Have fun playing games and learning English at the same time! We have lots of free online games for girls and boys to play. There are primary school games and games for children at nursery or kindergarten.
Enjoy them ,
jh
20.10.11
Kid Games (British Council)
Have fun playing games and learning English at the same time! We have lots of free online games for girls and boys to play. There are primary school games and games for children at nursery or kindergarten.
Enjoy them ,
jh
Don't occupy Wall Street – surround the Pentagon
A flag made by Occupy Wall Street campaign demonstrators in Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Where did all that money come from? Well, if we're to be honest with ourselves, it came from us. We invest, our banks invest, corporations invest and trade, and so forth. Many of those that end up with our money play with it, roll it around; sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. But the endgame has always been the same, to make as much of it as possible. That, lest anyone has forgotten, is the entire point of a capitalist system.
When things are good people don't take to the streets. During the last two decades, when the gross mismanagement that would lead to all of this was occurring, no one was occupying anything. Insane credit levels were rampant, mortgages low, the world a proverbial oyster. We didn't care who was behind the curtain or what they were up to. And that, whether you like it or not, isn't the fault of a handful of people. It's everyone's fault.
Why? Because you can't seriously expect a system that promotes greed to include accountability as one of its unshakable tenets. Surely that much is obvious.
It's here that I'll forgo my usual rant about the plutocratic realities inherent within the system and how the facade of democracy is used not unlike a pacifying lolly after one goes to the dentist.
The richest 3% of the population have controlled commerce and government for centuries. Just because constitutions exist doesn't mean that that reality has ever changed.
What I want to know is why there aren't throngs of people currently surrounding the Pentagon? Yes, the people of the United States bailed out the villains on Wall Street to the tune of $700bn dollars. That said, why isn't anyone just as disgusted – or far more disgusted – with the fact that the defence budget for the fiscal year 2012 is more than a trillion dollars (supplemental costs included)? That, friends, is approximately one 14th of the entire national deficit of the United States and roughly what the US owes China, its largest foreign debtor. And that's not the sum total of a bailout because of financial mismanagement, the roots of which stretch back to the Reagan administration. That's a single, fiscal year's budget all on its own. And do you know where that money comes from?
Your taxes (and loans from other countries that your kids and their kids will have to pay off). But forget even that, and not even taking into account the human cost of the last decade, but what have the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere cost? What is the sum total of sequential defence budgets since 2002?
Not to sound like a stick in the mud, but if you're on Wall Street, you're on the wrong street. Where you should be is on K Street, in Arlington, crowding the road around Langley, the gates at Indian Head, and in front of the corporate headquarters of Northrop, Raytheon, Atomic, Boeing, and a long list of others. You want universal healthcare – best to start by taking a look at what constitutes the largest portion of federal spending – defence.
We would live in a vastly different world were the economic notions of Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel put into effect. But the fact remains, Parcecon will never become a reality. If you want to change the mechanism, start with the engine. Its exhaust is merely a secondary notion.
The police might get a little rough here and there – that's to be expected. People might find themselves held in contravention of their rights – that's to be expected whenever something like this happens as well. But what will not be seen on streets in the US and Canada and the UK are armed men shooting people. Tanks will not be deployed, no one will be tortured. Do not confuse Syria or Bahrain with Wall Street. To do so would be utterly arrogant.
A great many people of prominence have spoken about the necessity of what is currently happening, and I will be the first to agree that any mass public action is welcome in this current climate. That said, it all comes down to one thing: what is it that you want?
Naomi Klein recently said in an interview: "The stakes are too high for us not to make the absolute most of this moment." So what is the "absolute most"? The complete reformation of the economic system? The passing of strict regulatory legislation? That those who have not been held to account be held to account – put on trial in some way for abusing a system that, for all intents and purposes, was designed to be abused?
There are only two courses of action. Revolution or a repeat of the sort of 60s idealism that lead to a handful of impacting changes and a lot of talk besides. Revolutions are a tricky business, unfortunately, and demand that a great deal be sacrificed to see them succeed. They require that the entire mechanism be stripped and rebuilt. The problem is that what is transpiring right now is not a crusade for civil rights, federal accountability given the devastation wrought by foreign conflicts, or even a movement to highlight the injustices suffered by the truly impoverished – those that were too poor to begin with to even have homes foreclosed on, etc. This is a movement that is, at its core, about being ripped off by a system that, when nothing bad is happening, is framed by most with a single word – "freedom", and when things aren't going well, because of the inherent corruption within the system, is framed as "criminal".
Watching empires fall is an arduous process. For the citizens of empires, and their provinces, it's a mixture of chaotic frustration, anger over an overwhelming sense of usury, and having to confront the reality that when the empire knew better days we did not question our princes, but exalted them.
