China

Shandong young man Xu Shuai and his English wife From QQ: English Woman Who Married Shandong Man Encounters Forced Demolition, Relies on Foreign Nationality to Protect Husband [...] One day in 2011, Xu Shuai’s father received a land acquisition phone call from the district committee, 700 yuan of compensation for each mu [a Chinese unit of area = 1/15 of a hectare or 1/6 of an acre]. Xu’s father cherished his family’s first-class fertile farmland, [so he] haggled over the price: Each mu of land could earn 1,500-3,000 yuan in pure profit each year, so 1,500 yuan per mu would be better. The request was denied. The other side left a message: Their land would be taken in 3 days, and if they refused to give up their land at that time, they would be arrested. Xu’s father had a heart condition, and became afraid. He discussed with his son: We don’t have any connections, let’s just give up the land. Xu Shuai began to complain. He called the city mayor’s hotline, the Public Security Bureau, the Land and Resources Bureau, but all their replies were the same: They say they’ll arrest you, do you have any proof? They say they’ll confiscate your land, but have they done so? “No, not yet, they say ‘in 3 days’.” “Then call us then.” The only “proactive” reaction he got from his complaints was from Baidu Tieba. Xu Shuai wrote: “I’ve already called and told my wife: Stay and live well in London, England, don’t come back, raise our child, and find a good man to remarry. I’m already tired of living, so the day they forcibly take my land, I’ll fight with my life…” At the time, because they had no “Certificate for Having A Baby”, they were worried their child would not get a hukou after being born, so Xu Shuai’s wife Joanne [Margaret Noble] returned to England to give birth. However, their status as an international family and Xu Shuai’s characterization [of the situation] as a life and death struggle attracted attention, and some foreign media called for interviews, resulting in the town leaders to hurriedly placate him: Stop making a fuss, the land requisition can wait for a while, we won’t take it for now. “Suddenly I felt like the sun was shining, felt that there was still had a bit of hope in this social system, that it wasn’t that dark/black.” The other side yielding left Xu Shuai feeling embarrassed: “I think that land developer isn’t bad, having built a road for our village. I think development is a good thing, attracting businesses and money to develop the economy, improving the conditions of our village as well as providing jobs for our villagers. I’m a man of the modern age, my head isn’t stubborn [clinging to the past]. I said to my father, let’s sign it, because although the land acquisition is illegal, the advantages are bigger than the disadvantages…” Still at 700 yuan per mu, Xu Shuai’s land was expropriated. The bonus was that Joanne no longer complains “there’s mud as soon as I step out the door”, but the cost was “your family is now on the blacklist, be careful in the future”. Xu Shuai’s classmate who worked at the village committee reminded him as thus. Weifang city Fangzi district Dongwangsong village young man Xu Shuai married a Western wife! This is unprecedented in their village. 2010 March, this brown hair, blue-eyed young woman from London has already lived in the village for several months. Joanne experienced China’s many diverse interpersonal relationships and etiquette. [Photo: QQ] One year after the land acquisition dispute, Xu Shuai’s grandfather wanted to build a house on his old house’s foundation. To make sure everything was done properly, they submitted to the village an application for building construction, and paid the 200 yuan fee. Xu Shuai says, the village’s response at the time was: The land is yours anyway, go ahead and build it. However, when the house construction was half-way through, “some people came from the town and held my grandfather down, then

