What's in the News

What's so stable about Russia these days?  It was a disaster in '93 when I left and I've only heard it's gotten worse.

Hey!!!  Don't shoot the messenger!!!  I merely reported that it was THEIR stated rationale......I didn't express my opinion, one way or the other!!

I think "Man of the Year" doesn't mean 'good man', it means historically the most influential, doesn't it?

Not that I still agree with Putin as a choice, but being nice makes less history than being nasty, any day of the millennium.

Beijing lifts air quality goal for Games
Friday Dec 28 22:21 AEDT

Beijing is aiming for more "good air days" in 2008 as it prepares to host the Olympics in August, with the city's notorious pollution a major concern for athletes and organisers.

Beijing recorded 244 "blue sky days" by December 28 this year, a day short of its 245 day target. The standard of a "blue sky day" has not been widely recognised by international scientists.

"I predict that we will be able to meet this year's target in the last three days," said Jiang Xiaoyu, spokesman and executive vice-president of Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).

"The target number of good air quality days in 2008 will be higher than this year," Jiang told a news conference.

Pollution in Beijing, known for its noxious smog, is a major concern for athletes and officials planning for next August and Olympic chief Jacques Rogge has said some events may have to be rescheduled if the air quality is not good enough.

The host city has already spent 120 billion yuan ($A18.74 billion)) in environmental programs to combat pollution and Jiang said there were more efforts to come.

"A new coordination plan to ensure a good environment during the Games by central government, Beijing government and neighbouring provinces is going to be issued soon," he said.

Venues for the Games were all finished for the end of 2007 as scheduled except for the National Stadium, dubbed the "Bird's Nest" for its interlaced steel shell, where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held. That stadium is likely to be completed by March.

But another showpiece venue, the "Water Cube" aquatics centre was finished and the pool had already been filled, Jiang said.

"The Water Cube is preparing for its first test event in January," he said.

Jiang said he expected more heads of state at the Games in Beijing than there were in Athens, and said they would include US President George W Bush, who has already agreed to visit the city during the Olympics.

"Security is included in our hospitality to all guests including those VIPs ... We will definitely do our job well to ensure their safety," he said.

Organisers must prepare for all kinds contingencies, crisis and risks in the final months, said Jiang.

"I am aware of the future difficulties and challenges," Jiang said. "But with the support of 1.3 billion Chinese people, I'm confident that we will be able to overcome them."

Beijing hints at HK democracy in 2017
Saturday Dec 29 20:12 AEDT

China has ruled out full democracy for Hong Kong in 2012, ignoring the majority opinion in the former British colony, but said it may pick its leader by universal suffrage at the following opportunity, in 2017.

Full democracy for forming Hong Kong's legislature would follow in 2020, the Standing Committee of China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), said.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang welcomed the ruling, saying it offered an opportunity and that Hong Kongers should shelve their differences and work together to hammer out the details.

But the city's vocal pro-democracy camp, a key voting block in the legislative council, was disappointed at what it saw as yet another delay. It organised a protest that drew a few hundred people to grounds outside the historic legislative building and they then marched in downtown Hong Kong.

"We must treasure this hard-earned opportunity," Tsang told reporters. "I sincerely urge everybody to lay down all disagreements and start moving toward conciliation and consensus."

The decision to rule out 2012 was effectively the NPC's second veto of a possible date for universal suffrage after a 2004 ruling that quashed hopes for full elections in 2007.

However, the NPC's statement that Hong Kong "may" have universal suffrage in 2017 - the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule - marked Beijing's clearest indication yet as to when full democracy might finally germinate.

Democratic politicians have been calling for a timetable for democracy, but Civic Party politician Audrey Eu said the pledge to consider full democracy in 2017 was not a promise to allow it.

"It's an expectedly disappointing decision," she said.

"A lot of people concentrate on the reference to 2017 and think there's hope, but to say you may have universal suffrage in that year doesn't mean it's going to happen ... there's no guarantee that it won't be vetoed again."

Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, promises universal suffrage as the "ultimate aim" but is vague on a date, giving Beijing scope to dictate a glacial pace of progress.

The chief executive is currently picked by an 800 seat election committee stacked in Beijing's favour, and only half of the city's 60 seat legislature are directly elected with the others picked by various business and interest groups.

At the demonstration, protesters hoisted banners that read "Democracy delayed is democracy denied" and "No compromise at all".

"We've been cheated out of democracy for another 10 years ... I don't trust the Communist Party at all," said Yeung Lai-kwong, 50, a protester in the printing business.

But political analyst Michael DeGolyer of Hong Kong Baptist University said unless the democratic camp accepted the NPC's decision, it risked being tarred as obstructionist and losing seats in the 2008 Legislative Council election.

"The likelihood is that the democratic movement will split," he said. "The phrase 'better late than never' is going to be a crucial notion."

The ruling came in response to a report by Tsang which said Hong Kong's majority wanted direct elections by 2012, though a delay until 2017 stood a "better chance of being accepted".

While most Hong Kongers want universal suffrage by 2012, a public opinion poll by the Chinese University found 60 per cent of citizens would accept 2017, if 2012 were ruled out.

Interestingly enough, I recall that in the matter of "the Irish Question", it was case of
"Too Little, Too Late".  Makes me wonder........??........

 Just read in China Daily that France has banned smoking . In other news, Hell has frozen over, pigs have grown wings and cats and dogs are living together in holy matrimony.

Beijing will block "Youtube, Stage6 and Metacafe" video platforms from January 13st. Because "they do not serve the people and socialism." 

http://magazine.web.de/de/themen/digitale-welt/internet/aktuell/5178618-Peking-sperrt-Internet-Videoseiten,articleset=4155856,cc=000007159700051786181VUn2e.html

Sorry, it is in german

  Bastards.

