Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Istanbul...

Obama in Turkey

Obama in Turkey

A Turkish man holds a charcoal portrait of Barrack Obama near the St. Sophia museum before Obama's visit to the historic center and its famous mosque.

Photo: MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images



Istanbul Was Constantinople

Istanbul Was Constantinople

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople / Been a long time gone, Constantinople / Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Photo: Daryl Benson





Prayers Inside the Blue Mosque

Prayers Inside the Blue Mosque

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI made only the second visit ever by a pope to a Muslim place of worship when he came to the Blue Mosque, turned toward Mecca, and conducted a silent prayer.

Photo: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images






Shopping at the Grand Bazaar

Shopping at the Grand Bazaar


The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest covered markets in the world. It stretches over 58 streets, contains more than 1,200 shops, and sees as many as 400,000 visitors every day.

Photo: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images





Souvenirs for Sale

Souvenirs for Sale

Istanbul is Turkey's economic powerhouse, generating 55 percent of the country's trade.

Photo: Stringer/Getty Images






Sailboats Gather in Bodrum

Sailboats Gather in Bodrum

In the 20th century, Bodrum went from being a quiet village of fishermen and sponge divers to a center of the arts and intellectualism.

Photo: Nicholas Pitt






The Ruins of Ephesus

The Ruins of Ephesus

The ancient Greek port city was famed for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Photo: Medioimages/Photodisc






The Ancient Hillside Village of Cappadocia, Turkey

The Ancient Hillside Village of Cappadocia, Turkey

The earliest known mention of the inland area known as Cappadocia describes it as a province of the Persian Empire under Darius I and Xerxes.

Photo: Andrew Gunners





Cappadocia's Magical Landscape

Cappadocia's Magical Landscape

Cappadocia is noted for the beauty of its soft volcanic rock deposits, which the ancient Cappadocians carved buildings out of.

Photo: Frank Krahmer






Cappadocia's Fairy Towers Sprout

Cappadocia's Fairy Towers Sprout

Cappadocia is famous for its fairy chimneys, thin pillars of rock formed naturally.

Photo: Glen Allison






Scuba Diving Off Fethiye

Scuba Diving Off Fethiye

The city of Fethiye shares a site with the ancient city of Telmessos. You can still see the ruins from the modern town.

Photo: TARIK TINAZAY/AFP/Getty Images






Tea Time in Turkey

Tea Time in Turkey

Tea platters wait to be filled and served in Turkey. For the Turkish, tea is a major part of the culture. (Tip: Hold the cup by the rim with thumb and forefinger.)

Photo: Nicholas Pitt






Ankara's Largest Mosque Sits in Shadow

Ankara's Largest Mosque Sits in Shadow

Ankara is the second-largest city in Turkey, and its capital. The mosque is relatively new--it was built between 1967 and 1987, and is considered on the cutting edge of modern Islamic architecture.

Photo: JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images

An Afghan woman wearing a traditional hat attends a ceremony marking Mother's Day in Kabul June 14, 2009. — Reuters /Ahmad Masood


Sri Lankan traditional dancers perform a routine as they lead a march to encourage blood donations in Colombo on June 14, 2009, held to mark World Blood Donation Day. Hundreds of activists took part in the march in a country where many volunteered to donate blood during heavy fighting between troops and Tamil Tigers that ended in May after nearly four-decades of ethnic bloodshed. AFP Photo/Ishara S. Kodikara



Hindu holy men, arrive to register for the Amarnath Yatra, the annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine, in Jammu, Monday, June 15, 2009. Hundreds of thousands pilgrims flock each year to the mountain shrine in Jammu and Kashmir which contains a large icicle revered by Hindus as an incarnation of Lord Shiva


Maoist activists shout anti-government slogans while disrupting traffic during a demonstration in Kathmandu June 14, 2009. The Maoists accused Nepal's Communist UML Party's Youth Force of killing a member of their Young Communist League. — Reuters/Shruti Shrestha


