kueytoc

Have U try the Instant Ocean 'Chips' ?

So how many did U 'chuli' this time round ?

Ah Haaah !...Bro so U are the ONE with quickie 'Golden Hand$'.

Heavy in dollars, China warns of depreciation Zhou Xin and Simon Rabinovitch, 7:42, Friday 3 September 2010 BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Friday offered a rare glimpse into its foreign exchange reserves, confirming that they are overwhelmingly allocated in dollars, while a central banker said the mountain of cash could face depreciation risks. The Chinese government's currency reserves, the world's largest such stockpile at $2.45 trillion, are held roughly in line with what was described as the global average: 65 percent in dollars, 26 percent in euros, 5 percent in pounds and 3 percent in yen. The report in the China Securities Journal, an official newspaper, cited unnamed reserve managers. The allocation of Chinese foreign exchange reserves is considered to be a state secret, but analysts have long estimated that about two-thirds are invested in dollar assets. Separately, Hu Xiaolian, a vice governor with the People's Bank of China, warned that depreciation loomed as a risk for foreign exchange reserves held by developing counties. "Once a reserve currency's value becomes unstable, there will be quite large depreciation risks for assets," she wrote in an article that appeared in the latest issue of China Finance (CHFI.OB - news) , a Chinese-language magazine published under the central bank. She reiterated China's long-standing discomfort with a global financial system dominated by a single currency in the dollar. "The outbreak and spread of the global financial crisis has highlighted the inherent deficiencies and systemic risks in the current international currency system," she said. "A diversified international currency system will be more conducive to international economic and financial stability," she added. To that end, developing countries must speed up reform of their financial markets, and China would work to promote greater cross-border use of the yuan, she said. DIVERSIFICATION There have been signs in recent months that Beijing has stepped up the pace of diversification of its foreign exchange reserves away from dollar assets. Chinese net buying of Japanese debt has surpassed 1.7 trillion yen this year, far surpassing its record of 255.7 billion yen in 2005. China has also raised holdings of South Korean bonds by 2.48 trillion won ($2.11 billion) in the first seven months of this year from 1.87 trillion won at the end of last year. However, Chinese investors only started buying South Korean bonds in the middle of 2009. At the same time, China has slightly cut back its vast holdings of U.S. Treasuries, from $894.8 billion at the start of the year to $843.7 billion in June, according to the most recent data. China remains the biggest single holder of U.S. government debt. But analysts have also warned against reading too much into the apparent shifts in the flow of cash from China. Like any investor with commercial interests in mind, Beijing has shown a readiness to shift its strategy depending on what it sees as good buys at the time. The China Securities Journal laid out the prospects for a shift back to the dollar in the near term. "It is unlikely that China will increase purchases of Japanese bonds in the coming months because the yen might weaken at any time," the newspaper said. "China is very likely to increase purchases of U.S. Treasuries in September. The possibility for China to buy more Korean bonds can't be ruled out," it added. (Editing by Ken Wills)

Bought this cute little possum rarity which was stashed away in one of the multiple rows of boxes at 'AH LIAN's Brother Shop'...Wetmorella albofasciata aka Whitebanded sharpnose wrasse Almost mistaken it for a juvenile Slingjaw Wrasse aka Epibulus insidiator which is uncanny similar in appearance. Two sweet Yellowbanded Possum Wrasse aka Wetmorella nigropinnata still avail when I said ADIEU.

Outrage Over 'Princess Diana' Lingerie Ad Yesterday, 03:05 pm © Sky News 2010 A Chinese lingerie company has unveiled a new range of underwear featuring a Princess of Wales lookalike model on the 13th anniversary of her death. Under the slogan "Feel the romance of British royalty" , the ad features the "Princess" wearing a tiara, necklace and blue bra and knickers as she plays a cello to a child. The controversial poster has been splashed on giant billboards in shops and airports throughout China for millions to see. The firm which has produced the lingerie, Jealousy International, is based in China's southern Guandong province. On its website, the manufacturer has a section on the "Diana" range with the further slogan "Free your mind, free your style" and confusingly describes Diana's taste as "French Romantic". The apparent attempt to exploit the Princess' image is the latest example of how companies have sought to capitalise on her popularity. Britain has restrictions on using images of the Royal Family to promote products but is powerless to act against companies doing so abroad. Clarence House, which represents Prince Charles, has declined to comment on the ad. But a British journalist who spotted the ad while at Shenzhen airport in the south of the country was appalled. Sam Chambers, who has worked in China for a decade, was reported as saying: "I was just going to collect my baggage from the carousel when I saw it flash up on a rolling advertising screen and couldn't quite believe what I was seeing." Mr Chambers added: "I thought, surely not, because it was rolling quite quickly. So I waited to check when it came up again and, sure enough, there was an image of Diana. It's all the more striking because today is the anniversary of her death." Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, in a car crash in a tunnel in Paris. Her boyfriend Dodi al Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul, who were with the Princess in the car, also died in the accident. The anniversary of the Princess' death was marked by her admirers who left bouquets of flowers outside Kensington Palace.

