Mick

I am so sorry to hear of this mix up, Robert. I agree completely with all who say you should go to ACH or whatever they call it these days. If nothing else, you might get some clear info on exactly what you need to do. In the meantime, enjoy your time with your lady as much as possible. I know it will be tough to leave without here, but at least take some great memories home with you. It irks me that these folks seem to act, at times, just on a whim rather than anything reasonable. As one who went through the original Black Hole fiasco, I can say with a great deal of personal experience that Murphy's Law is alive and well over there. But as others have said, and rightly so, just give them what they want and she will be with you before you know it.

Oh do I hears ya, cuzin'. Up hear in the woods the most popular eatin' spot, besides Joe's Choke 'N Puke, is called the Road Kill Cafe. These ol' boyz have a gold mine...why you can git... Bumper Damaged Cow Fried Lassie Rin Tin Tin Ala Road King Road Crashed Bessie Baked yard Bird Flattened Rattler Squished Fluffy Squashed Spot Southern Fried Sail Cat Run over Porky Run Down My Friend Flicker Runned over Bambi, Bambi's momma, and Bambi's daddy Totaled Yogi The Bear Fender Dented Smokey the Bear Windshield Struck Quail Crunched Old Yeller 18 Wheeler Damaged Bullwinkle the Moose Tire Track Rocky J. Squirrel Middle of the Road Skunk Fed-Ex"ed" Turtle Brown Truck"ed" Rover Highway Gator Well, as you kin see, these ol' boyz have quite a variety of fancy road squashed vituals...I will have to tells them about the Road Pizza Possum. Yessuh, The Road Kill Cafe Their motto is....If'n yawl can runned over it, We kin cook it!! The food is great, but you may need a good dentist...ya gotta beware of the gravel. tsap seui Ware does this stuff come frum? Who is makin' it pour outta my head likey this? Now cuzzin tsap, at air cafe souns lika mitey fine stablishment fer sum good ol down home eatin', but lemme clue ye in ona real good dish whut we didn useta git rouncheer, but fer sum reezin iz now mower plintyfull....Ima tawkin' bout em air armerdillers....damn Ima here to tell ye at u ain't et mucha nuthin' tills u rap yer tooff roun wun em air possums inna pan.... they cums wif their own bowl...good eatin... I nose wun ol feller jus piks um up offa road n suks um down raw, rite outta thuh sheyyulll....

It was only a couple of years back that we had a similar brawl down here in Tennerbama. Actually, it was in the Alabama State Senate and blows were thrown....of course, those of us who live north of the state line are far more civilized than those redneck ruffians from "down there."

Thanks for posting this; very informative. I have lived for extended periods of time in: China (five years) South Korea (one year) Thailand (10 months) Bulgaria (15 months) Ireland (nine months) From my personal standpoint, each place had plus factors and minus factors, except perhaps Bulgaria, which didn't have any plus factors that I can recall. By far and away my most positive experience was China. Perhaps that was because I lived there so long, had a Chinese wife to help with the language and negotiating the culture. Korea was very pleasant for me as well, except the winter was quite brutal.

I like to see this in slow motion.....that way you could really apprecite the technique and strategy involved...float like a butterfly, chirp like a cricket....

Don't ever let Michael Vick get wind of this....

Well-said.....I couldn't agree more. It is, indeed, refreshing.

That would be exactly what they're checking for, to make sure you're the right person Good grief, don't get me started on biometrics. To date, Li has been fingerprinted 7 times....I suspect she will get at least one more when she does her citizenship thingie....

Best wishes and thumbs up for a successful trip.

You are right in your assessment and for my statement, I sincerely apologize. This is one reason I generally steer clear of these kind of discussions. Again, if I offended you, it was not my intention. Sorry. Don, Carl, whoever....if you want to delete that comment, feel free.

Huh. I considered it a choice by China, not really criticism of Obama's transparency. Did we read the same article? I went to the one linked in your post. It mentioned that China didn't allow any questions at the beginning, after that, it was pretty much all about Obama. I guess this only proves your point about connecting the dots. I went back and read the article again and reached the same conclusion. It was more about Obama's light-footing it with the press than about any Chinese censorship. I am referring to the article you had linked to in the highlighted sentence in your post.

