Mexico gunmen kill U.S. customs agent, wound another

By Robert Campbell – 15 mins ago

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Gunmen shot dead a U.S. customs agent and wounded another on Tuesday as they drove along Mexico's main north-south highway to Monterrey on official business.

U.S. authorities condemned the attack, which came just over two weeks after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned Mexico's powerful drug cartels not to take their violent tactics across the border.

U.S. officials did not say why the two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were going to Monterrey.

"Any act of violence against our ICE personnel ... is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their lives at risk for our safety," Napolitano said in a statement.

The shooting occurred in mid-afternoon south of the city of San Luis Potosi, which is roughly half way between Mexico City and Monterrey, the country's business capital where drug-related violence has soared in recent months.

Television footage showed a blue sports utility vehicle with several large bullet holes lying in the median of the highway, which was guarded by heavily armed Mexican federal police.

More than 15,000 deaths were blamed on drug violence in Mexico last year but, despite growing domestic criticism of President Felipe Calderon's army-led strategy, the government has vowed to press on with its campaign to crush the cartels.

The violence has alarmed Washington, which worries the fighting could spill over the border. It has also prompted some companies to reconsider plans to invest in Mexico.

The United States has provided funds and training to help Mexico in its fight with the cartels and intelligence from U.S. law enforcement sources is credited with helping Mexico kill and capture several cartel leaders in recent years.

FIRST ICE DEATHS

Attacks on Mexican police by drug gangs are common but U.S. government employees are rarely targeted despite Washington's strong support of Calderon.

The city of San Luis Potosi, the state capital and home to a federal police academy, has not experienced many drug-related killings, but gangs have been moving in to use it as a base for trafficking operations to the north.

Guadalajara, and other Mexican cities once far from the front lines of the drug war, have seen a recent spike in killings.

"What we would hope is that there would be an incredibly

strong response from the U.S. government ... Otherwise we could have a situation where its open season on U.S. federal agents at the border," said Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.

The U.S. agents were the first shot in the line of duty in Mexico, according to ICE.

Undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered while on assignment in Mexico in 1985.

More recently, two U.S. citizens and a Mexican linked to staff at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez were killed in March last year, prompting the State Department to tighten security at its diplomatic missions in northern Mexico.

(Additional reporting by Krista Hughes, Adriana Barrera and Armando Tovar in Mexico City; Robin Emmott in Monterrey; Tim Gaynor in Phoenix and Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington; Editing by Christopher Wilson)

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook

California governor Brown freezes state hiring

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown ordered a hiring freeze on Tuesday across the state's government to help cut costs in the face of a budget gap of at least $25 billion.

The budget deficit of the nation's most populous state is closely tracked in financial markets. California is the biggest issuer of U.S. municipal debt, and is of concern in Washington as some in Congress have discussed crafting legislation to allow states to declare bankruptcy to ease their fiscal woes.

The U.S. economy may be recovering but state and local governments still face weak revenue due to the recession, housing and financial market slumps, hesitant consumer spending and high unemployment.

Brown's order applies to vacant, seasonal, full-time and part-time positions and will save $363 million in operational costs in the next fiscal year beginning in July, Brown's office said.

"The hiring freeze will be in effect until agencies and departments prove that they can achieve these savings," Brown, sworn in last month, said in the statement.

It was the latest move by the 72-year-old Democrat to trim state spending on his own as he seeks approval from lawmakers for his budget plan.

It includes proposals for $12.5 billion in spending cuts and calls on the legislature to put a ballot measure to voters in June to extend tax increases scheduled to expire this year.

Democrats, who control the legislature, are expected to support Brown's cuts to help win Republican votes needed to advance a measure to the ballot.

The tax extensions, spending cuts and other moves would close a budget gap Brown estimated last month in his budget plan at $25.4 billion through mid-2012.

That deficit may swell to more than $27 billion after Brown canceled a plan to sell state buildings and if his proposal for creating a nearly $1 billion reserve survives budget talks with lawmakers.

In addition to the hiring freeze, Brown has ordered sharp reductions in mobile phones for state employees and in the state's vehicle fleet.

To further underscore frugality, Brown recently took a commercial passenger flight -- coach and without entourage -- to Southern California to urge business groups to support a referendum on tax extensions.

(Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook

Drug may slow growth of early prostate cancer

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

A new study suggests a way to help men with early, low-risk prostate cancer avoid being overtreated for a disease that in most cases will never threaten their lives. It found that a drug can slow the growth of these tumors in men who opt to be monitored instead of having treatment right away.

This is the first time that a drug for treating enlarged prostates also has been shown to help treat prostate cancer in a rigorous study. It may persuade more men to choose active surveillance, or "watchful waiting," instead of rushing to have treatments that can leave them with urinary or sexual problems, doctors say.

However, the results also show that most of these men do very well with no treatment at all.

"We're identifying men who are not likely to need even a pill," said Dr. Maha Hussain, a University of Michigan cancer specialist. But Americans fear cancer so much that they want some kind of treatment and underestimate the financial and medical risks of treating low-risk cases, she added.

