...howwwzattt... dare to fight???

Got these through an email from one of my few blogging friends and couldn't help from wondering, how sometimes fights do broke out of a simplest thing and some out of a misunderstanding.

But, this is just me thinking. Go and read on, see how you would react.

Here it goes...

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels.

She asked, 'What's on TV?'

I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcominganniversary.

She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.'

I bought her a scale.

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive... so, I took her to a gas station.

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security.

The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home.

I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.

The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'.

So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair.

She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me’ and she processed my Social Security application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office.

She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asked, 'Do you know her?

''Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.

''My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- ---

A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.

She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly.

I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- -----

My wife asked me if a certain dress made her butt look big.

I told her not as much as the dress she wore yesterday

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ----

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch,grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage...

I hooked up the boat up to the truck and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour.

The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed.

I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, 'The weather out there is terrible.'

My loving wife of 10 years replied, 'Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ----

I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?”

It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation.

"Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said...

So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?"

And that's when the fight started...

-----------------------------------------------------------

I was asleep with my wife like two innocent babies.

Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a loud noise came from outside.

The wife, bewildered, jumped up from the bed and yelled'Holy crap. That must be my husband!'

So I jumped out of the bed; scared and naked jumped out thewindow. I smashed myself on the ground, ran through a thorn bush and to my car as fast as I could go.

A few minutes later I returned and went up to the bedroom and screamed at wife, 'I AM your husband!'

She quietly said, 'Oh Yeah? Then why were you running?'

And that’s how the fight started...

-----------------------------------------------------------

My wife and I are watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire while we were in bed.

I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"

"No," she answered.

I then said, "Is that your final answer?"

She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying "Yes."

So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And that's how the fight started...

-----------------------------------------------------------

I tried to talk my wife into buying a carton of Carlton Draught Beer for $39.95.

Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95...

I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream.

And that’s how the fight started...

-----------------------------------------------------------

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first.

"I'll have the T bone steak, medium rare, please."

He said, "Aren't you worried about mad cow?"

I answered “she can order for herself."

And that’s how the fight started...

howwwzattt... what the fuck...

LU PIKIR LA SENDIRI!!!

I've received this piece through an email from one of my close friend now residing in Dubai. Actually, I've overlooked this news (silly me) perhaps of the "no news value policy" by our MSM but still WHAT THE FUCK of the double standard imposed on these youth.

Just because you are a celebrity, you could get away and received prefered treatment whilst this young man get the opposite just for the sake of providing foods for his family and his poor mother.

Well, #*&@ you Diana and #*&@ you PLKN.

Diana Danielle Danny Beeson vs Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi
Monday, January 12, 2009

Kes 1


Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi dari Kampung Titi Serong, Jalan Kuala Perlis, merupakan pemuda pertama yang didapati bersalah kerana gagal menghadiri PLKN, pada 11 May 2005. Beliau didakwa dengan sengaja mengingkari notis bertarikh 9 Julai 2004 yang memintanya melaporkan diri di Kem Dusun Resort, Kuala Nerang, Kedah.

Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi yang merupakan seorang daripada empat beradik kepada seorang ibu tunggal, telah berhenti persekolahan selepas tamat pelajaran tingkatan dua SMK Syed Alwi di Kayang. Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi yang bekerja mengambil upah membuat bendang secara harian untuk menanggung ibu dan dua adiknya, memilih untuk menjalani hukuman penjara.

Abangnya pula (21 tahun) dilaporkan berada di Melaka bagi mencari pekerjaan, dan dua orang adiknya berusia 16 dan 15 tahun. Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi dilaporkan oleh akhbar The Star sebagai meminjam RM7 daripada ibunya untuk menghadiri kesnya di mahkamah.

Majistret Wan Norzanuar Wan Ahmad menjatuhkan hukuman penjara 14 hari atau RM600 ke atas Ahmad Harizal selepas dia gagal membayar denda berjumlah RM600. Ahmad Harizal yang kesempitan wang telah memilih untuk hukuman penjara 14 hari.

