Comelec annuls Padaca’s 2007 poll win in Isabela

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Election (Comelec) on Tuesday annulled the proclamation of Isabela Governor Grace Padaca in favor Benjamin Dy, who had protested the results of the 2007 elections.

After a recount of votes, the second division of Comelec ruled that that Dy got 199,435 votes against Padaca’s 198,384, or a lead of 1,051 votes.

Padaca was proclaimed winner in the gubernatorial race in 2007 with a lead of 17,007 votes over Dy.

Benjamin Dy is the second member of the entrenched political dynasty that Padaca had defeated. In 2004, Padaca defeated re-electionist Governor Faustino Dy Jr., ending the 3-decade rule of the clan in Isabela.

Alleging that Padaca’s camp resorted to massive cheating, Benjamin filed a petition for a recount of votes, involving 683 ballot boxes from 12 towns.

‘Confirmed fear’

“Thousands of ballots with the same handwriting in favor of my political opponent in several contested precincts were also presented that deprived my candidacy of the needed votes to win in the 2007 election,” said Dy in a press release distributed to Comelec reporters.

The poll body has directed Padaca “to vacate the Office of the Provincial Governor of Isabela and relinquish the same to Dy.” Dy’s camp will be filing for a motion for the immediate execution of the Comelec order.

Lawyer Maria Donna Guia Lerona-Camitan, counsel of Padaca, said that they will be filing for a motion for reconsideration, and request the Comelec not to remove Padaca from her office immediately.

She told reporters that the Comelec decision did not surprise their camp; it was a “confirmed fear” for them.

Padaca is running for re-election as governor in 2010, against another member of the Dy family.

The second division of the Comelec last week also unseated Bulacan Governor Joselito “Jon-jon” Mendoza in favor Roberto Pagdanganan. Mendoza’s lawyer alleged that a post-proclamation tampering of ballots was conducted to make it appear that Mendoza lost in the recount.

The same division is expected to decide this week the protest filed by former Lilia Pineda against Pampanga Governor Panlilio. (Newsbreak)

US schools tap Pinoy teachers

BAY MINETTE, Alabama – The school system in coastal Baldwin County – 60 miles by 25 miles of Alabama farmland framed on two sides by waterfront towns – was short on teachers, especially in courses such as math and science.

So short, in fact, that district officials went around the world last year, with expenses paid by a teacher recruiting firm, and brought back Michel Olalo of Manila and 11 other Filipinos to teach along the shores of the Gulf Coast and Mobile Bay and in the communities in between.

That raised some eyebrows in Baldwin County, where nine out of 10 people are white, just one in 50 is foreign-born and, as the county’s teacher recruiter Tom Sisk noted recently, “Many of our children will never travel outside the United States.”

Yet school administrators throughout the US are plucking from an abundance of skilled international teachers, a burgeoning import that critics call shortsighted but educators here and abroad say meets the needs of students and qualified candidates.

“All my friends were applying,” said Olalo, hired through San Mateo, California-based Avenida International Consultants to teach physics. “I thought, why don’t I try it? Luckily, when I was lined up for an interview, it was people from Baldwin County.”

The US Department of Education doesn’t monitor how many foreigners are working in American classrooms, spokeswoman Elissa Leonard said, but a federal survey released in May confirmed the dearth of math and science teachers, chiefly due to retirement by baby boomers.

As far back as five years ago, the National Education Association estimated that up to 10,000 foreigners already were teaching US students in primary and secondary schools, mainly to fill vacancies in math, science, foreign languages and special education.

The largest single sponsor of foreign teachers, according to the NEA, is Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Visiting International Faculty, which claims it has 1,500 teachers from more than 55 countries in districts in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and California. The firm has placed teachers mostly in the South as it branches out from its Chapel Hill base, spokeswoman Leslie Maxwell said.

Critics view the international teacher market as a quick fix that can frustrate students and foreign hires alike.

If foreign teachers “are recruited into schools and communities lacking the kinds of support that all new teachers need, they may not stay,” said David Haselkorn, policy research director at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, N.J., which recruits recent college graduates with education degrees and professionals from certain fields to teach in low-income communities.

