Despite these impressive features, Nepal is in a precarious state. It is ranked among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with almost one third of its population living below the poverty line; half of its citizens earn less than one dollar a day. Only in the last year has fighting between Maoists and government forces subsided, bringing an end to a 12-year civil war that has disrupted tourism, halted foreign investment, imperiled Nepal's forests, and cost more than 10,000 human lives.

Entrenched poverty, compounded by years of political turmoil and soaring population growth, make Nepal an environmental trouble spot. Many animal species in Nepal are increasingly threatened as a result of grazing pressure, unregulated agricultural practices, firewood collection, and accelerated rates of deforestation. Of the 1,240 known amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles residing in Nepal's forests, 5.6 percent are threatened or critically endangered.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

One of these species is the red panda, also known as the lesser panda or firefox. Slightly larger than an ordinary housecat--with a raccoon-like face, a cheap ed hardy bushy ringed tail, and auburn fur--the red panda inhabits forested mountains, particularly areas with rhododendron and bamboo, its principal food source.

Although there is no exact data for its population, it is believed that only 13,000 to 17,000 red pandas remain in the wild. Threats to its survival include poaching, fragmented habitat, and the loss of the foods on which it depends. In Eastern Nepal, there may be as few as 200 red pandas remaining, creating a critical need for protective action.

Forests in Peril

Brian Williams got the idea for launching the Red Panda Project in 1997 when he traveled to the forests of Eastern Nepal as a Peace Corps volunteer. A chance encounter with a tourist who had witnessed the poaching of a red panda prompted Williams to find out more about this endangered species. "I heard about the illegal poaching of red panda, and knew that I was going to work for its protection," he says. In 2002, Williams returned to Nepal on a Fulbright scholarship and became one of only 10 people in the world to study the red panda in the wild, as well as the threats to its habitat.

In 2006, the Red Panda Project (or Project Punde Kundo) was born. The Earth Island Institute-sponsored project became the first community-based monitoring of red pandas in the world. tiffany heart link bracelet Since then, it has grown to five full-time staff and 13 temporary staff in Nepal. In 2008, it changed its name to the Red Panda Network (RPN) to reflect not only its wider reach, but also to encourage linkages between other countries with red panda populations.

Among the most pressing threats to the red panda's survival is the loss of its habitat as the forests of the Himalayan foothills
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WOMEN are officially pants at packing, according to a survey. (Nike Dunk SB Sneakers).

On average, females take twice as many knickers on holiday than they actually wear, the survey of 2000 women by budget airline easyJet found. Panerai Watches

Including thongs and briefs, women aged between 18 and 50 pack an average of 15 pairs of pants for their trips, but wear just seven

Women also get their knickers in a twist over just how many bras they need for their breaks away, packing an average of seven but only wearing four. chanel replica shoes . (Wholesale Mens Fleece Jackets).

In all, women fail to wear a third of the clothes they pack to go on holiday

Additional items packed but not worn include, on average, four tops, one pair of trousers, one skirt, two pairs of shoes and a raincoat - amounting to an additional 5kg in weight. (Abercrombie&Fitch Underwears).

Two are already in the bag.

Daniel's wife Danielle, young son Daniel and 2 1/2-month-old daughter Luiza arrived back from Brazil yesterday morning after going home for Luiza's birth.

The family's newest addition will watch her father play for the first time when Wellington Phoenix take on Melbourne Victory at Westpac Stadium tonight.

The match will also mark the Brazilian's 50th A-League appearance.

In doing so he joins All Whites defender Tony Lochhead as the only Phoenix players to notch a half- century of matches for the 2 1/ 2-year-old Wellington club.

All he needs to complete a trifecta and get the party started is three points tonight against the competition leaders.

"It will be the first time my daughter will see me play and little Daniel will be able to understand more football," said Daniel, a foundation player at the Phoenix.

"Also, my father loves football and he will be coming to spend a month with us here in Wellington. And 50 matches for the Phoenix is great. I love this club and I want to play more and more - 100, 200 matches - and stay here a long time.

"It's a special day for me but more important it's the three points. Forget everything, the fifty, the family, we need the three points.

"We need six points from the next two matches at home. We have to make sure we do the job on the pitch," he says.

Reflections in the Park

Today, Friday and Saturday,

Louis Murphy Park

The final three days, from 5 to 10 p.m., for the Hillcrest Lights Festival. Thousands of Christmas bulbs and animated displays light up the park. Cost is $8 per car. Call 563-583-7357.

New Year's Eve

Family Fun Night

Today, Jumpin' Jane's,

2055 Holliday Drive

From 4 to 6 p.m. for ages 5 and younger;

7 to 10 p.m. for all ages. Event will include inflatable rides, carnival games, air-brush tattoos, links of london charms face painting, balloon drop, deejay music and games, RMB Magic and concessions. Each child will receive a bag of goodies. Cost is $12 at the door for ages 2 to 17; $7 at the door ages 18 and older. Call 563-582-4454.