What is happening right now is the fall of an empire. The subsequent shock waves being felt around the world are just the beginning. In the end, the results being yielding elsewhere are ones that we will eventually have to endure. For this is the inevitability of empires, occupations or not.
So it all comes down to what this is all about. Revolution or collapse. There is, of course the option of throwing a new coat of paint on a rusted truck, and that may very well be what occurs. But that just means that the rust remains, and eventually will show through again.
4.10.11
23.11.10
Patty Griffin & Friends Live
Watch the full episode. See more Austin City Limits.
Wade in the Water
Patty Griffin Featuring Regina McCrary And Mike FarrisWade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Well, who are these children all dressed in red?
God’s a-gonna trouble the water
Must-a-be the children that moses lead
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Well out of the mountain come fire an’ smoke
God’s a-gonna trouble the water
Jehovah nobody be he could’ve spoke
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Well, I’m walkin’ down the highway an’ the water’s gettin’ low
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Walkin’ down the highway, nowhere to go
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
But it’s wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Peter Rowan: No Woman No Cry
Say, Say,
Say I remember when we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown
Observing the hypocrites
As they would mingle with the good people we meet
Good friends we have
Oh, good friends we have lost
Along the way
In this great future,
You can't forget your past
So dry your eyes, I say
No woman no cry
No woman no cry
Dry you eyes ann say
No woman no cry
Said I remember when we use to sit
In the music grove in Nashville town
And maarke would make the fire light
the fidle was blazing through the night
Then we would cook cornmeal porridge
Of which I'll share with you
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through,
Oh, while I'm gone
Everything 's gonna be alright
Everything 's gonna be alright
No woman no cry
No woman no cry
Woman and sister
Dry your eyes and say
No woman no cry
14.11.10
30.1.10
China Leading Race to Make Clean Energy
Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
As China takes the lead on wind turbines, above, and solar panels, President Obama is calling for American industry to step up.
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: January 30, 2010
TIANJIN, China — China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year.
China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.
These efforts to dominate the global manufacture of renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.
“Most of the energy equipment will carry a brass plate, ‘Made in China,’ ” said K. K. Chan, the chief executive of Nature Elements Capital, a private equity fund in Beijing that focuses on renewable energy.
President Obama, in his State of the Union speech last week, sounded an alarm that the United States was falling behind other countries, especially China, on energy. “I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders — and I know you don’t either,” he told Congress.
The United States and other countries are offering incentives to develop their own renewable energy industries, and Mr. Obama called for redoubling American efforts. Yet many Western and Chinese executives expect China to prevail in the energy-technology race.
Multinational corporations are responding to the rapid growth of China’s market by building big, state-of-the-art factories in China. Vestas of Denmark has just erected the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturing complex here in northeastern China, and transferred the technology to build the latest electronic controls and generators.
“You have to move fast with the market,” said Jens Tommerup, the president of Vestas China. “Nobody has ever seen such fast development in a wind market.”
Renewable energy industries here are adding jobs rapidly, reaching 1.12 million in 2008 and climbing by 100,000 a year, according to the government-backed Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association.
Yet renewable energy may be doing more for China’s economy than for the environment. Total power generation in China is on track to pass the United States in 2012 — and most of the added capacity will still be from coal.
China intends for wind, solar and biomass energy to represent 8 percent of its electricity generation capacity by 2020. That compares with less than 4 percent now in China and the United States. Coal will still represent two-thirds of China’s capacity in 2020, and nuclear and hydropower most of the rest.
As China seeks to dominate energy-equipment exports, it has the advantage of being the world’s largest market for power equipment. The government spends heavily to upgrade the electricity grid, committing $45 billion in 2009 alone. State-owned banks provide generous financing.
China’s top leaders are intensely focused on energy policy: on Wednesday, the government announced the creation of a National Energy Commission composed of cabinet ministers as a “superministry” led by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao himself.
Regulators have set mandates for power generation companies to use more renewable energy. Generous subsidies for consumers to install their own solar panels or solar water heaters have produced flurries of activity on rooftops across China.
China’s biggest advantage may be its domestic demand for electricity, rising 15 percent a year. To meet demand in the coming decade, according to statistics from the International Energy Agency, China will need to add nearly nine times as much electricity generation capacity as the United States will.
So while Americans are used to thinking of themselves as having the world’s largest market in many industries, China’s market for power equipment dwarfs that of the United States, even though the American market is more mature. That means Chinese producers enjoy enormous efficiencies from large-scale production.