Kes 2

Pelakon Diana Danielle Danny Beeson (gambar), 17, tidak akan mendaftar menyertai Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) hari ini.

Pelakon berkenaan membuat rayuan supaya diberi kelonggaran untuk menangguhkan penyertaannya dalam program itu yang sepatutnya bermula hari ini selama tiga bulan.

Penangguhan itu dibuat kononnya kerana Diana terikat dengan kontrak penggambaran sebuah filem berjudul Kecoh Betul. Menurut pengarah filem itu, Baldev Singh, syarikat produksi White Merpati Entertainment yang menerbitkan filem berkenaan telah berurusan dengan Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara (JLKN) dalam mendapatkan kelonggaran bagi pihak Diana.

Permohonan itu dibuat minggu lepas setelah Diana terikat dengan perjanjian penggambaran filem arahannya dari 22 Disember sehingga 22 Januari depan.

Alasan penangguhan Diana itu tiada langsung dalam peraturan PLKN.

* dari blog Ustaz Suhaimi Saad - jazakallah

...howwwzattt... how strong is strong???

Mati Atas Perut Janda Semasa Sedang Bersetubuh

SEORANG lelaki Singapura berusia 58 tahun meninggal dunia, dikatakan ketika mengadakan hubungan seks dengan seorang janda di sebuah hotel murah di Batam Rabu lalu.

Kematian lelaki yang sudah berumah tangga dan mempunyai anak itu dikatakan berpunca daripada ubat kuat berjenama Urat Madu yang diambilnya sebelum melakukan hubungan seks itu.

Kematian beliau disahkan seorang pegawai penyiasat kanan Polis Kota Besar Batam-Rembang-Galang (Poltabes Barelang) ketika dihubungi menerusi satu panggilan jauh semalam.

Pegawai yang dikenali sebagai Pak Leo itu mengesahkan bahawa untuk tujuan siasatan punca kematian lelaki tersebut adalah ‘akibat serangan jantung’.

Wanita yang dikenali sebagai Mislani alias Upik, 38 tahun, itu janda anak empat asal Jambi, Sumatera.

Mislani mendakwa mengenali lelaki yang disifatkan beliau sebagai kekasihnya itu sejak 7 Februari lalu.

Dalam laporan beliau kepada polis, Mislani mendakwa beliau menjemput lelaki itu di pelabuhan Harbour Bay Batu Ampar pada 7 pagi waktu Batam, iaitu 8 pagi waktu Malaysia.

Allahyarham kelihatan segar bugar ketika tiba di pulau yang pernah diberi julukan ‘Bila Anda Tiba Anda Menyesal’ itu.

Dari situ mereka menaiki ojek, iaitu teksi motosikal, menuju ke Hotel Sekawan di Nagoya.

Dalam perjalanan, Allahyarham telah menukar (Dollar Singapura) 150 kepada wang rupiah dan membeli jamu Urat Madu dalam bentuk kapsul, dakwa janda tersebut.

Dalam bilik hotel, Allahyarham dikatakan menelan kapsul jamu itu sebelum melakukan seks dengan Mislani.

‘Waktu lagi berhubungan, tiba-tiba dia mengeluh dadanya sakit. Tak berapa lama dia rebah. Suaranya seperti orang sedang menggorok,’ kata Mislani dalam satu laporan di sini.

Source: Batam Post

...howwwzattt... was it a wide mr. umpire???

Well, with Air Asia "Now Everyone Can Fly" and made air travel more accessible for us.


Malaysia Airlines not wanting to be left behind from the sense of marketing and profit came out with "Everyday Low Fares" tag.

But nothing of the above come near to the privilege of standing on top of a Jumbo's wing and chit-chatted about the current political situation in the country.

...howwwzattt... who's to blame...

