Samoa and neighbor Tokelau to jump forward in time

Apia, Samoa's capital

APIA, Samoa (AP) — The tiny South Pacific nation of Samoa and its neighbor Tokelau will jump forward in time on Thursday, crossing westward over the international date line to align themselves with their other 21st century trading partners throughout the region.

At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 29, time in Samoa and Tokelau will leap forward to Dec. 31 — New Year's Eve. For Samoa's 186,000 citizens, and the 1,500 in Tokelau, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, will simply cease to exist.

The time jump back to the future comes 119 years after some U.S. traders persuaded local Samoan authorities to align their islands' time with nearby U.S.-controlled American Samoa and the U.S. to assist their trading with California.

But the time zone has proved problematic in recent years, putting Samoa and Tokelau nearly a full day behind neighboring Australia and New Zealand, increasingly important trading partners.

In a bid to remedy that, the Samoan government passed a law in June that will move Samoa west of the international date line, which separates one calendar day from the next and runs roughly north-to-south through the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Under a government decree, all those scheduled to work on the nonexistent Friday will be given full pay for the missed day of labor.

The time shift will be marked by the ringing of church bells across Samoa's two main islands, and prayer services in all the main churches of the devoutly Christian nation.

Nearby Tokelau, a three-atoll United Nations dependency, said it will join its neighbor in the date line dance to maintain its alignment with Samoa, three sailing days away, where its administration is based.

Tokelau's parliament, the Tokelau General Fono, recently voted to go ahead with the change, although it still has to complete all formalities for the date line switch, a New Zealand foreign ministry official said in Wellington on Thursday.

Initially strongly opposed by Samoa's opposition Tautua Samoa Party, the law to make the date line switch won its support after leader A'eau Peniamina told the nation's Parliament, "It's a change that benefits the people."

Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi earlier said it would strengthen trade and economic links with Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Being a day behind the region has meant that when it's dawn Sunday in Samoa, it's already dawn Monday in adjacent Tonga and nearly dawn Monday in nearby New Zealand, Australia and increasingly prominent east Asian trade partners such as China.

"In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we're losing out on two working days a week," Tuila'epa said in a statement. "While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand, and when we're at church on Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane."

Like many small Pacific island states, more of Samoa's people live permanently overseas than on its islands. Around 180,000 Samoans live in New Zealand, 15,000 in Australia and tens of thousands more in the U.S.

Other island groups with more of their citizens living offshore than on include Tuvalu, Niue, Tonga, Cook Islands and tiny Tokelau.

The Ulu, or chief, of Tokelau, Foua Toloa, said Thursday that the New Zealand government had given its blessing for Tokelau to make the change.

"The General Fono (parliament) decision has been endorsed, and we hope that the people will go to sleep on Thursday night and wake up the next day, Saturday, the 31st of December, without any huge changes," he told Radio New Zealand International.

For Samoa, it's the second big economic modernizing move by the governing Human Rights Protection Party in recent years, following its switch to driving on the left side of the country's roads in 2009, another move to align it with the two regional powers.

So far, only Samoa's small Seventh Day Adventist Church has indicated a major problem for its congregation, which traditionally begins celebrations for the Sabbath on Friday night and continues through Saturday.

The Seventh Day Adventist parish in Samoa's Samatau village has decided it will continue to observe the Sabbath day on Saturdays despite changes forced on the church by the westward switch of the date line.

The original shift to the east side of the line was made in 1892, when Samoa celebrated July 4 twice, giving a nod to Independence Day in the U.S.

The date line drawn by mapmakers is not mandated by any international body. By tradition, it runs roughly through the 180-degree line of longitude, but it zigzags to accommodate the choices of Pacific nations on how to align their calendars.

Palestinians light Christmas tree in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Hundreds of Palestinians have gathered in Bethlehem to light a Christmas tree ahead of the holiday festivities in the town where Jesus was born.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pressed a button lighting up the decorations on the 50-foot (15-meter) tree Thursday, along with the lights illuminating the rest of the square outside the Church of the Nativity.
Christmas brings the world's attention every year briefly to this West Bank town south of Jerusalem.
Fayyad said Christmas was an opportunity to "celebrate the Palestinian identity of Jesus Christ."

Montreal's real-life Robin Hood

MONTREAL —At a Montreal bistro aptly named Robin des Bois, or Robin Hood, volunteers are drawing inspiration from their namesake and cooking up a storm to help those down-on-their luck by giving away the profits.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Judy Servay, a former advertising executive once known for throwing Christmas parties with a twist when clients and employees would gather to make meals for the homeless. 