Kookaburra sits in gum tree, but no longer 'gay' 2 hours 39 mins ago An Australian school was under fire Thursday after erasing the word "gay" from iconic song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" to stop children tittering. Garry Martin, head of Melbourne's Lepage Primary, said he did not mean to insult gay people by replacing the word with "fun" in the chorus, which normally goes: "Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be". "I knew if we sing 'Gay your life must be' the kids will roll around the floor in fits of laughter," Martin told commercial radio. "I just suggested to kids, 'Nowadays that can mean different things, so let's just sing fun'," he added. Martin admitted he had probably been "hypersensitive", but said the word was commonly used as a playground insult and he was keen to minimise disruption in the classroom. In hindsight, he said he should have simply explained the meaning of "gay" as another word for "happy", and told the children it shouldn't be used disparagingly. "I wasn't trying to insult gay people... it was just a decision at the time that I thought would minimise a disruptive atmosphere with grades one and two." "Kookaburra", penned for a 1935 Girl Guides jamboree, has been in the news this year after a judge found its tune was ripped off in Men At Work's "Down Under", a global hit in 1981 and an unofficial Australian anthem. Men At Work and their record label were ordered to pay five percent of profits from "Down Under" to Larrikin Music, which had bought the rights to "Kookaburra".

Distortions in Snorkle Bob's "Dark Hobby" Diatribe By CORAL Editors - Posted on 31 August 2010 By Robert M. Fenner A First Response to: The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs Worldwide? I would like to formulate answers to this diatribe, point by point, some obvious things should be put on the record immediately. The take-home message about Snorkle Bob's rants is that, yes, the majority of captive marines don't live a year in aquariums; however a larger percentage don't live a year in the wild. The total biomass extracted by the "Trop Industry" (as marine livestock collection is known in Hawai'i) is a pittance compared with that taken by sport and commercial fishers. I would even state that indigenous fishers take more total numbers of tropicals for food than the ornamental industry. Yes, the local folk do cast net, spear, fish hook and line for damsels, tangs, parrotfishes and other species well-known to aquarists to eat them and simply for sport. How much of the reduction in wild stocks results from these various sources of mortality? The evidence is not yet clear, but there are very likely environmental issues (sewage and runoff of various sorts especially, including from lawns and golf courses) that play a very large role. Witness the incidence of idiopathic tumours on Chelonia mydas (Green Turtles), particularly on Maui. The entire windward side of the Hawaiian Islands is a no-take zone (due to waves mostly), and other areas are set aside, in addition. However, these taboo zones have not yet proven to restore stocks to high levels. This is troubling. Snorkel Bob is a proselytizer of the worst ilk. His damning statements regarding the aquarium hobby are entirely self-serving. His rental of snorkle gear to tourists could be condemned as a huge source of reef damage, but I would encourage both practices: Keeping marines... and visiting them where they are. Snorkeling, diving, and aquarium keeping are all tremendously important in generating humans' awareness of the living world. Without this brush with reality, few people are wont to pledge protection for and conservation of these same resources. It is my opinion that the entirely renewable resource of ornamental marines should be continued, but with higher cost and limited access. Akin to long-established mechanisms for issuing catch permits—a la the Haliotid/Abalone industry in California—permits should be let out only as available, by lottery, and the fees necessary to assess and regulate the fishery should be generated by licensee fees. Robert M. Fenner is the author of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist (Microcosm/TFH, 2009) and the editor in chief of Wet Web Media. He lives in San Diego and Hawai'i.

