| Tired of laughter, Beijing gets rid of badly translated signs
BEIJING -- For years, foreigners in China have delighted in the loopy English translations that appear on the nation's signs. They range from the offensive -- "Deformed Man," outside toilets for the handicapped -- to the sublime -- "Show Mercy to the Slender Grass," on park lawns. Last week, Beijing city officials unveiled a plan to stop the laughter. With hordes of foreign visitors expected in town for the the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing wants to cleanse its signs of translation nonsense. For the next eight months, 10 teams of linguistic monitors will patrol the city's parks, museums, subway stations and other public places searching for gaffes to fix. Already, fans of the genre are mourning the end of an era, and some Web sites dedicated to it have seen traffic spike. The bewildering signs were "one of the great things we want to show people visiting us," says financial-services consultant Josh Kurtzig, a Washington native who lives in Beijing.
Sheriff Bill Smith saved my life
Dear Editor, Being a lifelong citizen of St. Marys for 46 years, I guess you could probably call me a "Good Ol' Boy" or whatever. I can't seem to get some letters to the editor off my mind: those written about our sheriff, Bill Smith. So after much consideration, I feel I should tell my story.I know there are always two sides, so here is mine. To me, Bill Smith has been my angel. After a number of times in jail, Bill Smith is the man that helped me change my life around from years of drugs and alcohol abuse. After months in jail and I began to see a little clearer, Bill Smith helped me believe that I could do anything I wanted except drink and do drugs. I had heard it before from my father, mother and friends, but for some reason, hearing it from Bill Smith has paid off big. For I have been clean and sober for five years.
Blue Diamond winners of Burgan Bank's 5th annual Al Mass awards ...
KUWAIT: Burgan Bank salutes the spectacular accomplishments of the four Blue Diamond award winners at the recently held 5th Annual Al Mass Awards for Special Needs. The Blue Diamond Awards recognize the extraordinary achievements of mentally disabled individuals.
The four jubilant winners - Ahmed Kamal, Lulua Abdulla Al-Sharah, Khalid Al-Dosari and Modhi Al-Rodan - reflect Burgan Bank's relentless spirit of realising goals, no matter how challenging the circumstances. Their commitment and dedication to surmount obstacles and achieve their goals serves as an example for all.
"The endeavours of these special individuals to transcend challenging circumstances and strive towards their goals are an inspiration to us all," acknowledges Sheikh Mohammad Abdul Aziz Al Jarrah Al Sabah, Chairman of Burgan Bank.
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We can't be sure that the former Mrs. Paul Simon/Princess Leia is the culprit behind our involuntary Master Cleanse diet, but it's a good bet. Seeing how the extremely witty and open-to-the-world Fisher was sniffling into her microphone and literally "leaking" (her word for the Tammy Faye effect her watery eyes were having on her mascara), it's safe to presume that she got us violently ill. Which means Ted Danson must be in a coma. During Fischer's one-woman play, Wishful Drinking, at the Geffen, Fisher normally plucks a hapless man out of the audience and dances with him on stage. On Thursday, that man was Danson, who very good-naturedly donned a Princess Leia wig and allowed Fischer to grope his bottom. Fisher quipped that, knowing her luck with men, by the end of the evening Danson would either be gay or besieged with intimacy issues.
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