Selasa, 1 Oktober 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

‘Emotionless’ society makes dramatic reversal
Civil servants must declare visits to casino
IT firm gives 400 laptops to charities

‘Emotionless’ society makes dramatic reversal

Posted:

JUST a year after being labelled the world's most emotionless society, Singapore seems to have experienced an astonishing turnaround in the feel-good stakes.

International polling firm Gallup has now singled out the republic as having the biggest surge in "positivity".

This means Singaporeans are likely no longer the least emotional nationality – a tag that caused disbelief and soul-searching following the poll results last year.

But it might be a little early to start jumping for joy – because the latest data forms only part of Gallup's overall emotions index, which has not yet been released.

And experts say the fluctuation in the results casts yet more doubts over its methodology.

Gallup tracks emotions in different countries using several rankings. As well as the overall index, there is a study of negativity and another tracking positivity – the one released yesterday.

It found 70% of Singapore respondents reported experiencing positive emotions, up from 46% in 2011.

This is the biggest jump among the 143 countries surveyed and catapults the republic from the bottom of the table to the top half of the "positivity" league.

Gallup said it could be due to the "unprecedented attention" given to the 2011 study, which may have influenced Singaporeans' response to the latest survey.

"The rise (in positive emotions) took place among all demographic groups, even as other societal measures remained steady," it added.

Latin American nations Paraguay and Venezuela continued to top the index, while Syria and Iraq were ranked the lowest.

Experts say the findings raise more doubts about the poll's credibility.

"Social conditions have not changed that much, but the results had a wide fluctuation," said National University of Singapore sociologist Paulin Straughan. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Civil servants must declare visits to casino

Posted:

CIVIL servants must now declare casino visits, months after a senior anti-graft official was charged with embezzling state money to fund his gambling habit.

Civil servants must declare within seven days if they have visited the city-state's two casinos more than four times a month, or if they purchase an annual pass that allows unlimited access, the Public Service Division (PSD) said yesterday.

Government officials in certain positions where "misconduct will have significant reputational risk to the public service" must declare every visit within seven days, it said in a statement.

Civil servants involved in gaming enforcement as well as others who represent the government in business dealings with the two casino operators will remain barred from visiting the casinos unless in an official capacity.

The agency said it was also bringing in compulsory job rotations and block leave for some officials holding positions that "are more susceptible to being suborned and exploited if the incumbent were to remain in the same job for too long".

"Officers are expected to maintain the highest standards of personal conduct and integrity, and their actions must not bring the public service into disrepute or call into question its impartiality," the PSD said.

The move follows a string of high-profile corruption cases in the city-state, including one involving Edwin Yeo Seow Hiang, an assistant director at the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), the country's graft-busting agency.

Yeo, 39, was charged in June with misappropriating S$1.76mil (RM4.5mil) worth of government funds to finance his gambling habit.

Large-scale graft cases remain rare in Singapore, a thriving business hub and financial centre, and the government has jealously guarded its reputation as among the least corrupt in the world.

Singapore pays its civil servants some of the highest government salaries globally in what it says is a deterrent to corruption.

Singapore has two casinos, one owned by US casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and the other by Malaysia's Genting group. — AFP

IT firm gives 400 laptops to charities

Posted:

IT service provider NCS has donated 400 refurbished laptops to 10 charities to help support classroom lessons and their administrative needs.

The MINDS Lee Kong Chian Gardens School will receive 125 laptops and the remaining ones will be distributed to other charities.

"We are happy to receive the laptops from NCS, and have already identified uses for these laptops," said Sharon Ng, the school principal.

"We will be utilising them in computer classes to teach our students computer skills and passing some of these laptops to students who do not have a computer at home."

The donation from NCS, part of the SingTel Group, is an extension of the partnership between SingTel and the National Council of Social Service via the SingTel Touching Lives Fund.

The 10 charities come under the umbrella of the NCSS. The fund has raised over S$24mil (RM62.4mil) for charities under the council. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

Taylor Swift will act in The Giver

Posted:

The singer will be joining multiple award-winning actress Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges in the film adaptation.

Taylor Swift has joined the cast of The Weinstein Company and Walden Media's adaptation of The Giver, the two companies announced last weekend.

The singer, who has only a few acting credits to her name, joins Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgard and Katie Holmes in the film that kicks off production in Cape Town, South Africa, on Oct 7.

Swift is best known for her music, but previously appeared in hit romantic comedy Valentine's Day, and voiced a main character in 2012 animated hit Dr Seuss' The Lorax. Swift last appeared on the small screen last spring in the season finale of Fox comedy The New Girl.

Phil Noyce (Salt) will direct the dystopian future film from a screenplay by Michael Mitnick (The Current War). Bridges, who plays the titular character responsible for storing and passing on an entire society's memories from the past, will produce with Nikki Silver and Neil Konigsberg.

Ralph Winter, Scooter Braun and Alison Owen executive producing. The Giver focuses on a young boy (Thwaites) who lives in a seemingly ideal world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community.

The book, by author Lois Lowry, was the winner of multiple awards, including the 1994 Newbury Medal. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 29 languages. It is Harper Collins number one selling children's eBook, outselling all other top teen novels including the Harry Potter series. — Reuters

Paul McCartney will get a cartoon film

Posted:

The singer-songwriter's children's novel is set to make a big screen debut.

RGH Entertainment and Unique Features will make an animated movie out of Paul McCartney's children's novel High In The Clouds, the two companies said.