The Dark Hobby; Can We Stop the Devastating Impact of Home Aquaria on Reefs Worldwide? Saturday, August 21, 2010 Guest Commentary by Sea Shepherd Advisory Board Member Robert Wintner A generous Sea Shepherd supporter for more than 15 years, Robert Wintner is well-known in Hawaii for Snorkel Bob's, the largest reef outfitter in the Islands. He has authored six novels and two story collections. The average aquarium hobbyist is a 30-50+ male who spent hundreds or thousands, depending on the size of his tank, stand, lights, filters, pumps, tubing and ornaments. The tentative hobbyist with a ten-gallon tank and one anemone clownfish as seen in Finding Nemo stays in briefly, because anemone clownfish die soon in a small tank. Topping the tank totem are corporate billionaires like Sumner Redstone (ex-chairman, Viacom and CBS), who compared his wall-to-wall-to-wall aquarium to all of Hawaii. “We went out in a boat (in Hawaii) where you could see what was underneath. They didn’t have a fraction of the fish that are in my living room,” Redstone told Kai Ryssdal of PBS. Or Michael Dell (Computers), whose mega-tank runs about 8x8x40 and needs a maintenance crew. When aquarium fish die (99% within a year), tanks need more fish. The fishious circle is relentless: flush & plunk a new fish. Most fish run $50 to $150 retail, with 15¢ to $15 to the collector. The Hawaii average is $4 per fish. Hobbyists may up the ante on a bandit angelfish for $400, or a masked angel for $5,000. Not every home hobbyist is oblivious to reef damage—some are seeing the difference between loving reef fish and loving to keep reef fish in a tank. An aquarium will not forgive bad chemistry, salinity, pH, temperature, predatory balance and other variables. When aquarium fish die, the hobbyist may try something new on the next round of fish, in a killing cycle for reef fish and reefs, a cycle called “sustainable” by the aquarium trade. Aquarium hunters have oppressed Hawaii reefs for years, with huge discrepancies between reported catch and actual catch. A state agency manages the trade as a “fishery” admitting that the reported catch of 1-2 million fish per year is off by a factor of 2-5 times. When South Maui Senator Roz Baker held a round table to review aquarium trade regulation, a major Hawaii exporter sat in and corrected the state’s count of 500,000 yellow tangs annual, saying he shipped a million yellow tangs as one of 15 exporters known by the state and 10 more shipping from unmarked warehouses and garages. Let me, Snorkel Bob, help here: 1-2 x 2-5 = 2-10 million fish per year. If I present these numbers at any public forum, the aquarium hunters guffaw, sanguine that such extraction is not possible. Last year on Maui, one dealer reported purchasing more fish than all the collectors reported catching. But let’s not bog down in details. 2 million? 5 million? Who’s counting? Let’s go to morality. I, Snorkel Bob, frame aquarium collecting as a moral issue. The aquarium trade wants to call it a conservation issue and feels slighted by the moral context. But practicality has been a common cause of immoral behaviors through history. Guilt is most often denied, especially in public—like the crew of Nishin Maru waving signs that say RESEARCH, as the deck flows red with the blood of their cetacean victims. An aquarium fish dealer on Maui claimed: “Fish are not a finite resource like oil and gold, they are highly reproductive, some releasing millions of eggs multiple times a year. The small fish population has to do with Maui having the wrong type of habitat that certain fish seek out to live in. You go into the desert and you won’t find an alligator.” Yes, we have no alligators on Maui, but we once had an abundance of fish, and it wasn't so long ago. When State Senator Josh Green (District 3, Kona Coast) unveiled a bill to ban aquarium collecting recently, one aquarium hunter called Senator Green “politically motivated and uneducated.” Another called him “extreme and not warranted.” They cannot grasp the loathsome perception of the general public. They do not share the common morality. Among fundamental facts are: 1) campaigns in the Hawaii State Legislature over the last few years showed that nearly all reps and senators want to ban aquarium collecting in Hawaii. All legislative efforts were derailed in the House, where every conservation measure suffers Water & Land Chair Ken Ito’s pledge that no bill will pass unless it is “good for fishing.” Speaker Calvin Say guides Rep Ito, and the matrix goes to (lame duck) Governor Linda Lingle ® and her Chief Policy Advisor, a former wholesaler for the aquarium trade. This is big money. The Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources (DLNR) began in 1956 as the aquarium trade removed coral reefs from Hawaii piece by piece. The trade also “harvested” (hammered & chiseled) live rock—porous substrate habitat for small creatures critical to reef survival and amusing in an aquarium. After 20 YEARS of coral reef reduction to rubble (1978), DLNR began limiting coral extraction by species till 1996, when State law banned all coral and live rock extraction—40 YEARS to protect reef habitat. Yet we have no protection for the habitués. Continuing moral and practical dilemma faces the State of Hawaii in the fish kill at Honokohou Harbor on the Big Island. The Kona coast is 135 miles of continuous reef. Once called the Gold Coast for its yellow tangs in the surf, now it’s the gold coast because Charles Schwab and Michael Dell plunked down $50 million on lots there. The new gold rush is for easy pickin’s on aquarium fish with no catch limits. Grossly mismanaged on data spun politically, those reefs are now minus 8 species. “Nobody knows where they went or why.” A typical prospector came over from the mainland, built a holding tank and got out there for his fair share, till his tank failed on 650 yellow tangs and butterflyfish. Oh, darn. He bagged them up for the