Syria - Beginning of the End ?

لجان التنسيق المحلية: 100 قتيل برصاص الأمن اليوم معظمهم في حمص و ريف دمشق
Local organization committees say: Today, 100 died from bullets fired by security forces, most of them in Homs and the [outskirts] of Damascus.


Report from Homs via Skype:
A poster announcing the end of Assad's government in Damascus:
دمشق - بداية النهاية
Damascus - The Beginning of the End

Israel - Joke of the Week

Israel digging another Blaumilchkanal ?

مشروع إسرائيلي ينافس قناة السويس
المشروع ينتظر أن يربط بين مدينة إيلات (البحر الأحمر) وتل أبيب (البحر المتوسط) برحلة ساعتين

Israeli project rivals with the Suez Canal.
The project is expected to connect the town of Eilat (Red Sea) with Tel Aviv (Mediterranean Sea) in a two hours journey.
[Source: Al-Jazeera Online, Arabic service, January 29, 2012]

Note: "Blaumilchkanal" or "Big Dig" is the title of another funny story written by Israel's famous humorist Ephraim Kishon. Below are two scene photos from the film. The map is showing the densely populated area of central Israel between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as the desert between Beer Sheba and Eilat. The Suez Canal should be located some 150 km west of Eilat.

Syria - The Art of Revolution and Reality

الثورة الشعب تصادف الحقيقة
La révolution du peuple rencontre la réalité.
The people's revolution meeting with reality.

Graphic art by © "Ulysses" / W.W., 2012.
Original size of calligraphy: 30cm x 40cm.
...............................................................................

Art and Reality - News of the Day from Syria

China - Youth of the Dragon

The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) is a mass organization of advanced youth under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The basic tasks of the CYLC at the current stage are to unite and lead youths to focus on economic construction and, during the great practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, to temper themselves as successors who are well educated and have lofty ideals, moral integrity and high sense of discipline. The current first secretary of the Secretariat of the CYLC Central Committee is Zhou Qiang. The CYLC now has more than 69.86 million members and is trying to attract only "the best of the best" of China's educated youth in order to prepare them for their future leading task in society.

The CYLC is located under the roof of the All-China Youth Federation (ACYF), a federative body of Chinese youth organizations and excellent youth nationwide. Through its 52 member organizations and over 77,000 individual members at all levels, the ACYF reaches over 300 million young people across China.


There are, as well, some institutions for students under the roof of the main organization ACYF, providing support even for students decided to study abroad. Here's an announcement I found on one of their websites:

2010年北美留学最新趋势主题讲座通知
"Announcement of some lectures on the subject of latest trends for Beijing students intending to study in America in 2010."

The lectures were held in autumn 2009 by a Canadian citizen of Chinese extraction who had been working at the University of Vancouver as kind of an assistant and at the University of Nebraska as a visiting researcher. All kinds of items including personal problems had been dealt with in these lectures.

Above: "Hu Jintao and his Whispering Dragon" (treated photo)

In 2010, Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, Secretary General of China's Communist Party and Supreme Leader of the People's Liberation Army, was considered to be the most powerful man in the world according to Forbes Magazine. He even outranked U.S. President Barack Obama who received that evaluation in 2009.

YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Here is what a Chinese source from Taiwan is saying about the fabulous Chinese Dragon:

The Celestial Chinese Dragon is comparable as the symbol of the Chinese race itself. Chinese around the world, proudly proclaim themselves "Descendents of the Dragon".

The Dragon brings upon the essence of life, in the form of its celestial breath, known to many as sheng chi. He yields life and bestows its power in the form of the seasons, bringing water from rain, warmth from the sunshine, wind from the seas and soil from the earth. The Dragon is the ultimate representation of the forces of Mother Nature. The greatest divine force on Earth.

What an amazing coincidence: A solar eruption of unusual strength
takes place at the very beginning of the Dragon's Year.


As there are five types of dragon, a dragon's year can express five different types of character.

Now that 2012 is a year of the Water Dragon, you should know about the Water Dragon's character:
He is less selfish and opinionated than the other Dragons. He is more inhibited and less power-hungry. He can accept defeat without recriminations. He makes a good negotiator as he knows when, where, and how to apply pressure. On the other hand, he has a tendency to be over-optimistic and needs to learn how to relinquish what is unfeasible so that he can concentrate his energies on the most rewarding endeavors.

Some other sources are pointing out that the Dragon can be seen as a symbol of change that might even manifest in global politics.


