====>|| News ||<====

[unartig]

Endangered beetle on mate quest

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Love bug: Zoo keeper Kim Simmons shows off Billy the lonely, stowaway elephant beetle

If you're an endangered species living in dense jungle with a life span of just four months, the odds of getting a girlfriend are pretty slim – unl­ess you get out and about.
So that's just what Billy the elep­hant beetle did.
Filled with wanderlust, the giant, horned insect stowed away on a ban­ana ship in his native Costa Rica to see where it would take him

Sadly, it brought him to Britain, thousands of miles away from the natural habitat of his species.
But hope of knocking carapaces with a lovely lady springs eternal for this lonely heart, with his caretakers at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire on the look-out for Miss Right.

On the prowl: Billy goes out on a limb in his search for a mate

Billy, who is about the size of a hamster, was discovered by bewildered fruit importers in London after his 5,000km (3,000-mile) journey.
Pest control officers later handed him over to the zoo for safekeeping.
It was only then that Billy's base desires became clear.
'Billy needs to mate. He is showing all the signs and keeps displaying,' said zoo director Kim Simmons.
'He bobs up and down on his branch, taps on the ground and emits tiny mating calls. It's like he's saying, “Here I am, come get me”.'
It is not known how long Billy's trip took and Ms Simmons said she hoped it was a short one, given his brief life span.
But it emerged that the 13cm-long (5in) beetle was fortunate to have survived the journey at all.
'He's a very lucky and tough ins­ect, having survived the journey to Britain and the pesticides des­igned to prevent unwanted creat­ures entering the country,' added Ms Simmons.
Billy is a fine specimen of a beetle, weighing 35g (1.2oz) with a horn measuring about 4cm (1.5in).
He would normally use the weapon to defend territory and fight other males for their females, given a chance.
And let's hope he gets the chance very soon

-------------------------------------------
endanger
to expose to danger; imperil: It was foolish to endanger your life in that way
Synonyms threaten, jeopardize, hazard, risk
--------------------------------------------
carapace
bony or chitinous shield, test, or shell covering some or all of the dorsal part of an animal, as of a turtle

[unartig]

Clinton to be Obama's vice president?

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Could this be the end of the campaign road for Hillary Clinton?

Barack Obamam appears to have clinched the Democratic nomination as Hillary Clinton seemed to signal an interest in running for vice-president.
The New York senator's anticipated move was thought to be aimed at gaining leverage with the Obama camp – and possibly being chosen as his running mate.
Sources close to the former First Lady said she was open to the idea of becoming a candidate for vice-president

Her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, said once Mr Obama got the required number of delegates, 'I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee'.
The final two primaries were being held in South Dakota and Montana. Mr Obama needs 40 more delegates to win his party's nomination.
Only 31 were up for grabs tonight but he could succeed later if backed by enough 'superdelegates' – party officials free to choose who to support

--------------------------------------------------------
nominee
a person nominated, as to run for elective office or fill a particular post

[unartig]

Ladies and Gentlmen i have created a group entitled English group in p30world Groups
[ برای مشاهده لینک ، با نام کاربری خود وارد شوید یا ثبت نام کنید ]
I invite all of you to take part there

[A r c h i]

Ladies and Gentlmen i have created a group entitled English group in p30world Groups
[ برای مشاهده لینک ، با نام کاربری خود وارد شوید یا ثبت نام کنید ]
I invite all of you to take part there

Great idea dear unartig, I wanted to do that..but I'm so busy these days ..So let's see each other there

Good luck

[unartig]

Fire engine now a 'luxury limo'

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Get the party started: Lee Russell leans out of Mary, his Green Goddess fire engine, which has been transformed into a party venue

Feel like a knees-up with a difference? Then what about a 'pimped-up' 1957 Green Goddess, called Mary.
The fire engine has all the mod-cons a party vehicle needs – including a state-of-the-art sound and entertainment system, disco lighting, champagne bars and a faux green and cream leather interior.
Of course, it also comes complete with 100m (328ft) of hosing, should there be a real-life disco inferno.

May has been completely overhauled by vehicle nut Lee Russell, who bought the truck for £1,500 in November and has spent more than £5,000 converting it into a party truck.
The commercial deep sea diver said: 'I love historic vehicles and wanted something that would make a statement, something I could have fun with. She certainly turns heads.'

The view from inside the Green Goddess

Mr Russell, 40, from Holywell, Cambridgeshire, bought the Green Goddess, which spent its working life at RAF Sealand in Deeside, Wales, in Lincolnshire and found out she was in service during the fire brigade strikes of the 1970s, when the Army had to step in to fight fires. He said: 'She went on three jobs – two fires and one cat rescue. The cat died. I felt so sad she hadn't been put to good use. She won't be saving lives now but she'll bring a lot of joy.'

