old mom walked in on him sleeping in her bed. Cops also say that Gahagen claims he thought the girl was 20, yet failed to say anything when she had to leave for school. High school. Yeah right. At right, Eric Gahagen's mug shot picture. Oh, we can see why she fell for him, can't you? He's hot!!!! (NBC 5)

My views: This is shameful; a 14th year old girl knows very less about males, therefore one guy shouldn't take chance of her innocence.

CARACAS, — Colombian commandos in disguise spirited 15 hostages to freedom on Wednesday, including Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician held for six years, and three American military contractors.

 

Skip to next paragraph“I never expected to get out of there alive,” said Ms. Betancourt, 46, her voice sounding frail but charged with excitement, in comments broadcast on the radio.

 

On Colombian television, Ms. Betancourt wept and smiled as she recounted a chain of events that seemed scripted for film, complete with Colombian agents infiltrating guerrilla camps and borrowing Israeli tracking technology to zero in on their target.

 

The helicopters landed in the jungle at dawn, carrying personnel who she presumed were part of a humanitarian mission intended to transport the hostages elsewhere, according to Colombian press reports.

 

The captives were handcuffed and “humiliated,” then put on the helicopters accompanied by two guerrillas who were guarding them, Ms. Betancourt explained.

 

But while boarding, when she saw crew members wearing T-shirts emblazoned with images of Che Guevara, she thought the hostages had been deceived. “I thought, this is FARC,” she said on television, referring to the rebel group that held her.

 

Once the doors of the helicopter closed, the guerrillas were subdued, and Ms. Betancourt said her handcuffs were removed and the crew told the 15 captives they were free.

 

She said she looked down at one of the men who had been her captor. “I saw him on the floor,” she said. “I did not feel happiness, but what a shame.”

 

In Bogotá, after a joyful reunion with her mother, she thanked the military for an “impeccable operation.”

 

She looked healthy, especially in light of reports that she had been despondent recently and images showing her thin and distraught in a video captured from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

 

Taken captive in 2002 while she campaigned quixotically for the presidency, Ms. Betancourt, over her years as a hostage, became a symbol of suffering, courage and endurance.

 

The rescue was a major victory in Colombia’s struggle with the FARC, a Marxist-inspired insurgency that has been trying to topple the Colombian government for more than four decades.

 

Colombia’s defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, said the captives, who also included 11 former members of Colombia’s security forces, were removed from the jungle on Wednesday by an elite commando unit in Guaviare after Colombian intelligence operatives infiltrated the FARC’s seven-member secretariat.

 

The was involved in the planning of the operation and provided “specific support,” the White House said. But officials there would not describe the nature of that support.

 

One American official who was briefed on the operation but spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the intelligence support to for the mission, but would not provide details.

 

The three Americans, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes, were captured in 2003 while working for the Northrop Grumman Corporation after their surveillance plane went down on an antinarcotics mission for the Pentagon.

 

After they were freed they went on a military plane to San Antonio , to be taken to a military hospital at Fort Sam Houston.

 

Ms. Betancourt and the Americans were among more than 40 captives used by the FARC to bargain for political concessions. The rescue came during a period of fragmentation in the FARC after the killing and capture of several senior commanders in recent months.

 

The guerrillas are thought to hold hundreds of other abductees in jungle camps. The American ambassador to Colombia, William R. Brownfield, and the United States combatant commander in the region, Adm. James G. Stavridis, were “engaged in the planning stages,” according to Gordon D. Johndroe, the deputy White House press secretary.

 

“This was a Colombian-conceived and led operation; we supported the operation,” he said, adding, “This rescue was long in the planning, and we’ve been working with the Colombians for five years, since the hostages were taken, to free them from captivity.”

 

He said that President Bush was kept apprised of the planning and that he called after the rescue to congratulate President Álvaro Uribe, calling him “a strong leader.”

 

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, released a statement that said Mr. Uribe and Mr. Santos had briefed him about the operation on Tuesday night, during his visit to .

 

Late on Wednesday night, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, appeared on live television with Ms. Betancourt’s grown children and her sister.

 

“Ingrid is in good health,” Mr. Sarkozy said of Ms. Betancourt, who holds dual French and Colombian citizenship. “My first words would be to say how happy we are.”

 

He also asked the FARC “to stop this absurd and medieval conflict,” promising to take in all the FARC fighters who renounced violence.