A Singapore English radio station, was holding a live radio segment at a shopping mall. The DJ was hosting a game show where prizes were given away to kids on stage if they could name the opposite gender of animals.

The first kid to come on stage was a girl.

"What's your name girl & how old are you?"

"My name is Cheryl & I am 8 years old."

"OK, tell me Cheryl, what is the opposite of cow?"

"Bull."

"Very good! That's correct. Now here's a Barbie doll for you. Ladies & gentlemen, please give her a round of applause."

The game then continued for the next 15 minutes in a similar fashion with the kids getting all the simple questions correct until it was time for the 10th kid to come on stage.

The audience were very impressed with this kid as he was very clever & articulate from the moment he stepped on stage, before being asked, announced, "My name is Johnny. I am 7 years old and I like English, Math & Art. My hobbies are collecting stamps & stickers."

The audience liked him immediately because of his confidence & had started to clap for him. His parents, standing right in front of the stage, were beaming with pride at how smart their son was.

"OK, Johnny, you should know the answer to this question very well. Close 2 eyes also can answer. Tell me, what is the opposite of cock?"

The young boy paused for a moment, scratched his head, moved closer to the microphone & finally answered proudly, "Chee Bai!"

...howwwzattt... talking cock meh...

Dear friends. I'm begging you to have a look here, it's hillarious!!! It is Singapore's Premier Satirical Humour Website.

The First Malaysian in Space

Mahathir finally sends a Malaysian into space courtesy of the Russians. Finally, after months of training, the Malaysian astronaut and a chimpanzee are blasted off into space.

Once in orbit, the Malaysian waits for instructions. The screen flickers and the instrucions are flashed on it:

"Chimpanzee, execute space manuever No. 23B."

The chimp takes over flight control and carries out the manuever. The Malaysian astronaut is impressed but patient... he knows his instructions will come and they'll probably be more complex than what the chimp just did.

The screen flickers again and more instructions appear:

"Chimpanzee, carry out scientific experiment No. 234."

The chimp goes to the lab and mixes chemicals and carries out all sorts of complex scientific experiments. While he's doing this, the Malaysian astronaut is impatient. He speaks to Ground Control tru the comm link: "Eh Control, how come I got nothing to do man... train for so long but the monyet does all the important work but I'm smarter than the monyet."

Finally Ground Control responds:

"Be patient, your instructions are coming soon."

Finally, the monkey rejoins the Malaysian astronaut and they wait for the instructions from the screen.

The screen flickers and the message appears....

"Prepare for new instructions...."

A small door under the screen opens. Inside, there is a compartment with a wrapped item inside.....

"Malaysian astronaut, remove the item and unwrap then wait for further instructions."

The Malaysian astronaut unwraps the item and finds a banana inside.

"Must be biogenetic banana," he thinks...

The screen flickers again....

"Malaysian astronaut, please feed the monkey."

Courtesy from TalkingCock.com

...howwwzattt... chikugunya alert!!!

1. Apa itu Penyakit Chikungunya?

Chikungunya adalah sejenis penyakit bawaan nyamuk. Chikungunya pertama kali dikesan melalui ujian darah di Tanzania pada tahun 1953.

Semenjak itu ia berlaku di negara-negara Afrika, Asia dan akhir-akhir ini ia berlaku di beberapa buah tempat di Negara Eropah. Ia endemik (selalu berlaku) di kebanyakan negara Sub Sahara Afrika, India, Asia Tenggara, Indonesia dan Filipina.

Ia bukanlah satu penyakit misteri yang tidak diketahui puncanya.

2. Bagaimana penyakit ini boleh berlaku?

Chikungunya adalah demam yang disebabkan oleh virus daripada genus Alphavirus di dalam keluarga Togaviridae.

3. Adakah ia berjangkit?

Ya. Virus Chikungunya berjangkit melalui gigitan nyamuk Aedes albopictus atau Aedes aegypti yang membawa virus tersebut. Nyamuk Aedes juga menyebarkan virus penyakit demam denggi.

