Kindle has become the most gifted item in Amazon's history. On Christmas Day 2009, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books.
Shrub has engendered such contempt that it's become a sport on the internet. There must have been a scramble for domain names for insult-bush websites and pages. Some I found within a scant few moments search were:
You couldn't get away with this in many other countries. When Bush-bashing devolves into America bashing, remember that and treasure fr*e spe*ch. (Asterisks because I'm posting from China.)
Commie Pinko Musings at 5 AM
I really enjoy Tom Tomorrow cartoons (like this one, "The Undecided Voter")and his website, This Modern World, is one of my favorite blogs. Recently he posted this article, which is supposedly in wide e-mail circulation. I didn't get one from one of my lefty buds yet, so I'll cross post a bit of it here and you should go to This Modern World to read the rest.
"A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICAN"
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
It's sort of the mirror image of a cartoon I saw in the New Yorker many years ago, where an executive looking out of his office window at belching smokestacks tells his son not to give him any lip about polluting the environment because that pollution paid for his college education.
I think this resonates with me right now because I'm currently helping an outstanding Chinese student with a personal statement (a letter that's part of an application to go abroad to graduate school). She's an International Trade major, fascinated with both theoretical and practical economics to the point where she does research above and beyond her academic requirements. "I recognize there are no perfect answers to some of the questions in economics, she writes, "such as how to deal with the ethical components of economic development."
I'd say she's well ahead of the game. I hope the currently tight visa situation doesn't deprive her and other exceptional Chinese students of a chance to pursue graduate study in the west.
One more thought: In the first paragraph of the article, the reference to "commie liberal." That certainly takes on much more irony when you've lived for 2 years in modern China.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Taiwan calls Australians moral cowards
They must've been in a bad mood after Elton John
Catherine Armitage, China Correspondent
September 24, 2004
TAIWAN has slammed Australia for "lack of moral courage", accusing Canberra of making a war possible in East Asia by appeasing China for the sake of making money.
One of Taiwan's most senior diplomats yesterday accused Australia of collaborating with the People's Republic of China to disrupt relations with some South Pacific diplomatic allies.
Australia had for several years been pursuing a one-sided and unbalanced policy favouring China over Taiwan, said Gary Song-Huann Lin, director-general of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry. "This hurt the Taiwanese people's feelings."
and there's more... including Dr. Lin being quoted as saying:
...[Australian Foreign Affairs Minister] Downer was like British prime minister Neville Chamberlain before World War II who, by appeasing Hitler, missed the chance to avoid war.
Don't miss this one.
Vaccine found for flatulent sheep
Psychiatrist shows a patient an inkblot. "What do you see?" he asks.
Patient replies, "Sex."
Doctor turns the page, shows him another inkblot. "And now?"
"Sex"
Next inkblot, same thing.
"Would you say you're preoccupied with sex?"
"What do you mean, you're the one showing me dirty pictures!"
When I blogged that a pair of poopsing bulldogs won the top dog award at the Cannes film festival last May, little did I know that creature-fart was such an environmental hazard. Darned if it isn't in the news again. So don't accuse me of gasbagging; I just post what I see!
AFP
September 24, 2004
PARIS: Belching and farting sheep and cattle, blamed by doomsters for driving the planet towards climate catastrophe, may have met their match.
Eructations from farm animals account for a fifth of all global emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is less plentiful but far more potent than the most notorious culprit, carbon dioxide (CO2).
Chewing over the problem, scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation believe a new vaccine can help protect Earth from the ruminant menace, New Scientist reports.
It couldn't just be the critters, could it? So go easy on the beans from now on, eh?
Elton John Calls Taiwan Media 'Rude, Vile Pigs'
TAIPEI (Reuters) - British rock star Elton John, in Taipei for a concert, swore at reporters who swarmed around him at the airport Thursday and called them "rude, vile pigs." Wearing a bright blue tracksuit and dark sunglasses, the star shouted expletives as he was mobbed by photographers and TV crew.
"Rude, vile pigs!" he shouted at the reporters at the Chiang Kai Shek airport after he arrived shortly after midnight.
"Do you know what that means? Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are."
One of the photographers shouted back: "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?"
What's more, Cat Stevens, aka Jusuf Islam, is indignant about being deported. The New York Post had the best headline, POSITIVE CAT SCAN
Monday, September 20, 2004
At this rate, extra children could boost China's GDP!
The one-child policy in China has many loopholes. Rural couples whose first child is a girl may try again for a boy. Minorities are allowed two children and affluent couples may pay "social alimony" for additional offspring. I had no idea it was this high.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how urban demographers are disparaging DINKs in China. The post has excerpts from a number of articles from Chinese media, voicing various analyses and opinions on childless couples. They speak volumes about what happens when a deeply traditional society hits rapid reform head-on.
As I read the following story, I wondered, as I do often when I read Chinese news, what else may be involved here. Selective enforcement is apparently one of those "Chinese characteristics." Did someone in this household run afoul of more than the one-child policy? My bet would be they had.
BEIJING (Reuters) - A court in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen has fined a couple 780,000 yuan ($94,250) and sealed off their house for having more than one child, the Beijing Morning Post said Monday.
The pair were among nine couples who were fined "social fostering fees" for their extra children, the newspaper said. They had their first boy in 1997 and last year had twin boys, the newspaper said.
With approximately 1.3 billion people, China is the world's most populous nation. It has stringent rules on family planning that allow couples usually to have just one child, at least in cities, and limit numbers elsewhere.
The couple's house had been sealed up "according to the law," the paper said, or until they pay the fine which was unusually large. A house is sealed with a white paper bearing the stamp of a local court pasted across the front door.
Punishment for having more than one child can include having the power to the offending couple's house or to the houses of relatives being cut off.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Can Chinese media say "copyright infringement" with a straight face? A real forehead-slapper
The irony of Chinese media organizations crying foul and threatening Google over copyright infringement is staggering. I'm sitting here looking at an obviously pirated picture perfect copy of Bill Clinton's autobiography (flimsy paper, funky printing, missing index pages, etc.) and listening to a music video clip on Chinese TV, the content of which features riffs conspicuously lifted from specific American pop music recordings.