Mr Russell spent three months kitting out his eight-seater 'dream machine,' so it's lucky the engine was in perfect nick – although Lee only gets 8mpg. 'She isn't economical but she's tax and MoT exempt,' he said.
While long-suffering wife, Suzanne, 50, thinks he is crazy, Lee has already bought an Army ambulance and a VW campervan that he's hopes to turn into limousines.
And appropriately enough, Mr Russell's first booking for Mary is for a posse of Cambridgeshire policewomen looking for a hot night out

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
state of the art
noun
the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science

----------------------------------------------------------
overhaul
To examine or go over carefully for needed repairs

[unartig]

Great idea dear unartig, I wanted to do that..but I'm so busy these days ..So let's see each other there


Good luck

Thanks Dear Archi
I hope see you there

[unartig]

Shopper gets a Royal Guard... or two

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Safe walk: A shopper strolls past as the Coldstream Guards rehearse for next week's Queen's Birthday parade in Windsor Great Park

-------------------------------------------------
rehearse
to practice (a musical composition, a play, a speech, etc.) in private prior to a public presentation
-------------------------------------------------
parade
noun
a military ceremony involving the formation and marching of troop units, often combined with saluting the lowering of the flag at the end of the day
verb
to cause to march or proceed for display

[unartig]

Agyness needs to get her skates on

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Agyness Deyn in a spot of trouble as she shot a commercial in north London

--------------------------------------------------------
get on
to receive or come to have possession, use, or enjoyment of: to get a birthday present; to get a pension

[unartig]

MP to meet watchdog over 'nanny'

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Caroline Spelman said she will meet Parliament's standards watchdog

Conservative Party chairman Caroline Spelman said she will meet Parliament's standards watchdog on Monday to discuss allegations made about payments from her staffing allowance to a woman who worked as her nanny.
The party says that Tina Haines was employed as Mrs Spelman's constituency secretary for some months in 1997-98, and that the payments were for this work and not for the childcare she provided during the same period.
But BBC2's Newsnight on Friday said that its own conversations with Ms Haines suggested that the bulk of her work for the Meriden MP was nannying, and that she otherwise recalled no more than taking phone calls and posting some messages for Ms Spelman.
As Labour MPs called for Mrs Spelman to explain the payments to Ms Haines or face being referred to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon, the Tory chairman announced that she was referring the case to the Commissioner herself.
She told Sky News that when she became MP for Meriden in 1997 she was confronted with a backlog of correspondence because of the death of her predecessor Iain Mills shortly before the general election, and she took on Ms Haines to carry out administrative and secretarial tasks at her home, which she was using as her constituency office.
"Tina would answer the telephone for me and open the post and sort it for me and arrange it into files," she said.
"As a working mother that offered a practical solution because she could deal with the secretarial side whilst the children were in school and then after school provide childcare for my kids. To me that seemed a good solution and at the time I thought that was entirely within the rules.
"The Chief Whip then made me aware that such an arrangement could be open to misinterpretation and, whilst within the rules, such misinterpretation is not helpful.
"Therefore I put a stop to the arrangement and Tina Haines ceased to work in any secretarial capacity and I engaged another person locally to work for me on the correspondence. My prime concern was to make sure that my constituents' needs were rapidly attended to as a new MP.
"At the time, I thought it was entirely within the rules - and that is still my belief - but I will refer this series of events to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and invite him to examine them and I will seek an early opportunity on Monday to meet with the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner for that purpose

---------------------------------
allowance
a sum of money allotted or granted for a particular purpose, as for expenses: Her allowance for the business trip was $200
--------------------------------
nanny
a person, usually with special training, employed to care for children in a household
---------------------------------
cease
to stop; discontinue: Not all medieval beliefs have ceased to exist
to come to an end: At last the war has ceased

[unartig]

It's a fine day for a dunk

by BEL JACOBS - Sunday, June 8, 2008
Five hours watching flying machines plummet into the water is making us jumpy.

Our team take flight. Sort of...

Then, a royal swan gets stuck in the lake floor and has to be cleared before anyone else can go.
Welcome to the Red Bull Flugtag - where teams launch themselves off a ramp in quirky aircraft, using only manpower to propel them as far as possible.

...and then splashdown rather quickly.

Nearing the 6m (20ft) launch pad is a sobering experience - there's no pulling out now.

I lie in Jetro, watching my crew Junior, Lisa and David impress judges and police officers with their dancing, looking out at the 80,000-strong crowd - and there's nothing in my head at all.

One brave competitor's chariot enjoys a brief spell in the air

Jetro was made to look like a giant paper plane by production company Yarrington and, before getting caught in the wind, flew brilliantly.

We have no idea what these people were thinking

Launch is faster than expected - but so is flight and, before I know it, I'm in the water. All that preparation was pointless when Saturday came.
We got 49 points to the winners' 57 - mainly down to our dance moves

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
plummet
verb (used without object)
to plunge
Synonyms 3. fall, dive, drop, swoop
-------------------------------------------
sober
Synonyms 2. abstinent, abstemious. 4. serious, quiet, sedate, subdued, staid. See grave. 5. somber, dull. 7. composed, collected. 8. reasonable, sound.
—Antonyms 4. gay