She is program chair of a cancer conference in Florida where the study will be presented later this week. Results were released Tuesday in a telephone news conference sponsored by the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

Roughly half of the 218,000 men diagnosed each year in the United States with prostate cancer have low-risk disease — PSA blood levels under 10 and low tumor aggressiveness scores.

"The American view of cancer" is that it's always best to treat, so about 80 percent of these men choose to have that right away, said Dr. Otis Brawley, a prostate cancer expert who is chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

In Europe, though, most choose watchful waiting — close monitoring and treatment only if the cancer progresses or causes pain or other problems.

Doctors know that drugs that shrink the prostate — GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Avodart and Merck & Co.'s Proscar — can help prevent prostate cancer. But federal health advisers recently recommended against taking them for this purpose because of potential risks.

The new study tested Avodart "not to prevent cancer, but to prevent the progression" of it in men who already have the disease, which may be a much better use of such drugs, said the study's leader, Dr. Neil Fleshner of University Health Network and Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.

"We know the vast majority of these men are not destined to die from that cancer," and wanted to see if Avodart could make "watchful waiting" safer, Fleshner said.

The study enrolled about 300 men in the United States and Canada with low-risk cancer that was confirmed by a biopsy. They were given daily Avodart or dummy pills and new biopsies 1 1/2 and three years later.

Prostate cancer got worse in 38 percent of men taking Avodart and 49 percent of those on dummy pills. Final biopsies showed no signs of cancer in 36 percent of men on Avodart versus 23 percent of those on dummy pills. Doctors say this last result shows how tiny many of these cancers were to start with, that they couldn't even be found when new biopsies were done.

Doctors don't think Avodart can cure cancers, but it seems to suppress it, said Dr. Howard Sandler, a prostate cancer specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He had no role in the study but is involved with the cancer conference.

Researchers gave no details on Avodart's side effects, but said no new ones appeared in the study. Avodart and Proscar are known to cause sexual problems for some men, but many men over 50 have this anyway and only about 5 percent more do when taking these drugs, said Brawley, who helped test Avodart for cancer prevention.

The new study was sponsored by Avodart's maker, GlaxoSmithKline. Avodart and Proscar cost about $4 a pill; generic versions of Proscar are available for about $2. Proscar is similar to Avodart but has not been tested for treating early cancer as this study did.

Sandler said Avodart might relieve some men's anxiety about monitoring their disease and may make them more comfortable not having immediate treatment.

"If it was me, I'd choose active surveillance," he said. Avodart "has the potential to be an important help."

___

Online:

Prostate cancer info: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate

and http://tinyurl.com/ASCOanswers

Risk calculator: http://tinyurl.com/riskcalculator

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook

Apple unveils iPhone, iPad subscription policy

By DANA WOLLMAN, AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK – Apple Inc. announced a subscription system for buying newspapers and magazines on iPhone and iPad applications on Tuesday, making it easier for publishers to mine the popular mobile devices for more revenue.

The update announced Tuesday enables publishers to sell subscriptions by the week, month, year or other period of time, instead of asking readers to buy each issue separately.

The added convenience promises to help publishers sell more digital copies as they look to smart phones and tablet computers to replace some of the revenue that has disappeared over the past few years as readers and advertisers migrated from print editions.

But publishers won't be allowed to automatically collect personal information about people who buy subscriptions through the Apple apps. That data is prized by publishers because they use it for marketing purposes.

Instead, subscribers who sign up through an app on an Apple device will be given the option to share their information with publishers, a choice most people don't make. If people don't share their information with publishers, Apple will still hold onto it, though it will not pass it on to the publishers or other third parties.

Time Inc., whose magazines include Sports Illustrated, People and Time, applauded Apple for allowing publishers to sell app subscriptions, but said it still has questions about access to customer information. Sports Illustrated, for one, already has worked out deals to sell subscriptions with access to customer data on computer tablets running on software made by Apple rivals Google Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

Apple will take its standard 30 percent cut from all app and content sales made in its iTunes store, which peddles a variety of music, movies, games and e-books. This new subscription system also applies to video and music services — for instance, the app for Netflix.

Content providers that don't want to automatically give Apple a slice of the revenue can try to sell subscriptions outside the app, too. One way to do that would be through the Web browser, although that might prove too much of a hassle for people already used to buying apps, music and other things on iTunes.

Apple is insisting the financial terms of the digital subscriptions sold outside the app be no better than those offered in the iTunes store. And people must have the option to buy subscriptions within iTunes, if they want.

"We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. Jobs, a cancer survivor, is on medical leave but continues to serve as chief executive.

Apple's new subscription policy follows News Corp.'s launch of the first iPad-only newspaper, The Daily, earlier this month. Its subscribers are charged through iTunes, making it the first iPad app to take advantage of this subscription feature.

More newspapers are focusing on digital devices because their biggest source of revenue, print advertising, has plunged during the past four years. Digital advertising has been steadily rising, but those increases have only made up for a fraction of the losses on the print side.

