hypoclear

We went for lunch and a doc's appointment. Less people at lunch and a great day weather wise. I too wondered why no such thing in the states, kind of a great idea. Just read in the local english paper Main Land China wants to have more holidays to commerate the traditional holidays. It seems HK does but not the main land. So the people can look forwarsd to more than just the two 1 week big holidays they have now. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Just read this article in the NY Times.. seems the USA is moving farher to the right in a repressive manner while China moves to a more moderate middle way.. ?? In their congress or party meeting it was agreed that poorer area students would recieve funding for text books and by 2007 all students would recieve a 9th grade education. hmm how liberal progressive is that? The Senate on the Brink Published: March 6, 2005 The White House's insistence on choosing only far-right judicial nominees has already damaged the federal courts. Now it threatens to do grave harm to the Senate. If Republicans fulfill their threat to overturn the historic role of the filibuster in order to ram the Bush administration's nominees through, they will be inviting all-out warfare and perhaps an effective shutdown of Congress. The Republicans are claiming that 51 votes should be enough to win confirmation of the White House's judicial nominees. This flies in the face of Senate history. Republicans and Democrats should tone down their rhetoric, then sit down and negotiate. President Bush likes to complain about the divisive atmosphere in Washington. But he has contributed to it mightily by choosing federal judges from the far right of the ideological spectrum. He started his second term with a particularly aggressive move: resubmitting seven nominees whom the Democrats blocked last year by filibuster. The Senate has confirmed the vast majority of President Bush's choices. But Democrats have rightly balked at a handful. One of the seven renominated judges is William Myers, a former lobbyist for the mining and ranching industries who demonstrated at his hearing last week that he is an antienvironmental extremist who lacks the evenhandedness necessary to be a federal judge. Another is Janice Rogers Brown, who has disparaged the New Deal as "our socialist revolution." To block the nominees, the Democrats' weapon of choice has been the filibuster, a time-honored Senate procedure that prevents a bare majority of senators from running roughshod. Republican leaders now claim that judicial nominees are entitled to an up-or-down vote. This is rank hypocrisy. When the tables were turned, Republicans filibustered President Bill Clinton's choice for surgeon general, forcing him to choose another. And Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, who now finds judicial filibusters so offensive, himself joined one against Richard Paez, a Clinton appeals court nominee. Yet these very same Republicans are threatening to have Vice President Dick Cheney rule from the chair that a simple majority can confirm a judicial nominee rather than the 60 votes necessary to stop a filibuster. This is known as the "nuclear option" because in all likelihood it would blow up the Senate's operations. The Senate does much of its work by unanimous consent, which keeps things moving along and prevents ordinary day-to-day business from drowning in procedural votes. But if Republicans change the filibuster rules, Democrats could respond by ignoring the tradition of unanimous consent and making it difficult if not impossible to get anything done. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has warned that "the Senate will be in turmoil and the Judiciary Committee will be hell." Despite his party's Senate majority, however, Mr. Frist may not have the votes to go nuclear. A sizable number of Republicans - including John McCain, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lincoln Chafee and John Warner - could break away. For them, the value of confirming a few extreme nominees may be outweighed by the lasting damage to the Senate. Besides, majorities are temporary, and they may want to filibuster one day. There is one way to avert a showdown. The White House should meet with Senate leaders of both parties and come up with a list of nominees who will not be filibustered. This means that Mr. Bush - like Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush before him - would agree to submit nominees from the broad mainstream of legal thought, with a commitment to judging cases, not promoting a political agenda. The Bush administration likes to call itself "conservative," but there is nothing conservative about endangering one of the great institutions of American democracy, the United States Senate, for the sake of an ideological crusade. Now who is who? and where do I get a score card to keep the players straight?? And the bad guy is?? Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Naw Robert.. hang in there and forget about that.. think of this little blow up as cheap entertainment.. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Yes Kim I think we did.. it was called the depression. Now here's one I was speaking with my Aunt after our return and lamenting the cold bath room etc. She said well don't they have those metal rings for your shower so you can hang a curtain around it? Duh!!! Well call me dumb but that was the perfect suggestion. I went and got a long bamboo stick, tied a string to one end and the other on the other wall from the smartly designed and stylishly exposed main drain pipes on the ceiling. Threaded a curtain on it and instantly!! I cut down that whole bath whole shower to a smaller size that we can quickly steam up for a nice cozy shower!! Now this Aunt is 80 years old and has vlive thru most of the 20th centry and here's to her living many many years in to this one. I for one can tell you she has seen that been there and done it and I doubt she would ever give up that big picture window in the full and fully heated kitchen which looks out over the ocean in their Barnstable, Ma home to regress to a simpler, kinder, genteler.. ooopss sorry GW that's your phrase. way of life. She's all for progress and modernaty and even went out and bought a microwave when the first came out.. best darm pop corn you ever ate..! heheh I have to wonder how much of this is what they (Chinese) want or what they have been lead to believe, or simply the residue of having lived thru a time when everythig was scarce.. I. E. their depression/cultural revolution. As for the American system.. certainly we are a consumer orentited society but this also means jobs for people, making those things. We are also a more highly educated society and with seemly more leasure time on our hands. How we choose to use those gifts/advantages is another matter. One thing for certain is whether a Chinese or American in the end we will all be dead. So if you want to going thru life kicking and screaming and fighting change or going with the flow and enjoying your limited time on earth is each person's decision... for my money it seems the USA is the best place to be when making that desicion as it seems limited here in China. There is a new breed of people in China the young educated who embrace change and the new. They are the educated, movers, style concious generation and are contrasted to the traditionalist who favor stabality, tradition etc.. this is from a marketing survy done by a multinational firm. The hardest thing about living here is not understandiong the language, missing out on those everyday snippets of conversation , etc etc is very telling about a place. Just what is it that occupieys their time as they wait for a bus, dine out, walk and talk etc etc. kind of a man in the street pluse of the state of affairs..? Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