4. Apakah masa pengeraman bagi Chikungunya?

Masa pengeraman bagi Chikungunya boleh menjangkau dari 3 hingga 12 hari tetapi pada kebiasaannya di antara dari 3 hingga 7 hari.

5. Apakah tanda-tanda dan gejala penyakit ini?

• Demam panas mengejut
• Sakit teruk pada sendi
• Ruam pada badan
• Sakit kepala

Seorang pesakit boleh demam dari dari 1 hingga 7 hari (kebiasaannya 5 hari).
Penyakit Chikungunya boleh disalah anggap sebagai demam denggi kerana tanda-tanda penyakit yang menyerupai demam denggi.

6. Adakah penyakit ini boleh membawa maut?



Di Malaysia, Chikungunya tidak pernah dilaporkan boleh menyebabkan pendarahan atau kematian. Tetapi, sesetengah pesakit mengalami gejala yang berpanjangan.

Pesakit yang berumur boleh mengalami kesakitan berulang pada sendi sehingga beberapa bulan atau tahun.

7. Apakah rawatan bagi penyakit ini?

Seperti penyakit-penyakit yang disebabkan oleh virus, ia tiada rawatan yang khusus. Selalunya rawatan diberi berdasarkan gejala klinikal yang dialami oleh seseorang pesakit.

Kebanyakan kes yang terjadi hanya memerlukan rawatan pesakit luar sahaja. Tiada vaksin bagi penyakit ini.

8. Apakah yang perlu dilakukan jika dijangkiti penyakit?

Jika mengalami tanda-tanda dan gejala penyakit Chikungunya, orang ramai adalah dinasihatkan segera mendapatkan rawatan di klinik atau hospital terdekat.

9. Cara pencegahan penyakit Chikungunya

• Bersihkan kawasan rumah dan persekitaran supaya bebas daripada tempat-tempat pembiakan nyamuk Aedes. Ini boleh dilakukan melalui aktiviti gotong royong. Adalah terbukti tiada kes baru yang dilaporkan di kawasan-kawasan yang melakukan gotong- royong.

• Periksa rumah dan persekitaran sekurang-kurangnya seminggu sekali untuk memastikan tiada pembiakan nyamuk Aedes.

• Dapatkan rawatan dengan segera di klinik atau hospital berdekatan sekiranya mengalami tanda dan gejala penyakit.

10. Bolehkah kawasan saya dijangkiti penyakit Chikungunya?

Boleh, kerana penyakit ini dibawa oleh nyamuk Aedes albopictus dan Aedes aegypti yang terdapat di negara kita.

11. Situasi semasa penyakit Chikungunya di seluruh negara

Sila rujuk kenyataan akhbar.

12. Tindakan Kementerian Kesihatan

Langkah – langkah kawalan yang telah diambil:
• Pengesanan kes secara aktif
• Melakukan kajian Aedes
• Semburan kabus dan ULV
• Aktiviti gotong-royong bersama masyarakat setempat
• Aktiviti promosi kesihatan

Kejadian penyakit ini adalah terkawal dan terhad kepada kawasan-kawasan tertentu sahaja.
Untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi:

Bilik Gerakan
Bahagian Kawalan Penyakit
Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia
Aras 3, Blok E10, Parcel E,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62590 Putrajaya
No. Tel. : 03-8881 0600 / 03-8881 0700
Laman web: www.moh.gov.my

PATUHILAH ARAHAN YANG DIBERI OLEH ANGGOTA KESIHATAN

Disediakan oleh:
Bahagian Kawalan Penyakit,
Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia

...howwwzattt... give me a car or else...

UPDATED: 10 Feb/1833hrs

"Hee Yit Foong is also the name of a new frog dish – an obvious reference to frogging or party hopping." more here

It's what The MalayMail says about Life's a game of 'hee haw'.

HEE GETS HER CAMRY...

