Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports


Dortmund crush Cologne 5-0 to go second in Bundesliga

Posted: 22 Oct 2011 08:42 AM PDT

BERLIN, Oct 22 — Champions Borussia Dortmund crushed Cologne 5-0 with two goals from in-form striker Robert Lewandowski today to move into second place in the Bundesliga, three points off leaders Bayern Munich.

Poland international Lewandowski, who has seven goals in 10 games, scored either side of halftime after goals from Shinji Kagawa and Marcel Schmelzer had given the hosts an early cushion.

Captain Sebastian Kehl powered in his header on 66 minutes to complete Dortmund's fourth straight win.

Borussia Moenchengladbach dropped to fifth on 17 points after Hoffenheim forward Vedad Ibisevic, starting for the first time after a months-long injury break, struck on 56 minutes to give the hosts a 1-0 win.

VfB Stuttgart's Mexico international Maza rescued a 2-2 draw at Nuremberg with a header at the far post six minutes from time. The draw was enough to move them into third on 17.

Leaders Bayern Munich, on 22, travel to Hanover 96 tomorrow. Werder Bremen are fourth, five points behind, after drawing 1-1 at Augsburg yesterday. — Reuters 

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Late goals give Wolves 2-2 draw with Swansea

Posted: 22 Oct 2011 07:35 AM PDT

LONDON, Oct 22 — Wolverhampton Wanderers scored twice in the last five minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw against Swansea City at Molineux today just when they looked set to suffer their sixth successive Premier League defeat.

Swansea, in total control for almost the entire match and seemingly on their way to a first away win since being promoted, collapsed in the dying minutes as Kevin Doyle scored after 85 minutes and then Jamie O'Hara smashed in the equaliser.

The Welsh side led with first half goals from Danny Graham and Joe Allen and squandered a number of other chances in the second half before Wolves's unexpected fightback.

Swansea are 11th in the 20-team table with nine points from as many games while Wolves are 14th on eight points.

The match, played in bright lunchtime sunshine, was the first of five in the league today with fourth-placed Newcastle United playing joint-bottom Wigan Athletic later and fifth-placed Liverpool meeting Norwich City. — Reuters 

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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Jackson doctor’s attorneys challenge medical expert

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 08:22 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES, Oct 22 — Attorneys for Dr Conrad Murray yesterday challenged a top anaesthesiology expert over assumptions he made in a courtroom demonstration on how Murray could have given Michael Jackson a deadly drug infusion.

The cross examination of Dr Steven Shafer came a day after the expert prosecution witness gave damaging testimony against Murray at his involuntary manslaughter trial in Jackson's 2009 death from an overdose of the drug propofol and sedatives.

Chernoff (right) cross examines Shafer during Murray's trial in Los Angeles on October 21, 2011. — Reuters pic

Shafer had set up an IV drip system in court to suggest the way in which Murray might have wrongfully infused the powerful anaesthetic propofol into the singer. But defence attorneys yesterday disputed whether such a system was ever used.

"You certainly do consider that what you have claimed occurred in this case is an extraordinary claim?" Ed Chernoff, the lead defence attorney, asked Shafer on the witness stand.

"Not at all," Shafer said.

But Chernoff did manage to get Shafer to admit that investigators did not find in Jackson's bedroom a vented IV tube with a plastic spike such as the one Shafer used in his demonstration for jurors.

Shafer testified Murray still could have used one and easily balled up the tube and pocketed it before leaving Jackson's Los Angeles mansion.

Jurors have heard prior testimony that an IV pole, saline bags and propofol vials were among the items found in Jackson's bedroom and closet after he died on June 25, 2009.

Murray has admitted that on the day Jackson died he gave the singer a relatively small dose of 25 milligrams of propofol for sleep. Defence attorneys are challenging the prosecution's argument that Murray could have administered as much as 40 times that amount of the drug afterward through an IV.