A Chinese online publication is concentrating on a more prosaic view of the Dragon's influence. It's all about shareholder's value:

里昂第18次公布风水指数，指明年是水龙年，利水旺土，看好博彩及水泥股表现，又预测港股上、下半年表现各异，先低后高，最终能以上涨收官。
Li Ang's 18th proclamation of the Feng Shui index points out that the coming year is a Water Dragon's year, favourable for the water and flourishing for the earth and that will make us observe the manifestation of a plentiful variety and of solid [literally: cement] shares, as well as a predicted rising of Hongkong shares and remarkable surprises emerging in the second part of the year.
[Source: 腾讯财经 "Uprising Messages from Finance and Economics", January 19, 2012]

Translator's remark: I'm not really decided whether to buy "cement shares" of China's flourishing building industry or rather any shares on the market that are being regarded as "solid". At least, cement has something to do with water and earth, and the best time to buy would be in July 2012 ...
Below is an overview of Dragon Year's impact on shareholder's value. But no, I don't tell you what to buy when unless you pay me and take the full risk yourself.

Iran - Economy and Politics

Latest News (Jan.23):
- Allied warships passing the strait of Hormuz. Aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln" accompanied by British, French and U.S. vessels has entered the Persian Gulf. No Iranian reaction so far [CNN and Al-Arabiya TV this morning].
- EU imposes oil embargo on Iran [international media].

据“阿拉伯新闻网”17日报道，伊朗政府一位高级官员当天强调，伊朗丝毫不惧怕来自美国包括石油、金融等在内的制裁，伊朗与海湾地区国家有着良好的关系，会得到沙特阿拉伯等国家的支持和帮助。
Based on a report provided by the "Arabic News Network" on [Jan.] 17, a high-ranking official [on behalf of] the Iranian government underlined that Iran doesn't fear to the slightest degree any punishment originating from the United States, including those having a bearing on crude oil and finance. Iran and the nations of the [Persian] Gulf region are having excellent relationships with each other and are knowing to get support and help from Saudi Arabia.
[Source: People's Network, Bejing, January 18, 2012]

The following information on Iran's economy was taken from an official Chinese source. It gives an idea of Iran's economic development during the past years:
中华人民共和国驻德黑兰的大使馆在他们的网站出版了伊朗经济新闻。

伊朗去年石化产品出口达71亿美元
Last year [i.e. 2008], Iran's export of petrochemical products reached a volume of 7,1 Billion U.S.$.

《德黑兰时报》4月7日报道，伊朗2008年共出口了3，900万吨石化产品，主要是甲醇、聚乙烯、乙烯和液化天然气等产品，出口价值达71亿美元。
According to a "Tehran Times" report dating back to April 7 [2009], Iran's export of petrochemical products in 2008 reached an overall volume of 39 Million tons. Main products were methanole, polyethylene, ethylene and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The export value reached 7,1 Billion U.S.$.
..................................................

伊朗2009年度非石油产品出口预计达到250亿美元
In 2009, export of Iran's crude oil products reached an estimated value of 25 Billion U.S.$.

《伊朗新闻报》4月6日报道，伊朗商业部副部长Ghazanfari最近在接受伊朗媒体采访时称，伊朗虽受全球金融危机的冲击，今年的非石油产品出口增幅将比去年有所下降，但仍将比去年增长20%，预计出口达到250亿美元左右。伊朗的出口促进组织将与往年一样，继续帮助非石油产品生产企业向国际市场推销伊朗的产品出口。
"Iranian News" reported on April 6 [2010] what Iran's vice-minister of commerce Ghazanfari recently said in an interview with Iranian media: Despite being lashed by the global financial crisis and a limited decrease of growth for this year's export [i.e. 2009] of crude oil products in comparison with the year before, the [value] of exported goods is still lying 20% above past year's value [i.e. 2008] and is reaching a volume of 25 Billion U.S.$.

For more information on Iran's economy refer to:
Economy of Iran

---

Israel's Need for Energy

The situation of Israel's energy supply, regarded to be a main feature behind the actual conflict between Israel and Iran, can be highlighted by relevant information extracted from Wikipedia (or any other related source). In addition, I remember Iran's president Ahmadi Nejad urging Arab nations not to allow their oil being "stolen" by the West and their allies.