Tony Bancroft will direct the movie from a script by Josh Klausner, who adapted the book McCartney wrote with Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh.

It chronicles a squirrel's quest to find Animalia, an animal sanctuary. "Paul McCartney is a masterful storyteller whose lyrics and music have captured our imaginations for over half a century," executive producer David Corbett said in a statement.

"I am thrilled to be a part of his latest creative effort and look forward to working with our talented teams in Los Angeles, Amman and Manila to create a film worthy of the McCartney legacy."

Corbett is executive producing with RGH CEO Randa Ayoubi while Unique's Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye are producing. The film will be made in 3D for a 2015 release. — Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

Netanyahu at U.N. - Don't trust Rouhani, Iran's overtures a ruse
In first day of U.S. shutdown, no sign how it will end
Ecuador arrests retired officers for suspected crimes against humanity

Netanyahu at U.N. - Don't trust Rouhani, Iran's overtures a ruse

Posted:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed a charm offensive by Iran's new president as a ruse concocted by a "wolf in sheep's clothing," and declared that Israel was ready to stand alone to deny Tehran an atomic weapon.

In a combative address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu assailed the trustworthiness of Hassan Rouhani, Iran's centrist president who has made diplomatic overtures to the United States and spoke by telephone last week with President Barack Obama.

"Rouhani doesn't sound like Ahmadinejad," Netanyahu said, referring to Rouhani's hardline predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose annual U.N. addresses were stridently anti-Western and anti-Israel.

"But when it comes to Iran's nuclear weapons program, the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf's clothing, Rouhani is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community," Netanyahu said.

"This is a ruse," Netanyahu added. "It's a ploy."

Netanyahu's address, the last at this year's gathering of world leaders in New York, reflected Israeli worries that the emerging signs of what could become a U.S.-Iranian rapprochement might lead to a premature easing of international sanctions and military threats designed to deny Iran the means to make a bomb.

"Don't let up the pressure," Netanyahu said, adding that the only deal that could be made with Rouhani was one that "fully dismantles Iran's nuclear weapons program."

Asked about Netanyahu's speech, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Israel's "skepticism is understandable."

"After all, this is a country whose leadership until recently was pledging to annihilate Israel," he said, referring to Ahmadinejad's suggestions that Israel had no right to exist.

The United States, Israel and other countries accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says the program is for peaceful energy purposes only. During his General Assembly speech last week, Rouhani said nuclear weapons "have no place in Iran's security and defence doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions.

The Israeli leader referred to Rouhani's 1989-2003 tenure as the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, a time when he said Iranian "henchmen" killed opposition leaders in Berlin, 85 people at a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires and 19 U.S. soldiers in a bomb attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

"Are we to believe that Rouhani, the national security adviser of Iran at the time, knew nothing about these attacks?" Netanyahu said. "Of course he did, just as 30 years ago Iran's security chiefs knew about the bombings in Beirut that killed 241 American Marines and 58 French paratroopers."

Netanyahu made clear that Israel, believed to possess the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, was prepared to resort to unilateral military action against Iran if it deems diplomacy a dead end.

"I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. Yet in standing alone, Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others," Netanyahu said.

The bulk of his speech was about Iran, but he also touched on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, saying the Jewish state was prepared to make a "historic compromise." He faulted Palestinian leaders for not reciprocating enough.

Rouhani, who took office last month after being elected in June, projected a more moderate tone from Iran at the world forum last week, with long-term adversaries Iran and the United States now preparing for renewed nuclear talks.

Later this month, Iran will meet with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany in Geneva to pick up from last week's discussions in New York that included Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

IRAN WARNS ISRAEL

Iran has made clear it wants a swift deal that would lift the crippling international sanctions against it and put an end to the decade-long standoff over its nuclear ambitions.

In a response to Netanyahu's speech, Khodadad Seifi, a representative of the Iranian U.N. delegation, rejected Israel's allegations and told the 193-nation General Assembly that Iran was "fully committed" to its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

He warned Israel that Iran was able to respond to any Israeli attack, saying, "The Israeli prime minister had better not even think about attacking Iran, let alone planning for that."

Netanyahu said Iran's nuclear program had continued at a "vast and feverish" pace since the election of Rouhani.

"Like everyone else, I wish we could believe Rouhani's words, but we must focus on Iran's action," Netanyahu said, adding that sanctions should be tightened if the Iranians pursue nuclear projects while negotiating with world powers.

At last year's U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu made headlines when he used a marker to draw Israel's "red line" across a cartoonish bomb he displayed as a visual aid during his speech to illustrate advances in Iranian uranium enrichment.

"Iran has been very careful not to cross that line, but Iran is positioning itself to race across that line in the future at a time of its choosing," he said. "Iran wants to be in a position to rush forward to build nuclear bombs before the international community can detect it and much less prevent it."

Although Iran did not cross that "red line", Israel worries that it has improved its technologies and is now capable of dashing toward a first bomb within weeks. On Tuesday, Netanyahu noted the Iranian heavy water plant Arak that, he said, could produce plutonium - another potential fuel for nuclear weapons.

If there are any changes taking place in Iran, Netanyahu said, it was the result of pressure on the Islamic Republic.

"I have argued for many years, including on this podium, that the only way to peacefully prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat. And that policy today is bearing fruit."

Referring to the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Netanyahu said: "Since that time, presidents of Iran have come and gone. Some presidents were considered moderates, others hardliners."