Defence attorneys have said Jackson might have given himself an extra, fatal dose of propofol when Murray was out of his bedroom.

Court proceedings yesterday also pointed to a looming duel between Shafer's testimony and what is expected to come from the defence's propofol expert, Dr Paul White, who is scheduled to take the witness stand next week.

Shafer, a professor at Columbia University, said he considers White a friend, but those bonds of friendship appear to be tested by the Murray trial.

Yesterday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor scolded White for a media report in which he was quoted as uttering the word "scumbag" in court after a prosecutor aided in Shafer's IV system demonstration on Thursday.

Pastor, who earlier imposed a gag order for lawyers and witnesses in the trial, told White he had no business making those kinds of comments, and set a November 16 hearing for possible sanctions against the defence expert. "Dr White knows better," Pastor said.

Murray, who has pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison if convicted. — Reuters

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Yo Yo Ma turns to bluegrass music for new album

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT

NEW YORK, Oct 22 — He's known as one of the world's best classical cellists, but for his latest musical effort Yo-Yo Ma has dropped Bach and picked up bluegrass.

Grammy Award-winner Ma spent a year recording songs with bluegrass titans Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile for a project entitled "The Goat Rodeo Sessions," an 11-song set of original compositions, due out on October 24.

File photo of Ma playing during ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2011. — Reuters pic

Meyer, Duncan and Thile put some initial thoughts together for the tracks over the last year and then the four of them got together to develop and record.

"We started off with the stories, like every culture," Ma told Reuters about this project. "Every culture has its own brand of stories, its characters. There's nothing but similarities (between bluegrass and classical forms). This developed from people trusting and admiring each other. All the music I play is roots based, and it gets further along."

While it might surprise some that a proficient classical musician like Ma would transition to this version of Americana, "The Goat Rodeo Sessions" is Ma's second project with Meyer. The two recorded two albums with violinist Mark O'Connor — 1996's "Appalachia Waltz" and 2000's "Appalachian Journey."

But these sessions are different, not only with the expansion into a quartet of instruments, but also with the addition of Thile, whose creativity on the mandolin earned him notoriety first with his band Nickel Creek and now with the Punch Brothers.

The album drifts between playful songs like "Attaboy" and "Less is Moi," that are tinged with folk elements, to softer, more poignant arrangements on "Franz and the Eagle" and "Helping Hand."

Although most of the songs are instrumentals, Thile is joined by Crooked Still's Aoife O'Donovan for vocals on "Here and Heaven" and "No One But You."

The cello isn't thought of as a traditional bluegrass instrument the way the banjo is, but Ma said its malleable nature makes it blend-in without sounding out of place.

"The cello, as usual, can do a number of different roles," he said. "Sometimes I'm trying to match the violin, the bass, the mandolin. I shift around a little bit — sometimes we're equal voices, sometimes we're particular roles."

The title of the record, "The Goat Rodeo Sessions," is a nod to the expression, "goat rodeo," which is often used to describe a situation in which a thousand things must go right in order for something to work.

"My worst nightmare was that (the album) would sound like worlds colliding," Thile said. "Music shouldn't sound like some new patchwork genre. The idea was to come up with a collaboration that is seamless. Like a new organism, as opposed to a Frankensteinian monster."

While the songs were written prior to hitting the recording studio, the group allowed themselves to improvise and evolve during rehearsals. Doing so gave the record a looser and flowing sound than with classical or bluegrass standards.

"I think the music that resulted was a product of a time or place," Thile said. "People coming out of the hills and making Appalachia — that's kind of over. It sounds to me like new music. It doesn't sound like classical music, it doesn't sound like bluegrass. It has this liquid feeling of the various times we were playing."

