Tuesday, September 18, 2012
China-Japan Tension Over Disputed Islands
Protesters gathering outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing Tension is high in a China-Japan row as fresh anti-Japan protests erupt in China over disputed islands and on the anniversary of the ''Mukden incident''. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing with riot police lining the streets. Protesters outside the embassy on Tuesday chanted slogans and threw plastic bottles at the building.
On September 18/ 1931, Japanese soldiers blew up a railway in Manchuria, blaming it on dissidents. Known as the ''Mukden incident'', this was later revealed to be a pretext for the invasion of northeast China. A sensitive date for China marking the day when Japan staged the excuse for its later invasion.
This year's anniversary is particularly tense because of a mounting row between the countries over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. In Beijing, thousands of protesters carrying banners and pictures of Mao marched in small groups past the Japanese embassy on Liangmaqiao Street. Despite the aggression of their chants, the protesters' mood was orderly. Hundreds of shirt-sleeved Beijing police kept guard. Protests in China are closely controlled, giving them an often choreographed air.
The question now is whether, having let people vent their fury, China's authorities move to tone down the mood. Even if they do, none of the underlying tensions would have been addressed.
The question now is whether, having let people vent their fury, China's authorities move to tone down the mood. Even if they do, none of the underlying tensions would have been addressed.
It follows days of protests from the weekend targeting Japanese businesses. Many of them, including electronic companies Panasonic and Canon, have suspended operations. As tension heightens, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Beijing for talks with his counterpart and top Chinese leaders. He did not mention the dispute, but called for closer military contact between the US and China.
"Our goal is to have the United States and China establish the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and the key to that is to establish a strong military-to-military relationship," he said.However, Mr Panetta, who was in Tokyo on Monday, had earlier warned of the potential for the conflict to escalate and urged both sides to show restraint. The islands have long been a point of contention, but the most recent row has heightened tension and led to fears of a naval conflict.
Two Japanese activists landed briefly on the disputed islands on Tuesday morning, reports said. Last month saw a series of landings by both Chinese and Japanese activists on the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. A Chinese fisheries patrol boat was also spotted by the Japanese coast guard in waters near the islands, a Kyodo news agency report said.
Some 1,000 Chinese fishing boats are also headed for the area, Chinese media reported earlier. The uninhabited but resource-rich islands are controlled by Japan and also claimed by Taiwan. China maintains it has sovereignty over the islands in the East China Sea, saying that they have historically been part of China.
Last Friday, China sent six boats sent to "patrol" the islands after Japan sealed a deal to buy three of the islands from a private owner earlier in the week. The China Marine Surveillance (CMS) will continue with the ''law enforcement activities'' to demonstrate China's jurisdiction over the islands, Chinese state media reported. Analysts see Japan's decision to buy the islands as damage limitation in response to a much more provocative plan by the nationalistic governor of Tokyo, who wanted to purchase and develop them. In Japan, the government seems unlikely to back down with an election looming.
Japan-China disputed islands
- The archipelago consists of five islands and three reefs
- Japan, China and Taiwan claim them; they are controlled by Japan and form part of Okinawa prefecture
- The Japanese government signed a deal in September 2012 to purchase three islands from Japanese businessman Kunioki Kurihara, who used to rent them out to the Japanese state
- The islands were the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010
Monday, September 17, 2012
NASA's Name an Asteroid Contest
Artist's impression of the Chicxulub crater on the Yukatan peninsula in Mexico. The massive impact of the asteroid may have been responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs
NASA is calling on students around the world to help name a potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroid that the agency is hoping to visit with an unmanned probe that will collect samples of the space rock and return them home.
The asteroid, currently known as (101955) 1999 RQ36 could pose a threat to Earth when it swings close to our planet 170 years from now. Measuring 1,837 feet (560 meters) wide, asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a 1-in-1,000 chance of slamming into Earth in the year 2182, researchers have said.
NASA is planning an ambitious mission to return samples from the surface of 1999 RQ36. The expedition, called Osiris-Rex (short for Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer), is scheduled to launch in 2016. The Osiris-Rex mission is expected to cost $800 million, a figure that does not include the cost of a launch vehicle.
Samples brought back by the Osiris-Rex mission could help scientists unlock some of the mysteries of the solar system's origin some 4.5 billion years ago, and the organic molecules that may have led to life on Earth. NASA is also planning to launch astronauts to an asteroid by the year 2025.
By soliciting suggestions from students, NASA is hoping to engage the next generation of scientists in astronomy and spaceflight.]