you can bet the plantation..Mao didn't suffer hardship for a better tomorrow. Just all most all gov officials every where have the best. Can you imagine a world leader inviting people over to the tar paper shack of da commen folk for dinner? As for holding on to tradition.. dumb comes to mind. I for one sure as heck am not going to pass up a soft bed and warm home to stand on tradition. And from what Bea has seen and experienced.. neither will she! oh well so much for those commies of hardship in their benz's. It's a tough life and someone has to sacrifice. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

sweet!

There is an old saying "Ignorance is Bliss." In many ways this sums up China. I remember reading an article by a PHD professor in China who finally went to Hong Kong after the looseing of the visa there in the Guangdong area. He was so suprised and astonished at the difference there! Here's anothor one.. "How you going to keep'em down on the farm, once they've seen the bright lights of the city?" I had thought of China as more like the late 1800's to turn of the century in their push to modernize and the seeming corruption. Thinbk of the big oil and railroad guys and their brutal treayment of workers and land owners.. but also the end result of a cross continental railroad etc etc. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Jethro Tull.. Aqualung!!!! ?? B) Mark and Bea and Elizabeth P.S. It's not you Bea misses that in door heat concept right along with the warm water and comfy bed.. although we do own a western style, french matress.. heaven!!

Just out News article http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2...tent_421352.htm (CRI) Updated: 2005-03-03 09:43 In the face of growing criticism over the difficulties faced by Chinese people getting visas for the US since the September 11 attacks, US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affair, Maura Harty, visited Beijing on Wednesday to assure Chinese people that the US was still "an open and welcoming society". "America is open for travel. Americans welcome travellers to the United States. We want to make sure that everyone, both American citizens and travellers in any kind of visa category, have a safe and secure visit to the United States and that the visa process is as efficient as it possibly can be." The US embassy in Beijing started to fingerprint visa applicants a year ago, a measure which it says is aimed at boosting security. In her visit to Beijing, Harty defended the fingerprinting requirement for applicants, saying it was necessary and was a quick and efficient process that took less than a minute. However, many Chinese applicants consider the measure discriminatory, as applicants in some other countries don't have to have their finger prints taken. The United States issues about 180,000 non-immigrant visas to Chinese citizens each year, and currently there are more than 60,000 Chinese students studying in the United States. Harty said the US government was doing everything it could to improve the visa application process so that more Chinese students were able to study in the US instead of going elsewhere.