These were a type of party in which "guests felt good the next day," she quipped.

This led to the realization that many people with busy lives were ready to get involved in humanitarian causes, as long as they didn't have to get too involved.

After selling her video production business and a trip to Africa, Servay started the restaurant with the help of a sponsor who donated $49,000 (Can$50,000) and loaned her another $49,000 for the non-profit venture.

The bistro opened its doors in 2006, and the concept appears to work brilliantly. Its strength is its flexibility: volunteers can work for one night or more, and no experience is needed.

"At the start, my mother washed dishes for a few weeks and then it took off," says Servay. Volunteers come from all walks of life, including an emergency room doctor and the head of a billboard advertising company — 4,500 people in all rotating through the restaurant each year.

Some cook meals, others wait on tables. Profits go to six local charities, $20,000 (Canadian dollars) was donated in 2010.

The food is good and prices are reasonable, and the restaurant will sometimes bring in local performers to serenade patrons for free.

Twentysomethings Eric Lucas and Tahina Andriamananjato volunteer at Robin des Bois several times per week.

"My family immigrated from Madagascar to France. Having witnessed the caring hands that helped them settle there, I feel it's my turn now to help others," Andriamananjato said.

"People have mistaken me for a pro," delights Lucas.

Each night, eight volunteers work alongside eight staffers in the kitchen and the dining room because even though its clientele tends to support Servay's cause, the restaurant still aims to serve meals good enough to make foodies want to come back again, and again.

"We didn't want people to say, 'Great, I gave, I did my part, but the food was so-so," Servay explains. "No. We actually have clientele that come back every week for the food."

After arriving in Quebec a year ago, Andriamananjato has just now secured a job at a bank. Prospective employers tend to view volunteering on a par with professional experience.

"It looks good on a CV," said Lucas. "Someone who volunteers, it's the same as if they were salaried workers."

And in keeping with their theme, the bistro uses organic produce which is sourced locally as much as possible.

The menu is devised by a trained chef and adapted to the seasons, and the restaurant provides aprons for the volunteers, but encourages them to wear their own comfortable clothes. — AFP

Here's some comments  from the online website Marketplace:

Scott Jagow: Life in Montreal is really about food. It's a city known for long lunches, late night dining and hip bistros. There's a new bistro that's getting a lot of attention right now. It's called Robin des Bois. That means Robin Hood. And yes, the restaurant feeds the rich and gives its profits to the poor. Here's Judith Ritter.

Writer Judith Ritter:  It's not easy to get a reservation at Montreal's hot new eatery Robin des Bois. Tonight this sleek bistro is packed. Even big name actors and directors are on a waiting list. Not just to dine but to work so money saved on wages can be donated to the poor.

Catherine Pilon, volunteer worker:  Tonight is my first night and it's very special but I'm a little nervous. (Catherine Pilon usually directs music videos for Quebec's version of MTV. Clearly she's more comfortable giving orders than taking them).

Below is a conversation between a customer and Pilon:

Customer:  I 'd like to know what you put in your boudin creole

PIlon: Good question, for me it's my first time, oh my God! I'll be right back.

She hasn't a clue. But the diners celebrating a birthday are unfazed. They know the servers are volunteers and the profits go to local charities. They've also heard that the server, the one who might be spilling a glass of water on them, might even be a local media heartthrob.

Phillipe Fermiaux: Patrice Crocaux was here, one of the most famous actors in Quebec and he was here serving on the tables and obviously people were just actually freaking out.
Phillipe Femiaux is a TV  personality and husband of Judy Servay, the mastermind behind the Robin Hood concept. The idea caught on with their glittery acquaintances and there's a waiting list of 1,400 ready to work for free. The chefs get paid but not what they're used to. But for chef Sebastien Courville, that's just fine.

Pilon, going back to the customer: Okay, one boudin creole . . . and something to drink?

Over at the birthday table the music video director turned server is getting a little smoothera.
Pilon: I'll be better by my third table.

Good Luck Catherine. Just don't quit your day job
In Montreal, Judith Ritter for Marketplace.