freezer. Otherwise they’d stink! A few months later, he tossed them into a dumpster at Honokohou Harbor. Why not? The dumpster gets emptied every day to two. By the grace of Neptune, that bag was not green, it was clear. That aquarium hunter had no idea where he was or whose kindred spirits he’d killed for chump change. Two women saw the bag and laid each dead fish on the pavement. The media swooped. While the dramatic effect was huge, the practical meaning was nothing next to a single fish dying in each of the 1.5 million aquarium tanks worldwide. The legal fallout may be monumental. DLNR manages the aquarium trade as “a fishery,” seeking optimal revenue by extraction. Yet entirely separate laws regulate treatment, feeding and handling of animals caught for the pet trade—wildlife pet trafficking. Aquarium trade “best practices” are inhumane. DLNR’s Honokohou-fish-kill investigation was no more legit than Mr. Fox’s hen house inventory control. DLNR along with CORAL and Reef Check International call the aquarium trade “important” and “sustainable,” supporting disposable wildlife pet trafficking for the money. “Sustainable” means taking all but a few brood fish so the species won’t collapse—the Kona “fishery” is declining from collapsing butterflyfish populations. DLNR monitors the decline and defends the trade, claiming “no proof” that collecting causes decline. Reef Check International and CORAL operate on grants and donations. Reef Check is an apologist/front group for the aquarium trade. Director Eric Cohen is the biggest Hawaii reef fish reseller in the nation. Eric Cohen calls himself a “stakeholder” in Hawaii reefs. Reef Check stridently solicits donations to help “monitor reef health” while urging more aquarium extraction with “sustainable” measures in place. This is “conservation” as a means to mo money. (see www.FortheFishes.org ) In January Hawaii will have a new governor and may have new leadership in the legislature. Grassroots efforts in Maui County cracked down on aquarium extraction in August, 2010 setting critical precedent in Hawaii. Aquarium collecting in Hawaii has no limit on the catch, no limit on the number of catchers and no constraints on rare or endemic species. 98% of Hawaii reefs can be emptied of every fish by the aquarium trade, and it’s legal. The trade screams bloody murder on any regulation proposed to date, screaming with equal urgency that aquarium collecting MUST REMAIN SUSTAINABLE! Maui’s Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, the entire legislative delegation, the Mayor and a majority of Maui County residents that may exceed 99% want to keep these so-called “aquarium fish” at home on Maui reefs. The late Ed Lindsay, a Hawaiian and charismatic leader, recalled a tired walk through a hotel lobby in California. Road weary and ready to relax, he stopped short at the aquarium where a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse (hinalea) stared sadly out. Ed said he nearly cried. He felt helpless and angry and determined to let the world know that it is welcome in the land of Aloha, but it can no longer take what belongs here. The Hawaiian cleaner wrasse, found nowhere else in the world, cleans parasites from other fish. Its absence exposes reefs to parasite infestation. Captive Hawaiian cleaners starve to death in 30 days—you can buy one on line today for $50. It left $4 in Hawaii. Featherduster worms bore into coral heads, then stick out their dusters to filter-feed. Aquarium hunters “collect” featherdusters by smashing the coral. The aquarium trade response: “But we don’t take featherdusters anymore!” Because they’re gone, leaving coral rubble behind. They took 67,000 in ’03. 16,000 in ’09. Next came hermit crabs: Hermits change shells, but with hundreds of thousands of hermits strip-mined by the aquarium trade, many reefs are vulnerable to collapse. In Kane’ohe Bay on Oahu they took 300,000 to sell for 11¢ each—indifferent to the hermits role as a lynchpin species integral to reef survival. The aquarium trade protests that it doesn’t take hermits (so much) anymore—because the hermits too are nearly gone. Neither hermit crabs nor eels of any species require any permit for collection. With emphasis now on huge tanks in Hong Kong and Kona, demand is up for adult eels. Capture is quick, with a short piece of plastic pipe closed and baited at one end. Adult brood eels are now leaving Hawaii with no limit, no count and no future. The Humane Society of the U.S. and Humane Society International (HSUS/HSI) state that reef fish have complex needs and are not suited for captivity. Reef animals in confinement live far short of their natural potential. Yellow tangs can live 40 years on a reef, but tank stress most often kills them in a year—if capture and transport doesn’t kill them first. Yellow tangs are herbivores who graze on algae dawn to dusk. Algae suffocation is a primary threat to Hawaii reefs. Millions of yellow tangs ship out annually. HSUS/HSI call Hawaii’s approval of animal abuse for wildlife pet trafficking appalling. Fizzing is puncturing the fish’s air bladder with a hypodermic needle to compensate barotrauma on rapid ascent (bulging eye death). Also speaking out is a new book by me, Snorkel Bob, from Skyhorse Publications, NY. Some Fishes I Have Known is 300 photos on 200 pages—up-close family portraits of a few gill breathers in social interaction, communion and yes, friendship with an old familiar. The narrative may change minds. A few aquarium hobbyists may see the light and hear our beloved 41st President of the United States of America, Ronald W. Reagan, who cried out, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this aquarium!” The promotional tour will reach millions, bringing this topic to the surface. All photos here are by me, Snorkel Bob, from Some Fishes I Have Known, except for one. What can you do? If you see an aquarium, ask that it be taken down for the sake of the reefs, the fish and us.