Not only is this an absurd reaction, considering China's own derelict intellectual property rights enforcement, but it shows astonishingly misconstrued market logic. If anything, a Google search result would result in increased circulation of the Chinese news web sites, resulting in increased e-commerce and other beneficial side effects. So what is this really all about?
HONG KONG: Google news site hit by legal row over copyright
Local media warn of action but the US web search giant presses on with service from Asia Pacific News linked to from China Digital News South China Morning Post Saturday, September 11, 2004
By Patsy Moy
Google forged ahead with its [Chinese language] news website despite threats of legal action and allegations by local media of copyright infringement.
The controversies arose after the launch of Google's Hong Kong news on Thursday. The website for Hong Kong news cites news summaries and uses photos from local Chinese language media, including newspaper, radio and television, and provides hyperlinks to their websites.
In its own news report yesterday, Ming Pao said it had issued a letter through lawyers to ask that the US search engine giant stop such practices. Ming Pao said Google had not sought consent from the newspaper before using its news summaries, which it said might infringe copyright.
The head of RTHK's corporation communications unit, Sze Wing-yuen, said the government radio station would ask Google not to use its news until "the matter was cleared up". "We have to strike a balance between copyright and public interest," Mr Sze said.
The chief editor of Sing Tao electronic daily, Raymond Chan Wai-man, warned of "follow-up actions".
[snip..]
Kevin Pun Kwok-hung, associate professor in computer science and law at the University of Hong Kong, warned that Google might infringe copyright if the news summaries were detailed enough to make the material "copyrightable".
"There is a possibility of criminal liability under the Copyright Ordinance if a reproduction is carried out for commercial purposes and the party knows that it is an infringement of copyright," said Dr Pun, who specialises in information technology law.
The Customs and Excise Department said yesterday it would investigate if it received any complaints of piracy.
In a telephone interview yesterday, a spokeswoman for Google in the US, Debbie Frost, said: "We are a law-abiding company. We feel that if publishers do not want to be included in Google news for whatever reasons, they can always come to us and we can take them out.
"We are very respectful of their rights ... [But] we have no plans to do that [suspend the website]."
Ms Frost refused to comment on the legal issues but described Google's news service as a "digital newsstand".
"When you go to a newsstand, there are hundreds of newspapers and you are looking at the headlines and find out which one you want to read and to buy," she said.
"People read the headlines on Google and choose which website they want to visit. After you click on the link, you will be immediately taken to the website of a publisher. The information is not on Google but is on the publisher's website. Our role is to help you to find the website."
It was "very rare" for publishers to ask to be removed from the Google website, which she said was a convenient vehicle to channel readers to their websites.
"What we found over the past two years since we launched Google news is that publishers tend to like that and they can benefit from the extra traffic provided by Google," she said.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
UFO in Inner Mongolia - beware of those Chinese saunas!
Boiler Kills on Impact After Sauna Launch
BEIJING (Reuters) - A boiler that exploded at a Chinese sauna sailed over a six-story building and landed on an old man crossing the road, Xinhua news agency said.
The 63-year-old pedestrian was killed instantly and three people injured in Sunday's bizarre accident in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, Xinhua quoted local police as saying.
"A passerby tried to escape when he saw the large object flying toward him, but he was hurt in his leg," Xinhua said. "Two workers in a restaurant next to the bathhouse were also injured after a wall of the restaurant collapsed."
The explosion of the boiler, measuring two-meters (six-and-a-half-feet) across, is under investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Having sex with corpses is now officially illegal in California after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill barring necrophilia, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The new legislation marks the culmination of a two-year drive to outlaw necrophilia in the state and will help prosecutors who have been stymied by the lack of an official ban on the practice, according to experts.
"Nobody knows the full extent of the problem. ... But a handful of instances over the past decade is frequent enough to have a bill concerning it," said Tyler Ochoa, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law who has studied California cases involving allegations of necrophilia.
"Prosecutors didn't have anything to charge these people with other than breaking and entering. But if they worked in a mortuary in the first place, prosecutors couldn't even charge them with that," Ochoa said.
read the rest Mon Sep 13, 8:40 AM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Cellphone Novel Hits China with a Big Buzz
The mobile phone novel, a concept already popular with Japanese commuters, has emerged in China, where it's creating a huge buzz, not only in media and technology news sources, but it immediately hit everything from the front page of the New York Times to a news site in Zambia, which immediately picked up the Xinhua release.
"Out of the Fortress" is a story of a forbidden love by acclaimed Chinese novelist, Qian Fuzhang. Consisting of 60 chapters totalling 4,200 Chinese characters, it was described by the N.Y. Times as "like a marriage of haiku and Hemingway." It will be auctioned this week to SMS subscription services. The author has already received an advance worth over $20,000 USD. from a Chinese website offering mobile phone downloads and was offered an even higher amount by a Taiwanese company for publishing rights there. (Xinhua curiously omits that detail in its story.) Two chapters will be transmitted to subscribers every day.
With 300 million cellphone users, most of whom prefer text messaging (SMS-Small Messaging Service) to voice calls because of the enormous difference in cost, China will prove to be a huge market for authors, poets, columnists and, of course, crackpots.
Is this a wakeup call for beleagured authors faced with diminishing opportunities in a struggling book market? Or a sign of the times, where readers who don't have time for books are intrigued with getting a literary fix through other technology? For someone who not only loves writing but still indulges in the pleasure of curling up with a book--but also loves technology--I admit to having mixed feelings about it. Nonetheless, the cellphone, now a camera, an internet access terminal, delivering sports stats, stock quotes, horoscopes and news has definitely come of age as a literary outlet.
Read more about it at textually.org which also has a link about the huge success of a Japanese author sending his novel over cellphones. Textually.org has a fascinating section on SMS and literature that should be required reading for every contemporary author or aspirant.
American Overseas Voting Information
AMERICANS LIVING OVERSEAS: Time is running short to request your absentee ballots.
Contact your nearest American embassy for the forms. If this is not convenient, use the internet. Some of these pages may be blocked in China if they get caught in the filtering dragnet firewalling sites that contain politically sensitive words.
Surf to Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) - http://www.fvap.gov/ which provides info for both military and civilian overseas voters
or
Type 'Absentee Ballot' and the name of your home state (where you last lived or voted, no matter how long ago) into any search engine to find information about requesting an absentee ballot for that state.
