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ROYAL WEDDING: Lip reader deciphers secret wedding whispers

LONDON: Tina Lannin, a professional lip reader who was born deaf, caught the private whispers during the royal wedding that television microphones couldn’t capture.

Lannin, who has worked for 7 years as a forensic lip reader for police forces and media outlets with O’Malley Communications, picked out comments from Prince William, his bride and Queen Elizabeth II in a partial transcript. Her assessment couldn’t be verified.

10:20 a.m. – Prince William: ”Looking forward to it.” To Harry, ”shall we go in then? Prince Harry: ”Sure, everyone has arrived.”
William (to Bishop): ”Make sure everything’s alright. It’s beautiful the way it is.”

10:25 a.m. – William to lady in congregation: ”You look very pretty, very pretty.”

10:55 a.m. – Michael Middleton to Kate Middleton as they left hotel: ”You okay?”

1:00 a.m. – Pippa Middleton to sister Kate: ”You look amazing.”

Michael Middleton to Kate Middleton as they entered Westminster Abbey: ”You okay?”

Kate Middleton to her father: ”Yeah.”

11:05 a.m. – Kate to Bishop before walking down the aisle: ”Yes I suppose so … I expect I’ll be worn out today. Thank you.”

Harry to William: ”Right, here she is now.”

William to Middleton at the altar: ”You look lovely …(unclear)… You look beautiful.”

William joking to Michael Middleton: ”We’re supposed to have just a small family affair.”

12:00 a.m. – Queen Elizabeth II to Prince Philip: ”It was excellent.”

Prince Philip: ”Yes?”

12:15 a.m. – William to Kate Middleton: ”Alright?”

Kate Middleton: ”Yes.”

William: ”Wish I was out.”

Kate Middleton: ”I’m beginning to find (unclear).”

William: ”Yeah, alright.” Hands bouquet to Kate after they climb aboard their carriage, ”here you are.”

Kate Middleton: ”Thank you.”

Kate Middleton: ”Now, are you happy?”

William: ”Yes … (unclear conversation) … wave to everybody.”

Outside abbey – queen: ”I wanted them to take the smaller carriage.”

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: ”It all went very well.”

Queen: ”Very well.”

In wedding carriage – William: ”I don’t think you should bow quite yet. I think you should just bow your head, okay?”

Kate Middleton: ”Okay.”

William: ”I hope I remember … It’s mad, it’s mad! Oh my goodness it … really loudly here (unclear) these people are clapping.”

Kate Middleton: ”Did they?”

William: ”I think so. I went out here the first (unclear).”

In separate carriage – Prince Charles: ”Yeah it looked nice.”

Camilla: ”Yes, but you have to know how to do it.”

In wedding carriage – Kate Middleton to William: ”You look happy.”

1:30 p.m – On Buckingham Palace balcony, Kate Middleton: ”Oh wow.”

William: ”Alright? You’ll be okay?”

Kate Middleton: ”Oh I’m fine, thank you.”

William: ”Yeah! Yeah! There’s a lot of people down here.” To pageboys, ”I know but look up there as well.” To his bride: ”Okay? Look at me, let’s kiss, okay.”

William, shouting balcony: ”Harry! Your go!”

Kate Middleton: ”What’s next?”

William: ”They want more time I think.”

William shouting across balcony, possibly to Camilla: ”You could have brought up (unclear) as well.”

Camilla: ”Oh, very heavy.”

William: ”Just do a bit of everything. Do you like the balloons (unclear) they go up in the air.”

Kate Middleton: ”Look at these people.”

William: ”I want to see the plane, I think I’m (unclear).”

William to Harry: ”Okay.”

William to pageboys: ”…to stop them coming in here, to stop them coming in this side, I mean it’s hard.”

William to Kate Middleton: ”One more.” The couple kiss for a second time. ”That’s it, come on!”

Grotto galleries show early Somali life in Laas Geel

A Somali archaeolgist pointing to an ancient rock painting, one of a galaxy of colourful animal and human sketches to adorn the caves in the rocky hills of this arid wilderness in northern Somalia, in Laas Geel, home to Africa's earliest known and most pristine rock art.

A galaxy of colourful animal and human sketches adorn the caves in the rocky hills of this arid wilderness in northern Somalia, home to Africa’s earliest known and most pristine rock art.

But in a region ravaged by two decades of relentless civil unrest and lawlessness, the archaeological site is at risk of destruction, looting and clandestine excavation.

The 10 caves in Laas Geel, Somali for “camel watering hole”, outside Hargeisa, the capital of Somalia’s self-declared Somaliland state, show vivid depictions of a pastoralist history dating back some 5,000 years or more.

The paintings were discovered in 2002 by a French archaeology team and have since been protected to bar looters after their value became apparent to locals who previously feared they were the work of evil spirits.

“The people around here thought the caves had evil spirits and never used to come near. They offered sacrifices not to be harmed,” recounted Ali Said, an assistant archaeologist with the Somaliland government.

The cave galleries provide a peek into the little known history of this part of the world, which in recent times has mostly been famous for bloody conflicts and instability.