S’pore population tops five million, one in three are foreigners By Faris – August 31st, 2010 Agence France-Presse SINGAPORE, Tuesday 31 August 2010 (AFP) – Singapore’s population crossed five million this year and more than a third of the total are foreigners, the statistics department said Tuesday. The city-state’s total population stood at 5.08 million people at the end of June, it said in a statement. Of the number, 3.23 million are citizens, 540,000 are foreigners with permanent residency and 1.3 million are foreign professionals and workers along with their dependents, resulting in a 36% share for foreigners in the general population. The population growth rate was 1.8% in 2010, reflecting a slowdown in the number of permanent residents and foreign workers being admitted into the country, the department said. The number of permanent residents rose by 1.5%, down from at least 6% growth per year between 2005 and 2009, it said. Growth in the number of non-residents, or those on professional employment passes and shorter-term work permits, slowed to 4.1%, off from peaks of 15% in 2007 and 19% in 2008, it added. Because Singaporeans have not been producing enough babies, the government had for years rolled out the welcome mat for foreigners, whose numbers rose drastically during the economic boom from 2004 to 2007. But after the 2008 global financial crisis, the government has taken a fresh look at its open-door policy following complaints from citizens that foreigners are competing for jobs, housing and medical care. Singapore, which polls well in global surveys for quality of life, is also showing symptoms of urban stress, with rush-hour traffic gridlock, packed subway trains and recent cases of flash floods in some areas. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged the problems in a speech on Sunday and vowed to review immigration policies, cap new foreign hiring this year and enhance benefits accorded to citizens.