I'm a native New Yorker and my entire immediate family lives there. You can imagine what went through my mind that day. My son, who lived closest to ground zero was in San Francisco that day and his call woke me with the news of the attack. I'd lived in California, by the sea, for a long time when New York and The Pentagon were struck on 9/11/2001.
My mood is pensive, sad and restless today and I reach for the sea, for the solace it has always brought me. I'm not close to the sea here in Beijing, yet the many years I've spent letting the waves and the tides, both symbolic and oceanic, guide, heal and inspire me, bring the sea and my soul together this afternoon as I write.
Sometimes a piece of writing is so skillfully moving that it carries you on its cadence and transports you beyond its subject to the heart of the matter. There will be many articles about 9/11, some angry, some analytical, some cautionary-- but this one's poignancy is, to me, representative of the best of what good writing can evoke.
Sept. 11, Yet Nothing Stops the Tides
from the New York Times
By DAN BARRY
Published: September 11, 2004
NEW YORK has its ends of the earth, odd little places so psychically removed from the rest of the city that they barely heed the urban scat. Places like City Island, that Bronx curio of a community lingering like an afterthought in the chop and sway of the Long Island Sound.
And within these odd little places like City Island, there are odder, littler places still, so self-contained that they could just as well exist in Oregon or Maine. Places like Barron's Boat Yard, a scrappy marina where the rhythms of the tide matter more than the schedules of any city bus.
Even so, the denizens of Barron's marina still follow the New York clock. They know that it is the second week in September, when the final exhalations of southern storms create weather that matches the city's mood: one minute sunny bright, the next minute dark gray, as though neither the sky above nor the people below know whether to smile or to cry.
If you think about it too much, a kind of paralysis threatens to set in. You can stand at the boatyard's pier, under uncertain skies, and feel the tug of melancholy so easily found at water's edge. The clang of wind-whipped rope against the mast. The twirl of arrow-shaped weather vanes. The sight of Hart Island a half-mile away, where inmates of this city bury its unclaimed dead.
Or you can think about it in the manner of the marina's owner, John Barron. Honor that September day by living in this September day. Push your wheelbarrow. Protect your customers' boats. Repair your sea wall. Get through it, in part by finding reassurance rather than sorrow in the lapping waters before you.
"I find it soothing," he says.
Mr. Barron, a City Island native, looks the part of marina operator, with an oil-stained cap pulled low on his head, a slight limp in his walk and a leathery wear to his face that suggests 55 years spent on or near the water. His father opened this boatyard in 1934, and now he finds himself relying more and more on his own son, Jason, to keep things running.
Sitting in his glorified shack of an office the other day, musing about September in New York, Mr. Barron explained that other matters vie for his attention. "Look at this," he said, brandishing a printout of a map that showed Hurricane Ivan engulfing Jamaica and moving toward Florida.
With Charley, then Frances and now Ivan roiling the waters, Mr. Barron said he felt acute responsibility for the dozens of boats entrusted to him by customers, boats that are bucking like mustangs just off his pier. Word is, three boats on the other side of the island broke free of their bridles.
He also feels the pressure of his other duties: ferrying customers to and from their boats, shoring up that sea wall, and - well, just look around the boatyard, cluttered with dry-docked boats needing attention. More than enough to occupy the mind, he said. More than enough.
BUT it is the second week in September, the third anniversary, and remote City Island is still New York City. As with any of us, Mr. Barron has his story: of hauling in a boat when word came; of taking his own boat to see for himself, but turning back at the sight of the rising dark plume ("Too sad"); of the stricken City Island faces; of the familiar names among those of the missing, including that of Chris Kirby, his son's close friend, a carpenter, 21.
With Chris Kirby gazing down from a memorial card tacked to the wall of his shack office, Mr. Barron explained again his approach to this awkward moment on the city calendar. "You can honor the fallen by fulfilling your role in society," he said. Work hard, but remember to pause before the water.
This morning on City Island, known to itself as the Seaport of the Bronx, the Torah study group will resume at Temple Beth-El. Throughout the day, people will be dining at the Crab Shanty, the Lobster Box and Sammy's Fish Box. Tonight means karaoke at one of the local yacht clubs. High tide will be at 10:31 in the morning, and then again at 10:43 at night.
At Barron's Boat Yard, Jason Barron will be working all day, but he expects to see his girlfriend, Annie Mataraza, tonight. They met nearly three years ago at a candlelight vigil for their mutual friend, Chris.
As for the owner, he is gone. Seeing opportunity in the good weekend weather reports, John Barron sailed away from the city on Friday, borne by the waters that soothe him.
Manhattan in the aftermath, the Statue of Liberty in the foreground
LONDON (Reuters) - George W. Bush is mocked for strangling grammar. But he can hold his head up high in the new Oxford Dictionary of Quotations published on Thursday.
Yeah, really. We know where his head is holed up.
The U.S. President makes a respectable first appearance in one of the world's most famous reference books with his notorious "Axis of Evil" speech about Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Bush, long renowned for his malapropisms, has in the past offered such gems as misunderestimate, embetter and resignate.
Just so you know, I made the dictionary before Bush did. If you go to Merriam Webster Online and type the word "coo" into the Dictionary slot, you'll get a definition that cites a sentence of mine as a usage example. (It's also in the print edition.)
I'll put a screen grab of it up as soon as I can get Blogger to do that. Blogger's a bit constipated at the moment.
....later
OK, here it is.
But you should go on over to Merriam Webster Online anyway; its a useful and free resource. And for you folks out there learning English (I know you're there) you can click on the little megaphone and you'll hear the pronunciation.
Angry Chinese Blogger weighs in On Bosco Smear
I guess Haloscan was down for a bit so comments couldn't be attached to the post that follows this one. ACB emailed me and asked me to post this for him. Good thing too, because Haloscan doesn't accept comments this long and every point he makes is spot-on. Thank you and others for your understanding and positive feedback on this distasteful situation.
Ellen
Angry American Wife
A blog that I administer was recently targeted by Mr. Wittenberg and his campaign to publicise his vendetta, and I have something to say about it that I would ask you to consider adding in support of your editorial.
Mr. Wittenberg seems to have been rather busy of late.
