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Short Break/Best of Taiping: Romancing a heritage garden
The Taiping Lake Gardens are inevitably linked to the lives of the town residents, from their childhood and first kiss to the toddling steps of their first grandchild. THE thirsty branches of ancient raintrees arch over the road to sip the water from the lake. On Jalan Taman Tasik, even cars cruise along slowly, as if reverently along a red carpet bordered by guards of honour. Taiping residents have a lasting love affair with the Lake Gardens, the green lung of their town. Their youth and golden years, their joys and tragedies are somehow woven into it at some time or another. Like a faithful friend, it has always been there for them. And it was probably here that the first flush of romance blossomed for them that first kiss in the moonlight. Oldest Public Garden The Taiping Lake Gardens has a special allure, a natural look with an understated beauty that grabs you and remains in your heart.
West Nile left man down, but not out
Life didn't turn out as Kenneth "Pete" Clay expected the past few years, but it's better than it could have been.After contracting West Nile virus in August 2003, he nearly died.Even after surviving the mosquito-borne illness, the former cowboy and ranch hand faced a long road.Clay, now 73, developed the most severe form of the disease, which caused an inflammation of his brain and spinal cord and left his right leg paralyzed and his left leg severely weakened. During the 48 days that he was in St. Vincent Healthcare, he lost 30 pounds because he had difficulty eating most foods. .
Physical Activity in Children Linked to Motor Abilities
Boys and girls who have better motor abilities are more physically active and less likely to be sedentary than children with poorer coordination, research conducted with children between the ages of 8 and 10 at the University at Buffalo has shown. Results of the study appear in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics. While the finding may appear intuitive, few studies have used a valid assessment of motor proficiency in children and compared the outcomes with an objective measure of physical activity, according to Brian H. Wrotniak, Ph.D., lead author on the study. "The primary question of this cross-sectional research was to determine if there is a relationship between how coordinated children were and their level of physical activity," said Wrotniak, who conducted the study while a doctoral student at UB in the departments of Social and Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics.
Interview: EPA's Stephen L. Johnson
ATLANTA, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Innovation in protecting the environment and health could come in new energy technologies and a local community approach to problems, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson told United Press International in an interview Wednesday. UPI talked to Johnson, who has led the agency since January 2005, following his speech at the National Environmental Public Health conference Wednesday in Atlanta. Q. In your view, what are the foremost challenges in environmental health? A. From an environmental health standpoint, they are the same as ... the five priority areas for me as administrator. The first is affordable energy and clean air. ... We have to have energy, and it has to be affordable. While we have made great strides -- for example, we recently signed (a law that) went into effect eliminating sulfur from diesel fuel, and moving from 500 parts per million to, in essence, a negligible 15 parts per million sulfur (emissions).
Farmer launches healthy cheese
A WELSH farmer has launched a healthy organic yoghurt-cheese as a cardio-friendly Christmas treat. Sancl r Yoghurt Cheese, made in St Clears, Carmarthenshire, by Elfyn and Rhian Davies, uses British herbs and milk from their herd of 74 dairy cows. Mr Davies said, "It is a very old recipe, but produced using modern methods. It is organic pro-biotic live yoghurt with no salt added to the cheese. "It is aimed at the health food market." .
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