"When I hear the, we are not in the 'whose the author' sort of thing," added Ma. "The music would shift from one rehearsal to another where we'd get information about how the four voices interact and decide 'we should try something like this.' There was a wonderful evolution that occurred right during the recording sessions." — Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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Sweet tooth linked to pleasant disposition

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 09:15 PM PDT

Pralines are displayed in a counter at a Leonidas chocolate boutique in Brussels on September 28, 2011. ― Reuters pic

NEW YORK, Oct 22 ― Does having a sweet tooth make a person more agreeable and friendly? New research suggests there could be a link between taste preferences and disposition.

Scientists in the United States found that a liking for sweeter foods is an indication that a person is more agreeable and helpful, but not extroverted or neurotic.

"It is striking that helpful and friendly people are considered 'sweet' because taste would seem to have little in common with personality or behaviour," said Brian Meiers, a psychology professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

"Our taste studies controlled for positive mood so the effects we found are not due to the happy or rewarding feeling one may have after eating a sweet food."

Taste is a recognisable sense that can be used in describing personality traits. With this in mind, the researchers wanted to see if having a preference for sweets was an embodiment metaphor, a connection between thoughts and our body's behaviour.

In one of five studies involving more than 500 people researchers from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, St. Xavier University in Chicago and North Dakota State University showed that people who ate a piece of chocolate rather than a non-sweet food were more likely to volunteer and help another person in need.

In another study they found that people also associate having a sweet tooth with a pleasant disposition. The participants were shown photos of people with neutral facial expressions, but with comments under the pictures that would say, for example, that they liked eating chocolate.

"People rated those associated with sweet food higher in agreeableness," Meiers said.

The research, which is published in the Journal of Personality Social Psychology, focused on sweetness and agreeability. The scientists said they could not comment on the other tastes such as bitterness or spiciness.

The study is part of a increase in recent years in social psychology research in conceptual and embodiment metaphors.

"There has been a push to find out how these traits are self-predicting of what we do with our daily life," said Sarah Moeller, a psychology professor at St. Xavier University. "We are showing that with these personality traits that you show subtle aspect of self." ― Reuters


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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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Zul Nordin jahil undang-undang Islam?

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 06:28 PM PDT

22 OKT — Ahli Parlimen Bebas YB Kulim Bandar Baru (KBB) bukan sahaja tidak asing dengan kontroversi. Bahkan umum mendakwa beliau telah sinonim dengan pembohongan dan memfabrikasi atau mereka-cipta pelbagai "fakta" untuk mensensasi pengkisahan apa jua cerita yang tidak masuk akal dan berlawanan dengan penilaian pemikiran yang waras.

Kalau semasa beliau bersama dengan parti lamanya lagi pun telah banyak kontroversi yang beliau cetuskan, antara lainnya tentang tambahan cerita "rempah-ratus" tentang simptom-simptom keracunan arsenik DSAI sehingga penulis ini (berkebetulan seorang Toksikologis) malu mendengarnya dan juga tentang hal-hal gejala murtad, apatah lagi hari ini, yang beliau telah, kononnya, menjadi ahli parlimen bebas. Pembohongan KBB telah meningkat kekemuncaknya dan kekesempurnaannya.

Kelmarin, dalam memperbahaskan Belanjawaan 2012, Ahli Parlimen Kulim Bandar Bandar ini, sekali telah merancang untuk mengulangi "antic" atau gelagat kesukaannya. Penulis, yang berkebetulan sedang makan di ruang makan MP terpaksa bergegasan masuk mendengar perbahasan beliau kerana sudah tidak senang lagi untuk menghabiskan "lunchnya". Amat malang sekali, Dewan sudah terlibat dengan satu "shouting match" ketika Kuala Selangor memasukki Dewan, setelah cubaan awal Kubang Kerian membuat pencelahan dan penjelasan tidak lagi dilayani oleh KBB.

Dua perkara utama yang dipertikaikan KBB lantas membuat kesimpulan dan menuduh bahawa Enakmen Syariah Terengganu (2003) dan juga Kelantan (1993) itu sebagai Hudud PAS, adalah bersabitan definisi Mukallaf dan Liwat.