I was sent what at first appeared to be a serious comment about blog censorship, naming a man who supposedly attacked other bloggers for publishing less than favorable articles about his workplace. I admit that I was interested because censorship is a topic that I often write on, but it turned out to be a part of this attack on Mr. Bosco.
Anybody who reads Mr. Wittenberg’s website will see that it is opinionated and rather patronizing, not only to Mr. Bosco, but also of the reader. This man has a problem with Mr. Bosco and seems intent on roping as many people into it as he can find, and I have yet to see or hear anything to convince me the he is anything but a whinger.
Thank you for telling us of the nature of the pressure exerted on other bloggers. I had images of Mr. Bosco marching around with a lawyer, issuing court notices on unsuspecting bloggers, rather than politely asking Richard of Peking Duck, which I read regularly and greatly admire, to look at what this man had written and asking him to make up his own mind.
So far the great conspiracy spoken of, to remove criticism, seems to render down to one blogger removing offensive and untrue material from his own website when he was made aware that it was part of a vendetta.
I doubt that Richard could be pressured into retracting an article or removing a comment, but he certainly would listen to a reasoned argument that material was defamatory and untrue. Mr. Wittenberg, you have used my blog and blogs that I look up to to spread false stories. May your bytes drop off.
Having been perplexed enough to actually read some of Mr. Wittenberg's writing I will say this regarding freedom of speech, which Mr. Wittenberg seems to feel is important enough invoke.
Freedom of speech, as signed into the constitution by his forebears, was never intended to allow one individual to defame another without grounds or base. It was not intended to allow the spread of rumor, gossip or to facilitate personal campaigns of hatred.
Mr. Wittenberg is entitled to his opinions, but not to impinge on the rights or dignity of others, or as in this case, in the in trays and comments boxes of others.
Mr. Wittenberg, just as Viagra and penis extension adverts are not welcome to darken my comments or inbox, so you to are not welcome to enter.
It was bad enough that one disgruntled Uriel Wittenberg defamed China Foreign Affairs University, a school at which my husband Joseph Bosco and I taught for the 2003-4 school year. Wittenberg, because of his attitude and ineptness in dealing with students, was dismissed for cause before the first semester was over. Both my husband and I read his lengthy documented rant about his experiences at CFAU long before we arrived there, on Wittenberg's web site, which clearly revealed his own culpability in those events. He certainly has a right to tell his side of that or any other story. But we were appalled at his contemptuously demeaning criticism of Chinese students, particularly the girls.
Our experience at CFAU couldn't have been more different. We had respectful relationships with our students, cooperative faculty contacts and exceptional domicile support from the staff in the Foreign Exchange Center. It was one of the most rewarding experiences we've had.
This revolting diatribe against CFAU has been on Wittenberg's web site for almost two years and recently he apparently decided to draw more traffic to it. He began by spamming contacts harvested from Living in China blogzine, an online community of bloggers inviting them to read it. My husband got an unsolicited e-mail from the unwitting Wittenberg about it which Joseph pointedly ignored. (The trawling Wittenberg had apparently discovered The Longbow Papers, Joseph's blog, and saw that Joseph had taught at CFAU.)Soon thereafter, a short, hasty and astonished post about Wittenberg's CFAU diatribe appeared on The Peking Duck weblog. Joseph posted a comment opining that Wittenberg's characterization of CFAU was reprehensible (my word) and volleyed a few choice remarks about Wittenberg himself. A series of ill-tempered blog comments and e-mails ensued between Wittenberg, Richard (webmaster of The Peking Duck) and Joseph. Richard soon took down from TPD every reference to Wittenberg or his web site, when he became "personally concerned" about the malicious intent of this web-roach. One of the contributing factors was Joseph's stated opinion, in a comment on TPD, that Wittenberg's defamation of CFAU was unbalanced, at best. Joseph was honorably attempting to shield CFAU from any more embarrassment over Wittenberg's fulminating online rant. He has declined to refute or debate this issue publicly, because any such exchange would only futher this slander.
Wittenberg has mounted an online campaign to defame and discredit Joseph. He's put up a lengthy screed on his own web site. His main point seems to be that Joseph is a hypocrite when it comes to free speech, because, says Wittenberg, Joseph persuaded Richard to take any reference to Wittenburg or his web site off The Peking Duck.
In fact, I know this not to be the case! After several e-mail exchanges about Wittenberg and his web site, Richard asked Joseph if he should take Wittenberg's comment on TPD down. Joseph told Richard to make the call himself and do whatever he thought best. Richard took it all down. That's the whole story. But because, when Wittenberg objected, Richard told him that he valued Joseph's opinion, the two of them being very close colleagues, Wittenberg is insisting that Joseph, despite his highly public and indisputable free speech advocacy, for which he's actually spent time in jail, is a hypocrite.
Wrote Richard, (in a comment addressed to Wittenberg on The LongBow Papers)
"...let me just say that the entire premise of your argument is false. Joseph never told me to delete your comment; he just warned me about who you are. And know what? Some other Chinese bloggers emailed me to warn about you. One thanked me for the deletion; it has nothing to do with the first amendment -- after all, you've set up your own site, and I have no obligation to spread your message on mine. You're free to say whatever you want. I'm free to include whatever I want on my own site. Meanwhile, your reputation precedes you and I'm thrilled to see that the Chinese blogger community sees you for the nutcase you are."
Wittenberg is now propagating links to his attack on Joseph's character and integrity through off-topic comments on various blogs, most of which are aggregated by Living in China and they in turn aggregate other blogs. I find this disgusting and offensive on the face of it. Webmasters and blog-owners, among whom Joseph has an outstanding reputation and mutually respectful relationships (even in disputes), have contacted Joseph with their concern.
The internet is free space; anyone can and does post anything they want. I have no quarrel with that. But as a wife and a member of this community and with my unapologetically personal feelings about my extraordinary husband, I emphatically object to this peevish slander. I am mad as hell! This is not a free speech issue. This is about trash disposal.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
A lot of ink on DINKs in China-Shanghai decides not to continue to subsidize them
Population control is a major issue for the Peoples Republic of China, the world's most populous nation. Family planning policies, the most famous and most successful of which is the one-child policy, have been in effect since the 70s, and are frequently being revised as new reproductive and social issues surface. Recent reports highlight the changing concerns, one of them being childless couples in prosperous urban cities.