2nd annual Community Y's

New Year Eve Family Party

Today, YMCA/YWCA, 35 North Booth St.

From 5:30 to 9 p.m., the Dubuque Community Y will host a community-wide New Year's Eve Party. Enjoy games, swimming and music. A toddler playland, inflatables and interactive fun with Drums Alive classes. Concessions and shuttle rides through Reflections in the Park will be available. Tickets are $10 for Y members; $20 for non-members. Call 563-556-3371.

Second annual

New Year's Eve Party

Today, Mississippi Moon Bar,

Diamond Jo Casino

Starting at 8 p.m. and hosted by Scott Thomas. This year, Clip on charms Dueling Pianos, Elissa Larson and Robert Bozaich will rock the house along with D.J. Double J. The event will include party favors, a balloon drop and a toast at midnight.

Big-Band Dance

Today, Dubuque County Fairgrounds, 14569 Old Highway Road

Dance from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. to big-band music by Larry Busch. The event includes party favors, champagne toast and breakfast buffet at midnight. Tickets are $30 in advance; $35 at the door. Call 563-588- 1406.

Ninth annual

Droppin' of the Carp

Today, entrance of

St. Feriole Island, Lucky Park, Blackhawk Ave., Prairie du Chien, Wis.

Event begins at 9 p.m. with a bonfire and karaoke entertainment, a carp pinata for children to break open at 11 p.m., the crowning of the Carp King and Queen at 11:30 p.m. Countdown at 11:40 p.m. for the dropping of the 3-foot, 30-pound carp at midnight. Call 608-326- 8602.

America's Henry Rollins, pictured right (tonight, Royal Festival Hall, SE1, 0844 875 0073, www.

southbankcentre.co.uk), for instance, started out as an angry punk rock singer. Now he excels at unstoppably muscular spoken wholesale sexy lingerie word satirical sets about life and politics.

Tom Wrigglesworth (until tomorrow, Soho Theatre, W1, 020 7478 0100, . com) is another man of action but his style is in complete contrast to Rollins. In Open Return Letter To Richard Branson he tells the true story of how he saved an elderly train passenger by organising a collection to pay her penalty fare. Full of charming detail, this is stand-up storytelling inspired by Alan Bennett.

Finally there is the growing trend for stand-up poetry. Luke Wright and Ross Sutherland (until 30 January, Old Red Lion, EC1, 020 7837 7816, liontheatre.co.uk) specialise in lingerie wholesale witty wordplay. Where Wright is a versifier, reflecting on his Essex origins, Sutherland is more narrativebased, exploring his frustrations with modern living. Both are thoughtful, articulate and very funny.

The decorated Ukrainian Easter egg, or pysanka (named from the term for writing), is rooted in Ukrainian culture from the earliest pagan times, when it served as a talisman or good-luck charm for the home.

The show and sale will be from 1 to 4 p.m. March 21 at the Ukrainian Cultural Institute, 1221 W. Villard St., Dickinson.

Local musicians Debi Rogers and Sue Bicknell will be at the Mysteria Theatre on Wednesday for an evening of Irish music for St. Patrick's Day. Joining them for the 7 p.m. seisiun will be guitarist replica tag heruer watches John Lardinois, percussionist Robert Hart and fiddler Melissa Murphy.

A seisiun (session) is an informal gathering of traditional musicians where a solo musician plays a few notes of a melody, which is then picked up by another instrument, enlarged upon and, without a word being spoken, soon the whole gang has fused with their neighbor as one giant instrument.

The theater is at 210 W. Main St. in Mandan.

Towards the conclusion of the portion Mishpatim, immediately following God's establishment of His covenant with Israel, we find a mystical vision of God which gives rise to a fascinating difference of opinion between Targum Onkelos (second century CE) and Rashi (1040-1105). The numinous character of the story deserves a careful reading.

"Moses then went up, along with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of Israel's elders. They saw the God of Israel, and under His feet was the likeness of sapphire brickwork, like the essence of the heavens in purity. And [God] did not send forth His hand against these great men of the Israelites. They had a vision of the Divine and they ate and drank" (Exodus 24:9-11).

The Targum sees this incident in a very positive light. Having experienced the Revelation at the foot of the mountain, the leaders went up to the top and "saw, had a vision of" the Divine. "They suffered no damage" from this mystical experience, even though, in the talmudic recording of a much later "journey into the 'Pardes,'" Elisha ben Abuya, Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma were seriously maimed by the experience, and only Rabbi Akiva emerged "whole." "These [great men] saw the glory of God, and they rejoiced in their sacrifices which had been willingly accepted as if [they themselves] had eaten and drunk from them" (Targum ad loc).

