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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Crichton died


one of my favorite author Michael Crichton has died becoz of cancer. I love reading his books since my school days. Condolences to his family.


By HILLEL ITALIE,AP National Writer AP - Thursday, November 6
Michael Crichton, the million-selling author who made scientific research terrifying and irresistible in such thrillers as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain," has died of cancer, his family said. Crichton died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 66 after privately battling cancer.

"Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand," his family said in a statement.
"While the world knew him as a great storyteller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us _ and entertained us all while doing so _ his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes."
He was an experimenter and popularizer known for his stories of disaster and systematic breakdown, such as the rampant microbe of "The Andromeda Strain" or the dinosaurs running madly in "Jurassic Park." Many of his books became major Hollywood movies, including "Jurassic Park," "Rising Sun" and "Disclosure." Crichton himself directed and wrote "The Great Train Robbery" and he co-wrote the script for the blockbuster "Twister."
In 1994, he created the award-winning TV hospital series "ER." He's even had a dinosaur named for him, Crichton's ankylosaur.
"Michael's talent out-scaled even his own dinosaurs of `Jurassic Park,'" said "Jurassic Park" director Steven Spielberg, a friend of Crichton's for 40 years. "He was the greatest at blending science with big theatrical concepts, which is what gave credibility to dinosaurs again walking the Earth. ... Michael was a gentle soul who reserved his flamboyant side for his novels. There is no one in the wings that will ever take his place."
John Wells, executive producer of "ER" called the author "an extraordinary man. Brilliant, funny, erudite, gracious, exceptionally inquisitive and always thoughtful.
"No lunch with Michael lasted less than three hours and no subject was too prosaic or obscure to attract his interest. Sexual politics, medical and scientific ethics, anthropology, archaeology, economics, astronomy, astrology, quantum physics, and molecular biology were all regular topics of conversation."
Neal Baer, a physician who became an executive producer on "ER," was a fourth-year medical student at Harvard University when Wells, a longtime friend, sent him Crichton's script.
"I said, `Wow, this is like my life.' Michael had been a medical student at Harvard in the early '70s and I was going through the same thing about 20 years later," said Baer. "ER" offered a fresh take on the TV medical drama, making doctors the central focus rather than patients. In the early life of "ER," Crichton, who hadn't been involved in medicine for years, and Spielberg would take part in writers' room discussions.
In recent years, Crichton was the rare novelist granted a White House meeting with President Bush, perhaps because of his skepticism about global warming, which Crichton addressed in the 2004 novel, "State of Fear." Crichton's views were strongly condemned by environmentalists, who alleged that the author was hurting efforts to pass legislation to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
If not a literary giant, he was a physical one, standing 6 feet and 9 inches, and ready for battle with the press. In a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, Crichton came with a tape recorder, text books and a pile of graphs and charts as he defended "State of Fear" and his take on global warming.
"I have a lot of trouble with things that don't seem true to me," Crichton said at the time, his large, manicured hands gesturing to his graphs. "I'm very uncomfortable just accepting. There's something in me that wants to pound the table and say, 'That's not true.'"
He spoke to few scientists about his questions, convinced that he could interpret the data himself. "If we put everything in the hands of experts and if we say that as intelligent outsiders, we are not qualified to look over the shoulder of anybody, then we're in some kind of really weird world," he said.
A new novel by Crichton had been tentatively scheduled to come next month, but publisher HarperCollins said the book was postponed indefinitely because of his illness.
One of four siblings, Crichton was born in Chicago and grew up in Roslyn, Long Island. His father was a journalist and young Michael spent much of his childhood writing extra papers for teachers. In third grade, he wrote a nine-page play that his father typed for him using carbon paper so the other kids would know their parts. He was tall, gangly and awkward, and used writing as a way to escape; Mark Twain and Alfred Hitchcock were his role models.
Figuring he would not be able to make a living as writer, and not good enough at basketball, he decided to become a doctor. He studied anthropology at Harvard College, and later graduated from Harvard Medical School. During medical school, he turned out books under pseudonyms. (One that the tall author used was Jeffrey Hudson, a 17th-century dwarf in the court of King Charles II of England.) He had modest success with his writing and decided to pursue it.
His first hit, "The Andromeda Strain," was written while he was still in medical school and quickly caught on upon its 1969 release. It was a featured selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and was sold to Universal in Hollywood for $250,000.
"A few of the teachers feel I'm wasting my time, and that in some ways I have wasted theirs," he told The New York Times in 1969. "When I asked for a couple of days off to go to California about a movie sale, that raised an eyebrow."
His books seemed designed to provoke debate, whether the theories of quantum physics in "Timeline," the reverse sexual discrimination of "Disclosure" or the spectre of Japanese eminence in "Rising Sun."
"The initial response from the (Japanese) establishment was, 'You're a racist,'" he told the AP. "So then, because I'm always trying to deal with data, I went on a tour talking about it and gave a very careful argument, and their response came back, 'Well you say that but we know you're a racist.'"
Crichton had a rigid work schedule: rising before dawn and writing from about 6 a.m. to around 3 p.m., breaking only for lunch. He enjoyed being one of the few novelists recognized in public, but he also felt limited by fame.
"Of course, the celebrity is nice. But when I go do research, it's much more difficult now. The kind of freedom I had 10 years ago is gone," he told the AP. "You have to have good table manners; you can't have spaghetti hanging out of your mouth at a restaurant."
Crichton was married five times and had one child. A private funeral is planned.
___
Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed to this story.