Shortly after arriving in China last year, I became aware that young Chinese, particularly girls (in China you are called a girl until you are married or 30) are intensely interested in the phenomenon of DINKs (Double Income No Kids) and I have read a number of student papers on the subject. As the younger generation of Chinese explores evolving lifestyles, voluntarily going childless, something almost unheard of in previous generations, is an option that appeals to some couples in the contemporary transition to a market economy. It's gotten so popular, that Shanghai decided to stop subsidizing it.
BEIJING (Reuters) - After 11 years of negative population growth, China's eastern financial hub of Shanghai has canceled rewards for married couples who decide not to have children, Xinhua news agency said Tuesday.
Childless families, or "dinks" -- short for double income, no kids -- used to be given double the financial awards granted to couples that followed China's one-child policy, Xinhua said.
"If every couple is unwilling to reproduce, society will by no means develop in a healthy way," Dr Xia Yi, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Population and Birth Control, was quoted as saying.
Last year, there were 57,000 new births in Shanghai, but 100,700 deaths, with natural population growth standing at minus 3.24 per thousand.
Married women in comfortable dink households may decide to wait to have children until after their ideal physiological age for childbirth, endangering the health of mothers and babies, Xinhua said.
With approximately 1.3 billion people, China is the world's most populous nation. It has stringent rules on family planning that allow couples usually to have just one child, at least in the cities, and limit numbers elsewhere.
Another article published last May, Doing the DINK cites statistics on DINK in China and contrasts contemporary reasoning with traditional caveats
BEIJING, May 25, (Xinhuanet) -- DINK, which means "double income and no kids," has become a new lifestyle for young couples in big cities. DINK families have been growing steadily in number since the 1980s.
There are now at least 600,000 DINK couples in China, mainly in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou. In Beijing, about 10% of young married couples say they do not intend to have children.
A recent survey by horizonkey.com found that since 1997, the number of couples in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan choosing to have children has fallen by 11.3%, while people aiming for DINK status increased by 1.1% to 10.51%.
Besides, most DINK couples have higher income. Among couples whose total monthly income was more than 5,000 yuan, 13.7% of them had opted for a DINK family unit. But among couples whose total monthly income was less than 1,500 yuan, the number was just 5.5%.
I want to be free!
Why do more and more couples choose not to have children? Many old people think that it is to have more freedom. They regard this as an irresponsible choice. "I know they have free choice, but if every family does not bear children, the human race would become extinct," said Hou Yuchuan, a retired middle school teacher. "Most adults received love an care from their parents. I think it is rather selfish if they do not then bear children and pay out the same love and care their parents gave them."
However, couples have their own reasons for DINK families.
"I think a child is a little 'destroyer' of the love between a couple," said Zhang, a woman in her twenties, to xinhua.net. "Life for my husband and I is easy and romantic. If we had a child it would spoil everything."
"We enjoy traveling, taking photos, reading books, taking exercise and enjoying all the delicious foods in Beijing, so having a baby is not in our plans," said a couple who have been married for seven years and did not wish to reveal their names. "life is short, we'd like to use all our money and time to enjoy life itself. Obviously, that would be impossible if we had a child."
But not all DINK families have such hedonistic attitudes. Zhou, who lives in Chaoyang and has been married for three years, also believes that a child might ruin his marital harmony, but in a different way.
"My wife and I often overhear our neighbors, a young couple as well, quarreling with each other on the issue of how to educate their son. Therefore we worry that if we had a child, the same thing would happen."
Many women worry about the course of gestation and giving birth. "Gestation takes almost ten months. How many 'ten months' does one have in her life? What a waste. Not to mention the care a child needs in the future," said Wu, who gave birth to a child at the end of the year. "I would rather not have had this child, but my husband insisted," she said.
[snip---]
Troubles and worries
However, the cost of freedom for DINK families is another set of pressures and worries.
Many think that the DINK idea is bad for the stability of a marriage. "I was married for six years, but it all came to nothing in the end," said Wu. I used to think that marriage without a child was free and easy, but I never thought that it would lead my marriage into a tomb."
At the beginning, after getting married, Wu was afraid that having a baby would change her figure and bring a premature end to her sweet married life, so having a child was put to one side. Though her mother-in-law was unhappy about it, Wu's? husband indulged her. Wu became pregnant twice but twice the couple decided on an abortion.
Time passed and eventually the couple decided they were ready to have a child. However, the medical examination found that the two abortions had damaged Wu's reproductive system, and there was no hope for a pregnancy. Her husband and her mother-in-law couldn't accept it, and blamed her for her selfishness. The quarrel in the family raged on, and Wu's husband divorced her in the end.
Concern about a birthrate imbalance, citing DINK as a factor, is expressed in this article commenting on an article in China Youth Daily, also published last May.
Today, China's urban birthrate is lower than the rural birthrate. The "One Child" policy is strictly implemented in cities, while in China's vast rural areas, it is still common to see one couple produce two or more children.
"Although China enjoys a low birth rate in general, the birthrate in rural areas, where medical care and education are hard to guarantee to children, is still on the rise," said the article.
There is also a gap between the birthrate in the country's well developed eastern areas and that in the economically backward western areas. The high-gear economic growth and fast life rhythm have changed urban people's opinion on child bearing.
The average marriage age and pregnancy age have climbed in China's economically developed cities and the concept of "DINK (double income no kids)" has been accepted by more and more affluent couples in those cities.
In metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai,the birthrates have been below zero, while in western areas, people still hold opinions like child bearing is for extending family tradition and therefore violation of family planning policy is frequently seen, the article [in CYD] said.
The article made a comment that population policies should not only focus on birth control, but the improvement of the whole population's quality. If the birthrate in rural areas keeps higher than that of urban areas, the economic development gap between urban and rural areas will be further enlarged and the country's comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development program will be undermined.
As recently as one or two decades ago, a married but childless couple would be scrutinized. There would be gossip about their physical wellbeing or their parents' urging to carry on the family line. After 25 years of reform and opening-up in China, the influence of Western culture is widespread, especially in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing. People are now showing more tolerance to ideas once considered unconventional and strange.
A recent survey by the Women's Association of Tianjin shows that in the city, a metropolis adjacent to Beijing in North China, over 60 per cent of the surveyed believe "bearing no children" is acceptable.
