WELCOME, 2011!!!... THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT

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MAY 2011 BE A WONDERFUL YEAR FOR ALL OF US!!!
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THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT, 2011

02/03/2011 - 01/22/2012 (Metal)

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2011 is the Year of the Golden Rabbit, which begins on February 3, 2011 and ends on January 22, 2012.  The Rabbit is the fourth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animals signs.  The Rabbit is a lucky sign.  Rabbits are private individuals and a bit introverted.  People born in the Year of the Rabbit are reasonably friendly individuals who enjoy the company of a group of good friends.  They are good teachers, counselors and communicators, but also need their own space.

According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves.  It is a time for negotiation.  Don't try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail.  To gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children.   Make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise.

Not many people know that the Rabbit is the symbol of the Moon, while the Peacock is the symbol of the Sun, and that together, these two animal signs signify the start of day and night, represent the Yin and Yang of life.  It is said that anyone making supplications for wishes to be fulfilled are certain to get what they want... and in the Year of the Rabbit, the wish-granting aspect of the Sun and the Moon combined is multiplied.  The Moon is YIN and this is the Yin of Heaven, signifying magic.  Thus on each of the Full Moon nights of this year, go out into your garden to gaze into the Full Moon and visualize plenty of Moon dust and Moon glow flowing into you, filling your whole body with bright white light and granting you fearlessness, love and courage.  This will not only strengthen your inner "Chi" energy, it will also bring wisdom into your life.

      

              

The Sign of the Rabbit

People born in the Year of the Rabbit share certain characteristics:  Keen, wise, fragile, tranquil, serene, considerate, fashionable, and kind.  Generally, they are quite calm, do not exhibit aggressive behavior, and will avoid confrontation at all costs.  When angry about something, they will approach it calmly and considerately, hardly ever raising their voice.  And they are quite keen and pay close attention to the situations developing around them.  They are intelligent and quick, and can talk themselves in or out of most situations with no problem.

The Rabbit is a symbol for mercy, elegance, and worship of beauty.  People born in the Year of the Rabbit are kind, loving persons, and dislike any hostile act.  They give others an impression of being frail-looking because of their gentle appearance.  But, in fact they are strong-minded and have strong wills.  They pursue their ideals all their lives in a precise and orderly way.  They do things slowly and deliberately because of their cautious characters.

There is no need to worry about their lives.  They are nimble, clever and good at avoiding harm to themselves. They are talented and like artistic ventures, such as painting and music and are generally quite present in these worlds.  They are also very hospitable, good hosts and warm-hearted companions.  They never embrace others in public places.  They know the art of saving face and giving consideration to the interests of both sides.

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are apt to be sensitive to ailments and to have bad allergies.  Stress or conflict will detriment their health.  Exercise could take off unnecessary stress and strengthen their physical condition.  They have to learn to incorporate more action into their everyday routines.   

They will become depressed and withdrawn if their homes do not consist of beautiful possessions that make them comfortable.  Their homes and offices usually are clutter-free.  They have really good communication skills and are best utilized in positions of management.  They make great teachers and counselors because they are so diplomatic and well-organized.  They can also make great painters or musicians due to their sense of beauty and their love of creativity.

Rabbit people are usually relatively careful when it comes to their finances.  They use much of their money for possessions such as their homes, cars or furniture.  They love hunting for antiques, arts and crafts and will tend to make sound investments in these types of things.

Rabbit Years:  01/29/1903 to 02/15/1904 (Water), 02/14/1915 to 02/02/1916 (Wood), 02/02/1927 to 01/22/1928 (Fire),  02/19/1939 to 02/07/1940 (Earth),  02/06/1951 to 01/26/1952 (Metal),  01/25/1963 to 02/12/1964 (Water),  02/11/1975 to 01/30/1976 (Wood),  01/29/1987 to 02/16/1988 (Fire),  02/16/1999 to 02/04/2000 (Earth),  02/03/2011 to 01/22/2012 (Metal).