Laid-off welders in Ontario sit idle, while oilsands employers in Alberta are chronically short-handed. High-skill jobs go unfilled, yet university graduates can’t find work. Canada has 1.33 million unemployed workers, yet business hired 338,000 temporary foreign workers last year, citing shortages in such low-skilled jobs as fast-food servers.Why? One reason cited has been called the skills mismatch or skills shortage, phrases that refer to the growing gap between the skills Canadian employers say they need and the ones job seekers can provide.Employers say it’s one of the toughest challenges they face; the federal government made it the centrepiece of its 2013 budget, with a training incentive grant for employers called the Canada Job Program.Labour groups, meanwhile, say the skills crisis has been overblown by employers looking for a way to keep a lid on wages and training costs.On all sides, there’s precious little agreement about what the skills shortage is, how to address it, and whether it even exists.There is, however, agreement on the need to address the growing problem of what one observer has called “People without Jobs: Jobs without People.”How pressing is the ‘skills gap’?Like other advanced economies, Canada has an aging population and a rapidly changing economy.As the first wave of baby boomers hits retirement age and younger people stay in school longer, the percentage of Canadians in their prime earnings years begins to shrink, taking with it Canada’s capacity to fund everything from pensions to education.John Manley, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, has called it a “demographic time bomb.”Critics say the impact of this demographic shift is being overstated, saying the warnings ignore the fact many baby boomers are already staying in the workforce longer, either because lifespans are lengthening or they need to recover retirement savings lost in the recent economic downturn.The federal government’s own data shows the overall labour market will remain “in balance” over the next decade, much like it is today.The Canadian Occupational Projection System predicts Canada will create 6.5 million new jobs and 6.3 million new job seekers — including recent graduates and immigrants — between 2011 and 2020.Retiring baby boomers will play a huge role in the creation of job openings, the study acknowledges, creating nearly two-thirds of the vacancies, while economic growth will account for the rest.At the same time, globalization has intensified the competition from lower-cost countries, creating a growing pool of jobless Canadians at the low-skilled end of the workforce, while technology changes the nature of work.“The new jobs require more education, more specific skills than the professions of the past,” said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC World Markets. “And we are competing with China and Mexico. And we lose low-skilled employment to those countries.“The nature of those jobs is changing. So the nature of training and education is changing. The labour market is changing faster than our ability to adapt to it.”Business groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce say if nothing is done to address these challenges, we could have a shortfall of 1 million skilled workers by the end of the decade. That could mean lower productivity and longer waits for service. “A crisis that had been hidden by the recession has become fully apparent,” the chamber said in a policy paper outlining its top 10 public policy priorities.Labour groups, however, say the skills crisis has been overblown. “In very rare industries and very rare regions, labour markets are tight,” said Jim Stanford, economist with the Canadian Auto Workers. “But we should not for a minute accept at face value the claim that there

On Monday, May 20, 2013, Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player from The Doors, passed away at the age of 74. The music he made with Jim Morrison, John Densmore and Robby Krieger will live forever. Morrison may have been the tortured poet and sex god of the band, but Manzarek channeled Brecht and the mystery of a carnival with his masterful playing. His highly original style stands out on such hits as “Riders on the Storm,” “Break on Through” and “People Are Strange.” Today, I reflect on the passing of another child of the now distant 1960′s and as I approach my 62nd birthday, I realize what a glorious life I have lived and more importantly, how glorious it is to be alive. While I refuse to life in the past, it is perhaps true, that, for me and millions of others, the 1960′s were a unique and special moment in human history, when we almost changed the world. Alas, the powers that rule this planet proved stronger, and the 60′s ended in a haze of drugs and disillusionment, but we did manage to stop a war that ravaged Southeast Asia and took 59,000 American lives and the lives of millions of Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotians and Cambodians. Our efforts were not in vain and it will be up to the children of the future to resurrect and complete the work for true peace and equality that my generation started. We may have dabbled in politics and helped put an end to the madness of Vietnam, but the true heart of that time was the music. Almost 50 years have passed since the Summer of Love and the Human Be Ins, and still, whenever I hear the music of those days, I am transported to a special, timeless place where everything is pure, unadulterated joy. Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Alan Wilson, Bob Hite, Brian Jones, Gram Parsons, Marc Bolan, Duane Allman, Jerry Garcia, Tim Buckley, and so many others, all died much too young, but they left behind a living legacy of incredible music that may bring occasional tears to my eyes, but never fails to open the gateway to bliss. And then there was that one special moment called Woodstock. When I look at footage of a young Carlos Santana, head back and eyes closed, pouring out note after note of sheer ecstasy from his guitar as he takes his music to a higher plane, how can I fail to be happy. Who can sit still when Ten Years After rocked half a million mud soaked hippies with an epic version of “I’m Going Home.” How could we fail to feel I was part of a larger soul, when Grace Slick took the stage as the sun came up and shouted, “Its time for morning maniac music,” and the Jefferson Airplane took off into the stratosphere. Of course, the entire world remembers Jimi closing out the festival, playing the most astounding version of “The Star’s Spangled Banner” ever heard. I was lucky. I worked the stage at Woodstock and spent three days standing 10 feet from the center of the musical universe, but as I gazed out over the ocean of humanity in the crowd, I realized they were sharing my pleasure. The beautiful young woman I left behind in a tent on the hill behind the stage was forgotten. The mud and rain no longer mattered; I learned on that stage the most important lesson of my life; how to become one with the music. I could go on forever remembering those days, and I hope I will go on forever, into whatever the future may bring. I leave you with my poem about the glorious days of the 1960′s and I hope every one of you are blessed with your own special moment in time that will provide never ending joy and inspiration as you journey through life. I WAS THERE by Wolff Bachner Copyright 1998 and 2008 Kerouac aint comin back Dean took the final trip and angelheaded hipsters now hustle sunset strip San Francisco aint kool no more but it’s still very gay except the folks are fading fast cause aids got in the way Timothy Leary is finally dead he’s in search of the holy host Richard Al