In the United States, power companies frequently face a choice between buying renewable energy equipment or continuing to operate fossil-fuel-fired power plants that have already been built and paid for. In China, power companies have to buy lots of new equipment anyway, and alternative energy, particularly wind and nuclear, is increasingly priced competitively.
Interest rates as low as 2 percent for bank loans — the result of a savings rate of 40 percent and a government policy of steering loans to renewable energy — have also made a big difference.
As in many other industries, China’s low labor costs are an advantage in energy. Although Chinese wages have risen sharply in the last five years, Vestas still pays assembly line workers here only $4,100 a year.
Full article >>>
As China takes the lead on wind turbines, above, and solar panels, President Obama is calling for American industry to step up.
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: January 30, 2010
TIANJIN, China — China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year.
China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.
These efforts to dominate the global manufacture of renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.
“Most of the energy equipment will carry a brass plate, ‘Made in China,’ ” said K. K. Chan, the chief executive of Nature Elements Capital, a private equity fund in Beijing that focuses on renewable energy.
President Obama, in his State of the Union speech last week, sounded an alarm that the United States was falling behind other countries, especially China, on energy. “I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders — and I know you don’t either,” he told Congress.
The United States and other countries are offering incentives to develop their own renewable energy industries, and Mr. Obama called for redoubling American efforts. Yet many Western and Chinese executives expect China to prevail in the energy-technology race.
Multinational corporations are responding to the rapid growth of China’s market by building big, state-of-the-art factories in China. Vestas of Denmark has just erected the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturing complex here in northeastern China, and transferred the technology to build the latest electronic controls and generators.
“You have to move fast with the market,” said Jens Tommerup, the president of Vestas China. “Nobody has ever seen such fast development in a wind market.”
Renewable energy industries here are adding jobs rapidly, reaching 1.12 million in 2008 and climbing by 100,000 a year, according to the government-backed Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association.
Yet renewable energy may be doing more for China’s economy than for the environment. Total power generation in China is on track to pass the United States in 2012 — and most of the added capacity will still be from coal.
China intends for wind, solar and biomass energy to represent 8 percent of its electricity generation capacity by 2020. That compares with less than 4 percent now in China and the United States. Coal will still represent two-thirds of China’s capacity in 2020, and nuclear and hydropower most of the rest.
As China seeks to dominate energy-equipment exports, it has the advantage of being the world’s largest market for power equipment. The government spends heavily to upgrade the electricity grid, committing $45 billion in 2009 alone. State-owned banks provide generous financing.
China’s top leaders are intensely focused on energy policy: on Wednesday, the government announced the creation of a National Energy Commission composed of cabinet ministers as a “superministry” led by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao himself.
Regulators have set mandates for power generation companies to use more renewable energy. Generous subsidies for consumers to install their own solar panels or solar water heaters have produced flurries of activity on rooftops across China.
China’s biggest advantage may be its domestic demand for electricity, rising 15 percent a year. To meet demand in the coming decade, according to statistics from the International Energy Agency, China will need to add nearly nine times as much electricity generation capacity as the United States will.
So while Americans are used to thinking of themselves as having the world’s largest market in many industries, China’s market for power equipment dwarfs that of the United States, even though the American market is more mature. That means Chinese producers enjoy enormous efficiencies from large-scale production.
In the United States, power companies frequently face a choice between buying renewable energy equipment or continuing to operate fossil-fuel-fired power plants that have already been built and paid for. In China, power companies have to buy lots of new equipment anyway, and alternative energy, particularly wind and nuclear, is increasingly priced competitively.
Interest rates as low as 2 percent for bank loans — the result of a savings rate of 40 percent and a government policy of steering loans to renewable energy — have also made a big difference.
As in many other industries, China’s low labor costs are an advantage in energy. Although Chinese wages have risen sharply in the last five years, Vestas still pays assembly line workers here only $4,100 a year.
Full article >>>
12.10.09
Google hits back at book critics
Computer screen in the New York Library
Google's digital library plans have met with strong opposition.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has hit out at critics of the company's plans to create what could be the world's largest virtual library.
Writing in the New York Times, Mr Brin said he wanted to "dispel some myths" surrounding the project.
He said the plan would make millions of "out-of-print" books available to the public online.
Those against the idea fear it would give Google a monopoly over access to the world's information.
"In reality, nothing in this agreement precludes any other company or organisation from pursuing their own similar effort," he wrote.
"The agreement limits consumer choice in out-of-print books about as much as it limits consumer choice in unicorns.
"Today, if you want to access a typical out-of-print book, you have only one choice — fly to one of a handful of leading libraries in the country and hope to find it in the stacks."
'No deal'
Google Books - formerly known as Google print - was first launched in 2004.
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