Young woman with cancer asks Hollywood actor out for coffee using online video

 

Attempting to re-enter the world of dating after being diagnosed with cancer, 26 year-old Lindsey Miller has posted a video of herself online in which she asks actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt out for coffee.

 

The heart warming video in which Miss Miller asks out Gordon-Levitt, who is set to star in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, has become an internet hit. In the footage the Los Angeles-based redhead says she has found it difficult to date since being diagnosed with cancer. However, she reveals that after seeing Gordon-Levitt star in 50/50, a film in which he plays a man struggling with cancer, she has decided that he is just the man to help her overcome her fears.

Looking straight down the lens, Miss Miller, who is suffering from pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, invites the 30 year-old actor to join her for a casual drink. "After a year of living with this, I've decided to get back on the dating scene and I'd like my first date to be with you. Let's not be overdramatic, just a cup of coffee with you would make me happy." The video, which was posted on YouTube, has so far been watched by over 370,000 people.

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8900453/Young-woman-with-cancer-asks-Batman-actor-out-for-coffee-using-online-video.html

Superman fan goes surgery-mad

Because of his love for Superman, Filipino designer Herbert Chavez changed his physical appearance to look like the Man of Steel. For more than a decade, 35-year-old Chavez has undergone a series of procedures that have made his nose higher and slimmed down his thighs. He has had surgery on his cheeks, lips and chin, and injections to whiten his skin."Superman is my idol. I want to look like him," Chavez said. "That's why I copied his nose and the proportion of Superman's face." Once a typical-looking Filipino, Chavez now has the face of Clark Kent.

His admiration began when he was a child and watched Superman save the world in movies. He later began collecting Superman items, including cups, bed sheets, action figures and life-size Superman statues. He has even designed his own Superman costumes. 

People in Calamba, south of Manila, refer to him as the "village superman". Children play with him when they see him in the streets. "It's ridiculous when you look at it, but it's a source of happiness for the children. They can forget the problems facing our world," said resident Filipe Rabanan. 

 

Chavez says doing good deeds is what makes a hero - a lesson worth teaching children."We should show them that even if you're just a regular father or mother, anybody can become a superhero," he said. "Doing good to someone, to your neighborhood or to your social life, that makes you a superhero." 

Miss USA 2006 Q&A

1. If you could tell your younger self something that you know now as an adult, what would it be? (Miss Ohio)

2. Do you think that today's pop superstars are positive role models for young people? Why or why not? (Miss Kentucky)

3. So many families seem to be growing apart. How can we keep them together? (Miss California)

4. What can men learn most from women? (Miss Georgia)

5. Are we as a society getting a little too concerned with being politically correct? (Miss Florida)

Getting Japanese Women Back on Track

Japan's economy is threatened. Not just by an ongoing recession and March's disastrous earthquake and tsunami, but by an aging population that is decimating the workforce. If ever a country needed a breakthrough idea for productivity, it's now. In fact, a solution exists: Japan's underutilized women. According to a 2010 study by Goldman Sachs, "If Japan could close its gender employment gap, Japan's workforce could expand by 8.2 million and the level of Japan's GDP could increase by as much as 15 percent." 

Yet according to a new study from the Center for Work-Life Policy, 74% of college-educated women in Japan voluntarily quit their jobs for six months or more — more than twice the number of their counterparts in the U.S. (31%) and Germany (35%). The reason for this enormous brain drain: a toxic combination of social mores and how they're manifested in Japan's corporate culture. 

Japanese tradition defines a woman's primary role as ryosaikenbo — "good wife, wise mother." It is assumed that most women will quit their jobs when they marry, a phenomenon known as a "happy resignation". Because of this, female college graduates are automatically sidetracked onto the "office lady" path, a dead-end support staff role whose duties include making tea for male managers, dusting their desks, and serving drinks at after-hours functions. Between men and women, there's a huge earnings gap: On average, women only earn 72% of the compensation paid to men for equivalent jobs.

Japan boasts a large pool of well-educated women, with women constituting nearly half of university graduates. Companies should make a special effort to recruit, retain, and accelerate female talent to give Japan's ailing economy the boost it so desperately needs. 

Vocabulary

decimating - destroying a great number of (workforce)

breakthrough - significant development or achievement

underutilized - not fully used

counterparts - people resembling another (American and German women are counterparts of Japanese women.)

brain drain - loss of trained professional personnel in the country's workforce

mores - customs or practices in the society 

sidetracked - being led out of the way

pool - source

ailing - troubled; sick

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-14/getting-japanese-women-back-on-track.html

Miss USA 2008 Question and Answer

1. Some cosmetic companies have marketed beauty products for girls to learn elementary school. Do you think this is a good thing? (Miss Pennsylvania, 4th runner-up)

2. In some countries, when you turn 18 you are required to spend a year in the military. Do you think this should be enforced in our country? Why or why not? (Miss Texas, Miss USA 2008)

3. If you could help one famous person to better themselves, who would you pick and how would you help them? (Miss Oklahoma, 3rd runner-up)

4. There are parents today who raise their children without letting them watch any television or look at the internet. What is your opinion on this? (Miss New Jersey, 2nd runner-up)

5. Has being a beautiful woman given you any special opportunities in life? And if so, how have you used it in a positive and constructive way? (Miss Mississippi, 1st runner-up)