Subscriptions to print editions also have been dropping in recent years as more people turned to the Web to get news and other information for free.

In stark contrast to publishers, Apple has been thriving. The company, based in Cupertino, Calif., generates more than $65 billion in annual revenue and boasts a market value of $330 billion — second only to Exxon Mobil Corp. among U.S. companies.

Apple now sees an opportunity to get even richer from these so-called in-app purchases. As part of its effort to ensure it gets a cut, Apple recently rejected Sony Corp.'s e-book reader app for the iPhone because it doesn't give people the chance to buy books without leaving the app for a website.

By insisting on an in-app purchase option, Apple believes it is making sure people using its gadgets get a familiar experience every time they buy something — a new level of a video game or a new issue of a magazine — through an app. Until recently, Apple has not enforced this rule universally.

___

AP Business Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook

Dell 4Q net income more than doubles, shares soar

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer – 1 hr 53 mins ago

SEATTLE – Personal computer maker Dell Inc. said Tuesday its net income more than doubled in the most recent quarter to handily beat expectations, as businesses spent more on computers, servers and other technology.

Dell also issued annual revenue guidance for the next fiscal year that beat Wall Street's forecast. The results sent shares soaring in extended trading after the report was released.

Net income soared to $927 million, or 48 cents per share, from $334 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, Dell earned 53 cents per share, blowing past Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast earnings of 36 cents per share.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $15.69 billion from $14.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. That's less than the $15.75 billion analysts predicted.

Dell has been working to increase the proportion of server computers, data storage devices and technology consulting services it sells, because those areas are more profitable than the basic PC business. Compared with a year ago, however, each of Dell's product categories accounted for about the same amount of revenue in the quarter. Personal computers continued to make up more than half of Dell's revenue.

Revenue from large enterprises and from small and medium-size businesses rose 12 percent each to $4.7 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively. Public-sector revenue increased 4 percent to $4 billion.

Those increases helped Dell offset sluggish consumer spending on computers. Revenue from the consumer segment fell 8 percent to $3.3 billion.

A year ago, Microsoft Corp.'s updated PC operating system, Windows 7, went on sale, luring more shoppers and making for a tough comparison this year. In an interview, Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said he expects the consumer PC business will remain weak this fiscal year, in part because people are thinking about buying tablets such as Apple Inc.'s iPad.

Analysts are keeping a close eye on Dell's gross margin, a measure of how efficient the business is. This quarter, gross margin was 21 percent, better than the 18.6 percent analysts expected.

Gladden said lower costs for components helped contribute to the stronger gross margin, as did improvements in how the company sources parts and manufactures computers.

For the full year, Dell said net income increased 84 percent to $2.64 billion, or $1.35 per share, from $1.43 billion, or 73 cents per share in the prior year.

Revenue rose 16 percent to $61.49 million from $52.9 million.

For the current quarter, Dell said it expects revenue to decline slightly from the fourth-quarter level. Analysts are looking for revenue of $15.5 billion in revenue.

For the fiscal year, Dell said it expects revenue to grow 5 percent to 9 percent, or about $64.6 billion to $67.0 billion. Analysts are forecasting annual revenue of $64.2 billion.

Shares jumped 74 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $14.65 in aftermarket trading after the earnings were released. In the regular session, the stock lost 18 cents to $13.91.

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook

VIDEO: Power Plant Flies

VIVAnews - James Auger and Chris Melhuish design students, researchers from Birstol Robotics Laboratory, the British succeeded in making a wall clock, lights, and robots that are different from robots in general.

Do not use electricity, batteries or solar power, the devices have gotten energy from insects, particularly flies.

Auger said he got the thought while observing how plants are ready to get the energy and survive by eating insects that perch. Here's the video: Eater Insect Clocks.

Using a technology known as a microbial fuel cell, researchers use bacteria and food (dead insects are captured).

After the bacteria consume the food, the researchers took the electron that's in these bacteria and become electric. Electricity is that the primary supply of energy for the robot, clock, or the lamp in question.

As an illustration, eight carrion flies could supply electricity to control for 12 days.
• VIVAnews

NASA Satellites approach the comet Tempel

VIVAnews - Mission-Next NASA's Stardust comet Tempel 1 and meet each other in space, right on Valentine's Day, 14 February.Although not intersect, a meeting between them will be very close.

Stardust-Next meeting with Tempel 1 was a meeting of the second spacecraft to the comet on July 4, 2005 after then. At that time, the aircraft from NASA's Deep Impact managed a sensor toward Tempel 1 while watching him when passing.

Stardust-Next, the mission that launched 4.5 years ago served to expand the investigation conducted by the Deep Impact. The result is expected to reveal more information about the solar system.

"Stardust-Next have started sending pictures of the comet taken on January 18, from a distance of 26.2 million miles and 19 January from a distance of 25.4 million kilometers," said Joe Veverka, a scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California, United States .