"Because the samples returned by the mission will be available for study for future generations, it is possible the person who names the asteroid will grow up to study the regolith we return to Earth," Jason Dworkin, Osiris-Rex project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a statement.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Ming Vase Used For Door Stop
The New York family owned it for decades, then they saw a similar piece in an ad
They say one man's junk is another man's treasure and that couldn't be more true about a rare Ming Dynasty vase that just sold at a U.S. auction.
It was being used by an unidentified family in Long Island as a doorstop. Don't they know holding doors open is what old computers are for? The vase, which sat on a wooden stand, had belonged to the family for decades, until someone noticed a similar piece in a Sotheby's ad. The Ming Dynasty lasted from 1364 until 1644 so the vase is at least 368 years old.The auction house initially estimated it would sell for between $600,000 and $900,000, but it went for more than a million. The vase sold as part of the Sotheby's sale of Chinese works of art this past week.
In addition to the blue and white vase, other highlights of the auction included a jade imperial seal from the Qing dynasty (about 1790), which sold for $3.5 million and an archaic bronze wine vessel from the 7-8th century B.C., which sold for $1.5 million. All of the lots combined sold for $27 million.
"We saw exceptional demand across the sale which drove the total to such heights," said Dr. Tao Wan, who was recently appointed head of the Chinese Works of Art Department at Sotheby's New York, in a BBC article. "Collectors from around the world were drawn to high-quality pieces with distinguished provenance, particularity that of museums."
The vase's $1.3 million price is far from the record-setting price of $21.6 million a Ming cobalt blue Meiping vase sold at an auction last October.
On another auction note: Elvis's Dirty Underwear Did Not Sell
Elvis Presley's bible may have sold for $92,000, but an item the King had much closer to him didn't sell - his soiled underpants.
In his heyday, many women hoped he would love them tender so they could get their hands on his under garments and rock his jailhouse, but today the most anyone was willing to pay was just under $8,000. Because no bidder was willing to pay the reserve price of $11,000, they didn't sell at the Omega Auctions in England.
The light blue pants were worn by Elvis under one of his famous jumpsuits during a 1977 concert. The style was specifically chosen by the King, who didn't like visible lines under his tight-fitting outfits, reports BBC. They are unwashed and are stained. Initially, it was reported the garment was expected to fetch as much as $16,000.
(It reminds me of that old joke:-" The doctor wanted urine,stool and semen samples so I handed him my underwear":)
The soiled underwear is pretty strange, but people seem to have an appetite for odd items that once belonged to celebrities. A handful of Elvis' hair sold for $115,000 in 2002. Gum once chewed by Britney Spears in Toronto went for $14,000 in 2004. A jar of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's breath sold for $530 in 2010. Good luck verifying that one. Justin Bieber's hair sold for more than $40,000 last year and a piece of Justin Timberlake's partially eaten French toast sold for more than $3,000.
We're not sure what people do with chewed gum or a breath, but from pictures on the auction website, the soiled underwear are framed so they can be hung anywhere in the house. However, the kitchen probably isn't the best place.
And just in case you didn't believe me:
Big Protest Against Putin
APOpposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks at a protest rally in Moscow on Saturday. Thousands of protesters marched across Moscow in the first major rally in three months against President Vladimir Putin.
(AP) MOSCOW - The first major protest against President Vladimir Putin after a summer lull drew tens of thousands of people, determined to show that opposition sentiment remains strong despite Kremlin efforts to muzzle dissent.
The street protests broke out after a December parliamentary election won by Putin's party through what observers said was widespread fraud, and they grew in strength ahead of Putin's effectively unopposed election in March to a third presidential term.
Huge rallies of more than 100,000 people even in bitter winter cold gave many protesters hope for democratic change. These hopes have waned, but opposition supporters appear ready to dig in for a long fight.
"We have to defend the rights that we were deprived of, the right to have elections. We were deprived of honest elections and an honest government," opposition activist Alexander Shcherbakov said. "I've come to show that and to demonstrate that the people are opposed. I'm opposed to the illegitimate government and illegitimate elections."
Leftists, liberals and nationalists mixed with students, teachers, gay activists and others as they marched down Moscow's tree-lined boulevards chanting "Russia without Putin!" and "We are the power here!" Many wore the white ribbons that have become the symbol of the protest movement.
About 7,000 police officers stood guard along the route of the march, and a police helicopter hovered overhead. A protest rally, held on a wide street named for the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, remained peaceful as it stretched into the evening. As the 10 p.m. deadline neared, a couple of hundred people were still on the street and police herded them toward a subway station. One of the opposition leaders, Sergei Udaltsov, was detained along with a handful of his supporters when he tried to lead a group of about 50 on a new protest march.