Dalam menghuraikan kedua-dua isu ini, jelas bahawa beliau tidak langsung menunjukkan bahawa beliau mempunyai ilmu tentangnya khususnya Ilmu Syariah dan juga Undang-Undang Islam (Qanun).

Sebaliknya, apa yang nyata KBB sememang mempunyai niat jahat (mala fide) dalam membawa isu ini dalam perbahasan "Belanjawaan" beliau, guna untuk menjatuhkan kredibiliti Enakmen Syariah (Terengganu dan Kelantan) dan sekali gus maruah PAS sebagai sebuah parti dan Jamaah Islam yang mendukungi cita-cita untuk melakasankan Syariah Allah seperti yang dituntut Allah SWT.

Menyebut tentang hal "Mukallaf", KBB mengatakan Enakmen tersebut kononnya bercanggah dengan Islam khususnya mengenai umur akhil baligh, apabila perlaksaan hudud hanya akan dikenakan ke atas mereka yang berumur 18 tahun ke atas.

Menurutnya, "dengan hanya akan melaksanakan Enakmen tersebut terhadap mereka yang berumur 18 tahun ke atas, katanya ini bermaksud PAS telah mengubah hukum Islam yang mengatakan seseorang lelaki akil baligh setelah bermimpi, manakala perempuan pula setelah datang haid".

Katanya lagi, dari segi umur, "setelah berusia 15 tahun tidak juga bermimpi atau datang haid bermakna mereka telah dikira 'mumayyiz' dan sampai umur serta boleh dilaksanakan undang-undang Islam terhadap mereka".

Dengan ini, terpaparlah kejahilan seorang yang selama kini memberi tanggapan dan perspesi kepada umum khususnya umat Islam bahawa dia arif agama khususnya perundangan Islam dan akan terus memperjuangkannya dan mendedahkan "Hudud PAS" dan pembohongan PAS.

Pertamanya, ternyata bahawa KBB tidak punya pengetahuan hatta tentang persoalan mumayyiz dan jahil bahawa penetapan persoalan "mukallaf" dalam enakmen adalah satu yang tertakluk kepada "Ijtihad", bukan satu "Tetap-Thabit" yang punya nas yang Qat'iy.

Mumayyiz adalah umur yang boleh membezakan (sin al-tamyiz) yang sudah boleh membezakan baik-buruk dan lazimnya digunakan dalam perbincangan Fiqah, untuk kanak-kanak di sekitar umur 7 hingga 8 tahun. Zul Nordin semacam tidak ada pengetahuan langsung tentang perkara ini.

Zul Nordin melemparkan tuduhan bahawa "Enakmen" itu "Hudud PAS bukan Hudud Islam sebenar" kerana dakwaan kononnya bahawa "telah mengubah hukum Islam". Tegas beliau, "ini jelas bercanggah dengan Islam yang mewajibkan dilaksanakan hudud setelah seseorang itu 'mumayyiz' iaitu yang telah mencapai usia 15 tahun". Zul Nordin juga menyanggah "Enakmen" ini kerana menetapkan umur "Mukallaf" sebagai 18 tahun.

Jelasnya KBB tidak ada pengetahuan tentang pandangan imam-iman Mazaahib. Jumhur ulama termasuk menetapkan 18 tahun sebagai umur matang atau mukallaf (sin al-rashd). Pokoknya urusan menetapkan umur itu adalah satu perkara Ijtihadi. Ia bukan satu yang tetap bahkan tertakluk kepada Ijtihad.

Orang yang ada sedikit pengetahuan tentang Syariah dan perundangan atau Qanun Islam akan tahu bahawa is perlu diqanunkan dalam "proses legislative" untuk menjadi undang-undang didalam sebuah negeri dan negara. Zul Nordin menyerlahkan kejahilannya dalam mempertikaikan perkara segampang ini.

