These are my links for April 18th from 07:21 to 07:43:

• Susan Boyle, an Unlikely Singer, Is a YouTube Sensation – NYTimes.com – But she has become a heroine not only to people dreaming of being catapulted from obscurity to fame but also to those who cheer her triumph over looks-ism and ageism in a world that so values youth and beauty. – AH BUT WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL REGARDLESS
• Personal Journeys – In Laos and Vietnam, Tracing the Path of a Colonial Ancestor – NYTimes.com – This past January, I spent a week following in the footsteps of Antoine Fayard, my maternal great-grandfather who built and designed roads, dams and canals across colonial Indochina — traveling along the sandy banks of the Mekong, across the Bolovens Plateau, rich with coffee plantations and stunning waterfalls, then across the border through the well-peopled villages and towns of central Vietnam. Two journeys, a century apart.
• Well – Stomach Bug, C. Difficile, Crystallizes Antibiotic Threat – NYTimes.com – C. difficile is not a new illness, but it appears to be spreading at an alarming rate. The rate of C. difficile infection among hospital patients doubled from 2001 to 2005, according to an April 2008 report from the C.D.C. The rise in C. difficile cases around the world is linked with the growing use of all antibiotics, particularly a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones, which came into widespread use around 2001. The use of acid-suppressing drugs, including proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec, also may be a risk factor, although studies have been contradictory.
• Obama Calls for Thaw in U.S. Relations With Cuba – NYTimes.com – Other leaders here said that in watching Mr. Obama extend his hand to Cuba, they felt they were witnessing a historic shift. And in another twist, Cuba’s strongest ally at the summit, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, no fan of the United States, was photographed at the meeting giving Mr. Obama a hearty handclasp and a broad smile. – ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T VOTE FOR BARRY, HE'S GOT THE RIGHT IDEA FOR FOREIGN POLICY. FRIENDS WITH ALL