zouk out 2010!

why do we laugh and cry?

☻As humans we laugh and cry, but seldom do we question how, or why. There are many processes involved in both responses. Cultures around the world allow both crying and laughing as acceptable behaviors. With crying, as well as laughter, the body goes through physical or chemical changes. Crying and laughter are beneficial to us both emotionally and physically. We must have them to function in the world.

☻Crying is a more complicated process than one would at first imagine. First of all, there are really three different types of tears. Basal tears keep our eyes lubricated constantly. Reflex tears are produced when our eyes get irritated, like with onions or when something gets into our eyes. The third kind of tear is produced when the body reacts emotionally to something. Each type of tear contains different amounts of chemical proteins and hormones. Scientists have discovered that the emotional tears contain higher levels of manganese and the hormone prolactin, and this contributes in a reduction of both of these in the body; thus helping to keep depression away. Many people have found that crying actually calms them after being upset, and this is in part due to the chemicals and hormones that are released in the tears.

☻How then actually do we cry? The psychic tears (or emotional tears) require an emotional response, or trigger to be activated. This response can be caused by an outside source, either pain or loss of love, etc., or from an inside source (self-realization of one's life and others). When emotions affect us, the nervous system stimulates the cranial nerve, in the brain and this sends signals to the neurotransmitters to the tear glands. Thus, we cry .The largest tear gland, the lacrimal gland produces the tears of emotion and reflex. Many believe that the body, in times of emotional stress, depends on this gland to release excess amounts of chemicals and hormones, returning it to a stable state.

☻There are many culturally acceptable reasons to cry in society .The first accepted reason to cry is probably death. Grieving includes crying and often times it was believed that if someone did not cry, they would suffer physically because they did not release their pain. Experiences in life and love are other reasons society allows us to cry. Women have been allowed to cry more than men traditionally, but the benefits of crying seem to suggest that men need to cry more. Cultures around the world have crying out of obligation, for show, and for grief and pain. Each culture defines where and when it is acceptable to cry. Cultures, in some parts of the world, sometimes determine the length of crying and mourning. For example, in the Zuni culture, a chief allows the mourners of the dead to cry for four days after which the chief says that the death occurred four years ago, and now the mourning may end.

☻As well as with crying, laughter is also acceptable culturally for a variety of reasons. Often, just because of where a person lives, something may be funny and make them laugh. It may not be funny anywhere else in the world. Also, their culture and community may dictate what is appropriate to laugh at and what is not. People have often said, "Laughter is the best medicine," and they may not be too far from the truth. When we laugh, the body makes facial gestures and sounds. The body relaxes during laughter. The diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles all get a workout. Scientists have found that laughing one hundred times is equal to a ten-minute workout on a rowing machine, or fifteen minutes on an exercise bike. Laughter helps promote healing in the body by lowering blood pressure and increasing blood flow. When we laugh, the production of T -cells that destroy tumors and viruses increase, and more Gamma interferon (which is a disease fighting protein) isreleased. Laughter has been found to reduce the amount of stress hormones and help us cope with our lives better. When others laugh, sometimes the laughter can be contagious. Everyone around them starts to laugh. Some people, when stressed or upset, go to a funny movie or a comedy club hoping to laugh all of their negative emotions away.

☻There is a special name for the physiological study of laughter. It is called Gelotology. Scientists have discovered that within four- tenths of a second of seeing something humorous, an electrical wave moved through the cerebral cortex of the brain. If the wave took a negative charge, there was laughter. Many areas of the brain are involved in making us laugh. The emotional, the intellectual, and the sensory processing parts of our brain all playa role in stimulating the motor sections of our brain to physically make us laugh.

☻Researchers have found that laughter is used in making and strengthening our connections with each other. People that are more dominant, like a boss or head of a family, for example, use more humor than others around them. Laughter becomes away to show power over the emotional climate of the group. When someone is embarrassed or threatened, laughter can defuse the situation by deflecting the anger and accepting humiliation.