This was what The MalaysianInsider put on their latest posting. So, it was not just a hearsay anymore. MalaysiaToday did the same posting on the same issue.

I agreed, at the moment Hee is the most hated woman in the country.

"It was reported yesterday in The Star of party workers doing a signature campaign at the Jelapang market to demand the resignation of former DAP turned Independent Assemblyman for Jelapang, Hee Yit Foong. She is being rubbished on the blog and by opposition politicians to have left DAP for the frivolous reason of being denied the official Camry car in her capacity as Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Undangan Negeri." more here

"What happened in Perak is good. I hope it will teach Pakatan Rakyat that it has to get its act together. The DAP lady’s crossover was triggered by something very trivial and goes to show she is more concerned about herself than about her party or about the rakyat. Everyone got a new Camry except her. So she sulked (merajuk) and left the party. If she had been given a new car she would not have sulked. A mere car brought the Perak government down." more here

My oh my. Is this true? Just because of being denied a car, you sulked and leave the people that voted you in the first place?

What happen to your pledge in representing your constituents? Damn. A mere car had brought down a government.

This is ridiculous and outrageous behaviour.

...howwwzattt... gathering of a kind...

Thanks to our host Puan Zaleha for willingly enough providing some space in her house for this small gathering for SERATAS batch of 89. The foods were spectacular, starting from the beginning right till the end, it was a never ending affair. I even had to stop at the rest area during my drive back to offload myself hahaha...


Front row L-R: Leha's daughter, Angah, Imah, Chief, Siti Yus (dah ada cucu dah ni).
Sitting L-R: Leha, Addy, Bad.
Standing L-R: Myself, Maideng, Bedah, Foolin.
Last row standing: Zaifu (the tallest guy and available).
Not in the pix: Jeydad, Yong.

Apart from the regulars like Angah, Jeydad, Zaifu and myself, most of us had only met last during 1990 when our SPM results were released. Say like Nazri aka Iron Maideng from Grik and Chief from Port Weld. Anyway, it was a great moment for me seeing you guys.

Exchanging gossips is a must for some. By the way, where were the Junteks hehehe...


The Mak-mak dara yang masih melecun, according to Yong...


Note the plate. It was never out of my hand.


The much awaited Jeydad's nasi Arab. Simple, yet makes you drool for more.


I did't know this insurance hotshot could cook...

...howwwzattt... endangered species...

Please, don't eat these animals!

By Azrina Abdullah

February 03, 2009

One man’s meat is another man’s nightmare. While conservationists are battling the depleting population of wildlife owing to habitat and climatic changes, poachers are relentless in their money-making pursuit of supplying exotic meat to grace dining tables.

And this Chinese New Year season, Traffic Southeast Asia, the wildlife trade monitoring network, is appealing to those who come across such offers of “delicacies” to refrain from eating them and instead report the matter to the enforcement authorities. (read more here)

• Abalone – Stocks have plummeted in South Africa where almost all the abalone harvested is exported to East Asia. Continued illegal harvesting and trade is affecting the survival of the species, and could result in the closure of legal fisheries and the loss of hundreds of jobs. If purchasing, make sure the abalone has been legally sourced before buying.

• Shark’s fin – There are over 400 species of sharks worldwide and 83 species are listed as either critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable at the global or regional level. Finning, which involves cutting the fins and generally throwing the rest of the shark back into the sea, is widely practised. The international trade in sharks’ fins is placing severe pressures on slow-growing and vulnerable shark populations, which may decline past critical thresholds.

• Sea cucumber— Buy very carefully as, in general, sea cucumbers are easily overfished and need much greater levels of management around the world.

• Facai moss (Flagelliform nostoc) – Don't buy this “facai,” a black, hair-like moss used in a variety of dishes in the belief that it will increase the wealth of those who eat it as it sounds the same as “get rich” in Cantonese. China outlawed the sale of facai in 2000; any available on the market is illegal. However, artificial facai can be a good alternative.

