This time thanks to the Aussie's.

What can I say, the topic is out there and it’s part of life.  It cannot be ignored.

When I heard there was talk of a toilet tax, I wondered if you had heard the poop on that…

And besides that, "experts" dont want "flushing" toilets anymore.

What's the world coming to?

Remember that old saying?

It had it's place...plus, the concept was fun.

I tend to make light of the Brits quite often in my posts.

I can't help it.  Blimey!  They're, well, bloody daft most of the time.

The latest on them is that they've run out of room to, well....

Bury their dead.

I know, it's tough when you are land locked on the British Isles.

But they want to actually dig up the bodies and dig deeper and start stacking.

I don't know...

I think if I heard I was going to be double stacked like an Oreo cookie I'd start thinking of alternatives.

Cremation would sound all the more appealing to me if I was in their shoes.

I know...you're already dead, so what's the difference?

Exactly...what's the difference...

I always get a kick out of some of the British comments on the stories from their sites.  They're better than the entire article...here's one of the comments....

"There are so many ways of respectfully handling the dead. Myself, I would love to go like a Viking: put me on a ship, set it on fire and push it out to sea. Or put my corpse on a hillside and let the birds feast. The spirit is more important than the flesh. Only the living care about tombs.

Mathieu , Delft, Netherlands"

Read the article "More Room On Top..." and view the other comments  

It's jolly good!

I'm worried about issues with Obama being president, but this isn't one of them...

Of course, now that Obama is going to be president, he has so-called relatives coming out of the woodwork.  It doesn't surprise me and it doesn't suprise me in the least that there would be those who say they are "Arab" relatives.  I suppose there will be more of this to come during the next four years....But does it matter?  He has been elected president and come on...we know his citizenship has been verified.

It wasn’t always that way in Europe.

Fruits and vegetables had to practically perfect in every way…sort of like Mary Poppins.  Talk about being a Nanny State.

Like it really matters if your eggplant has a dimple or your carrot is curved.

Oh, no...they had to actually be thrown away.  Sheesh.

There are hungry people in the world.

Well, now because of the econonmy, suddenly imperfections in legumes are acceptable.

Now, while we may not find bent veggies in a Sendiks...we don't ban them.  A store has always been able to sell them if they choose.  It' s personal choice.  You just don't throw them away.  They'd be great for use in a vegetable soup!

Misshapen fruit and vegetables won a reprieve on Wednesday from the European Union as it scrapped rules banning overly curved, extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.

Ending regulations on the size and shape of 26 types of fruit and vegetables, the European authorities killed off restrictions that had become synonymous with bureaucratic meddling.

The rising cost of commodities also persuaded the European Commission that there was no point in throwing away food just because it looked strange. 

Read all about it HERE

Perhaps it is possible for the people of Iraq to realize that they don’t have to tolerate terrorism.  Perhaps it is possible for them to understand that freedom from terrorists is a constant battle, but it must be fought.  Even if it takes one small town in Iraq at a time...

"Dulaim is an Iraqi village transformed. Where masked gunmen from Al Qaeda in Iraq once imposed their will with killings and even stole irrigation pumps, today numerous Iraqi Army, police, and local Sunni militia checkpoints attest to new levels of security.

The change has been dramatic. It is the result of this farming hamlet deciding last January to change sides, reluctantly turning away from Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and toward US and Iraqi forces.

But despite recently paying a high price for that shift, this village is determined not to turn back."

Read the complete article from Christian Science Monitor

Iraqi town defies Al Qaeda

Boston already has the hippest school of music.  It’s the Boston Berklee College of Music. 

That's the in place to be.  But if you have a child who may be interested in a career in music arts...or you yourself are planning for a future in music, you've got to check out the future home of Berklee's ARTeria Valencia.

It's a state-of-the-art, 25-story building in Valencia Spain.  And if you want to study music abroad, this is where you will want to be.


 

"Valencia, Spain will soon be home to a $145 million school of rock (and pop and jazz) from the Boston-based Berklee College of Music, which hopes to extend its successful contemporary music training program to European shores.

"ARTeria Valencia" will be a state-of-the-art, 25-story building (see artist's renderings) featuring faculty and student housing, a high-speed data network, a 1,000-seat outdoor amphitheater and several smaller performance spaces. Construction will be largely bankrolled by the SGAE Spanish performing rights organization, which is apparently eager to bring Berklee's approach to contemporary music education to Valencia -- already a popular "semester abroad" destination.

You might think the music industry's heavily-publicized woes would scare kids into more financially stable lines of work -- say, brokering stocks or managing hedge funds. Those aren't the greatest examples these days, but still, given shrinking labels and dwindling sales, the music industry seems like a hard place to get a foothold.

Nonetheless, budding musicians continue to be drawn like moths to the flame of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where applications for Fall '09 matriculation are up 40 percent according, to Larry Monroe, the school's vice president of international programs, and popular subjects include music theory, composition, performance, music management, music education and even music therapy.  The Boston location turns out 800 graduates each year, while the Valencia location will produce smaller classes of 250."