"But they have all served that same unforgiving creed, that same unforgiving regime, that creed that is espoused and enforced by the real power in Iran, the dictator known as the supreme leader, first Ayatollah (Ruholla) Khomeini and now Ayatollah (Ali) Khamenei," he said.

"President Rouhani, like the presidents who came before him, is a loyal servant of the regime," Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu also noted the thousands of years of Persian-Jewish amity that ended with the fierce anti-Israel hostility ushered in by the 1979 revolution in Iran.

After meeting with Netanyahu on Monday, Obama reiterated his determination to prevent Iran from getting nuclear arms. Both leaders said their countries were cooperating on the issue.

(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)

In first day of U.S. shutdown, no sign how it will end

Posted:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came no closer to ending a standoff on Tuesday that has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and thrown hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work.

As police cordoned off landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and government agencies stopped cancer treatments and trade negotiations, Republicans in the House of Representatives moved to restore funding to national parks, veterans care and the District of Columbia.

An effort to pass the three bills fell short on Tuesday evening, but Republicans plan to try again on Wednesday. They are likely to be defeated by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The standoff has raised new concerns about Congress's ability to perform its most basic duties. An even bigger battle looms as Congress must raise the debt limit in coming weeks or risk a U.S. default that could roil global markets.

"This is a mess. A royal screwup," said Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter of New York.

Obama accused Republicans of taking the government hostage in order to sabotage his signature health care law, the most ambitious U.S. social program in five decades.

Republicans in the House view the Affordable Care Act as a dangerous extension of government power and have coupled their efforts to undermine it with continued government funding. The Democratic-controlled Senate has repeatedly rejected those efforts.

"They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden.

Spending authority for much of the government expired at midnight on Monday (0400 GMT), but that did not prevent the Obama administration from opening the health-insurance exchanges that form the centrepiece of the law.

Republicans said Obama could not complain about the impact of the shutdown while refusing to negotiate. "The White House position is unsustainably hypocritical," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.

VETERANS PASS BARRICADES

Republicans said their latest proposal would help elderly veterans who earlier in the day pushed past barricades at the National World War II Memorial to get into the shuttered site.

"They're coming here because they want to visit their memorial, the World War II memorial. But no, the Obama administration has put barricades around it," said Republican Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho.

All three bills won support from a majority of the House, but fell short of the two-thirds vote needed to pass under special rules that allow quick action. Republican leaders plan to bring up the bills for a regular vote on Wednesday. Obama said he would veto the bills if they reached his desk.

Democrats said Republicans were avoiding a vote to restore funding to the entire government because they were afraid it would pass.

"That's important - a park? How about the kids who need daycare?" said Democratic Representative Sander Levin of Michigan. "You have to let all the hostages go. Every single one of them."

The veterans in question had gotten in to the memorial with help from several Republican lawmakers. But they didn't seem particularly interested in taking sides.

"It's just like a bunch of little kids fighting over candy," said George, Atkinson, an 82-year-old Coast Guard veteran of the Korean War. "The whole group ought to be replaced, top man down."

The selective spending plan appeared to temporarily unite Republicans, heading off a split between Tea Party conservatives who pushed for the government funding confrontation and moderates who appear to be losing stomach for the fight.

Representative Peter King, a New York moderate, estimated that more than 100 of the chamber's 232 Republicans would back Obama's demand to restore all government funding without conditions. That would be enough to easily pass the House with the support of the chamber's 200 Democrats.

The shutdown closed landmarks like the Grand Canyon and pared the government's spy agencies by 70 percent. In Washington, the National Zoo shut off a popular "panda cam" that allowed visitors to view its newborn panda cub online. In Pennsylvania, white supremacists had to cancel a planned rally at Gettysburg National Military Park.

MARKET REACTION

Whether the shutdown represents another bump in the road for a Congress increasingly plagued by dysfunction or is a sign of a more alarming breakdown in the political process could be determined by the reaction among voters and on Wall Street.

Stock investors appeared to be taking the news in stride on Tuesday with investors confident a deal could be reached quickly. The S&P 500 closed up 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2 percent.

But the U.S. Treasury was forced to pay the highest interest rate in about 10 months on its short-term debt as many investors avoided bonds that would be due later this month, when the government is due to exhaust its borrowing capacity.

If Congress can agree to a new funding bill soon, the shutdown would have little impact on the world's largest economy.

A week-long shutdown would slow U.S. economic growth by about 0.3 percentage points, according to Goldman Sachs, but a longer disruption could weigh on the economy more heavily as furloughed workers scale back personal spending.

The last shutdown in 1995 and 1996 cost taxpayers $1.4 billion, according to congressional researchers.

The political crisis raised fresh concern about whether Congress can meet a crucial mid-October deadline to raise the government's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling. Some Republicans see that vote as another opportunity to undercut Obama's healthcare law.

Failure to raise the debt limit would force the country to default on its obligations, dealing a blow to the economy and sending shockwaves around global markets.

A 2011 standoff over the debt ceiling hammered consumer confidence and prompted a first-ever downgrade of the United States' credit rating.

Analysts say this time it could be worse. Lawmakers back then were fighting over how best to reduce trillion-dollar budget deficits, but this time they are at loggerheads over an issue that does not lend itself to compromise as easily: an expansion of government-supported health benefits to millions of uninsured Americans.

Republicans have voted more than 40 times to repeal or delay "Obamacare," but they failed to block the launch of its online insurance marketplaces on Tuesday. The program had a rocky start as government websites struggled to cope with heavy online traffic.

