I believe what we’re witnessing is a baby that someone gave a microphone and a bunch of church going folks believe that he’s speaking in tongues and preaching the word of God. Does that seem about right to you?
What is the baby saying? Well someone has helpfully transcribed subtitles in this video with a full rundown of the nonsense. I will admit that a baby with a microphone is a humorous concept, but please tell me no one’s taking it seriously.
By Sushanta Talukdar
He is part of the team that will take part in National School Games in Delhi
— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar 
TALENT TO THE FORE:ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa' s son Aicheng Rajkonwar displays his skating skills during a practice session in Guwahati recently.
Guwahati: Jailed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa's son Aicheng Rajkonwar (also called Gadadhar Rajkonwar) has made it to the 13-member roller skating squad of Assam that will take part in the National School Games to be held in Delhi from December 28 to January 2.
The team was announced by the Assam Roller Skating Association here on Wednesday. The selection trial was held at Rudrasingha Sports Complex here on Monday.
‘Busy practising'
“A student of Class IV of the Delhi Public School in Digboi, Aicheng is busy practising at the basketball court of his school as part of his preparation for the national sports meet,” general secretary of the Assam Roller Skating Association Bhumidhar Barman told The Hindu.
The 13-member Assam team, comprising 11 boys and two girls, will leave for Delhi on December 26. This is the second time Assam is taking part in the roller skating event in the National School Games.
No skate ring
“We spotted Aicheng's skating talent during a camp held at the Don Bosco School in Guwahati in July. He took part in the camp in response to our invitation issued through newspapers to skaters in the State for participation in the camp. Our president M. Ahmed and all office bearers of the association put maximum efforts towards sending a bigger team of skaters this time. However, we still do not have a skate ring in the State. Last time, we sent only a six-member skaters' squad. We hope that our young skaters will steal the show in the National School Games this time,” Mr. Barman said.
In Bangladesh
Aicheng reportedly learnt skating skills in Bangladesh and also attracted attention during his participation in a sports meet there when his family was taking shelter in Dhaka prior to his father's arrest and his subsequent handing over to the Indian authorities in December 2009.
Family arrested
Rajkhowa's wife Kaberi Kachari, daughter Khonsang Bohagi Rajkonwar and Aicheng were among the seven family members of the arrested ULFA leaders who “surrendered” before the Border Security Force in the Dawki sector of the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, along with Rajkhowa and ULFA deputy Commander-in-Chief Raju Baruah. Initially kept under police protection for some time, the ULFA leaders' family members were later allowed to travel free.
The ULFA chairmam's family later moved to his ancestral house at Lakwa in Sivasagar district.
By Gautam Sheth
Husband of five-time world champion MC Mary Kom, Onler is the man behind the scenes, literally. At the sidelines of Olympic Gold Quest’s felicitation of Mary Kom and Gagan Narang in the city for their bright performances in Commonwealth Games and Asiad, Onler’s presence was completely nondescript to say the least.
He says he prefers it that way. “My sole aim is to shield Mary from external distractions and keep her focussed on the way ahead,” said Onler.
He is not only an ideal husband but also the ‘mother’ to their twins Rengpa and Naidong.
“I don’t let Mary worry about the kids, Olympic gold is her priority and being a former sportsperson, I understand what one needs,” Onler explained.
Like any husband, Onler too bites his nails every time Mary enters the ring. Like a true soul-mate he feels the pain when Mary is punched by her opponents.
“It isn’t easy to just sit down quietly when your wife is being punched around,” said Onler, who also plays the role of Mary’s friend, philosopher and guide. But the most challenging task till now for him has been the nappy changing times when the three-year four months old twins cry in the midnight.
Sacrifice is the only way ahead for both and the two have proved it amply. While Mary sacrifices the time she could spend with her kids, Onler sacrificed his well paying job in Customs and Excise department in Meghalaya.
“One of the reasons I got married to Mary was because she needed someone who could convert her dreams into reality. It wasn’t Mary’s beauty or fame that got me attracted to her,” confessed Onler.
The two decided to vow each other for their lifetime at Manipur Baptist Convention Church on March 12th 2005. Rechungvar Kom (Rengpa) and Khupneivar Kom (Naidong) were born on August 5, 2007. But that didn’t stop Mary from becoming a world champion again.
“My father told me to stop boxing once and for all after delivering the kids, but my in-laws and Onler made sure that I look for the elusive Olympic gold,” admitted Mary.
Whitney Port stripped for Maxim, and now she has shared outtakes from the shoot.
Whitney writes on her blog:
Hi loves, As I promised in yesterday's post, here are the rest of my behind-the-scenes pics from my MAXIM photo shoot. I had so much fun stepping into this sexier, more risque role for the shoot. It was definitely different from anything I've done before which made it that much more exciting for me! I loved every minute of the shoot and I'm really happy with how the spread turned out!
PHOTOS: 
And here's one from the spread: 
Single men needing a little help in the romance department might want to try praising a woman on her lips, a new survey has found.
In a new poll that seems to have been lifted out of a Sex and the City episode, online dating site Badoo claims to have found what they call "the Holy Grail" of international dating. And the poll found that complimenting a woman on her lips was the world's best pick-up line, working astonishingly well on women from all of the surveyed backgrounds.
The site, which has 87 million registered users, reportedly analyzed the success rates of opening lines from nearly 200,000 online flirtations in 11 languages for the Compliment Success Index. Users were invited to use one of 12 different ice-breakers, each complimenting a woman on an aspect of her body or appearance. Success was determined by the woman's response and whether or not a subsequent conversation was launched.