dipetik drpd http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081106/ten-obit-crichton-5e343d7.html"+'%0A';
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Monday, November 3, 2008

Razak Bebas

Abdul Razak Baginda dibebaskan drpd tuduhan bersubahat membunuh.
Ulasan lanjut akan dibuat selepas allias mendapat peluang membaca & meneliti penghakiman bertulis.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

dipetik drpd bernama

Government Wins Appeal In RM136 Million Negligence SuitBy: Ramjit-->
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- The Government of Malaysia has succeeded in its bid to throw out a negligence suit amounting to RM136 million filed by 184 pig farmers and the next-of-kin of those who died in the 1998-1999 Nipah virus epidemic.Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Arifin Zakaria who sat with Federal Court justices Datuk Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman and Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin today unanimously allowed with cost the government's appeal against the Court of Appeal decision in favour of the plaintiffs.Reading the Federal Court judgment, Nik Hashim said the losses claimed by pig farmers were occasioned by the disease, be it of the Nipah virus, and the loss was not occasioned by the Government.The pig farmers' claim was unsustainable and therefore must be struck out, he said.He also said that in any tort against the Government, the officer of the Government who was responsible for the alleged tortious act must be made a party and his liability be established before the Government can be made liable vicariously as principal.He said it would be insufficient to merely identify the officer without joining the officer as a party because liability by evidence needs to be established.It was upon a successful claim against the officer personally, Nik Hashim said, can a claim be laid against the Government."Therefore, the Court of Appeal order is set aside and the orders of the High Court and Senior Assistant Registrar of the High Court are restored and affirmed," he said.The farmers and the others had sought various damages including for the loss of pigs, damage to farm facilities and medical and funeral expenses amounting to RM136 million.In the suit, they named the Federal Government and Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Selangor governments as defendants and accused them of being negligent in handling the virus outbreak in September 1998.They claimed that their losses were caused by the defendants' negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of statutory duty.The High Court Senior Assistant Registrar struck out the suit on Feb 4, 2004 and this was affirmed by the High Court. On April 5, 2005, the Court of Appeal allowed the plaintiffs' appeal and ordered the case to be tried and disposed of speedily at the High Court.Following this, the Government brought the case to the Federal Court.In the 24-page judgement, Nik Hashim said the Court of Appeal was erroneous in concluding that this case was inappropriate to be summarily struck out."The respondents' (pig farmers') case was so untenable and doomed to failure both on the facts and the law. The striking out order of the respondents' action under Order 18 Rule 19(1) of the Rules of the High Court 1980 on the grounds advanced by the appellant (the Government) was therefore correct," he said.He said the court agreed with the Government's submission that the pig farmers' pleading reveal that the claim was not one of continuous tort but relates to specific acts or omissions namely failing to take steps to determine the cause of the outbreak of the virus and failing to refer or send samples to the right experts for examination.He said all these events happened earlier than March 1, 1999 when the virus isolated."The decision made on March 18, 1999 and March 19, 1999 to cull the pigs were actually not challenged. Therefore, since the suit was filed on March 20, 2002, the action was clearly time barred as it was filed out of time," said Nik Hashim.He said the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court had consistently struck out claims when it was clear that the statute of limitations would be relied on or raised.-- BERNAMA