"As of 2009, Israel relied on external imports for meeting most of its energy needs, spending an amount equivalent to over 5% of its GDP per year on imports of energy products. The transportation sector relies mainly on gasoline and diesel fuel, while the majority of electricity production is generated using imported coal. The country possesses negligible reserves of crude oil but does have abundant domestic natural gas resources which were discovered in large quantities starting in 2009, after many decades of previously unsuccessful exploration. A 33-billion-cubic-metre (BCM), or 1,200-billion-cubic-foot, natural-gas field is located offshore of Ashkelon; however, as of 2009 it is approximately two-thirds exhausted. In 2009, a significant gas find with proven reserves of 188 BCM or 6.6×1012 cu ft (259 BCM probable) was located in deep water approximately 90 km (60 mi) west of Haifa, as well as a smaller 15 BCM (530×109 cu ft) field situated nearer the coastline. Furthermore, results of 3D seismic surveys and test drilling conducted in 2010 confirmed that a 480 BCM (17.00×1012 cu ft) natural-gas deposit exists in a large underwater geological formation nearby the large gas field already discovered in 2009. (For comparison purposes, the United Kingdom's total proven gas reserves as of 2009 are 343 BCM while Germany's consist of 176 BCM.) The large gas discoveries have confirmed that the Levant basin of the Eastern Mediterranean contains significant quantities of natural gas and, potentially, crude oil. Consequently, additional exploration for oil and gas off Israel's coastline is continuing."

It should be noted that all significant gas reserves are located offshore and in international waters which makes their exploration not only more difficult but more vulnerable as well when seen in the frame of Israel's traditional conflicts with its Palestinian and Arab neighbours. Such conflicts are already surfacing in regular assaults on the natural gas pipeline between Egypt and Israel and are endangering one of Israel's most important lines of energy supply after the fall of Mubarak's regime in Egypt.

The CIA Factbook is offering additional information on Israel's economy and natural gas reserves:
Economy of Israel
Natural Gas - Proved Reserves

China's Internet - 500 Million Users

中国的网民规模突破5亿
互联网普及遇新挑战

China's Internet People: Population Topping 500 Million
The spreading internet is meeting with new challenges.

今天，中国互联网络信息中心（CNNIC）发布《第29次中国互联网络发展状况统计报告》。报告显示，截至2011年12月底，我国微博用户数达到2.5亿，成为网民重要的信息获取渠道。
Today, China's Internet Information Center (CNNIC) published its "29th Statistics Report on the State of China's Internet Development". The report displays: By the end of December 2011, the number of Chinese households using the web has increased to 250 Million. [The web] then became the most important medium of communication for its [users] when fetching news.

As to the extreme numbers mentioned in this report, I had some second thoughts like some of my visitors might have as well. Unfortunately, the meaning of that Chinese character 亿 used to express "100 Million" is not standardized. It might as well have the meaning of "extremely much" or "something about a million". Nevertheless, a closer look at the original statistics shows that such numbers are true (if the statistics are true at all). This can be concluded from the history of internet users' increase:
In July 2008 for example, the 22nd CNNIC report counted 253 Million internet users using a different Chinese character 万 for the description of that number and which has the traditional meaning of "10.000". Therefore, the 253 Million could be described as 25.300 times "10.000" (25.300万). And voilà, now everything is fitting perfectly. Quite ingenious those Chinese !

It must be added that an overall number of Chinese internet users of 5亿 or 500 Million should include even occasional users who are taking advantage of public computer installations (i.e. at university libraries or internet cafés) or who are working at private installations together with friends.

This goes together with 7,9 Million websites using the ".cn" domain in July 2011 which might hint at a certain restriction to users of the Chinese internet to freely build their personal homepages. Maybe, the ".com" or ".net" domains are being applied on a larger scale in China or subdomains like ".com.cn" are more extensive than expected. Unfortunately, there's no further information available.

The below picture is showing the concrete numbers of internet users and their development from 2004 to 2011. The latest number registered is 513,1 Million users which make up to 38,8% of China's population.


There's a related blogspot of mine that is providing further information:
Chinese Language Flooding the Web.

New U.S. Strategy - Chinese View

Latest UPDATE of this blogspot on January 16, 2012.

美国战略调整逼近中国
山姆大叔对华有三怕

Revised U.S. military strategy pressing on China.
Uncle Sam so much afraid of China.