Read the complete article HERE

 Berklee Valencia

There's trouble brewing....Not in the U.S., either.

It seems Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't please that President-elect Obama was the chosen one.  He'd rather have us our own country picking apart our leader.  He liked it better when the world didn't receive GWB with open arms.

There's trouble brewing...

"Efforts are already efforts under way in the Iranian press to tarnish Obama's image.

"A hawk in a dove's outfit" is the way the right-wing newspaper Keyhan described Obama in a front page article the day after his election. The article puts special emphasis on what it calls "Obama's praise of America's actions in Afghanistan and George Bush Sr.'s war in Iraq." It goes on to say, "Obama has never been peace-seeking."

Read the complete article HERE

North Korea seems to be parading Kim Jong-il around and propping him up, or showing photos of him that don't match up with a story that he may have had brain surgery.

If he was really ill, wouldn't they just fess-up and be done with it?  If your leader is ill, wouldn't your country just admit it and let things move on.  Unless the country isn't prepared.  That seems to be the case.


Since Sunday, news outlets in the North have described three separate appearances by Mr. Kim, 66, who officials in Washington and Seoul have said probably suffered a stroke around August and may have undergone brain surgery.

Read the article from the New York Times International

HERE

Photo Daily Telegraph UK
Miguel Caballero is called the Armani of armour



It was all the rage in fashion shows this summer…bullet-proof designer clothing..sold to 16 countries. 

Why not?  If it’s better to be safe than sorry in the crime world, you may as well look good. 

South Africa, Columbia..now Mexico….it’s getting closer…

Soon in a department store near you?  Probably not, but it will be found somewhere.  Maybe it can be found already.

From the International Herald Tribune...

"Tucked on a leafy side street in the Polanco neighborhood is a shop unlike the others, one whose bustling business says much about the dire state of security in this country. At Miguel Caballero, named after its Colombian owner, all the garments are bulletproof.

There are bulletproof leather jackets and bulletproof polo shirts. Armored guayabera shirts hang next to protective windbreakers, parkas and even white ruffled tuxedo shirts. Every member of the sales staff has had to take a turn being shot while wearing one of the products, which range from a few hundred dollars to as much as $7,000, so they can attest to the efficacy of the secret fabric.

"If feels like a punch," a salesman said of the shot to the stomach he received.

Just who is willing to fork over thousands of dollars for these chic shields? Customers include Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, not to mention assorted royalty, movie stars and other VIP's."


 Continued

 

The photo you see here is of White Rabbit Candy.  It’s made in China and has been found to contain melamine.  Packages have been found in the U.S. in California and Connecticut so far.

We know Cadbury has some confections that are made in China and has recalled their products.  But it doesn’t hurt to be aware of where your food items are actually being manufactured.  You may want to look at packaged soups and other powdered items too. 

The linked article regarding Cadbury may say samples were within “legal limits,” but if you are pregnant or suffering from an illness, and consume an industrial chemical, being within legal limits isn’t something you want to hear.  That’s not acceptable when you are dealing with a chemical that has hundreds of thousands of children sick, and several dead, in China.

"Candy lovers beware. Melamine-tainted candy — imported from China — is now showing up on store shelves in the United States.

Now this is fresh…

The opinion of the Chinese on our presidential candidates and election process.

Right off the bat, you have a bookstore with three books about Barack Obama, translated into Chinese…but none on McCain…there are none translated.

With all of the turmoil in China…their people have their own world to deal with, so our election is of little importance, but they do have some views…

"At the average person’s level in China, I’ve just found [the U.S. presidential election] to be less interesting than any other thing – the Olympics, the earthquake, other things going on in China that are of huge historical importance to China itself," observed James Fallows, who’s been based here for two years writing for The Atlantic Monthly. Apart from the events he mentioned, there were also the winter storms that paralyzed half the country; the Tibet riots; torch relay protests; violence in Xinjiang; and now the melamine-tainted milk scandal. No surprise then that most Chinese have been focusing on domestic events.But, as usual when it comes to China, it’s never that simple. As we talked to people about the American election, we found varying levels of interest and curiosity.

‘It’s just for fun’


"Many people pay attention to the election but with different motivations," said Professor Jin Canrong, Associate Dean at the School of International Studies. According to Jin, interest in China is broken down into three broad categories: official (government), intellectual (academics and policy analysts), and laobaixing (ordinary people)."For intellectual communities, they want to learn something from the process and try to improve China’s approach of governance," said Jin. "But for the average people, especially young people, it’s just for fun." "It’s entertaining for an outsider," agreed Li Xin, a young woman who edits an economic magazine.

