--Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa @ G7 meeting--

Nakagawa has said he did not drink alcohol before the meeting. Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters that Nakagawa was in a drunken state because of　cold medicine, not liquor:

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“Finance Minister Nakagawa’s appearance at the press conference was not caused by alcohol,” Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo. “I asked him to take better care of himself.”

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~http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=8832

--Friends and Mahjong--

Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association, Traditional Chinese: 麻將; Simplified Chinese: 麻将; Pinyin: májiàng) is a game for four players that originated in China. Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game.

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In the game, each player is dealt either thirteen or sixteen tiles in a hand (depending on the variation being played). On their turn, players draw a tile and discard one, with the goal of making four or five melds (also depending on the variation) and one pair, or "head". Winning comes "on the draw", by drawing a new or discarded tile that completes the hand. Thus a winning hand actually contains fourteen (or seventeen) tiles.

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

--Golden Retriever--

The Golden Retriever is a breed of dog, historically developed as a gundog to retrieve shot waterfowl and upland game during hunting. As such they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and an instinctive love of water. Their intelligence and versatility sees them employed in a variety of roles including illegal drug detection, search and rescue, as hunting dogs and as guide dogs. Its friendly, eager-to-please and patient demeanor has also made it one of the most popular family dogs (by registration) in the world today.
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British type
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5 months old Golden Retriever
Some variations do exist between the British type Golden Retrievers prevalent throughout Europe and Australia, and those of American lines and these differences are reflected in the breed standards. This type is bigger-boned, shorter, with a more square head and or muzzle and are generally slightly heavier. Males should be between 56–61 cm (22–24 inch) at the withers and females slightly shorter at between 51–56 cm (20–22 inch). Their weight, however, is not specified in the UK standard. The KC standard calls for a level topline and straight hindquarters without the slight rear angulation found in American lines.
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The eyes of American line dogs tend to be set further apart than those of British lines and can appear to be slanted and triangular in shape by comparison. A Golden Retriever of British breeding can have a coat color of any shade of gold or cream,(jack doggie) however, red or mahogany are not permissible colors. Originally cream was not an acceptable color in the UK standard, however, by 1936 the standard was revised to include cream. It was felt this exclusion was a mistake as the original "yellow" retrievers of the 19th century were lighter in color than the then current standard permitted. As with America lines white is an unacceptable colour in the show ring. The British KC standard is used in all countries with the exceptions of the US and Canada. Some breeders of this type in America may import their dogs to improve bloodlines. The incidence of Cancer among English bloodlines is significantly less than is seen in the American lines.
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American type
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An American Golden is less stocky and lankier than a British Type. A male should stand from 22–24 inch (58–61 cm) in height at the shoulders, and females should be 21.5–22.5 inch (55–57 cm) at the shoulders. The males weigh 65–75 lb and the females weigh 55–65 lb. The Golden Retriever is a dog with a variety of colors for the coats. The coat is dense and water repellent, in various shades of lustrous gold, with moderate feathering. The gait should be free, smooth, powerful, and well-coordinated. They originated in Scotland during the late nineteenth century and were a mix of the Tweed Water Spaniel, which is now extinct, the red setter and the Wavy-Coated Retriever.
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Canadian type
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The Canadian golden retriever is a newer type of golden. Appearance is meant to be similar to the American in height and weight, with a light coat color. Color is described as not as light as a British type, and not as dark as an American type.
Field line Golden Retrievers tend to be smaller and have a less dense coat than their conformation line counterparts. And usually, they are darker in color.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Retriever

--A Symphony for YouTube--EROICA--

Play your part in music history.

We called for professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun.

Finalists are selected by a judging panel comprised of the world's most renowned orchestras. Vote for your favorite instrumentalists on YouTube from February 14-22.

Winners are announced on March 2nd and will be invited to travel to New York in April 2009, to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra summit, and play at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.All the Tan Dun submissions will be compiled into a mashup video which will be premiered on this channel on April 15th.

~http://www.youtube.com/user/symphony?gl=AU&hl=en-GB

--Valentine 2009--

(Saint) Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The day was originally a pagan festival that was renamed after two Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
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The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
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The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th-century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States.
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The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend in average twice as much money as women.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentines_day

--Friday the 13th 2009--

According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.[4][5][6] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:
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[Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died.[7]
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_The_13th

--Amgen Tour of California--

The recently expanded 750-mile, nine-day stage race, considered to be the most important and popular race held on U.S. soil, will take 17 of the world's top professional cycling teams from Sacramento to San Diego County. The race will include two-time defending race champion Levi Leipheimer and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, among other top cyclists. Scheduled from February 14-22, 2009, the fourth-annual race will visit 16 host cities for official stage starts and finishes along the route.
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For the first time, the Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race will be broadcast internationally. The race will be broadcast live in more than 90 countries available to more than 200 million households across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The unprecedented coverage is due to the partnership established with Amaury Sport Organisation which has assisted AEG with the international television distribution of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, further strengthening the partnership between the two cycling tour owners announced in June 2008.
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Amongst the line-up of broadcasters, Eurosport, the leader in cycling broadcast coverage in Europe, will broadcast the race live in 77 countries throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific. Abu Dhabi Sports in the Middle East, HiSports in Nigeria, J-Sports in Japan, SBS in Australia and Sky TV in New Zealand are also amongst the race's international broadcast partners. In addition to the live coverage, highlights will be made available to fans in a total of 201 countries and territories, in 22 languages by a total of 23 channels.
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Follow the Tour with the official website : www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
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~http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/COURSE/us/actus.html#zone16