"What I'm hearing from my constituents at home is if this is the only way to stop the runaway train called the federal government, then we're willing to try it," said Texas Senator John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 24 percent of Americans would blame Republicans, while 19 percent would blame Obama or Democrats. Another 46 percent said everyone would be to blame.

The shutdown battles of the 1990s didn't substantially affect public's opinion of then-Democratic President Bill Clinton or his Republican adversaries, the Gallup polling organization said.

Republicans and Democrats traded blame for the shutdown, but many seemed deeply embarrassed for the institution as a whole.

Several said they planned to donate their salaries to charity or forego pay altogether.

"This is a black eye on our government at all levels," said Republican Representative Michael Grimm of New York. "I think it's a low point for us."

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson, Richard Cowan, Caren Bohan, David Lawder, Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Karey Van Hall, David Storey and Tim Dobbyn)

Ecuador arrests retired officers for suspected crimes against humanity

Posted:

QUITO (Reuters) - A judge in Ecuador ordered the arrest of three retired senior military officers on Tuesday and the house arrest of seven more on charges of committing crimes against humanity almost 30 years ago.

The retired officers, who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, are accused in connection with crimes including torture, kidnappings and sexual violence that were allegedly committed in 1985 against three members of an armed leftist revolutionary group.

A spokesman for the National Court of Justice said more evidence will be gathered in the next three months, then authorities will convene a judicial panel to prosecute the case. It could take years to reach a verdict.

Local media reported that two of the seven retired officers ordered to be placed under house arrest are living outside Ecuador.

A statement by the attorney general said the crimes were committed at a military prison on the outskirts of Quito, where the three members of the self-proclaimed Marixst-Leninist group, Alfaro Vive Carajo, were taken after being arrested by troops.

The judicial order follows a report by a commission set up by President Rafael Correa to investigate crimes that were allegedly committed by the security forces in the 1980s during the rule of former President Leon Cordero.

Correa, a U.S.-trained economist and avowed leftist, has given Cabinet positions to ex-members of the Alfaro Vive Carajo group, which was dissolved years ago.

(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Modern Family spinoff may be possible
What's in your mind
Coming soon: Rihanna's reality series

Modern Family spinoff may be possible

Posted:

The popular sitcom has won four Emmys for best comedy series.

In light of the sitcom's popularity and critical acclaim, it's no surprise that ABC is open to expanding the fictional world of Modern Family. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is currently examining different possibilities for a spinoff.

In September, Modern Family won its fourth consecutive Emmy Award for best comedy series. Three days later, 11.7 million TV viewers in the United States tuned in for the show's fifth season premiere.

Eager to capitalise on this success, ABC is weighing its options regarding possible premises and title characters for a spinoff. One idea involves Gil Thorpe, the ruthlessly competitive real estate agent seen in two episodes last season and played by Rob Riggle.

If the spinoff goes into production, Modern Family co-creator and showrunner Steve Levitan will head up the project, leaving Chris Lloyd alone in charge of the original series.

ABC has turned to the spinoff concept several times to develop new shows in the past: Private Practice, for example, followed a character from the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. This season, on Oct 10, the channel will premiere Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, a spinoff of its Once Upon A Time series.

Cable channels are beginning to try out the concept with their own hit shows. This October, CW will introduce The Originals, expanding upon the world of The Vampire Diaries. AMC, meanwhile, is working on its Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, starring Bob Odenkirk. — AFP Relaxnews

What's in your mind

Posted:

A new TV series shows just how our brain works ... and doesn't work.

IT took just a few minutes for Jason Silva to completely blow my mind. The host of National Geographic's Brain Games is a self-confessed "wonder junkie" whose mile-a-minute speech is not only engaging, it's hypnotic as well.

"I was shocked to find out that we don't actually perceive the world in 3D," he says. "We actually take in low-resolution, flat, 2D images through our eyes and our brain takes that raw, incomplete information and creates a matrix of the high-definition, 3D reality which we call 'the world'. Isn't that shocking? The fact that our brain creates a 3D world for us. It's really a guess-timation."

This, says Silva, was one of the many things he learnt in the process of shooting Brain Games, a show that uses brain teasers and experiments to show how and why our brain responds the way it does.

"It's a sort of 'how-to' on the brain. Brain Games is a pop science series about neuroscience … we use games and interactive experiments to hack into our brain, and highlight the shortcomings in our wiring and in the way our brain perceives reality. We show you that what you see isn't always what you get, and this creates an appetite for audiences to learn why – and then we tell them why," Silva explains.

The 31-year-old Venezuela-born Silva was selected to host the show based on a series of short web documentaries (dubbed Shots Of Philosophical Espresso) he'd made that explored the role of technology in extending the boundaries of the human brain.

The documentaries went viral, with over 1.2 million views, and Silva became a much sought-after speaker at international events such as the now world-famous TEDGlobal talks.

Brain Games is a spin-off from a hugely popular three-part programme the channel did on the brain in 2011. Each episode of the 12-part series zooms in on a different aspect of how the brain works. Topics include focus, fear, motion, perception and persuasion.

In each 30-minute segment, viewers are engaged and challenged in several games that disprove many accepted beliefs about the brain.

In the premiere episode entitled Focus Pocus, for example, Silva and psychologist Brian Scholl conduct experiments on concentration and peripheral vision which reveal some startling results. Also featured in the episode is "deception specialist" Apollo Robbins (who made headlines some time ago for picking the pockets of Secret Services agents guarding former US president Jimmy Carter) who, through his various tricks, reveals how weak our ability to focus can be.