Below is a BBC video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8644856.stm

Earth-like planet found in habitable zone

MOFFET FIELD, California (Reuters) - The most Earth-like planet ever discovered is circling a star 600 light years away, a key finding in an ongoing quest to learn if life exists beyond Earth, scientists said on Monday.
The planet, called Kepler-22b, joins a list of more than 500 planets found to orbit stars beyond our solar system. It is the smallest and the best positioned to have liquid water on its surface -- among the ingredients necessary for life on Earth.
"We are homing in on the true Earth-sized, habitable planets," said San Jose State University astronomer Natalie Batalha, deputy science team lead for NASA's Kepler Space Telescope that discovered the star.
The telescope, which was launched three years ago, is staring at about 150,000 stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra, looking for faint and periodic dimming as any circling planets pass by, relative to Kepler's line of sight.
Results will be extrapolated to determine the percentage of stars in the Milky Way galaxy that harbor potentially habitable, Earth-size planets.
This is the first detection of a potentially habitable world orbiting a Sun-like star, scientists reported in findings to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Kepler-22b is 600 light years away. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).

ce from their parent stars as Earth take roughly a year to complete an orbit. Scientists want to see at least three transits to be able to rule out other explanations for fluctuations in a star's light, such as small companion stars. Results also are verified by ground and other space telescopes.
Kepler-22b, which is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth, sits squarely in its star's so-called "habitable zone," the region where liquid water could exist on the surface. Follow-up studies are under way to determine if the planet is solid, like Earth, or more gaseous like Neptune.
"We don't know anything about the planets between Earth-size and Neptune-size because in our solar system we have no examples of such planets. We don't know what fraction are going to be rocky, what fraction are going to be water worlds, what fraction are ice worlds. We have no idea until we measure one and see," Batalha said at a news conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, California.
If Kepler-22b has a surface and a cushion of atmosphere similar to Earth's, it would be about 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 C), about the same as a spring day in Earth's temperate zone.
Among the 2,326 candidate planets found by the Kepler team, 10 are roughly Earth-size and reside in their host stars' habitable zones.
Another team of privately funded astronomers is scanning the target stars for non-naturally occurring radio signals, part of a project known as SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
"As soon as we find a different, a separate, an independent example of life somewhere else, we're going to know that it's ubiquitous throughout the universe," said astronomer Jill Tarter, director of the SETI Institute in Mountain View.
The Kepler team is meeting for its first science conference this week.

Top 5 anti-aging foods

Nov 30, 2011 at 19:53


By MensXP.com
We all dread the day when we would come across the first wrinkle on our face. Growing old is an inevitable fact that we'll have to accept one day or the other.

However, instead of simply sitting and waiting for the wrinkles to come, we can indulge ourselves in some fantastic foods that help slow down the aging process. Here are the top 5 anti-aging foods that you should start gorging on.

5. Avocado
Avocado contains a significant amount mono-saturated fat, which helps reduce bad cholestrol, and Vitamin E which aid in the prolonging of the aging of the skin. It is also a great source of potassium which is known to prevent high blood pressure and fluid retention.

4. Salmon
For people who don't enjoy eating vegetables, salmon is the perfect choice owing to the great quality protein it contains. It is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids which make the skin healthy. For optimum results, it is advised to include salmon into your diet at least thrice a week.

3. Broccoli
Broccoli belongs to the family of cruciferous vegetables which are famous for assisting the body in fighting against toxins. Broccoli also contains quercetin and isothiocyanates which are known antioxidants. Reportedly, broccoli sprouts contain more isothiocyanates than the vegetable itself.

2. Berries
Berries, especially blue and black ones great sources of flavonoids which are known to be powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants protect the body against aging as well as free radicals. Berries also help prevent the toxin build up in the body, hence fighting the aging process.

1. Watermelon
Watermelon is known as one of the best anti-aging foods. Containing nutrients like selenium, Vitamins A, B, C and E, essential fats and zinc, it is the most effective food against radical damage and aging. Also both its flesh and seeds are equally nutritious.

Farmers release bag of snakes in Indian tax office

By BISWAJEET BANERJEE,LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Two farmers fed up with alleged bribery demands emptied three bags filled with slithering snakes in a busy tax office in northern India, an official said Wednesday.
The 40 or so snakes of different sizes and species — including at least four deadly cobras — sent clerks and villagers climbing atop tables and scurrying out the door to escape the office in Basti, about 186 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, said Uttar Pradesh state official Ramsukh Sharma.
"Snakes started climbing up the tables and chairs," he said. "There was total chaos. Hundreds of people gathered outside the room, some of them with sticks in their hands, shouting that the snakes should be killed."
No one was bitten or injured in the incident Tuesday afternoon, and police and forest officials captured the snakes.
The farmers had been asking for tax records for their land in nearby Narharpur village, but tax officials withheld the files for weeks while allegedly demanding bribes.
Sharma said their method of protest was unacceptable. Police are searching for the farmers, who were identified as Hukkul Khan and Ramkul Ram. Khan is known locally as a snake charmer.