MikeLigalig.com

Regarded as divine by locals, white lions first came to public attention in the 1970s in Chris McBride's book The White Lions of Timbavati. Up until 2009, when the first pride of white lions was reintroduced to the wild, it was widely believed that the white lion could not survive in the wild. It is for this reason that a large part of the population of white lions now reside in zoos.

The white lion is a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies of African lion (Panthera leo krugeri) found in some wildlife reserves in South Africa and in zoos around the world.



White lions are not a separate subspecies and are thought to be indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was in 1938.

di na lang nako hisgotan si hubag ug bugsay nga tag-20 ka languages ang nahibaw-an, apil na ang language sa junquera sa cebu.

labaw pa si lorenz.  morag napulo tingali iyang nahibaw-an.

i can add a special mention for hof and vrglguaps who know more than 3 languages.  sure na sure ko nga layo ra na sila sa ango-ango.

cheer up, tblanders!  chances are everybody here knows at least 3 languages---cebuano/boholano visayan, tagalog/filipino, and english.

"These findings are of considerable practical relevance. Millions of people around the world acquire their second language later in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, may benefit the aging brain."

But he admitted that the study also raised many questions, such as whether learning more than one language could also have the same positive effect on cognitive ageing and whether actively speaking a second language is better than just knowing how to speak it.

Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, said: "The epidemiological study provides an important first step in understanding the impact of learning a second language and the ageing brain.

"This research paves the way for future causal studies of bilingualism and cognitive decline prevention."

http://www.bbc.com/

Strong effects

The findings indicate that those who spoke two or more languages had significantly better cognitive abilities compared to what would have been expected from their baseline test.

The strongest effects were seen in general intelligence and reading.

The effects were present in those who learned their second language early, as well as later in life.

Dr Bak said the pattern they found was "meaningful" and the improvements in attention, focus and fluency could not be explained by original intelligence.

Using data from intelligence tests on 262 Edinburgh-born individuals at the age of 11, the study looked at how their cognitive abilities had changed when they were tested again in their seventies.

The research was conducted between 2008 and 2010.

All participants said they were able to communicate in at least one language other than English.

Of that group, 195 learned the second language before the age of 18, and 65 learned it after that time.

The study is published in Annals of Neurology.

The big question in this study was whether learning a new language improved cognitive functions or whether individuals with better cognitive abilities were more likely to become bilingual.

Dr Thomas Bak, from the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said he believed he had found the answer.

    Millions of people around the world acquire their second language later in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, may benefit the ageing brain” - Dr Thomas Bak, University of Edinburgh

2 June 2014

Learning second language 'slows brain ageing'


Learning a second language could improve reading and intelligence skills

Learning a second language can have a positive effect on the brain, even if it is taken up in adulthood, a University of Edinburgh study suggests.

Researchers found that reading, verbal fluency and intelligence were improved in a study of 262 people tested either aged 11 or in their seventies.

A previous study suggested that being bilingual could delay the onset of dementia by several years.

why not a goat afly?

Graffiti artists recently painted a huge image of the white-haired man holding a candle on a 10-storey building in a Sofia neighbourhood.

An Internet site â€" www.saintdobry.com â€" and two pages on the social media Facebook created by his fans praise his “goodness, honesty, purity, generosity and holiness.”

Certain admirers have already suggested that Dobri’s saintliness should eventually become official with a canonization.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/
with additional images from www.saintdobry.com

Fans on Facebook

The media dubbed Dobri “The Living Saint from Baylovo”, and his name â€" which comes from the Bulgarian word for “good”- has become a symbol for goodness in a country where religious faith has been on the rise since the fall of communism 25 years ago.

“My 10-year-old granddaughter won a literary competition on ‘goodness’ by writing about Dobri,” said Ivanka, who sells candles in the Sofia cathedral.

“God gave him the gift of clairvoyance: he told one mother where to find her missing daughter,” added Maria Zabova, who rings the bells at Alexander Nevski.

“In the past 20 years, he has devoted himself to collecting alms.”

She affectionately calls him “Grandpa” Dobri and often helps him count the money he has collected.

The old man lives in a small room basically furnished with a bed and a table next to the church in Baylovo, which was renovated with 10,000 leva donated by him. A neighbour or another helper gives him a ride when he needs to go to Sofia.