Your statement about connecting the dots is certainly true, especially in light of the link about Obama's lack of taking questions. The article you cited only briefly mentioned that the Chinese didn't allow questions and answers, but I wouldn't call that "censorship of a higher order." I guess I read the article and connected the dots in a different manner. Seriously, the article in question seemed to have a lot more to do with Obama censoring himself, not wanting to tackle any difficult issues. The series of "10 minute one-on-one" interviews was a dodge "of a higher order." I am generally an Obama supporter, but even I would have to agree that he has been a bit cagey with the press of late. Still, I think it is an accurate exercise in dot connecting to say that Obama's lack of openness pales when compared to the oblique techniques of his predecessor. George II was a far cry from being a poster boy for transparency, not to mention his puppeteers Cheney and Rumsfeld. I would agree, however, that two wrongs don't make a right and that the problems with the reign of George II should in no way excuse a lack of openness by the current President.

To be fair, we would also have to ask what the United States has gained from having the world not like us. Making people prove where Obama's foreign policy has done good for the US in the last year assumes that, e.g., Bush's years in the Oval Office would be rife with examples of how military aggression has benefited the US. Many of diplomacy¡¯s benefits are either non-riveting (and not news worthy in the US) or involve avoiding something negative such as war, and are therefore hard to prove. In 2008, for example, how much play was given to the success of the Bush administration for helping resolve ¨C through diplomacy ¨C the armed conflicts in the Congo? Did it help the US? I don¡¯t know. We didn¡¯t get anything tangible from it like oil pipelines, but if the conflict had escalated ultimately it could have spilled over into American¡¯s lives either economically or through terrorism. Well, for one thing: China allowed uncensored broadcasts of Bush's comments in China, but not Obama's. The number of nations that signed on to help in Afghanist and and Iraq are good examples of Bush getting cooperation despite people not like the US, too. NATO did not want to pony up troops in Afghanistan! Russia actually agreed to help with sanctions against Iran when Bush pushed for it, and they actually followed through on those promises. Bush got Syria to back off in Lebanon a little bit. Bush got the EP-3 crew out fairly quickly...we're still waiting on Iran to release the hikers they took from Iraqi territory. Bush got North Korea to agree to, and take several steps to fulfill, the 6-party talks. Bush got Taiwan to tone down some of their more inflammatory rhetoric toward China, and got China to increase their transparency on their military budget. I think it is also clear that the pro-democracy Color Revolutions we saw between 2003-2005 were the direct result of Bush foreign policy giving them courage to stand up to dictators. Now, we are looking at 8 years of Bush successes vs 1 year of Obama, so naturally there is going to be a disparity in numbers. I'm not trying to argue Bush has done 8 times as much as Obama, because that would be dishonest and unfair. It's just that since President Obama has taken over, all sorts of rivals are getting more boisterous. I haven't seen any trade concessions from Germany, France, UK, etc. I see France calling the US too weak and indecisive. I see Russia getting concessions out of us in exchange for promises they blatantly refuse to follow through on. I see Iran doing whatever they want. I see Venezuala threatening Columbia due to its relationship with the US, and the US not doing anything. I see North Korea being more combative than it has been in the last 20 years. It might be that the State Dept is inept, not the Office of the POTUS. I do think that after nearly a year in office, there should be some diplomatic successes. I've seen zero. For the record, I lived in China during the first three years of his administration. In Guangdong we got Hong Kong TV, but highly censored. Bush's comments were censored more than not. The only time they were not censored was when it was in China's interest to let the people know what he had to say. Sometimes folks have a tendency to make comments about things without evaluating their sources....the best source from which to comment is one's own personal experience. That way, you are not dealing with opinion. It was my experience that Bush was censored because he was normally cut off in mid-sentence or when he referred to any one of the "Three T's" - Tibet, Taiwan, Tianammen -

Tennessee is way down at 42. Red State....figures I wonder if the Mormon influence has anything to do with Utah rating so high?

Fineart - Your description of your family reminds me so much of my wife Li's family. Although at the time she and her two siblings went to college they had little choice in what to study, they all worked very hard and were able to attend good universities. Her mother was a teacher and her father was in the Army. The family was not wealthy by any means, but they got by and always placed great emphasis on diligence and responsibility for oneself. I, too, hope things go well in China as I have many, many friends and family there. It is, in every sense of the word, a second home to me. The five years I spent in China were the most rewarding years of my life, personally, professionally, and spiritually.

