Musical Icon...

I felt sorry for the man.

I grew up listening, singing and dancing his songs. They were great...better, they are still great!

I remember the show, the scenery on stage, the lights, the musics but specially the amazing performance of his first and only concert in Lisbon.

I was lucky to be there.

Remembering...

American superstar Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958 and entertained audiences nearly his entire life.

By the early 60s the older boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine had begun performing around the city; by 1964 Michael and Marlon had joined in.

A musical prodigy, Michael's singing and dancing talents were amazingly mature and he soon became the dominant voice and focus of "The Jackson 5."

Solo success for Michael was inevitable, and by the 80s he had become infinitely more popular than his brotherly group.

Record sales consistently orbited, culminating in the biggest-selling album of all time, "Thriller" in 1982.

In the 90s the down side as an 80s pop phenomenon began to rear itself. Michael grew terribly child-like and introverted by his peerless celebrity. A rather timorous, androgynous figure to begin with, his physical appearance began to change drastically and his behavior grew alarmingly bizarre, making him a consistent target for scandal-making, despite his numerous charitable acts.

Michael Jackson's passion and artistry as a singer, dancer, writer and businessman are unparalleled, and it is these prodigious talents that will ultimately prevail over the extremely negative aspects of his seriously troubled adult life.

For it all to end on June 25, 2009, with his sudden death at age 50 of a cardiac arrest just as he was just coming out of a four-year reclusive period and rehearsing for a sold-out London concert "comeback" in July seems uncommonly cruel and tragic.

Millions upon millions of dedicated fans will remember where they were "the day Michael died".

Junk Food and Exams...

Revision and snacking go hand in hand, found researchers .

Junk food could be hampering the chances of exam-stressed youngsters' success, it is claimed. Trust chairwoman Prue Leith said there was clear evidence that "smart eating" boosted brain power. (...)
She said: "It's often said you get out what you put in - our research shows that children are able to perform better in class when they have had a healthy school lunch rather than junk food.
"Children aren't stupid and they know that healthy food is better for them, and that a healthy breakfast and a balanced school lunch will give them more energy for their studies and help them concentrate more.
"Making that choice, and sticking with it, especially come exam time, could be the difference between success and failure."
However, some 42% said they had skipped meals to make time to revise, while nine in 10 regularly felt tired because of their school work.
The trust said that as a result, half of the youngsters it surveyed could only study for 30 minutes before losing concentration.

Yet nearly half agreed that eating a proper lunch helped them concentrate better in lessons.
And children tended to be aware of which foods would fuel their brains and aid concentration. These include fish, fruit and vegetables.
The trust recommends starting the day with a healthy wholegrain cereal such as muesli or porridge or wholegrain toast, swapping fizzy drinks for water and caffeine for herbal tea.
It also warns that energy boosting snacks like sweets and biscuits may give you an instant hit but will make you "crash and burn" soon after they release their energy.
Instead, it recommends, pupils chose healthy snacks and take regular breaks on their revision every two or three hours.

in BBC News

The EU...

The European Parliament is based both in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, with administrative offices also located in Luxembourg. The Parliament meets in Strasbourg for one week each month for Plenary Sessions to amend and vote on draft legislation. Preparatory meetings of political groups and committee work take place largely in Brussels. Given the disruption and expense of moving between the cities (around £200 million before the accession of ten new countries), the UK Conservative Delegation and many other MEPs support a single seat for the Parliament, but this needs the national Governments to agree a revision of the treaties.
Committees
The main work of the Parliament is, in fact, carried out in Committees. The Committees of the Parliament 1999-2004 were:
-Agriculture and Rural Development

- Budgets

- Budgetary Control

- Citizens Freedoms and Rights

- Justice and Home Affairs

- Constitutional Affairs

- Culture, Youth, Education, Media and Sport

- Development and Cooperation

- Employment and Social Affairs

- Environment, Health and Consumer Protection

- Fisheries

- Foreign Affairs

- Industry, External Trade and Internal Market

- Petitions

- Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism

- Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities.

Find out more about the European Union

The results of the largest election in the history of the European Union are due within an hour, as voting draws to a close after four days.
Nineteen EU countries voted on Sunday, with eight others having voted in the past few days.
All 736 parliament seats are up for grabs. Provisional figures suggest the lowest turnout on record, at 43.01%. (...)

But analysts say the global economic crisis could influence people's vote, and that disenchantment may be reflected in greater support for far-right parties.
Voters are choosing representatives mainly from their own national parties, many of which then join EU-wide groupings with similarly-minded parties from other countries.
The largest grouping has for the last five years been the centre-right EPP (288 seats out of a current 785), followed by the centre-left PES (216) and the liberal ALDE (100).
Opinion polls before the election began suggested fewer than half the 375 million electorate would vote.