In an experiment with people on the street, Robbins asks volunteers to watch for a particular card as he flips a deck of cards in his hands. Only after many, many tries do they realise that the card in question is actually plastered on Robbins' forehead – in plain view – all the time. There is no real deception involved; the brain just chooses to focus on the deck of cards and nothing much else.

"Isn't that crazy? Robbins is a master at misdirecting attention and what this proves is that this idea we have of our abilities to multitask is an absolute myth. The brain can move rapidly between different tasks but the idea of really multitasking … of simultaneously paying attention to different things is a total myth," reveals Silva.

The show reinforces Silva's own belief that the brain needs stimulation to come alive.

"I decided very early on in my life to take control of it to make sure that I am constantly exposed to situations that excite inspiration in me. It was my answer to the existential questions we always ask ourselves like, 'What's the purpose of life?' or 'What's the meaning of our existence?'

"I would say, well, we are the meaning and the purpose, and it's our job to inspire ourselves … to be curious and to go down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass and find things to enliven us.

"The lust for new experiences … the novelty of things really excites the brain. It fires dopamine which is a chemical associated with pleasure and seeking. Which is why things that are always around us become invisible. That is why routine becomes stale and sterile, and that is why human beings have always sought adventure – why we go to the moon, why we constantly invent and innovate. It is this restlessness and desire to transcend the ordinary," he says animatedly.

What the show ultimately hopes to create is a sense of doubt, followed by wonder and the desire to learn.

"It is surprising to discover how the most complicated object in the universe … the brain … can be so easily hacked and fooled. There is simplicity in its complexity and that is kind of what the show is about. These brain teasers actually engage the brain in a new and novel way, forcing us to reconfigure our mental mode and to stretch our minds. That's always a good thing." he says.

"By tricking the audience, by having them participate in the games, that whole idea that we only use 10% of our brain's capacity … well, it is a myth. I think it was a metaphor which has been misunderstood.

"I mean, we have MRI scanners that can scan the entire brain and see all the areas that light up when any stimulation occurs. All of the brain is being utilised but it might be appropriate to say that all of us do not utilise our brain to its full potential.

"Maybe we don't engage all our faculties in the most creative ways. Certainly, when we witness an amazing athlete or artist perform, we realise the potential of the brain. We gawk and marvel because we recognise there is this potential in all of us," he explains.

Brain Games airs exclusively on the National Geographic Channel (Astro Ch 553) on Tuesdays at 10pm.

Coming soon: Rihanna's reality series

Posted:

The Barbadian singer's fashion-based TV programme will go on as planned.

Good news, Style Network viewers: If you were eagerly awaiting Rihanna's fashion competition series, it will still go on.

Originally ordered to series by Style Network, Styled To Rock will now air on the Bravo channel, TheWrap has learned. It will premiere in the United States on Oct 25. Styled To Rock features 12 designers fighting for a US$100,000 (RM320,000) cash prize, a feature in Glamour magazine and the chance to become a member of Rihanna's design team.

Music artiste/producer Pharrell Williams, model Erin Wasson and Rihanna's personal stylist, Mel Ottenberg, will mentor the contestants.

With Rihanna executive producing, the freshman series landed some big name judges, including Miley Cyrus, Carly Rae Jepsen, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Minogue, Kelly Osbourne, The Band Perry, Naya Rivera, Big Sean, and Ne-Yo.

Alongside Rihanna, Shed Media US, Overbrook Entertainment and Marcy Media Films are producing. Styled To Rock is the latest Style Network show to move to a sister NBCUniversal network after Style was shuttered last week and replaced by Esquire Network.

TheWrap reported exclusively last week that Style series Tia & Tamera and Giuliana & Bill have moved to E!. It will also air the remaining new episodes of Giuliana & Bill's sixth season next year. Both series are under consideration for renewal. The fate of other Style Network series is still under consideration.

The male-centric Esquire Network replaced Style Network in 75 million homes last Monday in the US. Its programming currently includes five new original primetime series and shows mined from sister NBCU networks and other content providers. — Reuters

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

Taylor Swift will act in The Giver

Posted:

The singer will be joining multiple award-winning actress Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges in the film adaptation.

Taylor Swift has joined the cast of The Weinstein Company and Walden Media's adaptation of The Giver, the two companies announced last weekend.

Paul McCartney will get a cartoon film

Posted:

The singer-songwriter's children's novel is set to make a big screen debut.

RGH Entertainment and Unique Features will make an animated movie out of Paul McCartney's children's novel High In The Clouds, the two companies said.

Tony Bancroft will direct the movie from a script by Josh Klausner, who adapted the book McCartney wrote with Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh.

"I am thrilled to be a part of his latest creative effort and look forward to working with our talented teams in Los Angeles, Amman and Manila to create a film worthy of the McCartney legacy."

Corbett is executive producing with RGH CEO Randa Ayoubi while Unique's Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye are producing. The film will be made in 3D for a 2015 release. — Reuters

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The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

Gold hits 2-mth low on large sell order, hopes U.S. shutdown to end
Sell-off of SerSol could be over, for now
ADB's growth an inflation forecast for Asia, including Malaysia

Gold hits 2-mth low on large sell order, hopes U.S. shutdown to end

Posted:

SINGAPORE: Gold fell to two-month lows on Wednesday, rattled by a large sell order in New York that pushed prices below US$1,300 the session before and on weak safe-haven buying after what many expect to be a short-lived U.S. government shutdown.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold had dropped 0.4 percent to $1,280.35 an ounce by 0024 GMT, after losing 3 percent on Tuesday.