[Snip --]
Statistics show that not all DINKs remain that way. A large percentage of them do have children eventually, after some delay.
Chi Guizhu, a gynecologist at the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, however, cautioned those who postponed having kids.
"Once they change their mind, they may have missed the best time physically for bearing children," Chi said. "The best age to give birth for a woman is around 24 to 30 and a man 26 to 35. The older the couples are, the less active their eggs and semen, which will increase the risk of having babies with genetic defects. Moreover, a woman who does not have a child runs a higher risk of many diseases and will reach menopause earlier."
Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociologist at the Renmin University of China, expressed his concern over the DINK phenomenon.
"Those who remain as DINKs usually are people with high intellects and an abundance of talent," Zhou said. "So them having no children is unfavourable for the society as we are endeavoring to promote the quality of our country's population."
PLA Surrender English
Chinese Military PLA English Lessons
Found a reference to this on Brainysmurf
PLA Daily. Other Military English is also linked. I wonder what Mandarin the U.S. Military is learning?
Ordering Enemy to Surrender 67. You are defeated！
你们被打败了！
68. You have been surrounded！
你们被包围了！
69. Give up, no harm!
缴枪不杀！
70. We don't kill our captives.
我们不杀俘虏（战俘）。
71. We treat POWs well.
我们宽待俘虏。
72. Hands up！
举起手来！
73. Put your hands up！Higher！
举起手来！举高点儿！
74. Come out and surrender！
出来投降！
75. You have no way out！
你们没有出路了！
76. Put down your arms！
放下武器！
77. Don't move！
不许动！
78. Halt or we'll shoot！
站住！要不我们开枪了！
79. Lay down your arms, or we'll fire.
放下武器！否则我们就开枪了！
80. Stop resistance！
停止抵抗！
81. Don't die for nothing！
不要作无谓的牺牲！
82. Security of your life will be guaranteed！
我们保证你们的生命安全！
83. Get going！
走！
84. Follow me！
跟我走！
"Space Vegetables" take root in China
Can you get spaced-out on diet a of these veggies? [-Ed.]
BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- "Space Vegetables," bred by astronautical mutagenesis, which is mutating genes in the radiation of outer space, are now found on many of China's dining tables, reported China Radio International (CRI) on Sunday.
The zapped superveggies are being planted in large areas across China. "Space tomatoes" are already grown on more than two thousand hectares, and "space peppers" on 14 thousand hectares.
Scientists at the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences bred the first "space vegetable" after seven satellite experiments since 1987.
They explain that astronautical mutagenic breeding technology alters the germ plasm of crop seeds. After the satellite returns to earth, the high-yielding and most immunized seeds are selected and planted.
The scientists claim that "space vegetables" have better quality than those that stick to dry land. For example, the "space tomato" keeps fresh for some 20 days, one week longer than ordinary tomatoes. And the "space pepper" contains 20 per cent more Vitamin C than other peppers.
The Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences is currently breeding "space cucumber" and "space eggplant."
(CRIENGLISH.com)
Hero Movie Tops Second Big (but low) Weekend in U.S.
For the second weekend in a row, the spectacular Chinese martial-arts saga, subtitles and all, beat back the Hollywood fare, earning $11.5 million over the typically slow four-day holiday weekend, according to estimates Monday.
Despite dropping 51 percent, Zhang Yimou's critically acclaimed epic--about an would-be assassin who sacrifices himself for peace in the kingdom, and the all-time top-grossing film in China (where it opened in 2002)--has now earned $35.2 million since Miramax released it two weeks ago in North America.
--snip
With Labor Day marking the official end of the summer box-office season, the top 12 films earned $83.4 million over four days and $64.5 million over three. That feeble total was the lowest Labor Day weekend gross since 2000, down a whopping 21 percent from 2003's holiday haul. Studio apologists cite the impact of Hurricane Frances, which they estimated to have swept away 5 percent of possible overall weekend business.
City planning blamed for Beijing's extreme weather
Although the extreme weather is the result of quite a number of different factors such as cold air and convection currents, city planning and construction do exert an important influence on the local weather.
I wish I knew a little more about meteorology but this sounds quite bizarre to me. On the evening of July 4, I was in the small city of Dezhou, in Shandong province, quite some distance from Beijing and in a completely different topography-- we were hit with sudden violent sand/wind/rain storm so intense it took two men to hold me upright and support me back into the hotel 10 meters away. Can mini-climes caused by urban renewal really funnel such extreme weather?
This summer brought unprecedented extreme weather to Beijing. The worst storm in 20 years hit the capital on July 10. A dust whirlwind, the most severe of its kind seen in 55 years, devastated the construction site for the National Swimming Center on August 27. It left 44 workers injured and two dead. In addition, many other short-lived storms have also visited the capital this summer.
According to the meteorologists, there is a connection between the extreme weather and city planning considerations. This summer's extreme weather has been notable for four characteristics. All represent unprecedented phenomena:
· When extreme weather came, it did not last long. The storm of July 10 lasted less than 3 hours. The whirlwind on August 27 was over in 20 minutes.
· It would come and leave, both suddenly and unexpectedly. Its unpredictability made it impossible for people to take steps to prepare for it.
· The extreme effects have been localized. Beijing has a built-up area of some 1,600 square kilometers, but the storm of July 10 focused itself on an area of less than 100 square kilometers. Some 100mm of rain fell in the northwest while the rain barely made the ground wet in the south of city. On August 27, the whirlwind only affected an area of several hundred square meters.
· The weather has brought unprecedented losses and disruption. The freak whirlwind brought death and injury to the city on August 27. The storm of July 10 only lasted three hours but it brought the capital to a standstill with a serious traffic jam.
Although the extreme weather is the result of quite a number of different factors such as cold air and convection currents, city planning and construction do exert an important influence on the local weather.
Meteorological observations reveal that heavy storms and high winds are closely related to the city's "micro-climate". Large areas of concrete or asphalt road surface produce localized "heat islands" within the urban environment. This summer, temperatures of some 80 Celsius were being recorded on concrete and asphalt road surfaces. Meanwhile neighboring areas of greenery were only about 40 Celsius.
Such large temperature variations in close proximity make localized extreme weather conditions more likely. Meteorologists have pointed out that when the temperature of concrete and asphalt roads reaches 80 Celsius, it can have a significant impact on rainfall. This is why Beijing residents could find flooding to one side of a road but just a little rain on the other.