Penetapaan perkara-perkara seperti mungkin sahaja akan mengalami perubahan kerana perhitungan-perhitungan itu termasuklah mengambil kira hal-hal adat dan budaya setempat sesuai dengan kaedah Usul al-Fiqh — "Al-Adat Muhakkamah". Itu yang menyebabkan Imam as-Syafi'e membuat perbezaan Ijtihad dalam urusan "Sin al-At-Taqaa'ad" — umur putus haid yang berbeza, semasa di Baghdad (Qaul Qadim), Iraq berbanding Kaherah, Mesir (Qaul Jadid). Semua ini perkara-perkara ijtihady atau "umurud ijtihadiy".

Zul Nordin lalu menghukum Enakmen Syariah (Terengganu dan Kelantan) sebagai Hudud PAS kerana menetapkan umur 18 tahun sebagai takrif Mukallaf (sin al-rashd) atau "Age of Maturity". Malang bagi seorang yang ada pendidikan Undang-undang Common-Law, langsung buta dan jahil tentang Undang-undang Islam.

Cubaan beliau untuk menjatuhkan kredibiliti Enakmen Syariah Terengganu dan Kelantan tentang Hudud adalah lebih jahat lagi. Usaha beliau untuk mencemar Enakmen Syariah sekaligus menjatuhkan kredibiliti Syari'ah Islam mengikut tanggapan umum.

Dengan merujuk kepada Seksyen 14 Enakmen Syariah Terengganu yang menyebutkan bahawa takrif tentang liwat, antara lainnya ialah hubungan seks antara lelaki dan wanita, di mana seseorang lelaki memasukkan zakarnya ke dalam dubur seseorang lelaki atau perempuan, kecuali isteri.

Katanya, perkataan kecuali dengan isteri itu jelas membawa maksud seseorang suami boleh memasukkan zakarnya ke dalam dubur isterinya kerana ia tidak dimaksudkan meliwat. Zul Nordin mendapat peluang menegaskan perkara ini tatkala Kinabatangan "melabongkan" soalan dengan kembali bertanya "Apakah Hudud PAS ,mengizinkan suami melewat isterinya".

"Inilah hudud PAS. Ini bercanggah dengan Islam. Dalam Islam, jika seseorang lelaki itu memasukkan zakarnya ke dalam dubur seseorang tidak kira dengan sesiapapun termasuk dengan isteri sendiri, ia tetap liwat".

"Tetapi dalam hudud PAS, itu tak dikatakan liwat. Maknanya suami boleh berbuat begitu dalam hudud PAS walaupun ia jelas bercanggah dengan ajaran Islam," kata ketika berucap pada persidangan Dewan Rakyat di sini, hari ini.

Dengan itu, menurut beliau, enakmen tersebut bukanlah undang-undang Islam, tetapi hudud PAS yang dibuat oleh mereka yang kononnya tidak faham dengan undang-undang Islam tetapi hanya berlagak pandai untuk kepentingan politik.

Dalam hal ini, Zul Nordin benar-benar bukan hanya mempamerkan kejahilan tentang undang-undang Islam tetapi juga tidak tahu membaca undang-undang umumnya.

Perkara Seksyen 14 itu membawa satu maksud "Proviso" atau "Pengecualian" (Istisna'). Bermaksud "Liwat" ditakrifkan sebagai hubungan seks antara lelaki dan wanita, di mana seseorang lelaki memasukkan zakarnya ke dalam dubur seseorang lelaki atau perempuan, kecuali isteri.

Ini bukan bermaksud ke atas isteri itu di bolehkan! Tetapi ini bererti memasukkan zakar dalam dubur isteri itu tidak jatuh dalam "Hukum Hudud" seperti yang lain, tetapi tetap ia satu kesalahan yang termasuk dalam "Hukum Takzir".