Bullion fell abruptly in early U.S. trading on Tuesday as a massive Comex sell order appeared to overwhelm the market, sending prices $25 an ounce lower and triggering further technical stop-loss selling below $1,300, analysts said.

The early activity stirred market talk of forced liquidation by a distressed commodities fund and of selling related to a fund rebalancing on the first day of the third quarter, although no details could be confirmed.

The White House rejected a Republican plan to reopen portions of the U.S. government on Tuesday as the first shutdown in 17 years closed landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and threw hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work.

The anticipated unwinding of U.S. stimulus and expectations of improving economic growth leave little room for a rebound in gold prices over the next few years, Fitch Ratings said, adding that a further decline remains a real possibility.

India's only gold imports in August and September were for exporters' use, reducing volumes to a fraction of what the world's biggest bullion buyer used to bring in before the government took steps to rein in purchases.

Swiss gold refiner Metalor Technologies has postponed the full-scale launch of its refinery in Singapore to next year due to a delay in construction, a company executive said. - Reuters

Sell-off of SerSol could be over, for now

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: SerSol Bhd, which was hit by heavy selling on Monday and Tuesday, eked out marginal gains early Wednesday, which could mean the sell-off may be over for now.

At 9.36am, shares of the paints and coating company was up 0.5 sen to 62 sen. There were 3.15 million shares done at prices ranging from 61 sen to 63 sen.

SerSol-Wa edged up one sen to 39 sen.

The FBM KLCI rose 3.09 points to 1,772.12. Turnover was 312.57 million shares valued at RM170.66mil. There were 200 gainers, 123 losers and 222 counters unchanged.

On Tuesday, it saw RM24.09mil wiped out from its market capitalisation after it closed down 12.5 sen to 61.5 sen. It fell 27 sen on Monday.

ADB's growth an inflation forecast for Asia, including Malaysia

Posted:

MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released an update to its 2013 outlook for developing Asia, spanning 45 countries in Asia and the Pacific.
The report is available on the ADB's website www.adb.org

GDP GROWTH, pct Actual --Forecast--
Subregion/
Economy 2012 2013 2014
----------- --------------
Oct July April Oct July April
CENTRAL ASIA 5.6 5.4 5.3 5.5 6.0 6.0 6.0
EAST ASIA 6.5 6.6 6.7 7.1 6.6 6.7 7.1
China 7.8 7.6 7.7 8.2 7.4 7.5 8.0
SOUTH ASIA 5.0 4.7 5.6 5.7 5.5 6.2 6.2
India 5.0 4.7 5.8 6.0 5.7 6.5 6.5
SOUTHEAST ASIA 5.6 4.9 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.6 5.7
Indonesia 6.2 5.7 -- 6.4 6.0 -- 6.6
Malaysia 5.6 4.3 -- 5.3 5.0 -- 5.5

Philippines 6.8 7.0 -- 6.0 6.1 -- 5.9

Singapore 1.3 2.6 -- 2.6 3.5 -- 3.7
Thailand 6.5 3.8 -- 4.9 4.9 -- 5.0
Vietnam 5.2 5.2 -- 5.2 5.5 -- 5.6
THE PACIFIC 7.5 5.2 5.0 5.2 5.5 5.5 5.5
________________________________________________________________

DEVELOPING ASIA 6.1 6.0 6.3 6.6 6.2 6.4 6.7

INFLATION, pct Actual --Forecast--
Subregion/
Economy 2012 2013 2014
------------- --------------
Oct July April Oct July April
CENTRAL ASIA 5.1 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.8 6.8 6.7
EAST ASIA 2.6 2.4 2.4 3.1 2.7 2.7 3.3
China 2.6 2.5 2.5 3.2 2.7 2.7 3.5
SOUTH ASIA 7.9 6.7 6.7 7.4 7.0 6.9 7.1
India 7.4 6.5 6.5 7.2 6.8 6.6 6.8
SOUTHEAST ASIA 3.9 4.7 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.2 4.1
Indonesia 4.3 7.2 -- 5.2 5.5 -- 4.7
Malaysia 1.7 2.2 -- 2.2 3.0 -- 3.0

Philippines 3.2 3.0 -- 3.6 3.5 -- 3.8

Singapore 4.5 3.2 -- 3.8 3.0 -- 3.0
Thailand 3.0 2.6 -- 3.2 2.9 -- 3.1
Vietnam 9.2 6.5 -- 7.5 7.2 -- 8.2
THE PACIFIC 4.3 5.7 5.7 6.1 6.0 5.9 6.3
________________________________________________________________

AVERAGE 3.7 3.6 3.5 4.0 3.7 3.7 4.2
- Reuters

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Duo take to cyberspace to woo delegates
We want to ensure Malaysians don't live in fear, says PM
Chief Justice: No need to consult Bar

Duo take to cyberspace to woo delegates

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: To get the attention of Umno Youth's 75,000 voting delegates at the party elections, two candidates vying for the post of movement deputy chief have turned to the Internet for help.

Lokman Noor Adam and Khairul Azwan Harun are using various social media platforms to reach out to the delegates.

Lokman has set up his own channel on YouTube to promote himself.