 

In , numerous groups were founded by artists and public intellectuals to support Ms. Betancourt’s cause, and as her health appeared to worsen her release became a priority for Mr. Sarkozy and his new government.

 

 

 

Mr. Sarkozy had made various appeals for her freedom, and in April, offered to go to the border to personally accept her release. He tried to work through the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, and sent a French medical team by air to to wait for her.

 

In her years in Paris, Ms. Betancourt, the daughter of a diplomat and a beauty queen, lived a wealthy life, went to elite universities and married a career diplomat whom she had met when she was a student. But she returned to Bogotá in 1990 to start a political career after drug dealers assassinated a presidential candidate her mother knew. She divorced and later married a Colombian, Juan Carlos Lecompte.

 

Her two grown children took part in protests in Paris , where they lived with their father, her first husband. Ms. Betancourt’s 2001 autobiography, “Rage in the Heart,” was hailed in as the story of a crusader against corruption and injustice.

 

In January, in a deal brokered by Mr. Chávez, the FARC freed Clara Rojas, 44, who was captured along with Ms. Betancourt, and Consuelo González de Perdomo, 57, a former Colombian lawmaker who was abducted in 2001.

 

During captivity Ms. Rojas bore a child, who was found to be living in foster care in Bogotá shortly before her release, and not with the guerrillas, as they had claimed.

 

After the discovery of the 3-year-old boy, Emmanuel, Colombian officials said Wednesday, they sensed disarray within the FARC and stepped up efforts to rescue the other captives. Hopes for the hostages’ freedom had increased after the death or surrender of several top leaders in recent months. In late May, the FARC’s senior leader, the legendary guerrilla Manuel Marulanda, was reported to have died of natural causes.

 

Mr. Marulanda, whose real name was Pedro Antonio Marín, built a rebel army from the remnants of a rural guerrilla group. The FARC remains Latin America ’s largest insurgency, with thousands of fighters.

 

Alfonso Cano, an urban intellectual from Bogotá, ascended to replace Mr. Marulanda, but the FARC has been weakened by the desertion or surrender of about 300 combatants a month, according to Colombian officials.

 

Although the guerrilla group retains substantial might from operations financed by cocaine exports and abductions, its apparent disintegration has drawn comparisons to that of the Shining Path, the once-fearsome Maoist insurgency in Peru that is now limited to several hundred combatants involved in drug trafficking in the Peruvian Amazon.

 

Last month, Colombian officials announced that the American contractors had been spotted in the jungle a few months earlier, but said that it had been impossible to attempt a rescue at the time. In the operation on Wednesday, Colombia’s military appears to have drawn inspiration from one of the FARC’s own most brazen actions, in which its combatants disguised themselves in 2002 as soldiers and abducted 13 lawmakers in Cali.

 

Six years later, Colombian agents infiltrated the FARC’s ranks and persuaded a guerrilla commander called Cesar to allow captives held in three groups to be united for a trip by helicopter to southern .

 

Ms. Betancourt suffered illnesses, pain and indignities during her captivity, but doggedly persisted in trying to escape. Toward the end of her six years as a hostage, Ms. Betancourt’s missives to the outside world showed signs of depression.

 

“I am tired of suffering, of carrying it within me every day, of lying to myself and of seeing that every day is the same hell as the one before,” she wrote in a 2007 letter to her mother, Yolanda Pulecio. In the letter Ms. Betancourt said, “These almost six years of captivity have shown me that I’m not as resistant, nor as brave, nor as intelligent, nor as strong as I had thought.

 

“I have fought many battles, I have tried to escape on several opportunities, I have tried to maintain hope, as one does keeping head above water. But mamita, I have been defeated.”

 

The letter was taken from rebel emissaries last Nov. 29, part of a package intended to prove to captives’ families that they were still alive.

 

In the letter, she also wrote of the death of her father, Gabriel Betancourt, who was well known in for his work educating the poor. He died a month after her kidnapping, and in her letter, Ms. Betancourt said the she longed “to be with my papito, whose mourning I have not been able to complete, because every day, for the last four years, I have cried over his death.”

 

And she spent much time writing about her two children in France, Mélanie and Lorenzo, and of how much she missed seeing them grow.

 

“I feel like the life of my children is on standby, waiting for me to be free, and their daily suffering makes death seem like a sweet option,” she wrote.