Famous Rabbit People:  Angelina Jolie, Anjelica Huston, Drew Barrymore, Edith Piaf, Fanny Brice, Helen Hunt, Jane Seymour, Joan Crawford, Kate Winslet, Natasha Richardson, and Tina Turner.

(Spring Liao, 10/15/2007)

travel

Filthiest Story of the Day: Website Declares World's Dirtiest Hotels

by: Glen Levy

The Beach Garbage Hotel in Madrid, Spain was not on Trip Advisor's dirtiest hotels list but which ones were?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.
The global obsession of needing to know before you go has arguably resulted in holiday makers seemingly spending as much time checking out hotel reviews on the likes of Trip Advisor as the eventual vacation itself. But in this democratic society we now find ourselves in, it bears repeating that for every five star review must be its one star equivalent. And if you wanted to know more about the dirtiest hotels of them all, read on.

CHECK THE LIST: http://www.tripadvisor.com/DirtyHotels-g191
Trip Advisor has complied these dirty top 10's for the U.S., Europe, Asia and India and it literally isn't pretty reading. Taking the top spot in America is the Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Naturally, a key quote from a reader review is included and while it could have been worse -- an actual pigeon could have been mentioned for example -- it's still damning: "There was dirt at least 1/2" thick in the bathtub which was filled with lots of dark hair."
In Europe, Club Aqua Gumbet in Turkey won out (though "won" feels like the wrong word) with the ever so charming, "Pool was tainted by the sewer flooding into it whenever it rained." Over in Asia, Singapore's Goldkist Beach Resort also had a hair related quote ("There was a large clump of hair covering the shower drain") and nearby in India, New Delhi's Hotel Namaskar doesn't exactly sound like a haven of calm bliss: "The windows were partially covered with pieces of old newspaper and lots of dirt."
(See 10 things to do in Singapore.)
NewsFeed imagines that these hotels, and all the others that made the hit list, are being cleaned as we speak, though the mere placing of chocolates on the pillow might not be quite enough to entice the public to go back.

 

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/26/what-are-trip-advisors-dirtiest-hotels/#ixzz1C9LqiDRK

Tongue Twisters: What's the Longest Word in the English Language?

By: William Lee Adams

They're an orgy of consonants and syllables, of abstruse meanings and highly specialized use. But are the longest words in our language actually words?
Krulwich Wonders, a science blog on NPR, posed that question recently, listing some of the key contenders for the title of biggest mouthful. Among the finalists was honorificabilitundinitatibus, a 27-letter word known to have been used just once in written form, in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost by a clown arrested for getting naughty with a milkmaid. The word translates from Latin as "the state of being able to achieve honors." As Krulwich points out, we should probably disqualify it from the contest. It's used during a speech about wordiness, suggesting old William created it just to be wordy.
(More on TIME.com: Hangman, Spare That Word: The English Purge Their Language.)
Another front-runner was antidisestablishmentarianism, the 28-letter, 12-syllable word describing the political position, originating in 19th century Britain, that opposed the disestablishment of the Church of England. Krulwich, perhaps less convincingly here, dismisses it as "just a bundle of suffixes and prefixes piled up into a little attention-grabbing hummock." Other discounted rejects include supercalifragilisticexpialidocious—the 34-letter word that means absolutely nothing but gave Dick van Dyke and Julie Andrews something to sing about in Mary Poppins. And the chemical compound for the tobacco mosaic virus: C₇₈₅H₁₂₂₀N₂₁₂O₂₄₈S₂.  When written out, it begins glutaminylphenylalanylval....and carries on for 1,160 more letters. Unfortunately for that virus, the Guinness Book of World Records has determined that tryptophan is an even bigger molecule (in terms of letters anyway).
Of course, considering molecules for the longest word is kind of cray cray. Sure, science-speak uses elements of English, but English it is not. Krulwich makes note of that, too, and disqualifies glutamin....for being too "technical." Sam Kean, the author of The Disappearing Spoon, determined the longest non-technical word was pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis, apparently slang for the disease you get when you inhale silicon dioxide. Yes, "slang."
(More on TIME.com: Twitter and Gourmet Sex: They're in the Dictionary Now.)
And while NewsFeed struggles to distinguish between technical and non-technical, jargon and mainstream, we do have a few really long names of places up our sleeves. They include:
- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a town in Wales whose name means "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave." It's the longest name place in Europe. Tack on a ".com" and it's the world's longest URL without hyphens, too.
- Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapi
himaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu, the 85-letter name of a hill in New Zealand. It translates from Mäori as "the place where Tamatea, the man with big knees, who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as land-eater, played on the flute to his loved one." Beautiful.
But surely the 163-character ceremonial name of Bangkok, Thailand takes the cake: Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. That translates as "the city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarma." (via NPR)
(More on TIME.com: See the Top 10 Buzzwords of 2010.)