☻We need both laughter and tears to help us function in society. Crying relieves stress, reduces hormone and chemical levels in the body, and helps us return to a calm state. Laughter relieves stress, stimulates healing, exercises certain parts of the body, and helps in human bonding. That is why crying and laughing are beneficial to us both emotionally and physically.

warning: cigarettes kill!

GRADUATION DAY!

HIGHEST, LONGEST, BIGGEST, LARGEST, DEEPEST, SMALLEST OF THE WORLD

Largest Airport - King Khalid International Airport (South Arabia)
Highest Airport - Lhasa Air port, Tibet
Tallest Animal - Giraffe
Largest Animal - Blue Bottom whale
Largest Bay - Hudson Bay, Canada,
Fastest Bird - Swift
Largest Bird - Ostrich
Smallest Bird - Humming bird
Longest Bridge - the Akashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan takes the title, with a main span of 1,991 meters (or 6,532 feet)
Tallest Building - Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan,2004,101 stories,509m,1,670ft
Longest Canal - Baltic sea White Canal
Largest Cathedral - Cathedral Church of New York
Largest Cemetry - Leningrad, Russia
Largest Church - Belisca of St. Peter in the Vatican City, Rome.
Largest Continent - Asia
Smallest Continent - Australia
Largest Country - Russia
Smallest Country - Vatican City
Biggest Cinema House - Roxy, New York
Highest City - Wen Chuan, China
Highest Population - Mexico
Longest Day - June 21
Shortest Day - December 22
Largest Delta - Sunderbans
Largest Desert - Sahara, Africa
Biggest Dome - Gol Gumbaz (Bijapur), India
Largest Dams - Grand Coulee Dam, USA
Tallest Fountain - Fountain Hills, Arizona
Largest Gulf - Gulf of Mexico
Largest Hotel - Hotel Rossaiya, Moscow
Largest Island - Greenland
Largest Lake - Caspian Sea, CIS Iran
Deepest Lake - Baikal (Siberia)
Highest Lake - Titicaca (Bolivia)
Biggest Library - National Kiev Library, Moscow and Library of the Congress, Washington
Largest Mosque - Jama Masjid, Delhi (India)
Highest Mountain Peak Mount Everest (Nepal)
Highest Mountain Range Himalayas
Longest Mountain - Andes (South America)
Biggest Museum - British Museum (London)
Largest Minaret Sultan Has-san Mosque (Egypt)
Tallest Minaret - Qutub Minar, Delhi (India)
Biggest Oceans - Pacific Ocean
Deepest Oceans - Pacific Ocean
Biggest Palace - Vatican (Rome)
Largest Palace - Imperial Palace (China)
Biggest Park - Yellow Stone Na tional Park
Largest Park - Wood Buffalo National Park (Canada)
Largest Peninsula - Arabia
Highest Plateau - Pamir (Tibet)
Longest Platform - Kharagpur, W. Bengal (India)
Largest Platform - Grand Central Terminal, (Ely. Sta tion)New York (USA)
Biggest Planet - Jupiter
Smallest Planet - Murcury
Brightest Planet Venus
Coldest Planet Pluto
Nearest (To the Sun) - Mercury
Farthest (from the Sun) - Pluto
Longest River - Nile, Africa
Longest River Dam - Hirakud Dam, India
Largest Sea - South China Sea
Largest Stadium - Starhove Stadium, Prague (Czech Republic)
Brightest Star - Sirius A
Tallest Statue - Motherland (Russia)
Largest Sea-bird - Albatross
Biggest Telescope - Mt. Palomar (USA)
Longest Train Flying Scotsman
Largest Temple - Angkorwat in Kampuchea
Oldest Theatre - Teatro Ohm pico (Itlay)
Tallest Tower - C. N. Tower, Toronto (Canada)
Longest Wall - Great Wall of China
Highest Waterfall - Angel (Venezuela)
Widest Waterfall - Khone Falls (Laos)
Lowest Water Level - Dead Sea
Longest Epic - Mahabharata
Hottest Place - Al-Azizia (Libya)
Rainiest Place - Mosinram, near Cherapunji (India)
Highest Road - Leh-Nobra, Ladakh division India.
Highest Village - Andean (Chile)
Highest Volcano - Ojos del Salado, (Argentina) Chile
Largest Volcano - Manuna Lea (Hawai)
Lightest Gas - Hydrogen
Fastest Animal - Cheetah
Biggest Flower - Rafflesia (Java)
Longest Corridor - Rameshwaram Temple (India)
Largest Democracy - India
Fastest Dog - Persian greyhound
Lightest Metal - Lithium

