Did the buck start here?

"This is why Miller doesn't want to reveal her "source" at the White House -- because she was the source."
Huffinton suggests strongly that Judy Miller outed Valerie. It is not inconsistent with Millers behavior in the past.
It explains why Fitzgerald would jail her. It is not clear that Fitzgerald has a case against anyone else: they might not have seen the "secret" on the memo, and they may be truthful in saying "I found out Plame was CIA from a reporter"

Chinese riot farmers regain land

Footage of the riot

Chinese farmers have won a dispute over land rights which culminated in a bloody riot last month in the northern province of Hebei, state media says.

Humans are not objective. And they are not subjective

Two comments from one of my regularly visited blogs. Interesting perspective on objective-subjective duality.

Richard, criticism is a good thing, China opens itself up to the world, it knows what that means at the first place. It knows criticism, challenges are part of the game. As long as one is being objective, there would be no harsh feelings. But how can human beings be objective?

Posted by Chinese Queen at July 24, 2005 11:34 PM

Chinese Queen,
I like the way you think.
Let me suggest an answer to your question "How can human beings be objective?" - and my answer comes from Modern Western science, which agrees with Ancient Chinese philosophy:
My Western answer is: Humans are not objective. And they are not subjective either. All Human knowledge is participant - it comes from participating with other things or other people.
Late Modern physics has demonstrated this. There is no such thing as objectivity OR subjectivity.
ALL knowledge and ALL experience, comes from participation with other things and other people, and the influence is always mutual, always in both directions.
As you are (or seem to be) Chinese, I assume you know that this idea of Modern Western Science is very similar to what Lao Tzu taught. (Well, personally I like L
And so, China has more in common with the Modern West than many Westerners or Chinese imagine. :-)

Posted by Ivan at July 24, 2005 11:56 PM

Mysterious disease kills 17 in southwest China

BEIJING (Reuters) - Authorities in southwest China are investigating a mysterious disease that has killed 17 farm workers and left 41 others ill after they handled sick or dead livestock, state media said on Monday.

The government of Sichuan province has dismissed speculation that the deaths were caused by bird flu or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an assessment affirmed by the World Health Organization.

"From the information we have it doesn't seem to be related to bird flu. We made that distinction based on the symptoms described to us by the government," Bob Dietz, a WHO spokesman in Manila, told Reuters by telephone.

"This (disease) doesn't seem to have a large pneumonia content or a large respiratory problem," Dietz said.

The deaths were probably caused by a bacteria that spreads among pigs, the state-run China Daily quoted Zeng Huajin, a senior official with the Sichuan provincial health department, as saying.

"Streptococcus suis (a pig pathogen) would fit the symptoms described to us, but we will wait for an analysis from the Ministry of Health," Dietz said.

SARS emerged in south China in 2002 and spread across 30 countries, infecting nearly 8,500 people and killing about 800.

It re-appeared in China last year but there were only a few isolated cases. The Chinese government was accused of initially covering up the disease.

Global health officials also have been on high alert over a bird flu virus that has killed over 50 people in Asia since late 2003.

Initially, 20 farm workers suffered fever, nausea and haemorrhaging after handling sick or dead pigs and sheep in 12 towns and 15 villages in Jianyang city and Ziyang city's Yanjiang district, the China Daily said.

Memo on Plame Was Secret

Anyone who read the document should have been aware information was classified, say officials.

Public Announcement of the People's Bank of China on Reforming the RMB Exchange Rate Regime

July 21, 2005

With a view to establish and improve the socialist market economic system in China, enable the market to fully play its role in resource allocation as well as to put in place and further strengthen the managed floating exchange rate regime based on market supply and demand, the People's Bank of China, with authorization of the State Council, is hereby making the following announcements regarding reforming the RMB exchange rate regime:

1. Starting from July 21, 2005, China will reform the exchange rate regime by moving into a managed floating exchange rate regime based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies. RMB will no longer be pegged to the US dollar and the RMB exchange rate regime will be improved with greater flexibility.

2. The People's Bank of China will announce the closing price of a foreign currency such as the US dollar traded against the RMB in the inter-bank foreign exchange market after the closing of the market on each working day, and will make it the central parity for the trading against the RMB on the following working day.

3. The exchange rate of the US dollar against the RMB will be adjusted to 8.11 yuan per US dollar at the time of 19:00 hours of July 21, 2005. The foreign exchange designated banks may since adjust quotations of foreign currencies to their customers.