The background of this man, who refuses any interviews, is patchy. Born in the summer of 1914, he partially lost his hearing in one of the bombings of the Bulgarian capital during World War II.

“This made him pious in his own way,” said Elena Genova, a distant relative, in their native village of Baylovo, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Sofia.

“He left his wife and their four children, including a new born baby, to take up different jobs around monasteries,” she said.

‘Richness of his soul’

Dobri is a comforting figure to Bulgarians amid pervasive corruption and deprivation, sociologists say.

“While the media is full of scandalous reports on the luxurious lifestyle of certain Church dignitaries, Grandpa Dobri personifies moral values such as self-denial and generosity,” said Theodora Karamelska, a sociology professor at Sofia’s New Bulgarian University.

For Bulgarians, he is like a saint “thanks to his romantic appearance and the richness of his soul,” she added.

“Take some bread, it comes from God!” the hunched old man mutters under his straggly white beard, offering believers the buns that other people give him as they drop coins into his plastic cup and bend to kiss his hand.

“He gave us 35,700 leva (18,250 euros, $24,900) in 2009, while living a life deprived of all comfort,” Bishop Tikhon, chairman of the cathedral’s trustees board, told AFP.

“Dobri is an extremely rare phenomenon.”

Several smaller monasteries and churches also say they have received between 2,500 and 10,000 euros each from the small man wearing peasant leather sandals.

These sums are considerable in Bulgaria, which remains the European Union’s poorest member seven years after joining the bloc and where the average monthly salary is about 420 euros.

100-year-old beggar celebrated as living saint in Bulgaria

Agence France-Presse
Monday, June 2nd, 2014


The 100-year-old Dobri Dobrev, known as “Grandpa” Dobri, begs for alms in the porch of the golden-doomed Alexander Nevski cathedral, in the center of Sofia, on April 20, 2014. In a country ravaged by poverty and corruption, a centenarian beggar is celebrated as a saint: the ascetic “Grandpa” Dobri has spent over twenty years begging for the Church. AFP

SOFIA â€" A 100-year-old beggar in a threadbare coat, “Grandpa” Dobri, is already celebrated as a saint in Bulgaria- a symbol of goodness in a country ravaged by poverty and corruption.

For over 20 years, Dobri Dobrev has been begging on the streets of Sofia, collecting alms worth tens of thousands of euros. And he has given it all to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

This has made him the largest private donor of the golden-domed Alexander Nevski cathedral even as he maintains an ascetic lifestyle.

IMT Engineering, which develops land-based aquaculture systems, recently received an order to construct an indoor shrimp-production system in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, for 50 million yen, including the technical assistance fee. Construction began in May. It will be the country's first shrimp-growing facility. The company aims to increase exports of the system.

Agricultural venture company Mirai plans to begin selling its vegetable factories in Russia this year. The company also hopes to find welcoming markets in drier locations, such as the Middle East. It has already built and launched two lettuce factories in Mongolia, one in a location with a semi-arid climate.

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings is looking to sell its vegetable factories to agricultural associations and farmers in China. The company recently set up a joint sales company that markets a system that automatically grows chemical-free vegetables. It aims to have 50 factories in 15 provinces, including Jiangsu, by 2017.

(Nikkei)
http://asia.nikkei.com/

May 31, 2014 1:00 pm JST

Japan exporting cutting-edge vegetable factories

TOKYO -- Japanese companies are increasingly looking to export their state-f-the-art vegetable factories and aquaculture facilities.


Taikisha has received an order from a client in Southeast Asia to build a lettuce factory by the end of next year.

The company, which operates two vegetable factories in Japan, has received inquiries about the system from companies in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia so far. Factories capable of delivering vegetables directly to retailers are popular in countries where high temperatures cause fresh produce to spoil quickly.

In actuality, it was built primarily as a demonstration and training facility for jobless young people who see a career in agriculture as a possibility. Though not really plugged in to the youth culture of Japan, we'll say that the presence of all that hi-tech equipment can do a long way to maintain interest.


(Photo by Everett Kennedy Brown/epa/Corbis.)

http://pruned.blogspot.com/

(Photo by Phillip Torrone.)

But what exactly is the purpose of Pasona O2? Certainly it is not where cutting edge agritechnology and biotechnology research is being done. Nor does it grow its produce to sell on the market. It doesn't even pretend to be a model for future food production in Japan whose farming population continues to dwindle.

