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The Economist, in an article entitled "The campaign against palm oil" published on 24th June 2010, carries on a detailed analysis of the reasons for the anti-palm oil campaigns of green groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (FOE). The article traced the humble beginnings of palm oil in 1848, when it was discovered that the oil palm, a native of West Africa, grew well in the Far East. The Economist notes "Its giant bunches of red fruits are rich in oil that proved useful in soap and later as a lubricant for steam engines. Demand grew, and plantations sprouted in Malaysia in the 1930s. As the industry matured, cultivation spread to Indonesia. These two countries today produce 90% of the world's palm oil". The Economist points out: "These days it is used in a vast array of food and consumer products, from peanut butter, margarine and ice cream to lipstick and shaving foam. Palm oil makes shampoos and soaps more creamy. WWF, an environmental group, says it is used in 50% of all packaged supermarket products. It is also a common cooking oil across Asia. It is becoming more popular as a biofuel. Laws that encourage the use of biofuels are adding to demand."

Lynne Truss' lighthearted book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" was a huge commercial success. In 2004, the U.S. edition became a New York Times bestseller. The title was derived from a joke on bad punctuation: A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons. 'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. 'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.' The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves.' Having a comma after the word "eats" is a fatal error that changes the entire meaning of the last sentence. The words "shoots" and "leaves" becomes actions, instead of plants to eat.

Writing in the International Herald Tribune late last year, Tun Dr. Lim Yeng Kaik, a former senior Malaysian Cabinet minister, characterized the campaign of Western environmental activists to restrict the palm oil industry as the environmental version of the "White Man's Burden". The aim was to impose western values on colonial peoples. He coined the term the Green Man's burden.

I remember boarding a flight from Milan to Rome last March. Our flight had barely been airborne for 15 minutes when the pilot announced, first in Italian and then in heavily Italian accented English that the aircraft was facing a problem that the crew was trying to analyze. A few minutes later, he announced, that it was a vibration and that we would have to return to the airport. Then the flight attendants made a series of step by step announcements explaining what was going on and what to expect when we were on the ground. In an event that could have been terrifying, the fears of the passengers were relieved because we were given the right information.

Matt Emmons, Olympics gold medallist in rifle shooting in Athens 2004 was set to win a second gold. He had a commanding lead and hoped to hit the bull's eye on his last shot. He did but something went wrong. He hit the wrong target!

Widely known as "The Father of Spin" Edward Bernays was the nephew of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. From him Bernays learned all there was to know about the human subconscious. The nephew Edward became a master of spin and a spinner of lies.

There aren't very many people at all that don't know what the letters "HD" in front of TV means. Television has been more prolific than automobiles in the US for decades, where over 80% of the homes in

While making international calls to Iraq it is important for the caller to understand that there are various schemes pertaining to the different regions of Iraq. As a result there would be a separate phone cards if a caller wishes to make a call to Baghdad, to any other part of Iraq or make an international call through the mobile phone.