Hour of the Earth

I thought the following was quite interesting. It was an article on the globe and mail and i just cut and pasted the a few of interesting paragraphs for the article body.

(I think I was napping for the first 30 minutes then the lights were on as the other travellers came into the room. We spent the next hour talking about our travelling experiences and China)

Cities switch off worldwide
SHAWN POGATCHNIK
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 29, 2008 at 6:33 PM EDT

DUBLIN — From Rome's Colosseum to the Sydney Opera House, floodlit icons of civilization went dark Saturday for Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to highlight the threat of climate change.

The environmental group WWF urged governments, businesses and households to turn back to candle power for at least 60 minutes starting at 8 p.m. wherever they were.
The campaign began last year in Australia, and travelled this year from the South Pacific to Europe in cadence with the setting of the sun. Several Canadian and U.S. cities also planned symbolic blackouts or dimming of monuments, including at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

“What's amazing is that it's transcending political boundaries and happening in places like China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea,” said Andy Ridley, executive director of Earth Hour. “It really seems to have resonated with anybody and everybody.”

Lights went out at the famed Wat Arun Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand; shopping and cultural centres in Manila, Philippines; several castles in Sweden and Denmark; the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary; a string of landmarks in Warsaw, Poland; and both London City Hall and Canterbury Cathedral in England.

Internet search engine Google lent its support to Earth Hour by blackening its normally white home page and challenging visitors: “We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn.”

Night out on town

Pic above: A year later since the inagurual Earth Hour in Sydney. This is a pic of the Kingscross area (courtesy of the globe and mail) in Sydney where the Coca Cola sign was turned off.

It’s been a week since I have been in Melbourne now, yet I went out for the first time on Friday night. (Mostly because I didn’t want to go to the bars alone.) I met up with the Aussie girl whom I scuba dived together in Thailand. We went to this veggie restaurant near her place. I had a whole plate of just steamed veggies and tofu with a nice satay sauce. We caught up from since we saw each other in mid October. Then off I went to meet up with another group of peeps back in the city. Met up the British, Irish, Scottish girls (whom I met in Sydney) and their Belgium friend, Jack. Got some booze from this Cdn girl from Montreal working behind the bar. The Mtl girl was quite weird…..I asked if she was French Cdn (because she didn’t have an French accent at all) and she gave me a dirty look while replying “I am just Canadian.” (By this time, I avoided asking the next dumbass question – “do you speak French then?”)

Met a few more peeps from my Irish girl friend and this brit friend of hers kept spitting in my face whenever he talks. It was pretty bad I had to turn my face away so he would spray on my ear than my face. (I should’ve told him to stop spraying, but I didn’t…..what an idiot I was). Anyways, that’s that.

On Wednesday, I met this other Taiwanese guy. I could tell he was Taiwanese right away from his accent when speaking English, but his English is actually very good. One of the best ones for a Non-native English speaker of Taiwan. We hung out on Saturday during the day and just talked about everything and anything. We saw eye to eye on a lot of things, but I also learned a lot of things from him. He’s a year older than me and studied to be an electrical engineer. However, he’s really more interested in economics. *He's another regular reader of The Economist.

He has been real interested of my opinion on the Australians. He also asked me a lot of questions about Canada and the US. The conversation was never dry. Pretty stimulating discussions. The more we talked to each other the more he thinks I should become a journalist. I thought that was quite funny at first, but then I was like, “yeh, maybe I should be!” In return, I asked him a lot of questions about his take on the Chinese-Taiwanese relations and where the future is gonna take the 2 parties with the KMT now back in power. I am very hopeful for the future for TW and CN, but he's not soo sure about that. (We visited the Melbourne museum, Queen Victoria Market, Fitzroyd Park and had some Chinese for dinner at the same place I went to by myself the first night I was in Melbourne.)

Checked out an AFL (Aussie Rules Football) game today at the famous MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). The game itself wasn’t that great. It was basically kicking and catching. Final score: 158 to 136 (Richmond Tigers vs North Melbourne Kangaroos). AFL is basically like a combination of soccer and rugby. One kick the ball in b/t the bars to score. Pass the ball however way they want (forwards, backwards, or laterally). Good thing that the tix only cost me $15 bucks. I did however made the game more enjoyable by downing 2 Aussie beers and 1 meat pie. It is a tradition here in the state of Victoria that one must ingest a meat pie when watching a “footy” game at the MCG.

Was at this bookstore with free wifi service a few days ago and they played this catchy ass tune – “Sheep go to heaven” by Cake….old song from the early 90’s. Chorus: sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell. hahahha Met a few more kiwi’s here at the hostel (though the peeps are still predominately brits and French. The kiwi’s told me that the rest of the kiwi’s call the people from Auckland Jafa’s (Just Another Fucking Aucklander).

Articles

I read this article written by a journalist for the Melbourne Herald Sun yesterday. I thought it was pretty funny and true. He basically mentioned that the new PM, Kevin Rudd, of Australia has pledged that Australia would do everything in its power to stop the Japanese whaling off the coast of Australia. However, he only asked China to exercise restraint towards Tibet. Sounds like Kevin also wants to make a new Chinese friend along side of Stephen Harper.

EU sports ministers strongly oppose boycott over Tibet
Associated Press
March 17, 2008 at 2:56 PM EDT

BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia — European Union nations and Olympic committees, including Canada's, say they oppose a boycott of the Beijing Games over China's handling of the Tibet protests.
The EU sports ministers and Olympic committees, holding talks Monday, said sports should not be linked to such a political issue and that previous Olympic boycotts had already shown what limited impact they have.

"Under no circumstance will we support the boycott. We are 100 per cent unanimous," Patrick Hickey, head of the European Olympic Committees, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Russia also came out in support for the Games, arguing the Tibetan situation must not affect Olympics.

Only France's opposition sounded a different voice.
The head of France's second-largest political force, Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande, tried to cash in on a leftist victory in local elections by raising the possibility of a French Olympic boycott to show displeasure over the crackdown in Tibet.
"I don't say this is the solution, but I say we must use all arms and forms of international pressure," he said on RTL radio Monday morning, after the Sunday elections.

The national Olympic committees said others should stand up instead of athletes.
"Sports should not carry the burden," said Togay Bayatli, president of the Turkish Olympic Committee.
Economic relations between the 27-nation EU and China are moving closer all the time. Bilateral trade doubled between 2000-05 and reached US$370 billion (C$259 billion) in 2006.
Europe is China's largest export market and China is Europe's prime source of imports.

Canada subtly signalling change of policy toward China
CAMPBELL CLARK
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
March 18, 2008 at 4:24 AM EDT

OTTAWA — The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has begun using what experts are calling "subtle but meaningful" shifts in diplomatic language in an effort to improve relations with China - changes that have drawn approval from Beijing.
Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier delivered a speech to Asian ambassadors behind closed doors in Ottawa last Wednesday, where he asserted, in unusually unqualified terms, Canada's support for a "one-China policy."

"We recognize the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China," Mr. Bernier said, according to a text of his speech.
"This remains the core of our China policy. It guides our bilateral relationship with the PRC. It informs our position on Tibet. And it provides a framework that supports peace and security in the Taiwan Strait."
Mr. Bernier also said Canada was concerned that the March 22 referendum on Taiwan joining the United Nations "needlessly escalates tensions across the Strait."

On Thursday, when a backbench Conservative MP asked a planted question in the House of Commons about protests in Tibet, Mr. Bernier prefaced his expression of concern with an unusual preamble: "Canada has a one-China policy."
Charles Burton, a Brock University professor and former Canadian diplomat in China, said the preamble was unnecessary and intended to send a message.
While in the eyes of many Canada has had a "one-China policy" since it established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1970, the use of the phrase by government ministers has always come with qualifications or caveats.

Usually, ministers add that Canada merely "takes note" of China's claim to Taiwan.
"Mr. Bernier is suggesting a subtle but meaningful change in Conservative government rhetoric on China that would be very well received by the Chinese embassy in Ottawa," Mr. Burton said. "It would suggest that Canada supports Chinese government claims to legitimate sovereignty over Taiwan and over Tibet."
Government sources in Ottawa say the new language is intentional and is aimed at breaking a diplomatic logjam that worsened when Mr. Harper agreed to meet the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist spiritual leader who also heads Tibet's "government-in-exile," in November.

Mr. Bernier's statements were well-received in Beijing, where the Chinese Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, Qin Gang, went out of his way to applaud Wednesday's speech.
The government news agency Xinhua reported that Mr. Qin said: "China applauds [Mr. Bernier] saying that the Canadian government values relations with China, adheres to the one-China policy, regards the People's Republic of China government as the sole legal government of China, and opposes Taiwan authorities' proposed 'referendum on UN membership.' ''
He also expressed hope for improving China-Canada relations - a hope that will sit well with Canadian diplomats who have been frozen out, and business people who have complained that trade ties have been affected.

The deputy minister of foreign affairs, Leonard Edwards, spent three days in China last November without being able to get a single meeting with Chinese counterparts.
And Chinese officials boycotted meetings of a Canada-China working group of bureaucrats.
The Conservatives had previously allied themselves with supporters of Taiwan's positions and Tibetan autonomy - and Mr. Harper said in 2006 that he would pointedly press human-rights concerns with Beijing and not sell out to the "almighty dollar."
Bruce Gilley, a Queen's University professor who has advocated a tough line on rights and democracy, said the Conservatives started out planning to shake things up, but have fallen back in confusion.

Photo evidence of Tibet horror comes to light
GEOFFREY YORK
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
March 18, 2008 at 10:23 PM EDT

BEIJING — Gruesome new photos showing Tibetans shot to death in Western China have provided fresh evidence of a Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protesters as the Dalai Lama threatens to resign if the violence spirals out of control.

The photos (many of them too graphic to publish) appear to show bullet holes in the blood-stained corpses of several Tibetans in China's Sichuan province. They are the first hard evidence that Tibetans were shot to death during the Chinese security crackdown in recent days.
Nearly 100 Tibetans have been killed in the crackdown, including 19 yesterday, and hundreds more have been arrested, according to Tibetan activist groups. China says 16 people were killed by Tibetan rioters in Lhasa last week, and it alleges that the Dalai Lama has "masterminded" the violence.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao took a hard-line stand on the conflict yesterday, accusing the "Dalai clique" of inciting the violence in a plot to "undermine" the Beijing Olympics this summer.

The Dalai Lama called for peace by both sides. "If things become out of control, then my only option is to completely resign," he told a news conference yesterday at the headquarters of his exiled government in northern India.
A spokesman said the Dalai Lama was referring to his political role as head of the exiled government, not his religious role as the Tibetan spiritual leader. "As a monk, he cannot compromise on non-violence," said Thubten Samphel, secretary for information and international relations at the Tibetan government-in-exile.
"If the mainstream Tibetan movement resorts to violence as a means to resolve issues, he will step down from the political leadership of the Tibetan people," the spokesman said in a telephone interview from India.

In Sichuan province, which borders Tibet, up to 20 Tibetans were killed by security agents who opened fire on protesters this week, according to Tibetan activist groups. They provided the names of nine dead protesters, along with other personal details of most of them.
The grisly photos showed the naked or semi-naked corpses of Tibetans covered in blood, with severe wounds visible. Most seemed to have bullet holes in their heads, arms or chests. They were available on the website of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, but their authenticity could not be confirmed.
http://www.tchrd.org/

"The important thing about these photos is that they clearly show people who were shot," said Robert Barnett, a Tibet expert at Columbia University in New York.
He noted that China has never alleged the Tibetans have used guns, and there have been no independent reports of guns among the Tibetans, so the bullet wounds could only have come from the Chinese side.

"This does look like the first concrete evidence of security forces killing demonstrators," Mr. Barnett said in an interview. "It seems to show that the Chinese authorities opened fire with an intent to kill. It's the first time that we've seen the Tibetans documenting what is happening and giving us an accurate picture of what's happening."
Protests continued to erupt in Tibetan regions of Western China yesterday, and even on the outskirts of Lhasa. The exiled government said 19 Tibetan protesters were killed by security forces in Gansu province yesterday.
Another report said nearly 1,000 Tibetans have been arrested in house-to-house sweeps by security agents in Lhasa, where thousands of military and paramilitary troops have occupied the Tibetan capital.

Journalists have been barred from entering any of the Tibetan regions, despite Chinese promises to allow free movement of journalists in this Olympic year.
Comments by the Dalai Lama yesterday could be a "major signal" of his willingness to resume negotiations with the Chinese government, despite the intense emotions of the past several days, Mr. Barnett said. "I think it's pretty important. The Dalai Lama is signalling that he's leaving the door open to negotiations."

Mr. Wen's comments, however, seemed to leave little hope for compromise, Mr. Barnett said. "The Chinese seem to be moving to a very hard-line position," Mr. Barnett said.
The Dalai Lama ridiculed China's allegation that he had "masterminded" the violent protests in Lhasa last week. In fact, China might have used secret agents to instigate the violence to discredit him, he said. "It's possible some Chinese agents are involved there. Sometimes totalitarian regimes are very clever, so it is important to investigate." But he also added: "We must build good relations with the Chinese. We should not develop anti-Chinese feelings. We must live together side by side."

The Dalai Lama's representatives have held annual talks with mid-level Chinese officials since 2002, but no significant progress has been made. Many younger Tibetans in the exile community have complained that the Dalai Lama's moderate policy — the so-called "Middle Way" — has failed to achieve any results, and they argue for a more aggressive push for an independent Tibet.

Melbourne Gaol

The entry below is dedicated to my friend, Matt, whom works in the correctional system back home. I thought you’d like this, Matt! Haha………btw, you guys got prison ball like in “the longest yard?”

Didn’t do much today. Not even trying to find work. Went out at noon to the Old Melbourne Gaol. I had been to Port Arthur already; this marks the 2nd time I will have “gone to prison” here in Australia. With my student card, it came to $14. The gaol exhibits a collection of death masks and a detail explanation on the 'Art of Hanging'. (Further comparison between Port Arthur and the Melbourne Gaol:

PA was built to house re-offenders from Europe where the gaol was for first time offenders from the Victoria area. However, both PA and MG uses solitary confinement to its fullest. Both places require their prisoners to wear a hood to cover up their faces when outside of their cells; therefore they could not recognize or be recognized by any other prisoners. The method was used to mentally break down the prisoners by minimizing all human socialization while doing time inside.

136 people lost their lives here at the end of a rope. Amongst them, Ned Kelly was the most infamous prisoner. I had talked about him before in my November 2007 blog entry. He’s what the Aussies call a Bushranger, which really means a robber. He had become somewhat of an Aussie heroic icon because of what he represented (fighting against the authorities). *Only in Australia where a criminal would be viewed as a hero! **Mick Jagger started in a 1970’s film called “Ned Kelly” which was shot on location at the gaol.

And it was Melbourne, Victoria’s first prison. It was built before the gold rush in Melbourne and after Victoria divided from the state of New South Wales (early 19th century).

During my time at the goal, I attended a mock trial for and went to the watch tower (and the city court) which was both decommissioned only 14 years ago. An interesting fact about the city court, the complex was built with heavy influence from the Norman Romanesque aspects of Canterbury and Peterborough Cathedrals in the UK. (I had been to the Canterbury Cathedral before……really stood out from the other churches I had been to).

As for the watchhouse, there were 24 of us and as soon as we got into the watchtower, the “guards” (actually the sergeants) asked us to line up with the same sex together then we got divided into groups of 8. Once after the division, each group got put into a cell for the next 5 minutes for the duration we spent lights out. It was alright, I wasn’t scared, but I could see some people could become hysterical.

Did a quick walk inside the State Library, which was quite nice inside. Gonna try going back there sometime to take some pics of Ned Kelly’s armour on the 5th floor.

Random things I forgot to mention in my last entry:

Saw a movie couple nights ago after going to St Kilda Beach. The movie was called “10,000 BC” and may be THE WORST movie I have ever seen. The dialogue was corny at best and the whole film was just shit and I think shit is a kind word to use.

Although it was interesting to see a lot of b-listers in this movie. Also interesting to hear all the different accents within one tribe. Doesn’t make sense at all. I think I could have made a better movie given a camcorder and using dialogue written by highschool students.

Other news, Dennis Rodman is in Melbourne shooting a reality tv show this week.

Going to watch a Aus Football League game (Aussie rule football) this Sunday for $15. Very nice. They are crazy about it here in Victoria. 16 teams in the state of Vic with 10 from the city of Melbourne. Haha……so who’s playing tonight? Melbourne vs Melbourne!

I arrived after the Melbourne Grand Prix and the horse racing back in November as well as the ATP Melbourne Cup in Jan. Oh well, I don’t really care for any of these sports. Gimme the March Madness!!

Melbournianed

Pic above: Giant Mario on the sidewalk outside Federation Square and the ACMI for the "Game On" show.

Got in on Sunday afternoon, spent the rest of the day on foot checking out the CBD (central business district) aka downtown. One could walk from one end to the other in less than 25 minutes (the CBD is in a rectangular shape, but only half of it is actually happening.) Checked out the Greek part of the town, Chinatown, state library, parliament house, federation square, and Southbank (where I am staying next to the casino). Got lost for a bit, but regained a sense of direction soon after. Took free tourist bus to cover more area within the city to get myself oriented. This has been a bad weekend to be in Melbourne, as a lot of stores/shops were closed due to the Easter long weekend. Oh well….

I wanted to see what the city looks like at night, so I purposed stayed out just for that, instead of going back into my hostel then going back out again. Like any proud Chinese tourist would do, I immediately located a decent looking Chinese restaurant and tried to fill the hunger. In the process of stuffing my face at 7:30pm, I met 2 Aussies whom shared the table with me. (They actually sat down at my table during my meal. The restaurant was busy, so I guess the owner just sat them down at my table seeing that I didn’t need the other 3 seats.)

Awkwardly enough, one of them said hello to me and the other one smiled. I timidly replied with a “Hi”, myself. 30 seconds went by and the tension at the table was just killing me, so naturally I had to crack a joke. “It’s actually more awkward not to talk”, I said to the guys. They laughed with a sense of relief. I continued with my meal for a few more minutes without saying anything to them, while they ordered their food. Finally, as uncomfortable silence and I never sit well with each other, I broke out and started a conversation with them. I can’t remember what I said to them, but we got on to talking about who they are/I am and where they are/I am from right away.

They were interested in what I had to say because I told them it was my first night here in Melbourne. We each said our piece with the introductions and I was sure that they were a gay couple by then. The guys were in their early 30’s and happily living together in downtown Melbourne (can you say “yuppies”?). One of them was of Chinese decent from Singapore and the other one was white. One of them was an ecology professor and the other works for an airline as a customer service rep.

We all finished our meals about 30 minutes later but sat at the restaurant for the next hour and half chatting about everything and anything. Finally, we settled our bills and the guys invited me to go with them for a cup of coffee (Melbourne is famously known for its “rampant infestations” of cafes.) So off we went, but only to become disenfranchised after being turned away by 2 cafes often patronized by the guys. Basically, the cafes were closed because it was a Sunday night on the Easter long weekend. (Though I thought the city was pretty vibrant.)

On Easter Monday, I walked around the city and visited the shrine dedicated to all the Australian soliders next to the botanical garden then did a free bus tour of the city up to U of Melb as well the Italian part of the city. Got back home for some noodles for a quick dinner (I’ve been living off noodles since I got to Melbourne for dinners.) I figured that if I had to eat out for lunch then I better save some money on dinner. So I probably spend about 10 bucks a day for lunch, but no more than 20 for food on the entire day. As for tickets to sights, what can you do eh? If you gonna travel and see things, u gonna have to spend a bit. But I try to use my pseudo-student card when I could to save some dough. Haha…..thank god I still look like a student.

Taking a full advantage of being a “student”, I trekked through the streets of Melbourne CBD where I found myself inside of the Immigration museum. (I’d like to visit the Chinese Museum, but it didn’t look like much, so I decided to save my bills for something else.) Learned some history of the Aussie immigrants from all over the world and it was hard to see how the Chinese were treated pretty badly in the beginning as well thanks to the gov’t laws. They were welcomed at first during the 1800’s but a law came in the early 1900’s which stopped all Asians from coming to Australia before that law was amended to include all non-brits (which was then tossed out by the labour party years later.) I moved onto its main exhibition called “Masks of China”. It was an exhibition displaying various types of masks of wood, metals, or paper by the different ethnic minorities in China. Most of them were used during dances to ward off the evil and welcome the good luck. Pretty neat stuff.

Later that night, I walked out of the hostel towards the docklands (the harbour front) thinking I could take some nice night time pictures. However, I just got poured on by this torrential rain storm. It was bad like a mini-typhoon. Not knowing where I was so I just hopped on a tram and tried to get back to the hostel. Fortunately after 30 minutes, I got home wet and safely. So much for showering before hand.

By Tuesday, I met these 2 from Winnepeg and we hung out for part of the day before separating our ways to do our own things. They have already lived and worked in Perth for 2 months and after they leave Aus, they will be going to South America before returning to Canada. I met up again with the ecology professor and he showed me this place called Globe in Prahan for some chai. Not a big coffee or tea drinker myself, but chai is always good. How could it be bad when it’s loaded with spice, cream, and lots of sugar. If there was a Guiness of teas, then chai would be it.

After a long day, I returned to Fed Square where I visited the Aus Ctr for the Moving Image for another exhibition called “Game On.” The exhibition was 10 bucks and I spent 2 hours there until it closed. Though the exhibits showed a lot of info on video games in general (particularly on the early history of arcade games (1970’s), game consoles from the beginning to today, & the game culture in North America, Japan, Europe, and Australia. Interesting stuff if you were a real gamer from day 1, but I just killed sometime going through different games they had on display for people to play. I think I spent most of my time on the early arcade games……..some I had never even seen before from when I was a kid. It was good to play the games from when I was a kid. Good times.


*From what I have seen so far, I already like Melbourne better than Sydney. It IS very laid-back and the atmosphere and the layout of the city (even from only seeing the downtown core) is just soo much more “user-friendly” than its counter part in New South Whales. It is no joke why every cdn whom’s ever been to Melbourne tells me that they prefer Melb over Syd. People say that Melb is like the Vancouver of Canada and Syd is like Toronto and so far……….I concur. To me, Melbourne could be even more similar to Montreal than Van, but again I have only spent limited time in Melb and Mtl thus far. Plus by living in the burbs of Van doesn’t really make me an Van-expert.

On a different note, Melbourne could almost be like Calgary because of the river going through the city and the trams on the streets are similar to those C-trains in cowtown or street cars in t-dot.

Been emailing and making a few calls everyday for work. Not sure when they will get back to me if they get back to me at all.

Random thoughts: (Tassy revisited)

My last week in Tasmania around the Huon Valley, I tried to find some work other than picking apples. Didn’t have much luck other than 2 potential options with one at a hotel doing housekeeping and the other one working at THE ONLY Asian (Chinese) restaurant in Huonville, which is about 1 hour southwest of Hobart. I got the hotel job, but turned it down to come to Melbourne. As for the Chinese restaurant, I was thinking to myself….could I possibily “lower” myself to doing that job?? Indeed I had too much ego. Whatever happened to that mentality of “I will do whatever it takes when traveling/working abroad?” Should probably smack myself over the head right now.

I am tempted just to pick up and travel the rest of Oz, but the flight to Alice Springs is soo damn expensive at about minimum $300 bucks one way. Looks like I am gonna have to find work and stick around Melbourne for a while.

3 Articles from the Globe

Iraq: Five years of war

With nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers and anywhere from tens of thousands to more than a million Iraqis killed, a deeply unpopular Bush insists the invasion of Iraq has made the world a better place as the Democratic front-runners sharpen their attacks on the war

PAUL KORING
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
March 20, 2008 at 4:10 AM EDT

WASHINGTON — War in Iraq has made the world better, America safer and will "end in victory," U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday, marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion he ordered to topple Saddam Hussein's regime.
He made no reference to Iraq's supposedly hidden stockpiles of poison gas and biological weapons, or the clandestine nuclear-weapons program, all of which underpinned the original decision to go to war.

Meanwhile, near Fort Bragg, Barack Obama accused the President of going to war "based on faulty premises and bad intelligence." The Democratic front-runner promised to pull at least 10,000 troops a month out of Iraq if he is elected.
"Fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future, and fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safe," he told families of servicemen near the sprawling army base in North Carolina.

"Instead of the new Middle East we were promised, Hamas runs Gaza, Hezbollah flags fly from the rooftops in Sadr City and Iran is handing out money left and right in southern Lebanon," Mr. Obama said, vowing to turn things around.
The war in Iraq was the wrong war, fought for the wrong reasons, Mr. Obama said, adding that the long and costly battle has emboldened al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Iran and North Korea.
He vowed not only to pull America's 150,000 troops out of Iraq but to shift the battle to Afghanistan.

"Rather than fight a war that does not need to be fought, we need to start fighting the battles that need to be won on the central front against the war - of the war against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Mr. Obama said.
"When I am commander-in-chief, I will set a new goal on day one: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it, not because our troops cannot bear the burden, as heavy as it is, but because it is the right thing to do for our national security and it will ultimately make us safer," Mr. Obama said. The Illinois senator also reiterated his willingness to take the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda into Pakistan by ordering air strikes against havens in remote frontier areas. Mr. Obama had come under heavy fire from his political rivals for saying he would be willing to order strikes into Pakistan.

"Senator Clinton, Senator McCain and President Bush have all distorted and derided this position, suggesting that I would, quote, "invade" or "bomb" Pakistan. This is politics, pure and simple," he said yesterday, claiming all of them have said or agreed to the same strategy.
"We have a security gap when candidates say they will follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, but refuse to follow him where he actually goes," Mr. Obama said.
Ms. Clinton, campaigning in Pennsylvania, also faulted Mr. Bush's handling of the war.

Although she initially voted for the war, she now says that was a mistake and claims she would also bring U.S. troops home quickly, albeit on a somewhat different timetable than Mr. Obama.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll published yesterday found nearly two-thirds of Americans felt the war was not worth starting.


Dirty talk

Hooker jokes. Auto-erotic knee-slappers. Scrutinizing the latest YouPorn upload. (With your parents.) From the dinner table to the water cooler we've abandoned our filters when it comes to dirty talk. Sexual openness, it seems, now borders on the pathological. Is there still any such thing as too much information? Siri Agrell reports

SIRI AGRELL
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
March 20, 2008 at 9:09 AM EDT

I was in the cafeteria when it occurred to me that I may have crossed some sort of line.
It was in the days after New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's expensive dalliances with hookers had been revealed and I was retelling a joke made by Lewis Black on The Daily Show.
"Spitzer paid $4,300 for two hours with a hooker. ... For that much money you could buy a used Honda and ..." Well, you get the idea.
The colleague I was addressing laughed, but as I turned my head I saw an older woman I didn't know staring at me.
I had just told a grossly inappropriate joke about infidelity, prostitution and a bizarre form of auto-eroticism in public, at work and before 10 a.m.

But these days, it seems that X-rated public statements are quickly becoming the new norm.
Sexual openness bordering on the pathological seems commonplace today, so is there still any such thing as "too much information"?
Rachel Sklar, a Canadian-born editor at the news website The Huffington Post, believes that sex has become the great conversational unifier, like discussing the weather or sports.
"It's something most people can relate to," she said. "And there's a voyeuristic angle of getting this sudden, shocking vantage point into the lives of other people."

Thanks to the Internet, almost everyone can know the lurid details of the latest sex scandal, the words to the Sarah Silverman-Matt Damon video and exactly what ended up in the hair of an American Airlines passenger when she fell asleep during a flight. (Hint: It wasn't salty peanuts.)
"It used to be that parents were in the awkward situation of explaining things to their kids," Ms. Sklar said. "Now there's the awkward situation of having to explain things to your parents."
Words, phrases and topics that were once confined to X-rated chat rooms have worked their way offline and into brunch conversations and network news shows.

Ms. Sklar still remembers the first time she saw the word "douche bag" in print, and said she was uncomfortable last week when, as part of a CNN panel discussing the Spitzer scandal, male guests began throwing around the term "hooker."
"It's a word I've used and written in headlines on The Huffington Post, but it was just like, 'I thought the polite word was prostitute or call girl,' " she said.

Society adopts controversial topics or phrases and neutralizes them through common use, she said, noting that presidential candidate Barack Obama used the term "gang banger" to describe gang activity in his speech on race on Tuesday and that on MSNBC, reporter David Shuster had accused Hillary Clinton of "pimping out" her daughter Chelsea on the campaign trail.
Many people have removed their filters when it comes to dirty talk, she said, either subconsciously or as a way to deliberately elicit shock.

But Sue Johanson, the sex educator known for her Sunday Night Sex Show and Talk Sex with Sue Johanson, believes most people are still unable to have frank discussions about sex.
During a recent episode of Oprah, Ms. Johanson said she watched with horror as the men and women in the audience were separated into different rooms before Dr. Mehmet Oz answered questions about sexual issues.
"I just get so pissed off," she said. "We still haven't gotten around to being able to talk about sex. I don't think we've gotten that far."

Elaine Lui, founder of the website Laineygossip.com and an eTalk correspondent, said North Americans are disproportionately obsessed with sex, as long as somebody else is having it.
"I don't think there's a line any more," she said. "I think it gets pushed back further and further."
But at the same time, Ms. Lui said, many people are more judgmental than ever.
"We like to believe our society has evolved to the point where we're much more open-minded," she said. "But I think there's something hypocritical about talking about somebody else's sex life,
when the real line is talking about your own."


How about that winter?

MICHAEL OLIVEIRA
The Canadian Press
March 20, 2008 at 4:28 PM EDT

TORONTO — The winter that broke some snowfall records in eastern Canada has left a majority of Ontario and Quebec residents grousing that it was a more brutal blast than usual while most westerners say it was just typical Canadian fare for the season, according to a poll released Thursday.
Where a person lives and how old they are proved a big factor in how winter affected their mindset.

Fifty-four per cent of people 50 and over said it had been a truly bad winter while only 44 per cent of respondents under 35 agreed.
Ontario residents complained the most about the winter, with 65 per cent saying it was unusually brutal.
Fifty-six per cent of those in Quebec and 51 per cent of Maritimers said the weather was worse than previous winters.
In contrast, almost 75 per cent of the people polled in Manitoba and Saskatchewan said it was just another cold winter and no different than the rest. Fifty-seven per cent of Albertans and 55 per cent British Columbia residents also agreed the winter was no big deal.

There was bitter cold in the West but little snow, while the East got the snow but milder temperatures, said Mr. Phillips, who added that westerners do have a point since winter could have been worse for everyone.
Eastern Canada does deserve to complain because it was unquestionably worse than normal, Mr. Phillips added.
“The amount of snow, the frequency of it, the duration of winter was very long — six months long as opposed to six weeks long,” he said.

Toronto hot dog vendor Jahan Ranjpar is among those who says the winter was terrible and he's hoping warmer weather comes soon to help salvage his business.
Competition among hot dog vendors is usually fierce in the heart of the city's business district but Mr. Ranjpar, 57, had a busy block to himself Thursday as cold winds had prospective customers hustling toward shelter instead of stopping for a bite.
“It's lunchtime, I'm supposed to be busy now,” he said, as he grilled a hot dog for a reporter and just one other customer.

“I've been a hot dog vendor since 1987, for me I believe this is the worst winter I've had ... I've had a lot of hardship this winter and hopefully it will end soon.”
Canadians were also asked whether they thought climate change played a factor in this year's winter. Fifty-seven per cent said yes.
“It's notable that most Canadians don't think of climate change as having exclusively longer term, or warming impacts. They seem quite willing to see impacts today, and to attribute heavy snowfalls to the phenomenon as well,” said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.
The poll surveyed 1,000 Canadians between March 6 and March 9 and is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Canada resumes Afghan detainee transfers

- “Canada is not in the business of building or managing correctional facilities in Afghanistan.”

KABUL — Canada has resumed transfers of detainees to Afghan custody, officials announced today, saying they're satisfied with local authorities' new safeguards against torture.
Many details of the handovers were kept secret as Canadian officials spoke with reporters via teleconference.

They declined to say when the transfers resumed, how many have been transferred, or whether Canada has now emptied the makeshift prison facility at Kandahar Air Field that held a growing number of detainees for almost four months.

The transfers halted on Nov. 6, one day after Canadian officials discovered first-hand evidence of torture inside a detention facility operated by the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's feared intelligence service.

But the NDS has acted quickly to mollify the Canadians' fears about detainee abuse, said Ron Hoffmann, deputy head of the Canadian embassy in Kabul.

“Our experience to date with the Afghans is they have taken all the allegations of mistreatment very seriously,” Mr. Hoffmann said.

The Afghan government has been lobbying Canada to resume its transfers, in part because the cutoff indicated Canada's belief that detainees face torture in the Afghan system — a propaganda victory for the Taliban, Afghan officials argued, and a source of friction with other NATO allies in southern Afghanistan who are also bound by legal conventions that forbid sending detainees into the hands of known torturers.

“We are satisfied that based on the facts, the transfers can resume,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Grant Dame, chief of staff for the Canadian task force in Kandahar.
In a statement read to reporters, Canadian officials listed ways they believe that conditions in Afghan custody have changed in recent months.

Canadian officials have also visited the NDS Kandahar facility more than two dozen times since Nov. 5, exercising their right to conduct inspections under a new agreement that Canada signed last year in the wake of The Globe and Mail's investigation of detainee abuse.

But the Canadians still don't follow up their observations from those visits with any investigation of their own, Mr. Hoffmann said. Since the signing of the new agreement on May 3, he said, Canadian monitoring teams have found eight allegations of detainee mistreatment in NDS custody.

Responsibility for investigating those abuse claims belongs to Kandahar's Attorney General, Mr. Hoffmann said, and in every case the Afghan authorities have responded with a statement saying the allegations were unfounded.

“I can't speak to the specifics of those investigations, just the results,” Mr. Hoffmann said.
Besides trying to reform procedures at the NDS, Canada has also announced $1.5-million in projects to improve physical conditions at the facility and also the Sarpoza prison where many detainees eventually serve out their sentences. The projects include septic and cistern cleaning and repair; upgrading an infirmary; providing 200 prisoner uniforms; improved ventilation; internationally approved hand and leg restraints to replace the heavy chains and locks regularly used on prisoners; and a donation of 350 mattresses to Sarpoza prison.

Despite all of Canada's work in the corrections system, Mr. Hoffmann also indicated that the Canadians want to remain at arm's length from Afghan jails.

“Canada is not in the business of building or managing correctional facilities in Afghanistan,” he said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080229.wcanukafghan0229/BNStory/International

Apple picking crew.....French Cdn style

Dom, Marie, me, Rafael, and another Steve

Picture above from left to right: Katie (New Brunswick, Domnique with beard (QC), Olivier (France), Marie (QC), me, Rafael (girl in blue, QC), Jermiah (NB), Steve (QC and Nelson, BC)

Just spent the 2008 Easter with the French Cdns. It was soo much fun. We had chicken enchiladas for dinner and some kinda honis pie (with rice stuffings) from the Salamanca market in Hobart.

Then we had an egg hunt inside the house. Lol……pretty sweet. I am gonna miss Dom, Raf, Francios, Mathiu, Sebastin, Katie, Jermiah, and my favourite Marie.

Geeveston has been good to me. This is gonna be a memory of a life time. Anyways, it’s almost 2am on Sunday, I got a flight to catch in a few hours to Melbourne.

Good night, Tasmania……..or should I say, good morning! hahah

Vermont Cheddar Cheese?

Met this American today, he just checked in the hostel and acted pretty awkwardly.

The guy is from Vermont and his New England accent is stronger than Bush’s will to continue the war on terror. His name is Bill and he’s around 50 years old judging from what he told me about his son and daughter. The son wanted to go to university at SFU, but thought SFU was like a “community college with all the Chinese students.” He settled for University of Puget Sound. As for the daughter, she opt for uni down under in Townsville, Australia. Bill is basically here for his daughter’s graduation and traveling around in NZ.

We got to talk a bit about what I am doing traveling in Tasmania and stuff. Funny thing is when he thought I was American (wasn’t offended, but a bit disappointed), but when I told him I was Canadian, he just guessed that I was from Vancouver straight up. When asked how he knew I was from Vancouver, he was scrambling for words, but basically trying to say that he knows there’s a large Asian population in Vancity.

When I was asked where I went to university and what I studied, I gave him the usual splur, as I have if anybody were to ask me. I told him that I went to a small university 1 hour southwest of Toronto and he immediately asked, “Oh, is it in Edmonton or Calgary?”

To my surprise, my jaw was still fully intact even after he attempted at guessing where I went to university. I then went on to give him a quick geography lesson on Canada.

Last Days in Geeveston

Picture above: A Possum fur willie warmer. (courtesy of Homesick-kiwi.com). This reminds me of my good friend whom got me one from NZ in 2005. I still got it in my basement. Sadly, I haven’t had the luxury to test it out. One may also find the equivalent for nipples. (http://www.homesick-kiwi.com/productpage.php?id=104 )

I have not worked for more than a week now. Out of the soon to be 5 weeks I have been here, I have worked for one of those chill-laxing weeks. (What can I say? Apple picking ain’t the job for me. I know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.)

My friend and I came 2 weeks too early for the apple season and 2 weeks too late for the cherry picking season. We chilled at the bunkhouse, fished, took some road trips around the area. Cooked and ate a whole lot. I have read so much on the US Primaries, Child Soldiers in Africa, Beijing Olympics, as well as the situation in Tibet. Thanks to the much beloved “Globe and Mail”.

Met a lot of travelers from all over different places….Koreans, Japanese, Austrians, Aussies, Germans, Pomes, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong peeps, Canadians, French Canadians, French, Hungarians, Swedish, Irish, Kiwi’s, Scottish, and Italians.

Everyone is either travelling through or apple picking. It’s scary to think that we have been here the longest now out of everybody we know. We are practically institutionalized. It’s like one can’t go to Bobs Bunkhouse and not meet Geoff and Steve. I mean, come on, we have even painted the hostel for some extra cash.

I’d like to think that I have made a difference in the lives of these different travellers. They must think that I am pretty weird, but at the same time very interesting especially with my leaping across Australia photos, bad jokes, and corny sense of humour.

On the way back of a 25 minute drive from hanging out with the French Canadians on their orchard in Huonville, Geoff and I reflected on our time here in Tassy. I thought I might have wasted a solid month doing really nothing at all. With the money I made from work and odd jobs and the money I spent on gasoline, food, admissions to different tourist sites, and the “accidental” beers, I am basically back to where I started (although I reckon I am down a bit from before arriving in Tassy). However, somewhere along the way, it may have been a blessing in disguise or as I’d tell myself that to feel better.

It’s been an interesting experience. Not quite sure what to make of it, but it has definitely been somewhat of a whacky ride.

I have really enjoyed talking to the Germans, French, French Cdns, as well as the other Canadians. The Aussies as well as the Austrians were all very interesting. However, the core group has definitely been Pommie Dave, Margaret, Kiwi Raewyn, Geoff and me. Funny thing is that the other 3 peeps are all 34 and above with the 2 women old enough to be my mom.

Now that the time has come and I have to leave Tasmania, I have got a bad case of butterflies in my stomach. Mostly because of the unknowns in Melbourne and the more expensive cost of living there. I am hoping to get a job within the first week or 2, if not, I am just gonna keep moving towards Ayers Rock then up north to Darwin.

Places I will miss in Tasmania: Kingston, Huonville, Franklin, Cygnet, Geeveston, Waterloo, Cockle Creek, Bruny Island, Port Arthur, Sorell, Hobart, Hartz Mountain. Oh and of course fishing at Port Huon.

Random notes: the kiwi girl, Ingrid, has been talking to me about junk foods from New Zealand and I have found the following:

1) Feijoa – a guava like fruit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoa
2) Homesick Kiwi – a website to buy NZ junk foods. (look at the drinks and food section, funny as hell) eg. Marmite and L&P drink http://www.homesick-kiwi.com/

3) What the heck are “Pineapple Lumps” - according to the NZ girl, they are chocolate covered pineapple candies (not real pineapples)
4) This might sound dumb, but I have always thought the NZ rugby team – The All Blacks – symbol was a feather when in fact, it is a Silver Fern.

Ps, while talking to the French Cdns last night, they told me quebec got dumped on with 400 cms of snow a couple of weeks ago. 3 houses collapsed in Montreal with one death from the roof falling on him. The house had a flat roof.

It’s funny how the other parts of the world think Canada is really cold. We got nobody else to thank for other than the Cdn Tourism Commission and ourselves for promoting the cold white north and simultaneously being secretly proud of our -40’s in the winter. (Just as how the Aussies are secretly proud of their killer wildlife.)

from the globe and mail video

I thought this was interesting.

Child Soldier in Rwanda: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/childsoldier (length: 8:25 minutes)

http://www.rwandainitiative.ca/index2.html

My World, Your Dream....response

Anonymous said...
First, the translation of the red banner on the picture is wrong. It does not say "Centralizing govern control", it saying "comprehensive management". This whole article is based on a lie. Second, the Tibetian monks are acted like terrorist, burned hundreds of shops, banks. What is the difference between this and 911 and the bomb of Olympic park in Atlanta?
March 17, 2008 8:04:00 PDT PM

Hey first poster,

Perhaps your translation was slightly better. However who is to say the article is a lie? Are you presently in Lhasa? Most likely not, you know how I know? Because they blocked my blog in China. The only way I can even view (not posting entrys, but to view) my blog in China is to use a different proxy. I couldn’t post entries while in China and even had a hard time using the proxy to view it.

I like to see u support your opinion (that the globe and mail article is a lie) with some facts.

You make ALL the Tibetian monks sound like terrorists.

I don’t know why you are so defensive about this topic. The comparison of 911 to the riot in Tibet isn’t just and barely similar at all.

The monks and the Tibetans are fighting for freedom, and I believe they are taking advantage of the Beijing Olympic year, but this was not a planned “terrorist attack”. Simply a protest gone very wrong, if anything, this was closer to what happened in 1989 in Tian an men Square.

Judging on that you read Chinese, you must be a Chinese American…….oops, should I just disregard the “Chinese” part?! You are such a stereotypical American. Ha!

Anonymous said...
As an American, I do not trust the Chinese government and the people who have been brainwashed by their government. Chinese people seem controlled, cruel and indifferent to freedom. I wonder if the Chinese hatred of Tibetans is their own subconscious desire to have the Tibetan spirit, their view and independence, something the callous Chinese seem to hold. No one likes the Chinese no matter how quiet we are because of our stupid dependence on their cheap goods. But, you know what, that can change. Maybe the Tibetans have courageously awakened our independent spirit. Live on Tibetan. You are very, very brave.
March 17, 2008 8:41:00 PDT PM

To the 2nd poster,

Who does trust the Chinese gov’t? But hey, do you even trust your very own Bush admin? That’s what I thought. Athough 2 wrongs don’t make it right, I, too, have doubted the Chinese gov’t.

Not shockingly that the people have “alledgely” brainwashed by the Chinese gov’t, the Chinese gov’t is a big propaganda machine like any other governing bodies…….except they rule with a steel fist!

Let’s get one thing straight, the average Chinese person does NOT “hate” Tibetans. I am thinking that you’d agree with me when I say the gov’ts policies do not reflect the entire country’s opinion on an issue. You assumed.

Can you hear what you sound like when u said, “No one likes the Chinese no matter how quiet we are because of our stupid dependence on their cheap goods.”

Newsflash, the Americans aren’t depended on the cheap Chinese goods. It’s a simple business decision by the corporate America to import rather than manufacture the shytes themselves.

Perhaps you, Americans, should take a look at problems a bit closer to home……….I don’t know………how about the illegal labour force from Mexico that’s picking your apples and veggies?

Do I sound defensive? Perhaps a wee bit, but I wish you could hear what you said. If I were an American, I’d be ashamed to be one right about now.

Anonymous said...
After reading comments from many Chinese citizens, inside and outside of China, I think of NANKING. Chinese people talk about how they suffered under Japanese occupation but somehow they forget that their government is doing the same thing to Tibetans. WAKE UP CHINESE! What you went through in Nanking is happening again, but this time it is your government who is causing all the sufferings and miseries. RISE, RESISTS AND RETURN. FREE TIBET.

To the 3rd poster,

I don’t know much about the Nanjing Massacre, but it sounds like a reasonable enough argument.

Ex-NY Governor Spitzer should crack down on China....Not!

Migrant workers feel like 'slaves' to Beijing's Olympic projects

GEOFFREY YORK
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
March 12, 2008 at 5:13 AM EDT

BEIJING — In the midst of a massive $40-billion pre-Olympic construction boom, Beijing employers are routinely violating China's labour law by cheating the migrant workers who provide the muscle for the boom, a new report says.

Beijing, with an estimated 10,000 building sites, is in the midst of the biggest makeover in its history. Huge construction projects are visible all over the city, including new subways, trains, airports, highways and dozens of showcase buildings for the Olympics and beyond.

But the estimated one million migrants, who form 90 per cent of Beijing's vast army of construction workers, suffer a range of abusive conditions and discriminatory treatment from their employers and the government, says the report released today by Human Rights Watch.

The migrants, mostly from rural regions or small towns, are paid poorly and often cheated of their meagre wages by employers who exploit their vulnerability, the report says.

It says their wages are sometimes delayed by as much as a year, or never paid at all. They are denied access to medical care and other social benefits, and they do not receive accident insurance.

"Workers routinely endure dangerous work environments and lack any safety net, including medical and accident insurance," the report says. "A dysfunctional government system of redress for workers' grievances puts those who protest such injustices under threat of sometimes deadly physical violence."

Even the Chinese government's own surveys have confirmed the problem. A survey last year found that only 31 per cent of migrant workers were getting their salaries paid monthly, as Chinese law requires. More than half were working without labour contracts and 76 per cent were denied any overtime pay when they worked on public holidays. The survey found that the average migrant construction worker was forced to work for 10 hours a day, 27 days a month, in blatant violation of Chinese law.

The new study by Human Rights Watch found that the migrants often worked for 17 hours a day, or longer, without any overtime pay. Many said they felt like "slaves" or "cattle" because of the working conditions.

"One worker said that he and his co-workers had recently completed a work shift of three successive days, around-the-clock with minimal rest breaks," the report said, adding that the workers were sometimes roused in the middle of the night to keep working.
Food and housing for the migrants is poor. Their dormitories are often overcrowded, unheated and freezing in the winter. In one dormitory, 20 workers were sharing 10 beds, the report found.

Despite the government's awareness of the problems, most of them have persisted for years without any official action, partly because of close links between government officials and the state-owned construction companies that dominate the industry, the report said.

Another key issue is China's system of "residence permits," which prohibit workers from moving to a city without permission. Of the 150 million migrant workers in China, only 40 per cent are able to get a residence permit.

The Beijing Olympics, which begin on Aug. 8, are putting a spotlight on China's human-rights abuses. A report yesterday by the U.S. State Department criticized China for its record of police torture, forced relocations, censorship and the imprisonment of journalists and Internet writers.
Public protests are usually crushed quickly in China. Yesterday, the Chinese government acknowledged that Buddhist monks held an anti-government march in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. As many as 300 monks were involved in the march, and as many as 71 of the protesters were detained and briefly jailed, according to human-rights groups.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080312.wchina12/BNStory/International

The allure of high-end prostitutes: 'unique experiences'

The tony escort club allegedly frequented by disgraced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer ranks its prostitutes by diamonds and charges $1,000 to $5,500 (U.S.) an hour, accordingly.

During research for his book on the wealthy, The Sky's the Limit, Mr. Prince surveyed 661 people who own private jets and have a personal wealth of about $90-million each. He found that 34 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women had paid for sex within the past five years. (And, for the record, he believes his sample underreported their activity with prostitutes.)

Mr. Prince cites an extreme example: He knows of a Hong Kong company that provides personal concubines. They get paid $1-million a year.

Part of the lure of a high-end prostitution ring is the James-Bond-style security and privacy. He says most wealthy clients are willing to pay for utter discretion.

"My World, but Your Dream"

More Chinese propaganda: The red banner says in Chinese and Tibetan, “Strengthening community relations, Centralizing govern control, and Upkeeping socio-political stability.”

The following are articles taken from the globe and mail site over the last few days. I have cut and pasted the most important parts from each article.

Lhasa lockdown

The Dalai Lama warned Tibet faced “cultural genocide” and appealed to the world for help.
“Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place,” said the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Tibet's exiled government said Sunday that 80 people had been killed during protests in Lhasa as armed police and soldiers patrolled the capital's streets, enforcing a strict curfew in a security clampdown following violent demonstrations that drew negative publicity for China ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

He told reporters in Dharmsala, the north Indian town where Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile is based, that an international body should investigate the government's crackdown on the Lhasa protests.

Tibet was effectively independent for decades before Chinese communist troops entered in 1950. The latest unrest began March 10 on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against
The figures could not be independently verified because China restricts foreign media access to Tibet.

Businesses were shuttered, and about 30 riot police with shields took up posts near the monastery. Police forced journalists to delete photographs of police.

Large communities of ethnic Tibetans live far outside modern Tibet in areas that were the Himalayan region's eastern and northeastern provinces of Amdo and Kham until the communist takeover in 1951. Those areas were later split off by Beijing to become the Chinese province of Qinghai and part of Sichuan province.

Loudspeakers on the streets repeatedly broadcast slogans urging residents to “discern between enemies and friends, maintain order.”

International criticism of the crackdown in Tibet so far has been mild, with no threats of an Olympic boycott or other sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Sunday on China “to exercise restraint in dealing with the protests.”

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Saturday he opposed an Olympic boycott over Tibet.


China declares ‘people’s war’ to control Tibet

Residents of the remote city high in the Himalayas said on Sunday that anti-riot troops controlled the streets and were closely checking Tibetan homes after protests and looting shook the heavily Buddhist region.

Two days ago Tibetan protesters, some in Buddhist monks' robes and some yelling pro-independence slogans, trashed shops, attacked banks and government offices and wielded stones and knives against police.

"Fight a people's war to oppose separatism and protect stability … expose and condemn the malicious actions of these forces and expose the hideous face of the Dalai clique to broad daylight."

Authorities have already set an ultimatum to rioters, urging them to hand themselves in to
Lhasa residents contacted by telephone, including some who spoke relatively freely a day or two ago, were frightened and reluctant to say much even anonymously.
The Dalai Lama, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, has said he only wants greater autonomy for Tibet.


IOC chief says boycott wouldn't ‘solve anything'

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The president of the International Olympic Committee rejected the idea of boycotting the Summer Games in Beijing over China's crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only hurt athletes.

On a six-day tour of the Caribbean, Rogge expressed condolences for the victims and said he hopes calm will be restored immediately. He declined to say whether the committee would change its stance if violence continues or more people are killed.

The head of the Swiss Olympic Committee told state-owned DRS radio that he is against a boycott but wants the IOC to intervene with China over the troubles in Tibet.

“The Rubicon has been crossed,” Joerg Schild said. “I can't bring myself to say that we're going to go there and do sport.”

IOC vice president Thomas Bach said the committee will speak with China about human rights, but boycotting the games “would be the wrong way because that will cut lines of communication.”

European officials joined the IOC in urging Beijing to end the violence and engage in dialogue, but also said politics should not intrude on the spirit of the games.

“The Olympics must be held in an atmosphere of true brotherhood,” EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini told Italy's ANSA news agency. “Otherwise this feast of sport would be seriously at risk.”

At least four major boycotts have occurred in Olympic history, but they mostly resulted in undue punishment for athletes, said David Wallechinsky, an author and vice president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.

He condemned, however, the decision to host the games in China.

“The IOC asked for trouble when they put the Olympics in a country run by a dictatorship,” he said. “Now it's come back to haunt them.”


Exiles give voice to Tibetan protests amid Chinese crackdown

KATHMANDU — Police broke up a protest by 200 Tibetans in Nepal's capital on Saturday – beating them with bamboo batons and arresting at least 20 – as Tibetan exile communities ramped up demonstrations around the world.

Hundreds gathered peacefully for a candlelight vigil in Dharmsala, India, the headquarters of Tibet's government-in-exile. But gatherings in western China, the United States, Australia and India's capital descended into violence when police tried to disperse crowds of distraught exiles.
Beijing maintains Tibet is historically a part of China. But many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries before communist troops entered in 1950 and accuse China of trying to crush Tibetan culture by swamping it with Han people, the majority Chinese ethnic group.

In Kathmandu, the Tibetans held banners reading “Free Tibet. Stop the killings in Tibet” as they demonstrated in front of the United Nations office. They scuffled with police as the officers snatched their banners and flags.

Dozens more protesters in Dharmsala launched a new attempt to march to Tibet on Saturday, days after more than 100 exiles were arrested by Indian authorities at the start of a similar effort. Their goal is to reach Tibet when the Beijing Olympics begin in August.

And in Australia, media reported that police used batons and pepper spray to quell a demonstration outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney. The Australian Associated Press reported that dozens of demonstrators were at the scene and that five were arrested.

Tibetan exile group says at least 30 killed in Chinese crackdown

BEIJING — China ordered tourists out of Tibet's capital Saturday while troops on foot and in armoured vehicles patrolled the streets and confined government workers to their offices, a day after riots that a Tibetan exile group said left at least 30 protesters dead.
Plooij Frans, a Dutch tourist who left the capital Saturday morning by plane and arrived in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, said he saw about 140 trucks of soldiers drive into the city within 24 hours.

"They came down on Tibetan people really hard," said Mr. Frans, who said his group could not return to their hotel Friday and had to stay near the airport. "Every corner there were tanks. It would have been impossible to hold any protest today."

China urged to show restraint over Tibet protesters

Australia, the United States and Europe are all urging the Chinese authorities to deal with the Lhasa situation peacefully, while Taiwan, which China claims as its own, predictably condemned moves against the protests.

Other Asian states have not commented.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for "free and direct dialogue" between China and the Dalai Lama, her spokesman said.

"It is now more important than ever that demonstrators and security forces call for restraint and that the rights of individuals are respected," Ulrich Wilhelm said.

"The German government has always supported the Tibetans' claim to religious and cultural autonomy," he said, adding Germany did not support it becoming a separate state.

Beijing cancelled a number of high-level meetings with German officials after Ms. Merkel last year became the first German chancellor to meet with the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese government views as a separatist. China has also urged India to stop protests there by exiled Tibetans.

"We strongly condemn China's use of force to suppress Tibet and urge the international community to monitor the development in Tibet," Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement, but other Asian countries were slow to react.

Elsewhere the Times of India criticized its government for jailing around 100 Tibetan protesters earlier this week.

"None of this (referring to the protests in Tibet) need concern New Delhi, which has taken the official position that Tibet is part of China," the paper said.

"But it doesn't have to kowtow to Beijing by cracking down harshly on peaceful Tibetan protest on Indian soil."

Tibetans lash out at Beijing

The violence came on the fifth day of an extraordinary wave of marches and rallies by Buddhist monks, who are protesting against Chinese domination of Tibet. For the first time, the Tibetans turned their rage into ethnic clashes as they threw stones at Chinese residents and ransacked Chinese shops, seeing them as symbols of Beijing's rule.

- Within Tibet, simply having the Dalai Lama’s picture can be grounds for imprisonment. Critics say Buddhist monks and nuns loyal to the Dalai Lama have been jailed and tortured.“Tibetan sources in the city said the protesters were burning and smashing Chinese shops and anything Chinese as they moved through the city, leaving thick, black smoke billowing over Lhasa,” said a report by Radio Free Asia, which has contacts with Tibetan witnesses in Lhasa.

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, called for an end to China's forceful repression. “These protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people.”

He also appealed to Tibetans to refrain from violence.

The United Nations human-rights commissioner, former Canadian judge Louise Arbour, asked the Chinese government to “allow demonstrators to exercise their right to freedom of expression and assembly [and] to refrain from any excessive use of force while maintaining order … .”

Foreign television broadcasts in China were heavily censored. All CNN and BBC reports about the Lhasa protests were blacked out within China, using China's control of their satellite
One tourist, who returned from Lhasa this week, documented the second day of the protests this week at the Sera monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa. Her bus, filled with Buddhist pilgrims, was ordered to turn away from the monastery, she said. “Seconds after we were asked to turn around, Chinese police began to gather at the gate and a stream of Tibetan monks came running down the road from the monastery,” she recalled in a comment posted on The Globe and Mail's website yesterday.

“The Chinese police officers, right in front of our bus, began grabbing passing monks at random and clubbing, hitting and kicking them … We were then told to close the curtains of the bus, and our Chinese tour guide, looking terrified, told us to not take any photos and under no circumstance even say the words ‘Dalai Lama.' ”

A shadow on the Games

China's functionaries responded entirely predictably to the challenge to their rule, blaming the Dalai Lama and his adherents of “masterminding” the uprising.

China's hypersensitivity to foreign attitudes toward its occupation of Tibet is well known. The country threatens grave economic consequences when foreign leaders meet with the Dalai Lama, and even moved to censor foreign performers after Björk shouted “Tibet! Tibet!” after her song Declare Independence at a recent concert in Shanghai. Officials complained that Björk “broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings.”

The Beijing Olympic Games motto is inspiring: “One world one dream.”

The human tragedy of the last days and hours and the cultural tragedy of the last five decades in Tibet serves to remind us all just how elusive is the dream for the Tibetans, and indeed for the people of China itself. Tibetans' fight to preserve their culture, and their faith, should be remembered by the throngs of sports enthusiasts when they come to Beijing. Some might even be inspired by Björk's example. Independence may be out of reach, but a call for justice and human rights is no insult to China.

Port Arthur, Tasmania

Went on a day tour yesterday at Port Arthur with Geoff. Met up with 3 girls I know from Sydney. They were all travellers like myself, but from Ireland, Scotland, and the UK.

It was the first time I have seen them in over 2 months. It was good seeing them, again.

Well, let me give you a brief history on PA:

- A former convict settlement with a penitentiary originally built as a flour mill in 1830 (also the British Empire’s first boys' prison)
- Population of 500 (2006 census)
- Tasmania was originally known as Van Diemen’s Land and PA was named after the lieutenant governor George Arthur.

- housed convicted British and Irish criminals (usually secondary offenders whom have re-offended after arriving in Australia)
- Almost all the convicts were arrested for petty crimes such as stealing. The youngest boy arrested and sent here was 9 years old. His crime: losing his set of knife and fork.

- Its "Separate Prison" system was designed after Pentonville prison in London, UK.

- “Silent System" was implemented in the Separate Prison. The prisoners were required to stay silent and put on hood when leaving their cells 1 hour a day, therefore taking away their identity and causing them to have a mental breakdown. (They couldn’t even speak to themselves or the guards, as all communications between the guards and the convicts were done through hand gestures.)

- secured naturally by shark-infested waters on 3 sides and the 30m wide Isthmus of Eaglehawk Neck that connected it to the mainland + crossed by fences and guarded by prison guards and starving dogs.

- 1646 graves recorded to exist there, only 180, those of prison staff and military personnel, are marked.
- The prison closed in 1877

- In 1996, a gunman went on a killing spree and killed 35 people (37 more were injured). The shooting led to a national ban on semi-automatic shotguns and rifles.

Anyways, the most impressionable part of the site was the separate prison and the night ghost tour. I went into the prison around 6pm and shot some pictures in the corridor, solitary confinement cell, and the chapel. I tried to ignore acknowledging the sadness in the prison, but it was creepy just being there.

The cells smelled funny and felt claustrophobic. Though that not every prisoners died while staying in the cells, I just automatically assumed that whoever stayed here, died here. I couldn’t interpret the place any other ways, since it felt more like a dungeon.

During the night ghost tour on the haunted grounds at 9pm, we visited a few places on site including the reverend’s house, the dissection room, church, and the separate prison.

The tour was quite spooky and our guide, Chris, was quite a storyteller. She really enjoyed her job. I genuinely disliked being inside any haunted buildings.

Though I was hoping to see some eerie sights, I didn’t get to see any ghosts (the reverend, convicts, or the weeping lady in the blue dress). The experience itself was great.

Bushwalking and Apples

The pic above is a deformed apple. There's a contest at the local internet cafe for the "ugliest looking apple". I emailed in this one along with 2 others. One of the other 2 apples looked like it's got a penis. No joke!

Breakdown of total bins of apples picked during my 1 week stint: 16.5 bins or 2.75 bins per day. Each bin weighed in about 400 kgs and I got paid $28.72 per bin. So I earned about $473 less $78 for taxes. That was the hardest $395 I had to earn. (The French Cdns were so good at fruit picking that they were raking in the cash. On average, they do about 8 to 11 bins per day per person. A 6 bin day is considered a “slow” day.)

2 days after I quit my job, I drove one hour south to Cockle Creek where the road ended at the beach, which also happens to be Australia’s southernmost street (fo serious, I got a picture to prove it). Cockle Creek has a whooping population of 3, although I saw more than 30 people camping there when I was there. I took a picture with me and the Cockle Creek sign while pointing to myself with one hand and gestured “4” with my other hand indicating the total number of population had just increased by 1 more!

On the way to Cockle Creek, I tried to find this lake called The Duck Hole Lake, but had no luck; I picked the wrong turn where the dirt road forked. Instead of going to the right, I picked the left which eventually led me back onto the highway while seeing some strange sights along the way. The strangest sight was what appeared to be clear cutting of the forest. (I have heard that the local logging companies are in bed with Forestry Tasmania) However, I wasn’t very sure because all the tree trunks left in the soil looked burnt.

I did the short Whale Walk to see where the early settlers (over 300 of them) used to go on whale hunt. Visited the place where the French explorers landed and where they gathered fresh water for drinking. Then I took a 2.5 hour walk to Fishers Point along the shore. While walking on the beach, I had to stay below the high tide mark and on the damp sand near the water’s edge (since a type of birds (Hooded Plovers) live on the beaches and lay their eggs in the dry sand. The population of the Plovers has decreased by half since 1982 due to more human activities in the region. A trekker like myself need to be on the look out for chicks on the beach between October and March.

Yet the beach was so uninhabited by humans, I walked for close to 4 hours seeing only 3 tourists and they were all from Quebec. All the campers were from various parts of Australia and they were all over 40.

Finally on my way back from Fishers Point, I took a few more leaping pictures on a huge and flat rock next to the ocean. Shockingly, I wasn’t as alone as I thought I was. A huge snake sneaked behind me while I was sitting down on the rock. I had no idea it was there until I heard some rustling noise behind me. I jumped off the rock and took a few steps away from it while it casually left me towards the bushes. The snake was black and must have been about 2 feet long with quite a substantial size in girth. (After I got back to the hostel, I talked to this old Austrian guy from Innsbruck about it and he confirmed that it was the venomous Tiger Snake.) There are 3 types of deadly snakes in Tasmania, the White Lip Snake, Tiger Snake and Copperhead.

This sighting marked the 2nd time I have seen a snake in the wild since I left Canada. The first sighting was in Siem Reap, Cambodia where a snake zig-zaging across the pavement in front of me and my bicycle on the way to the airport.

Last Friday, I dropped Geoff off at the orchard at 7:30am as usual then I headed back to the hostel to create an ad to sell our 91 Toyota Camry Station Wagon, since I might be leaving Tassy early and Geoff doesn’t know how to drive.
By noon, I was on my way to climb Hartz Mountain for the 2nd time (since it rained on us the first time 2.5 weeks ago and it was freezing)

Hartz Mt must not want me to ever make it to the top because it was 38 degrees and super windy. The heat was very unusual for Tasmania, but not the wind. The wind was so strong that the local gov’t issued a wind and fire warning. It was dry and the fire hazard was listed as extreme. There was even a total fire ban. (The forest fire hazards has 5 levels: low, moderate, high, very high, extreme)

Once I parked my car and started the climb for 30 minutes, the wind was already too strong. I visited Lake Esperance again before descending the mountain. I was wowed by the wind’s effect on the lake since the lake looked more like an ocean with strong waves. I was getting wet from the lake water blown in my face.

It wasn’t long before I realized that I was so alone that if anything happened to me, I probably wouldn’t be rescued for another day or 2.

*Went to Port Arthur yesterday, a 2.5 hour trip from where I live, and did a ghost tour last night there. It was spooky. More updates to come upon my next blog entry. (http://www.portarthur.org.au/)

Geeveston Gossips

Found out tonight that the local post office personnels have had acquired quite a taste for reading whatever news they can find related to Geeveston, Tasmania on google.com.au.

Anybody who subscribe to news on the net about Geeveston has got way too much time or perhaps that’s the life in a sleepy town.

Anyways, I learned that a couple of the post office staff, Laurie (short for Lawrence?) and Bev, used to own this hostel called “The Forest Backpackers” down the road from the post office, but the place has since then been sold within the last 2 years. (Hello Laurie and Bev, I know you must be reading this over a cup of peppermint tea)

I only know this because my friend stayed at their hostel a couple of years ago and apparently the manager, Charlie, was quite a character.

Plus, before I got to Geeveston, I called the phone number I found online for forest backpacker and spoke to the lady who used to own the place (presuming it was Bev).

Anyways, that’s that. I also know something about you, Laurie and Bev! : )

Whatelse you know about me?

Apple Picking 101 (Geeveston, Tasmania, Australia)

Population: 850 (plus or minus 100 the backpackers from Europe, Canada, Korea, Taiwan and Japan for the fruit picking seasons)

Having never really picked fruits before, I am not sure how the picking is like compare to home. Apple picking is huge in Tasmania. Tasmanian apples once supplied a large portion of the European market until the 70’s. In today’s word, Australia produces 0.1% of the world’s apples, while China produces over 40% of the world’s apples.

Prior to getting this apple picking job, my friend and I had been painting the hostel we have been staying at….the owner offered me and my friend $250 each for a 4day work. It took us 3.5 days to do everything. Painted the exteriors only (walls, window frames and gutters). We had to brush off everything first then hose it clean before letting it dry and put down the paper and tape around the edges before painting. Fortunately we only had 1 rainy day.
Just finished the 4th day of apple picking today, the first day was hell. Fruit picking is tough work. But it has gotten better since then. On the first day, Geoff and I picked 4 bins (each bin weighs over 400 kg) for 8 hours. 2nd day we picked 5 bins, 3rd day we picked 6 bins and we picked 5 bins today. So we have gotten better daily. I think 8 bin’s between the 2 of us is doable. However, I don’t think I will pick apples for a month, gonna give it a week to see how it goes.
*we get paid about $28 dollars/bin, so if Geoff and I picked 6 bins between the two of us, we’d get about $60 each (yes….30% taxes….heavy!) for the 8 hour day.
We are picking the Royal Gala variety for now, which also happens to my fav type of apples. Other varieties on the apple farm are Pink Ladys, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji’s and Lady in the Snow.
The good news is that it’s mindless work and outdoors, but the bad news is that it’s mindless and it’s outdoors. Fortunately the weather has been not too bad for working out doors. It’s chilly in the morning and the temperature may be around 8 degrees. We start daily at 7:30am and finish at about 4:30pm. It warms up really quickly by 9am then stays blazing warm with a nice breeze throughout the day. However, the fall is coming soon so it’s getting colder daily. I don’t reckon I’d be working outdoors much longer. I don’t mind working under the sun, but when it’s cold and wet, it sucks. It’s also tough because there are a lot of ladder climbing involved as the trees could range from 5 feet tall to over 11 feet.
Right now we are picking with 2 other people, a couple. The girl is from Winnipeg and the guy is from Italy. A week before we got this job, we met some French Cdns and there are a lot of French Cdns picking apples here in Tasmania. They are all very good. They pick on average 8 bins/day per person. There are a few reasons on why there’s such big discrepancy between them and us (other than that they are more experienced from picking fruits in the Okanagans).

Elements which affect a picker’s day: picker’s ability, picker’s physical attributes (tall, long arms and big hands all help), size of the apples, height of the apple trees, weather, and how fast a picker can pick the apples from the top of the trees using a ladder…etc). I am missing the height and the large hands, so I could only make up the rest picking faster and hoping for good weather.

To be more technical on picking apples, the picker would cup the apples gently and wrap his finger around the stalk while turning the apple upwards towards the stem to release the apples from the tree.

Even I have only been doing this for 4 days, I have to say that I have gained a new perspective on eating fruits and the people behind the fruit picking work. I am more thankful for every chance I get when eating a fruit. I will think about that person whom picked the fruits for me. That Mexican, Indian, French Canadian, Asian or the illegal immigrant whom picked them under all the elements of the weather (yes, I know that was not very PC, but I wasn’t trying to be PC).

Conclusion: It takes a special type of person to make a budding career in apple picking happen.

On a random note, I have got to know a few people at the hostel very well over the last 2.5 weeks I have been here. Travellers come and go, but there’s a core group of us here. Dave the 37 year old Pommie, Margaret the 50 year old England born Aussie, and the 53 year old Kiwi Australian Raewyn.

Dave ditched the UK for Aus last year and picked Tasmania as his base. He now buys land and builds houses for resell. He’s staying at the hostel until his first house is built. Margaret moved from Queensland to Tasmania and just found a job as a tour guide at a local attraction. Raewyn moved from Western Australia to Tasmania for retirement and is staying at the hostel until she and Margaret found a place to rent together.

The group of us can often be found chatting and staying up late talking about everything and anything.

Just 4 nights ago after a few drinks and getting ready for bed (we all sleep in a 8 people dorm room), Pommie Dave started a pillow fight with my friend Geoff which then escalated to a load of fun even the 50 year old ladies joined in. I was the guy watching from the side. Geoff and Dave kept making stupid jokes and I thought the older women would stop them but they never did, instead they joined the madness. It was quite funny looking as a bystander.

Random Facts on World Cities

1) Vancouver was again ranked the best place to live in the world for the 5th year in a row by the Economist magazine (Toronto ranked 5th out of 132 cities).

Vancouver was ranked first overall because of its “low crime rates, little threat from instability or terrorism, and a highly developed transport and communications infrastructure.”

The survey considered 40 individual factors in categories such as stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.

For more details, please visite: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/08/23/bc-vancouver.html?ref=rss

2) Four of the world’s top 10 costliest cities for expatriates are in Asia. (Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Osaka). For full listing: http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm

3) Best Canadian Cities to Live – Economic

Ottawa-Gatineau was ranked 1st overall with halifax 2nd and Quebec 3rd before Guelph at the 4th place. Toronto ranked 12th before Vancouver at 15th. Montreal and Calgary are placed 23rd and 28th respectively.

*The survey measures avg family income, discretionary %, newer cars, population growth, unemployment rate, and homocide rate. It’s a pretty dumb survey if u ask me. Pretty deceiving figures.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/list.jsp

Am I Missing the World?

I have read quite a bit of some of the following topic the last week. (Thank god for the globe and mail) Thought this would be interesting to share. Life is easy in small town Tasmania, as it is easy not to care about much, but I am not about to live a carefree lifestyle. There’s too much out there to be ignored. Buckle up!

1) Reviving the spectre of racism in South Africa

……the release of a video shot by four white male university students in which they make the much-older black women who clean their dormitory perform a series of stunts (chugging beer, dancing together, fumbling with a rugby ball) and then force them, on hands and knees, to eat a “stew” that appears to be dog food and into which one man had apparently just urinated.

- “This is what shocked me most – that such a thing happens and is done by young South Africans who were never exposed to actual apartheid – what future do we have here?” said Ezekiel Moraka, vice rector for student relations at the University of the Free State, where the young men were students. “This is very disturbing.”

- Throughout the video, the women address the students as baaas, Afrikaans for boss or master, a term blacks were forced to use during apartheid when addressing whites. The students sometimes address the women as “black whores.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080229.wracist29/BNStory/International/home
2) A glaring double standard

- For every 'presidential' and 'charismatic' bestowed on Barack Obama, there are 10 adjectives commentators have used to put down the way Hillary Clinton dresses, talks and emotes. Call this what it is – blatant sexism

- Ellen DeGeneres pops up to surprise Hillary Clinton during fundraiser at George Washington University

Her laugh is a “cackle.” Her daughter Chelsea is being “pimped out.” She is only there because of her husband. She is “inauthentic” and manipulative, especially that time she cried in New Hampshire (and she didn't actually cry, by the way, even though anti-Clinton forces quickly had T-shirts made that said “Cry Baby” on them.)

When Ms. Clinton wasn't very occasionally showing her soft side, she was characterized as grating and aggressive. When she demonstrated how much she knew about so many issues, she was trying too hard to be “the smartest girl in the room.”

- The episode also underscored the sort of tightrope Ms. Clinton must walk as a woman candidate — too tough and she's an "ice maiden," too emotional and she's "weak."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080226.wltimson26/BNStory/lifeMain/home

3) Obama, Clinton deadlocked in Texas, Ohio

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080301.wprimary0301/BNStory/International/home
[The rolling poll was conducted Wednesday through Friday, with most of the survey coming before Ms. Clinton launched a fresh attack on Friday on Mr. Obama's ability and experience handling a national security crisis.

She released a new television ad to be aired in Texas showing children sleeping peacefully in bed.
"It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call," the ad's narrator says

Mr. Obama hit back with an ad of his own, which also showed sleeping children and spoke of a White House phone ringing.

"When that call gets answered, shouldn't the president be the one – the only one – who had judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start?" the narrator says.]

4) The Hillary paradox

- Instead, she encountered Mr. Obama, a charismatic and silver-tongued rival with a competing, and equally powerful, claim to history, which would put the first African American in the Oval Office. If he lacks her experience, he is also free of the burden of perceptions she has shouldered since her days in Washington.

"I wish she could come across as a little bit more of a 'bring us together' voice," Ms. McCoy says. "But she is a litigator — you can't change a leopard's spots. … And is that necessary? To really like our leaders?"

Another skilled Democrat, Bill Clinton, might say so. He famously remarked that Democrats prefer to fall in love with their candidates, while Republicans prefer to fall in line. Unfortunately for Hillary Clinton, his words appear to be ringing true.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080301.wfocusclinton0301/BNStory/International

5) The ugly truth in Afghanistan

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080301.wcanukafghan0301/BNStory/Afghanistan/home
6) Clinton makes weekend push in key states

- “His entire campaign is based on a speech he gave at an anti-war rally in 2002,” Ms. Clinton told reporters aboard her campaign plane as she flew between events in San Antonio and Fort Worth, Tex. “The speech was not followed up by action, which is part of a pattern that we have seen repeatedly.”

It was the second day she has made national security the focus of her closing argument to voters, seeking to portray Mr. Obama as inexperienced and untested.

Mr. Obama fired back at rally in Providence, R.I., telling supporters: “Real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for president.”

- Mr. Obama has accused her of trying to scare voters. Her campaign began airing a commercial a TV ad Friday that asks voters who they want to answer the phone in the middle of the night at the White House when there's a national security emergency somewhere in the world.
But Ms. Clinton said presidential candidates must assure voters they understand security issues, particularly in a campaign against Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain, a former prisoner of war.

“I think it would be really a disservice to voters not to raise national security in this campaign in a way that focuses the attention of voters,” Ms. Clinton said.

“Everybody knows that John McCain will make this election about national security, that's a given,” Ms. Clinton said. “If Senator Obama is unwilling to engage me on national security how is he going to engage senator McCain.”

She also hammered Mr. Obama over Afghanistan, noting he's complained about the conflict but done little, though he heads a key committee.

“He never held a substantive hearing on the situation in Afghanistan and what we needed to do,” Ms. Clinton said. “A lot of talk, little action.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080301.wclinton0301/BNStory/usElection2008/

7) Obama accuses Clinton of political expediency

- “Real change isn't about changing your position to fit the politics of the moment. And that's the choice in this election,” Mr. Obama told a packed recreation centre as thousands more listened from outside.

- Mr. Obama spoke six days after Ms. Clinton came to the same arena and depicted Mr. Obama as naive and unrealistic about dealing with tough issues like health-care reform and global warming.

In his remarks, Mr. Obama challenged his rival's judgment and commitment on trade and foreign policy.

He asserted that Ms. Clinton had changed her position to oppose the North American free-trade agreement only after deciding to run for president. He also said she waffled on legislation to make it harder for low-income individuals to file for bankruptcy protection.
He depicted himself as having better judgment to deal with a national security emergencies, renewing his criticism of Ms. Clinton's October, 2002 vote to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq.

“Real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for president,” Mr. Obama said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080301.obama0301/BNStory/usElection2008
8) Are the media giving Obama a free ride?

- Tony Rezko, a Chicago developer and political fixer with close ties to Barack Obama, goes on trial for extortion, money-laundering and fraud. And yet only one newspaper in North America, the Chicago Sun-Times, carried a story yesterday mentioning the coming trial.
Outside Chicago, the Obama-Rezko affair has received only sporadic coverage, despite acts that Mr. Obama admits were "boneheaded mistakes."

No wonder Hillary Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer admits to being "just angry" at how the media are covering the Democratic presidential nomination.

Ms. Clinton openly accuses the American media of bias in their coverage of her and of Mr. Obama's campaign. In essence, the Clinton camp believes that reporters go out of their way to criticize her, but are so enamoured of Mr. Obama that they ignore or minimize information that might cause voters to question his fitness for the presidency.

- Bill and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Edsall believes, have hated the media since he became president in 1993. The accumulated insults, resentments, betrayals and controversies have so poisoned relations between journalists and the Clintons that objective, or even fair, reporting is virtually impossible.

Beyond that, "the Obama campaign is a much more exciting campaign. And reporters have sometimes allowed themselves to get too much caught up in that excitement."

Mr. Obama's multicultural background, the tremendous enthusiasm he generates at public appearances, his inspiring - if ill-defined - message of reconciliation appeals to well-educated, relatively affluent liberal voters, which is also a pretty good description of most reporters.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080229.wwprimaryibbitson29/BNStory/usElection2008

9) Obama would put a new face on America

- The Illinois Senator proposes to increase taxes, to expand public health insurance and to impose onerous new regulations on industry to fight global warming. Mr. Obama is protectionist, statist and interventionist. There is nothing about him for a libertarian to like.

- But the U.S. president is both head of government and head of state. In presidential elections, voters usually cast their ballots for head of government, for the candidate they think would do the best job of running the country.

"But sometimes you vote for the head of state, instead," he explained. "It's tremendously important for me that Barack Obama become America's head of state."

- the growing voter enthusiasm for Mr. Obama is based on reasoning that goes beyond facts. People just like the guy. They recognize the strength of the mind behind the oratory, his seriousness of purpose, his level-headedness. These are just impressions, of course, but voters judge, as they should, on impressions.

- They are frustrated as well by public-policy debates that can't seem to get past the 1980s. Liberals versus conservatives. Southern versus northern. Religious versus secular. Suburbs versus cities. Race versus race versus race.

These are the debates that shaped the world the boomers inherited and now run. But there is another world being shaped by their children: a world of young evangelicals who want to carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa; a world of postfeminist women who will put up with nothing from men, or from other women telling them who they ought to be; a world in which identifying yourself by your race is not only self-denying, but passé.

The candidacy of Barack Obama, its message of reconciliation and renewal, resonates with the people of this new world, who amplify and broadcast that message with roars of "Yes We Can!" And the boomers, hearing that roar, remember the world they had hoped to create, so different from the world we've been left with, and some of them will take up the chant as well.

- The big worry is that expectations for Mr. Obama will be so high that, if he wins in November, they will be followed by tremendous disappointment, as the new president is confronted by the harsh limits of presidential power.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080227.wwcoibbi27/BNStory/usElection2008

10) Obama and McCain battle over Iraq, leaving Clinton out of debate

- "I have some news," Mr. McCain said. "Al-Qaeda is in Iraq. It's called al-Qaeda in Iraq. My friends, if we left, they wouldn't be establishing a base, they'd be taking a country and I'm not going to allow that to happen."

Mr. McCain was somewhat undermined by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, who told U.S. lawmakers yesterday that al-Qaeda in Iraq had suffered major setbacks last year and although still "capable of mounting lethal attacks," the group had suffered hundreds of members killed or captured.

- Obama: "I have some news for John McCain, and that is that there was no such thing as al-Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq," he said to cheers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080228.wprimary28/BNStory/usElection2008