My limited, and believe me, it is quite limited, knowledge of economics leads me to believe that predictions about what may or may not happen in China are highly speculative, at best. I think this is true for several reasons. First of all, as recent events in our economy should tell us, market economies are highly complex organisms that sometimes seem to have a life of their own, no matter what we may do to tinker with them. Second, what is happening in China is in many ways unprecedented if you take into account the global realities in which the Chinese economy is participating in. I sure hope it doesn't collapse, but I would not be at all surprised if the charge that they are cooking the books is true. Also, it could very well be that the gov't is buying up fleets of cars to give the impression that car sales are skyrocketing. Those gasoline consumption figures are most telling, I think. It reminds me of something that I saw happen when I lived over there. The city where I spent four of the five years I lived there spent a huge amount of money constructing a large retail section in the city, complete with an international mall, three five-star hotels, and most interesting, a huge public library that was a centerpiece in the project. Here's the fascinating part....the library was completely empty. No books, no nothin' inside. I found this out because one of my students was the vice-mayor's daughter. She told me it was empty and I didn't believe it. She got the key, took me there and lo and behold, nothing inside...no books, furniture, not even carpet. Just bare concrete floors. They used it as a show piece from the outside only. When investors would tour the area, they were driven past the library, but no one ever went inside. That building went up the year before I arrived and it was empty the first year I was there. I went back inside with my student a week before I left, some four years later...it was still empty. There were other examples of a like nature....so buying up cars would be a similar ploy.. I hope this guy is wrong in his assessment, because if China tanks it will have a big impact here...

So, I assume she has left by now. How is it going? How many Hav-a-Tampas have you burned? How bout the rum? Are you sober? Whassup, brother? You doin' ok?

