Four more contestants were eliminated as American Idol revealed the names of the hopefuls with the lowest number of votes for their Top20 performances. The theme for this week’s shows were music from the 70s. Thursday’s results show saw former Making The Band semifinalist Jason Yeager and Robbie Carrico leave the competition from the boys’ side while a somewhat shocker of an elimination had Alaina Whitaker and Alexandrea Lushington leave the  girls’ side. Interestingly, all four received minimal airtime prior to the semifinals week so they all came into the public voting round at a very big  disadvantage. Contestants who had a solid voting base due to the spin of the audition footage already have one foot in as far as reaching the final 12 – six guys and six girls— was concerned.

Jason Yeager sang the Doobie Brothers classic the ‘Long Train Running’ to luke warm reviews from both the judges and apparently, viewers and voters. Robbie Carrico from Florida didn’t do much better. His rendition of Foreigner’s ‘Hot Blooded’ wasn’t enough to save him for next week’s 80’s show.

Douglasville, Georgia’s Alexandrea Lushington languished with her performance of Chicago’s ‘If You Leave Me Now’ and finished with the least number of votes among the girls. Lushington competed alongside heavy favorite David  Archuleta way back in Star Search but unlike  the 17 year-old contestant from Utah, Alexandrea wasn’t given ample TV time to be able to share her backstory to America.

Alaina Whitaker of Tulsa, Oklahoma was eliminated after singing ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ by Olivia Newton-John. Whitaker broke down in the middle of her swan song and had to be consoled by the other contestants who survived the results show.

Next week, the remaining 16  contestants will sing songs from the 80s. The bottom two guys and bottom two girls will again be cut from the competition and the twelve who survive the cut will be this season’s finalist.

Still in the running are David Archuleta, David Cook, David Hernandez, Danny Noriega, Chikezie Eze, Michael Johns, Luke Menard and  Jason Castro for the guys. For the girls, Syesha Mercado, Ramiele Malubay, Carly Smithson, Brooke White, Amanda Overmyer, Asia’h Epperson, Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Smith still have a shot of becoming the American Idol.

Prince Harry is the third in line to the crown after his father and his older brother, Prince William. According to the report from the military, the Prince was supposed to come back from service in a few weeks’ time, but due to the leak – something that was described as ‘regrettable’ — the tour of duty had to cut short. The report also added that such a contingency plan has always been in place in case of such incidents.

The Prince has never really had a good relationship with the media. Photographers have caught him in various states of drunkenness numerous times in the pas

Seventeen year-old Garret Haley from Elida, Ohio failed to wow judges  with his performance of Neil Sedaka’s ‘Breaking Up His Hard To Do’. Haley has drawn comparisons to Leif Garret and Peter Frampton due to his shaggy blond hair. Not faring much better is another celebrity look-alike. Colton Berry has more than a passing resemblance  to talk show host Ellen de Generes, but that link to fame was not able to help him sale through the  next round. After not doing much justice to Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’, the theater enthusiast was eliminated by virtue of ending up eleventh in the voting.

Amy Davis was  not able bank on her experience  in talent shows  to go far on Idol. Davis was previously a contestant on Nashville Star – a country music singing competition — but her performance of Connie Francis’ ‘Where The Boys Are’ made her seem  like a new comer. Plus-sized model Joanne Borgella finished eleventh after singing Dione Warwick’s ‘I Say A Little Prayer’.

Edwards never had the privilege of being the front runner in this tight race. In the opinion polls, media spins and debates, people have always felt that it has been largely a battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Edwards was often just an afterthought and an under card to the main event type of clash that the senators from New York and Illinois had to offer.

It is why it’s not surprising that Edwards has decided to quit the race to White House after losing in the first four states holding caucuses and primaries. Edwards had a strong showing in Iowa, but when the results from New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina came in, it was clear that it was going to be a very hard uphill climb to win in the so-called Super Tuesday states. Taking his party’s sake into consideration, Edwards chose to withdraw his bid and said that he will endorse a candidate at a later time.

Now that Edwards is gone, this sets up the race between Hillary and Obama. Hillary leads Obama  in virtually all the Super Tuesday states as of now, but if Obama can connect to the orphaned Edwards supporters, we may be in for a really super duper Tuesday.

Yup, order is in fact needed in the realm of animals for a new peculiar creature has recently been added to the growing list of animals. The mountains of Tanzania was the fitting venue for the discovery as scientists from California Academy of Sciences documented the existence of a previously unknown species of giant elephant shrew or sengi.

The newest member of Class Mammalia – Rhynochocyon udzungwensis – is the size of a cat and curiously looks like a cross between a small antelope and a small anteater. The animal has delicate thin legs and a flexible snout, thus the drawing the comparisons from the aforementioned larger animals. Unlike other small animals that commonly camouflage their way into the background, the elephant shrew are strikingly flashy with their fur. While most shrews would come in hues of grey and brown, the sengi seemingly breaks all conventions about blending in and keeping a low profile by showing a very rich shade of orange and amber.

The country  of Tanzania has long been ground zero as far as the discovery of new species is concerned. New species  of partridges, shrews and even primates have been documented in the Udzungwa Mountains making it the favored location for naturalists and zoologists for further enhancing the animal inventory.

Considering the wealth of information and  unknown species that  lie hidden in the untouched reaches of the jungles, it’s important that we all do our part to protect these areas. Once these areas open up, it’s possible that there will be little that we can find out from the yet-to-be-discovered species.