Suit Strike Off

dipetik drpd berita yahoo dipetik drpd bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- The High Court has struck out the defamation suit brought by veteran singer Datuk Sharifah Aini Syed Jaafar against former entertainment journalist Zieman.
Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Yazid Mustafa made the order in open court at about 11.30am after both parties including their lawyers failed to turn up here today.
On Sept 25, the counsel from both sides also did not come for case management. The suit was supposed to be heard today and tomorrow.
Sharifah Aini, 54, sued Zieman (real name Fauziah Mohd Johar) of The Star, over remarks made in a conversation with journalist Saodah Ismail of Agendadaily about the "Johor Ghazal Symphony Concert With Sharifah Aini" held at the Istana Budaya.
The singer filed the suit in April 2004. Fauziah, in her statement of defence, said she was only expressing her opinion and it was a reasonable comment.
-- BERNAMA

Monday, October 20, 2008

economy news

pasted from hairulallias@yahoo.com

AFP - Tuesday, October 21
NEW YORK (AFP) - - World stock markets leapt Monday as investors cheered news of stepped-up government action to snuff out the global finance crisis and a better-than-expected US economic report.
Following solid gains in Asia and Europe, the Dow industrials index leapt 4.67 percent to close at 9,265.43 on Wall Street while the Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 4.77 percent to 985.40. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 3.43 percent to 1,770.03.
"A mood shift may be underway on Wall Street. Talk of a second stimulus plan and signs the credit crunch is easing combined to create a powerful rally today," said Al Goldman, chief market strategist at Wachovia Securities.
A robust start in New York powered a late-session spurt in Europe, with the London FTSE 100 index surging 5.41 percent to close at 4,282.67.
In Paris the CAC 40 jumped 3.56 percent to end the day at 3,448.51 while in Frankfurt the DAX added 1.12 percent to finish at 4,835.01.
There were gains of 4.68 percent in Brussels, 2.48 percent in Milan, 1.92 percent on the Swiss Market Index and 2.99 percent in Madrid.
Sentiment in New York was boosted when Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke threw his support behind another stimulus package to kick-start the economy.
"With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture seems appropriate," Bernanke told lawmakers.
In another positive sign for markets, the Conference Board reported its composite index of leading economic indicators in the United States, covering the coming six months, unexpectedly edged up 0.3 percent in September, the first increase in five months.
Analysts also attributed the strong showings to a weekend decision by the United States and the European Union to hold a series of summits to strengthen the international financial system, with the first meeting expected next month.
But investors nonetheless remained cautious about the impact of a global credit crunch, which was showing signs of easing as banks, stung by the near meltdown in the US housing market, were starting to lend money to one another again.
"There isn't much rhyme or reason for the upward bias, other than the hopeful sense that the market is near a bottom and that all of the government action will succeed in easing the stresses in the credit market," said Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.
The summits proposed over the weekend have "contributed to creating a climate in which investors can have positive expectations," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
But he added: "Markets are still surrounded by uncertainty."
Governments have pumped billions of dollars into troubled banks in recent weeks while central banks have injected huge amounts of cash into money markets in an effort to keep credit flowing and prevent a financial system meltdown.
Sweden became the latest government to shore up its financial sector, presenting a plan worth 1.5 trillion kronor (152.2 billion euros, 206.1 billion dollars).
The French government said it would inject 10.5 billion euros (14 billion dollars) into the country's six biggest banks to boost their capital following moves by fellow European countries.
Among the beneficiaries, the biggest bank Credit Agricole will get three billion euros, BNP Paribas will get 2.55 billion and Societe Generale 1.7 billion.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson also gave more details of the US rescue plan, saying banks had until November 14 to apply for some of the 250 billion dollars set aside for capital injections by the government.
Paulson said "a broad group of banks of all sizes" had shown interest in a capital injection.
With the focus shifting from banks to the non-finance economy, there are growing fears of recessions in the United States, Europe and Japan, while China reported Monday that its economic growth slowed to 9.0 percent in the third quarter of 2008.
The International Labour Organisation meanwhile warned that the financial crisis could lead to record global unemployment with 20 million more people out of work by the end of 2009.
In Latin America, Brazil's Ibovespa soared 8.36 percent and Chile gained 4.65 percent.
In Asia, Tokyo closed up 3.59 percent, Hong Kong surged 5.3 percent, Seoul gained 2.3 percent, while Shanghai won 2.25 percent.