As quoted from Upi, February 11, 2011, on 14 February next, Stardust-Next will fly a distance of only 199.5 kilometers with a comet.

"We have received the first pictures around the comet Tempel 1," said Veverka. "Meeting spacecraft with celestial bodies are so small and quick like a comet in space is a vast challenge, but we are glad all are well prepared," he said.

Comet Tempel 1 comet itself is measuring 7.6 x 4.9 kilometers. He orbits the Sun with a period of 5.52 years. Called Tempel 1 because it was first discovered by Wilhelm Tempel, an astronomer who worked in France on April 3, 1867.
• VIVAnews

95 Juta Tahun Lalu, Ular Punya Kaki

Peneliti menemukan adanya dua buah kaki berukuran sekitar 2,5 centimeter.

JUM'AT, 11 FEBRUARI 2011, 00:02 WIB

Muhammad Firman

VIVAnews - Dari penelitian terbaru terhadap fosil ular yang diperkirakan telah berusia 95 juta tahun, terungkap bahwa ada dua tulang kaki kecil yang tersambung ke tulang pinggul hewan tersebut.

Seperti dikutip dari LiveScience, 10 Februari 2011, fosil yang ditemukan di Libanon tersebut berasal dari zaman di mana ular belum kehilangan tungkai belakang mereka.

Rekonstruksi tiga dimensi terhadap tulang tersebut akan segera dilakukan untuk membantu para peneliti memahami bagaimana ular berevolusi hingga kehilangan kakinya itu.

Adapun perdebatan yang menghangat di kalangan paleontologist adalah apakah nenek moyang ular berkaki itu merupakan kadal yang berenang di air atau kadal yang melata di darat.

“Sebuah tulang kaki berukuran panjang satu inci (sekitar 2,5 centimeter) terlihat pada fosil ular Libanon. Sayangnya, separuh bagian panggul ular itu terkubur di dalam batu,” kata Alexandra Houssaye, peneliti dari Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Perancis.

Ular yang panjangnya 19 inci (sekitar 50 centimeter) ini merupakan Eupodophis descouensi, yang merupakan satu dari tiga fosil ular yang pernah ditemukan memiliki kaki. “Membongkar batu untuk menemukan satu kaki lagi tidaklah dimungkinkan,” ucapnya.

Untuk itu, peneliti akan menggunakan teknik yang disebut sebagai synchrotron-radiation computed laminography (SRCL). Serupa dengan pemindaian medis CT scan, SRCL menggunakan sinar X untuk menggambarkan struktur internal dari sebuah objek, namun dengan resolusi 1.000 kali lebih tinggi.

Dari pemindaian, terlihat kaki yang tersembunyi di dalam batu itu bertekuk di bagian lutut. Akan tetapi, kaki itu tidak memiliki telapak dan tulang jari.

“Struktur tulang kaki yang tersimpan rapi di dalam batu ini serupa dengan struktur tulang milik kadal darat,” kata Houssaye. “Meski demikian, satu penelitian saja tidak akan bisa memastikan apakah ular ini punya nenek moyang hewan air atau hewan darat,” ucapnya.

Meski demikian, Houssaye menyebutkan, anatomi tulang milik ular itu menunjukkan bahwa evolusi telah menghilangkan kaki milik ular bukan dengan mengubah cara tulang itu tumbuh. “Kemungkinan, kaki itu tumbuh melambat atau semakin pendek,” ucapnya.

Eksperimen tersebut, menurut Houssaye, merupakan eksperimen pertama yang menggunakan teknik SRCL di dunia paleontology, dan masih banyak yang perlu dianalisa. “Langkah selanjutnya adalah menganalisa fosil tulang belakang ular lainnya, mengamati tungkai ular dan kadal hidup dan menganalisa fosil ular tertua yang pernah ditemukan,” ucapnya.

Microsoft: Komputer Bervirus Dilarang Browsing

Komputer yang tak terlindungi membahayakan keselamatan komputer lain dalam lingkungannya.

SENIN, 11 OKTOBER 2010, 11:46 WIB

Muhammad Firman

VIVAnews - Menurut Scott Charney, seorang peneliti keamanan Microsoft, komputer yang mengandung virus seharusnya diblokir dari internet dan masuk ke karantina sampai mereka mendapatkan sertifikat ‘sehat’.

Dalam proposal yang diajukan oleh tim komputasi Microsoft, koneksi pengguna yang komputernya mengandung virus harus dibatasi untuk mencegah virus menyebar ke komputer lainnya.

“Sama seperti orang yang tidak mendapatkan vaksinasi. Ia membahayakan kesehatan orang lain,” kata Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President Computing Team Microsoft, seperti dikutip dari Sydney Morning Herald, 11 Oktober 2010.

Komputer yang tak terlindungi atau terkena virus membahayakan komputer lain dalam lingkungan komputer tersebut. “Intinya, kita perlu meningkatkan dan menjaga kesehatan perangkat milik konsumen yang terhubung ke internet untuk mencegah risiko yang lebih besar,” ucap Charney.