• “Health” tonics containing endangered species – Tonics containing endangered species such as wild ginseng, Asian freshwater turtles, seahorses, saiga antelope, pangolins, geckos, tigers, amongst others, are often consumed for Chinese New Year. All of these species are subject to overexploitation and uncontrolled trade. With only around 5,000 tigers left in the wild, all international trade of tiger products is illegal, thus wines or tonics containing tiger bone are strictly prohibited.

Note: I don't know about you guys but the nearest thing that I've ever had was a shark's fin soup. But even that from my humble opinion, it was not really fins after all.

...howwwzattt... airlines uncertainty...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Airlines weathered the fuel crisis by levying surcharges and cutting back on service.
But economic pitfalls remain that could influence equipment choices.

Emily Feliz

The recession in the global economy is casting a shadow over the airline industry and its growth potential for the coming year.

Despite sharply lower oil prices, economic stagnation threatens airlines’ delicate balance sheets and could restrain avionics equipage plans.

New avionics — data links, displays, GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) receivers — promise to make flight operations safer and more efficient. But exactly what will be required in the future, and how much that equipment will cost, are weighing heavily on the industry. For their part, avionics OEMs are issuing cautionary messages about the coming year and in some cases instituting layoffs.

U.S.-based air carriers launched a series of cost-saving measures in 2008, including capacity reductions, network realignments and
charging fees for services such as checking bags. With passenger demand expected to be weak through this year, experts say
airlines are likely to maintain those cuts.

Last year turned out to be more difficult than many in the industry had anticipated. Oil prices skyrocketed to historic highs, the U.S stock market plummeted and the credit market tightened.

The aerospace industry faced record high jet fuel prices, weaker demand and new aircraft program delays. An eight-week strike by
machinists slowed Boeing deliveries and helped delay the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner. Now nearly two years behind schedule, the 787 program has struggled with supply-chain issues and most recently was plagued by improperly installed fasteners.

Fuel expenses have risen to between 35 and 50 percent of an airline’s operating costs. Stung by high oil prices, which peaked at more than $147 a barrel in July, airlines were braced for the wider economic fall-out that followed.

"Carriers were adjusting their business models and their capacity to survive at $100-plus-a-barrel oil," said Basil Barimo, vice president for operations and safety with the Air Transport Association (ATA), which represents major U.S. airlines. "Carriers are trying to position themselves to have sustainable profits and be able to have something that’s more consistent with all other businesses out there across the U.S., instead of [having] a razor-thin margin and making money every few years.

"When you talk about the bigger economic crunch, carriers at this point still have access to capital in general terms. There may be some that are struggling more than others and may have a harder time getting access to capital, or it may be at costs that just don’t make sense for the carrier," Barimo said. "But in general terms, if a carrier can develop a business case that makes sense, they’ll have access to capital to make those investments."

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) agrees lower oil prices will provide some relief in 2009, but warns the damage of record high prices in early 2008 will be difficult to overcome. In September, IATA revised its predictions for the global airline industry in 2008, forecasting losses of $5.2 billion. This year, IATA sees the industry losing $4.1 billion.

"The situation remains bleak. The toxic combination of high oil prices and falling demand continues to poison the industry’s profitability," said IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani.

Calyon Securities, in an Oct. 30 research report, said it expected the U.S. industry to lose $3 billion for the full-year 2008 before posting earnings of $5 billion in 2009, with falling oil prices buoying airlines’ performance.

"With sharply falling fuel prices, the U.S. carriers are in a good position to return to profitability following the capacity reduction steps that they have been taking. However, risks remain high through the next 12 months as we see how long and deep the recession will be," Calyon said.

"The carriers have positioned themselves such that they should be able to survive the credit challenges until spring, when traffic demand is expected to increase and we forecast the industry to return to profitability."