bestfriends. :D

In a world filled with false pretenses

You are honest

In a life where people are shallow

You are deeply committed

Faced with choices that could hurt

You do what is right

I love you for that.

You believe in me when I doubt myself

You help me go on

You encourage me when I'm overwhelmed

You support my career

You stood by me when I was down

You helped me get up

You are my best friend

I love you for that.

Steep rise in cigarette prices - taken from the borneo bulletin.

Brunei has raised taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products with effect from today.

According to a Ministry of Finance press release, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has consented amendments to excise duties for cigarettes, tobacco and tobacco products through the Customs Import Duties (Amendment) Order, 2010 and Excise Duties (Amendment) Order, 2010.

Under the new amendments, cigarettes will be subjected to $0.25 tax per cigarette stick compared to the previous $60 per kilogramme whilst non-manufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse will be subjected to duties totalling $60 per kilogramme compared to the previous $30 per kilogramme.

Cigar, cheroots and cigarillos will also see an increase in duties from $60 per kilogramme to $120 per kilogramme and from $100 per kilogramme to $200 per kilogramme.

The press release also stated that those arriving in the Sultanate from any point of entry into the country, who are over the age of 17 and carrying with them not more than 200 sticks of cigarettes, will be exempted from import duties.

This move comes in the wake of recent enforcement conducted by the Ministry of Health officers in curbing public smoking that aims to safeguard the health of the citizens from contracting chronic diseases related to smoking.

Under the Customs Order 2006, the press release further said, the Royal Customs and Excise Department will undertake appropriate legal action upon any violations under the new amendment such as the failure to declare tobacco products at entry points into the country and other related offences.

Based on the data provided, a pack of 20 cigarettes will now incur a $5 tax. Retail prices, however, were not announced.

The Bulletin visited a number of outlets in the capital, but most were not aware of the new regulations but did state that should the import tax increase, it would also mean that the prices of cigarettes - regulated by the government - will also rise.

Reactions from the public, some of whom heard of the new amendments via Radio Television Brunei in the 8 and 10 o'clock news, are currently divided.

"Couldn't the government follow the ways of the Malaysian authorities?" said one woman referring to Malaysia's gradual increase of cigarette prices from less than RM5 a pack to the current RM10 over a 10-year time span.

Fully understanding the intentions of the government, she also said: "The least they could have done is to give smokers the time to adapt and to slowly kick the habit."

Rozman, a former smoker who had his last cigarette almost two years ago, welcomed the move saying that this could be an incentive for those who have tried to quit but have failed on numerous occasions.

"Brilliant," he said as he lauded the government's efforts. "I also think that the government could do more and further increase the price" and follow Singapore's footsteps as smokers there need to fork over $10 for a pack of branded cigarettes.

However, one woman pointed that despite the high price of cigarettes in Singapore, smokers are still buying them.

She suggested that if the government is serious about health issues, then relevant authorities should nip the problem in the bud and fully cease the importation of cigarettes and any other products that lead to addiction.

A mother of two young children, whose husband has been "wasting away" their income, which could be spent on her children's education and other highly prioritised amenities, echoed what a majority of non-smokers have said: "It's been a long time coming but ... Finally."

Following the credit card curbs geared to control the public's spending, the housewife said that money has been tight and that her husband's habit was not appropriate in a household that has to support a growing family.

Meanwhile, some traders, who did know about the amendments coming into force today, said that agents are currently withholding new stock until after relevant authorities have confirmed the change in prices.