Charney menyebutkan, komputer harus memiliki sertifikat ‘bersih dan sehat’ sebelum diperkenankan terhubung ke internet. Jika perbaikan untuk komputer yang terkena virus sudah tersedia, komputer yang terkena virus akan dikabari untuk diminta mendownload solusi atau meng-update antivirus mereka.

Untuk itu, dalam proposal yang diajukan, Chavney menyebutkan bahwa setiap PC harus punya fungsi darurat di mana pengguna tetap bisa melakukan aktivitas tertentu. “Sama seperti layanan darurat untuk ponsel,” ucapnya.

Sebelum ini, sejumlah penyedia layanan internet di Amerika Serikat dan Eropa sudah berkali-kali mempertimbangkan untuk memblokir komputer bervirus dari internet. Akan tetapi langkah ini belum juga dilakukan karena sangat mahal dan hanya memberikan sedikit keuntungan bagi mereka.

• VIVAnews

Hacker Terseksi Sedunia Diancam 40 Tahun Bui

Svechinskaya menjadi otak pencurian uang senilai US$35 juta dari rekening bank di Amerika

VIVAnews -- Siapa yang mengira dibalik kecantikan dan otak encernya, Kristina Svechinskaya menjadi dalang pencurian uang senilai US$35 juta dari rekening bank di Amerika Serikat. Modusnya, dengan menggunakan virus komputer.

Berkat kelakuannya, ia mendapat predikat 'hacker paling seksi sedunia'. Ia bahkan disejajarkan dengan mata-mata cantik, Anna Chapman, yang sempat mengebohkan dunia. Apalagi, dua wanita menarik ini sama-sama berasal dari Rusia.

Dalam menjalankan aksinya, Svechinskaya bekerja bersama 37 hacker lainnya.

Gadis berusia 21 tahun itu saat ini ditahan di New York. Svechinskaya memanfaatkan virus 'Zeus Trojan' dan malware lainnya untuk membajak komputer orang lain.

Lalu, secara rahasia, para hacker komplotannya memantau aktivitas komputer korban, mencuri nomor rekening bank dan password. Dengan modal itu, mereka lalu mengambil uang jutaan dolar dari rekening korban.

Seperti dimuat situs Daily Mail, Rabu 13 Oktober 2010, uang hasil curian itu lalu ditransfer ke ratusan rekening bank palsu milik perantara di Amerika Serikat yang menerima dan mencuci uang hasil kejahatan cyber.

Svechinskaya juga berperan sebagai perantara yang mendapatkan komisi 10 persen dari uang curian yang ditransfer oleh hacker lainnya.

Svechinskaya punya sedikitnya lima rekening atas nama sendiri dan beberapa alias, di antaranya Anastasia Opokina dan Svetlana Makarova.

Kini, si cantik nan seksi itu diancam pidana 40 tahun dalam sel yang dingin atas dugaan kasus persekongkolan pembobolan bank dan menggunakan paspor palsu.

Jaksa Manhattan, Preet Bharara, mengungkapkan era digital membawa serta banyak manfaat, tetapi juga banyak tantangan untuk penegakan hukum dan lembaga keuangan.

"Penangkapan ini menunjukkan, pembobol bank modern tak lagi memerlukan senjata, masker, atau mobil untuk melarikan diri seperti perampokan konvensional."

"Ini hanya memerlukan internet dan kecerdikan, hanya dalam sekejap mata dengan cara meng-klik mouse," ucapnya.

Patung Buddha Tidur Mendapat Penghargaan MURI

Mojokerto - Patung Buddha tidur yang terletak di Trowulan, Mojokerto, selama ini memang kurang banyak diketahui masyarakat. Patung yang terletak di halaman Mahavihara Mojopahi ini berhasil mengantongi penghargaan dari Musium Rekor Indonesia (MURI) pada 2003 sebagai patung terbesar di Indonesia.

Patung Buddha tidur ini juga diyakini sebagai terbesar di Indonesia dan diklaim ketiga di Asia setelah Thailand dan Tibet.

"Patung di sini terbesar di Asia, nomer 3 setelah Thailand dan Tibet," kata Ratanapanno, salah seorang Biksu, saat ditemui detiksurabaya.com di Mahavihara Mojopahit, Kamis (10/02/2011).

Dari informasi yang dihimpun, patung Buddha Tidur ini menggambarkan wafatnya Siddharta Gautama dan dibangun di atas kolam air melambangkan abunya dibuang ke laut. Patung menghadap ke arah selatan yang dianggap kiblatnya umat Buddha. Di sekeliling bawah patung juga terdapat relief-relief yang menceritakan tentang Buddha itu sendiri.

Selain patung Buddha tidur, di dalam Mahavira Mojopahit, wisatawan juga dapat melihat miniatur Candi Borobudur. Patung kera sakti, dan beberapa patung tokoh-tokoh dalam cerita Buddha juga menarik untuk dilihat. Di dinding belakang bangunan utama terdapat relief-relief besar yang menceritakan Buddha sedang mengamalkan ajarannya.

