Slumping Striker Helps Spain Win European Title

Vincenzo Pinto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Spain celebrates their victory over Germany to win the Euro 2008 final. Spain’s Fernando Torres scored the winning goal in the 33rd minute. More Photos >

Spain made sure it did not disappoint any of its fans Sunday night, both during its 1-0 victory against Germany to win the European Championship and after it.

Fernando Torres scored in the 33rd minute and the Spaniards never backed down against such a formidable opponent. Their last significant title came in the 1964 European Championship at home.

“It is to me the most important day in Spanish football in many, many years,” Torres said.

Against the highly accomplished Germans, the Spaniards were not intimidated. They got the one goal they needed — from a slumping striker, no less — and set off chants of “ES-PAÑA!” and “Olé, Olé, Olé!” at the final whistle.

The entire Spanish squad ran over to the huge rooting section of red and gold, exchanging hugs, while many of the spent Germans collapsed to the turf.

When Spain’s goalkeeper and captain, Iker Casillas, accepted the trophy on a stage, the Spanish fans began chanting the melody to their national anthem, which has no words. Thousands of camera flashes went off as the players jumped in place, then headed onto the field to show off their prize.

The Spaniards were not close to finished with their celebration that was so long in the making. They marched to their rooting section, hoisting the cup and saluting their flag-waving, firecracker-exploding fans.

“We have won in a brilliant way,” Coach Luis Aragonés said. “We will be able to start saying we can win, a European championship as well as any other thing.”

In beating a team that makes a habit of appearing in championship finals, the Spaniards put to rest a reputation for underachieving. Always loaded with talented players, Spain has spent four decades falling short of expectations.

That all changed here, where the Spaniards swept their first-round games, eliminated the World Cup champion Italy in a penalty-kick shootout in the quarterfinals, then routed Russia, 3-0, in the semifinals.

“We played the best for the entire tournament, and we beat some great teams,” Torres said. “We beat Italy, the World Cup champion, and we beat Russia and now Germany. That is how you become champion.”

Germany has won three European titles and three World Cups, but was no match in this final. Its captain, Michael Ballack, questionable before the game with a calf injury, started, but hardly was noticeable — except when he left for several minutes to have a bloody right eye treated.

“We had a great tournament but made one mistake too many,” Ballack said. “We were lacking of power against a great Spanish team. We couldn’t keep up with them.”

Torres, who had 33 goals for Liverpool this season but had been invisible in this tournament, came through off a brilliant feed from Xavi Hernández.

Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, the oldest player in the competition at 38, charged from his net when he saw that defender Philipp Lahm was beaten on the right side. But Torres chipped the ball over the sliding Lehmann and into the gaping goal.

The crowd of 51,428 at Ernst Happel Stadium, split almost equally, might have expected the Spaniards to go into a protective shell. Instead, and even without their leading scorer, David Villa (leg injury), they continued to carry the attack and were far more dangerous than Germany the rest of the way.

Indeed, Lehmann, who helped the Germans to third place in the 2006 World Cup, kept it close with several tough saves.

This was the last game for 69-year-old Aragonés, the oldest coach to win a European title.

“The most important thing about our team, perhaps, is the manager,” Torres said. “He has confidence in us, and he lets us play. We have brought him the championship in his last game for Spain, and we are very happy we could make this history for him and for us.”

Germany’s Joachim Löw has a contract through the 2010 World Cup but will need to find the spark Germany showed periodically during the tournament.

“Spain played very well during the whole tournament, and they were technically excellent,” Löw said. “They fully deserve victory.”

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/sports/soccer/30euro.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

Rock Music ^^

Hammerfall-Always will be

Lyric:

Our sun is set, our day is done, Im left here wondering
Is this the end, my final words to you
Day turned to night and now youre gone, Im left here pondering
Can this be true, are we really through

You were the wind beneath my wings, taught me how to fly
With you I lived among the kings, how could this ever die

So I say farewell, Im yours forever,
And I always will be

We were one, we were all, we were the only
Future full of hope, nothing could stand in our way
But dreams can change, visions fall, I feel so lonely
I would walk through fire for just one more day

You were the angel of my life, taught me to be free
Now Im a stranger in your eyes, walls are closing in on me

So I say farewell, Im yours forever
And I always will be
Missing you, in my heart you are the one
And you always will be

When I turn to the east, I see no dawn,
But after darkness comes the light
And when I turn to the west, the silent night hides all
Where is the light that shines so bright

So I say farewell, Im yours forever
And I always will be
Missing you, in my heart you are the one
And you always will be

Nah-nah-na ... and you always will be
Nah-nah-na ... and you always will be
And you always will be
My little one you are
And you always will be.

Download: http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/1/15/1701339/Always-Will-Be.mp3

Halong Bay

Ha Long Bay (Vietnamese: Vịnh Hạ Long) is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes.