One of his video clips titled "Who is the best candidate?" features cartoon caricatures and excerpts of his speeches, and has been viewed 4,903 times.

"I am hoping that my campaign material will go viral and hopefully this will translate into votes," said Lokman, 39, a former exco member of the movement and one of four candidates vying for the Youth No. 2 post.

Nothing beats the personal touch when campaigning but canvassing for support has become tougher due to the larger number of voters.

For candidates such as Lokman who are lesser-known and do not have the resources to travel all over to introduce themselves, the solution is to take their campaign online.

Lokman, who holds a Master's degree in management from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, tracks his online popularity from the number of "Likes" and "Shares" on his Facebook postings, re-tweets of his Twitter messages and the returns from search engine queries on his name.

Khairul Azwan also has an online campaign. Better known on the Internet by the moniker "@Azwanbro", Khairul is a relatively well-known politician in his home state of Perak, where he is the state Umno Youth chief.

Khairul, 36, said he chose to go online because he wanted to reach out to voters in other states as well.

A series of YouTube clips touts him as a candidate who can help Umno Youth develop to the next level and shows the British-trained accountant attending meetings and mingling with villagers.

"It is not possible to meet everyone so this is how I introduce myself. This is in addition to sessions with small groups where I share my views on the way forward for Umno Youth," said Khairul.

What candidates such as Lokman and Khairul are targeting will be Umno's Facebook generation of members in the party wings, namely Umno Youth and Puteri Umno.

However, the two candidates agree that nothing beats "the old fashioned way" of meeting voters in person.

Khairul is happy with how the online campaign is shaping up but still makes time to reach out to as many voting delegates as possible.

"Voters still want to see, feel and hear you in the flesh," said Khairul.

Lokman said: "Nothing beats the face-to-face approach, but with social media popular among the younger set, both approaches have become important for candidates like us."

A strict code of ethics for the candidates bars most forms of campaigning in a bid to stem money politics but Lokman said his YouTube clips had been referred to the party management committee for a decision.

"The committee decided that it was okay to put clips to introduce ourselves and their decision was in turn conveyed to us during the last Umno Youth exco meeting," he said.

We want to ensure Malaysians don't live in fear, says PM

Posted:

The proposed amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) is to ensure Malaysians will not live in fear of crime happening in their own backyard, says Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He rejected claims that the PCA is the Government's move to revive the Internal Security Act (ISA), saying that the proposed amendments were dedicated to fighting organised crime.

"If the Government does not take serious action, more people will become victims and they will live in fear.

"I want to create an atmosphere where each Malaysian will feel safe in their own country, and this can be done through a serious commitment from the Government and giving priority to the security of a country," Najib told the Malaysian media at the end of a working visit to San Francisco and New York.

He said the PCA was different from the ISA, which vested huge powers in the Home Minister and police to make arrests without going through a court process.

"But this time (under the amended PCA), the decision will be made by a judge. So, if the police were to arrest anyone, they have to convince the judge that the particular individual should be detained.

"And we will make sure that no one will be victimised," he said, adding that a person would not be arrested merely for subscribing to any political ideology.

The proposed amendments to the PCA would enable the authorities to detain hardcore criminals for up to two years without trial.

This particular section of the PCA has incurred the wrath of Opposition politicians and some civil societies.

They claimed that the PCA was another form of the ISA. Asked to comment on the objections, Najib said: "It doesn't mean that we have to consult all stakeholders, but they are free to give us their views."

Chief Justice: No need to consult Bar

Posted:

PUTRAJAYA: Consulting the Bar Council is merely a "courtesy" and deemed not necessary in the latest elevation of judges to the Federal and Appeal courts, said Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria.

"It (consulting the Bar) is not within the law. We consult when it is necessary," he said.

The head of the judiciary said there were no formal discussions because there are no provisions under the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Act for input from the council.

He said the criteria for appointment of judges included accomplishments in resolving cases, quality of judgements, integrity, knowledge in the law, ability in the field judicial administration, professional experience and judicial temperament.

Three Court of Appeal judges were elevated to the apex court.

They are Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali, 63, Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin, 62, and Datuk Ramly Ali, 60.

Four High Court judges were also sworn in to the Court of Appeal, including Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam, 61, Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, 64, Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid, 59, and Datuk Varghese George Varughese, 63.

The JAC was established in 2009 to re-build public confidence in the judiciary. It currently comprises the top four judges, a serving Federal Court judge and four retired judges.

Among its functions are selecting suitably qualified persons who merit appointment as judges of the superior court for the Prime Minister's consideration and to receive applications from qualified persons for the selection of judges.

On judges who were late in writing their grounds of judgement, especially in criminal cases, he said while guidelines required them to be written in eight weeks, a certain degree of leniency was allowed for complicated cases.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Girlfriend lookalikes molested

Posted:

A Certis Cisco inspector was so enraptured with his online girlfriend that he molested a 12-year-old and a 22-year-old who looked like her.

Neo Chip Wei, 28, now unemployed, was jailed for three years yesterday and ordered to be caned three times.

After midnight on June 24, he followed a 22-year-old executive from a bus stop to her block in Woodlands.

As she was about to walk out of the lift, he hugged her from behind. She screamed and he fled.

Two days later, he followed the younger victim from Paya Lebar MRT station to the block of flats in Geylang Serai where she lived.

Then, while they were in the lift, he grabbed her and carried her to the lift landing of the 15th floor where he molested her. She started crying and Ng fled.

