M51T comments

Apply this to men on welfare too.

Yes, I'm a male.

Not surprising. Jetstar bases their business on weighted planning. Qantas is cutting jobs. Haven't flown an Aust airline in years.

China's long term position is the recovery of Taiwan.

China's claims on the Senkakus and the Sth China Sea appear to be an encirclement of Taiwan.

This was in the CCP's editorial last month:

"If these countries don't want to change their ways with China, they will need to mentally prepare for the sounds of cannons. We need to be ready for that, as it may be the only way for the disputes in the sea to be resolved."

At least they're honest.

Noting that China's understanding is that it should first negotiate with other countries to solve disputes, Global Times in its hard-hitting editorial said, "If these countries don't want to change their ways with China, they will need to prepare for the sounds of cannons."

Editorial from a CCP owned paper.

If Samoa focussed on playing the ball, they should have won the match. Instead, they focussed on roughing up the opposition which took their players out of the game.

The referee yellow carding John Smit was a sympathy call.

JTO - yes, Ireland managed the game right through the 80 minutes. As a neutral, a close, hard fought match that, perhaps the Southern teams aren't used to.

Leeks, roses, thistles, ferns, proteas, palms, cloverleaves and... sakura. Plants are well represented.

Since the Japanese team won the Pacific Cup, I doubt they need more Polynesian imports. And it's interesting to see the current RWC Champions did it without having any PI players in 2007.

The big issue is that the Chinese fishing fleet continues to operate in Japanese economic zone.

I believe this is due to the Chinese Party not condoning it as previously.

This is the usual, archaic Communist Party rhetoric from China.

The dialogue that China tries to initiate today, echoes of the small village denouncements made against land owners in the Cultural Revolution. It may impress their nationalists, but to the wider world, it all seems cliched and laughable.

The acquisition has very little to do with selling more Kirin beer.

Kirin owns Tooheys, SAB, Swan, Castlemaine. And yet Australia isn't exactly swamped by Kirin is it?

It's the distribution network that's important.

Beer is only as good as the company you enjoy it with, and great times have been had with Hite and my Korean friends. Drinking with precious US beer snobs (oh the irony) is painful, no matter how good the beer is.

I do some interacting with the network and then check news sites.

Too contrived for my company.

Tunisia for one, has about 15 aging fighters to fight a desert skirmish with Libya. As a small neighbor it has too much to lose. Egypt is still in the process of regime change and is not settled enough to engage in external matters.

Side-stepping the trivia on quality issues of the F15s, approaching foreign aerospace is a very 60s like activity. Good scramble practice or the JSDF.

Does anyone know what the Chinese planes were?

Would there be many DVD players in 'private' hands in NK to watch these propaganda files?

The Brave Blossoms have a difficult pool. France and New Zealand should be too difficult for them. They'll be looking to beat Tonga and Canada. If Kirwin manages to fix their tight forward's body position issues, they'll have a good platform.

It will be interesting to see how the government will deal with the findings. Particularly the DNA samples and if they are provided to the Chinese government.

Anyone know if Toyota get tax breaks for building this domestic factory?

"But, just to refute your point, I consider the U.S. to have a reasonably responsible government." I guess we differ on our assessment of 'responsible' governments.

A responsible government should ensure a proper burial for its soldiers. Especially so when they are on home soil. It's the right thing to do.

apec, if they are 'secret' US plans, there's a high chance that no one here knows, right? Unless wikileaks have exposed them.

“Many in China seem very ready to pick fights over perceived slights.” The keyword is "perceived".

Well, you coach them and bring them up to your expectations.

@gaijinfo - Correct. A 2,000 year old scroll looted from a Baghdad museum, written by a teacher, lamented the hopeless students and their parents. I don't think it was recovered.

I wish them the best of luck. They look nervous which is a good sign they're not full of it.

The mysterious hand signal performed by the woman on the right strengthens the conspiracy claims.

It also protects from camera flashbulbs (like the secret service) and from particles possibly being blown into their eyes during windy days.

LOL.