Yummy Strawberries

Strawberry Cheesecake


Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar


3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream


1 cup strawberry preserves + fresh strawberries


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Mix cracker crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.

3. Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium until blended well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just blended. Add vanilla and cream; mix well.

4. Pour over crust.

5. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Top with preserves and fresh strawberries just before serving.

WMD- Weapons of Mosquito Destruction

Mosquito laser gun offers new hope on malaria

Tony Allen-Mills in New York

AMERICAN scientists are making a ray gun to kill mosquitoes. Using technology developed under the Star Wars anti-missile programme, the zapper is being built in Seattle where astrophysicists have created a laser that locks onto airborne insects.

Scientists have speculated for years that lasers might be used against mosquitoes, which kill nearly 1m people a year through malaria.

The laser – dubbed a weapon of mosquito destruction (WMD) – has been designed with the help of Lowell Wood, one of the astrophysicists who worked on the original Star Wars plan to shield America from nuclear attack.

“We like to think back then we made some contribution to the ending of the cold war,” Dr Jordin Kare, another astrophysicist, told The Wall Street Journal. “Now we’re just trying to make a dent in a war that’s claimed a lot more lives.” The WMD laser works by detecting the audio frequency created by the beating of mosquito wings. A computer triggers the laser beam, the mosquito’s wings are burnt off and its smoking carcass falls to the ground. The research is backed by Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire.

It is speculated that lasers could shield villages or be fired at swarming insects from patrolling drone aircraft. “You could kill billions of mosquitoes a night,” said one expert.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5908535.ece

New Perodua Design

Is this an upcoming model for our local market?

Sixty Billion Ringgit

If  RM 60 billion were to be divided equally among 20 million Malaysians, everyone will be entitled to about RM3,000. The question is, can direct handout stimulate the domestic economy better than "C4"s stimulus package.

Ever Wondered Why Your Hair Turn Grey?

Experts uncover cause of greyness



Experts found grey hair was caused by a build-up of hydrogen peroxide



Scientists at Bradford University believe they have uncovered the root cause of why hair turns grey.

It is an accepted part of the ageing process, but experts say understanding how grey hair happens could help find a way to prevent it.

Experiments found it is caused by a massive build-up of hydrogen peroxide due to wear and tear of hair follicles, which blocks hair's natural pigment.

The research has been hailed as a "major breakthrough".

The scientists worked in collaboration with experts in Mainz and Luebeck in Germany and the discoveries have been published in the FASEB scientific journal, published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Lead researcher Karin Schallreuter said experts examined hair as well as cells from human hair follicles to uncover the findings.

She said: "This discovery is a major breakthrough in the understanding of hair greying and opens up some novel ideas to combat this scenario.

"These are being followed up at the current time in our laboratory."

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bradford/7920363.stm

Markets Going Further Down

Evans-Pritchard: Dow 4,000 by Summer

Friday, March 6, 2009 12:05 PM
By: Gene J. Koprowski

Global trade and economic output are collapsing at rates that outpace the Depression of the 1930s, and "shock and awe" policies are required from the U.S. government to revive global growth, says Daily Telegraph International Business Editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.

"This terrifying fall has been concentrated in the last five months. The job slaughter has barely begun," Evans-Pritchard writes. "Social mayhem comes with a 12-month lag."

According to a survey by Merrill Lynch, Taiwan's exports to China fell 55 percent in January, Japan's fell 45 percent. Manufacturing output in the Shanghai region fell 12 percent in January.

"By comparison, industrial output in core-Europe fell 2.8 percent in 1930, 5.1 percent in 1931 and 3.9 percent in 1932," wrote Evans-Pritchard.

The economic situation is dire. But, the visual cues from John Steinbeck's terrifying characterization of Depression-era America have not yet arrived, as workers are not lining up at soup kitchens across the land.

Evans-Pritchard writes that the lowest interest rates in history are failing to gain traction globally.

A flurry of bond issues from the U.S. Treasury is swamping the debt market. The yield on 10-year Treasuries has climbed from 2 percent to 3.04 percent in eight weeks.

"The real cost of money is rising as deflation gathers pace," warns Evans-Pritchard.

U.S. house prices have fallen 27 percent, according to the Case-Shiller index. "The pace of descent is accelerating," said Evans-Pritchard.

The Dow could fall to 4,000 by this summer unless there is a quantum reduction in mortgage interest rates, says Evans-Pritchard.

Other “shock and awe” policies needed include forcing 10-year Treasury bills down to 1 percent and mortgage rates to 2.5 percent.

"This remedy is fraught with risk, but all options are ghastly at this point. That is the legacy we have been left by the Greenspan doctrine," says Evans-Pritchard.

"We are at the moment of extreme danger."

Nevertheless, other global economics experts see a recovery, albeit a slow one.

A statistical rebound in the second half of this year could be driven by a number of factors, according to Morgan Stanley Asia CEO Stephen Roach, including the Obama administration's stimulus bill.

But don't count on anything serious, Roach says.

Any 2009 upturn is likely to be anemic at best and not strong enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising to near 10 percent over the next year and a half.

“Since it's hard to call that a recovery, it looks to me as if this recession won't end until late 2010 or early 2011," Roach writes in The New York Times.


© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

What is a Cheesecake?

