Kemiskinan ternyata tak menyurutkan seseorang dalam menggapai cita-cita. Setidaknya semangat itu tergambar dari sosok Mariance Djara Jungu. Bocah berusia tujuh tahun tersebut adalah siswa kelas satu di Sekolah Dasar Oepunu, Kupang Tengah, Nusa Tenggara Timur. Setiap hari, Mariance harus menempuh tujuh kilometer menuju ke sekolahnya.
Rumah orangtua Mariance terletak di Dusun Dendeng, Desa Noelbaki, Kupang Tengah. SCTV, baru-baru ini, menyambangi rumah itu dengan menempuh waktu 1,5 jam menggunakan mobil dan dilanjutkan berjalan kaki. Rumah itu berupa gubuk dengan dinding kayu dan atap daun lontar. Sementara sekat kamar menggunakan terpal. Di rumah itulah Mariance dilahirkan.
Setiap pagi, Mariance bangun pukul 05.00 WITA dilanjutkan dengan mencuci piring sebelum bersiap pergi ke sekolah. Mariance mengenakan seragam dengan alas sandal jepit. Dia lalu menempuh 1,5 jam ke sekolah dengan berjalan kaki. Perkiraan Mariance cukup matang karena sekolah baru dimulai pukul 07.00 WITA. Jika Mariance kesiangan bangun karena lelah, dia akan menyelingi perjalanannya dengan berlari kecil.
Meski mengaku lelah, bocah itu kembali ceria setiba di sekolah. Sekolah Mariance merupakan gedung Balai pertemuan desa tanpa fasilitas kursi. Sepanjang tiga jam pelajaran berlangsung, Mariance harus mengikutinya dengan berdiri. Tak jarang bocah ini merasakan lelah yang luar biasa.
Mariance pulang pukul 10.00 Wita. Sesampai di rumah, ia mengulang pelajaran di sekolah. Mariance memanfaatkan tempat duduk di rumahnya sebagai meja dan tetap harus berdiri karena tak memiliki kursi. Namun, segala kekurangan itu tetap dijalani Mariance dengan ketekunan. Ia terlanjur mendulang cita-cita mulia menjadi seorang Guru.
Usai belajar, Mariance lalu membantu neneknya membersihkan rumput dan menyiangi tanaman cabe. Rutinitas itu merupakan sumber kehidupan mereka. Hal itu diceritakan ibu Mariance, Linda Djara. Sang ibu juga mengatakan seolah tak ada waktu senggang bagi sang buah hati. Apalagi, Mariance juga harus memberi makan sejumlah ayam di halaman rumahnya.
Wilhemina, salah satu guru di sekolah Mariance, mengatakan, muridnya tersebut kerap terlambat tiba di sekolah. Meski begitu, prestasi Mariance tidak perlu diragukan. Mariance dan sembilan temannya terpilih mengikuti tes sampling di tingkat Kabupaten Kupang.
Kini, pihak sekolah hanya bisa berharap pemerintah setempat mau menyediakan fasilitas pendidikan bagi mereka. Hal itu demi mewujudkan cita-cita 40 siswa sekolah tersebut. Tak hanya itu, pihak sekolah juga berharap ada donatur yang mengulurkan tangan mereka untuk membangun gedung sekolah di atas lahan yang telah disiapkan. Video
The video, from Azteca America Colorado, shows an injured dog lying in the middle of a freeway after being hit by a car, while a rescue dog dodges traffic to run to its side. The rescue dog then drags the severely injured canine across lanes of traffic as cars swerve around it.
No motorists stopped to help either dog, but a highway crew arrives at the end of the video. Video
Dogs sulked and refused to "shake" paws if other dogs got treats for tricks and they did not, said
"It is a more complex feeling or emotion than what we would normally attribute to animals," said Range.
The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also showed dogs licked and scratched themselves and acted stressed when they were denied rewards given to other dogs.
Other studies have shown monkeys often express resentful behaviour when a partner receives a greater reward for performing an identical task, staging strikes or ignoring what they view as inferior compensation.
It turns out dogs are able to show a similar, if less sensitive, response, said Range in a telephone interview.
In a series of experiments using different breeds of dogs, the researchers looked at how two animals sitting next to each other reacted to unequal rewards after handing a paw to a researcher.
