Category Archives: The Media

Food, Health & Medicine, International, Language, Science and Environment, The Media

‘SELFITIS,’ ‘CYBERESPIONAGE,’ ‘PROTOPLANET’ NEWEST WORDS IN OXFORD DICTIONARIES

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imageLondon, Great Britain – Oxford University has just announced the newest additions to the world’s largest dictionary in English.

Technology and the Interet are as popular as ever in providing new words, from lock screen and headcam to cyberespionage. Cyberespionage came about as a result of recently-revealed practices by the U.S. National Security Administration (NSA) to spy on phone conversations and Internet communications among governments and private citizens.

Astrology’s newest word contribution is protoplanet, defined as a small celestial object that is the size of a moon or a bit bigger.  Astronomers believe that these objects form during the creation of a solar system.

Food coma, another addition to the Oxford Dictionaries, is the feeling of listlessness, bordering on sleep, that one feels after eating a large meal, often caused by a rush of blood to the stomach and intestines during food digestion.

But the most popular yet controversial word addition is ‘selfitis,’ the obsessive-compulsive urge to take photos of one’s self and post them on social media.  Earlier this month, The Adobo Chronicles broke the story regarding the American Psychiatric Association officially classifying selfie-taking as a mental disorder.

Last year, Oxford Dictionaries named ‘selfie’ as their 2013 word of the year.  Will ‘selfitis’ be the word for 2014?

Film and TV, Politics, Religion, Technology, The Media

ABC ANNOUNCES NEW HOSTS FOR ‘THE VIEW’

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From top, clockwise: Whitman, Hasselbeck, Bachmann, Brewer, Palin
From top, clockwise: Whitman, Hasselbeck, Bachmann, Brewer, Palin

New York, New York – ABC Television Network has announced the hosts of the 18th season of the daytime television talk show ‘The View,’ and only Elisabeth Hasselbeck is staying on.

The announcement came as the show’s producer Barbara Walters prepares to retire on May 16. Part of the farewell week is the appearance on May 15 of all the 11 current and past co-hosts of the show.

“No one can really fill the shoes of Ms. Walters but we believe that we have assembled a powercast of some of the most intelligent, eloquent and knowledgeable women in this country,” said Paul Lee, ABC Network Entertainment Group president.

Hasselbeck will provide some continuity to the popular talk show, the ABC announcement said.

The new co-hosts are former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Representative Michele Bachmann, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

Ellen DeGeneres was being tapped to be the 6th co-host but she ‘respectfully declined.’

Festivals, Food, Human Interest, International, Politics, Religion, The Media

AQUINO STARTS A NEW PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTIAL EASTER TRADITION: BALUT HUNT

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Balut
Balut

Manila, Philippines –  In the U.S., the First Family will host the 136th annual White House Easter Egg Roll on April 21 which is expected to draw 30,000 people to the South Lawn of the presidential residence. Those in luck will be able to take home keepsake eggs in bold colors stamped with the signatures of President and Mrs. Barack Obama.

In the Philippines, President Noynoy Aquino, in his bid to bring Malacañang Palace (the presidential residence) closer to the people, has announced the first ever “balut hunt” this coming Easter Sunday. He hopes to make this an annual tradition even among his presidential successors. This new tradition, cooked up by Aquino’s brilliant press office staff, will feature a hunt for red, white, blue and yellow- painted balut with Aquino’s thumb print on them, hidden in the unkempt lawn of the palace.  Those are the colors of the Philippine flag. The event will be open to a maximum of 1,000 children of families who must pay a registration fee of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (in excess of $2,000) per attendee.

The deadline for registration has been set for April 18, Good Friday. No checks or credit cards accepted. Cash only.

Balut is a Filipino delicacy of boiled duck embryo (see photo).