The state of the larger economy is dampening the 2009 forecasts of major avionics OEMs. Just days after posting modestly higher profits for its 2008 fiscal year, Rockwell Collins in November announced a cost reduction plan aimed at managing the impact of the economic downturn. The company will reduce discretionary spending, lay off about 300 employees and delay 2009 merit increases for management and the majority of employees for three months.

"Like many other companies, we’re dealing with significant challenges in meeting our business objectives. These challenges include air travel declines resulting from the weaker global economy, delays and cancellations in several government programs, and the prolonged Boeing strike," said Clay Jones, Rockwell Collins chairman, president and CEO.

"We’ve had to make some very difficult decisions in order to align our infrastructure and spending to market realities. These carefully considered actions are critical to the long-term success of our company and balance the best interests of our customers,
shareowners and employees," he said.

Honeywell also anticipates an economic slowdown in 2009. But in a third-quarter earnings report, the company said "conservative
planning, proactive cost management, and common systems, processes and productivity initiatives" were sustaining earnings
growth.

In a November discussion, Honeywell officials said the company had not yet seen a significant impact from the worsening economy. They said Honeywell continued shipping products to Boeing during the machinists strike, but had "realigned our schedule to
Boeing’s requirement."

France’s Thales, in its third-quarter 2008 earnings report, said it was experiencing a "positive business trend." But the company noted a "particularly uncertain and chaotic economic and financial environment" and said "the first signs of a slowdown in the market for aerospace spares can be observed."

NextGen Avionics

As macroeconomic pressures renew the focus on improving operations and further stretching the airline’s dollar, interest is growing in the enabling technologies for FAA’s planned Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Among NextGen programs
requiring new avionics are Required Navigation Performance (RNP) for more precise and efficient approaches and Automatic
Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) for satellite-based navigation and surveillance.

But equipping for NextGen has been relatively slow as airlines wait for FAA to specify requirements for ADS-B in particular, and to address funding concerns. ATA estimates it will cost the U.S. airline industry upward of $20 billion over the next two decades to
equip for NextGen.

In the meantime, some airlines are implementing tenets of the NextGen vision. Carriers including Southwest Airlines, WestJet, Alaska Airlines, Qantas, Air China and others, have invested millions of dollars in equipping for RNP.

Tighter approaches into and departures out of airports have been shown to reduce emissions, noise, fuel consumption and costs — key pluses for the airlines.

"When you can trim a minute or two off every approach in and out of an airport, the fuel savings are significant," Barimo said.

"They’re more significant at $140-a-barrel oil than they are at $80-a-barrel oil, but they still are very significant. We’re talking
industry-wide, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars [saved] annually."

FAA is funding evaluations of key safety capabilities needed for NextGen. The agency is providing $600,000 each to SkyWest,
Piedmont, US Airways and Southwest to invest in surface moving maps with "own-ship" position displayed on electronic flight bags (EFB) for operations at 21 testbed airports. The equipment will be installed in 20 aircraft with each airline by May 15, 2009.

This year also promises to be an important one for ADS-B. In October 2007, FAA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require aircraft to be capable of ADS-B "Out" — the ability to broadcast their own position — by 2020, while deferring a mandate on ADS-B "In," the ability to receive and display other aircraft targets. At this writing, FAA was considering 36 summary recommendations of an Aviation Rulemaking Committee, issued Sept. 26. FAA expected to publish a final rule in April.

"We’re recommending that FAA go back to the rule and look at introducing some changes to procedures that allow us to squeeze
more capacity out of the system and at the same time make it even safer," Barimo said. "And once we do this, that capacity translates into reduced delay, and that translates into real savings of [turnaround] time of aircraft, crew, fuel burn and all of those things."

In November, FAA awarded $9 million to teams led by Honeywell and Aviation Communications & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), for
equipment and services aimed at accelerating ADS-B adoption.

Honeywell will work with pilots from JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines to develop requirements, standards and human factors
analysis for ADS-B. ACSS is partnering with US Airways at Philadelphia International Airport to equip 20 Airbus A330s with ACSS’s
SafeRoute ADS-B software suite, as well as cockpit displays, transponders, antennas, wiring kits and Class 2 EFBs.