Paintings of decorated cows – some with radiant neck stripes – herders and wild animals point to the interglacial period when the now arid Horn of Africa region was lush and had plenty of wild animals, explained Sada Mire, a Somali-born British archaeologist working to preserve the rare heritage.

Much of Somalia is now a vast badland and the parched Laas Geel region no longer draws heards of cattle coming to graze and water, while human settlement is sparse.

“We know that the painters were pastoralists who lived in a much better climate than the present,” Mire said.

“It is quite an important discovery as little is known about the history of this region and lots of archaeological heritage is being lost to destruction, looting and neglect,” she added.

The Laas Geel rock caves are located near a confluence of two now dry rivers, which lend credence to its name and the practice of herders taking to etching cave walls with animal and other depictions.

While some of the Laas Geel cave paintings are stunningly vivid, others have faded off due to rock degradation and effects of weather. The caves house a constellation of brown, orange, white and red pre-historic sketches on the walls and ceiling.

“The paintings are vanishing if urgent conservation measures are not taken. At the moment we are protecting and recording them. Weathering as well as human threat in terms of unplanned development are immediate threats,” Mire said.

Mire now works with the government of Somaliland to train locals to protect the artefacts as well as help authorities draft laws to preserve the region’s historical sites.

A former British protectorate, Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia when war erupted following the overthrow of president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, but it is not recognised by the international community.

The small region in northern Somalia also boasts other pre-historic sites, also with cave paintings and other early human life. In the northern Dhambalin region, rock caves also host colourful paintings of cattle and wild animals as well as dogs and a man on a horseback, which Mire said in a recent article is one of the earliest known depictions of a mounted huntsman.

Somaliland has been spared much of the violence that has flayed the south and central Somalia regions and authorities are looking to capitalise on the relative stability and the recently discovered historical treasures to woo tourists.

“People now appreciate these (rock) paintings and they hope they will attract tourism which will benefit them,” Said noted, pointing to a cluster small drawings of wild animals in one of the caves.

“The government is encouraging those who can to build hotels and resorts around here (Laas Geel) to host tourists,” he added.

planet Earth: What Should We Know

Eleven per cent of the Earth’s surface is used to grow food.

For every 100 metres down into the Earth, the temperature gets three degrees hotter.

The wind carries 100 million tonnes of sand particles around the Earth yearly.

Only three per cent of the water on our planet is fresh water. Of the 3 per cent, two per cent of it is frozen in glaciers and ice sheets around the poles. The other 97 per cent is salt water.

About 70-71per cent of the Earth is covered by water.

Sunlight takes eight minutes and three seconds to reach Earth.

The coldest temperature ever recorded was -129 degrees Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antartica in 1983.

The lowest dry point on Earth is the Dead Sea in the Middle East which is 1300 feet below sea level.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. It covers about 1/3 of the Earth’s surface.

The most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust is aluminium.

Worldwide, 400 billion gallons of water is used each day.

The difference between average global temperatures today and during those ice ages is only about five degrees Celsius (nine degrees Fahrenheit).

While less than one-third of the world’s population lived in cities in 1950, about two thirds of humanity is expected to live in urban areas by 2030.

A Study Shows That Attractive Men Has Longer Ring Finger

The ring-index finger ratio has also proven to be a useful indicator for gauging the risk of prostate cancer, likewise tied to high levels of testosterone.

The longer a man’s fourth or ring finger is compared to his index finger, the more likely he is to be judged attractive by women, according to a study released Wednesday.

The results, published in the British Royal Society’s journal Biological Sciences, unveil intricate links between foetal exposure of males to hormones, the development of certain physical traits, and what turns on the opposite sex.

It also adds to a growing body of research — conducted under the banner of evolutionary psychology — suggesting that the drivers of human behaviour are found, more than previously suspected, in “nature” rather than “nurture.” Earlier studies had already shown that the size ratio between the fourth and second fingers, especially of the right hand, is a reliable indicator of the extent a man was exposed to testosterone while still in the womb.

The bigger the gap between a longer ring finger and a shorter index, the greater the likely impact of the hormone.

For the new study, scientists led by Camille Ferdenzi of the University of Geneva designed an experiment to find out if women are drawn to the telltale signs of high testosterone levels in men — a symmetrical face, a deeper voice, a particular body odour — who have this more “masculine” finger configuration.

More than 80 women university students between 18 and 34 looked at pictures of 49 similarly aged men, and were asked to evaluate them for masculinity and attractiveness.

Smaller groups of women listened to recordings of the male voices, and smelled samples of their body odour, taken from cotton pads worn under the arm for 24 hours.

“The aim was to understand what makes a man attractive,” and whether at least some of those qualities “were in part conditioned by the foetal environment,” Ferdenzi said in an interview.

For the visual test, the results were unambiguous. “The longer the ring finger compared to the index — that is, the greater the exposure to testosterone — the more attractive the face was rated,” she said by phone.