Mahavihara Mojopahit yang didirikan pada Minggu 31 Desember 1989 ini selain digunakan untuk beribadah umat Buddha juga terbuka untuk umum. Mahavihara Mojopahit diresmikan oleh Maha Sthavira Ashin Jinarakkhita dan Gubernur Jawa Timur, Soelarso. (bdh/bdh)

The Rich & The Poor

One day a wealthy father of a family suggests that giving lessons on how the lives of poor youngsters.

After doing the course that's not what quantity, they keep many days at the family home of a poor farmer. This poor peasant's house situated in an exceedingly hamlet on the sting of the forest.

During the week the daddy and also the son of rich families reside there and live the lifetime of the poor. However, within the heart of the daddy was terribly stunned to check her son never complained and instead looked terribly happy if the poor enjoying life.

On the manner home the daddy asked his son, "What regarding our trip, my son?"

"Oh, terribly attention-grabbing, dad"

"You ought to see how poor folks live?"

"Yes, dad ..."

"So, what are you able to learn from our journey?" the kid answered, "What I learned:

We have a dog to stay our homes, they need four dogs for searching.

We have alittle pool within the garden, they need a river that has no boundaries.

we have lights to illuminate our garden, they need a star that shines in the dead of night.

We have alittle farm for a living, they live with nature.

We have a maid to serve us, they live to serve others.

We have a high fence to shield us, they need several friends who defend one another. "

We nearly never recognize the term 'provide', whereas they're happy within the 'give'.

The father was shocked silence being attentive to her answers. How youngsters will read a wider and additional distant from his own. In kebingunganya it, the kid then thanked his father for having shown how the poor themselves.

Similarly, the story is laden with an ethical message that we are able to feel pretty & happy for what belongs to us. By not invariably demand additional of everything that we've not.

Be thankful for what you have got, and never worry regarding what you are doing not have. Then you'll feel peace and happiness in life is larger.

Namo Amithofo ...

Three Injury Hearth

Isha Adhan reverberate, penetrate the walls that near each other in these densely populated settlements. Lena peek behind the blinds, making an attempt to find her husband's shadow. In vain. now let the blinds open and went over to her twin daughters are busy drawing.

"Disya draw what, dear?"

"Palace, Ma. There we are in it. "

"Oya? Where's mama attempt to see. "Disya handed the paper drawing. A palace complete with their inhabitants. Said Mom, Dad, Disya, Kesya become attributes under each image.

"The image is comparable birthday celebrations yesterday Disya yes." Disya nodded.

Such was the Disya, whenever an assignment to draw the court is his favorite image. Castle, a magnificent space and the image of a princess peach dress is that the main character in each sheet of drawing paper. a similar scenario when the party added that even seven years previous.

Lena shifting the main focus of view on Kesya. One daughter who has spent [*fr1] a dozen black crayon in this month. pictures are created far from the bright color image Like different children his age.

"Eum, if Kesya image what, dear?"

"Our house, Ma." Lena checked out the image on the front Kesya paper. Clouds of grey boxes that coincide, the flow of the river, dark brown. No blue color in there, his favorite color.

"These boxes what, Go?

"House of neighbor". Brief.

Lena sighed. both daughters were born identical twins. A hollow in the cheek Kesya have been the difference. they are physically identical, however the attitude they receive terribly completely different life currently. They build their own world while not disturbing each other, while not glancing at each other. there is pain in the pit of the stomach Lena.

Lena was ready to see how Disya still feel like life before, during Rasya, their father, still a vp of a number one cement company in this city. Disya still save what it looks like to be a princess. while Kesya, he tried to accept the truth of their lives currently, which is extremely a lot of completely different. And it describes a dark reception. Dark.

Views Lena back against the window. Still empty. The clock on the wall refers to the quantity thirty.

"Kesya, Disya, bobo yuk. Already half-nine. Mama incorporates a new story you know. "Eyes second twin daughter was bright. Immediately close up their crayons and drawing paper.

"Fairy princess and the palace again, well, Ma." Disya membola sulk with my eyes.

"Bored". Kesya now did not agree.

"Tonight, Mom had another story, titled Papa Giraffe. Hem, curious is not it? Let's to bed. "

Lena mendongengkan Papa Giraffe on Disya and Kesya until asleep. A hope teriring from the guts, could they be heartened to receive current troublesome scenario. situations that really a lot of completely different from the days when their fathers are still believed to be the right hand in the cement company. Happiness that may last their soy sauce could be a celebration of their age that even seven years. Disya with peach dress, Kesya with blue dress. both are sweet, beat angels image in TV. A month after a night of celebration, everything modified. Disya with a picture palace, Kesya with black crayon could be a monument to the amendment.

Back Lena sighed. it absolutely was 10 o'clock at midnight her husband had not come back home. come back home late, the same habits when Rasya still be important. Wandering lagikah where the hell? Lakukah all the merchandise he was carrying? Still fun to raise, he heard atiny low knock on the door. Steps hastily, afraid her husband was angry.