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/25/tongue-twisters-whats-the-longest-word-in-the-english-language/#ixzz1C9LPjaEQ

China's Year of the Rabbit: Not So Great For All Those Abducted Baby Rabbits

China's Year of the Rabbit: Not So Great For All Those Abducted Baby Rabbits

By: Hillary Brenhouse

Rabbits being displayed for sale at a sidewalk market in Bogor city, West Java, ahead of the Year of the Rabbit festivities which begin on February 3 / ROMEO GACAD / AFP / Getty Images

2011 is, by the Chinese zodiac cycle, the Year of the Rabbit, which is far worse news for baby bunnies than you might imagine.
As China hippity-hops into the Lunar New Year, street vendors, pet shops and flower stalls across the mainland (and in other parts of Asia) are selling infant rabbits en masse. To meet a surging demand for the little furballs, the prices of which have been significantly raised, vendors often wrench them from their mothers much too early.
Rarely do the bunnies, once purchased, survive the trip home. Those that do make it are usually abandoned by owners who very quickly tire of their new pets.
(See TIME's top 10 animal stories of 2010.)
Web retailers have also jumped on the bunny bandwagon, posting rabbits illegally by regular mail to online customers. Most of the hares are dead on arrival, having suffocated or frozen to death in their cardboard confines, but that hasn't slowed a proliferation of orders. According to Shanghaiist, these companies demand that the rabbit corpses be returned to them if consumers want a refund.
PETA and other animal rights groups have issued statements imploring Chinese residents not to buy into the egregious trend. “There's no better time to help rabbits than during the Year of the Rabbit, and you can do so by refusing to support the pet trade that causes so many animals to suffer,” Maggie Chen, a Beijing-based PETA campaigner, told the AFP.
(Read "Energizer Bunnies: Turning Rabbits into Green Fuel.")
The rabbits are being disposed of in dumpsters and mailboxes by ill-equipped New Year's celebrators who fail to realize how fragile and high-maintenance a bunny can be. “Rabbits aren't just cute and fluffy,” Chen says, noting that the animals, like any other pets, require a significant amount of attention and veterinary care.
The hares are seen as bringers of luck, but a dead bunny doesn't seem like a particularly good omen for the future. (via Shanghiist)

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/26/china%e2%80%99s-year-of-the-rabbit-not-so-great-for-rabbits/#ixzz1C9KvECtM

China Plans A New Mega City: Population, 42 Million

By: Michele Travierso

REUTERS/Bobby Yip

An aerial view shows high-rise residential buildings in China's southern city of Shenzhen, which neighbours Hong Kong in this May 24, 2006 file photo.

A city the size of Switzerland? If China gets it's way, yes.
Some ambitious apparatchiks in southern China want to combine 9 cities to create an urban area the size of New Jersey and Vermont combined.
The plan, announced in state media, would unite several existing cities in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region, including Guangzhou (12 million), Shenzhen (8.6 million), Dongguan (6.9 million) and six smaller cities. Together, these cities already account for about 10% of China's economy, the Telegraph notes.
(Read about the 30th anniversary of the foundation of Shenzhen)
The Party's planners hope improved transport links and better infrastructure be beneficial to the population and to greater economic efficiencies . Other areas in China are facing a similar gravitational pull to merge together, notably Beijing with its southern smaller twin Tianjin, already joined by a high speed train link.
Rich neighbors  Hong Kong and Macau will not join the super sprawl, but it's safe to assume that they'd like to have a say in larger regional themes, like pollution control.
The godzilla-like territory has yet to be named.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/26/china-plans-a-new-mega-city-population-42-million/#ixzz1C9KeAUb4