Next time you're on a date with a Portuguese woman, compliment her on her ears. Though if your next love interest is German or Canadian, concentrate on her skin.
View the results of the Compliment Survey Index here:
Complimenting a woman on her lips was named "the Holy Grail of flirting," according to Director of Marketing Lloyd Price, and worked well across all surveyed cultures.
German and Canadian women responded particularly well to being complimented on their skin.
Concentrate on the ears if your date is Dutch or Portuguese, the survey found.
British women responded well to being complimented on their legs.
If you're on a date in America, Australia or Brazil, complimenting a woman on how she dresses will get you far.
For Spanish women, it's all about the hair.
Angelina Jolie showed a little decolletage in Berlin on Tuesday at the European premiere of "The Tourist."
She was also totally prepared for the wintry weather in a long-sleeved, velvety-looking Versace dress that ended in gloves.
SAURAV BORA
Shuttlers practise at the Assam Badminton Academy. Picture by Eastern Projections
Guwahati, Dec 16 : Less than two months after opening its doors to 24 budding shuttlers of the state, the Assam Badminton Academy is looking beyond the Northeast to groom players from across the country.
“With the academy leaving no stone unturned to provide quality training, states like Bihar and Jharkhand, among others, have evinced interest in sending their players for training at the facility. Besides, neighbouring states like Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, too, are keen to get talented shuttlers admitted to the academy. We are contemplating inclusion of some more trainees from the next session,” Omar Rashid, secretary of Assam Badminton Association, said.
“The academy has roped in the services of Indonesian coach Faizal Rahman, who arrived here in July, and Mushtaq Neqib Ali, a trainer from the Patiala-based National Institute of Sports (NIS). Moreover, another NIS coach will join the academy by January,” he said.
According to Rashid, apart from state-of-the-art facilities, foreign assistance, coupled with the services of NIS coaches, has caught the attention of the associations.
Currently, the academy is preparing 24 top-ranked shuttlers in the under-13, under-16 and under-19 age groups.
“We have selected them on the basis of their performance in five ranking tournaments,” Rashid said. Asked about the cost borne for such a project, he said the association is on the lookout for corporate sponsors to run the facility, apart from seeking funds from Dispur. “The association is incurring an expense of Rs 1.25 lakh per month on the coaches while investing Rs 20,000 on a trainee every month,” he added.
“We are charging a monthly fee of Rs 5,000 per trainee, which I feel is reasonable considering the facilities — four courts, equipment, food, lodging, medical, et al — and the overall cost involved in the project,” Rashid said.
The academy, set up by the association at the Kanaklata Indoor Stadium (RG Baruah Sports Complex) at a cost of Rs 1 crore, opened on October 31.
Two-time national champion and Olympian Dipankar Bhattacharyya, talking to The Telegraph, said, “I am glad the Assam Badminton Association has come up with such a project. The academy should help produce better shuttlers from the region and help them excel at national and world meets.”
Former state coach Pradip Chaliha feels the academy has taken a step in the right direction and augurs well for sports in this neck of the woods.
“The standard of badminton at sub-junior and junior levels has taken a dip of late. Our performance in the junior nationals at Pondicherry wasn’t up to the mark. While the academy should help budding talents hone their skills, the results would be known only after a year or two,” Chaliha said.
“However, I feel the young brigade needs to be encouraged and for that the training has to be made affordable. While I understand the cost involved, the top-ranked players, as far as I am concerned, should be trained free of cost,” he added.
I just wonder how one qualifies to be Time Person of the year award, just by donating some monies….
New York, Dec 16 : Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2010. (Click here for Time's full package on Zuckerberg and the other finalists for Person of the Year.)
At 26, Zuckerberg is the youngest "Person of the Year" since the first one chosen, Charles Lindbergh; he was 25 when he was named in 1927, Time said Wednesday. Zuckerberg beat out Britain's Queen Elizabeth II by just two weeks: She was 26 when she was named in 1952.
Incidentally, Queen Elizabeth II has recently joined Zuckerberg's social networking behemoth.
Zuckerberg has put himself on the map not only as one of the world's youngest billionaires, but also as a prominent newcomer to the world of philanthropy.
Watch Time's interview with Zuckerberg:
Earlier this year, he pledged $100 million over five years to the Newark, N.J. school system. Now, he's in the company of media titans Carl Icahn, 74, Barry Diller, 68, and others who have joined Giving Pledge, an effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to commit the country's wealthiest people to step up their charitable donations.
Zuckerberg owns about a quarter of Facebook's shares.
Zuckerberg has built Facebook into an international phenomenon by stretching the lines of social convention and embracing a new and far more permeable definition of community. In this new world, users are able to construct a social network well beyond what would ever be possible face-to-face.
"I'm trying to make the world a more open place," Zuckerberg says in the "bio" line of his own Facebook page.
Born in Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room, the site has in six years grown to more than 500 million users worldwide and a dollar worth in the billions.
Facebook was the subject of director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's film "The Social Network." It features a dark portrayal of Zuckerberg by Jesse Eisenberg, as well as the direction he's taking his company and his status as one of America's most influential figures.
The film has been picked as the best of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review. On Tuesday, it received six Golden Globe nominations, including best picture, drama, going up against its chief rival, the British monarchy tale "The King's Speech," which led with seven nominations.
Time's "Person of the Year" is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke received the honor last year. The 2008 winner was then-President-elect Barack Obama. The 2007 winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Other previous winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush, and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.
See the cover: 