Baked Cheesecake                          Unbaked Cheesecake


Cheesecakes are cheese-based desserts that are generally prepared with soft fresh cheese accompanied by sugar, egg, and cream. Rum or chocolate is added for flavor and fruits like strawberry are used for toppings. The topping or the filling in a cheesecake is crusty. Digestive biscuit, cookies, or a pastry can be used for this purpose. Cheesecakes can also be topped with fruit sauces if fresh cheese is the key ingredient in baking the cake. Cheesecakes can be classified into two types


1) Baked cheesecake

Egg is the main ingredient in baked type of cheesecake. This cake has a heavy and rich consistency and has to be refrigerated before serving. Plenty of cream cheese is used to bake a traditional cheesecake. These cakes are therefore called cheesecakes. Health conscious people need no longer worry as low-fat, fat-free ingredients can be used to bake delicious low-fat cheesecakes. Low-calorie cheesecakes are made from low-fat cheese and light whipped cream toppings.

2)No-bake cheesecake

This cake, as the name suggests needs no cooking and is very simple to make. This cake has a fluffy appearance and is lighter in consistency. This cake has to be refrigerated before serving. Pre-mixes are available in the market to prepare these types of cheesecakes. The pre-mix includes the crust and the filling.

Add some margarine or butter to the graham cracker mixture and spread it on a pie pan.
Add milk to the filling mixture to resemble a pudding.
Stir it well ensuring sure no lumps form.
Pour this mixture into the pie crust.
Refrigerate it until done (the cheesecake has to be firm).
Cheesecake is ready in a jiffy to serve.

Design Failure of the SMART TUNNEL?

The Smart Tunnel was designed to divert water from Sungai Klang. No water diversion at all from Sungai Gombak. Is this a design flaw? You be the judge.

I have friends who were affected by this flood. I can also see how people just have to pick up and move on despite the difficulties, after an unmitigated flood like what we have seen.

STAR LRT STATION Blocking the Klang River's Flow

The Cause Of The Flash Flood In KL

People say "A Picture Tells A Thousand Words"

Yet words tells a vivid story of how things are. I can attest to the description attached below having worked before at the Masjid Jamek LRT viccinity, just by the Standard Chartered Bank. Seeing with my own eyes that the Star LRT Station is actually blocking the flow of water during a downpour. As seen in the picture above, the station platform is actually blocking the water level at the river ( also notice the cracked tile just above the water level). Oh no! what "great design" by the civil engineering firm building this station. Couldn't they have used a little bit more concrete and built the station by 3 metres higher. I bet that wouldn't even cost 5% more than the original cost. Any way do read the following posting for more background information...

The contributing cause of the flood could not have been better explained by Mr H.J. Angus from               
http://malaysiawatch2.blogspot.com/2007/06/kl-flooding-you-cant-stop-telling-lies.html



KL Flooding. You Can't Stop Telling Lies.....

Once you tell one lie it is very difficult to stop telling more lies to cover the first lie.

Mistakes are similar in that fashion. If you make a basic mistake and do not correct that error but try to cover it up with other activities, more often than not the cost of correcting the basic mistake is very complex and can cost a hundred times more.

The frequent flooding in KL in recent years, especially near the town center has been caused by the construction of the LRT Station near the Masjid Jamek mosque. The station takes up at least 3 meters of space inside the river and across the entire width; thereby causing an artificial barrier that reduces the flow capacity by at least 30%.

This error is known to the authorities but instead of changing the design of the station so that the full river capacity is restored, they embarked on that SMART Tunnel project so that 95% of the river can be diverted in the future.

If you look at the KL map(click for a clearer view), the LRT station is built just north of Jalan Tun Perak. I expect the Sungei Klang will overflow at the station obstruction and since the surrounding area is low-lying, the spillover is going to quickly reach Merdeka Square and upstream of that river.

The RM6billion budget to build numerous ponds and deepening of river and installing more pumping stations may alleviate the floods but I feel they should spend the money to redo that LRT station that is the basic cause of the floods.

Once the station is clear of the river, I estimate the flooding frequency in KL will be reduced to perhaps once every 10 years. Other flood alleviation measures like desilting would not cost billions but a few million each year.

If you are a KL resident, you could capture the flood happenings at the Masjid Jamek station the next time it rains heavily and post to YouTube. (Good idea Mr Angus, KL folks please help to YouTube it...)

Map: Thanks to http://www.leeds.ac.uk/international/images/KL_Office_Map.jpg

Confluence Of Sg Gombak & Sg Klang @ Masjid Jamek

Taking Refuge From The Water

Wading Through The Water

The Kuala Lumpur Deluge

Baked Mango Cheesecake

Ingredients
250g plain biscuits
100g butter, melted
500g cream cheese
¼ cup castor sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
170g can mango pulp
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 large mango, sliced
1 cup cream, whipped
Topping:
170g can mango pulp
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon gelatine
¼ cup sour cream

Directions
Preheat oven to moderate 180oC. Place biscuits in small mixing bowl; add butter. Stir until well combined. Press mixture evenly over the base and sides of baking tin; smooth surface.
Using electric beater, beat cream cheese, sugar and orange rind in a small bowl until light and creamy. Add mango pulp; beat well. Add eggs gradually, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Pour mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from heat; allow to cool completely. Spread with topping, decorate with sliced mango and pipe with whipped cream. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.
(To Make Topping): Combine pulp and sugar in small pan. Sprinkle over gelatine. Stir over low heat 1 minute until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Simmer uncovered 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; transfer to small bowl; cool. Stir in sour cream.

Cheesecakes ....Best Comfort Food

Like many other other gourmet pastries, cheesecakes have evolved to many different variations and styles. From the simplest of design to the outright gorgeous. The journey for the most delicious cakes begins....