The Palestine Papers: When 'Behind Closed Doors' Goes Public

By Karl Vick / Abu Dis Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011

ENLARGE PHOTO+

Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, right, walks with then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, center, and Israel's then Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, fourth from right, at the White House in Washington in November 2007

Over the years, Ahmed Qurei sat at the table beside Yasser Arafat and Abu Mazen, as Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is widely known. Qurei, who goes by the name Abu Ala, was less known, a stalwart negotiator who helped bring about the Oslo accords and had a ringside seat at Camp David, but away from the spotlight. Tuesday morning found him at his desk in the Abu Dis suburb of Jerusalem, eyes flicking at regular intervals toward a flat-screen television tuned to al-Jazeera, which had thrust him onstage. For two days straight, the satellite news channel had pounded the Palestinian Authority, publishing minutes of closed-door sessions with the Israelis that place Abu Ala at the center of negotiations driven by offer after plaintive offer from the Palestinian side, and nothing to show for it.
Qurei waves a Marlboro Light in a gesture that takes in the room. "I don't think you need anything," he tells a visitor. "It's all in the papers!"

Not every paper. On Monday, al-Quds, the leading paper in Palestine, published nothing of the al-Jazeera leaks. Tuesday's edition highlighted the PA's pushback, framing the scoop as an effort to sabotage Palestinian moderates. Outside, in the waiting room, an aide stands by a photocopier, running off a Foreign Policy article headlined "Building a Police State in Palestine." (Will the Palestine Papers kill the peace process?)

"Two minutes ago, Tzipi Livni phoned me," says Qurei, naming the Israeli Foreign Minister in 2008, who sat opposite him in many of the transcribed meetings. What did she say? "She said, 'What's this?'"
Good question. There is little in what al-Jazeera calls the Palestine Papers that was not known to anyone who reads coverage of the Middle East peace process. Major elements of a presumed pact — Israel keeping the Jewish neighborhoods it has built around Jerusalem, Palestinians settling for cash payments as a "symbolic" right of refugees to return to homes their families were driven from in 1948 — have been kicking around since at least Camp David, or July 2000. What's new is the verbatim of negotiators actually laying them out, in terms that bring the issues vividly home to a Palestinian public that the leadership has not quite kept in the loop.
Among the many up-close and too-provocative citations from the leaks: chief negotiator Saeb Erekat telling U.S. envoy George Mitchell in October 2009, "The Palestinians need to know that 5 million refugees will not return," and Qurei telling Livni, then running for Prime Minister, "I would vote for you."
"It's a table. You talk," Qurei explains to TIME. "You know negotiations? You talk!"

He first heard rumors of the leaks two months ago but wonders aloud at the timing — just as Palestinians are gaining recognition for statehood from a growing number of foreign governments. It's also pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's expansion of settlements on land that would be a future state. "Without the PLO strong, without the Palestinian leadership strong, without Abu Mazen strong — no solution," Qurei says. (See a profile of Tzipi Livni.)

The leaks could, however, prove more harmful to Israel, where leaders frequently say no peace deal has occurred because "we have no partner." In the papers, the Palestinians certainly come across as making a real effort. "This is not the idea," he says, making a face. "Not to hurt Israel. Not to hurt the Palestinians. We want peace."
The reaction of the Palestinian public is, like the revelations, still unfolding. Al-Jazeera promises two more days of inside information, including possibly devastating details of foreknowledge of Israel's 2008 attack on Gaza. But at this point, ordinary Palestinians say they welcome a bit of transparency.

"Let's suppose the Palestinians have offered all these things to the Israelis. Why haven't they shared them with the people?" asks a man who gives his name as Abu Tawfeq, on the main street a few blocks from Qurei's office. "Hopefully this will put pressure on members of the Authority to share with the people. It shouldn't be a big secret." (Comment on this story.)