Janet Lipscomb, president of the Parent Teacher Organization at Foley High in Baldwin County, said the students liked the Filipino teachers but some experienced a “communication gap,” particularly when students used slang.

“The students cut up a lot. Some of that may have been misinterpreted by the teachers,” said Lipscomb, a substitute teacher at the high school.

But Chris Fredrick, an 11-year-old at Cedar Grove Middle School in Decatur, Ga., enjoys the earth science class taught by Uzma Masood, who was recruited by Georgia-based In-talage Inc. to come from Hyderabad, India.

“I like her. I like what we do in class. We’re active in the class. We’re not just sitting there all day,” he said.

On a recent school day, students were highly responsive to Masood as she constantly walked around the classroom and encouraged students instead of just lecturing them.

“I like her class because sometimes if we don’t understand something she’ll break it down for us,” said Pedruna Adams, also 11.

Masood, 32, wearing black pin-stripe pants, a turquoise Indian tunic and a black hijab on her head, spoke with an accent as she conducted activities that got students up out of their seats in the classroom, which looked typical for 6th grade. Big block letters cut out of blue construction paper were across the front, above the white board: EXPLORE THE WORLD THROUGH SCIENCE.

“I always introduce myself on the first day and tell them I’m from a different country and explain that I have an accent and they can ask me if they don’t understand something. Usually within two or three days they get used to it and don’t have any problems,” Masood said.

“She is a wonderful teacher,” said Agnes Flanagan, principal of the school. “I don’t understand some people’s philosophy of not wanting visiting teachers. I wouldn’t mind having a building full of them. She’s very dynamic and the kids love her.”

Philippine Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the Philippine teachers hired for US classrooms are those most proficient in English and who look at America as “a second home … it’s not like a strange place.”

“These teachers, they all grew up reading American books,” he said.

Proponents note that international teachers typically have a higher level of subject expertise in the classroom and can expose young students to a new culture.

Also, the pool of candidates overseas is much bigger than locally.

“We interviewed 180 applicants in five days” in Manila, Sisk said. In the US, he did not meet that many candidates on visits to 20 or 30 colleges.

Immigration officials say the temporary work visas used to hire foreign teachers create no path by themselves to permanent US residency, and teachers have no advantage over any other group seeking the visas.

For foreign teachers, the US job market offers much better pay than at home. Lapus said the starting monthly salary for a public school teacher there is about $300 a month. In Alabama, the starting salary set by state law is about 10 times more – a minimum $36,144 for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience.

“This is the global rule of the game now,” Lapus said in an interview in Manila.

He said the hiring of Filipinos for US jobs is a testament to their competence and is a loss, but not a large one, to the Philippine education system, which has 500,000 public school teachers and some 30,000 new ones taking the licensing exam each year.

Tainted milk sickens in China

BEIJING (AFP) – – China said Wednesday more than 6,000 babies had fallen ill and three died after drinking milk powder contaminated with a toxic chemical, as it vowed massive efforts to contain a widening food scandal.

In the latest debacle to tarnish the “Made in China” label, authorities admitted two of 22 companies found to have melamine in their milk powder were exporting abroad, and that tainted yogurt had been found in Hong Kong.

Melamine, a chemical normally used to make plastics and glues, appeared to have been added to make the products seem richer in protein, and China’s two biggest dairy companies were among those found to have contaminated products.

“Everyone in our family is very worried,” said Qi Yunzhong, a teacher at a primary school in northwest China’s Gansu province whose son got kidney stones after drinking tainted milk powder.

“Every day there is a long line out in front of the hospital. The families are worried and everyone has stopped using milk powder,” he told AFP by phone.

Elsewhere, police in China detained the sacked chairwoman of Sanlu Group, the company at the centre of the mounting national scandal, state media reported

The mayor of the northern city of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is based, has also been sacked over the food safety crisis, according to Hebei.com, an official news website in Hebei province.

Tian Wenhua, who was fired by Sanlu on Tuesday, was detained under laws governing the production and sale of harmful food products, said the website.

The report did not say whether Tian, who was also the company’s general manager, had been formally arrested.

The sacked mayor was Ji Chuntang, who served also as Shijiazhuang’s Communist Party vice secretary.

