Saturday, June 13, 2009

--Green Green Grass of Home--

"Green Green Grass of Home", written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr., is a country song originally made popular by Porter Wagoner in 1964 and Bobby Bare in 1965. It was sung later by Tom Jones in 1966 when it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 1 December staying there for a total of seven weeks. (It had been recorded earlier that year by Jerry Lee Lewis, without any great success). The Tom Jones record reached #11 pop, #12 easy listening on the Billboard US charts.

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The song is about a man who has been away from home for a while. He tells that he is returning to his small home town in the country. When he steps down from the train, he touches the green grass. His parents and "sweet Mary" are there to welcome him. He observes tokens of his childhood, including "the old oak tree that used to play on".

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Then comes a spoken section where the singer awakens in prison: "Then I awake and look around me, at four grey walls that surround me. And I realize that I was only dreaming." The man is, in reality, awaiting his execution, and he will only return home when he is dead and buried: "Yes, they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home."

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Green_Grass_of_Home

~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5IABqwVO2U

~http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tomjones/greengreengrassofhome.html

Friday, June 12, 2009

--Maybach Exelero--





Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH (German pronunciation: [ˈmaɪbax]) (founded 1909) is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach with his son Karl Maybach as director. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as "Luftfahrzeug-Motoreinbau GmbH" (literally "Airship Engine Company") until 1918. Today, the brand is owned by Daimler AG and based in Stuttgart.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybach
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~http://www.maybach.ru/
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~http://www.maybachusa.com/about-maybach.php
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Thursday, June 11, 2009

--Mother Teresa (1910 ~ 1997)--


Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997), born Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (pronounced [aɡnɛs ɡɔnˈdʒa bɔˈjadʒju]), was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.
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By the 1970s she was internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a documentary, and book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to expand, and at the time of her death it was operating 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programs, orphanages, and schools.
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She has been praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she has also faced a diverse range of criticism. These include objections by various individuals and groups, including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Parenti, Aroup Chatterjee, Vishva Hindu Parishad, against the proselytizing focus of her work including a strong stance against abortion, a belief in the spiritual goodness of poverty and alleged baptisms of the dying. Several medical journals also criticised the standard of medical care in her hospices and concerns were raised about the opaque nature in which donated money was spent.
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Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

--Mercedes-Benz CLS Class--




The Mercedes-Benz CLS is an executive-size sedan based on the W211 E-Class platform. Marketed as a 'four door coupe,' the CLS recalls the fastback saloon designs of Robert Opron in the 1970s. According to a Mercedes-Benz press release, the CLS-class was produced to combine the "strong, emotive charisma" of a coupe with the "comfort and practicality" of a saloon. Save for its four-door design, the CLS's design tends towards a coupe, as its sleek roofline reduces the rear passenger room to a 2+2 arrangement, and it offers a smaller selection of engines tending towards high powered of the range, compared to contemporary sedans such as the E-Class.

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The current iteration of the CLS is internally designated as the C219 and it was first offered for sale in Europe in autumn 2004. It is assembled by Daimler AG in Sindelfingen, Germany and Mercedes-Benz-Valdez in Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico.

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_CLS-Class

~http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/new_cars/models/cls-class/c219.flash.html#chapter=1

~http://www.edmunds.com/mercedesbenz/clsclass/review.html

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

--Chrysler poised to close sale--

Source says the deal with Italy's Fiat will likely close early Wednesday.
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NEW YORK - With opponents of Chrysler's planned partnership with Italy's Fiat having exhausted their appeals, the Obama administration-backed sale could close early Wednesday — putting the automaker close to its goal of a speedy exit from bankruptcy protection.
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Late Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the sale of the bulk of Chrysler LLC's assets to Fiat Group SpA, rejecting an appeal by a trio of Indiana pension and construction funds, consumer groups and others to block the transaction.
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The deal will likely close early Wednesday, according to a person briefed on the company's plans who declined to be named ahead of an official announcement by the automaker. Chrysler released a statement late Tuesday saying it expects the sale to close "very shortly."
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~http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31185911

Monday, June 8, 2009

--The BAYON. Cambodia--

The Bayon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន, Prasat bayon) is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences.
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The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple is known also for two impressive sets of bas-reliefs, which present an unusual combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. The main current conservatory body, the JSA, has described the temple as "the most striking expression of the baroque style" of Khmer architecture, as contrasted with the classical style of Angkor Wat.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon
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Sunday, June 7, 2009

--Fidel Castro (Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz)--




Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) was the Head of State of Cuba for nearly 50 years, and a leader of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro, as he is widely known, was the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976 and then President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008.
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He was born to a rich family and acquired a law degree. During studies at Havana University, he started a political career and was a recognized figure in politics. His political life continued with nationalist critiques of Fulgencio Batista, and of United States political and corporate influence in Cuba. He gained an ardent, but limited, following and also drew the attention of the authorities. He eventually led the failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, after which he was captured, tried, incarcerated and later released. He then traveled to Mexico to organize and train for an assault on Batista's Cuba. He and his fellow revolutionaries left Mexico for the East of Cuba in December 1956.
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Castro came to power as a result of the Cuban revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and shortly thereafter became Prime Minister of Cuba. In 1965 he became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and led the transformation of Cuba into a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he became President of the Council of State as well as of the Council of Ministers. He also held the supreme military rank of Comandante en Jefe ("Commander in Chief") of the Cuban armed forces.
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Following intestinal surgery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to have been diverticulitis,[10] Castro transferred his responsibilities to the First Vice-President, his younger brother Raúl Castro, on July 31, 2006. On February 19, 2008, five days before his mandate was to expire, he announced he would neither seek nor accept a new term as either president or commander-in-chief. On February 24, 2008, the National Assembly elected Raúl Castro to succeed him as the President of Cuba. Fidel Castro remains First Secretary of the Communist Party.
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Many describe him as a dictator and his rule has been the longest ever in modern Latin American history. Human rights organizations accuse him of creating a "repressive machinery".
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro
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~http://www.soc.duke.edu/~nvaldes/Cuba/fidel.htm
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~http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004242/
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~http://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/
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~http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/fidel_castro.html