Rashi takes the story much more literally, and is far more critical of the leaders' actions. He maintains that when the Bible reports that God did not "send forth His hand" against these leaders, the Bible is hinting that they were worthy of punishment. He cites the Midrash Tanhuma that they gazed upon God "with a vulgar and materialistic heart," eating and drinking in the Divine Presence (Rashi, ad loc).

I believe that Rashi is "put off" by the words "and they saw" and "and they had a vision" - verbs of seeing rather than of hearing. In previous commentaries, I have contrasted "seeing" - which is merely external - with "hearing," from the word shema, which means to internalize, to take into one's being (me'a is intestine) and to become internally transformed.

This is precisely how our sages understood the central maxim of our faith: "Shema Yisrael, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." Despite the legitimacy of interpretations of "your ears must hear what you express with your mouth" (you yourself must hear every word of the three paragraphs which you are reciting; you dare not sight read) and "shema - in any language which you understand," the normative Halacha derives from shema that the one who recites it must internally accept upon himself the yoke of the Kingship of heaven (B.T. Brachot 13a). And it is this third interpretation which would translate shema as "internalize."

The tragedy of the Israelites is that they experienced the Exodus through a superficial "seeing" rather than a more internal "hearing." Just before the Revelation, God chides them: "You have seen Thomas sabo charms what I have done to Egypt, how I carried you on eagles' wings; but now if you will internalize, yes internalize [shamo'a, tishme'u] My voice and guard My covenant, only then will you be to Me a treasureE" (Exodus 19:4-6).

But the Israelites were not yet at the level of internalizing. They only "see" the sounds of the Revelation (ibid 20:15), and God re-states His problem at the end of the portion of Yitro: "You have [merely] seen that I spoke to you from the heavens" (ibid 20:19). Ind
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Middlesbrough 0

Strachan fumes at decisions

Six-game unbeaten run is ended

Boro boss critical of referee Haywood

links of london charms GORDON Strachan last night claimed that two "great professional fouls" had condemned Middlesbrough to a 20 defeat at Blackpool.

Boro played against ten men for the final half-an-hour at Bloomfield Road after Seasiders defender Rob Edwards was dismissed for a challenge on striker Scott McDonald.

They might already have had a man advantage at that point, however, after Charlie Adam checked Jeremie Aliadiere's progress as he bore down on goal 14 minutes earlier, only for referee Mark Haywood to show the Scotsman a yellow card instead of a red.

Both incidents involved clear goalscoring opportunities, and after strikes from Brett Ormerod and DJ Campbell ended Middlesbrough's six-game unbeaten run, Strachan felt they were the decisive incidents in the game.

"I think the first was a sending off the same as the second, " said the Boro boss, who also saw Scott McDonald miss an 84th-minute penalty.

"From where I was sitting, it certainly looked as though Jeremie was clean through.

"But I suppose you'd have to say from their point of view, it was two great professional fouls. If they hadn't taken those two players down, it would have been us leading the game instead of them."

Boro were only one goal down when both fouls occurred, and while they would undoubtedly have fancied themselves playing against nine men, they were still offered a glorious opportunity to claim a point when Ian Evatt felled Barry Robson in the area with six minutes left.

McDonald stepped up to take the spot-kick, but the Australia international is still awaiting his first Boro goal after Blackpool goalkeeper Matthew Gilks saved his weak penalty attempt.

"Scott had a few efforts at goal, but it's just not really happening for him yet, " said Strachan.

"It will though, I'm absolutely sure of that."

The penalty miss effectively ended Boro's hopes of a comeback, but rather than pointing the finger of blame at McDonald, Strachan was intensely critical of his side's below-par display before the interval.

"It will though, I'm absolutely sure of that."

The penalty miss effectively ended Boro's hopes of a comeback, but rather than pointing the finger of blame at McDonald, Strachan was intensely critical of his side's below-par display before the interval.

Blackpool created enough chances to have been out of sight at the break, and having praised his side's professionalism in their back- to-back home wins over Barnsley and Peterborough, the Scot felt they displayed considerable naivety last night.

"The game was all about the first half, " he said. "It was a narrow pitch and a poor playing surface, but Blackpool were very professional in what they did.

"They turned us and got the knock downs. It wasn't beautiful to watch, but it was very effective.

"They handled the conditions well, but we were caught between playing that way and trying to play football, and in the end we did neither."

Blackpool manag
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CHEYENNE - In one of its best wins of the season, the University of links of london charms Wyoming men's basketball team didn't have to contend with any of the Mountain West Conference's best players.

San Diego State (16-7 overall, 5-4 MWC) junior forward Billy White didn't play in the Cowboys' 85-83 from-from-behind victory Jan. 9 in Laramie because of a high ankle sprain.