LG may bring Google TVs to Korea, China soon; seeing 'good returns' in the US -

While Eric Schmidt's proclamation that "most" new TVs would have Google TV embedded last year didn't come true, LG stated today that it's bringing the platform to more regions soon. The Korea Times reports an unnamed company executive at the KCTA Digital Cable Show stated the platform is yielding good returns, with average sales of 10,000 units per month. He went on to state that LG Electronics would bring Google TVs to Korea later this year -- following the integrated IPTV boxes offered by LG Uplus -- and China after that. Microsoft is apparently ready to follow Google TV's lead with HDMI passthrough and TV overlays, we'll see if it can gain traction at home and overseas before others catch up. Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google, LG Comments Source: Korea Times

Bulls are a determined and desperate bunch. There were two consecutive days of large sell-offs this week but on each day dip buyers entered to make things more respectable. Let’s face it, bulls have positions to defend, so getting a green close was huge psychological win for Main Street. Durable Goods Orders beat expectations coming in at 3.3% vs 1.4% expected, and prior, -5.9%; Ex-transportation, which gives a better picture of conditions since they're generally volatile like Boeing 787 orders for example, would be at 1.3% vs 0.4% expected, and prior -1.7%. This gave bulls some hope. But that news was sold hard early in the day Friday. There really wasn’t any other news Friday and many traders were leaving early for the long weekend thus volume started to slacken making it easy for some algos (they never take a holiday) to bid things up squeezing some shorts. The volatility in Japan markets continued as their leaders haven’t learned how to describe new policies as and Earnings from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were initially well received but on second look the stock was hit hard Friday. More defensive sectors again led markets like consumer staples (XLP), but that’s about it. Most other sectors were either mildly lower or much lower. Overseas markets were mostly weaker than U.S. sectors especially China (FXI), emerging markets (EEM) and Europe (IEV). It would be wrong to conclude that Friday’s action was bullish when looking over the global landscape. The dollar (UUP) was flat. Both gold (GLD) and silver (SLV) weakened once again. Commodities (DBC) were weak once again as was oil (USO) and bonds (TLT) were fractionally higher. Volume trailed off and bulls were free to ramp stocks into the close. Breadth per the WSJ was mostly negative. You can follow our pithy comments on twitter and become a fan of ETF Digest on facebook. NYMO The NYMO is a market breadth indicator that is based on the difference between the number of advancing and declining issues on the NYSE. When readings are +60/-60 markets are extended short-term. NYSI The McClellan Summation Index is a long-term version of the McClellan Oscillator. It is a market breadth indicator, and interpretation is similar to that of the McClellan Oscillator, except that it is more suited to major trends.I believe readings of +1000/-1000 reveal markets as much extended. VIX The VIX is a widely used measure of market risk and is often referred to as the "investor fear gauge". Our own interpretation is highlighted in the chart above. The VIX measures the level of put option activity over a 30-day period. Greater buying of put options (protection) causes the index to rise. SPY 5 MINUTE .SPX WEEKLY INDU WEEKLY RUT WEEKLY QQQ WEEKLY XLF WEEKLY XLB WEEKLY XLP WEEKLY XLI WEEKLY IYT WEEKLY IYR WEEKLY TLT WEEKLY FXE WEEKLY FXY WEEKLY FXA WEEKLY GLD WEEKLY SLV WEEKLY GDX WEEKLY JJC WEEKLY DBC WEEKLY USO WEEKLY UNG WEEKLY UUP WEEKLY EFA WEEKLY IEV WEEKLY EEM WEEKLY EWJ WEEKLY EWZ WEEKLY RSX WEEKLY EPI WEEKLY FXI WEEKLY EWA WEEKLY The market’s performance Thursday and Friday are misleading since there is so much destruction in many sectors globally. But the media depends on selling what’s going on with the DJIA. It’s just window dressing for the tourists frankly. Next week will feature Consumer Confidence; Case-Shiller HPI, GDP; Jobless Claims; Pending Home Sales; Chicago PMI; and, the dueling U of Michigan Consumer Sentiment data. The Fed will continue POMO actions throughout the week with the largest liquidity add Friday. Let’s see what happens.