Hukum Hudud memerlukan satu pembuktian yang terlalu "berat", justeru kerana mungkin sahaja boleh timbul "syubahah" di antara suami-isteri maka, Ulama' tidak meletakkan kesalahan suami ke tas isterinya itu sebagai dalam "Hukum Hudud" tetapi Hukum Takzir yang proses pembuktian adalah lebih "ringan" untuk disabitkan hukuman. Namun ia tetap salah dan berdosa sebagai satu jenis jarimah atau jenayah syari'ah dalam Islam. Zul Nordin menzahirkan kebodohan dan kejahilannya sekali lagi!

Perkara yang sama telah pernah dibangkitkan oleh Timbalan Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Kelantan, Zaid Ibrahim berhubung isu itu.(UM 30 Ogos 2003) dan telah pun dijawab oleh Ketua Dewan Ulama PAS Pusat, Dato Harun Taib.

Zul Nordin dan seangkatan dengannya, jelas membuktikan mereka jahil dengan perundangan Islam. Itu masih boleh dimaafkan kalau kita bersedia belajar. Tetapi bertegas akan pendirian itu adalah sangat membimbangkan Takut-takut kita akan menjadi "sesat dan menyesatkan" seperti disebutkan oleh RasulAllah (saw) — "Dhollu wa Adhollu"!

Kami akan mengusulkan supaya KBB dihadapkan ke Jawatankuasa Hak dan Kebebasan untuk diadili atas segala usaha beliau menyelewengkan Dewan pada perbahasan belanjawaan beliau itu.

Allahu' Alamu bit-Thawab!

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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City catch United’s last-minute habit

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 05:05 PM PDT

OCT 22 —August 7, 2011: Nani scores a last-minute winner for Manchester United against Manchester City, allowing Sir Alex Ferguson's team to lift the Community Shield at the start of the new season.

April 17, 2010: Paul Scholes produces a 93rd-minute header to give United the only goal of the game at the Etihad Stadium.

January 27, 2010: Wayne Rooney breaks City hearts and sends them out of the League Cup with an injury-time goal at Old Trafford.

September 20, 2009: Michael Owen brings one of the Premier League's most memorable games to a thrilling climax with a stoppage-time strike to give his new team a 4-3 home win over City.

Yes, indeed. Scoring late goals has been a Manchester United speciality throughout the last two decades — most famously when both Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer struck inside injury time to win the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich — and in recent years nobody has been made more aware of United's propensity for dramatic late heroics than their cross-town rivals.

While opposition fans routinely rue United's "luck" when they fire home yet another crucial late goal, in fact it's nothing of the sort. "Lucky" when it happens once or twice, maybe, but not when it consistently recurs over the course of 20 years.

Recently-retired Gary Neville has spoken openly in the last few weeks about the phenomenon, confirming what we already suspected: the United teams he played for always held immense belief in their ability to score when the game moved into its climactic moments. They knew they would create one chance, and they knew they'd be good enough and composed enough to take it.

United are by no means the only team to save their best for last. The ability of champions to rise to the occasion at exactly the decisive moment is widespread throughout sport. Just when you think they're beaten, the habitual winners find a way — any way — to get the job done.

On Thursday night, for example, I saw the opening fixture of the new Euroleague basketball season for Panathinaikos, the Athens-based reigning champions, as they faced Malaga in Greece.

Early in the third quarter, it was tight. Malaga had come from 11 points behind to narrow the gap to just one; they were on a roll and possessed all the momentum. But then, with almost clockwork predictability, Panathinaikos did what champions do — they found another gear, played with greater pace and intensity, and brushed their opponents aside for an ultimately comfortable victory.

Another example from a different sport: last Sunday, New England Patriots were struggling in their American Football NFL encounter with the Dallas Cowboys. Star quarterback Tom Brady had been unusually inefficient all night, nullified by the determined Dallas defence. But then, with a little more than two minutes remaining, the Cowboys allowed Brady one last possession and he promptly marched his team down the field for the match-winning score.