“We also found that attractiveness and symmetry in the face are highly correlated.” Such a preference might have evolved to boost a female’s chances of reproductive success through mating with a more virile partner, she said.

Surprisingly, however, women did not consistently tag the same men as “masculine”.

Nor did their preferences for voice or odours correspond to the longer ring-finger males.

“There wasn’t any relation between the 2D-4D” — 2nd digit, 4th digit — “ratio and the reactions of the women to odour,” Ferdenzi said.

One reason, she speculated, may be that voice and body odour are more dependent on fluctuating levels of adult testosterone than on pre-natal testosterone.

The ring-index finger ratio has also proven to be a useful indicator for gauging the risk of prostate cancer, likewise tied to high levels of testosterone.

Research published in December showed that the chances of developing the disease drop by a third in men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger.

Other studies have also found a link between exposure to hormones before birth and the development of other diseases, including breast cancer and osteoarthritis.

Joke: Vote For Obama

A guy goes into a bar, there’s a robot bartender.

The robot says, “What-ull you have?”

The guy says, “Martini.”

The robot brings back the best martini ever and says to the man, “What’s your IQ?”

The guy says, “168.”

The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and medical technology.

The guy leaves, but he is curious so he goes back into the bar.

The robot bartender says, “What-ull you have?”

The guy says, “Martini.”

Again, the robot makes a great martini gives it to the man and says, “What’s your IQ?”

The guy says, “100.”

The robot then starts to talk about Nascar, Budweiser and John Deere tractors.

The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it one more time..

He goes back into the bar. The robot says, “What-ull you have?”

The guy says, “Martini,” and the robot brings him another great martini.

The robot then says, “What’s your IQ?”

The guy says, “Uh, about 50..”

The robot leans in real close and says, “So, you people still happy you voted for Obama?”

LETTERS: Is it the thing of Past

There was a time, not too long ago, when you and I used to write letters. I remember a sweet childhood poem and it went something like:

‘I sent a letter to my father

On the way I dropped it,

Somebody came and picked it up

And put it in his pocket.’

I honestly don’t think I can blame ‘somebody’ for stealing my letter for I haven’t written a traditional one in at least a decade, and there are so many acceptable reasons for it.

I recently found an old letter I had written to my father some 13 years ago; it was thoughtful, original and personal, so diametrically different from an email. Let me insist that the implication is certainly not that email is not an extraordinarily fantastic method of communication but simply, it can never be a cherished letter.

Old letters, old cards, little old notes are charming, and when you stumble upon one unexpectedly it brings memories of lost times and sentimental moments in an almost tangible way. I can most certainly admit to sitting with an old shoebox reading old letters and cards and rediscovering delight in much the same way as I did upon receiving them initially.

On my previous visit to Pakistan, I was gifted a box full of letters that belonged to my father. It was precious to say the least. I read a few letters instantly and learnt a few valuable family history lessons that afternoon which would otherwise have been eclipsed by time.

I discovered that at the time of Partition, my six-year-old father was accidentally left behind while the family began their march for migration. His nana discovered that the head count was less one and walked back several miles to pick up the little lad who was fearfully hiding under a bed. The ink on the letter smudged as my heart became heavy with the thought of a lost little boy and his bahadur nana, my great grandfather. Until that day nanajee was just a name on the Shijra but now, he is the reason I exist.

Remember a time when our ancestors, and we, were writing letters to stay in touch – there was pen and paper and some meaningful thought, unlike the direct method of Q and A and information passing we engage in today. There is cc, bcc, text messages, Twitter, and Facebook and thus the art of letter writing has gradually worn away. The truth is that even with all this technology and the message being delivered instantly, we do not have an extra moment to indulge in niceties. We may have the courtesy to ask, ‘how are you?’ but do not have the patience to wait for a reply. I reckon we could easily blame the dying art on a cultural shift, but remember instant messaging is here today gone tomorrow. I somehow cannot picture our children sitting with our old computers and cell phones and getting sentimental over nanajee’s valour.

There is a sea of information out there – how do you sift through it and find and believe what you are looking for? If looking for a penpal, one just goes onto a search engine looking for a chat, unlike the yesteryears when we actually had pals who were our friends because of the pen.

I cherished sharing letters with Amy from Alabama. I was a ten-year-old in Pakistan and she in the US, and it was awesome! I used to wait for Latif, our postman, to bring me a letter from Amy at least once a month, and then there was Rimmy Apa who always indulged me and wrote beautiful long letters to me. I was inspired by her intelligence, impressed by her beauty and even developed a little bit of an attitude because an older cousin seemed to show an interest in me.

We miss composing and receiving letters maybe because they remind us of a time that was simple and pleasant, but I also believe that the fondness and joy comes from the imagery and emotion that letters carry – something akin to a time capsule.

Writing letters gives our emotions relevance; it makes us no intellectuals but certainly lends us the opportunity to put on paper our fundamental self, and certainly is a wonderful and ‘now’ unique style of showing appreciation and affection in a crazy world. And as for receiving a letter, well, it is almost like having a dear friend stop by for a cup of chai unexpectedly.