In Beijing, Health Minister Chen Zhu said 6,244 infants across the country had fallen ill and three died after consuming the milk powder over a period of many months.

The number of sick was up fivefold from official numbers given Tuesday.

While many had now recovered, 1,327 remained in hospital, of whom 158 were suffering or recovering from acute kidney failure, Chen said as he gave the government’s first detailed account of the scandal.

China’s Cabinet, in a meeting headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, criticised “flaws” in dairy market supervision, state TV said, in an admission of official failures.

“(The scandal) has shown us that the dairy market is chaotic, flaws exist in supervision mechanisms, and supervision work is weak,” state-run CCTV said in summarising the conclusions of the Cabinet meeting.

Speaking at the same briefing Chen, the head of the nation’s product quality watchdog, Li Changjiang, said every dairy producer in China would be subject to tests to ensure the safety of their products.

Meanwhile, authorities waited to see if tainted products turned up overseas after officials said two of the companies had exports to Bangladesh, Burundi, Gabon, Myanmar and Yemen.

Li of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, gave no indication if the exports were contaminated but said the companies involved were recalling their products.

Bangladesh said Wednesday that food and commerce officials would meet this weekend to determine whether tainted products had entered the South Asian nation.

Li also confirmed melamine was found in a yogurt ice-bar made by Yili, one of China’s two biggest dairy producers, which was sold in the southern territory of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong supermarket chain Wellcome has recalled the product, and Li said authorities would investigate how melamine got into it.

The scandal is the latest to rock China’s food industry, which has been tarnished in recent years by a series of health scares over dangerous products, some of which have been exported.

In one of them, melamine was also found in Chinese pet food exported to the United States last year that killed dogs and cats.

Amid last year’s scandals, which also extended to products such as toys containing lead-based paint, Chinese authorities vowed to improve the safety of its food and manufacturing industries.

However, the scandal has given rise to questions over whether authorities had initially tried to cover up the crisis.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said this week her country “blew the whistle” on the continued sale of the milk powder after Chinese authorities refused to act.

The first of the baby deaths occurred May 1, more than four months before the scandal became public.

Climate change could devastate Philippines: NASA scientist

MANILA (AFP) – – Climate change could have a devastating impact on the Philippines, leading to widespread destruction of the country’s flora and fauna and flooding the capital Manila, a NASA scientist warned here Friday.

Climate change could devastate Philippines: NASA scientist

The continued melting of Arctic ice caps, brought on by climate change, could cause sea levels to rise by seven metres (23 feet), said National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) physicist Josefino Comiso.

He said the country’s fish stocks would be depleted and many species of plant and animal life would die because of the change in ocean temperatures caused by climate change.

Comiso said the slow melting of the ice caps should be more than “just an item of curiosity” for Filipinos.

“The Philippines is a country that is among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” Comiso said.

“Slight changes in ocean temperature will lead to coral bleaching which will impact on the coral reefs on which the country’s fishes feed.”

Fish species are already starting to disappear from Philippine waters as delicate coral reefs, some of the biggest in the world, are destroyed in the archipelago, according to the international marine watchdog group Reef Check.

In a report last year the group said coral reefs were already suffering from severe bleaching.

Only five percent of the world’s reefs — which shelter and provide food for a vast number of marine species — are still in pristine condition, according to Reef Check.

Comiso said the melting of the polar ice caps meant the sun’s rays were no longer being reflected, but instead going into the Arctic waters and warming them up.

“Currents from the Arctic waters travel around the world to all the other oceans, including the waters surrounding the Philippines.

“Such warming would encourage the growth of algae in the world’s oceans, which would gravely affect the world’s food chain,” he said.

He also noted that rising temperatures could reach a point where “various living creatures” would start to die in large numbers.

“Such temperatures would vary from species to species,” he said.

“But the deaths of these creatures would gravely affect the food supply chain.”

Comiso, a senior research scientist at a NASA centre that monitors the effects of global warming, made the warning after attending a conference of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration.

He said he was working on a project, to be funded by the Manila government weather station, to monitor the effects of global warming in the Philippines.

