For some time I've been keeping up an occasional correspondence with this girl and now she's on TV. Check her out here.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
[love and all that] aussie women require more adventurous lovers
30 per cent of Australian women are disappointed by their men's performance in the sack and would prefer them to be more "adventurous" and 20 per cent wish their men would sweep the floors or do the cooking rather than sweep them off their feet.
Harlequin Australian managing director Michelle Laforest said the report proved material gifts were not always the way to win a woman's (or man's for that matter) heart. She said sometimes putting in a bit of extra effort around the house, or in the bedroom, showed more love than a material gift and required a lot more thought.
Some Aussie men, however, wanted to change more than their partner's behaviour around the house or in the bedroom. Twenty per cent said they were unhappy with the way their partner's looked and wished they would get a breast enlargement. Fortunately these blokes were vastly outnumbered by a whopping 70 per cent of Aussie men who said they loved their women just the way they are.
Meanwhile, 30 per cent of men wished their partners would remember to do something special for them on Valentine's Day. This percentage was higher than those men who wished their partners would let them watch more sport on television.
The survey, which covered men and women from 15 countries, also found Dutch men were the world's lustiest with 60 per cent craving more sex. "Women in Spain were just behind them, with 40 per cent of Spanish women wanting more loving from their partners," Ms Laforest said.
- AAP
Harlequin Australian managing director Michelle Laforest said the report proved material gifts were not always the way to win a woman's (or man's for that matter) heart. She said sometimes putting in a bit of extra effort around the house, or in the bedroom, showed more love than a material gift and required a lot more thought.
Some Aussie men, however, wanted to change more than their partner's behaviour around the house or in the bedroom. Twenty per cent said they were unhappy with the way their partner's looked and wished they would get a breast enlargement. Fortunately these blokes were vastly outnumbered by a whopping 70 per cent of Aussie men who said they loved their women just the way they are.
Meanwhile, 30 per cent of men wished their partners would remember to do something special for them on Valentine's Day. This percentage was higher than those men who wished their partners would let them watch more sport on television.
The survey, which covered men and women from 15 countries, also found Dutch men were the world's lustiest with 60 per cent craving more sex. "Women in Spain were just behind them, with 40 per cent of Spanish women wanting more loving from their partners," Ms Laforest said.
- AAP
[europe] americans selling their french chateaux
Interesting piece in the Washington Post about French chateaux [sorry – lost the direct link and this is an abridged version]:
When the village of Boucard's fairy-tale chateau is viewed from afar, it’s easy to imagine the pampered existence of the aristocrats inside. You’d be surprised.
"It is a very heavy load for people who inherit a castle," lamented Marie-Henriette de Montabert, 74, whose family has owned Chateau de Boucard since 1720. "All of the castle owners have the same problem - how to save your castle."
"Nowadays, a castle is no longer an exterior sign of wealth, but rather an exterior sign of poverty," said Bertrand Le Nail, a French real estate agent and property expert.
About 90 percent of the country's chateaux -- a term that loosely applies to everything from castles to large manor houses -- are not maintained properly because their owners cannot afford it, Le Nail said. Some sell their properties or turn them into small hotels, some open them to the public and charge entrance fees, and others simply go on living in edifices that are collapsing around them.
Chantal de Bonneval thought she had found the solution when she and her husband inherited his family's 45-room chateau in Thaumiers, about 175 miles south of Paris, in 1977. The new owners added 13 bathrooms to the existing four, repaired 40 leaks in the roof and turned the chateau into a bed-and-breakfast.
By John Ward Anderson and Corinne Gavard
When the village of Boucard's fairy-tale chateau is viewed from afar, it’s easy to imagine the pampered existence of the aristocrats inside. You’d be surprised.
"It is a very heavy load for people who inherit a castle," lamented Marie-Henriette de Montabert, 74, whose family has owned Chateau de Boucard since 1720. "All of the castle owners have the same problem - how to save your castle."
"Nowadays, a castle is no longer an exterior sign of wealth, but rather an exterior sign of poverty," said Bertrand Le Nail, a French real estate agent and property expert.
