Google censorship?

'SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Google Inc.'s recently launched news service in China doesn't display results from Web sites blocked by that country's authorities, raising prickly questions for an online search engine that has famously promised to "do no evil." '

'Google acknowledges its Chinese language news service -- introduced on a test basis two weeks ago -- is leaving out results from government-banned sites, but the company believes the omissions jibe with its long-standing mission to make its search engine efficient and useful.
If Google were to display results from sites the Chinese government blocks, computer users would end up clicking on links that lead nowhere -- something the search engine has always tried to avoid.'

But at least, even if the links didn't work, then the user would know that there might be another side of the story.

Did some research for an email - here are some older news articles.

Fox News article from Thursday, November 13, 2003
"Last month, Bush hosted an Iftaar dinner (search) at the White House to honor the start of the holy month of Ramadan."
Here's a snippet of his speech:
"Ramadan is a special time of prayer and fasting, contemplation of God's greatness, and service to those in need. According to Muslim teachings, this season commemorates the revelation of God's word in the holy Koran to the prophet Muhammad. Today this word inspires faithful Muslims to lead lives of honesty and integrity and compassion.
In hosting tonight's Iftaar, I send a message to all the nations represented by their ambassadors here tonight: America treasures your friendship. America honors your faith.
We see in Islam a religion that traces its origins back to God's call on Abraham. We share your belief in God's justice, and your insistence on man's moral responsibility."

Also:

"Bush and the first lady paid their respects by bowing in front of the main shrine hall before signing a registry book, including a brief comment on their visit. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did not accompany Bush to the shrine, apparently to avoid a stir over the constitutional separation of state and religion."

"The Korean Church together with the Japanese Church is shocked and frightened at the act of the President Bush's shrine worship at the Meiji Shrine in the morning of Feb. 18, 2002 upholding the flag of the so called a Christian justice and a superpower, for it is an act of idol worship breaking the first, second, and third commandments of the Christian faith. We strongly denounce it." Find it here.

'Reuters reports:
"A court in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen has fined a couple 780,000 yuan($94,250) and sealed off their house for having more than one child, the Beijing Morning Post said Monday. "The pair were among nine couples who were fined 'social fostering fees' for their extra children, the newspaper said. They had their first boy in 1997 and last year had twin boys, the newspaper said."

The above is, of course, the country which currently enjoys "Permanent Normal Trading Relations" with the United States. '

link and comments thanks to Pieter, who blogged it here.

Thoughts on a book...

Motherland

by

Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

A coming of age/ cultural identity novel set in India. The main character, Maya, was born and spent her first four years in India, then went to NYC to live with her parents. Now fifteen, she's being sent to India for the summer.

Maya has to deal with cultural differences, but since she is Indian the culture shock is lessened. Still, she isn't used to living with the daily realities of caste, rigid social rules of interaction with servants and with men, and arranged marriages. During her summer, she learns about her mother, with whom she has never been close, from her grandmother. She also learns a secret which helps her to understand her own history and her mother, and her relationships with her mother and grandmother.

Things to deal with:
Hinduism/horoscopes, cremation, terrorism, race/caste differences, arranged marriages, immigration/ sense of displacement, guilt, relationships, healing.
Disapproving reference to premarital misbehavior and birth control.
Maya's grandmother tells her that some social rules ought to be broken, but that she ought to consider carefully which ones are important enough to break, since breaking them will offend those she loves, like her very traditional aunt and uncle.

Be aware- Two uses of the Lord's name in vain by a character portrayed as flippant.


Recomend?

Well, it was more worthwhile than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. But not as satisfying as the third book in the Mitford series, which I just read.

I enjoyed learning more about India, though, and thought that the book was well written. I'd recommend it, but it isn't a 'you-must-read!' book.

Here a Moose, there a Moose...

Flying moose lands on car's roof
'A leisurely Sunday drive came to an abrupt halt for a couple in southern Norway over the weekend, when a fully grown moose suddenly landed on the roof of their car. "We didn't even have time to think when there came this enormous thud," said a shaken Leo Henriksen after the bizarre incident. '

Drunken moose alert in southern Norway

"A warm summer has led to an unusual bounty from the region's fruit trees. The sudden and early snowfall has left some fruit under snowy cover, while still more remains on the branch. This fruit is fermenting, and also a readily available and tempting source of food for the region's moose."

Endangered moose
'This familiar Norwegian sight - a traffic sign showing a moose crossing -
has become a hot souvenir item for tourists willing to ignore the law.
"There are 500 moose signs stolen per year, many of them by Germans," Geir Ove Nordgård of the Public Roads Directorate told the newspaper.'

(a big thank you to Mr. Michael Schweppe of Polemics for pointing out this article, which led me to the other Norway related news.)

I had no idea Norway's moose population was so exciting.

In other Norwegian news, the U.N. has, for the fourth year straight, ranked Norway as the worlds best place to live, carelessly disregarding the imminent threat of drunken moose. I object. This threat should be dealt with in a serious way.
Also, I think people thinking of immigrating to Norway should also read this worrying Norwegian news story: Dog robs gas station.

Aussie brings dry farming expertise to Botswana

PANDAMATENGA, Botswana (Reuters) -- The sun-scorched scrub stretching as far as the eye can see could easily be in the Australian outback -- only there are no kangaroos. In fact it is Botswana in southern Africa, but Peter Schuurs is using dry-land farming methods from his native Australia to transform the local economy and carve out a future for peasant farmers who might otherwise simply sell up and move to town.