The project, which will be based in a state university outside Manila, will coordinate its research with NASA.

Comiso was part of the United States Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore.

Tips to Avoid the Office Bug…

Every year you watch as colds and the flu pass from co-worker to co-worker, hoping you’re not next on the office’s hit list–and then you end up getting sick anyway.

A weak immune system or plain bad luck might be to blame. But it’s more likely that you and your colleagues unknowingly have a few bad habits that make it easy for a virus and its accompanying misery to spread in your office.

If you want to avoid falling victim this year, infectious disease specialists say extra vigilance about hand hygiene, among other precautions, might do the trick.

In Pictures: Best Ways To Avoid The Office Bug

“We know that some years (viruses) are more severe than others,” says Dr. Neil Fishman, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Control for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “But it’s not impossible to totally avoid getting sick.”

Top Targets
In order to understand how to avoid the office bug you first need to know what you’re up against when cold and flu season strikes. While cold viruses are present year round, the number rises as the weather cools. Cold, dry air drains the normal amount of mucus we carry in our nasal passages, making it easier for viruses to attach to the tissues in your nose, Fishman says. We also tend to spend more time indoors during the winter months-ordering in lunch instead of going out, for instance–increasing our chances of contact with someone who is sick.

There’s a good chance you’ll run into infected people in your office, in particular, because taking a sick day isn’t considered a possibility by some people. In a 2007 CCH survey of more than 300 human resource executives in U.S. organizations, 38% said presenteeism, when sick employees show up for work, was a problem in their organizations. In addition, 87% said those employees usually have illnesses like colds or the flu, according to CCH, a provider of tax and business law information and software solutions. Past research led by Walter “Buzz” Stewart, director of the Geisinger Center for Health Research, has estimated that presenteeism costs U.S. businesses $150 billion per year in productivity.

Just how easily can a cold spread? If you’re one of those types who desperately tries to avoid sitting next to a sniffling, sneezing and wheezing colleague during a meeting, you’ve got good reason.

“If you had X-ray vision,” says Dr. William Schaffner, professor and chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Preventive Medicine and vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, “you would see a cloud of viruses around them. Every time they exhale, respiratory viruses come out, extending about three feet, creating a cloud around them.”

But that’s not the only way you could fall ill. Research out of the University of Virginia Health System in 2006 showed that people infected with rhinovirus, the cause of half of all colds, can contaminate common objects, such as light switches, which can infect others. To make matters worse, the day before you actually come down with a cold you’re already excreting virus. In other words, the co-worker who hovered over your desk the other day or borrowed your ID badge could be sick but not have symptoms yet.

Handy Advice
Ask an infectious disease specialist how not to get sick, no matter where you are, and they’ll tell you one thing over and over: wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Most organisms are more easily transmitted through hand contact than sneezes, says Dr. Bill Sutker, medical director of infectious diseases at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Once we come into contact with a virus, all we have to do is rub our noses, scratch the area around our eyes or touch our mouths and we’re in trouble.

You should also try to avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, but that can be harder than it sounds. If you have an itch on your face, you tend to scratch it without stopping to think about whether your hands are clean.

What are your tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season? Weigh in. Post your thoughts in the Reader Comment section below.

If you’ve got a lot of door handles in between your office’s bathroom sink and your desk, consider trying the old method of using a paper towel as a protective barrier for your hand or keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on your desk. Since not everyone spends the recommended 15 seconds scrubbing, an alcohol-based gel is a good back-up method, Sutker says.

Unfortunately, your best bet for boosting your immunity also does not come in pill or powder form. Most doctors agree there’s not enough evidence to recommend people take products packed with vitamin C or Echinacea to ward off the office bug. You’d be much better off regularly taking a multivitamin and focusing on some of the cornerstones of good health, such as regular exercise, proper nutrition and a good night’s sleep, says Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. While some genetics are involved, your immunity is basically a function of how healthy you are overall.

Of course, no matter how strong your immune system is or how many precautions you take you may not be able to avoid every cold that passes through the halls of your office. But it’s always worth a shot.

Something….

Sometimes, I asked God like this,

“Am I too selfish?

For loving someone with ease,

And searching for something I miss?”