 

She said she made them birthday cakes on their birthdays from her ration of rice and beans. “I look for them in my memories and I nourish myself in the images I guard in my memory of each of their different ages.”

 

She will soon see them, as she recuperates at a military base. has sent them in a state plane to join their mother.

 

(From New York Times)

 

Forty seven and successful, Ajay Goel leads a very hectic life, travelling out of town 12 times a month and abroad 15 times a year.

"Life in Bangalore is definitely hectic. It is strenuous, but it is a different kind of challenge," says the IT professional who works in a senior position at a leading international computer networking company.

It has definitely not been an easy ride for the Nagpur boy whose father was a government official. But by ability and hard work, he has successfully ridden the wave of the IT boom.

"It is hard work. You either make it or you break completely in Bangalore. It is a city of opportunities and with the right kind of approach and a lot of hard work, one can make it big," says the friendly and humble man.

On a Monday evening, sitting with his wife over a Coke, he sat down to give us a slice of his life as an IT professional.

"Leading a life here is an art. I hear of so many people complaining of failed marriages and not having enough time for the family. I agree that the challenges in this profession are huge and demanding. The expectations rise every day. I must admit it is the carrot that keeps us motivated. What is most important is that we must ensure that things back home are fine. There is a great balancing act which is required."

Ajay came to Bangalore in 1983 and married Era a couple of years later. She decided to look after the home and raise their two children.

Era says for Ajay the entire week is about work, but the weekends are reserved for the family. "He does make it a point to spend a lot of time with the children. They do not miss him as he has managed his time very well."

Ajay's friends say he has worked hard to reach this position, but the beauty of it is that he still remains as humble as he used to be when he first came to Bangalore. They also admire his sense of time. "There is no way he will ever be late and once a time is given, one can be rest assured that there will be no delays whatsoever," says a friend.

Shilpa shilpa shilpa

Our own Shilpa

Sometimes trouble

Sometimes struggle

Sometimes glory catcher,

Sometimes she is

Kissed by Garry

Sometimes

By Dani,

Now she is

Again in news

A cinema

On her life

Going to be made

By Sunny.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The dancer, the sensation of yester cinema world is no more, she has died at her 80, after suffering a heart attack in last Monday. Twice married she had 2 sons, 1 from first marriage 2nd one from the next. Some pics of her is given here to give her familiarity to my dada friends:

Views: I tribute my deep homage to the texas beauty & prayed to Almighty for peace of her soul.

Pamela Anderson has taken on fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for the way its suppliers treat chickens.

The former ‘Baywatch’ babe teamed up with animal rights group PETA and shot off a letter to KFC Managing Director in the UK Martin Shuker. In it, Pammie wrote just why she’s so angry with KFC, reports smh.com.au.

She wrote: "My friends at PETA Europe and I have a bone to pick with KFC over the treatment of birds on your supplier's factory farms."
"Chickens are bred to grow so quickly they can barely walk and they stew in their own waste for their entire lives. This is Colonel Sanders' real 'secret recipe'. At slaughter, these poor animals are still conscious when they are snapped into metal shackles, often with broken legs.

"They are shocked in an electrified water bath and many are still fully conscious when their necks are sliced open. Some are even burned to death in the scalding tank for feather removal."
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In India, the demand for crude oil is rising by 7 per cent, while imports are rising by over 9 per cent. We're paying more for petrol (and diesel, and LPG) -- but does anyone know why? So, okay, oil prices have doubled in just over a year. Here's why: Speculative trading
Traders bet on future prices of oil through commodity exchanges. If there is a natural calamity, or if a country's president or the boss of a global oil company makes a statement which could be linked to oil, the traders at the exchanges bet on a higher price in the future.

The record high price of nearly $140 per barrel is the July futures price of oil in the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Geo-political tensions, leading to supply disruptions
Caused by war, terrorist attacks or military warfare in oil rich countries, which could affect oil supply. The US sanctions on Libya, Iran and the war in Iraq have all affected oil prices

Blame it on shining India...
...and China and West Asia, where rising demand (at around 8 per cent from around 7 per cent a couple of years ago) is creating inequities between supply and demand

(News from Rediff)

My views: Rising demand of crude in China & India & may be to some extent Vietnam has caused this problem.