美国怕我们什么？就怕中国强盛！于是千方百计干扰我们的发展。我们偏偏不为其所动，专心致志搞发展。美国还怕我们什么？怕我们有一个良好的外部环境。于是千方百计挑拨离间、拉帮结派，毒化我们的发展氛围。我们则要纵横捭阖，巧施外交，把朋友争取得越多越好，把对立面孤立得越少越好。

What does America fear from us ? They are afraid of China's power and prosperity ! As a result, they are obstructing our development by every possible means. Though we are not inclined to change each other's place [in the world], just being wholeheartedly devoted to carry on [our] development. What else does America fear from us ? They are afraid because we enjoy favorable external conditions. As a result, they are [steadily] sowing discord and are giving a helpful hand to the formation of bandit factions, thus poisoning the atmosphere of [our] development. Our rules [or: laws] need to cope with various political groupings and [we need to] skilfully handle [our] foreign affairs. Friends we have to win over, the more the better. The isolated [individuals or positions] we have to oppose, the fewer the better.

[Source: People's Network, Beijing, January 8, 2012]

This text has been translated by Ulysses who introduced all remarks in brackets in order to reach a better understanding of the Chinese source. "People's Network" can be considered as a semi-official publication of the People's Republic directed to its own people rather than "China Daily" which is being published in English for Western readers. The above comment should therefore be regarded as what it is : An unmasked piece of semi-official opinion from China. The translator recognizes some poisonous aspects in that comment which might be based on a profound misunderstanding between the American and Chinese positions. It could therefore be useful to "work" on that misunderstanding in order to avoid any further acceleration of an already existing conflict.

亚太国家心态复杂看美国新军事战略

Asia's great nations and their complex attitude
towards America's new military strategy

... is a related article published by People's Network on January 9, 2012. It is dealing with the presumed attitude of countries like Thailand and Australia towards the new goal that has been set for the armed forces by U.S. President Obama. Here some excerpts from that article:

美国政府强调了一年多的“重返亚洲”战略终于在1月5日公布的新军事报告中显露出了其锋芒所在。
It's just another year that America emphasized its war strategy of "returning to Asia", the spearhead of which became visible last time on January 5 in a new military report.

亚太地区的媒体普遍认为该报告中有两点值得重视：其一是亚太地区成为重点，其二是美国将进一步削减军费。一些学者更多地将关注点集中于第二点和有可能引发的问题。
Media reports of [all] great Asian countries generally consider two points worth to be taken seriously. One of them is [implying] that Asian regions become focal points [of that strategy]. The second point is America's intention to further cut down military expenditures. Some analysts [liter.: scholars] are even more paying attention rather to the second of these points and any questions it might probably raise.

......................................................

In January 2012, talks between ASEAN states and China should begin on what the U.S. call a "code of conduct" that would allow foreign ships to freely navigate the South China Sea which is, up to now, eagerly controlled by Chinese naval forces.


美媒：美欲推“南海行为准则”反制中国
According to U.S. media, America desires to promote a "code of
conduct for the South China Sea" that would put restrictions on China.

美国海军作战部长乔纳森·格林纳特10日在华盛顿表示，为应对中国经济军事能力增长可能发生对区域准入的限制，美国和亚太地区的盟友将共同推动一个国际行为规范准则，以确保在南中国海的航行自由。
On [January] 10 in Washington, Jonathan Greenert, the head of U.S. Navy's operative department [precisely: Naval Operations Admiral], showed [the need to] reply to the increase of possibilities occurring to China's economic and military abilities [by means of] establishing regional standards of restriction [... to China !]. America and their allies in the great regions of Asia are altogether pushing forward an international code of conduct as a regulation that firmly guarantees liberty of navigation in the South China Sea.
[People's Network citing a Western source, January 13, 2012]

The following, most recent article is showing how America and China are increasingly drifting apart on the subject of any free navigation in the South China Sea.
[People's Network, January 16, 2012]

在北京召开的会议上，中国与东盟10国高官及东盟秘书处官员就进一步推动《南海各方行为宣言》的落实交换了看法，对实施已经达成的一些合作项目达成了一系列共识。这次会议的召开表明，目前南海局势总体上是和平稳定的，各声索国也愿意通过协商谈判的途径来解决问题。
At the conference convened in Beijing, high-ranking officials from China and 10 nations of the Asian alliance [ASEAN] as well as high officials from the secretariat of that alliance, are stepping forward to promote a practical exchange of views for a "Declaration of Mutual Conduct in the South China Sea" [while realizing the] implementation of some items already [decided] in cooperation on the basis of common [considerations]. The realization of that conference indicates that a peaceful stabilization of the current situation is its ultimate goal.