Big bag placed in the right shoulder Rasya to the floor. Relaxed his tie and went into the kitchen. A glass of water demolished. Lena approached.

"Mas, why you return tonight?"

"There are meetings with purchasers nowadays."

Back pain felt in the pit of the stomach Lena, is not your consumer has left you, Mas ...?

Letters that Never Up

Bamby Cahyadi

How do you alleviate the memories? Are the aperture and see the old photo albums? Or accept to backlash songs that arm-twist memories of your past.

Oh, could aswell watch a movie. Did Not like memories of old films that played repeatedly. But, not so for me. For me, memories accumulation up on the pages and pages of belletrist that never terkirimkan.

Maybe I'm too low self-esteem at that time. At that time, I'm a man who had no charm. So all my wishes, hopes and even my love, I address as a letter to anyone that I never beatific him.

Dozens, even hundreds of belletrist accept I fabricated at that time. And, it all just a accumulation of abortive papers. Yes, useless. Where anytime apperceive who I Surati, because the letter I never beatific him. So aswell in Olivia Soares.

Sweet babe who accompanied us, Student Regiment, who was accomplishing amusing account for a ages at Tim-Tim several years ago. Afore the arena through a election to be an absolute state.

***

I accord a letter anachronous May 19, 1994, is in my hand. "How Did I apprehend it for you?" I asked a little uncertainly.

The woman just blot smile and nod. "Read it for me," he said quietly.

***

Tasikmalaya, May 19, 1994.

To Olivia Soares. In Manatuto East Timor.

Hi Olivia ...! No added algidity adoration that consistently kumohonkan in God, but apprehend you and your ancestors consistently get God's protection. So too for your success in learning, in accomplishing your appetite and your love.

Oliv ... Soon I will accord with the division holidays. It was a relief, afterwards a few weeks to face a array of active assay and lab work. How about you? Vacation is not it?

Do you accept a barn affairs to ample the canicule off? Hopefully already. But if not, I accept a plan to yield on anniversary with me on the arena Parahyangan. In Tatar Sunda, in Tasikmalaya, my hometown.

Oliv, if a year ago, I never adore the attraction of alien littoral after-effects of East Timor who kissed beaches and apricot lips. My skin, broiled by the hot sun, dry Manatuto City. Fascinated with fabrics and knick-knacks tais sandalwood acreage of your birth. Even the winding-liukan I helped my body, affected to the Tebe-tebe ball in the courtyard house. Now, it's time you should adore the agreeableness that is in my hometown.

Oliv, my best friend, lover in my apperception ...

If you appear to my hometown in Tasikmalaya. Maybe I can adore those times with you liburku with action happy. Certainly not traveling to let you just lie on a auberge room. You accept to kuajak Tawulan adore the admirable Apricot Coast.

I know, even if you reside in littoral areas. But you will acquisition addition atmosphere at the Apricot Bank Tawulan it. The bank was, absolutely beautiful. If abandoned there was no island in this accompaniment map. Maybe the beach, it has been adapted into a bank of adopted travelers. Coast of the Gods.

To ability the beach, do not crave a continued time. We abandoned crave about two and a bisected hours to get there from my house. During the trip, you can adore the accustomed backdrop archetypal of West Java which is green, air-conditioned blooming eyes and of advance actual altered from attributes in your abode to grow.

Later, afterwards we are annoyed with adequate the adorableness of age-old apricot reefs in the Apricot Coast Tawulan. We can appoint in meditation, adequate the majesty of God in the bosom of a admirable little island on the beach.

Oh yes, you too would I allure to absorb the adorableness of the atrium of Mount Galunggung afterwards that.

Olivia, lover in my mind. Of advance we would not do this aural a day of anniversary travel. Still no tomorrow. I go aback to my house. You acknowledgment to the hotel. However, afore you go to bed, will kupetik strings harp and singing songs sunda. You'll like it.

To ability Mount Galunggung, we just yield it aural one hour drive. Forth the way afterwards on, you can see, how angry nature, the calefaction of the bedrock is ejected from the abdomen Galunggung bounce ago, has accustomed bearing to a beauteous accustomed beauty. Now, the adversity breadth that has become a admirable village. As if, me, us, us, them, accept forgotten, how the breadth was devastated during a adversity if Mount Galunggung erupted.

Ah, apologetic Oliv. I do not ambition to admire the disaster. Forget it.

There, now there is a hot bounce pool. We can absorb for hours, absolution fatigue. Or, if you're not tired, I'll allure you to ascend up to the top of the abundance and see the ocean like a baby atrium on top of the mountain.

I'm sure, you too will be afraid by the adorableness of edelweiss flowers are broadcast forth the road. Then, if we are still a lot of time. We will blow abreast a avalanche that consistently rumble, bergemericik and billowing smoke-ngepulkan.

Olivia, how tanggapanmu about vacation affairs that accept been kususun for you? Absorbing is not it? I'm abiding you'll absolutely adore liburmu happy. Ah, of advance I'm aswell actual happy, if the lover in my mind, absolutely ambition to appear accommodated my invitation.