Putin has shown less tolerance for the opposition since his inauguration in May. New repressive laws have been passed to deter people from joining protests, and opposition leaders have been subject to searches and interrogations. In August, a court handed down two-year prison sentences to three members of the punk band Pussy Riot for performing an anti-Putin song inside Moscow's main cathedral.
Big balloons painted with the band's trademark balaclava masks floated over the crowd on Saturday, while some rally participants wore T-shirts in support of Pussy Riot.
Many demonstrators targeted Putin with creative placards and outfits. Some mocked Putin's recent publicity stunt in which he flew in a motorized hang glider to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight.
Alexei Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption crusader and a popular blogger, remains the rock star among the protest leaders. When he took the stage, young people in the crowd held up their phones to record the moment. Navalny urged the demonstrators to show resolve and keep up the pressure on the Kremlin with more street protests.
"We must come to rallies to win freedom for ourselves and our children, to defend our human dignity," he said to cheers of support. "We will come here as to our workplace. No one else will free us but ourselves."
The rally appeared as big as the last major protest in June, which also attracted tens of thousands. More of the demonstrators, however, came not as members of the varied political organizations that make up the protest movement, but with groups of friends and co-workers, some of them organizing on social networks. As part of a new initiative, activists collected contact information and addresses from demonstrators to make it easier to organize civic actions on a neighborhood level.
Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin political consultant, who attended Saturday's rally, estimated that up to 500,000 people have taken part in the protests in Moscow, a city of 11.5 million. He said the Kremlin has not figured out how to deal with the protest movement.
"Therefore, they alternate between taking tough action and stepping back from confrontation," Pavlovsky said. "For the Kremlin, it is very worrying that Moscow no longer supports Putin, but it is very important that this is purely a Moscow phenomenon."
Although opposition protests also were held Saturday in several other Russian cities, the largest, in St. Petersburg, drew only a few thousand people. Protests elsewhere attracted only hundreds or even dozens. About 100 attended an unsanctioned rally in Nizhny Novgorod and about 20 of them were detained.
The Moscow organizers had spent days in tense talks with the city government over the protest route for Saturday, typical of the bargaining that has preceded each of the opposition marches.
A day before the weekend rally, parliament expelled an opposition lawmaker who had turned against the Kremlin and joined the protest movement. Anger over the ousting of Gennady Gudkov may have helped to swell the ranks of the protesters.
"Russia no longer has a constitution," Gudkov told the rally. "Russia no longer has rights, and Russia no longer has a parliament worthy of respect. Shame on this parliament, and shame on this government!"
Gudkov's expulsion also means he loses his immunity from prosecution, and his supporters fear he could face arrest.
His son, Dmitry Gudkov, also a lawmaker, said he hopes the Kremlin will think twice about arresting his father after seeing the size of the protest. "They will either have to think about serious reforms and end their repressions, or they will come to a very bad end," he said as marched with a column of protesters.
"It's necessary right now for all Russians to come out into the streets to show the regime that changes are needed in our country, and that without them our country can't develop," said teacher Valentina Merkulova, who participated in Saturday's protest. "The most important thing is that, the more Russians come out, the less bloody the change of regime, the change of power. A change of power is necessary."
The street protests broke out after a December parliamentary election won by Putin's party through what observers said was widespread fraud, and they grew in strength ahead of Putin's effectively unopposed election in March to a third presidential term.
Huge rallies of more than 100,000 people even in bitter winter cold gave many protesters hope for democratic change. These hopes have waned, but opposition supporters appear ready to dig in for a long fight.
"We have to defend the rights that we were deprived of, the right to have elections. We were deprived of honest elections and an honest government," opposition activist Alexander Shcherbakov said. "I've come to show that and to demonstrate that the people are opposed. I'm opposed to the illegitimate government and illegitimate elections."
Leftists, liberals and nationalists mixed with students, teachers, gay activists and others as they marched down Moscow's tree-lined boulevards chanting "Russia without Putin!" and "We are the power here!" Many wore the white ribbons that have become the symbol of the protest movement.
About 7,000 police officers stood guard along the route of the march, and a police helicopter hovered overhead. A protest rally, held on a wide street named for the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, remained peaceful as it stretched into the evening. As the 10 p.m. deadline neared, a couple of hundred people were still on the street and police herded them toward a subway station. One of the opposition leaders, Sergei Udaltsov, was detained along with a handful of his supporters when he tried to lead a group of about 50 on a new protest march.
Putin has shown less tolerance for the opposition since his inauguration in May. New repressive laws have been passed to deter people from joining protests, and opposition leaders have been subject to searches and interrogations. In August, a court handed down two-year prison sentences to three members of the punk band Pussy Riot for performing an anti-Putin song inside Moscow's main cathedral.