相比之下，在美国召开的南海会议就没有那么多和平的气氛了。从美国媒体传出的有关信息看，华盛顿某些人眼看南海局势走稳而美国似乎要被排除在外，显露出急于有所作为的焦急心态。
In comparison with [that conference], the U.S. convened "South China Sea Conference" hasn't got much of a peaceful atmosphere. As can be seen from related information spread by U.S. media, certain persons in Washington are looking passively on the situation of the South China Sea and which is steadily developing [while] America seemingly wishes to be excluded [from that development], yet appearing eager to some extent to [demonstrate its] worried attitude.

Iran's Dilemma and Strategy

As recent naval exercises have shown, the Islamic Republic of Iran is still defiant, even though the Obama administration just confirmed the application of further sanctions. Here now excerpts of a comment on Iran's strategy for the limitation of damage. This evaluation has been published the day before by semi-official People's Network, Beijing:

伊朗在制裁尖刀下寻突围
Iran is seeking to escape the encirclement
with downheld dagger while being punished.

“穿越霍尔木兹海峡的美国航母不要返回波斯湾水域，否则伊朗的反应将不会仅仅停留在建议上”；“制裁不会让伊朗经济伤到一根头发”……最近几天，伊朗政府和军方接连向西方发炮，回击白宫年前出台的针对伊朗石油出口的制裁新措施。
"No U.S. [carrier ship] passing through the strait of Hormuz must return [through] Persian waters. Otherwise Iran's response could not merely restrict to recommendations." "Punishment cannot hurt a tiny bit of Iran's economy. [Lit.: cannot bent a single hair on the head of Iran's economy]" ... During the last days, both, Iranian government and military successively sent a cannonade [of stances] to the West, such striking back at the White House that delivered a stitch [of the needle] to Iran last year and in the frame of new steps against Iranian oil export.

向来嘴不饶人的伊朗，摆出一副无所畏惧的架势，对西方称为“严厉”的制裁轻描淡写地略过。然而外界分析认为，伊朗表面嘴硬，内心则担心制裁的严重后果。而眼下除了喷喷口水显示强硬外，伊朗也开始寻求破解压力的突围之策。
All along a bigmouthed Iran, [not sparing anybody and] assuming a fearless posture, is using the strategy of just occasionally mentioning what the West calls "severe" punishment. However, any foreign analysis is considering Iran's superficial stubbornness [as a sign of] deeply-rooted anxiety of severe consequences that might arise from punishment. Thus at present and in addition to a strong demonstration of gushing saliva directed at the outside, Iran has begun to look for a strategy to escape from the encircling pressure as well.

伊朗寻求斗而不破
Subtitle: Iran is seeking struggle but not rupture.

互摸底线不求战姿态强硬为选战
Subtitle: Trying to gain mutual knowledge of each other's intentions and political lines doesn't [go together with] striving for a state of warring capabilities that is [already] strongly inclined to war.

[来源：人民网>>军事，2012年01月06日]

Below: Location of nuclear facilities in Iran.


Below: Mahjoob Zweiri, Professor of Middle-Eastern politics at
Qatar University, says Iran is not willing to put the option of
talks from the table.


Below: Rear admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, Iranian senior navy commander.


Below: Satellite photo showing the Strait of Hormuz.


Latest News:
الجيش الأمريكي يواصل تعزيز وجوده بمنطقة الخليج
الولايات المتحدة "سترد" إذا سعت إيران إلى إغلاق مضيق هرمز

U.S. forces continue their reinforcement and [deployment] in the Golf region. - The United States "will repulse" in case Iran might close the strait of Hormuz.
[Source: Al-Arabiya TV, January 8, 2012]

Latin American News

Cuba:

Economic changes in Cuba during the last 15 months [Al-Jazeera]:
- 550.000 state workers planned to be laid off (September 2010).
- Self-employment in 178 small business areas allowed (September 2010).
- Buying and selling of cars now allowed (October 2011).
- Buying and selling of houses now allowed (Novemvber 2011).
- Bank loans now available for small businesses (November 2011).

Above: Peter Hakim, Inter-American Dialogue, on Cuban economics.

Further developments:
Cuba releasing 2.900 prisoners in December 2011. [CNN]

______________________________

Venezuela:

President Hugo Chavez, in shape again after cancer treatment in Cuba, announces the erection of 125.000 state-financed new dwellings (flats) for people in need. Such dwellings are equipped with electricity and water supply. [TElesur, Caracas]

_______________________________

Peru:

Conservative Peruvian media making front against president Ollanta Humala. In the frame of that campaign, the new president is critisized for his political association with president Chavez of Venezuela.