Understandably, people have wondered what the energy requirement is for these “plant factories,” worried that a basement greenhouse might be too inefficient for a wider application.

Of course, any highly unsustainable demand for energy can easily be offset by drilling miles deep into Japan's tectonic landscape to generate hydrothermal energy.


(Photo by Phillip Torrone.)

This is all done, by the way, in a very hi-tech fashion. Computers control the temperature and light, which in this case is artificially generated by LEDs, halide lamps and sodium vapor lamps.

Carbon dioxide, we read, is delivered by spraying.


(Photographer unknown. Source.)

(Photo by Dimitri DF.)

(Photographer unknown.)

(Photo by Phillip Torrone.)

(The rice fields at Pasona O2.)

Though walled in from sunlight, weather and geology, it's unbelievably verdant. Tomatoes, lettuces, strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables, as well as flowers and herbs, are grown in an area about 1,000 square meters. There is even a terraced rice paddy.


(Room 1: Flower garden. Here LED lights are used. Room 2: Herb field. Here metal halide lamps are used. Room 3: Rice paddies. Here high pressure sodium lamp is used. Room 4: Fruit and vegetable fields. Room 5: Vegetable field. Room 6: “Plant cultivation of 21st century type.”)

Pasona O2, a subterranean farm cultivated inside a former bank vault beneath a high rise building in one of Tokyo's business districts



(Lettuces bathed in artificial light at Pasona O2. Photographer unknown.)

duda ko nga wa.  gawas nga unaffordable ni bisan sa iyang level of wealth, she just can't go around with earrings designed in her likeness. 

mushy.

it turns out that the deadliest animal is an insect.

with Indonesia

China is also embroiled in a territorial dispute with Indonesia over the 272-island Natuna archipelago in the South China Sea, 150 miles northwest of Borneo. The islands have been in dispute for over a decade; in 1993, China presented a map of its "historic claims" on the Spratlys during a workshop in Surabaya, Indonesia, which included not only nearly the entire South China Sea but a portion of Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the Natuna islands. The Natuna's natural gas reserves are among the largest in the world, estimated at 210 trillion cubic feet.





more at http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3701#.U4rQRnaZkqA

with South Korea

China, South Korea in Row Over Submerged Rock

By Jeremy Page
Mar 14, 2012


South Korean destroyers conduct maneuvers on seas off South Korea’s southernmost island of Mara, roughly 90 miles from Ieodo Reef.

Yet another maritime dispute between China and one of its neighbours has flared up in the last few days â€" this time over a submerged rock in a part of the ocean claimed by both Beijing and the South Korean government.

The spat over what South Korea calls the Ieodo Reef and China refers to as the Suyan Reef reignited after China’s State Oceanic Administration chief declared last week that it was part of China’s ”jurisdictional waters” and covered by its maritime patrols.

South Korea’s President, Lee Myung-bak, said Monday that the reef “will fall naturally into Korean-controlled areas,” according to the Yonhap news agency. The same day, South Korea’s Foreign Minstry questioned China’s ambassador in Seoul over the issue.

more at https://johnib.wordpress.com/tag/adiz/page/2/

This chart shows the Air Defense Identification Zone or ADIZ declared by China over the East China Sea on Saturday, November 23, 2013.

Japanese and Chinese ships off the Senkaku Islands. Chinese vessels and aircraft have regularly approached the East China Sea archipelago â€" thought to harbour vast natural resources â€" after Japan nationalized some of the islands in September 2012. Reuters photo

Photo: Chinese and Japanese coastguard ships operating near the disputed islands in the East China Sea

In this Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 photo, a China coast guard vessel numbered 2506, top, sails along the Japan coast guard ship Katori in the continuous zone of Japan’s territorial waters off the disputed East China Sea islands called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyutai in Chinese. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

A boat, center, is surrounded by Japan Cost Guard’s patrol boats after some activists descended from the boat on Uotsuri Island, one of the islands of Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, in East China Sea Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Regional tensions flared on the emotional anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender as activists from China and South Korea used Wednesday’s occasion to press rival territorial claims, prompting 14 arrests by Japanese authorities. The 14 people had traveled by boat from Hong Kong to the disputed islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Masataka Morita)

Ships from Japan and China keep their eyes on the disputed East China Sea islands called the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

Onodera said Japan conveyed its concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels. He also said the Chinese planes were carrying missiles.