In addition, there is what is known as the "valley effect". This is becoming an increasingly apparent feature of Beijing's townscape. When the city as a whole encounters winds of say force 6 or 7, they are concentrated in the "valleys" between high buildings. Here the wind can briefly touch force 12. This is Typhoon level! It is hardly surprising that so many billboards have been blown down this summer.
Meteorologists suggest that greater consideration should be given to avoiding localized extreme weather during the planning phase. It would be helpful to increase large-scale tree-planting and grassed areas and reduce the area of road surface. High buildings should be carefully laid out in relation to each other and built further apart. City planning should allow for the provision of "urban wind paths" to proactively control how the wind will move through a built-up area. Not only can these improve air quality by quickly removing pollutants, but they can also benefit the urban "micro-climate" reducing the chances of extreme weather.
Monday, September 06, 2004
Update - Arnie at the RNC-memory cramp or B.S.?
As blogged in the previous post, at the Republican Convention in New York, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he became a Republican after listening to a televised debate between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon in 1968. In his address, he described arriving in the United States from Austria and hearing Richard Nixon challenge Hubert Humphrey in a televised presidential debate:
"I said to my friend, 'What party is he?' My friend said, 'He's a Republican.' I said, 'Then I am a Republican!' And I've been a Republican ever since!"
Although Humphrey challenged Nixon to a debate, there was no debate between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon in 1968. Arnold Schwarzenegger could not have seen it on TV, because it never took place. In fact, there were no presidential debates between 1960 and 1976. (http://www.debates.org/pages/history.html)
Is Schwarzenegger showing off his Republican prevaricative skills or just conveniently and Bush-like exhibiting selective recollection? Either would support speculation that he's gearing up to run for president someday, no matter how much he denied it in a recent New Yorker article. It is a fact that under the U.S. Constitution you must be native-born to run for president. However, Sen. Orrin Hatch has proposed a constitutional amendment to change this. The New Yorker article observed that Hatch's qualification --to have been a citizen for 20 years-- coincidentally fits the Arnie timeline.
I have to admit it was so disheartening to see Maria Shriver at the RNC.(It would have been just as understandable if she hadn't been there.) Before we came to China, we lived in Venice Beach, California, in the neighborhood where Schwartzenegger owned several businesses and properties, including a world-class workout gym and a restaurant named Schatzie which specialized in Austrian food and hosted Cigar evenings. I had dinner there a few times, but the food, while good, was outclassed by several other exceptional eateries in the immediate area.
On the restaurant checks, "I'll Be Back" and "Hasta La Vista, Baby" were printed on the last line. Though dinner at Schatzi was decent but unremarkable, Sunday brunches were delicious, accompanied by baskets full of fragrant warm fresh muffins. Brunching there frequently during the mid-nineties, I'd often see Arnold and Maria and two adorable little girls breakfasting together at the corner table.
Schatzie did have one unique feature: When you went to the loo, tape-recorded Austrian language lessons purred from speakers.
Sadness over the loss of life in Beslan as the Russian hostage crisis turned into a wrenching tragedy and concern over Hurricane Frances plowing into Florida dampened my enthusiasm for coming up with wisecracks about the revolting tenor of the RNC in my home town, New York. But the New York Times did it for me; these are doozies from the "gee I wish I'd written that" collection:
POLITICAL POINTS
The Show Is Over. Now for the Awards.
By JOHN TIERNEY and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
The Walter Mondale Where's-the-Beef Award: George W. Bush, who told the conventioneers, "Anyone who wants more details on my agenda can find them online." Ever the wonks, we followed the directions to georgewbush.com, seeking the details of the crowd-pleasing promise in his speech to "lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code." Here's all we found: "President Bush will work with Congress to make the tax code simpler for taxpayers, encourage saving and investment, and improve the economy's ability to create jobs and raise wages."
Most overanalyzed gimmick: The round stage for President Bush's acceptance speech. Was it designed so he would look like a pitcher all alone on the mound, or a man of the people in the center of the hall? After the Democrats projected strength with a stage looking like a battleship, was Mr. Bush trying to soften his image by standing on a platform without any hard edges? With the spotlight on him, would he come off as Teddy Roosevelt, "the man in the arena," or more like Thomas E. Dewey, derided as "the little man on the wedding cake"?
Sometimes a stage is just a stage.
Most awkward sight: Republican delegates dancing to "Soul Man.''
Best euphemism: Marvin Scott, the Republican Senate candidate from Indiana, an African-American, for calling his ancestors "involuntary immigrants.'' [actually that is an historically correct term-Ed.]
Greatest gift to Republicans: John Kerry windsurfing off Nantucket. No one looks presidential in a bathing suit, especially when the rest of the news features Republican guys in suits talking tough about defending the country. Jay Leno delivered the coup de grâce: "I mean, even his hobby depends on which way the wind blows."
Greatest gift to Mr. Bush's speechwriters: Mr. Kerry's description of himself as having "conservative values." It enabled Mr. Bush to declare, "If you gave a speech, as my opponent did, calling the Reagan presidency eight years of 'moral darkness,' then you may be a lot of things, but the candidate of conservative values is not one of them."
Greatest gift to Democrats (runner-up): The Band-Aids with purple hearts worn by conventioneers. The Republican leadership quickly ordered them removed, but not before indignant Democrats cut into the Republicans' air time.
Greatest gift to Democrats: Mr. Bush's declaration on Monday that the war on terror could not be won, followed by a retraction a day later. If you're going to put on a meticulously scripted show, don't blow the opening night with an ad-lib.
Free Speech Award: The Republican National Committee, which, unlike its Democratic counterpart, permitted the Arab network Al Jazeera to post its sign inside the convention hall all week. It also let in a certain filmmaker. [Michael Moore-Ed.]
Missing in action: Jeb Bush. For the clubby Bush clan, the convention was a family affair; some 90 Bush relatives spent the week in New York. But there was a notable exception: the president's brother Jeb, the Florida governor. He skipped the quadrennial family reunion, saying he needed to tend to victims of Hurricane Charley at home. But his absence was convenient for Republicans, allowing the president to avoid all those unpleasant memories of Florida in 2000, as well as predictions that a third Bush would seek the presidency in 2008.[for a savage opinion piece predicting how the Florida elections will be compromised in November, see Stealing Home in The Moscow Times.-Ed.]