Traders bet on future prices of oil through commodity exchanges. If there is a natural calamity, or if a country's president or the boss of a global oil company makes a statement which could be linked to oil, the traders at the exchanges bet on a higher price in the future.

Rumour sread Lindsay Lohan is pregnant, but fact is she prepared for a film, "Labor Pains."

My views: She was almost looked like a pregnant woman. See the pic & find the truth, is not it so?

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia plans to increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels a day next month, the kingdom's oil minister told U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, according to Ban's spokesman.

The U.N. secretary-general met with Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in the port city of Jiddah during a one-day trip to the world's largest oil producer.

Farhan Haq, a spokesman who is traveling with Ban, said in an e-mail that the U.N. chief said al-Naimi told him Saudi Arabia would increase oil production by 200,000 barrels a day from June to July. In May, the kingdom increased its production by 300,000.

By July, production should be at 9.7 million barrels a day, Haq said.

Ban also said Saudi Arabia understands that the current price of oil, which topped $139 per barrel earlier this month, is not normal, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

"The king believes that the current oil prices are abnormally high, and he is ready to restore prices to their appropriate levels," SPA quoted Ban as telling reporters in Jiddah. The report carried by SPA was in Arabic, and it did not say what language Ban spoke in.

Saudi Arabia is concerned that sustained high oil prices will eventually slacken the world's appetite for oil, affecting the kingdom in the long run.

The 200,000-barrel-a-day boost is not insignificant -- it will raise Saudi Arabia's daily production by about 2 percent. But to a market that has been sending oil prices soaring to record heights due in part to strong global demand, the move might be seen as marginal.

The oil market largely ignored Saudi Arabia's 300,000-barrel-a-day output increase last month.

In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange late Sunday, crude oil futures were down 54 cents at $134.32 a barrel.

The kingdom has called for a meeting of oil producing and consuming countries on June 22 in Jiddah to discuss ways of dealing with soaring energy prices.

My views: Saudi should drop down their crude price so that world economy would bloom again. It is also beneficial for them too. High commodity price would also affect them badly as they depend on others for most of the other commodities. Therefore oil price should come down to at least nearer to $100/barrel so that poor people get reliefs in the world.

REUTER: 15TH JUNE:

High oil prices are hitting those least able to afford it, but an imbalance in demand and supply which is partly behind the price spike could last for years, Britain's energy minister said on Saturday.

"The sheer scale of the price rises speaks of a clear belief that this supply and demand imbalance will continue for years to come," Malcolm Wicks said in a speech to the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum.

He cited the rapid development of countries such as India and China, coupled with slower oil supply on international markets, as being mainly behind record prices that neared $140 per barrel last week.

Saudi Arabia has called an unprecedented one-day meeting of oil-producing and consuming nations in Jeddah on June 22, which could be attended by some heads of state. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will be there.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has said current prices are unjustifiable but blamed speculators and a weak dollar.

Riyadh has said it will pump an extra 300,000 barrels per day to make up for shortfalls by other OPEC members. The New York Times reported on Friday that Saudi Arabia is considering raising production by around 500,000 bpd to stem prices.

"There are understandable concerns about speculators pushing the price higher than the fundamentals would suggest," Wicks said, acknowledging that speculation plays a role.

Poorer countries and the poor generally were hardest hit by expensive energy, he said.

"The dramatic price rise has put pressure on economies. It has put energy security of some countries under strain, and it is creating real problems for many of those people that are least able to pay for the energy they need," he said.

"In the UK, as elsewhere, we are having to do more than ever to look after those on lower incomes who are hardest hit by rising fuel costs."

My views: India is affecting badly by crude oil price surge, the government has increased the prices of petrol, diesel & LPG (cooking gas), which resulted for price hike of everyday commodity leading to an inflation soar to 8.75% 7 yrs high). It deserves to take immediate steps to decrease the price hike to relieve the common people.

It is seven year high of 8.75% in India. Why this is happening?

Mainly due to rising food prices, amid fears that the recent increase in fuel prices would push its past 10%.

The figures put inflation 0.51points higher than that in the preceeding week.

My views: The highest rate in the 21st century is 8.77% (for the week ended Feb 10, 2001). This is very bad for common people. The everyday commodity prices are surging day by day. The cooking gas cylider is priced at Rs. 350/- in place of Rs. 300/- a few days ago. All these r happening due to soaring price of crude oils. How can we survive from this inflation we donno. Can u place ur views for it?