Then a few moment past

I look at the mirror and ask,

“Am I like a dust?

that ruined everyone’s heart.”

Then the wind comes,

Blowing me down

Like a swann

Searching my love one.

Then I look at the sky

And the angels said “Hi?”,

Then I thought it’s almost the time

To say….

I Love You…….

Goodbye…….

-Kaileen Ubongen

Anne Hathaway

Date of Birth

12 November 1982, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name

Anne Jacqueline Hathaway

Nickname

Annie

Height

5′ 8″ (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Anne Hathaway’s first major role came in the short-lived television series “Get Real” (1999). She gained widespread recognition for her roles in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel as a young girl who discovers she’s a member of royalty, opposite Julie Andrews and Heather Matarazzo.

She also had a notable role in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) opposite Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, and a starring role in Ella Enchanted (2004). A former top-ranking soprano in New York, Hathaway was reportedly a front-runner for the role of “Christine” in the 2004 The Phantom of the Opera (2004). However, due to scheduling conflicts with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she couldn’t take the role, which was later given to newcomer Emmy Rossum.

Hathaway soon started to move away from family-friendly films. Following The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she appeared topless in the films Havoc (2005) opposite Josh Peck and Brokeback Mountain (2005) opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Her desire to break out of her “Princess Diaries” image parallels that of her one-time co-star, Julie Andrews, who went topless in the film S.O.B. (1981) in order to break away from the image she created from her 1960s musicals. In interviews, Hathaway said that doing family-friendly films didn’t mean she was similar to their characters or mean she objected to appearing nude in other films.

Her upcoming films are The Devil Wears Prada (2006) opposite Meryl Streep, and Becoming Jane (2007), in which she’ll play a young Jane Austen.

Trade Mark

Her smile.

Trivia

First and only teenager admitted to the acting program at the award-winning The Barrow Group in New York. Three days before being cast in “Get Real” (1999), she performed in two concerts at Carnegie Hall as member of All- Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus.

Appeared at both 1999 Teen Choice Awards and 1999 Billboard Awards, introducing musical acts.

In his column “Just for Variety” published on October 25, 2000 in Daily Variety, columnist Army Archerd quotes Garry Marshall, the director of The Princess Diaries (2001): “The multi-talented Hathaway is a combination Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland.”

Goes by the name Annie with all of her friends.

Attended Millburn High school.

Daughter of stage actress Kate McCauley.

Has the same name as William Shakespeare‘s wife, Anne Hathaway.

Named one of People Magazine’s ‘Breakthrough Stars of 2001’.

Named one of Teen People Magazine’s 25 Hottest Stars Under 25 in its June 2002 issue.

Won the Clarence Derwent Award for her performance as Lili in the City Center Encores! production of Carnival (2002)

Is a vegetarian.

Father Gerard is an Attorney, mother Kate McCauley is a singer/actress.

Grew up in New Jersey.

Was majoring in English & minoring in Women’s Studies at Vassar. Transferred to New York University in 2005.

Was nominated for the Paper Mill’s “Rising Star Award” for the best high school performance by an actress in New Jersey

She was nominated for the 2002 Teens Choice Award in the Best Actress/ Comedy (The Princess Diaries (2001)) series category.

In 1998, was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role at the Paper Mill Playhouse “Rising Star Awards”, an award given to high schools across New Jersey. Ironically, she was nominated for playing the Princess in “Once Upon A Mattress”. To further the irony, she lost to a girl who was played the exact same role. The nomination billet listed her as Annie Hathaway.

Parents Gerard and Kate attended La Salle University in Philadelphia during the 1970s graduating one year apart.

Everyone knows that The Princess Diaries (2001) was her breakthrough role, but it is a little known fact that she auditioned for that part on her way to New Zealand to co-star in another film with Christopher Gorham. She reported to others on the set that she felt really good about the audition. Film-makers knew that she would be a big star, so the film in question, The Other Side of Heaven (2001), was delayed in post production and released after The Princess Diaries (2001) in order to capitalize on her stardom.

Was not available for role of Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera (2004) due to contractual obligation to Disney for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).. The two movies had overlapping filming schedules.