Big balloons painted with the band's trademark balaclava masks floated over the crowd on Saturday, while some rally participants wore T-shirts in support of Pussy Riot.
Many demonstrators targeted Putin with creative placards and outfits. Some mocked Putin's recent publicity stunt in which he flew in a motorized hang glider to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight.
Alexei Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption crusader and a popular blogger, remains the rock star among the protest leaders. When he took the stage, young people in the crowd held up their phones to record the moment. Navalny urged the demonstrators to show resolve and keep up the pressure on the Kremlin with more street protests.
"We must come to rallies to win freedom for ourselves and our children, to defend our human dignity," he said to cheers of support. "We will come here as to our workplace. No one else will free us but ourselves."
The rally appeared as big as the last major protest in June, which also attracted tens of thousands. More of the demonstrators, however, came not as members of the varied political organizations that make up the protest movement, but with groups of friends and co-workers, some of them organizing on social networks. As part of a new initiative, activists collected contact information and addresses from demonstrators to make it easier to organize civic actions on a neighborhood level.
Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin political consultant, who attended Saturday's rally, estimated that up to 500,000 people have taken part in the protests in Moscow, a city of 11.5 million. He said the Kremlin has not figured out how to deal with the protest movement.
"Therefore, they alternate between taking tough action and stepping back from confrontation," Pavlovsky said. "For the Kremlin, it is very worrying that Moscow no longer supports Putin, but it is very important that this is purely a Moscow phenomenon."
Although opposition protests also were held Saturday in several other Russian cities, the largest, in St. Petersburg, drew only a few thousand people. Protests elsewhere attracted only hundreds or even dozens. About 100 attended an unsanctioned rally in Nizhny Novgorod and about 20 of them were detained.
The Moscow organizers had spent days in tense talks with the city government over the protest route for Saturday, typical of the bargaining that has preceded each of the opposition marches.
A day before the weekend rally, parliament expelled an opposition lawmaker who had turned against the Kremlin and joined the protest movement. Anger over the ousting of Gennady Gudkov may have helped to swell the ranks of the protesters.
"Russia no longer has a constitution," Gudkov told the rally. "Russia no longer has rights, and Russia no longer has a parliament worthy of respect. Shame on this parliament, and shame on this government!"
Gudkov's expulsion also means he loses his immunity from prosecution, and his supporters fear he could face arrest.
His son, Dmitry Gudkov, also a lawmaker, said he hopes the Kremlin will think twice about arresting his father after seeing the size of the protest. "They will either have to think about serious reforms and end their repressions, or they will come to a very bad end," he said as marched with a column of protesters.
"It's necessary right now for all Russians to come out into the streets to show the regime that changes are needed in our country, and that without them our country can't develop," said teacher Valentina Merkulova, who participated in Saturday's protest. "The most important thing is that, the more Russians come out, the less bloody the change of regime, the change of power. A change of power is necessary."
Global stock markets rise with US Fed stimulus plan
Market Data
Last Updated at 03:08 ET
Market index | Current value | Trend | Variation | % variation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 13593.37 | Up | 53.51 | 0.40% |
| Nasdaq | 3183.95 | Up | 28.12 | 0.89% |
| S&P 500 | 1465.77 | Up | 5.78 | 0.40% |
| FTSE 100 | 5915.55 | Up | 95.63 | 1.64% |
| Dax | 7412.13 | Up | 101.81 | 1.39% |
| BBC Global 30 | 6479.65 | Up | 15.66 | 0.24% |
Global stock markets have risen after the US Federal Reserve moved to pump more money into the economy. The Paris market rose 2.3%, while UK and German indexes closed up 1.5%. Wall Street ended the day 0.4% higher.
It followed the Fed's decision on Thursday to inject $40bn (£25bn) a month into the US economy.
But fears over the global economy persisted as the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank denied they were in bailout talks with Spain. Eurogroup finance ministers are meeting in Cyprus for talks on measures to end the current eurozone debt crisis. On Friday, Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup, announced that the new eurozone rescue fund would be up and running by the end of October.
The ESM is an essential part of a European Central Bank plan to buy bonds from indebted governments such as Spain and Greece in order to bring down their cost of borrowing. Countries such as Spain would need to make a formal request to the ESM for help before the ECB could intervene.
Federal Reserve action
The plan to buy up US mortgage debt will continue until further notice, the Fed said on Thursday. The central bank also kept interest rates at below 0.25%. The aim is to reduce long-term borrowing costs for firms and households.
On Friday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 2.7% and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.8%. Investors hope the Fed's measures will revive growth in the US economy, the world's biggest and a key market for Asian and European exports.