And — bringing us neatly back to Manchester United — on Tuesday evening Manchester City prepared for this weekend's short trip to Old Trafford by taking on Villareal in a must-win Champions League fixture at the Etihad Stadium.

City looked nervous, conceded an early goal, needed an own goal to level the scores shortly before half-time and barely created another meaningful chance. With time running out, it seemed certain that Roberto Mancini's side would be held to an unsatisfactory but warranted draw from a game they had been expected to win easily.

But then they did exactly what Manchester United — and Panathinaikos, and the New England Patriots — have been doing for years: James Milner teased a wonderful pass inside the Villareal full back, Pablo Zabaleta delivered a cross into the perfect area between defence and goalkeeper, the linesman's flag stayed down and, with precisely eight seconds of injury time remaining, Sergio Aguero prodded home the winner from two yards.

You could say it's a trick that City learned from their near neighbours. Of course, anyone can muster the occasional great escape, but the true mark of a top team is an ability to pull something out of the bag on a regular basis.

It's a skill that essentially requires two ingredients. Firstly, talent: the kind of talent that allowed Milner to play the defence-splitting pass to Zabaleta; that allowed Aguero to judge instinctively the right time and place to meet the cross; that allowed Patriots quarterback Brady to fire an inch-perfect pass to Aaron Hernandez; that allowed Dimitris Diamantidis to record a trio of three-pointers for Panathinaikos. Without the talent, nothing can be accomplished.

But regularly performing last-minute miracles requires more than just natural ability. It requires unshakeable belief in that ability, unwavering commitment to victory and unflappable nerve to make the most of any opportunities that come along. In short, it requires the intangibles that separate good players and teams from great ones. And although it won't make you win every game, it will make you win more than most.

On Tuesday night, City showed all those qualities to down Villareal. If they can start doing the same thing on a regular basis, they might just become Premier League champions. Reversing recent fortunes by scoring a late winner at Old Trafford tomorrow would be a decent start.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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Himpunan Sejuta Umat berlangsung dengan penyertaan ‘jauh lebih kecil’

Posted: 22 Oct 2011 02:08 AM PDT

Sebahagian peserta Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun) di Stadium Shah Alam, Selangor 22 Oktober 2011. — Foto Choo Choy May

SHAH ALAM, 22 Okt — Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun) di Stadium Shah Alam, yang penganjur menyasarkan lebih 100,000 penyertaan, terpaksa dimulakan lewat 90 minit dengan kehadiran hanya sekitar 5,000 orang.

Kempen yang mendapat liputan meluas bagi membincangkan isu khusus mengenai murtad di kalangan Muslim dimulakan pada pukul 3.40 petang — lewat satu setengah jam daripada masa dijadualkan ekoran sambutan dan penyertaan yang dingin.

Acara dimulakan dengan para hadirin dihiburkan lagu-lagu nasyid tetapi terganggu sebentar dengan satu pengumuman mengecam buku kecil bertajuk "Siapa Bertanggungjawab Kristiankan Melayu di Selangor?"

Sekretariat Himpun sebelum ini berkata mereka meletakkan sasaran kehadiran lebih 100,000 kerana mendapat sokongan sekitar 2,000 pertubuhan bukan kerajaan mewakili sekitar empat juta ahli dan pengikut.

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Muhyiddin: Gelombang biru di Selangor sudah bawa kesedaran baru

Posted: 22 Oct 2011 01:11 AM PDT

DENGKIL, 22 Okt — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin hari ini berkata beliau sudah melihat "gelombang biru" di Selangor yang menunjukkan keinginan semula rakyat kepada pentadbiran Barisan Nasional (BN).

"Gelombang itu sudah nampak berlaku di seluruh Selangor. Ada kesedaran baru kerana mereka tahu mereka sudah bagi peluang kepada pakatan selama tiga tahun, (tapi) banyak masalah berlaku," katanya, merujuk kepada kerajaan gabungan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP dan PAS di Selangor.