Attended Wyoming School in Millburn, New Jersey.

Has stated that she would only appear nude/topless in a film if she felt it would add significance to it. She appeared topless for the first time in Havoc (2005) and then in the same year in Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Has a dog (chocolate Labrador) named Esmerelda, born July 2004.

Named one of Teen People Magazine’s 25 Hottest Stars Under 25 in its June 2006 issue for the second time. She was also on the list in 2002.

Was ranked #85 on FHM’s sexiest women in the world list 2006.

In July 2006 she spent a week in Nicaragua helping vaccinate kids there against Hepatitis A. She called the experience “..an eye opener” for her.

Beat out Sienna Miller for the role of “Lureen Twist” in the movie Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Was very reluctant to take on the role of Jane Austen in Becoming Jane (2007) as she didn’t think she would be suited for the role but Ang Lee, who was directing Anne in Brokeback Mountain (2005) (and who also directed Sense and Sensibility (1995)) persuaded her to take on the role.

Favorite actresses are Cate Blanchett, Sigourney Weaverand Michelle Pfeiffer

Plans on finishing her degree from NYU someday.

Her role models are Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep

Learning how to play the piano and working with a dialect coach for Becoming Jane (2007).

She is an honoree of women’s empowerment organization the Step Up Women’s Network and is also an advisor for the Lollipop Theater Network, that screens movies in hospitals for the terminally ill.

Friends with Heather Matarazzo

In 2004 received Chanel’s Spotlight Award for Emerging Talent.

Has an older brother Michael who is a writer and a younger brother Tom who is an aspiring actor.

Named #85 in FHM magazine’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006” supplement. (2006).

Bust 36C (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

She befriended Emily Blunt on the set of The Devil Wears Prada (2006). They are fast friends now, Emily calls Anne ‘her rock’.

Favorite movies are Elizabeth (1998), Stand by Me (1986), Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001), Pretty Woman (1990) and Cidade de Deus (2002) (City of God).

Favorite actors are Joaquin Phoenix and Ralph Fiennes.

After the release of The Princess Diaries (2001), Anne’s hometown newspaper, The Item, printed an article comparing Anne to Greta Garbo because of the paper’s inability to get an interview with Anne (who was busy making movies and living in LA at the time).

She grew up in Millburn Township, New Jersey, which is adjacent to the town of Summit, NJ, which is the hometown of her The Devil Wears Prada (2006) co-star Meryl Streep. It is also adjacent to Maplewood, NJ, which has Columbia High School that Zach Braff attended (as well as Grammy-winning artist and former Fugee Lauryn Hill), and Zach Braff‘s “Scrubs” (2001) co-star, John C. McGinley, attended Millburn High School – Anne’s alma mater.

Ranked #80 on Askmen.com’s 100 Most desirable Women in the World. (2006).

One of People Magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People in the world. (2006).

Born in New York but was raised in New Jersey.

Is a fan of Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland.

Her TV debut was in a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate commercial filmed in 1997 in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Her fiancé is Raffaello Follieri, a Real Estate developer, whom she has been dating since 2004.

Greatly admires Ryan Gosling and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Was almost cast as Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), but Tim Burton wanted an unknown actress for the role, and newcomer Jayne Wisener got the role.

Cites Ayn Rand‘s The Fountainhead (1943) as her favorite novel.

Named as one People Magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People in the world 2007.

Turned down the lead role in Knocked Up (2007).

Accidentally fell off of her chair during her audition for the role of the klutzy princess in The Princess Diaries (2001). She was hired on the spot.

Is of French, Irish, German and Native American descent.

Good friends with Sienna Miller.

Ranked #6 by InStyle magazine as one of the 10 most stylish stars in Hollywood (2007).

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#18). [2007].

Announced as the new face of “Lancome” [January 1, 2008].

Ranked #63 on Askmen.com’s 100 Most Desirable Women in the World. (2008).

Was ranked #3 on Entertainment Weekly’s ’30 Under 30′ the actress list. (2008).

Ranked #51 in FHM magazine’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2008” supplement. (2008).

Has split with her fiancé, Raffaello Follieri [June, 2008].