M O N E Y.. I think Lyle Lovett did the song and it seems this is the first law of any and everything. Our universities and other institutes of higher education are losing it, as the end of the boomers babies wander off to the world of work. Business?.. well the Business of Business is Business.. which spells M O N E Y.. The second law of M O N E Y is, .... if you ain't got it you ain't. We can not compete on that ground, exposure and public sentiment.. emotional stories may put pressure on the pols... as the third law states P O W E R equals M O N E Y and if your constituants are not happy with you no power. Jenny great work! I'll bet it feels better to be in control rather than controlled.. and just think.. everyone else there had to eat that sucky breakfest too!! hehehe Equality Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Naw Kim.. I'm figuring.. if he takes advice from a L... the guilt from it..will eat him alive.. Just doing my part... heheh Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

ah ha!! Not only are you old but slow!! hehehe A quicker thinking man would have held sway on the discourse of relativity and gravity and their juxtoposition in relation to the time space and wet floor continuim... hmmm When her eyes start to cross from the sounds of your most solid of arguements.. do not give in.. resisit the urge to call it quits! You must push just that inch more to secure your face in the kitchen wars for ever more. And this Dear one concludes the demonstaration that yes gravity does in fact work the same here as in china and that yes it too is all a case of relativeness.. a wet bathroom floor there and/or a wet kitchen floor here?? it is all null and void as the floor is wet and gravity prevails bringing peace and harmonty to all.. heheheh And if you can pull that one off with a straight face.. by god... you are looking at sainthood!! Go in peace my son and spill no more. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Good Luck Cosmic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Amy Hope you already have your visa by now I see you are keeping the balance in GZ one L and one R. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

geez Kim! Great minds think a like.. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth p.s. WE ONLY PICKED UP 15K MILES AS THE LAST LEG FROM nARITA TO gz WAS WITH cHINA sOUTHERN.. I know I know.. I ain't going to fix those darn caps.. heheh

check out North West Airlines. They are running a $650.00 RT ticket to JFK right now and they have a ticket office in GZ right off a subway exit at the Canton Fair area. unit no. 509 c block china hotel liu hua road res tel. 40081-40081 www.nwa.com.cn best of luck mark and bea and elizabeth

Yup got to agree with Jim on that one. Stick with her passport name as that is her travel document so the tickets have to match. Bea did the same with her's and had Elizabeth Mei Sullivan on her and was noted as daughter. It didn't matter to anyone just the fact that passports matched tickets. As for her Chinese passport in the future.. why waste the time and money of changing it? Bea thought to do this when we were married but found it would cause so much trouble. Just let it run until she has been in the States for 3 years and than naturalize and become an American and get her passport in her new married name. Others have spoken of the costs and problem involved with name changes and I think doing it at that point was the best solution as you can than do a name change for her social security card etc etc. Best of luck and call us when in town... I'm sure the two cousins have alot to talk about!! hehe Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Now Mike.. see.. this is the reason it took 19 months for outr visa. Not only did I forget to cross my T's and dot my I's... I completely left some of them out!!! Nice one dan R.. I like your sense of humor and the Supremes as well.. I have that "sealed with a kiss" but think this one is covered by Ricky Nelson. Rock and Roll is great fine and dandy but the USA has a much wider musical history. I don't think we have hit on the Blues or R & B or even yikes country.. hehehe And what about some of the newer music. I certainly don't know the groups names but listened to Maroon 5 on the way to the airport... not bad but they did sound like another group from about 6 or 8 years ago, Speaking of the ride to the airport.. My sister played "The Guess Who" must have been greatest hits and wow!! darned if i didn't know just about.. and liked, ever song. What was also interesting is you heard the precurser to other bands sounds like Aerosmith, and..???? I forget the others but there was at least 3 distenct sounds from this one group alone. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth.. starting to re-adjust finally