Just read in China Daily that France has banned smoking . In other news, Hell has frozen over, pigs have grown wings and cats and dogs are living together in holy matrimony.

Next thing you know, they'll introduce common courtesy, deoderant and accept that there are other languages than French. Turkey also introduced a non-smoking law, as did Israel.

Wisconsin man convicted of sexually assaulting dead deer gets more jail time


From CBC's website.  And no, I wouldn't bother going to read the article.

Great minds:

China bins bags to cut pollution

Rowan Callick, China correspondent | January 10, 2008

THE Chinese Government has announced a nationwide ban on stores distributing free plastic bags from June 1.

As it inexorably overtakes the US as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, China is fighting environmental battles on myriad fronts, the flipside of its soaring economic growth.

The Government will ban the production of ultra-thin bags less than 0.025mm thick, and require supermarkets to start charging for any plastic bags they provide.

It said in its announcement: "Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic bags every year. While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources because of excessive use and inadequate recycling.

"We should encourage people to return to using cloth bags, using baskets for their vegetables."

Much of China's countryside is shrouded in wind-blown plastic bags, which take 1000 years to biodegrade. Nationally, the 1.3billion population uses about 3 billion bags a day, and Beijing alone discards about 2.3 billion bags a year.

The production of the bags consumes annually about 5 million tonnes (37 million barrels) of costly imported oil.

The bustling new city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, was China's bag-banning pioneer, introducing a similar ban on free bags last November, with fines of up to $8000 for stores that continued to dole them out free.

The city of Panyu, not far from Shenzhen, derives much of its income from recycling plastic bags.

Many of them then find their way on to China's formidable export conveyor belt. The country's 500 specialist producers export about $65 million worth of plastic bags every month, with sales surging by 31.4 per cent in the first 10 months of last year, against the same period in 2006.

Poorer Asian neighbours Bhutan and Bangladesh took a similar step earlier, and Taiwan banned free bags five years ago.

Garrett serious about binning the bag
January 10, 2008

FEDERAL Environment Minister Peter Garrett says he is "confident" the phasing out of plastic bags will not disadvantage consumers.

Mr Garrett is working with the state governments to formulate a strategy for weaning Australia off its dependence on plastic bags.

The nation produces four billion plastic bags annually, and Mr Garrett said they were having serious impacts on coastal and marine environments.

"State ministers have already been meeting ... and they have agreed right across Australia that phasing out these bags is absolutely critical because of the impact that they are having on wildlife, on our litter stream, on our marine environment," Mr Garrett told Macquarie Radio.

"It clearly is something which we've got to address and there is strong consensus from the states to address it."

Banning the bags outright or imposing a levy on their use were among proposals being considered by the government, but Mr Garrett said he was conscious of passing the cost on to the public.

"We certainly don't want to disadvantage the consumer, and I don't believe in any way that any measure that will be brought forward will do that," he said.

Australia was lagging behind a number of other countries on the issue, he said.

Mr Garrett said biodegradable plastic bags were not the answer, with some taking as long as 1,000 years to completely break down.

He acknowledged composting and other environmentally-friendly waste options were not viable in every home, particularly densely-populated urban areas.

But the former rock star said he was confident Australians would embrace the idea.

"People use lots of different solutions," he said.

"It's the same ... as the great efforts that Aussies have made in saving water.

"If you would have said to me three or four years ago there would be a lot of people out in Sydney today who may have a bucket under a laundry tap, or they may be jumping into the shower (and) ... before the hot water comes on they've actually got the bucket there ... there are plenty of opportunities for all of us."

The state and federal environment ministers will meet to discuss the issue in April.

It's almost English when dictionary does Australish

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Contemplating a New Year tattoo in that fashionable area above the buttocks? To help you along, Australians have given them a not-so-fashionable name: "arse antlers." Want a suntan as well? You could have "tanorexia."

These are just some of the words the country's biggest online dictionary is asking people to vote for as word of the year for its latest annual update.

A "butt bra" raises the profile of the buttocks to go with your arse antlers, while "manscaping" refers to removal of body hair for men, sometimes tied to the female preoccupation with the "lady garden," or pubic zone.

"Tanorexia" refers to an obsession with a suntan, while a "salad dodger" is an obese person.

Other nominations for the Macquarie Dictionary Online include "infomania," for those who constantly put aside the job at hand to concentrate on incoming email and text messages. "Password fatigue" is frustration from having too many passwords to recall.

Casting aside the personal, someone who spreads their clothes around the house, clean or otherwise, is said to be treating the room as a "floordrobe."

Or if the global credit crunch is hitting home, you may be tempted into becoming a "credit card tart," or someone who shifts loans around from one credit card to pay for another.

In business, the "glass cliff" refers to people placed in jobs with high risk of failure because they belong to a group not well represented in leadership positions, such as women.

Even geopolitics gets a mention, with "Chindia" joining China and India, at least in Australish English, in terms of their fast growing strategic and economic clout in the world.

The "Great Firewall of China" noun refers to the block preventing Chinese internet users from accessing online sites deemed undesirable by the Chinese government. To get around it may take a "cyberathlete," or professional computer game player.

Susan Butler, the dictionary's publisher, said environmental themes were hot this year in a time of global warming, with "climate canary" referring to a geographical feature, plant or animal species pointing to climate change.

"Toad juice" refers to a liquid fertilizer produced in Australia from pulverized cane toads, an introduced environmental pest marching its way across the continent.

To vote for their favorite word, Butler said people should visit macquariedictionary.com.au. Voting closes on January 31.

  arse antlers? Salad dodger? Floordrope??? Them Aussies crack me up
 

I personally love ass antlers.  Hope this doesn't discourage the trend.