About 90 percent of the country's chateaux -- a term that loosely applies to everything from castles to large manor houses -- are not maintained properly because their owners cannot afford it, Le Nail said. Some sell their properties or turn them into small hotels, some open them to the public and charge entrance fees, and others simply go on living in edifices that are collapsing around them.
Chantal de Bonneval thought she had found the solution when she and her husband inherited his family's 45-room chateau in Thaumiers, about 175 miles south of Paris, in 1977. The new owners added 13 bathrooms to the existing four, repaired 40 leaks in the roof and turned the chateau into a bed-and-breakfast.
By John Ward Anderson and Corinne Gavard
[far-east] china getting serious about balanced economic growth
From the Chinese People’s Daily comes an interesting piece about Chinese reprioritization:
The Chinese government is giving priority to job creation, as it has for the first time listed "newly created jobs" as second on its list of leading macro-economic control targets.
One of China's projected targets for this year's macro-economic control is to "create over 8 million new jobs, and confine the registered urban unemployment rate to 4.5 percent", said Zeng Peiyan, minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission.
Mo Rong, a senior research fellow in the Research Institute of Labor Sciences, said that this indicates a major shift of the Chinese government's focus, from principally pursuing high economic growth in the past to seeking a balanced growth of economy and employment in the future.
Words like unemployment and layoffs used to be strange to the Chinese as the Chinese government, for many years after 1949, had adopted a "cradle-to-grave" employment and welfare policy that covered the entire population. Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises also suffered from overstaffing and low efficiency, and lacked vitality and market competitiveness.
Unemployment and unemployability are both issues today and a stated target of 8 million new jobs, though a tall order and virtually unrealizable, nevertheless marks a departure in the necessity the government sees in even mentioning it. Stay tuned.
The Chinese government is giving priority to job creation, as it has for the first time listed "newly created jobs" as second on its list of leading macro-economic control targets.
One of China's projected targets for this year's macro-economic control is to "create over 8 million new jobs, and confine the registered urban unemployment rate to 4.5 percent", said Zeng Peiyan, minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission.
Mo Rong, a senior research fellow in the Research Institute of Labor Sciences, said that this indicates a major shift of the Chinese government's focus, from principally pursuing high economic growth in the past to seeking a balanced growth of economy and employment in the future.
Words like unemployment and layoffs used to be strange to the Chinese as the Chinese government, for many years after 1949, had adopted a "cradle-to-grave" employment and welfare policy that covered the entire population. Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises also suffered from overstaffing and low efficiency, and lacked vitality and market competitiveness.
Unemployment and unemployability are both issues today and a stated target of 8 million new jobs, though a tall order and virtually unrealizable, nevertheless marks a departure in the necessity the government sees in even mentioning it. Stay tuned.
[in brief] thought for the day
Volatility is in the nature of financial markets, but excess liquidity has made it worse. [Jack Crooks, Asia Times Forex report]
[world] 12 aspects of globalization
The major geo-socio-politico-economic movements in this era we find ourselves in:1. the softening of the west in education and free market economics since the late 60s;
2. the demise of the Christian ethic, Calvinistic work ethic and world view;
3. the rise of tolerance and normalization – of homosexuality, teenage sex, drugs – things which wouldn’t have been countenanced thirty years ago;
4. the rise of China and the beginnings of their hegemony, never forgetting Deng Xiao Ping’s maxim – “hiding brightness, nourishing obscurity and biding our time”;
5. the entry of Russia, China and India into free, world market economics;
6. the increased dependence on oil as political power;
7. the lack of major world crises now being compensated for by the Finance, as it was in the Crimean, the two World, the Korean and the Vietnamese conflicts;
8. the rise and spread, in the west, of Islam;
9. the militarization and restructuring of society according to global principles – military presence on the streets, the coordination of data processing on individuals through credit and ID cards.;
10. the rise of the ‘terrorist’ through a system of provocation in world troublespots – stirring the pot, in other words;
11. the building of huge dams and the damming up of the world’s water supplies for rationing out [this one’s still a sleeper but will come to fruition about 2015] ;
12. the ‘village-ization’ of people, restrictions on mobility, gradual ordering of the internet, and the turning in of people onto important issues such as Big Brother, American Idol and so on. In Soviet times it was ‘old cinema’ with that feel-good factor.