Chinese artist Yi Zhou showed her short film "Hollowness," starring @miamoretti and ‘It’ Girl @lilyscoutk:

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Losing ground for the first time in five weeks, the S&P 500 Index lost less than 1 point, or less than 0.1%, to close at 1,649 as stocks head into the long weekend. Though posting slight losses, U.S. equities fared far better than most international markets, many of which fell following weak industrial data from China earlier this week. Doing their best impression of weak foreign stocks, these three companies ended as the worst in the S&P Friday. Five-day periods just don't get much bleaker than the one GameStop experienced this week. Today's 10.8% decline brought weekly losses to 19.2%, as Microsoft's Xbox One release was the initial downward catalyst for the stock and the new console will likely make the majority of the used-game industry out of business. Today's slip comes after GameStop announced quarterly results. Sales and income both fell, foreshadowing what could be a depressing future for shareholders.  The second-largest laggard of the day, Salesforce.com , lost 5.3% after a weak quarter of its own. The quarter wasn't so much weak as expensive: Increasing costs brought margins down. The company lost nearly $70 million in the first quarter, even though core revenue ticked upwards. But with operating expenses rising nearly 30% and interest expense surging 87%, it's tough to post an impressive quarter. Lastly, shares of materials company Allegheny Technologies slipped 3.1% for a third straight day of losses. The week's earlier data from China initiated the slump, as investors fear sluggish industrial production in the Far East will either spread to the West or limit demand in high-growth markets abroad. Credit Suisse also lowered its price target for the stock today, citing an increase in nickel supply. With the U.S. relying on the rest of the world for such a large percentage of our goods, many investors are ready for the end of the "made in China" era. Well, it may be here. Read all about the biggest industry disrupters since the personal computer in 3 Stocks to Own for the New Industrial Revolution. Just click here to learn more.

TweetMy great weakness is for stories set in space, which is where we are by the start of Colonus by Ken Pisani and Arturo Lauria. The concept is high concept… but also effortless. In a future where Earth is no more, the survivors have split into two groups. The prisoners, madmen, outcasts have been exiled to Venus, whilst the rest of the world colonises Mars. Whilst the easier surroundings on Mars bring out the worst in humanity and create a new society which grows fat, lazy, undisciplined and stupid – the hardships of Venus force the inhabitants to work hard to make their planet somewhere worth living. But once Mars notices that Venus is improving itself, it comes calling. That is a FANTASTIC premise, as far as I’m concerned. It plays to an incredible, brilliant allegory which I’m sure the creators are also aware of – the growth of countries into power. As countries like America and the UK grow lazy and restless, how are they going to react when countries like China suddenly wake up and start asserting themselves? Will they leave them alone, or will they try to interfere? I think we all know the answer to that one. Aside from the premise, what most grabbed my attention was Arturo Lauria’s artwork, which is striking and bold. There’s an element of Mike Mignola to the style, and the colouring is just fantastic. If you want to take a closer look, head across to http://colonusgraphicnovel.tumblr.com Steve is tweets @stevewmorris #call_to_action h4{padding:0px 5px;} #social-essentials {margin: 0 0 10px 0;}