A few doors down, Fawaz al-Zeger stands outside a clothing store holding the same thought in mind. "It's appropriate, what al-Jazeera is doing, because what they're saying is true: the Palestinian negotiating team feels that Palestine is their property," he says. "What al-Jazeera is doing may stop them from doing as they please. The role of the negotiators is not to offer anything before they get the permission of the people, and that's why we don't have peace." Al-Zeger adds, "I'm sorry, but they should be reminded. I'm just saying what I feel and what most people feel."
Not everyone will say it, though. The West Bank has certainly been a safer place in recent years, but human-rights activists complain that security forces that wage a ceaseless war on followers of Hamas — the Islamist militant group that controls the perhaps 40% of Palestinians who live on the Gaza Strip — also inhibit dissent. "I'm a young man. I don't want to be put in prison," says Ayman, declining to comment from his perch on a cement wall. A few steps further along, outside a burger joint, a young man named Ziad says he also declines "to get involved." But he allows, with a smile, "I believe what I hear."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2044314,00.html#ixzz1C9KAa41R

2011 Oscar Nominations: Who Will Win?

 2011 Oscar Nominations: Who Will Win?

Is this the year of Natalie Portman? Will James Franco get to present himself an award at the ceremony? And which biopic subject will find favor with Academy voters, Mark Zuckerberg or King George VI? TIME surveys the 2011 Oscar nominations

And the Nominees Are ...

By Richard Corliss Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011

Actress Mo'Nique and Academy president Tom Sherak announce the Best Picture nominations in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 25, 2011

 

Trumpets for His Majesty! The King's Speech, the story of King George VI's triumph over stammering, spoke clearly during the Jan. 25 roll call of Oscar nominations, earning 12, followed by the western remake True Grit, with 10. The Social Network, long a favorite for Best Picture, picked up eight nominations, in part because it received only one nod in the four acting categories (we miss you, Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer) and also because it didn't get the craft nominations that bulk up the stash of a period film like The King's Speech. Acting favorites Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Christian Bale and Melissa Leo (both in The Fighter) all received their preliminary due. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also continued its cold-shouldering of Christopher Nolan: he was denied a Best Director nomination for Inception, as he was two years ago for The Dark Knight. (See "Critics' Awards: An Early Clue to the Oscars?)

In other fraud-at-polls news, two sectors of the Academy committed unconscionable boners. The documentary division ignored Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for "Superman" and Alex Gibney's studies of Jack Abramoff and Eliot Spitzer, the better to include Josh Fox's amateur-night Gasland. (Guggenheim's exclusion may establish Exit Through the Gift Shop, the anarcho-whimsical doc from mysterioso street artist Banksy, as a slight favorite over the political exposé Inside Job.) And the foreign-film branch, which perplexes annually, slighted the two best eligible movies: France's Of Gods and Men and South Africa's Life, Above All. That gives a leg up to Biutiful, directed by previous Best Director nominee (for Babel) Alejandro González Iñárritu, and starring Oscar winner and Best Actor nominee Javier Bardem.
Who was nominated in the seven major categories? Who might win on Oscar night, to be held on Feb. 27?

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2044256_2044252_2044271,00.html%20#ixzz1C9ItJVHJ

5 Things You Don't Know About the Olsen Twins' Sister, Elizabeth

5 Things You Don't Know About the Olsen Twins' Sister, Elizabeth

Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Tuesday – January 25, 2011 – 7:22pm

 

Turns out the Olsen home is, indeed, a Full House of talent. The latest darling: 21-year-old Elizabeth, who hit the Sundance Film Festival this week with two new indie flicks -- the horror film, Silent House and the psychological thriller about a women who escapes a cult, Martha Marcy May Marlene. UsMagazine.com uncovers some need-to-know info about Ashley and Mary Kate's little sis.