"That makes you want to watch and follow and see what’s going on next."And while the government and think tanks have a sophisticated grasp of how the U.S. election campaign works, ordinary Chinese seem bewildered by the process. "I think the election process is quite complicated with all the rules of caucuses, primaries, and the general election," said Li.Especially the election conclusion. One Chinese acquaintance told me he was stunned, when he first witnessed a presidential election after moving to the United States, to see a candidate concede defeat. "The only form of democracy we Chinese have ever seen really is what is in Taiwan," he said. "And that is completely different. The loser never just gives up."

Personality, not policy


"We noticed some differences in their policy towards China," said Jin. "For John McCain, he will pay more attention to [the] so-called military build-up of China, the religious freedoms, and Taiwan…. For Obama, we have some concern about the possible trade protectionism, some dispute around climate change, human rights, especially the human rights issue relating [to] Tibet."But because the policy differences at this stage seem minute or elusive to most Chinese, they focus instead on the candidates’ personalities.

"McCain, he’s a veteran, he’s very patriotic, and he’s 70. He’s got all this old stuff going on," said Annie Gong, a 20-year old college junior. "Obama, of course, he’s young, cute…but I think he’s kind of lacking in experience."In general, young Chinese, however, seem drawn to the Illinois senator. "I think Obama is really exciting," said Li, who is 29. "He represents the fresh face of America. The typical American dream."And in a country which counts 253 million people as internet users – more than in the United States – Obama’s internet savvy has been noted. "His team is very skillful in communicating with young people by the internet," observed Jin.But for older Chinese, Obama’s race is a stumbling block.

"I’ve been struck by how many high-level people in China are sort of thrown off their feet by the idea of a black person possibly as the president of the U.S.," said Fallows. Racism isn’t enough to explain their reaction to Obama. Throughout the Cold War, the Chinese were fed a diet of anti-capitalist propaganda, a narrative that portrayed the U.S. political and economic system as corrupt and immoral. American capitalism, according to this viewpoint, was the root of its manifold social ills: inequality, sexual immorality, urban poverty, violence, and, especially, racism. On Wednesday, one of our interns noticed that a translation of a U.S. article discussing how race could cost Obama votes was being widely circulated on some of China’s popular websites.  The fact of Obama as a U.S. presidential candidate creates anxiety for this older generation of Chinese.

"How is it possible that someone who grew up in that system can succeed?" a local Chinese journalist asked rhetorically."I think his success upsets those people’s world view – their understanding of what American society is."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University 2007

Are we to believe Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he makes bold statements such as this:

"If anyone allows himself to commit even a tiny offense against Iran's legitimate interests, borders and sacred land, our armed forces will break his hand before he pulls the trigger," Ahmadinejad said during the parade.

The science project that some feared might end the world has encountered some problems.

 This Is Really Huge

Of course, problems were to be expected.  But this will only fuel the fire for those who continue to worry about the approach of an impending doomsday.

The Hadron Collider will be shut down for two months after just opening .

Saleswomen check the returned Sanlu brand milk powders in a supermarket in Yinchuan,
capital of northwest China's Ningxia *** Autonomous Region Sept. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)

"Hebei Province, the center of the contaminated baby formula scandal, on Wednesday said it hard received reports of 638 sick infants in one day.

Gao Chunqiu, deputy chief of the provincial health department, told a press conference that 12,510 people consulted medical facilities in the province between midday on Monday and midday on Tuesday, and 638 babies were diagnosed with urinary calculus (stones)."

 

Continued HERE

  "China seizes 22 companies with contaminated baby milk powder "

"Chinese inspectors have found the chemical melamine in 69 batches of baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide, the country's quality watchdog said late on Tuesday.

The authorities ordered a halt to the sale of the tainted products which included such well-known brands as Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili and Yashili, among others.

The State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said test samples came from 491 batches of products sold by all the 109 companies that produced the baby milk powder in the country."

Continued HERE

 

"Melamine in pet food may not be accidental"

"A nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastic and sometimes as a fertilizer may have been deliberately added to an ingredient in pet food that has sickened and killed cats and dogs across the country, public and private officials say. A leading theory is that it was added to fake higher protein levels.

Melamine has been found in wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate and, in South Africa, corn gluten, all imported from China, and all meant for use in pet food, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday.

"It adds to the theory when you see other products that are labeled as protein supplements, in this case rice protein, and in South Africa corn gluten and in the previous case wheat gluten," said Stephen Sundlof, FDA chief veterinarian. "That melamine was found in all three of those, it would certainly lend credibility to the theory that this was intentional."

How the melamine got there is "not something we're going to be able to determine until we actually investigate the plants in China," he said."

"ChemNutra, which imported the wheat gluten linked to last month's massive pet-food recall, says it is concerned its Chinese supplier spiked the product.In a letter on ChemNutra's website, Chief Executive Steve Miller said, "We are concerned that we may have been the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination for the purpose of making the wheat gluten we purchased appear to have a higher protein content than it did." Melamine is "simply not a chemical even on the radar screen for food ingredient suppliers," he wrote. "

Continued HERE

Now...where will it end?