Stupid pet trick: The White House staff's home video of President Bush's dog, Barney. The sketch featured Karl Rove, the White House political adviser, doing an impression of Howard Dean's scream; Andrew H. Card Jr., the chief of staff, scampering across the White House lawn; and Karen P. Hughes, Mr. Bush's longtime communications aide, feeding the Scottish terrier red meat and telling him to "stay on message.'' [How did I miss this? - Ed.]
Note to Karl: Don't give up your day job.
Least expected political rehabilitation: Richard Nixon, who inspired Arnold Schwarzenegger to become a Republican. "Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air,'' Governor Schwarzenegger told the convention. "I said to my friend, I said, 'What party is he?' My friend said, 'He's a Republican.' I said, 'Then I am a Republican.' ''[My choice for the best one of all - Ed.]
Best line of the convention: "Don't be economic girlie men!'' No attribution necessary.
Most succinct attack on the legal profession: Mitt Romney, the governor of Massachusetts. After complaining about the costs of lawsuits and malpractice insurance, he said, "And Senator Edwards, if you don't like hearing that, sue me."
Best line by the Bush twins: The excuse they borrowed from their father's standard response to questions about his youth. Alluding to their well-publicized adventures in under-age drinking, Jenna Bush said, "We kept trying to explain to my dad that when we were young and irresponsible, well, we were young and irresponsible."
Worst line by the Bush twins: "I know it's hard to believe, but our parents' favorite term of endearment for each other is actually 'Bushie.' " Too much information. [Blogged here a few days ago - Ed.]
Ambien Award: Senator Bill Frist, the doctor who offered a new prescription for insomniacs in the hall. He combined a plodding, emotion-free speaking style with flights of rhetoric like, "Prescription drugs and Medicare, tax-free Health Savings Accounts, an ethical framework for scientific discovery: these will be part of our future. Tax credits for the uninsured; electronic medical records; a just, fair and fast medical liability system'' - he went on, but we won't.
Most strategic electoral use of Sept. 11: Gov. George E. Pataki of New York. In his remarks last night, he told of people from three states who helped New York after Sept. 11, and then asked their delegations to rise. All three - Oregon, Iowa and Pennsylvania - just happen to be battleground states.
The My-General-Can-Beat-Up-Your-Band-of-Brothers Award: Tommy Franks, the retired general who directed the Iraq war and endorsed Mr. Bush last night. Unfortunately, he also departed from military protocol by announcing, "Wow, this convention rocks!"
English as a Second Language Award: Mr. Bush, who said: "People sometimes have to correct my English. I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it."[runner-up for the best one-Ed]
Lamest Democratic response: The "Thousand Points of Hope" rallies across the country last night, at which people held candles and flashlights. If you're going to steal a Republican idea - the "thousand points of light" that became a signature line of the first President Bush - at least change the number.[Actually, I thought that was a fair shot-Ed.]
Teresa Heinz Kerry Shove It Award: Zell Miller, the Democratic senator from Georgia and convention keynote speaker, for telling Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program "Hardball'' to "get out of my face.''
Mr. Miller's hellfire and brimstone address, which included a riff on Senator Kerry's votes on defense spending - "This is the man who wants to be commander in chief of our U.S. armed forces? U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?'' - was a huge hit in the hall. But even some conventiongoers were left scratching their heads when the smooth-talking Southerner took on Mr. Matthews.
"You know, I wish, I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel,'' he said at one point. Mr. Matthews, a man not known for letting his guests get a word in edgewise, tried desperately to reclaim his ground, but the senator would not give. We think Mr. Miller, who will retire from the Senate in January, has a television future show in his future: "Spitball.''
Best rationale for having Zell Miller deliver the keynote address: He made Dick Cheney look moderate.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Biking Brit Back on his Way Across China
The hapless biker whose ride was rudely stolen by a Mongolian horseman in the middle of the night--his plight previously blogged here-- got new wheels and continues his amazing journey. Good luck, Genochio!
Briton to resume Mongolian ride From AFPSeptember 03, 2004
LONDON:
A Briton on an epic bike ride to China was preparing to resume his journey on Thursday following an enforced hiatus when a horse-riding Mongolian thief stole his treasured bicycle.
Edward Genochio, 27, was left stranded near the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator last month after the thief attached the bike to his horse and galloped off, also taking half the traveller's tent, to which the bicycle was locked.
Mongolian police later retrieved the bike, but after being dragged along rocky ground behind the horse it was too badly damaged to be rideable.
After his plight was reported in newspapers around the world, US-based bikemaker Marin offered Genochio a free replacement, which now has been shipped out to the British Embassy in Mongolia.
Genochio, who had been waiting in Ulan Bator for a Chinese visa, now hopes to be back in the saddle in the coming few days to begin a trek across the Gobi Desert into China, Britain's domestic Press Association news agency said.
After setting off in April from his home in Devon, southwest England, Genochio has ridden 16,000km through 14 countries en route to his final destination of Shanghai.
A very disturbing echo of tactics in terror-plagued other areas of our world.
Three people were killed and 34 others, many of them children attending the first day of school, injured when a man set fire to explosive materials inside a minibus in central China on Wednesday, state media said.
The man, 47-year-old Li Shiguo from Hunan province's Wangcheng county, committed suicide after carrying out the attack, the Xinhua news agency said. Li hurled explosives into the bus after it had filled with people, including 20 children who were on their way to the first day of school for the fall semester, Xinhua said, citing the driver, who was slightly injured.
Eyewitnesses said Li had told his nephew, who was also aboard the bus, to get off before igniting the vehicle at about 6.30am local time.
[snip ... ]
Authorities believe Li was acting out of revenge against villagers who had reported is illegal logging activities to police last year, causing him to be jailed for 12 months. Read the rest
Mainer, New Yawka, Beijinger, Californian, points between. News, views and ballyhoos that piqued my interest and caused me to sigh, cry, chuckle, groan or throw something.
The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License, except those items which are cited, which belong to their original copyright holders. The photos and cartoons belong to their original copyright holders.
AMERICANS LIVING OVERSEAS: Time is running short to request your absentee ballots.
// posted by Ellen @