A soldier stands inside the kitchen of the house of cleric Sufi Mohammad after it was taken over by security forces during an operation in Maidan in Pakistan's Lower Dir district, during a trip organised by the army June 13, 2009. — Reuters/Mian Khursheed


A vegetable seller sits in front of a pile of vegetables at Kawranbazar, the city's largest vegetable market in Dhaka June 14, 2009. — Reuters/Andrew Biraj


A labourer takes a nap on sacks of ginger as other labourers work at a vegetable wholesale market in the eastern Indian city of Siliguri June 14, 2009. Although India is less dependent on exports than China or other East Asian countries, with exports accounting for about 15 per cent of GDP, the drop has offset some of the domestic gains. — Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri


Pakistani activists from Anjuman Talaba-i-Islam (ATI) shout anti-Taliban slogans during a protest rally in Karachi on June 14, 2009, against the killing of religious scholar Sarfraz Naeemi. Naeemi, who had spoken out against Taliban suicide bombings, was among those killed in one of the attacks at a mosque in Lahore. — AFP Photo/ Asif Hassan


People wait to get their eyes tested at a free eye-care camp set-up by a voluntary organisation in the eastern Indian city of Siliguri June 14, 2009. According to a World Health Organisation report, 90 per cent of the world's blind people live in developing countries with at least nine million of them in India, where they are often the victims of poverty and lack of access to quality eye care. — Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri

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A young girl attends school at a camp for people displaced by fighting between militias near Mogadishu, Somalia.


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Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters rally to protest the recent election outcome, which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide win.



U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (L) is greeted by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (R) during their meeting at the Blair House June 15, 2009 in Washington, DC. Lee is on a three-day visit in Washington and will meet with President Barack Obama on June 16 to discuss diplomatic relations between the two countries.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (L) is greeted by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (R) during their meeting at the Blair House June 15, 2009 in Washington, DC. Lee is on a three-day visit in Washington and will meet with President Barack Obama on June 16 to discuss diplomatic relations between the two countries.
(Photo by Alex Wong/)


HM Queen Elizabeth II takes part in the Garter Ceremony Procession up to St George's Chapel on June 15, 2009 in Windsor, England. The Order of the Garter is the senior and oldest British Order of Chivalry, founded by Edward III in 1348. Membership in the order is limited to the sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four members. (Photo by Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Queen Elizabeth II
HM Queen Elizabeth II takes part in the Garter Ceremony Procession up to St George's Chapel on June 15, 2009 in Windsor, England. The Order of the Garter is the senior and oldest British Order of Chivalry, founded by Edward III in 1348. Membership in the order is limited to the sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four members. (Photo by Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Queen Elizabeth II
(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images Europe)




Woman in pain in Manila, the Philippines, as she receives flu jab

A city government employee grimaces as a medical worker vaccinates her against ordinary seasonal flu in the financial district of Manila, the Philippines, on 15 June, 2009, amidst reports of the country's first cluster of domestic swine flu cases.

Photo: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

Please use your grey matter!!!




LETS SEE - HOW BRILLIANT ARE YOU ???



Test yourself with these thinking exercises. The solutions are at the bottom of the page. Don't be lazy. Try hard to figure these out before you look! It'll be a lot more satisfying.


1. There is a man who lives on the top floor of a very tall building. Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor to leave the building to go to work. Upon returning from work though, he can only travel half way up in the lift and has to walk the rest of the way unless it's raining! Why?


This is probably the best known and most celebrated of all lateral thinking puzzles. It is a true classic. Although there are many possible solutions which fit the initial conditions, only the canonical answer is truly satisfying.


2. A man and his son are in a car accident. The father dies on the scene, but the child is rushed to the hospital. When he arrives the surgeon says, "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son! " How can this be?



3. A man is wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trousers, coat, gloves and ski mask. He is walking down a back street with all the street lamps off. A black car is coming towards him with its light off but somehow manages to stop in time. How did the driver see the man?