At the end of his first 100 days in office, president Humala has put social programs on the agenda. In 2012, he is decided to deal with fears and uncertainties of the indigenous communities. [Telesur, Caracas]

North Korea - Kim Jong Il Dead

North Korea's supreme leader
Kim Jong Il died on Dec. 17

朝鲜最高领导人金正日17日逝世

According to People's Network 人民网, Beijing, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il should have died on December 17. The official photo below, perhaps one of his last, is showing Kim Jong Il together with Russian president Medvedyev during his visit to Russia on August 24.



金正日于１９４２年２月１６日出生在中朝边境白头山密营。
Kim Jong Il was born on February 16, 1942, in a secret camp in the White Head Mountain area that is bordering China.

2010年10月10日，朝鲜在平壤金日成广场举行盛大阅兵式，庆祝朝鲜劳动党成立65周年。
[Kim Jong Il and son Kim Jong Un]: At North Korea's large Kim Il Song square, attending a giant military parade on celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party.

In a 2010 blogspot, we already learnt about Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un who might now become the new strongman of North Korea.

Another blogspot, dating back to 2008, is showing a rare series of photos of Kim Jong Il visiting a military unit.

2月14日，朝鲜劳动党总书记、国防委员会委员长金正日（右一）在平壤会见了中国国务委员、公安部部长孟建柱（左一）。
The general secretary of Korea's Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defence Council, Kim Jong Il, meeting with members of China's State Council and the [Chinese] Minister of Public Security Meng Jian Zhu (first left). February 14, 2011.

Chinese Language Flooding the Web

These days, PEOPLE'S NETWORK 人民网, the online edition of PEOPLE'S DAILY 人民日报 in Beijing, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. I still remember their website from the very beginning as it was just about the same time BLUEPRINT magazine went online. At that time, the presentation of Chinese characters on webpages was still an unsolved problem to most webmasters, and even commercial Chinese webdesigners offered Chinese text rather on picture files than Chinese encoded text in the frame of an HTML-program.

Lucky me, being able to produce Chinese text on pictures by using a combination of rare software, already presented some BLUEPRINT articles containing Chinese scripture as early as 1997. Even though, Chinese websites using GB- and BIG-encoding could already be found on rare occasions, neither of both standard browsers at that time, the Microsoft Internet Explorer and its competitor from Netscape, was able to show simplified or traditional Chinese characters. Only later versions of the Internet Explorer were able to do so. I even remember one experimental version of the Microsoft product that required a distinct installation of the language support download for each single Chinese webpage to view. It was about the same time when "Chinese language viewers" were offered for free.

Nowadays, there are more than two Chinese encodings available and that are usually recognized by all modern browsers. Now, it makes sense to write Chinese text directly into the HTML-body of a website. Even more, Chinese is going to become the prevailing language on the internet, letting behind English that, up to then, dominated the worldwide web.

As to PEOPLE'S NETWORK, it has lived through all those changes during the 15 years of its existence. Their first website I found almost by chance as the search engines of that time were as well different from now. The GB-encoded site was characterized by a standard-grey background and contained no single picture. Instead, it summarized some older articles from the archives of PEOPLE'S DAILY. It really looked like a beginner's site. But very soon, the webdesign got a professional look and matched with state-of-the-art design of Western news magazines. Today, PEOPLE'S NETWORK is a highly professional news service with a comprehensive and well-organized structure, combined with an efficient search engine.

Of course, it should not be underestimated that Chinese media are subject to a strict administrative control. From there, restrictions to the credibility of news reports and related comments might arise when it comes to difficult subjects concerning China's internal problems. Nevertheless, PEOPLE'S NETWORK remains an important source for news and official opinion from the People's Republic of China.

As a proof for the accuracy of my evaluation, here some photos taken from a recent Chinese language article on unmanned airplanes (drones) as used by Western military [People's Network, Dec. 18, 2011]:

X-47B (U.S. drone)

RQ-4 (U.S. drone)

RQ-7 (U.S. drone)

Sentry 哨兵 RQ-170 (U.S. drone)

美无人机是被伊朗“诱骗”降落？
综合外国媒体12月16日报道，一位不愿透露姓名的伊朗工程师近日对外披露了伊朗用电子战方式击落美国RQ-170“哨兵”无人机的细节内容。
U.S. drone really brought down by Iran in a "tricky" landing ?
[According to] a comprehensive report from foreign media on December 16, an Iranian engineer and whose name was deliberately held back recently leaked [information] that Iran brought down an RQ-170 "Sentry" drone using electronic warfare measures. [People's Network, Dec.18, 2011]

Predator 捕食者 (U.S. drone)

Falcon 猎鹰 HTV-2 (U.S. drone)

Spirit of Lightning and Thunder 雷电神 (British drone)

Heron 苍鹭 (Israeli drone)

Habi 哈比 (Israeli drone; romanization of the Chinese name probably fitting with a Hebrew name)

World Economy: Rise of China - Fall of Europe ?