A ministry official said it was the closest Chinese warplanes had come to aircraft of Japan’s Self-Defense Force.

China’s defense ministry said jets were scrambled in the East China Sea on Saturday after Japanese aircraft entered its air defense zone during maritime exercises with Russia.

The ministry said the Japanese aircraft had entered the zone despite “no fly” notices being issued ahead of the exercises. China declared its air defense zone last year despite protests by Japan and the United States.

more at https://johnib.wordpress.com/tag/adiz/

Japanese YS-11EB aircraft: Japan said one its unarmed surveillance aircraft like this one was harassed by armed Chinese fighter jets over the east China Sea


Above: Japanese OP-3C surveillance plane


Above: Two fully armed Chinese SU-27 fighter jets

Tensions have been running high between China and its neighbors over Beijing’s assertive stance on claiming land and sea territory.

Japan’s defense ministry said Chinese SU-27 fighters came as close as 50 meters (170 feet) to a Japanese OP-3C surveillance plane near disputed islets on Saturday and within 30 meters of a YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft.

“Closing in while flying normally over the high seas is impossible,” Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters in comments broadcast on TV Asahi.

“This is a close encounter that is outright over the top.”

The disputed East China Sea chain consists of five small islands and three rocks

China and Japan Exchange Accusations After “Near Miss” Between Chinese Fighter Jets and Japanese Patrol Aircraft

(Reuters) â€" Japan and China on Sunday accused each other’s air forces of dangerous behavior over the East China Sea, with Japan saying Chinese aircraft had come within a few dozen meters of its warplanes.

Japan’s defense minister accused Beijing of going “over the top” in its approach to disputed territory. China’s defense ministry said Japanese planes had carried out “dangerous” actions during its joint maritime exercises with Russia.

with Japan

At the heart of the [China-Japan] ]dispute are eight uninhabited islands and rocks in the East China Sea. They have a total area of about 7 sq km and lie north-east of Taiwan, east of the Chinese mainland and south-west of Japan's southern-most prefecture, Okinawa. The islands are controlled by Japan.



more at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139

Geng Yansheng â€" Spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense.

“In the field of Internet technology and infrastructure, the U.S. is blessed with an advantage, so fabricating some so-called ‘evidence’ is certainly no hardship,” spokesman Geng Yansheng told a briefing, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

more at https://johnib.wordpress.com/tag/adiz/

...side trip of trouble with the U.S.

China Defense Ministry Says U.S. May Have Lied About Chinese Cyberspying; Has Harsh Words For Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in Sea and Air Disputes

May 29, 2014


A magnifying glass is held in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin

BEIJING (Reuters) â€" China’s suggested on Thursday that the United States had fabricated evidence to underpin accusations of cyber attacks and had incited China’s neighbors to “stir up trouble” in disputed waters.

The strongly-worded comments by the defense ministry come as relations between the world’s two largest economies are increasingly strained by a row over cyberespionage. The United States last week accused five Chinese military officers of hacking into U.S. companies to steal trade secrets.

Asked about proof behind the U.S. allegations, ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said it would be easy for the United States to fabricate evidence.

Noting the suspension, Hagel in his speech said the U.S. will continue to raise cyber issues with the Chinese, “because dialogue is essential for reducing the risk of miscalculation and escalation in cyberspace.”

In a string of remarks aimed directly at China, Hagel said the U.S. opposes any nation’s use of intimidation or threat of force to assert territorial claims.

“All nations of the region, including China, have a choice: to unite, and recommit to a stable regional order, or, to walk away from that commitment and risk the peace and security that has benefited millions of people throughout the Asia-Pacific, and billions of people around the world,” he said.

more at https://johnib.wordpress.com/tag/adiz/

For the second year in a row, Hagel used the podium at the Shangri-La conference to call out China for cyberspying against the U.S. While this has been a persistent complaint by the U.S., his remark came less than two weeks after the U.S. charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets.

The Chinese, in response, suspended participation in a U.S.-China Cyber Working Group, and released a report that said the U.S. is conducting unscrupulous cyber espionage and that China is a major target.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: U.S. “will not look the other way” when nations such as China break international laws

May 31, 2014


U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, meets with Vietnam’s Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh, right, before the start of their meeting, Saturday, May 31, 2014 in Singapore. Hagel traveled to Singapore to attend the 13th Asia Security Summit. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Hagel appears to feel a sense of ownership in Asia

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

SINGAPORE (AP) â€" Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned an international security conference Saturday that the U.S. “will not look the other way” when nations such as China try to restrict navigation or ignore international rules and standards.