4. One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older twin brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday. How?


5. Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? This is logical rather than lateral, but it is a good puzzle that can be solved by lateral thinking techniques. It is supposedly used by a very well-known software company as an interview question for prospective employees.


6.. A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early. Everyone else at the party who drank the punch subsequently died of poisoning.. Why did the man not die?



7. A man died and went to Heaven. There were thousands of other people there. They were all naked and all looked as they did at the age of 21. He looked around to see if there was anyone he recognized. He saw a couple and he knew immediately that they were Adam and Eve. How did he know?


8. A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How could this be so?


9. A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out. This puzzle claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple in its statement, absolutely baffling and yet with a completely satisfying solution. Most people struggle very hard to solve this one yet they like the answer when they hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out.

10. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

11. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

12. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?


13. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?

14. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? (or day names in any other language)

15. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out.


The solutions are below.... Don't be lazy. Try hard to figure these out before you look!



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Solutions





1. The man is very, very short and can only reach halfway up the elevator buttons. However, if it is raining then he will have his umbrella with him and can press the higher buttons with it.


2. The surgeon was his mother.


3. It was day time.


4. At the time she went into labor, the mother of the twins was traveling by boat. The older twin, Terry, was born first early on March 1st. The boat then crossed a time zone and Kerry, the younger twin, was born on February the 28th. Therefore, the younger twin celebrates her birthday two days before her older brother.


5. A square manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the manhole. A round manhole cannot be dropped down the manhole. So for safety and practicality, all manhole covers should be round.
6. The poison in the punch came from the ice cubes. When the man drank the punch, the ice was fully frozen. Gradually it melted, poisoning the punch.


7.. He recognized Adam and Eve as the only people without navels. Because they were not born of women, they had never had umbilical cords and therefore they never had navels. This one seems perfectly logical but it can sometimes spark fierce theological arguments. (Just what a HUMOR list needs!!) ;^)


8. They were two of a set of triplets (or quadruplets, etc.). This puzzle stumps many people. They try outlandish solutions involving test-tube babies or surrogate mothers.. Why does the brain search for complex solutions when there is a much simpler one available?


9. The man had hiccups. The barman recognized this from his speech and drew the gun in order to give him a shock. It worked and cured the hiccups--so the man no longer needed the water. The is a simple puzzle to state but a difficult one to solve. It is a perfect example of a seemingly irrational and incongruous situation having a simple and complete explanation. Amazingly this classic puzzle seems to work in different cultures and languages.


10. The third. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead.


11. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry.


12. Freeze them first. Take them out of the jugs and put the ice in the barrel. You will be able to tell which water came from which jug.


13. The answer is Charcoal.


14. Sure you can: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow!


15.. The letter "e," which is the most common letter in the English language, does not appear once in the long paragraph.

A winner is NOT one who NEVER FAILS, but one who NEVER QUITS! .

A candidate for a news broadcasters post was rejected by officials
since his voice was not fit for a news broadcaster. He was also
told that with his obnoxiously long name, he would never be famous.

He is Amitabh Bacchan.


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A small boy - the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father,
was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living.
He was not exceptionally smart at school but was fascinated by
religion and rockets.
The first rocket he built crashed.
A missile that he built crashed multiple times and he was made a butt
of ridicule. He is the person to have scripted the Space Odyssey of
India single-handedly


- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
--------------------------------------------
In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record
audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company. The
executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of
musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of
guitars are on the way out."


The group was called The Beatles.

--------------------------------------------
In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modelling Agency
told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn
secretarial work or else get married."


She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.

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In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Fired a singer
after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere....son. You
ought to go back to drivin' a truck."
He went on to become Elvis Presley.
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When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not
ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making
a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an
amazing invention, but who would ever want to see one of them?"

------------------------------
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When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000
experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it
felt to fail so many times.
He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just
happened to be a 2000-step process."