Neo told psychiatrists that he had been involved in an online relationship with a girl since 2010 whom he knew as "Cheryl".

He said he had only seen pictures of her and she only wanted to meet him when she turns 18 next year.

He said that the victims looked like her.

Pleading for a lenient sentence, defence counsel Rajan Supramaniam said that Neo has a degree in electronic commerce from the National University of Singapore.

He was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2011 and also has a personality disorder. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Singaporeans not 'emotionless' after all

Posted:

Just a year ago, Singapore was ranked the world's most emotionless society by a Gallup survey.

In a major turnaround, it has now been singled out as the country which has recorded the biggest surge in "positive emotions" in the latest edition of the same survey.

According to the findings released yesterday, 70% of respondents here reported more positive emotions last year, compared to 46% the year before – the biggest jump among the 143 countries and areas surveyed by the international polling firm.

That catapulted the republic from the bottom of the table in the 2011 study to the top half of the "positive" league of nations. Gallup attributed the upswing in positive emotions to the "unprecedented attention" given to the 2011 study, which could have influenced how Singaporeans responded to the latest survey.

"The rise (in positive emotions) took place among all demographic groups, even as other societal measures remained steady," Gallup noted.

The survey polled about 1,000 people aged 15 and above from each of the 143 countries and areas in 2012. They were asked if they had felt five positive and five negative emotions the day before they were polled.

Questions included whether they felt well-rested and respected, if they laughed and smiled a lot, and if they had done or learnt something interesting. The "yes" results were then compiled into a Positive Experience Index score.

Latin American nations Paraguay and Venezuela continued to top the index, while places like Syria and Iraq were ranked the lowest. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

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No Black Tie hosts united nations of jazz music

Posted:

The music still flows at No Black Tie, with artistes from all over the world coming in to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

STARTING a live venue and maintaining it for the immediate future in a scene that's yet to establish a fertile live culture is already daunting, what more to have a club thrive for 15 years. But that's the story of industry standard No Black Tie (NBT). Klang Valley's most established live music joint turns 15 this month, and in conjunction with the celebrations, is offering a mouthwatering serving of acts throughout October.

Guiding the haunt through years of indifference, apathy and most importantly, unadulterated music, is club owner Evelyn Hii. She must be doing something right to have musicians constantly keeping their fingers crossed to get the chance to play there. She recognises the difficulty in keeping her establishment afloat, but is led by her singular guiding light – the music.

"To keep the passion for music burning. If you love what you do, you always think about how you're going to make it better, and you learn with time," Hii revealed her recipe for success during a recent interview.

Through the years, NBT has notched innumerable career highlights, but stumbling blocks there have been, too, not least, getting jazz music across.

Like many other developing nations, pop culture has a stranglehold on the listening audience. "The challenge that lies ahead is to expose our audience to more contemporary jazz gigs, so they can be more open, curious and receptive to new sounds, to a whole range of colours and palettes in music," she explained.

Hii also aspires to change the misconception that most Asian audiences have been made victims of the all-too-familiar malaise – the louder the music, the better it is.

The live music culture here has gone through the usual sequence of ups and downs. There was a time (as recent as the mid/late 1990s) when audiences followed bands around the live circuit, though that largely seems a distant memory now. But what is lacking in club circuit following is being made up for with the numerous music festivals coming up these days.

Still, for a live culture to proliferate, well-equipped music clubs are a must. "On a day-to-day basis, we need more good acoustically designed places for live music in Malaysia. NBT is still standing after so many years because the audience knows that when they step into the club, they are going to experience the music in a totally complete way – sonically, emotionally and visually," said Hii, taking pride in her club's renowned sound quality.

The club has clearly evolved over the years, initially strictly for jazz, classical and world music. But today, blues and even rock has infiltrated its hallowed space.

"NBT's eclectic music policy was borne out of an intent to provide a good acoustic space for music regardless of its genre, the only factor being that it has to be good. And while we focus mainly on jazz gigs, we also appreciate how we can play an important role by showcasing a deserving, and exciting alternative/rock/blues band that's just breaking out. Obviously, with Blues Celebration, we want to highlight to our jazz audience that there are great blues musicians in our midst, and that they also have a place here."

But NBT's desire to branch out harkens back to 2001, when the club hosted the third instalment of indie music authority and Carburetor Dung main man Joe Kidd's "Unclogged" series at the club's older premises a few doors down from its current location.

And 15 years later, that sense of eclecticism remains firmly entrenched in NBT's philosophy. The anniversary celebrations bring together a varied collection of musical acts from the four corners of the world, some of whom are coming back for repeat jaunts.

"We have many great artistes returning to celebrate with us from all over the world, like from the US, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Denise Mininfield, Yuri Honing, Don Gomes & Louis Soliano, Valtinho Anastacio, Mokhtar Samba, Heidi Vogel will all be part of the festival. We will also be welcoming new visiting artistes like Kyle Shepherd, Boi Aikh and Havana Social Club, not forgetting our very own fleet of NBT's favourite Malaysian artists," cooed Hii.

It's NBT's constant supply of quality acts that's kept live music enthusiast crawling back for more. And with the lineup on parade for the anniversary celebrations, long will that continue.

Visit www.noblacktie.com.my for the complete lineup of acts.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Metro: South & East

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The Star Online: Metro: South & East

Girlfriend lookalikes molested
Singaporeans not 'emotionless' after all
Two workers killed after crane collapses at art gallery site