The Fed's promise that the programme was open-ended and would continue until the US economy showed signs of recovery has bolstered confidence, said analysts. In a research note from HSBC, analysts said that the Fed "is trying to convey to financial market participants that they can count on low interest rates and accommodative monetary policy for a long time and not to expect a reversal of policy in reaction to modest improvement in GDP growth or in the unemployment rate".
Yields on Spanish and Italian bonds also fell, easing pressure on borrowing costs for the two heavily-indebted nations. On Friday, Italy's 10-year borrowing rate fell under the 5% mark for the first time since March.
However, the depth of Spain's problems were underlined on Friday with official data showing that public debt has reached a record 75.9% of gross domestic product, fuelling doubts over the country's ability to manage its finances.
There were suggestions that the meeting would discuss a bailout of Spain. However, any immediate decision looks unlikely after the country's economy minister said on Friday that the government was working on a new set of structural reforms.
There have been growing fears about the global economy, with a weak recovery in the US and the continuing debt crisis in the eurozone. US unemployment, which has topped 8% for three years, is likely to be a key battleground in the upcoming presidential elections.
The slowdown in China's economy, the world's second-largest and one of its biggest drivers of growth since the global financial crisis, has fanned those fears. Prompted by these concerns, policymakers in these regions have been taking measures to try to spur a fresh wave of growth.
Meanwhile, China has cut its interest rates twice since June to bring down borrowing costs for businesses and consumers. Beijing has also lowered the amount of money that banks need to keep in reserve three times in the past few months to encourage further lending.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Dear Maxy ,My brother has had a house to live in , a car to drive , insurance , etc. for the past 25 years . He is an alcoholic and a drug user . He doesn't work because he doesn't want to . He has an all-expenses-paid life .
When my mother dies , how do we settle the estate ? If the house is given to my brother , he would lose it because he has no concept of paying bills . My sister thinks we should sell the place , give my brother his share and move on .
Help Me Dear Help Me ,
It's difficult to make plans in advance if you don't know whether your mother has a will that leaves the house to your brother , in which case , he is free to let it collapse into ruin .You should consider all the possibilities , including how much responsibility you will take for your brother when the gravy train stops . Unless he gets help for his addictions , his behavior is unlikely to change . Are you comfortable throwing him out of the house ? You can't force your mother to settle these questions , although please urge her to see a lawyer .
MaxyDear Maxy ,
I live far away from my family , but still try to keep in touch . The problem is my sister "Diane," who always misinterprets what I say .Last month for example , we were talking about Dr. Oz when I commented that we'd have to wait 20 years to see whether some of those suggestions work . That night , Diane told my brother that I said I wouldn't care if she died . I tried to call , email and text to smooth things over , but she wouldn't answer . My mom doesn't want us to fight . I had no idea we were fighting until my brother told me .
A week later , Diane allowed me to apologize , and things were fine , but it has happened again . I suggested that we limit our Thanksgiving guests to the immediate family (24) people . Again , I got a call from my brother saying Diane thinks I hate her in-laws . I tried to contact her to explain , but she is ignoring me ..
I am tired of being the bad guy . I can't help that she interprets my comments in the worst possible way . How can I end the cycle .
Not a Meanie Dear Not ,
Diane sounds as if she is hypersansitive and looking for excuses to be upset with you . One of the reasons she doesn't tell you directly is because she is mulling it over , and it's much more effective if she waits and then tells your brother her own version . Then she punishes you by staying out of contact until you are groveling . She has her technique down cold , and you fall for it every time .If you think you can discuss this with her rationally , then do so . Otherwise , keep conversations short and neutral . If she becomes upset , send a sweet email saying you are sorry she is unhappy . Then leave it alone .
MaxyDear Maxy ,
I have been married to the love of my life for 30 years . About 10 years ago , we moved to be closer to friends and family . It seemed to coincide with early menopause for my wife , which brought with it zero desire for intimacy . My wife asked me whether I thought it was OK to not have sex any longer , and being an acquiescent idiot , I said "fine." Now I'm frustrated and wondering what the future holds . I am in my mid-60s , and my wife is in her early 50s . Do I go the rest of my life without ? I need the other person to have some passion for me , or it's not worth having .
Lost and NeedyDear Lost , You need to revisit this issue . No matter what you agreed to at the time , you have become increasingly resentful , and your wife deserves to know . This effects your marriage in a critical way . Unfortunately your wife may not agree to more intimacy , and even if she does , you may not get the passion you desire . Ask if she would be willing to talk to her doctor about it , and then please seek counselling .
Maxy
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