4. The daily trading price of the US dollar against the RMB in the inter-bank foreign exchange market will continue to be allowed to float within a band of ±0.3 percent around the central parity published by the People's Bank of China, while the trading prices of the non-US dollar currencies against the RMB will be allowed to move within a certain band announced by the People's Bank of China.

The People's Bank of China will make adjustment of the RMB exchange rate band when necessary according to market development as well as the economic and financial situation. The RMB exchange rate will be more flexible based on market condition with reference to a basket of currencies. The People's Bank of China is responsible for maintaining the RMB exchange rate basically stable at an adaptive and equilibrium level, so as to promote the basic equilibrium of the balance of payments and safeguard macroeconomic and financial stability.

Freedom

I never said Karl Rove is a terrorist

It's GW who is ultimately responsible for the people he hires and for their behavior while in his employ. Rove is a fat pig and I'll enjoy the crackle of his flesh over the fire, but his boss is the one who belongs tied to a rail.

Sales and Selling

I've been thinking about sales, selling and marketing after attending a horse related event organized Pat Parelli. The Parelli corporation is an amazing marketing and selling machine and the influence they conjure over the folks in their attendance is quite amazing to behold.

Pondering this experience, I was thinking that the process of selling could be defined as:

Selling: The process of overcoming an individual's natural inclination to allocate their financial resources in a rational, practical manner by eliciting from them a powerful emotional response stemming from an unmet need and connecting fulfillment of this need with a product or service.

HOOAH! What a load of Crap!

HOOAH! Bars Not Just for Troops Anymore

The new HOOAH! Bar, an energy bar that has earned praise from soldiers, is now being distributed in U.S. commercial retail outlets and via the Internet.

GNC, the national chain best known for its vitamin and nutritional supplements, will begin to carry HOOAH! bars this summer, said D'Andrea.

"We're always looking for the best and most innovative products to market to our customers," said Joe Weiss, vice president of diet and energy at GNC.

Of course, the fact that battle-hardened soldiers found this product energy sustaining, if not a treat, doesn't hurt the marketing for the typical GNC customer, Weiss added.

"Since this bar was developed with the demanding energy needs of the military in mind, we feel that it makes sense to make it available to our customers as well."

Is this an ad I post? NO!!!!!!!!!! It's a "news" item on FoxNews.com. That's right, the energy bar that "has earned praise from soldiers" can now be bought by you, the every day person. Now you can support the troops and keep your energy up too. This is news worthy! Does it have value? We report, you decide. As for reporting, why does Fox News NOT report on todays press conference where Scott McClellan got grilled on Karl Roves treason.

Pundit Parody
Ever wonder what Ann Coulter thinks about Aliens -- the movie? Writers Tom Bissell and Jeff Alexander have. Bored with lame DVD commentaries they began writing their own, imagining what partisan pundits such as Noam Chomsky and Ann Coulter would have to say about hit movies. Produced by Derek John.
Go to DVD commentary transcripts on McSweeney’s Website
Buy Speak, Commentary, by Alexander and Bissel

Find The Dozer

An interesting Powerpoint

Army Quietly Pays Halliburton $1B More For Same Services In New Iraq Contract...

The Washington Post | READ STORY | permalink

The Army has ordered nearly $5 billion in work from Halliburton Co. to provide logistics support to U.S. troops in Iraq over the next year, $1 billion above what the Army paid for similar services the previous year.

The new order, which comes despite lingering questions about the company's past billing, replaces an earlier agreement that expired last June but had been extended through this spring to ensure a continuous supply of food, sanitation, laundry and other logistical services for the troops, according to Linda K. Theis, an Army spokeswoman.

Newsweek: Rove spoke to reporter before leak - Jul 3, 2005

Newsweek readies another apology in anticipation of reporting news not to the administrations liking. Time Magazing still taking baby steps and surrenders notes: "Hey, we are talking money here!" said the magazine.
In a related story, reports of walking and talking magazines have been, ummmm, reported.

Reporters that walk the walk dept.

Credibility, hard to come by, looks like they are going to keep theirs, maybe set an example: here, guys, this is how it's done!

What else might they be concealing?

"'You can't assume these so-called streakers will always have peaceful intent,' Wolfgang Niersbach, vice president of the organizing committee, said Friday. 'We don't want to imagine, for example, what would happen if one had a knife.'"
Or a gun. Or a purse with a knife AND and gun. And an STD.

The New Rules Project

Why New Rules?

Because the old ones don't work any longer. They undermine local economies, subvert democracy, weaken our sense of community, and ignore the costs of our decisions on the next generation.

Happy Canada Day!