Well we can't just let this one die.. time to dust off the gloves and come out punching!! Tony Bennet... I just saw the guy on "The Apprentice" singing at that polo match. The voice not so bad for an old guy.. but the sparkle, the swing and the... presence still there. And from the response from the people there still got it.. This is a total package, an entertainer and a survivor.. hmm wonder if he will dust off the American Song book and... ooops!!! he wrote the f*** song book!! Nice try wannabes.. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth.. back from the USA

Well now there you go!! click to listen click again yes click again you might want to click you can click yup you got it... click I guess that pretty much sums up that! Mark ands Bea and Elizabeth

http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Pie.php good page and explains this more.. sad day indeed Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Here are some artists I am glad to say I have shared a time and space with, who's words, thoughts, sounds and heart were brought in to being during my time. Its called creativity, its called spirit, its called soul, its called being, its called..... I am sad to say this era is none of that.. dark, regression, destruction, fear,and untruth. "Those who can not create, destroy." http://www.markjosephsullivanphotography.com/psimon/ download the songs. http://www.lyrics.net.ua/song/118650 American Tune Words & music by Paul Simon Many's the time I've been mistaken And many times confused Yes, and often felt forsaken And certainly misused Oh, but I'm alright, I'm alright I'm just weary to my bones Still, you don't expect to be Bright and bon vivant So far a-way from home, so far away from home I don't know a soul who's not been battered I don't have a friend who feels at ease I don't know a dream that's not been shattered or driven to its knees Oh, but it's alright, it's alright for we lived so well so long Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on I wonder what's gone wrong I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong And I dreamed I was dying I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly And looking back down at me Smiled reassuringly And I dreamed I was flying And high up above my eyes could clearly see The Statue of Liberty Sailing away to sea And I dreamed I was flying We come on the ship they call the Mayflower We come on the ship that sailed the moon We come in the a-ge's most uncertain hours and sing an American tune Oh, and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright You can't be forever blessed Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day And I'm trying to get some rest That's all I'm trying to get some rest But I am happy to say... (Feb 7th.. ) Homeward Bound I'm sittin' in the railway station Got a ticket for my destination On a tour of one night stands My suitcase and guitar in hand And every stop is neatly planned For a poet and a one man band Homeward bound I wish I was Homeward bound Home, where my thought's escaping Home, where my music's playing Home, where my love lies waiting Silently for me Everyday's an endless stream Of cigarettes and magazines And each town looks the same to me The movies and the factories And every stranger's face I see Reminds me that I long to be Homeward bound I wish I was Homeward bound Home, where my thought's escaping Home, where my music's playing Home, where my love lies waiting Silently for me Tonight I'll sing my songs again I'll play the game and pretend But all my words come back to me In shades of mediocrity Like emptyness in harmony I need someone to comfort me Homeward bound I wish I was Homeward bound Home, where my thought's escaping Home, where my music's playing Home, where my love lies waiting Silently for me Silently for me Silently for me Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

Believe me... after a few months of living with your SO.... You too will be speaking chinglish with the best of them! ok ok ok ok..bye bye. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

well for what it is worth.. click to listen I think ours was only like 300 RMB but was only marriage, birth, divorce? I think and we got 3 or 4 copies of each. But it was way back to a city close to her hometown. Why it had to be done this way I dont know I was just along for the ride, admiring the scenery... do I get off here? thank you. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

good mornig starshine. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

come on... don't be shy.. tell us how you really feel!? Mark and Bea and Elizabeth