When an Iraqi lieutenant ordered him off the bus, Saddam Hussein thought his number was up. Limbs quaking, he obediently trailed after the soldier — who then stood sharply to attention and saluted him.
“He chanted songs to the glory of the former president. Then, happy with his joke, he told me to get back in the bus, to my great relief,” said the Iraqi photographer with the same name as the dictator who was executed in December 2006.
The man with the infamous namesake is based in Fallujah, the town which symbolized the anti-American uprising after 2003, and he hasn’t always had an easy life. But he insists the name has done him more good than harm despite the other Saddam’s evil reputation.
He was born in 1979, the year that Saddam Hussein came to power. With his father absent, his mother and aunts failed to agree on a first name for the eldest of seven boys and it was the doctor who suggested calling him Saddam when he learned that the family name is Hussein.
Although he looks nothing like the former dictator, the name brought certain advantages to the youngster. “In exams, the teachers gave me 10 extra marks because of my name,” he admitted, adding that it also helped with girls.
When Saddam was overthrown in April 2003, the younger man’s mother begged him to change his name but he refused. “It has served me well,” he said.(AFP)
一位伊拉克陸軍中尉命令坐在巴士上的薩達姆.海珊下車,他以為他死期將近。他雙腿顫抖,順從地跟在這位士官後頭──然後這位中尉突然立正站好向他敬禮。
這位和二OO六年十二月被處決的獨裁者海珊同名同姓的伊拉克攝影師說:「他高唱頌讚這位伊拉克前總統的歌曲,接著,對自己開這個玩笑感到洋洋得意的他叫我回到車上,這才令我大大鬆了一口氣。」
這位和惡名昭彰的海珊同名同姓的攝影師住在法魯加鎮,這個小鎮二OO三年後成為反美暴動的象徵,此後他的好日子不再。但他堅稱,雖然海珊惡名在外,但這個名字對他來說還是利多於弊。
他出生於一九七九年,同年海珊上任掌權。身為七兄弟老大的他,父親不在身邊,母親和阿姨們又對該取什麼名字意見不同,結果是醫生聽說他們家姓海珊,才建議她們叫他薩達姆。
雖然他長得和那位前獨裁者一點也不像,但這個名字還是為這個年輕人帶來某種程度的好處。他承認:「考試時,老師會因為我的名字多送我十分。」此外,這個名字也讓他在女孩間吃得開。
當海珊政權在二OO三年四月被推翻時,這位年輕人的母親懇求他改名,但他拒絕了。他說:「這個名字對我助益很大。」(法新社�翻譯:袁星塵)
A: Wow, three Taiwanese restaurants just won the 2024 “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards. B: Awesome! Which three restaurants? A: Taipei’s Logy at No. 22 and MUME at No. 34, and Taichung’s JL Studio at No. 33. B: Actually, there are many more great establishments in Taipei. How about other Asian cities? A: Singapore claimed nine spots this year, making it Asia’s new “food capital.” A: 2024「亞洲50最佳餐廳」名單揭曉了,台灣有3家餐廳上榜。 B: 好厲害,哪3家? A: 台北的Logy和MUME分獲第22和34名,台中的JL Studio獲第33名! B: 其實台北還有很多好餐廳,那其他的亞洲城市呢? A: 新加坡今年入選9家,可說是亞洲美食之都。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most
The practice of freezing embryos as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was thrown into chaos in Alabama this year, when the state supreme court ruled that such embryos should be considered children, exposing clinics to wrongful death claims in the event they are destroyed in the thawing process. In 2021, more than 80 percent of US IVF procedures involved the transfer of frozen embryos, according to a recent report by the US Department of Health and Human Services. HOW IS EMBRYO FREEZING USED IN IVF? IVF uses high doses of hormones to stimulate ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible. Once
A situation puzzle is a game in which one person describes a scenario and asks the players to explain it. The situation is deliberately lacking in details, but the players may acquire more information by asking questions — however, these can only be answered with “yes” or “no.” A player wins by describing the approximate events that led up to the situation. To do so, they must use a blend of logical and lateral thinking. A famous example of this is sometimes known as “Turtle Soup.” Here’s the riddle: “A man in a restaurant orders turtle soup, tastes it