Geographical location:

Halong bay is in northeastern Vietnam, from E106°56' to E107°37' and from N20°43' to N21°09'. The bay stretches from Yên Hưng district, past Hạ Long city, Cẩm Phả town to Vân Đồn district, bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China and on the west and southwest by Cát Bà island. The bay has a 120 kilometre long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometres in size with 1969 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site includes 434 km² with 775 islets, of which the core zone is delimited by 69 points: Đầu Gỗ island on the west, Ba Hầm lake on the south and Cống Tây island on the east. The protected area is from the Cái Dăm petrol store to Quang Hanh commune, Cẩm Phả town and the surrounding giants zone.

Climate:

The bay is a sea islands in tropical wet with 2 seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. Average temperature is from 15°C- 25°C. Annual rainfall is between 2000mm and 2200mm. Halong bay has the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5-4m). The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in dry season and lower in rainy season.

System of isles and caves:

The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Halong area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as 19th century French graffiti). There are two bigger islands, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches. There are a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands.

Some of the islands support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and iguanas also live on some of the islands.

Civilization:

A community of around 1600 people live on Halong bay in four fishing villages: Cửa Vạn, Ba Hang, Cống Tàu and Vông Viêng in Hùng Thắng commune, Hạ Long city. They live on floating houses and are sustained by capture fishing and marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota).

Originally in Ha Long Bay there was only one fishing village. Now there are about ten.

Honourable name:

In 1962, Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism arranged Halong Bay as National Renowned Lanscape Vestige.

The bay was World's Natural Heritage listed by UNESCO at the 18th meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Phuket, Thailand on December 17th, 1994) for its outstanding universal aesthetic value according to the criteria explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. On December 2nd, 2000 at the 24th meeting of Committee of the World Heritages in Cairns, Australia, Halong bay was admitted as a World Heritage Site for its outstanding geological and geomorphological value according to the criteria of that Convention.^[1]

Halong bay was introduced to nominate by New Open World Foundation as World's 7 Natural Wonder having result on 08/08/2008.

Ha Long Bay is perhaps the most popular travel destination of the country. Foreigners and natives alike are attracted to its natural, universal appeal, not to mention the shopping and dining prospects located close by.

Seafood in Ha Long is diversifying. Cuttle-fish- mực, oyester- hà, cyclinae- ngán, prawn (penaeidea- tôm he, panulirus- tôm hùm, parapenaeopsis- tôm sắt...), spunculoideas- sá sùng, nerita- ốc đĩa, charonia tritonis- ốc tù và, cà sáy... are popular in many famous delicious dishes.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halong_Bay

10 Things You Should Never Say
To A Woman During an Argument
--------------------------------------

Don't you have some laundry to do or something?

Oh, you are so cute when you get all pissed off.

You're just upset because your butt is beginning to spread.

Wait a minute - I get it. What time of the month is it?

Shouldn't you consult the great Oprah on this one?

Sorry. I was just picturing you naked.

Whoa, time out. Football is on.

Looks like someone had an extra
bowl of B#%$@! flakes this morning!

Is there any way we can do this via e-mail?

Who are you kidding? We both know that thing ain't loaded.

Euro 2008 - Russia 2, Sweden 0 Russia Earns Meeting With Netherlands

INNSBRUCK, June 18 (Reuters) - Russia produced their best performance of Euro 2008 when it was most needed on Wednesday, beating Sweden 2-0 to snatch second place in Group D to earn a quarter-final meeting with Netherlands.

Guus Hiddink's side had to win to progress while a draw would have been enough for the Scandinavians to advance.

But there was only one team in it as brilliantly-worked goals by Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin sent Russia into the knockout phase of a major tournament for the first time since, as the USSR, they lost to the Dutch in the Euro 1988 final.

"We played very well, we attacked very well," said Arshavin. "At 1-0 I thought we sat back a bit, which I didn't like, but when we got the second goal I thought we could have gone on to get more.

"I hope we can do the same again against Holland but they are the strongest team in the tournament."

The inclusion of Arshavin, suspended for the first two games, seemed to give Russia an injection of self-belief and they were unrecognisable from the side who laboured to victory over Greece and were thumped by Spain.

His direct running and some confident, slick passing in and around the box had Sweden hanging on from the opening exchanges.

Yuri Zhirkov sounded a warning when he drove a volley wide after 21 minutes and three minutes later Russia were ahead.

A clever pass allowed Konstantin Zyryanov to escape down the right and he played the ball inside to Alexander Anyukov. The dangerous midfielder then rolled it into the path of Pavlyuchenko who cracked home a first-time shot.

The striker almost had another later in the half when he fired against the bar after another neat exchange.

The Swedes issued a reminder of their own threat on the break as Henrik Larsson looped a header against the bar and Mikael Nilsson forced a sharp smothering save from Igor Akinfeyev at the end of the half.

It proved a key intervention as five minutes after the break Arshavin doubled the lead with another superb goal. An attack that began deep in their own half ended with Zhirkov setting up the playmaker to score with his outstretched right boot.

"I would like to congratulate the Russian team," said Sweden coach Lars Lagerback. "We knew they had a very good team.

"We were a little bit passive at the start and that's not what we planned. The Russians exploited that and scored a goal."

Lagerback added a few of his senior players were now likely to quit the international stage.