Dogs not given a treat licked their mouths, yawned, scratched and showed other signs of stress and stopped performing the task, Range said.
To show this was not just because the animals were not getting food, the researchers then tested the dogs alone and found that in this situation the envious canines cooperated longer before stopping.
"It is really about the unequal distribution of the reward," Range said. "If it was only about frustration they would stop at the same time."
"My wife had been nagging me all week to get a ticket, so I when saw the Lotto sign ... I sprinted in to get the ticket before they closed," said the man, who asked not to be identified — normal practice among lottery winners in
"I must have been their last customer of the night," he said, adding that the young married couple had had a "rough" couple of years, reduced to one income after having children.
"I have never been so glad to listen to my wife's nagging," the man said Tuesday.
He discovered their newly won fortune Sunday thanks to his wife's request for a barbecued sausage.
Out shopping for bargains, the man said he didn't have enough money to buy his wife the sausage she'd asked him for. So he decided to check his Saturday lottery ticket in case he'd won a small prize.
"I could not believe it when they said I was actually the big winner," he said.
When he showed the printout to his wife, she initially thought they had won $4,200 (NZ$7,700).
"When she realized how much it really was, she fell to the floor, and then said: 'but all I wanted was a sausage.'"
Seperti biasa Andrew, Kepala Cabang di sebuah perusahaan swasta terkemuka di Jakarta, tiba di rumahnya pada pukul 9 malam. Tidak seperti biasanya, Sarah, putri pertamanya yang baru duduk di kelas tiga SD membukakan pintu untuknya. Nampaknya ia sudah menunggu cukup lama.
"Kok, belum tidur ?" sapa Andrew sambil mencium anaknya.
Biasanya Sarah memang sudah lelap ketika ia pulang dan baru terjaga ketika ia akan berangkat ke kantor pagi hari. Sambil membuntuti sang Papa menuju ruang keluarga, Sarah menjawab, "Aku nunggu Papa pulang. Sebab aku mau tanya berapa sih gaji Papa ?"
"Lho tumben, kok nanya gaji Papa ? Mau minta uang lagi, ya ?"
"Ah, enggak. Pengen tahu aja" ucap Sarah singkat.
"Oke. Kamu boleh hitung sendiri. Setiap hari Papa bekerja sekitar 10 jam dan dibayar Rp. 400.000,-. Setiap bulan rata-rata dihitung 22 hari kerja. Sabtu dan Minggu libur, kadang Sabtu Papa masih lembur. Jadi, gaji Papa dalam satu bulan berapa, hayo ?"
Sarah berlari mengambil kertas dan pensilnya dari meja belajar sementara Papanya melepas sepatu dan menyalakan televisi. Ketika Andrew beranjak menuju kamar untuk berganti pakaian, Sarah berlari mengikutinya.
"Kalo satu hari Papa dibayar Rp. 400.000,-untuk 10 jam, berarti satu jam Papa digaji Rp. 40.000,- dong" katanya.
"Wah, pinter kamu. Sudah, sekarang cuci kaki, tidur" perintah Andrew. Tetapi Sarah tidak beranjak. Sambil menyaksikan Papanya berganti pakaian, Sarah kembali bertanya, "Papa, aku boleh pinjam uang Rp. 5.000,- enggak ?"
"Sudah, nggak usah macam-macam lagi. Buat apa minta uang malam-malam begini? Papa capek. Dan mau mandi dulu. Tidurlah".
"Tapi Papa..."
Kesabaran Andrew pun habis. "Papa bilang tidur !" hardiknya mengejutkan Sarah. Anak kecil itu pun berbalik menuju kamarnya.
Usai mandi, Andrew nampak menyesali hardiknya. Ia pun menengok Sarah dikamar tidurnya. Anak kesayangannya itu belum tidur.. Sarah didapati sedang terisak- isak pelan sambil memegang uang Rp. 15.000,- di tangannya.
Sambil berbaring dan mengelus kepala bocah kecil itu, Andrew berkata, "Maafkan Papa, Nak, Papa sayang sama Sarah. Tapi buat apa sih minta uang malam-malam begini? Kalau mau beli mainan, besok
"Jangankan Rp.5.000,- lebih dari itu pun Papa kasih" jawab Andrew
"Papa, aku enggak minta uang. Aku hanya pinjam. Nanti aku kembalikan kalau sudah menabung lagi dari uang jajan selama minggu ini".