Oscar Pistorius is an inspiration to those who know him. As you would see in the picture, he is the fastest man … on no legs. Pistorius is the current world record holder for double amputees on the sprint events (100m, 200m and 400m) and he has been dominating the Paralympics for quite some time now. He has done these feats through the use of carbon fiber transtibial artificial limbs or simply “cheetah blades”. If you compare his record times with the winning times during the last Olympics (yes, the REAL Olympics), his clocking will only be off by a second or two from the gold medalist’s.

To further his legacy and forward the idea that athletes with similar conditions such as his predicament, the 21 year-old native of South Africa tried something that would’ve been unheard of years ago. He has officially asked the International Association of Athletics Association (IAAF) to allow him to compete for the Beijing 2008 Summer Games. His official times are within the cutoff qualifying times set for non-Paralympic athletes and it’s quite clear that Oscar doesn’t give  up an ounce of pride or determination to any of the other “limbed” competitors.

This had the makings of a fairy tale human interest story. After all, who wouldn’t want to see an athlete like Pistorius – someone who had a congenital deformity that forced doctors to amputate his legs when he was  only 11 months — represent his nation and serve as inspiration to a lot of people? It was definitely going to grab headlines and would have definitely landed Oscar stints in countless talkshows.

Unfortunately, the IAAF intervened. The regulatory body for track and field events ruled that the “cheetah blades” allow Pistorius to run at high speed while exerting relatively less effort compared to other athletes who run without the benefit of using advanced suspension technology. Though Pistorius has vowed to appeal the decision, it is going to be unlikely to see cheetah blades on the track later this year in Beijing.

It’s very debatable and makes for a good conversation. On one hand, here’s a guy with no legs armed (pun intended) with advanced technology to make up for his missing limbs. On the other, there’s an athlete in excellent physical condition – no missing limbs — who can still propel himself without using advanced equipment. Stopping Pistorius from racing against the world’s best could only make people wonder more. What if the man on blades were given a chance?

Controversy has always been linked with the Western African country of Liberia. After dominating world headlines with the ouster and eventual exile of dictator and human rights violator Charles Taylor back in 2003, the nation has been struggling to find its footing amidst the shifting political and economic forces in the region. In 2004, Liberians elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as president. There was much hope in Johnson-Sirleaf’s presidency – her term marks the end of 14 bloody years of civil wars and she’s also the daughter of the first indigenous Liberian to be elected into government. Coupled with her Harvard education, it seems like Liberia definitely got their money’s worth.

But here’s the deal. In a country that has seen over a decade of dictatorship, the last thing that they’ll probably want is a weakened democracy and increased centralization of power. That is precisely what’s happening now.

In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court in Liberia stated that the president should be the only to decide the mayors  of each municipality in the country because the government’s coffers will not be able to shoulder the cost  of holding the elections. This puts the president and her party at a distinct and definite advantage. Such a measure virtually insures the administration that they will have all the mayors on their side. There is nothing stopping Johnson-Sirleaf from naming all her co-party members into power.

Understandably, the opposition finds the entire thing very unacceptable. Through the Supreme Court ruling, they are  rendered  impotent and the only arena wherein they could’ve gone toe-to-toe against the administration party has been eliminated and replaced with a method that  is very partial towards the majority.

Knowing the history of Liberia and the relative volatility of post-colonial Africa, it will be wise for the global community to watch the situation closely. If possible, countries which used to have a stake in Liberia (i.e. the US – who used the country as a repository of freed slaves back in the 19th century), should help out and ensure that the nation would get a fair shake as far as elections go. Liberia has shown that it could rise up from its dark past. It’s up for the rest of the world to make sure that it doesn’t regress.

Before the construction of the railway, Lhasa – the capital of Tibet – was only reachable by plane after a long and challenging journey across the mountainous region of China. This physical barrier has enabled the territory to preserve their unique way of life and culture despite the encroachment and increasing influence of the Chinese government. Now that the  railway is already operational, there is no stopping people from outside Tibet from going in and dominating the towns. The more business savvy and entrepreneurial Chinese from outside Tibet could easily supplant existing Tibetan industries and render native Tibetans as a minority both politically and economically.

The exiled leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has repeatedly voiced  out his concerns regarding the situation and considers the development a serious threat against the cultural and economical integrity of Tibet. Though the railway may have opened the doors of the once remote and inaccessible land, it might have opened the  proverbial can of worms that would give rise to a set of new challenges for Tibetans to contend with.

The artist best known for popularizing the motion picture’s Titanic theme song (“My Heart Will Go On”), signed a 100 million USD deal with Caesar’s Palace to perform the show on 2003, but since it was very successful, it was extended year after year. As of 2007, three million people have been said to have watched Grammy-winning Dion’s concert.

To make the event even more poignant, the singer asked her husband-manager, Rene Angelil and their now seven year-old son Rene-Charles onstage as she bade the crowd goodbye. Rene-Charles charmingly picked up the rose petals on the floor to offer it to her mother whose life and career are both about to change dramatically after performing regurlarly in Las Vegas.

Though the show’s wrapping up in Vegas, Celine’s definitely not done yet. She will be kicking off a 96-city world concert tour in Johannesburg

According to recent study at the Institute of Food Research, eating a meal rich in flavinoids (a compound found in onions) can reduce the early signs of heart disease. The team focused on the effects of the substance quercetin – a flavinoid that is abundant in onions, tea, apples and red wine.
The process that leads to atherosclerosis (the narrowing of blood vessels) has been been proven to be addressed by the intake of flavinoids. Chronic inflammation has been comprehensively been taken cared of.

In studies done in the past, it was proven that quercetin is metabolised very quickly by the bowel and liver. Quercetin is not synthesized in the human body.

Astoundingly,a lower dose equated to a better and more pronounced result. Intake of 100g to 200g was said to have a significant result as far as stopping the early stages of heart disease was concerned.

100 grams?! That’s quite a lot, right?