White also has dealt with a hand injury, but he still leads the MWC in field goal percentage at 56 percent. In 21 games, the 6-foot- 8 White has made 84 of 150 shots and is expected to play against UW (9-14, 2-7) in Wednesday night's game in San Diego.

However, White hasn't been as effective in conference play at 41.9 percent (18 of 43).

As an inside player, most of White's shots come at or around the basket. But there is more to White's success than just that.

"He's struggled with a lot of injuries that nobody cares to hear about, but he's very athletic and long," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said Monday during the MWC coaches teleconference.

"He's as good an athlete as there is the league. He's able to get to balls that other people can't just because of will and athleticism. He creates problems on the opposing teams when they're on offense because he's long and athletic. He can guard any

See UW, page B4

Continued from B1

position on the floor."

White was the Freshman of the Year in the MWC two years ago, and in two games last season, he tore the Cowboys apart.

He was a combined 20 of 24 from the field, including 12 of 12 in the Aztecs' 71-60 win in San Diego.

White also pulled down eight rebounds in each of the two contests.

"He's just very talented and very good at getting angles to the basket," UW coach Heath Schroyer said. "Billy rebounds the ball very well. You shoot a high percentage when replica breitling watches you rebound, especially your own shot."

White led the MWC in field goal percentage last season (66.3 percent) and also was tops in conference games at 77.1 percent.

A race again

No. 17 Brigham Young (22-3, 7-2) could have gone up two games in the league standings with a win at UNLV last Saturday.

But the Cougars were drilled 88-74 by the Rebels in a game where UNLV (19-4, 7-2) jumped out to a 47-18 lead and made nine of 13 3- pointers in the first half.

That win enabled No. 23 UNLV to get back into the top 25 for the first time since early in the season.

BYU, UNLV and New Mexico are tied atop the MWC standings with 7- 2 records.

"We're in great shape and in a really good position," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We have 22 wins, we are tied atop the league going into the second half of conference play. As a coach, that's something you want to make sure you emphasize to your team.

"This team has played a little more consistent than we have the last week or two. Our challenge is to get them back to playing at the level where we are getting more scoring from more guys and being more assignment-sound defensively and executing the game plan."

Accused of attempted murder

---

KATU

Kevin Tracey of Washougal testifies Monday about being attacked near Dougan Falls. The trial continues today.

---

STEVENSON When the two attackers accosted him on a snowy trail, demanding his car keys, Kevin Tracey thought it would be a simple robbery. He handed over his keys and then his backpack, thinking the men would be satisfied and go away.

But, as he recounted Monday to a jury, the next moments turned into a horrifying ordeal of being brutally clubbed, strangled and left to die in the woods near Dougan Falls on the Washougal River.

Calm, cool and collected, they just kept hitting me, Tracey, of Washougal, said, pausing briefly, apparently to collect his emotions.

Tracey took the stand Monday afternoon as the prosecutions first witness in the trial of Michael D. Collins, accused of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree robbery. The trial is taking place in Skamania County Superior Court in Stevenson.

Collins, 34, and his 17-year-old son, Teven Collins, are charged in the Feb. 9, 2009, attack.

On Friday, Teven Collins agreed to plead guilty to second-degree attempted murder. As part of the plea deal, he must testify against his father.

The father and son were apprehended March 25 in Ensenada, Mexico, shortly after the case was featured on a segment of the Americas Most Wanted TV program. Skamania County Sheriffs detectives used a tip generated by the TV show and Teven Collins MySpace account to find the father and son.

Jury selection began Monday morning, and 12 jurors were seated from a pool of 89 people, one of the largest ever in Skamania County Superior Court. Thats approximately 2 percent of the countys registered voters.

We cant let you go

Brief opening statements followed in the afternoon with Judge E. Thompson Reynolds presiding. Tracey took the stand just before 4 p.m.

He told the jury about a routine cross-country skiing trip that turned nearly deadly. Tracey was calm as he testified, breaking down in tears in a few parts of his story.

After he handed over his keys and backpack, Tracey remembered, one of the attackers told him, Im sorry, but we cant let you go.

What were you feeling at that time, Mr. Tracey? Skamania County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Lanz asked.

Horror, Tracey said.

He pleaded with the men to let him go.

If you murder me, theyre going to come find me, he remembered saying.

The men cornered him. Preparing to run, Tracey took off his skis. At that point, I was thinking that Im probably going to be shot, he said.

He saw a chance and ran. Only 50 feet away, he heard one of them yell, Get him.

Thats when the younger attacker jumped on him from behind and grabbed his arms, pulling them behind Traceys back. Next came five or six blows with a club to his forehead.

Next, the older attacker wrapped a nylon cord around his neck, pulling tightly.

What are you thinking at that point
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