"lya, iya, tapi buat apa ?" tanya Andrew lembut.
"Aku menunggu Papa dari jam 8. Aku mau ajak Papa main ular tangga. Tiga puluh menit aja. Mama sering bilang kalo waktu Papa itu sangat berharga. Jadi, aku mau ganti waktu Papa.
Aku buka tabunganku, hanya ada Rp.15.000,- tapi karena Papa bilang satu jam Papa dibayar Rp. 40.000,- maka setengah jam aku harus ganti Rp. 20.000,-. Tapi duit tabunganku kurang Rp.5.000, makanya aku mau pinjam dari Papa" kata Sarah polos.
Andrew pun terdiam. ia kehilangan kata-kata. Dipeluknya bocah kecil itu erat-erat dengan perasaan haru. Dia baru menyadari, ternyata limpahan harta yang dia berikan selama ini, tidak cukup untuk "membeli" kebahagiaan anaknya.
Bagi dunia kau hanya seseorang, tapi bagi seseorang kau adalah dunianya.
When a British teacher joined an online dating agency to find a husband, she found love much closer to home than she could have ever expected - in the same street!
46-year-old Julie McIlroy, looked through thousands of pictures of eligible men on the online dating site, before finally spotting father-of-two Allan Donnelly.
Julie and Allan had no idea they were neighbors and had been living in the same street for the past 17 years!
“I thought he looked nice so I sent him a message and he emailed me back. We started emailing for a couple of weeks and I discovered that Allan was from
“Then I found out we both lived in the Rhiwbina area of the city - but even that’s a big place” she added.
e street, and had even seen each other from a distance, but never actually met face-to-face!
“I was totally stunned,” she said. “It’s an incredible co-incidence but it just goes to show that you never know where you will find love.”
The couple began dating and later went on holidays to
“I had been on the dating site for a while when I hooked up with Julie. It was an amazing co-incidence that we live so close to each other, What were the chances of that?” he said. “But it was my lucky day - we’ve got the perfect compatibility. She’s right up my street.”
Hurricanes, as we've seen, can wreak serious havoc when they strike populated areas. We've never had control over them before, but one researcher thinks they could be broken up with F-4 fighter jets.
In theory, sending in a pair of the jets to do loops around the eye of the hurricane while it's still out over the ocean, creating sonic booms, would break it up before it hits the shore.
Jet fighters flying at supersonic speeds along special trajectories with a hurricane/typhoon at various altitudes would create supersonic booms. In one such embodiment, the trajectories for the supersonic booms of the present invention are counter to the rotational component of the hurricane and/or typhoon being targeted. As such, supersonic booms can be tailored and/or designed to partially and/or fully -negate the basic rotational contribution in a hurricane by slowing down a hurricane's/typhoon's rotation. Additionally, when supersonic booms propagate downward to the surface of the ocean they also destabilize a hurricane's/typhoon's structure by increasing the pressure in the central part of a hurricane's/typhoon's eye.
It's a pretty crazy idea, but We guess it makes sense. It would be pretty amazing to be able to stop any hurricane before it hit shore, saving millions and millions of dollars and who knows how many lives. We can't wait for them to test this out.
An Egyptian court has tried and sentence a donkey to jail time for theft of corn. The donkey was caught by local police at a checkpoint set up at an agricultural research institute after the director complained that someone had been stealing corn.
The court found that the donkey was in possession of the corm and sentenced him to 24 hours in prison. The donkey’s owner copped a fine of $9 for allowing his donkey to go on its theft spree.
Unfortunately local media was unable to obtain a comment from the donkey on the courts decision.
Kitsch 80’s television show Greatest American Hero is to be made into a movie, according to io9.
For those not old enough to remember it, the series originally aired between 1981 and 1983, and revolved around a school teacher given special powers by Aliens. The series is probably better remembered for its theme song “Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)” by Joey Scarbury, embed as follows:
Series creator Stephen J. Cannell confirmed he is working on a script for the show, saying “We’ve written a screenplay, and we’ve hired a director, and we’re in the midst of putting this together for the future.”