Berucap pada majlis Sarapan Pagi 1Malaysia Bersama Rakyat di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Dengkil di sini, Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata ramai rakyat Selangor merungut tentang ketidakpekaan pimpinan kerajaan negeri dalam memahami naluri dan keinginan serta kebajikan mereka.

"Ramai rakyat Selangor termasuk peniaga berjumpa saya dan tanya bila pilihan raya... Mereka kata mereka tidak tahan lagi dengan (kerajaan) Pakatan; susah mahu berniaga, susah mahu hidup. 'Bila pilihan raya saya mahu pangkah BN'. Itu kenyataan yang mereka buat," katanya.

Muhyiddin (gambar) yang turun padang mendekati rakyat merentasi beberapa daerah di Selangor hari ini, berkata berbekalkan pengalaman lebih 50 tahun, BN diyakini mampu membawa Malaysia ke tahap pencapaian lebih tinggi selaras dengan aspirasi rakyat.

Dipetik laporan Bernama Online, Muhyiddin berkata kerajaan pimpinan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak sedang rancak melaksanakan pelbagai pelan pembangunan bagi memastikan setiap rakyat dapat menjalani kehidupan selesa, aman dan sejahtera, sebagaimana ditekankan dalam Belanjawan 2012.

Mengulas lanjut, beliau berkata kerajaan Selangor dilihat tidak mengutamakan kepentingan dan kebajikan rakyat, seperti yang berlaku dalam isu pengurusan bekalan air di negeri berkenaan.

"Yang penting bukan soal kerajaan negeri nak berniaga dan mendapat keuntungan; yang penting ialah nasib rakyat kita di Selangor dan Wilayah (Persekutuan), hampir lima juta rakyat akan menanggung kesusahan nanti," kata Muhyiddin.

Beliau menggesa parti komponen BN supaya terus membantu rakyat Selangor dan sekaligus memastikan kemenangan BN pada pilihan raya umum nanti.

Muhyiddin turut menyampaikan sumbangan berjumlah RM111,000 kepada 37 Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung Persekutuan di kawasan Parlimen Sepang serta sumbangan Deepavali kepada 1,300 penduduk.

Peruntukan RM100,000 akan disediakan untuk membaik pulih bangunan sekolah SJKC Dengkil, katanya.

Berucap pada pertemuan dengan warga pendidik sekolah agama di Institut Latihan Perindustrian Kuala Langat di Banting, Muhyiddin berkata mereka perlu mengambil pendekatan baru ke arah melahirkan modal insan berakhlak, kreatif, produktif dan inovatif selaras dengan keperluan Model Baru Ekonomi negara.

Beliau yang juga Menteri Pelajaran berkata pihaknya sanggup memberi latihan kepada guru agama khususnya dalam kaedah pengajaran terbaru.

"Mungkin sudah berkesan (kaedah pengajaran sekarang) tetapi jika kita tidak mengambil kira teknologi, tak ambil kira persaingan dan masih lagi ambil pendekatan lama, tentu kita takkan menjana sumber manusia yang diperlukan untuk bersaing di peringkat dunia," katanya.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata mungkin ada yang berpendapat tumpuan pembangunan ekonomi negara adalah hanya untuk kehidupan di dunia, tetapi sebenarnya pembangunan dalam konteks Islam mencakupi kehidupan dunia dan akhirat.

"Hendak kata kita berlebih-lebih sangat tidak juga, sebab ia selaras dengan tuntutan fardhu ain untuk diri kita dan fardhu kifayah untuk masyarakat termasuk yang bukan Islam," katanya.

Muhyiddin berkata rakyat Malaysia perlu bersyukur kerana dapat hidup dalam keadaan aman tanpa peperangan seperti di sesetengah negara lain.

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