Below is a copy of an article of mine that was published not too long ago in several places, most specifically in Wellsprings and Wineskins and on my blog. It was also published in several area newspapers as an op/ed piece. It is on a topic that I believe is becoming increasingly important: the need for people of character who are willing to serve. It is written from a progressive Christian point of view, so if you are offended by such things, steer clear. Hopefully, it is food for thought. In Search of Lost Treasure: Character and Service As I look about the spiritual landscape of American culture these days, several things quickly become apparent. First, there has been an explosion of interest in all things spiritual over the past 40-50 years. Whereas earlier in the 20th Century the fascination with the spiritual life existed mostly on the periphery of our culture, during the second half of the century the search for spiritual meaning in life became increasingly mainstream. A trek through any major bookstore will bear this out as one sees a plethora of material on everything from Fundamentalist Christianity to Egyptian Deities to instructions on how to go about trance-channeling Elvis. It is not my intention to discuss the varieties of spiritual traditions available to seekers these days. There are more options than can be reasonably covered in the short space of this article. Instead, I want to focus on an issue that I believe to be of foundational importance to spiritual seekers of every stripe. I want to explore a couple of themes that I feel are generally missing from the spiritual agenda of most writers and groups in these exciting but challenging times. As I mentioned at the outset, the range of topics available to spiritual aspirants is mind boggling. If one is diligent in exploring the shelves in bookstores, he or she will most likely find something related to their interest. However, I have noticed that, with a few notable exceptions, two highly significant topics seemed to be given little print when compared to other subjects. What are these two topics? Character and Service. I suspect the primary reasons these two vital themes get so little coverage has to do with our culture¡¯s near-epidemic narcissism and self-absorption. Granted, there are many book titles related to ¡°self-development¡± and ¡°spiritual growth.¡± One could make the case that these topics are related to character development in some ways, but I believe that is really avoiding the issue. The fact is, real character development involves several requirements that most Americans had rather avoid than deal with head on. I am talking about things like morality, discipline, self-control, delayed gratification, and other-centeredness. You might find a few books that deal with these themes, mostly from a Christian perspective, but more often than not, these are written from a legalistic, fear-mongering point of view. If you are not a good girl (boy), God¡¯s gonna getcha or worse, you¡¯ll wind up as the guest of honor at Beelzebub¡¯s weenie roast and you¡¯ll be the weenie! Most other books these days, whether of a New Age bent or a psycho-spiritual point of view, rarely deal with character development and personal morality. Rather than helping seekers see the necessity of putting limits on their behavior, most often these writers tell us we need to ¡°follow our bliss.¡± If our bliss happens to trample a bit on the toes of someone else, well¡­, they should have had sense enough to get out of the way. As far as books on service are concerned, they, too, are few and far between. As with works on character, most of these titles on service to a hurting world come from the pens of Christian authors and Christianity should as a faith be commended for at least addressing the need for service to others. Even so, however, we need to see more emphasis placed on character development and loving service. New Age advocates, for example, could do significantly more than they do to help those in dire need. Unfortunately, many New Agers are too self-absorbed to take the time to, say, feed the hungry or visit the sick. And what¡¯s more, they have a great explanation for why they are not more involved. Laura is a good friend I have known for about a dozen years now. She is a disciple of a New Age teacher and states that she has become significantly more spiritual since studying with this guru. And I must say that in many ways she has. She is far more patient, tolerant, and much less abrasive than when we first met. My friend Laura tells me it is the mission of her group to ¡°spread light and love across the globe and to help people everywhere find their bliss.¡± When I pushed her about the kind of service projects her group was currently involved in she flatly told me that she was involved in only one project, but it was the greatest project on earth. When I quizzed her as to the details of this wonderful project she explained that she and her fellow aspirants were working on ¡°finding their true selves¡± so that they could then ¡°spread light and love to the masses.¡± According to Laura, the greatest service a person can give humanity is to ¡°be who they really are.¡± ¡°Until a person learns to live in the Light,¡± said Laura. ¡°Any service they give is tainted and therefore not really service.¡± ¡°I see,¡± responded. I wonder what would have happened if the people living in New Orleans would have had to endure had volunteers told them they would have to wait until they ¡°found themselves¡± before coming to give aid. Perhaps the would-be rescuers could have gathered on the remaining levees and chanted an invocation for light, while hundreds died in the putrid water below them. I don¡¯t mean to sound so harsh, but I think my friend Laura is symbolic of a process that has been going on in our country for several decades. With the emergence of the ¡°Me-Decade¡± of the ¡®70¡¯s, we seem to have moved down a slippery slope of self-absorption and social apathy. And even though Christians have been less guilty of this phenomenon, they have not been without their own absence of sensitivity. The rise of the Religious Right and the joining of the Evangelical faith to the hip of the Republican Party have also resulted in a less than Christian response to many people who are hurting badly. While the New Agers chanted to their Spirit Guides and the Republican Christians sat idly by, waiting for the wealth of our nation to ¡°trickle down,¡± the erosion of our nation¡¯s ethical core went on unabated right beneath their collective noses. I cannot speak to the New Agers, only to say that perhaps they could take a break from seeking their ¡°inner child¡± long enough to open their ears to the cries of despair going on in our inner cities. For Christians, the message is simple. Just return to the ministry Christ called you to. For Jesus, the definition of true spirituality was not a mystery. The meaning of the word, given to by Jesus with alarming clarity, may not be the answer true believers are looking for. The definition of spirituality provided by Jesus had nothing to do with esoteric philosophical speculations, nor did it encompass the need for expanded knowledge of a multi-dimensional universe. On the contrary, Jesus defined what real spirituality was in a very direct and precise manner. Great sage that he was, he didn¡¯t explain it to us; he showed us. Jesus gave a new definition of what true spirituality consisted of when, as described in the 13th Chapter of John¡¯s Gospel, he shocked his disciples by performing the lowly act of cleansing their dirty, dusty, and most likely, fetid feet. In this act, Jesus then said that he had provided an example. In his words: I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you¡­ (John 13:14) As Christ-followers, Christians are called to no less and, whether we are Christians or not, we could all forge a much better world if we followed Jesus¡¯ example. Believers are called to the ministry of the towel. For the Christian, that is the meaning of spirituality. Christians are to be of service. Everything else, no matter how profound, is superstructure. Whether you happen to be a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a New Age adherent, or a partridge in a pear tree, you would do well to pay attention to Christ¡¯s example. This is especially true now during this time of world economic crisis. There are many hurting people, especially children, and they need help of many kinds. We all have to ask ourselves two vital questions: Am I available and willing to serve? What can I do? At its most fundamental level, proactive service, motivated by love and compassion, is what incarnating our spiritual path is all about. No matter what setting in which we find a need to be addressed, we are to obey and go. No matter how filthy, grimy, or smelly, we are to take up our towel and basin and hit the ground running. This is our calling and this is our duty. This is what Jesus did; this is what Buddha did; and we are to do no less. Even as sincere seekers with a genuine desire to manifest this sort of selfless love to a hurting world, we often complicate this issue of to an extreme. ¡°What is my true mission?¡± we often ask ourselves. ¡°Is helping with this situation something I am gifted to do?¡± Other times we vacillate by comparing ourselves to others. ¡°Are there other people far more skilled than I to help with this?¡± Moses tried this approach and God didn¡¯t buy it. Although there is nothing wrong with assessing our talents and gifts, we need to realize in any situation, there is some type of service we can provide. There is at least some need we can meet. Just about anyone can fold chairs, clean a kitchen, drive a van, or deliver food. At the end of the day, this issue of service boils down to one word: availability. We must each look into our hearts and ask ourselves: Am I available to be used by God? We need to be rigorously honest with ourselves in answering this all-important question. If we answer in the negative, then we need to explore the reasons why we feel we cannot currently follow the spiritual call to service. If we answer in the affirmative, then we need to find a place to serve, a way to serve, and get on with it. It is of vital importance that we keep in mind that we are God¡¯s representatives here in this broken world. We are his hands, his feet, and his heart. And, we are his ambassadors no matter where we are and our mission is to give flesh to grace. Are you available? © L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