------------------------------
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In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea
to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country.
They all turned him down. In 1947, after 7 long years of rejections, he
finally got a tiny company in Rochester, NY, the Haloid company, to
purchase the rights to his invention -- an electrostatic paper-copying
process.

Haloid became Xerox Corporation.

------------------------------------------
A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely and
her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted
double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed
left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been
dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a
rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle.
That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and
came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came
in last.
Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she
actually won a race. And then another.From then on she won every race
she entered. Eventually this little girl - Wilma Rudolph, went on to win
three Olympic gold medals.

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A school teacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to his
mathematics and for not being able to solve simple problems. She
told him that you would not become anybody in life. The boy was Albert
Einstein.

------------------------------
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The Moral of the above Stories:
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet, Only through
experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.
You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where
you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you
cannot do.
And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace.
In LIFE, remember that you pass this way only once! let's live life
to the fullest and give it our extreme best.
"Failure is the pillar of success!"
"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win."


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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
" Everyone is blessed with numerous weaknesses. Instead of
denying them or ignoring them, select a few and make the
effort to overcome them. It can be a truly life changing
experience. "


Valued exposure: Escape



Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, America

Frank Lee Morris and two brothers, Clarence and John Anglin, all convicted of bank robbery, escaped on 12 June 1962 from the notorious Alcatraz island prison in San Francisco Bay renowned for its high level of security.

The acting warden said they put dummy heads - made of a mixture of soap, toilet paper and real hair - in their beds to fool prison officers making night-time inspections.

Photo: CSU Archives / Everett Collection / Rex Features


 



Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo! Group.


 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/week-in-news-pictures-134/images/primary/090611-01-foam-gay-pride_big.jpg
Sderot, Israel, June 8, 2009--A student dances in foam during a street party marking the start of a gay pride festival at Sapir College.


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Dadaab, Kenya, June 5, 2009--Cheikh Mukhtar carries the body of 20-month-old Anfac Anwar Mohammed minutes after she died from starvation at a camp for refugees from neighboringSomalia.The United Nations said on June 5 that 96,000 Somalis had fled their homes during a month of battles between  rebels and the government in Mogadishu.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/week-in-news-pictures-134/images/primary/090611-03-live-fish-medicine_big.jpg
Hyderabad, India, June 8, 2009--A boy swallows a live fish dipped in homemade medicine--said to be an asthma cure--during the Goud family's annual gathering, which roughly coincides with the start of monsoon season. The free event has been running for decades and typically draws hundreds of thousands of people.

The fish, usually a murral or sardine, is said to clear phlegm as it wriggles down the throat.


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Peshawar, Pakistan, June 10, 2009--A Pashtun man searches debris with a metal detector outside the popular Pearl Continental Hotel hours after a suicide bomber set off a truck bomb.

The attack, which killed nine people, has renewed anger toward the Taliban among Pakistanis in this northwestern city, the Reuters news agency reported.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/week-in-news-pictures-134/images/primary/090611-05-robot-cook_big.jpg
Tokyo, Japan, June 9, 2009--A cooking robot pours batter for okonomiyaki--savory pancakes popular in Japan--onto a heated grill during a demonstration at the International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition. 

Designed by engineers at Osaka-based firm Toyo Riki, the robot can stir ingredients, pour batter onto a grill, flip the cakes with a spatula, and serve them up on a plate.


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Where No Dog Has Gone Before
Scrooble the dog, who overcame cancer, looks through a CT scanner during a visit to the new treatment center at the University of Edinburgh's Royal School of Veterinary Studies.


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Spanish Village
A four-year-old girl plays during the "Coca" festival in Redondela, Spain.


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A hammock tied under a water tanker gives shade and rest to a young child whose parents work at a road construction site in Gurgaon, India.


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Among the two million people displaced by fighting in Pakistan's Swat Valley are this boy and his family. He was photographed in a refugee camp in Nowshera.


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U.S. President Barack Obama talks to aides as he sits on the steps of the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Paris.







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