I stood beside a hill, Smooth with new-laid snow, A single star looked out, From the cold evening glow. There was no other creature' That saw what I could see-- I stood and watched the evening star, As long as it watched me. Sara Teasdale

A

"England still has an unacceptably high number of people who cannot read, write and count adequately"

+

B

 Should we be surprised when more than 300 primary schools in England have a large majority of children whose first language is not English, it has been revealed. the all-party parliamentary group on balanced migration, said that the official figures made "a nonsense" of the Government's efforts to integrate migrants into British society. The local education authority with the most primaries where English is not the mother-tongue of 70% or more pupils was Birmingham, with 60 schools, followed by Tower Hamlets in east London (43) and Bradford (40).Others with high numbers of schools in the category included Newham (31), Leicester and Kirklees (both 21), Ealing (18), Brent and Oldham (both 17), Blackburn & Darwen (15), Lancashire (13) Luton (11) and Rochdale (9).

=

C

A growing violent gang culture with particular crime types, in particular areas, is reflected in England and Wales last year where robberies using knives leapt by 18 %, from 3,951 to 4,207. Attempted murders involving knives were up 8 % in the same period. Fatal stabbings rose 10 percent, while fraud and forgery were up by 16 % and drug offences by 9 %.

 ? How can children be expected to integrate into our society if they are being taught in schools where English is the mother-tongue of a minority of pupils?

 

 

 

 

 The BBC's decision not to broadcast a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for aid to Gaza has come under scrutiny in newspapers and in political blogs.

The Times's leader says the BBC has erred: the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is not a matter of opinion, it insists, but "a simple statement of fact".

The Independent says the affair is "another BBC scandal marked by flip-flopping and slow reactions". Columnist Philip Hensher complains that "the BBC's requirement for impartiality has enabled it, yet again, to do nothing".

The Daily Mail says that the BBC's reputation for impartiality "was shredded long ago" as a result of to its "institutionally liberal attitude", and urges it to reconsider.

The story has attracted substantial - mostly negative - coverage in the Arab media. Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi, says the BBC has been "caught red-handed" in its bias towards Israel.

Mazin Hammad in Qatar's al-Watan said the BBC resembled an "extension for the Israeli mass media", and urged Arab viewers and listeners to boycott the BBC.

A leader in the Daily Mirror attacks the decision, which it blames on "jelly-legged" BBC executives. It adds that licence-fee payers will wonder why corporation chiefs "consistently bow to every hysterical headline from the usual suspects".

Janet Daley in the Daily Telegraph says the BBC was right not to broadcast the appeal, as its purpose is "making television and radio programmes, not foreign policy". But she argues that the requirement of neutrality on a publicly-funded broadcaster is an "impossible anomaly" in the internet age.

In the Sun, Trevor Kavanagh agrees that the uproar over the decision is justified. "The Beeb is so desperate to avoid offending anyone that ends up offending EVERYONE," he writes.

Peter Preston in the Guardian says that denying the DEC appeal airtime may be "potty", but entirely in keeping with BBC guidelines adopted in the wake of the Hutton report. His solution? "Burn the rule books."

Blogging for Biased BBC, David Vance suggests the corporation's decision may be a clever example of "triangulation". Executives would have been seeking cover, he says, after "three weeks of pro-Hamas propaganda dressed up as news reporting".

Sunder Katwala on the Fabian Society's Next Left blog says the affair betrays an "unnecessary lack of confidence in the BBC's news journalism".

 

"They are of no importance in the sense of deserving a relationship similar to that shown to 'European humans.' They certainly do not constitute a people or a collective able or interested in realizing itself as such therefore we must generally persuade them to 'To fold their tents and silently steal away"  -  Zionist leader Israel Zangvil one of the early 20^th century organizers for the creation of a state of Isreal  

 

                                                                         

                    

                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 Good wishes to all the Aussies out there, today is their National day.Discovered by van Dieman, [Tasmania], and later by Captn Cook.First a British colony and now an independant member of the Commonwealth . .........."gud on yer sport", have a great day.

 

A country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning "Southern". Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) date back to Roman times

In the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 individual nations of indigenous Australians. The British Crown Colony of New South Wales began a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to become Australia's national day, Australia Day.

Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in New South Wales, so long as it was no closer than 100 miles (160 km) to Sydney, with Melbourne to be the temporary capital while the new capital was built. Canberra was chosen as the site in 1908. On 12 March 1913, the city was officially given its name at a ceremony at Kurrajong Hill, which has since become Capital Hill and the site of the present Parliament House

Sport plays an important part in Australian culture, assisted by a climate that favours outdoor activities; 23.5% Australians over the age of 15 regularly participate in organised sporting activities. At an international level, Australia has strong teams in cricket, field hockey, netball, rugby league, rugby union, and international rules football, and it performs well in cycling, rowing, and swimming.

Australia is one of the most laissez-faire capitalist economies, according to indices of economic freedom. Australia's per capita GDP is slightly higher than that of the UK, Germany, and France in terms of purchasing power parity. The country was ranked third in the United Nations 2007 Human Development Index, first in the 2008 Prosperity Index, and sixth in The Economist worldwide Quality-of-Life Index for 2005. Australia also broke a record in 2008 when four of its major cities reached the top ten of The Economist's World's Most Livable Cities.

    

 

 

中国新年快乐

 

 

The Chinese New Year 4707 begins on Jan. 26, 2009 and is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. Festivities traditionally start on the first day of the lunar month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people from the industrial centres, travel home for the festivities. Last you may remember the worst blizzards in 50 years coincided with this national holiday. Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. This is the year of the Ox and famous western celebrities born under this sign include Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Walt Disney, and Anthony Hopkins.  Those born in Ox years [ 2009:1997:1985:1973:1961:1949] tend to be painters, engineers, and architects. They are stable, fearless, obstinate, hard-working and friendly.

 

At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.

This weekend Chinese families will be giving their home a thorough cleaning.  It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets.

 

The first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents. The second day is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. Prayers are also offered to one’s  ancestors. Dogs and feed well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs. The seventh day, the common man's birthday, is when everyone grows one year older. The ninth day is traditionally the birthday of the Jade Emperor. On the fifteenth day of the new year rice dumplings [ 汤圆 ] a sweet rice ball brewed in a soup, is eaten. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon. This day marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities whose highlight is the spontaneous countrywide firework display.

 

 

 

                                              

 

NEW YEAR FIREWORKS: SHANGHAI 2008

 

 

 

 

I think that we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the internet become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?

They misunderestimated me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where
Our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!

This poem is composed entirely of actual quotes from George W. Bush.
They have been arranged for aesthetic presentation
by Washington Post writer, Richard Thompson.

 

Books of his quotations will will outsell Shakespeares' and script writers must now find another source for their material.

His foreign policy has been clear :

" OUR ENEMIES ARE RESOURCFUL - THEY NEVER CEASE THINKING OF WAYS TO HARM OUR PEOPLE - AND NEITHER DO WE."

 His home affairs are clear: "One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be." -- Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007.and "Every day there were roughly three non-fatal shootings in america. Folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it."  Philadelphia, May 14, 2001

THIS ONE IS FOR THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS - "The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th." Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007

His environmental thoughts: "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.When Texas state governer.

SO ITS GOODBYE FROM HIM AND

"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." --George W. Bush, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008

 

 

 

 

 http://www.cadbury.com.au/About-Chocolate/Cadbury-Dairy-Milk.aspx

 

      Gaza 2009                                     

 

 

 

                                                               NewYork City 2001                  

 

 

All over the world, there exists a simple precept that, when followed, has the power to end conflict and banish strife.

It is the Golden Rule, a key concept in many philosophies and spiritualities that admonishes us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” Its meaning is clear: treat others only in ways that you would want to be treated. However, the golden rule is not always easy to follow. It can be a challenge to honour others as we wish to be honoured. Yet, when we do so, we bestow a gift of loving kindness on our fellow human beings. And, in honouring others, we honour ourselves.

It is as uncomplicated a tenet as one could wish for. When we live by it, harming another person becomes nearly impossible. The Golden Rule is rooted in pure empathy and does not compel us to perform any specific act. Rather, it gently guides us to never let our actions toward others be out of harmony with our own desires. The Golden Rule asks us to be aware of the effect our words and actions may have on another person and to imagine ourselves in their place. It calls on us to ask ourselves how we would feel if what we were about to do were directed toward us. And yet this rule invites us to do more than not harm others. It suggests that we look for opportunities to behave toward others in the same ways that we would want others to act toward us. Showing compassion, being considerate of others, caring for the less fortunate, and giving generously are what can result when you follow the Golden Rule.

Adhering to the Golden Rule whenever possible can have a positive effect on the world around you because kindness begets kindness. In doing so, you generate a flow of positive energy that enfolds everyone you encounter in peace, goodwill, and harmony.