I lived in Miami for 15 years and can't say I am surprised they were dead last on the list. The guy who lived next door to me used to work night shift and swore up and down his job was tailgunner on a milk truck.

I was living in China back in '99, when the 50th was celebrated. It was really quite a shindig, for sure. I still remember the images of Jiang Zemin (Zimen?) riding around in the limo standing up with his head and shoulders above the pop top. I had been in China for a little over a year on Oct. 1, 1999. Like I said, it was really quite a celebration. We had an apartment full of students watching it all on TV.

Back in the day, I used to pick wild mushrooms of a certain type, mostly down south here in cow pastures. I was not an expert mind you, except on this particular type of mushroom, noted not so much for its taste, but for other qualities of a more esoteric nature. Wow, there goes another flying pig..... In fact, this little picture reminds me of places I used to find the best ones... Seriously, though, best be careful eating mushrooms if you are not certain what they are..

The transcript thingie is a load of crapola. Used to be they would sometimes ask for a video of you speaking Chinese or the two of you together having a conversation. Bottom line, it boils down to the fact that these folks can pretty much ask for whatever they want and stop everything in its tracks until they get it. It's a shame, but it has always been that way. Best of luck and you should be able to overcome this quickly.

When I lived in China, four years were spent in Shantou, right on the coast in Guangdong. I went through a typhoon there and believe me, the building I was in shook all night long. Was nothing new however. I grew up in Florida. Hurricane Donna hit my hometown in 1960....and I lived in Miami in '92 when Andrew blew through. That was the worst storm I ever witnessed, bar none. We were without power for almost three months.

Wow - you make a very valid point regarding technical writing, something I have done very little of. The more I think about it, in the tech field one would need a good bit of standardization of content and format. Your point about the potential of being sued because you didn't copy something is very insightful. I plan on raising this issue with my two techie friends, as they both often complain that tech writing is about as exciting as kissing your sister. They sure don't complain about the steady work and great pay, however.

It is good to know the Chinese approach to plagiarism; I'll have my work cut out for me. However, "plagiarism" is gaining ground within US corporations, my company calls the initiative "write once, use many." While what I write is a company asset and the company's to use however it chooses, some of our technical documentation resembles a Chinese term paper based on the descriptions above with cut and paste from many technical writers. You make an excellent point about the rise of plagiarism in the corporate world in America. This is especially true in technical writing in general and engineering monographs in particular. I live near Huntsville, Alabama, which is one of the hi-tech centers in the country, especially as related to Department of Defense and NASA. I have several close friends that work for sub-contractors dealing with the space program and, prior to that, the Patriot Missle project. It was commonplace to find the words of one writer used extensively in the works of another techie. It was mind boggling for us old school ink slingers. I suspect it is a sign of the times. Plagiarism is alive and well.... One idea I used to use to get my point across to students who needed to understand what plagiarism is was to have them write me an extended essay on it....even if they had to resort to plagiarism. Just a thought, but you might try that with your daughter. Give her the opportunity to find out for herself what it is through research then "encourage" her to "teach" you all about it.