China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea are destabilizing the region, and its failure to resolve disputes with other nations threatens East Asia’s long-term progress, Hagel said.

On the other hand, Napoles also had designer brand wristwatches as well as bangles, bracelets, pendants and rings.



However, the opulent collection is no longer with Napoles.  She reportedly had entrusted itâ€"along with several expensive vehiclesâ€"to two friends. â€"Joel Locsin /NB, GMA News

The collection contained necklaces with diamonds and big precious stones, tennis bracelets made of diamonds, and necklaces and bracelets made of South Sea pearls.



Napoles also possessed branded jewelry including Chanel and Cartier.

One necklace was reportedly worth P2.3 million.

Napoles faces plunder charges over the scam, which involved allegedly diverting some P10 billion in pork barrel funds from lawmakers into ghost projects and dubious non-government organizations. The lawmakers allegedly received kickbacks in return.

Locked suitcase

The former aide said the jewelry was kept in a suitcase with a lock.

She said Napoles instructed them to place the jewelry in the suitcase. The former aide was then instructed to take photos of the pieces of jewelry so she will know how to identify them if they went missing.

However, the report said the jewelry collection is not covered by the Provisional Assets Preservation Order a Manila court imposed on Napoles' bank accounts and pieces of property earlier this year.

The court order had effectively prevented Napoles from having access to the assets while a forfeiture case by the Anti-Money Laundering Council is pending against her.

In March, a Manila court issued a Provisional Assets Preservation Order (PAPO) that was only effective for 20 days.

Not all assets of Janet Napoles, the suspected brains behind a multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, are covered by the freeze order issued by a Manila court earlier this year.

On Friday, a former aide gave the public a glimpse of more assets belonging to the now-detained trader: a jewelry collection easily worth millions.

A report on GMA News' "24 Oras" said the aide had submitted a statement to the Ombudsman but has yet to be accepted into the government's witness protection program.

An Improbable Soccer Save

The lesson is simple from this improbable soccer save â€" never give up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSRB630S3ak#ws
Peru vs. Uruguay
Goalkeeper Angelo Campos of Peru

http://www.pbh2.com/

Moderately strong quake jolts parts of Cebu, Bohol


By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)
May 31, 2014

MANILA, Philippines - A moderately strong earthquake jolted parts of Bohol and Cebu yesterday, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The tremor of magnitude 3.5 struck at 6:46 a.m. with its epicenter traced some seven kilometers southeast of Buenavista, Bohol, Phivolcs said.

It was felt at Intensity 4 in Buenavista; Intensity 3 in Sagbagyan, Bohol; and Intensity 2 in Talibon, Bohol and Lapu-Lapu and Cebu cities in Cebu.

Last Oct. 15, a magnitude 7.2 quake struck Bohol, killing more than 200 people.

Meanwhile, Phivolcs said a magnitude 4.2 tremor also hit Sarangani, Davao Occidental yesterday.

It was recorded at 9:33 a.m. and was centered 132 kms southeast of Sarangani. The agency, however, said the tremor was “unfelt.”

http://www.philstar.com/

Quote from: Lorenzo on May 28, 2014, 02:43:38 AM
Aside from external factors, namely China’s integration into international markets and the balance of power in Asia, there were also domestic explanations for China’s largely constructive foreign policy, especially from the 1990s up until the mid-2000s.

During his time in power, Deng Xiaoping â€" China’s former paramount leader, whose ideas have shaped Chinese foreign policy for decades â€" constantly called for pragmatic, low-profile foreign policy, memorably stating “hide your strength, bide your time”. For him, the international system was tantamount to a Darwinian struggle for survival and power, lamenting, “development is the only hard truth… [and] if we do not develop, then we will be bullied.”

so now they're bullying.

right on.

Maya Angelou
April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014

Maya Angelou was an American author and poet. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years. Wikipedia

Awards: Presidential Medal of Freedom, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, Spingarn Medal, Marian Anderson Award, Langston Hughes Medal, Gracie Allen Award, Women in Film Crystal Award, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry, Quill Award for Poetry (wikipedia)