Taken from here.

...howwwzattt... for your eyes only...

Got this piece early this morning from one of my old batchmate of 85-89 from those days at SERATAS Taiping. He happens to be one of the brilliant mind youngest professor in the country and now heads one of the research facilities in Bangi concentrating on some gnome studies if I'm not mistaken. He also happens to be one of the few who prepared the experiments for the Malaysian space trip a few years back.

Errr Prof... Whatever happen to the result of the experiments I wonder...

Tapa,
Hang kan suka baca menda cam ni... boleh le bawak isu ni dalam blog hang...

ciao
B

Cell Phone Use Linked to Male Infertility
Hands-Free Calls May Expose Sperm to Radiation

By Denise MannWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Sept. 19, 2008 -- Men, beware: Using a hands-free device with a cell phone may affect your fertility if you keep your phone close to your testicles, Cleveland Clinic researchers warn in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

Men who use these hands-free devices tend to carry their cell phones in their pants pocket or clipped to their belts at the waist while in talk mode. As a result, they may be exposing their testicles to damaging radiofrequency electromagnetic waves, explains Ashok Agarwal, PhD, head of the andrology laboratory and the director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Glickman Urologoical and Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"The Bluetooth devices, which many people are using these days because of health or safety concerns, may not be always so safe. There is a downside," he says.

Cell Phone Radiation Affects Sperm Quality

To arrive at their findings, researchers collected semen samples from 32 men and divided each man's sample into two parts. They placed half of the semen samples 2.5 centimeters away from a 850 MHz frequency cell phone in talk mode for one hour. Most cell phones used in the U.S. are 850-900 MHz. They chose this distance because it is the typical distance between the testes and the trouser pockets.

Previous research from the same group showed that radiofrequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones can impair sperm quality, and the new study shows why this may occur. Semen exposed to radiofrequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones had higher levels of damaging free radicals, lower sperm motility (the ability of the sperm to move and swim) and sperm viability (the percentage of live sperm), and possibly greater oxidative stress, the study shows. There were no significant differences in DNA damage between the exposed and unexposed groups.

"Our findings appear to be in line with other concerns that environmental factors such as toxins, pollutants, and materials used in farming play a role in male infertility," Agarwal says.

Further study is needed to validate the findings. "We will also test the effect [of radiofrequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones] at other distances," he says. "We know the radiation impairs sperm quality at 2.5 centimeters, but we don't know if the effect will continue at 3, 4, or 5 centimeters," he says.

Future studies will determine if there is dangerous emission when the phone is in silent or standby mode.

"The emission may be smaller than when in talk mode, but could it still be harmful if it reaches the testes," he says.

Do Ask, Do Tell

Sami David, MD, a New York City-based reproductive endocrinologist, tells WebMD that he asks every male patient where they keep their cell phones and whether they use a hands-free device.

"You want it to stay far away from the testicles," he says. "I am more worried about the people that talk for three or four hours a day with the cell phone in their pocket than those who talk for shorter periods."

It's more than just cell phones. Other factors can affect male infertility, he says. "Men should not place their laptop on their laps due to the heat from the battery," he tells WebMD. "Jacuzzis, tub baths, toxins, and fumes can all play a role in male infertility and should be discussed."

Given the mechanism proposed by the new study, David says that antioxidants such as vitamins C and E may help reverse oxidative stress in sperm. He suggests all his male patients take certain antioxidants even when their sperm is normal.

Joe Farren, the assistant vice president for public affairs at CTIA, a wireless communications trade group, urges caution in interpreting the new findings, as well as other studies on how wireless phone usage affects health. "When you examine the weight of available scientific research that has been published and peer-reviewed and listen to leading health organizations around the world, you will find no association between wireless usage and adverse health effects," he tells WebMD. "We believe science has to guide this issue."