It’s a brave person who thinks they can change the behaviour of an entire nation, but that’s what June Yamada is trying to do. Outraged by the bad manners and rudeness that she encountered when she moved to Shanghai, the etiquette and style expert has embarked on a crusade to introduce the Chinese to a world of refinement. Some would say Ms Yamada has taken on a Herculean task, given the fondness of the Chinese for hawking and spitting in public, queue-barging, pushing their way on and off buses and trains and spitting out bones on restaurant floors. Then there’s the fact that “please” and “thank you” are the least-used words in the Chinese language. So ingrained are these behavioural quirks that the mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan, believes the hardest part of preparing to host the 2008 Olympics will be improving the manners of its residents: “I really worry whether the audience will stand up when the national anthem of another country is played, or whether Chinese athletes will be greeted with applause if they lose.” Born in Tokyo and educated in Los Angeles, Ms Yamada worked as a fashion consultant to moguls and movie stars […]
PARIS – After nearly two decades, Europe’s antinuclear tide is showing signs of turning. For the first time in 15 years, a European country has begun construction of a nuclear reactor, and six more are likely to be built in the next decade. Other countries are revising plans to phase out their nuclear programs. And this week’s brief but brutal drop in Europe’s supplies of crucial Russian gas has only served to fuel the trend. “People are saying ‘let’s take a second look’ at nuclear power,” says William Ramsay, deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency. “Rising oil prices means nuclear is becoming more economically attractive, and gas prices are a second kick in the pants.” To reduce its dependence on oil and gas imports, Europe needs to “look at nuclear power and at renewable energy,” European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said Wednesday. Nuclear power plants remain unpopular with a majority of Europeans, who are worried about what happens to the radioactive waste. Industry officials, however, are playing on the public’s competing worries about the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming. Nuclear plants, they point out, emit practically no CO2. “Nuclear is […]
Every Supreme Court nominee bears a heavy burden to demonstrate that he or she is committed to the constitutional principles that have been vital in advancing fairness, decency and equal opportunity in our society. As Judge Samuel Alito approaches his confirmation hearings next week, the more we learn about him, the more questions we have about the credibility of his assurances to us. Consider these five areas: 1. 1985 job application : Alito was 35 when he applied for an important political position with Attorney General Ed Meese during the Reagan administration. Alito sought to demonstrate his “philosophical commitment” to Meese’s legal outlook. He wrote that the 1964 Goldwater presidential campaign had been his original political inspiration, even though he was only 14 at the time. His views on the law, he said, were inspired by his “deep disagreement with Warren Court decisions.” He strongly objected to “usurpation by the judiciary” of the powers of the president, and supported the “supremacy” of the elected branches over the judiciary. Not surprisingly, Alito got the job. The views expressed there raise serious concerns about his ability to interpret the Constitution with a fair and open mind. When this embarrassing […]
A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials. The ceramic plates in vests now worn by the majority of troops in Iraq cover only some of the chest and back. In at least 74 of the 93 fatal wounds that were analyzed in the Pentagon study of marines from March 2003 through June 2005, bullets and shrapnel struck the marines’ shoulders, sides or areas of the torso where the plates do not reach. Thirty-one of the deadly wounds struck the chest or back so close to the plates that simply enlarging the existing shields “would have had the potential to alter the fatal outcome,” according to the study, which was obtained by The New York Times. For the first time, the study by the military’s medical examiner shows the cost in lives from inadequate armor, even […]
Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues, including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper. The action came amid criticism by free-speech activists of foreign technology companies that help the communist government enforce censorship or silence dissent in order to be allowed into China’s market. Microsoft’s China-based Web log-hosting service shut down the blog at the Chinese government’s request, said Brooke Richardson, group product manager with Microsoft’s MSN online division at company headquarters in Redmond. Although Beijing has supported Internet use for education and business, it fiercely polices content. Filters block objectionable foreign Web sites and regulations ban subversive and pornographic content and require service providers to enforce censorship rules. “When we operate in markets around the world, we have to ensure that our service complies with global laws as well as local laws and norms,” Richardson said. Richardson said the blog was shut down Dec. 30 or Dec. 31 but wouldn’t give any other details about the reason. But the blog, written under the pen name An Ti by Zhao Jing, who works for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times as […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