In the ultimate Nazi-inspired exercise of destruction of the most basic human rights, Indonesian politicians are planning to tag all HIV/AIDS patients with radio frequency identification chips. Their objective is to monitor people who had shown "actively sexual behavior". John Manangsang—one of the the Indonesian Himmler-wannabes proposing the law—has no qualms in explaining it:
It's a simple technology. A signal from the microchip will track their movements and this will be received by monitoring authorities.
Then, he says they plan to punish any HIV/AIDS patient who had infected a healthy person. For some reason, this joke of a human being thinks that using RFID technology to reduce people to cattle is the best way to stop the rampant HIV/AIDS spread in his province—which is 20 times the national average in Indonesia. Because, like everyone knows, punishing an ill person is always a better method to stop an infectious disease than actually attacking the source of the problem which, according to the usual international health watchers, is the poor education about AIDS and the lack of condoms in the province, coupled with ritual swinging in Papua tribes.
We wonder if his plan B is just putting them in camps or shoot them straight away.
Boeing and the US Air Force keep advancing in their airborne high-energy laser weapon, the modified 747-
While the laser has been tested before, this was the first time they actually operated the whole thing as if they were shooting down a real target. This test fired the laser from the back-mounted generator thought the beam control system, exiting the aircraft through the nose-mounted turret and hitting a simulated ballistic missile target.
The next test—to be executed next year—will be firing and shooting down a real airborne ballistic missile.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said officers arrested Christian Popescu, 37, outside a coffee shop in
The bookmark was reportedly given as a present to Hitler by his long-term mistress in 1943 to console the German dictator after the German defeat at the hands of Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad, ICE said in a news release.
It was among several items that had been due to be sold off by an auction house in
Popescu made an initial appearance in court on Wednesday, charged with sale or receipt of stolen goods. He faces up to ten years in jail and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
As the season for joy nears, people are already getting ready for their Xmas lighting decoration. And if you are a store manager at the American Family Association, that means a burning cross in your doorstep. Because nothing says "Let's celebrate Jesus' birthday" better than the symbol of his dead in glowing LED glory, 210 of them. Seriously, we are suckers for weird, tacky, and wonderful lighting fixtures and lamps, but somehow this seems like a no-no. No.
Back in April, Philips announced plans to hand over its television promotion, sales and manufacturing to Funai. Now the company has expanded those plans to what sounds like all of their home theater products, including DVD players, Blu-ray players and surround sound equipment. Oh, you'll still see Philips DVD players for sure, but it won't really be Philips. So have a good time dropping that little factoid to your favorite, know-it-all salesperson next time they gush about the Philips brand name.
We have to apologize up front that you can't get this phone here because Nokia has decided [wrongly] that only people in
And would pay over the top money to get a special edition phone with Bruce stamped all over it. That doesn't mean we can't tease you horribly though because we desperately want one too.
This is the N96, Nokia's flagship multimedia phone Hong Kong-style: a Limited Edition Bruce Lee mobile with his face and signature carved on the back, and bundled with numerous accessories and a cool Bruce Lee action figure from Enterbay.
However, it does cost an estimated £800 here [Chinese]. The only consolation we can offer though is possibly the best promo video for a phone we have ever seen. BruceLeeN96adv01 and BruceLeeN96adv02
Several Verizon Wireless employees stumbled upon the Pandora's Box of personal cellphone accounts, that of President-Elect Barack Obama, and couldn't help sneaking a peek. Luckily, the account was old and out-of-use, there's no indication that email records, voicemails or call contents were monitored, and at the very most the employees only got to see billing records, according to Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. Oh yeah, and the employees are now fired.
PERSONAL CELL PHONE ACCOUNT OF PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA ACCESSED BY UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYEES
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam made the following statement today:
"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.
"All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay. As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions. Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.
We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day."
Since November 25th, Youtube, everybody's favorite internet video site has undergone a slight change—everything has gone widescreen! That's right, now you can watch a dog humping a baby in 16:9, rather than the original boring ol' 4:3. Though, if you'd rather stick to boring ol' 4:3, that's not going away either.
A new hydropower prototype from the
The system works by harnessing “vortex induced vibrations,” the thrumming caused by the flow of liquid or air over rounded objects. A cylinder placed underwater is subject to the current and starts to vibrate as liquid sticks and creates eddies on the object's opposite side. It's the same scientific principle that caused the collapse of the