Today, the People's Republic of China is celebrating its 10th anniversary of China's membership in the World Trade Organization WTO. [People's Daily Online / People's Network and Al-Jazeera TV, Dec.11, 2011]

As China's gross national product GNP soared to $ 4,393 per head by 2010, in comparison to $ 1,042 in 2001, the People's Republic can now be considered as the world's second largest economy, following the United States of America.

President Hu Jin Tao joined the celebrations.

As Chinese folks are known to be superstitious, nature seems to have provided a "heavenly sign" for them which did not occur for ten years: A lunar eclipse on December 10, accompanied by the temporary observation of a "Red Moon" if that has anything to mean at all. - At least, the colour "red" is a traditional sign of good luck and prosperity in China's society.


_______________________________________


U.S. general warns of political unrest in the frame of latent economic difficulties that are just expressing themselves in the actual crisis of the European currency system. [Source: Al-Jazeera, Dec.10, 2011]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has said that he believes the eurozone is at great risk and warned that any breakup of the bloc could have consequences for the Pentagon, even threatening its top weapons programme and which is partly relying on its European allies in Britain and Italy.

Dempsey made his comment at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. Even though, Dempsey is no recognized expert in economics, his evaluation of the eurozone crisis might represent the way of thinking within parts of the military and political community at Washingon D.C..

As the U.S.military has still more than 80,000 troops and 20,000 civilian workers in Europe, many of them based in Germany, any worsening of the European crisis could affect U.S. military plannings as well, namely the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme which is considered to be the Pentagon's costlies weapons programme and is partly relying on their European partners.

Comment:
Now some remarks about economic stability in Germany. It's a fact that heavenly signs were not in favour of Germany since we met with the "Black Sun" of a solar eclipse under the Schröder administration in 1999, a time when worst mistakes had been made that are still showing their after-effect in 2011 Germany. Nevertheless, our economy has remained its vigour and even more recovered after the devastating global financial crisis. As to the eurozone crisis, Germany and France finally succeeded in finding a temporary solution that is settling the European market for a certain time while the European currency remains a stable competitor to the U.S.$. So what's all that fuzz about ?



Above: Headlines of the satirical magazine "Titanic" on the occasion of a total solar eclipse in 1999. - "Schröder is getting the Black Sun to Germany." - "That's what they have money for."

Earth-Like Planet Found

Only some hours ago, NASA reported about an earth-like planet, Kepler 22b, found in the sky region of Cygnus (Swan) and Lyra. This planet is orbiting a sun similar like ours and in a distance that would make human life possible, i.e. where liquid water could exist which is essential for the existence of human tissue.

Area of search of the Kepler mission in the star constellations of Cygnus (Swan) and Lyra.



Here's a shortened version of the NASA report. For the original text and additional pictures refer to their website:

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone" [of a star], the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

Previous research hinted at the existence of near-Earth-size planets in habitable zones, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Two other small planets orbiting stars smaller and cooler than our sun recently were confirmed on the very edges of the habitable zone, with orbits more closely resembling those of Venus and Mars.

"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe."

Kepler discovers planets and planet candidates by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars to search for planets that cross in front, or "transit," the stars. Kepler requires at least three transits to verify a signal as a planet.

"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., who led the team that discovered Kepler-22b. "The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."

The Kepler science team uses ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer Space Telescope to review observations on planet candidates the spacecraft finds. The star field that Kepler observes in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra can only be seen from ground-based observatories in spring through early fall. The data from these other observations help determine which candidates can be validated as planets.

Kepler-22b is located 600 light-years away. While the planet is larger than Earth, its orbit of 290 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our world. The planet's host star belongs to the same class as our sun, called G-type, although it is slightly smaller and cooler.

Of the 54 habitable zone planet candidates reported in February 2011, Kepler-22b is the first to be confirmed. This milestone will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Steve Maran, a former NASA astronomer and book author ("Astronomy for Dummies"), explaining the Kepler mission in an interview with Al-Jazeera, studio Washington :

Afghanistan - A Doomed Conference

A major conference on Afghanistan has begun in the German town of Bonn comprising delegates from 90 countries. Pakistan cancelled its participation after a devastating U.S. assault on alleged Taliban targets in the Jalalabad area, killing instead 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Missing as well are Taliban related groups including three influential members of the former Taliban administration in Afghanistan and delegates of a militant group lead by Afghan strongman Hekmatyar. As the official Afghan delegation of president Karzai has rejected any Afghan representation other than their own, such groups cannot participate officially. Nevertheless, talks with high-ranking Taliban representatives are now taking place behind the scene in Pakistan and Qatar.