1. She's studying psychology at NYU. The actress, who attends the Tisch School of the Arts, says her interest in the human mind is what attracted her to the paranoid title character in Martha Marcy May Marlene. "I find mental illnesses fascinating," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "In fact, right now I'm taking a class on Freud at New York University."
PHOTOS: More red carpet newcomers
2. She's a modest dresser. Even though she goes nude in Martha Marcy May Marlene, Olsen doesn't like to flash flesh in real life. "Me as a person, I don't even wear things that show my midriff ever," she told the New York Times. "I’m a very covered-up human being."
3. She's acted alongside her famous sibs. Olsen, who has been doing theater and dance since she was a kid, had cameos in The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley series and their flick, How the West Was Fun. "They would be like, 'Hey Lizzie, you want to be on this one?' I would be like, 'Okay!,' and then they would put gum in my hair," she explained.
PHOTOS: Check out these child stars
4. She's not afraid to suffer for her craft. While filming the thriller, Silent House over a five-week period, she wore herself out while trying to maintain the appropriate level of hysteria. "It was so exhausting," she told The L.A. Times. "I got bad migraines from crying too much, and sinus infections from all the snot."
5. She's already got music cred. A teenage Olsen appeared in the 2007 music video for "The Queen," by indie alternative rock band, Carlotta. Sample lyrics? "You stabbed me right in the heart/You planned it right from the start."

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem Welcome a Child!

Congratulations are in order for Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, who welcomed their first child together on Tuesday.

PHOTOS: Who's ready to give birth next?
According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the infant was born at Cedars Sinai Hospital in L.A.
PHOTOS: The cutest babies in Hollywood
Cruz, 36, first debuted her baby bump while shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in Puerto Rico last September -- just two months after she secretly tied the knot with Bardem, her Vicky Cristina Barcelona costar.
"He's a friend and the best actor in the world," Cruz has said of Bardem, 41.
PHOTOS: Famous star families
The newborn's name and gender have yet to be announced.

Egypt protests: Demonstrators 'face prosecution'

There have been suggestions protesters will try to gather for a second day

Egypt protests: Demonstrators 'face prosecution'
Watch video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12283849

The BBC's Jon Leyne: "Tear gas and water cannon were used against protesters"

Egypt is to crack down on public protest and has vowed to arrest and prosecute anyone found taking to the streets against the government.

Public gatherings, protests and marches will no longer be tolerated, the interior ministry has said.
The warning came as a fourth person died after nationwide protests, which were broken up with tear gas overnight.
Medics said the injured person died in Suez, in the east of Egypt, where two protesters were killed on Tuesday.
A police officer was also killed amid the violence in Cairo.
Police used water cannon late on Tuesday as they forced protesters from Tahrir Square, a symbolic city centre location in the heart of Cairo.

Analysis

Jon Leyne BBC News, Cairo

---

The statement from the interior ministry indicates that the Egyptian government wants to tough it out. Which comes as no surprise at all. Technically all demonstrations are already illegal without government permission, which the opposition is rarely granted.
But this does contrast with a statement from the foreign ministry, which claimed the country had an open environment of freedom of expression. There have been some calls for new demonstrations, but so far no substantial numbers have gathered and even the police presence is not overwhelming.

Protesters had been inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia, vowing to stay until the government fell.

Small crowds had gathered in Tahrir Square on Wednesday morning, just hours after the last protesters were removed. But there were few signs of a heavy police presence.
Demonstrations are illegal in Egypt, which has been ruled by President Hosni Mubarak since 1981. The government tolerates little dissent and opposition demonstrations are routinely outlawed.
In Washington, the White House urged the Egyptian government to allow protests to go ahead, describing the situation as "an important opportunity" for the nation.
France's foreign minister said she regretted the loss of life in Egypt but said democracy should be encouraged in all countries around the world.
Social protesting
Tuesday's event had been co-ordinated on a Facebook page, where the organisers said they were taking a stand against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment.

“Start Quote

We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments connect with their people”

• Egypt protests face net clampdown

They said that the rally would mark "the beginning of the end".