Check out Sino-Kazakh military manouevres.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
[poll] al jazeera on the lebanese war
Who has benefited from the war in Lebanon?
Hezbollah : 33%
Israel : 8%
Iran : 16%
Syria : 2%
United States : 9%
No one : 31%
Number of pollers : 30779
Hezbollah : 33%
Israel : 8%
Iran : 16%
Syria : 2%
United States : 9%
No one : 31%
Number of pollers : 30779
[la mode] l’histoire du trench
Intéressant pour un homme anglais, au sujet du trench:A la fin du XIX e siècle, Burberry commence à tailler, dans sa matière déposée sous le nom de gabardine, des vestons et des manteaux pour aller à la chasse, des capotes pour les premières automobiles et aussi des tentes pour l’armée... Rien à dire, cette gabardine brave bel et bien tous les frimas. Pendant la seconde guerre des Boers, de 1899 à 1902 en Afrique du Sud, les officiers britanniques adoptent un grand manteau, enrichi pour l’occasion d’un bavolet dans le haut du dos afin d’empêcher l’eau de ruisseler le long du corps ; et de deux autres sur le devant pour amortir le recul de la crosse du fusil, calée au creux de l’épaule.
La version définitive du trench-coat a été finalisée pour la Première Guerre mondiale. Comme son nom le suggère, les soldats britanniques vont se battre dans les tranchées (trench en anglais). Afin qu’ils aient tout à portée de main, le vêtement se dote d’une ceinture à anneaux pour y suspendre des grenades sur le devant et un sabre dans le dos. Le bas des manches est resserré par une bride au poignet pour ne pas que le froid pénètre et, dans le même but, une mentonnière amovible est ajoutée sous le col pour calfeutrer le cou au niveau de l’échancrure...
au figaro
[environment] thought for the day
Agent Smith, in the Matrix, said:I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals.
Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area.
There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, the cancer of this planet, you are the plague, and we are the cure.
The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1360 scientists from 95 countries warns that almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.
Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted:
o Because of human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, more land has been claimed for agriculture in the past 60 years than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.
o An estimated 24 per cent of the Earth's land surface is cultivated.
o Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers have doubled in 40 years, and a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested.
o Since 1980, about 35 per cent of mangroves have been lost and 20 per cent of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed.
o Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria and cholera, and open the way for new diseases.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment cites "an unprecedented period of spending Earth's natural bounty. In many cases, it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time."
Anton Chekov, in Uncle Vanya [1897], said:
Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wildlife's become extinct, the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day.
[economy] walmart meets opposition in a canadian town
For more than a year, Wal-Mart has been trying to get into Port Elgin, a burgeoning Ontario town on the shores of Lake Huron, according to the Globe and Mail.
But for Wal-Mart, Loblaw is opposing the re-zoning application, joining a number of local groups to run its rival out of town. The company may not be able to keep Wal-Mart out of Port Elgin forever, but it seems to know that in the competitive retail market, a battle delayed is a battle not lost.
This time, instead of using price cuts and two-for-one coupons, they're attacking each other with phalanxes of lawyers, planners and consultants. In a handful of towns across Canada, Wal-Mart's latest ambitious expansion plans have met opposition from the entrenched players who say there isn't room.
For Loblaw, the stakes are especially high. It is racing to recover from its faltering expansion into non-food offerings in its bid to take on Wal-Mart.
Andrew Pelletier, a Wal-Mart Canada Corp. spokesman, says: “We find it very unfortunate that they would resort to these tactics to try to maintain what amounts to monopolies in these markets. They're ultimately trying to limit competition.”
I’ve been watching Walmart for about two years, ever since I read an article about their obsessive company get-togethers. These are seriously committed people..
According to Fast Company writer Jim Collins, Walmart continues to amaze skeptics and supporters alike with its relentless growth and success. Collins notes that if past growth rates continue Walmart will become the world's first trillion dollar in sales company within ten years.
The fact is for every Wal-Mart store that opens, jobs are lost to the community, the tax base shrinks, the number of workers with health benefits declines, and the number of workers eligible for welfare increases.
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