The present conference has to prepare for the future of Afghanistan, because complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from that country should take place by 2014. Pakistan's participation at the meeting would have been of much importance for the stabilization of Afghanistan's security, as Pakistan's influence in the Afghan border region is steadily increasing.

East-Asia Leading Worldwide Car Production

According to recent statistics I found in a magazine, published by the largest German organization of car drivers, ADAC, China can now be regarded as the No.1 car producer worldwide. This I took for reason to examine some aspects of East-Asian car production.

"Sai Ou 赛欧", a Chinese manufacturer of cars offers his latest model called "Xue Fo Lan 雪佛兰". As there is no intelligible translation of the model's name, it might be a combination of the Chinese word "xue" for "snow" (German "Schnee") and the sound-adaptation "fo-lan" possibly representing the German word of "Fohlen" which means young horse. The result could therefore be "Schneefohlen", a beautiful white-coloured and energetic young horse, thus hinting at German competitors on the Chinese market (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) who are offering their top models to Chinese top clients. Such interpretation of the car's name becomes even more credible when we look at the translation of the Chinese company's name of "Sai Ou 赛欧" which simply means "Surpassing Europe" or at least, in a moderate version, "Competiting with Europe", thus directly indicating Germany which is Europe's most important exporter of cars. That's just an example how Chinese folks are thinking.

Exhibition site of Sai Ou Ltd. showing their latest model in the foreground while the background poster is referring to Sai Ou's cars of the so-called "Happiness 幸福" series:


Below are photos of the Xue FoLan model:


1.4L S-TEC III (54.3 kW/L)和1.2L S-TEC II (53.1 kW/L)发动机，0到100公里加速分别可达到11.9秒和12.9秒，而百公里综合油耗仅为5.9L和5.7L。
Reaching 100 km/h in 11.9 (54.3 kW engine) / 12.9 seconds (53.1 kW engine) while fuel consumption at 100 km/h is 5.9 / 5.7 L.

There will be five versions on the market, ranging from the basic model (1.2 L S-TEC II engine) up to the premium model (1.4 L S-TEC III engine), each of them available in six different colours.

雪佛兰新赛欧正式上市 售价5.68-6.88万元：从1.2L手动温馨版到1.4L手动优逸版，并有六种车身颜色。

By the way, if the Xue FoLan model would ever invade the European market, it could even be sold at a competitive price which lies, according to delivered equipment, between 56.800 and 68.800 Yuan which is 6.700 - 8.100 €. Even though, the actual evaluation rate of the Chinese currency, usually considered as far too low, might be subject to future adjustment due to increasing political pressure from North America and Euro zone countries, such car prices alone could guarantee a decent segment on the European car market.

As to the expected quality of Chinese cars, I should add that China already reached a high standard in the production of special steel, necessary for car production and shipbuilding. Thus, Chinese cars are not likely to get rusty faster than those from America or Europe.

But it's not all about exportation to Europe: Wealthy newcomers from within an emerging middle-class in China are targeted as well by East-Asian car manufacturers. The Japanese brand Lexus which makes part of the Toyota family is trying to sell its expensive segment of brandnew landrovers together with moderate sex in a campaign named "香车美女", a name that could be translated either as "Fine Smelling Car - Beautiful Woman", thus referring to the car's low emission rates, or as "Hongkong Car - U.S. Woman", such putting stress on Western design and technology. The landrover model, up to now assembled and sold in North America under the label of LX 570, was renamed for the Chinese market into "Conquering Dragon 霸王龙". Another interpretation of the Chinese name being "Ba Wang's Dragon" which is referring to a famous but cruel Chinese warrior. Both versions would make feel the Chinese driver like a hero of the road...

Lexus LX 570:


Even though, Japanese car sellers recently lost much credibility among their Western customers, they still enjoy a large segment on the international market. Together with an uprising Chinese giant whose output of cars for, both, local requirements and international challenges already overtook declining U.S. car production, East-Asian car manufacturers as a whole are getting more and more influential, especially when it comes to modern driving technology. This is at least what car exhibitions in Tokyo and Guangzhou (Canton) are indicating.

Statistics of worldwide car production (2011):