"We've got some older players in the team," he said. "I'd expect some of them will retire."

Link : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/sports/soccer/18soccer_russia.html?ref=sports

Most Doctors Aren’t Using Electronic Health Records

Laura Pedrick for The New York Times

Dr. Paul Feldan, one of three doctors in a New Jersey practice, said switching to electronic records did not make economic sense.

A government-sponsored survey of the use of computerized patient records by doctors points to two seemingly contradictory conclusions, and a health care system at odds with itself.

The report, published online on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that doctors who use electronic health records say overwhelmingly that such records have helped improve the quality and timeliness of care. Yet fewer than one in five of the nation’s doctors has started using such records.

Bringing patient records into the computer age, experts say, is crucial to improving care, reducing errors and containing costs in the American health care system. The slow adoption of the technology is mainly economic. Most doctors in private practice, especially those in small practices, lack the financial incentive to invest in computerized records.

The national survey found that electronic records were used in less than 9 percent of small offices with one to three doctors, where nearly half of the country’s doctors practice medicine.

Dr. Paul Feldan, one of three doctors in a primary care practice in Mount Laurel, N.J., considered investing in electronic health records, and decided against it. The initial cost of upgrading the office’s personal computers, buying new software and obtaining technical support to make the shift would be $15,000 to $20,000 a doctor, he estimated. Then, during the time-consuming conversion from paper to computer records, the practice would be able to see far fewer patients, perhaps doubling the cost.

“Certainly, the idea of electronic records is terrific,” Dr. Feldan said. “But if we don’t see patients, we don’t get paid. The economics of it just seem so daunting.”

Private and government insurers and hospitals can save money as a result of less paper handling, lower administration expenses and fewer unnecessary lab tests when they are connected to electronic health records in doctors’ offices. Still, it is mainly doctors who bear the burden making the initial investment.

“We have a broken market for electronic health record adoption because the people who gain financially are not the people who pay,” said Dr. Blackford Middleton, a health technology expert at Partners Healthcare, a nonprofit medical group that includes Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

To fix the market, Dr. Middleton, like others, recommends that the government play a role in providing incentives or subsidies to speed the use of computerized patient records in the United States, whose adoption rate trails most developed nations.

The government took a step in that direction last week, announcing a $150 million Medicare project that will offer doctors incentives to move from paper to electronic patient records. The program is intended to help up to 1,200 small practices in 12 cities and states make the conversion.

Individual doctors will be offered up to $58,000 over the five-year span of the project, which is intended to test the impact of incentives on the spread of electronic health records. Further programs across the country are planned.

The report published in the journal also found that electronic health records were used by 51 percent of larger practices, with 50 or more doctors.

Indeed, electronic health records are pervasive in the largest integrated medical groups like Kaiser Permanente, the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and others. These integrated groups not only have deep pockets. By combining doctors, clinics, hospitals and often some insurance they can also capture the financial savings from electronic health records.

The findings of the study, which was paid for by the Department of Health and Human Services and a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, broadly echo previous research on the adoption of electronic health records. Large medical groups have long been the early adopters, and small practices have struggled.

But the new study is based on a large sampling — more than 2,600 doctors across the country — and a detailed survey, making it more definitive than past research, experts say. The results, they say, also show a strong endorsement of electronic health records by doctors who have them, especially for what the report termed “fully functional” records, which include reminders of care guidelines, based on a patient’s age, gender or medical history.

For example, 82 percent of those using such electronic records said they improved the quality of clinical decisions, 86 percent said they helped in avoiding medication errors and 85 percent said they improved the delivery of preventative care.

“Those numbers are huge and very encouraging,” said Dr. David J. Brailer, the former health information technology coordinator in the Bush administration.

Dr. Brailer also pointed to the 54 percent of doctors without electronic health records who said that not finding an electronic health record that met their needs was a “major barrier” to adoption. In short, they are not satisfied with the existing products, which tend to be designed for hospitals — big customers — instead of small practices.

“What we see is a deficit in innovation, and that is something innovators and the capital markets can address,” said Dr. Brailer, who leads a firm that invests in medical ventures, Health Evolution Partners.

One wave of innovation is coming from big technology companies, like Microsoft and Google, which recently have begun services that offer consumer-controlled personal health records over the Web, which are stored in the companies’ data centers. These consumer-controlled health records are intended to link up and exchange information with electronic patient records in doctors’ offices and hospitals.

Dr. Peter Masucci, a pediatrician with his own office in Everett, Mass., embraced electronic health records to “try to get our practice into the 21st century.”

He could not afford conventional software, and chose a Web-based service from Athenahealth, a company supplying online financial and electronic health record services to doctors’ offices.

Dr. Masucci was already using Athenahealth’s outsourced financial service, and less than two years ago adopted the online medical record.

Today, Dr. Masucci is an enthusiast, talking about the wealth of patient information, drug interaction warnings and guidelines for care, all in the Web-based records.

“Do I see more patients because of this technology? Probably no,” Dr. Masucci said. “But I am doing a better job with the patients I am seeing. It almost forces you to be a better doctor.”

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/technology/19patient.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin