I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, but an interesting piece on the current state of China, including the mind-blowing statistic: “there are 123 million “netizens†in China, and 34 million of them are bloggers”.
I did think of learning Mandarin some two decades ago – not to was obviously a mistake!
… and the penguins just might win.
On Tuesday, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) petitioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service to classify twelve kinds of penguins as “endangered” or “threatened.” The Center says the change could create legal leverage against activities that contribute to climate change or otherwise threaten the birds.
“We… believe that if and when penguins are listed,” said CBD staff attorney Kassie Siegel, “US entities that are responsible for large sources of greenhouse emissions will also be responsible for analyzing the impact of those emissions on listed species like penguins.”
I’m now fully experiencing the “Kentish Town crane”, a stiffness and soreness in the neck that comes from tilting your head back at an impossible angle while attempting to yell in a friendly manner to someone at least two floors up to convince them to vote for the Green Party.
“Kentish Town”, because that piece of the London Borough of Camden contains lots of Victorian terraced houses now split into flats, but with upper-floor flats that often don’t have intercoms. And inhabitants are understandably disinclined to run down two flights of stairs for some unknown stranger on their doorstep.
Hence the bellowing, and the stiff neck…
It is always easy to mock the Prince of Wales, but he does support some good stuff:
THE Prince of Wales plans to label his Duchy Originals range with details of the greenhouse gases emitted in making the products, which range from sausages to shampoos.
Under the scheme, to be announced by Prince Charles this week, every stage will be analysed to quantify how much climate-changing gas is released in producing each of the 200 items.
… A Clarence House official said the idea was to give consumers the most comprehensive green information available on any product in Britain. Prince Charles wants “people to know the cost of their food in greenhouse gas terms as well as in terms of pounds and penceâ€, she said.
Royalty does at least have its uses for political purposes – had some other small green producer made the announcement I doubt it would have got this sort of publicity.
An horrific report from Amnesty International about the use of rape by the police and security forces as
Testimonies of women who have been raped and reports by Nigerian human rights organizations identify the Nigerian Police Force and other members of the security forces, in particular the military, as the principal state actors responsible for rape. The Director for Women’s Affairs within the Ministry for Women’s Affairs told Amnesty International in February 2006: “Around 60 per cent of violence against women is committed in army barracks or police stations, according to research by non-governmental organizations”.
I spent nearly four hours on a Green Party stall on Kentish Town Road this morning, and for the first time in this by-election campaign (before Thursday’s poll) the Tories also had a stall, which was an entertaining three-ring circus.
There was a mob of Young Tory males, looking terribly like, well, young Tories, and the assemblage of the stall – unfolding the table etc – nearly defeated the combined efforts of a dozen Tory brains. (It was suggested to me that perhaps they really should have brought their maids.)
Then there was the challenge of blowing up balloons. No quite sure how they managed it, but it seemed at least half ended up bursting, so there were regular fusillades echoing down the high street – you wouldn’t want to have been of a nervous disposition or you’d have been hitting the deck.
Politics can be so much fun…
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