Personal Quotes

I look my best after an entire hair and makeup team has spent hours perfecting me. When do I feel my best? When I haven’t looked in a mirror for days, and I’m doing things that make me happy.

Kindness is really important to me in finding my own prince – so are patience and a sense of humor. Without those qualities he’s no Prince Charming!

I really don’t drink, I don’t do drugs. I feel like right now I’ve been given so many opportunities I don’t want to mess it up with those things … I think I was raised in a solidly upper-middle class family who had really strong values and excess was not one of the things that my family put up with. – On avoiding the hard partying young-star life style

She is just divine. As a human being, she has basically accomplished everything that I want to do … It’s not that she just gets inside the character, she’s just absolutely at the center of all of her choices, of the truth of the character – On working with Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

She can act sweet, but she’s fundamentally a predator – On her character “Lureen” in Brokeback Mountain (2005).

In Hollywood you have to be careful if you go above a six, then you’re considered fat. I’m considered to be, I hope, an actress, and you can get away with a couple of extra pounds if you are trading on your talent instead of your sex appeal.I don’t have time to be tortured about me weight.

Over the last few years I’ve learned that the Next Big Thing is something a lot of people wish and want for you – but what you wish for yourself is really important too.

“College is such a unique time because you’re learning a little bit how to be an adult. You’re learning how to take care of yourself without parental influence, and you’re exposed to so many great minds. I feel like I didn’t even know how to think until I got to college.” – On the importance of a college education.

I’ve worked with people and I’ve known people that were really competitive but I’ve always said that I take an Elizabeth Bennett philosophy of life – I laugh. I love my job but if it means hurting someone I won’t do it.

I’m more proud of that film than anything I have created. – on Brokeback Mountain (2005).

I got into this business to be an actress, to scare myself, and force myself into a place outside of my comfort zone. I have nothing against The Princess Diaries – but it has been a brick wall at times for my career.

I disagree with a couple of the stances of the Catholic Church. My older brother is gay and it’s important for me to be able to love him completely and freely and it’s important for me to spread beliefs in the world that are not going to limit people in their love.I can’t support a religion that doesn’t support my brother.

Films are letting me get older, which is really nice, because there was always this fear of what happens when I stop being a teenager. But for everyone else, it was kind of a sharp left.

I think that fashion can be a lot of fun. I love clothes, but I recognize that it should only be a hobby. Some clothes that are more design-based look better on women with figures like wire hangers, because that’s the nature of the design. I won’t wear those clothes.

I’ll be honest with you, it really, really, really annoys me, the image that’s put out there for women. These tiny, tiny bodies, with absolutely no fat at all on them. It’s unhealthy, plain and simple, and there are only a handful of women in the world who are naturally like that. It makes me sick.

I’m very choosy! It drives my agent nuts.

… it’s not something that I have ever aspired to be or courted because I think the second that you say, “Oh, I am a role model and that’s why I make the decisions that I make,” you’ve kind of shot yourself in the foot. A role model is somebody that does things because of what they believe in regardless of what other people think. (Her views on role models)

I cry terribly easily. Just a minute ago, I was reading an article about Kate Winslet in Vogue, and I love her so much, I started crying, realizing how great she is and how far I have to go.

‘I’ve had directors say to me, ‘You’re the best actress for the role, but you’ve put on weight recently.’ If people can’t understand you’ve put on five pounds, I don’t want to deal with them.

Obsessing about weight is a big old waste of time.

I love working and I feel satisfied when I know I have literally given all the energy that I have. That being said, work is not my No. 1 priority. I don’t think it can come at the expense of your family, your friends and your ‘significant other’ if you have one.

“I’m very aware of my own background. I’m Irish, French and then a little bit of everything else thrown in, ranging from German to native American. We’re talking about tiny drops of blood.”

I’m more proud of that film than anything I have created. – on Brokeback Mountain (2005).

I spent a lot of time in the early part of my career staying within the same realm with a lot of my film choices. I don’t regret that, considering that my first movie was … a very popular film. So, all of a sudden, I had opportunities, I had attention, I had buzz and heat and all those things that people tell you you are supposed to work for and I didn’t know if I could act.