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, said that it had been unclear how many people would respond to the online call, but in the end, the turnout was more than the organisers could have hoped.
Police were taken aback by the anger of the crowd and let protesters make their way to Tahrir Square near the parliament building, he says.
Microblogging site Twitter also played a key part, with supporters inside and outside Egypt using the search term #jan25 to post news of the day.
However, Twitter confirmed later on Tuesday that it had been blocked inside Egypt from 1600 GMT, meaning many were unable to post updates from the scene.
"We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments connect with their people," Twitter said on its official account.
There have been renewed calls for protest on Wednesday, but there is no indication yet whether they will attract large crowds.
'Mubarak the coward'
The crowd's anger was largely focused on the president on Tuesday, with thousands calling for his resignation and "Down with Mubarak" scrawled on the walls of buildings.
But at 0100 local time (2300 GMT Tuesday) police moved in, firing tear gas and driving protesters into nearby streets. There were reports that some people had been beaten by police.
"It got broken up ugly with everything, shooting, water cannon and [police] running with the sticks," one of the last protesters to leave, Gigi Ibrahim, told the Associated Press.
Protests were also held out in other areas of the country on Tuesday, including the eastern city of Ismailiya.
Thousands joined protests in the northern port city of Alexandria, some chanting: "Revolution, revolution, like a volcano, against Mubarak the coward."
In Washington, the White House said Egypt's government had "an important opportunity to be responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people".
In a statement, it said Egypt should "pursue political, economic and social reforms that can improve their lives and help Egypt prosper".
"The United States is committed to working with Egypt and the Egyptian people to advance these goals," it added.
'Rudderless' opposition
The Egyptian government said it had allowed Tuesday's protesters "to voice their demands and exercise their freedom of expression".
It blamed the violence on the banned Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood, although they were reported to have been ambivalent about the protests.
One opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, had called on Egyptians to take part in the protests.
Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from power and fled the country earlier this month, after weeks of protests in which dozens of people were killed.
Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia - rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption.
However, the population of Egypt has a much lower level of education than Tunisia. Illiteracy is high and internet penetration is low.
There are deep frustrations in Egyptian society, our Cairo correspondent says, adding that Egypt is widely seen to have lost power, status and prestige in the three decades of President Mubarak's rule.

Are you in Cairo? Did you attend the protests? Send us your comments using the form below.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Do you remember The Golden Girls' Betty White?

.... Yes, Betty White fever continues! She is on Hot in Cleveland, one of the most famous tv shows nowadays in the US...

Watch the interview:http://veja.abril.com.br/blog/temporadas/series-renovadas/hot-in-cleveland-ganha-nova-temporada/
Watch an episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezdQKhHFBmE

... Hot in Cleveland is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White. The series centers around three past-their-prime entertainment industry veterans from Los Angeles whose lives are changed when their Paris-bound plane lands in Cleveland, Ohio. There they find a welcoming community that is less shallow, youth-obsessed and weight-conscious than L.A., and where one of them leases a home with a sassy caretaker.

The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history. The series premiered June 16, 2010, and was picked up for ten episodes.^[1] On July 7, 2010 TV Land announced that the show was renewed for a second season, which began production on 20 episodes on November 1, 2010 and premiered January 19, 2011.

'Hot In Cleveland' gets second season. Betty White fever continues!

by Kate Ward

Image Credit: Evans Ward/PictureGroupAs Annie Barrett already told you dear readers, it’s hot here in New York. But you know where it’s even hotter? Cleveland. And not just because of all the hullabaloo over Lebron James. Nope, TV Land announced today that it has already picked up a second season of Hot in Cleveland, after just three episodes have aired.
Does this mean we all can expect to have Betty White fever for another year? (Side effects: a non-stop case of the chuckles, a cozy warming sensation in the heart.) Looks like it: The network also announced that all four stars of the series — Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and White — will be returning for all 20 episodes of season two. And if the show continues to boast stellar ratings (according to TV Land, the show is averaging 4.7 million viewers), could we expect to see Cleveland, and White fever, ride straight into a third season?
Either way, you would think 20 more episodes would cheer up Leeves in this photo, no?