I delay your answer. Greetings to ancestors and friends.

Yours consistently sweet.

I, who consistently absence you.

***

This letter, I acquisition in arenaceous in my mailbox. My mother put it in the warehouse. And, this letter is actual absorbing attention. In fact, added belletrist were lying in the box.

You know? Afterwards top school, I had formed in a telecommunication aggregation in Jakarta's largest. Two years I formed there. Then, a non-United Nations (UN), offered a job with acceptable accomplishment and acceptable career. Of advance the action was not kutampik.

Yes, once, in college. I am the man had no charm. Added precisely, I was a personality not confident, insecure. Following Menwa action at the time, one of the affidavit to annihilate aftertaste minderku. Maybe successful, maybe not. The proof, so far I'm the man who lived alone. Without a lover, let abandoned a wife.

So, I larboard the country, although with a abundant heart. I'm apologetic for abrogation the mother abandoned at home. But my mother accurate me. Assuredly I flew to New York. At UN address arresting that I served, as IT staff. If the beachcomber of ameliorate swept Indonesia, I did not move. I can abandoned abashed in foreground of the television, as she afford tears. I do not apperceive for whom.

Reform in Indonesia, abounding election for East Timor. Then, Tim-Tim independence, East Timor became a sovereign. Ability was accomplished by claret and tears, is not it?

Olivia Soares. The name was addictive and simple to pronounce. Unlike the added names. However, I acquisition it actual difficult. Seemed to access the bracken to acquisition the behemothic and meetings. Such as award a aisle in close forest. Or, like searching for all-overs in a haystack.

After the letter I beatific was never found, I'm absolutely sorry. Rice has become porridge. I do not know, whether he be a allotment of the pro-integration or who ambition an absolute and sovereign.

All answered already, afterwards a few canicule ago my anxiety collapsed on the airport of Dili, Timor Leste, a hot and dusty.

***

"May I see the letter?" Ask the woman in foreground of me.

"Oh, sure, abiding can" I tergeragap. Apparently I was absent afterwards account the capacity of the letter.

I handed the letter with abashed hands. He accustomed it with a smile at me.

"Your autograph so good. Actual neat, if I heard earlier, it is actual beautiful. Frankly I'm thrilled, "she said, searching at the cardboard whose blush is not white anymore, but brown.

"Thanks," I replied curtly.

"If this letter came to duke ...," he was blind sentence. "Of advance it did not appear like this," he went on sighing.

"Forgive me, Olivia. Yes, you are a lover in my mind, "I said with agitation lips.

Olivia afresh approved to sit. With abundant accomplishment and helped me, assuredly he could aswell sit down and leaned adjoin the pillow. He still holds the cardboard letter. His eyes glazed, like he was crying.

"I ambition to adore the adorableness of the Apricot Coast Tawulan. Do you ambition to accompany me? "

I captivated her hand, I capital to accord him strength. I capital to hug her. The physique is frail, attenuate physique ashamed cancerous blight that has ability over the fate of his life. That is why, afterwards accepting the account about Olivia from a acquaintance in allegation of UN agents in Dili. I asked for permission to leave, abiding to his citizenry and anon flew aback to Dili.

"Are you accustomed to leave the hospital?" I asked seriously.

"I'm apathetic here. Even if I accept to die, I ambition to die on the bank that you acquaint it. Or at the aiguille of Mount Galunggung. I ambition to die there. "

Olivia and rose. He captivated my duke to go. There is no footfall we walk, he fell down. Luckily I captivated it. Breakable body, I aces her up and I lay aback in bed hospital.

"So you're actuality just to apprehend the letter?" He asked, afterwards acquaintance baffled himself again.

"Yes, Oliv. I'm searching down to Dili, I ambition to yield you to adore the bank in West Java there. Yield you to the top of the mountain, "I thought. But attending at your condition, whether it is possible? No Oliv, I met to bear the letter. The letter bothers me.

"I'm sorry, yes. I can not vacation with you as you wrote in this letter. Can you bake this letter for me? "

I was shocked. Still with abashed hands, I accustomed my letter back.

"Burn," he said quietly.

I befuddled my head.

"Forget about me. Forget the capacity of the letter. Thanks been disturbing to appear here, "she said, sobbing. Tears flowed advisedly down her cheeks, she afresh rubbed with the hands.

The calefaction of blaze and bake the letter. Merenggas cardboard and the capacity therein. Undid all my memories of him, and ambition to allure Olivia vacation in my hometown. Cardboard is now angry into ashes, afresh destroyed dry wind whistling that access through the hospital allowance window.

Time is arresting everything. Absorb all the memories and reality. Olivia is a candied babe who had a cheerful, now lying low cat-and-mouse times of death. And I was the man who was block memories, through a letter that never terkirimkan. A letter to Olivia that never accomplished .***

Jakarta, 2009-2010

Inspired by a fragment of a letter: Affi Endah Navilah