(On performing love scenes with Steve Carell in Get Smart (2008)] Making out with him is like the yummiest lollipop. Dipped in sunshine. And wrapped around in a masculine wrapper.

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Angelina Jolie

Born	Angelina Jolie Voight June 4, 1975 (1975-06-04) (age 33) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Film actor, producer, director
Years active	1982, 1993–present
Spouse(s)	Jonny Lee Miller (1996-1999) Billy Bob Thornton (2000-2003)
Domestic partner(s)	Brad Pitt (2005–present)

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1998	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	George Wallace	Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress – Series/Miniseries/TV Movie		Won
	National Board of Review Award	Breakthrough Performance – Female	Playing by Heart	Won
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Gia	Nominated
1999	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries		Won
2000	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	Girl, Interrupted	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role		Won
	Academy Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role		Won
2008	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	A Mighty Heart	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1982	Lookin’ to Get Out	Tosh
1993	Cyborg 2	Casella “Cash” Reese
1995	Hackers	Kate “Acid Burn” Libby
1996	Mojave Moon	Eleanor “Elie” Rigby
	Love Is All There Is	Gina Malacici
	Foxfire	Margret “Legs” Sadovsky
1997	Playing God	Claire
	True Women (TV)	Georgia Virginia Lawshe Woods
	George Wallace (TV)	Cornelia Wallace
1998	Gia (TV)	Gia Marie Carangi
	Hell’s Kitchen	Gloria McNeary
	Playing by Heart	Joan
	Pushing Tin	Mary Bell
1999	The Bone Collector	Amelia Donaghy
	Girl, Interrupted	Lisa Rowe
2000	Gone in Sixty Seconds	Sara “Sway” Wayland
2001	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider	Lara Croft
	Original Sin	Julia Russell
2002	Life or Something Like It	Lanie Kerrigan
2003	Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life	Lara Croft
	Beyond Borders	Sarah Jordan
2004	Taking Lives	Illeana Scott
	Shark Tale	Lola (voice)
	Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow	Francesca “Franky” Cook
	Alexander	Olympias
2005	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Jane Smith
2006	The Good Shepherd	Margaret Russell
2007	A Mighty Heart	Mariane Pearl
	Beowulf	Grendel’s mother
2008	Kung Fu Panda	Master Tigress (voice)
	Wanted	Fox
	Changeling	Christine Collins

Pregnant Jolie doing well ahead of birth: doctor

NICE, France – Pregnant Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie is doing well in a French Riviera hospital and is expected to give birth to twins in “the coming weeks,” her doctor said on Wednesday.

Doctor Michel Sussmann gave few details away during a brief news conference, declining to reveal the sex of the expected babies or give a clear indication of the likely birth date.

“What she needs now is simple surveillance by monitoring to ensure the good health of her babies in the weeks to come,” Sussmann told reporters at the Lenval hospital in the southern French city of Nice.

Jolie, 33, arrived at the hospital on Sunday by helicopter and has a suite of rooms reserved for her and her partner Brad Pitt, which have been sealed off by bodyguards.

“Mrs. Angelina Jolie and … Mr. Brad Pitt, told me to let you know that she is doing just fine at the moment,” Sussmann said.

“She is a patient like any other … very simple and for whom I have a great deal of respect,” he added.

Jolie and Pitt, 44, already have four children, three of them adopted and the fourth, Shiloh, their biological daughter born in Namibia in 2006.

After months of speculation surrounding her pregnancy, Jolie finally confirmed she was expecting twins in an interview at the Cannes film festival in May.

Asked when the twins might arrive, the doctor said: “I cannot give you a date. Let’s say that the birth will take place in the coming weeks.” He added that it was too soon to say the babies might be premature.

Jodie and Pitt moved into a 17th century villa in Provence earlier this year, with paparazzi descending on the village of Correns when news of the couple’s arrival leaked out.

Jolie, star of current hit movie “Wanted,” and Pitt, of “Ocean’s Eleven” fame, went public with their relationship after co-starring in the 2005 film “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.”

One U.S. celebrity magazine has said Jolie is pregnant with two girls while a rival publication had it as a boy and girl. A British tabloid published the supposed names of the yet-to-be-born children.