Money politics

dipetik drpd yahoo!news melalui hairulallias@yahoo.com

AFP - Monday, October 20
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - - A veteran leader of Malaysia's ruling party said Monday he had been asked to pay for votes in an upcoming contest for top posts, and warned that money politics would destroy the organisation.

Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said "the majority" of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) members were more interested in making money out of the election than in voting for the right person.
"The majority of UMNO people want to look for money and not for good leaders," said Rais, a member of UMNO's decision-making committee who is vying for the vice-presidency.
"We have been approached under the cloak of assistance and cloak of contribution. (But) I'm not a player so you don't see my marks going up very high. If you want to be a good player, you have to say yes (to vote-buying)," he told reporters.
Rais, who has been with UMNO for over 33 years, said the problem of money politics within the ruling party should be eradicated or it "will surely kill the party."
UNMO, which has ruled Malaysia since independence, is holding meetings to nominate candidates for party posts after suffering major losses in polls this year. It will hold party elections next March.
"If UMNO cannot curb this practice, UMNO's future is done for because this has been (talked about) for the past two decades and it has not been curbed," he said.
In July, UMNO asked the country's anti-corruption agency to help it battle vote-buying ahead of the heated battle for top leadership positions in the party.
Rais has only garnered five nominations of the 19 needed to contest in the party polls.

Forum on Blogging

Forum on Blogging & Defamation Laws on 23.10.2008 The Information Technology Committee of KL Bar is organising a Forum Forum on Blogging & Defamation Laws on 23.10.2008 at 6.00pm at the Bar Council Auditorium. Admission is FREE. For more details please contact Melissa at melissa@klbar.org.my or at 03-26933585... Click here for more details.

extracted from hairulallias@yahoo.com

Passed Away

Fri: One of Malaysia's most senior lawyers, MS Miranda passed away this morning. He was 83 and also one of the eight practising lawyers called in 1957.
Born on January 15, 1925, Miranda was called to the Malayan (now Malaysian) Bar on November 23, 1957 after having been admitted as a barrister of Middle Temple, London.
The mass will be held on Tuesday, October 21, at the St. Henry's Church here at 10.00am, followed by the funeral thereafter.
You may contact Mr. Ignatious Pereira at +607-4341711 or +6017-7896014 for more details.
The Malaysian Bar extends our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

extracted from hairulallias@yahoo.com

please help!!! Need job urgently

a friend in need!!!
one guy allias met at Permatang Pauh needs a job badly.
His simple resume is enclosed for your viewing.
Please help him if you could.
resume
Mohd Talhah Bin Mohd Ali
contact no. 03-60383793 / 017-6973332 / 017-6973331
Lot 2366 Bt 18 lorong Ros Kg Damai, Kuang 48050 Rawang
22 years old / single /male/malay/Islam
Position: Personal Assistant/Despatch
Education: SPM Grade 3 / PMR Grade 2

allias is a lawyer

INTRODUCTION

please welcome mr. Allias bin Shaari into the bloggers world.

Allias is a lawyer is the theme of this blog.

Allias is a lawyer by profession.

Allias live in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Allias practise law in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Allias has more than 8 years standing as advocate & solicitor

Volenti non fit injuria