UPDATE 2-Singapore acts to cool property mkt, following HK Monday 30 August 2010, 17:28 SGT By Kevin Lim and Lee Chyen Yee * Buyers of 2nd homes can borrow up to 70 pct, from 80 pct * Stamp duty on sellers who buy and sell within 3 years * Aimed at speculators, won't hurt home buyers - analysts * Singapore property stocks fall on new measures * Singapore moves follow similar steps by HK, China (Adds analyst comments, background; changes byline and dateline) SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Singapore announced on Monday restrictions on people buying second homes as part of new measures to cool its red-hot residential market, joining Hong Kong and China in taking steps to keep a lid on housing prices. Home prices in Asia have soared in recent months, fuelled by the region's rapid economic recovery and ultra-low interest rates. The gains have been highest in Singapore, where prices rose 34 percent in the 12 months to June, followed by Hong Kong which increased 21 percent, according to Global Property Guide. Part of the demand has come from wealthy Chinese individuals looking to diversify geographically by putting money into the two ethnically Chinese cities, which impose few restrictions on property investments by overseas investors. "This latest move is not to discourage home-buying on the whole. It is aimed at property investment, especially short-term ones," said Nicholas Mak, former head of research at Knight Frank in Singapore and now a lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Hong Kong tightened mortgage lending this month for bigger apartments as prices headed for historic highs, while China is clamping down on bank lending to the property sector as well as making sure developers do not hoard land meant for housing development. However, South Korea is taking a different path, announcing on Sunday it would ease some mortgage borrowing restrictions for low income earners buying homes for their own use. In Singapore, the new measures included decreasing the amount those with existing mortgages can borrow to buy second properties to 70 percent from 80 percent, and extending a stamp duty to sellers who buy and sell within three years. The stamp duty was previously imposed on speculators who disposed of their homes within one year. For a FACTBOX on recent property measures in key Asian markets Singapore property stocks fell after the government's announcement, with shares of Southeast Asia's second-largest developer City Developments falling as much as 4.3 percent and Wing Tai dropping as much as 4.6 percent. CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's largest developer, declined as much as 2 percent. The worst-hit counters were those with large exposure to Singapore residential property, said DMG & Partners analyst Brandon Lee. AFFORDABILITY Analysts said Singapore appeared more concerned about ensuring home prices remained affordable for the majority of citizens rather than asset inflation, noting the new measures did not attempt to stem inflows from overseas. The measures, they added, come on the back of an announcement by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday that the government will build 22,000 new public homes next year, up from 16,000 this year, in a bid to ensure housing remains affordable. "We've acted twice to cool the market -- once last year and once in February this year -- but prices are still rising," Lee said. "We need to do more." Chua Yang Liang, head of Southeast Asia research at Jones Lang LaSalle, noted that while the pace of price increase in private residential property has moderated, resale prices of government-built HDB apartments continued to rise strongly. "The latest introduction of measures are motivated largely by the unabated rise in public housing prices," he said, noting the 4.1 percent increase in HDB resale prices in the second quarter exceeded the average of about 3.0 percent in preceding periods. Chua predicted Singapore home prices will continue to rise but at a slower pace, with private home prices moderating to 2-3 percent growth per quarter and HDB prices rising 1-2 percent. Singapore said on Monday it introduced the new measures "to ensure a stable and sustainable property market where prices move in line with economic fundamentals". Singapore interest rates are near record lows despite economic growth that will likely hit 12-15 percent this year, due to an increase in inflows from overseas. Malayan Banking, for instance, earlier this month launched home loan packages in Singapore with first-year rates of as low as 0.88 percent per annum. "The current low global interest rate environment will not continue indefinitely, and higher interest rates could have severe implications for buyers who have overextended themselves," the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Development and Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a joint statement. (With additional reporting by Harry Suhartono and Lavrina Lee in Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Sigh !...how to go for R & R in Khunthep ??? Suspected grenade explodes at Thai TV centre: govt AFP - 1 hour 24 minutes ago BANGKOK (AFP) - – A device believed to be a grenade exploded outside Thailand's national broadcasting headquarters in Bangkok on Tuesday, a government spokesman said. The blast, which caused no injuries, occurred in front of the building housing the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand, spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told reporters. "Based on circumstantial evidence it's likely to have been caused by an M-79 (grenade)," he said. The capital has been under emergency rule since April 7 in response to anti-government "Red Shirt" protests, in which 91 people died and about 1,900 were injured in clashes between protesters and the army. A handful of explosions in recent weeks have unnerved the Thai capital's residents, who are still recovering from the deadly street protests in April and May. A grenade blast last Thursday -- the second in a month at the King Power duty-free shopping outlet -- injured a security guard and ensured Bangkok will be the last province kept under emergency rule, the Thai prime minister said. On July 30, a grenade hidden in a plastic rubbish bag injured a Thai man in his 30s who was scavenging for scrap. A man linked to the Red Shirt demonstrations was arrested over the explosion and police said the suspect, 23-year-old Sorathien Singkanya, admitted that the grenade belonged to him but had denied planting it himself. That blast came less than a week after a small bomb exploded at a Bangkok bus stop, killing one person and injuring 10.

Singapore native acts out the lives of Asian transsexuals AFP - Friday, August 27 NEW YORK (AFP) - – The life of a transexual in Asia is limited to sexual work -- such is the searing viewpoint of Singapore native Leona Lo, who traveled to New York to present a first-person, three-act play on the subject. The "Ah Kua Show" is a collage of experiences on the difficulties of being a transsexual person in places like Malaysia, Hong Kong or Bangkok. The show, on stage at the "La Mama" alternative theater in Manhattan's East Village, is one of 197 events that are part of the XIV New York Fringe Festival. The shows are staged on 18 small and experimental theaters, and are a far cry from the glitzy, big-budget Broadway productions. "The idea is to open up the eyes of the world and to apply a bit of pressure on these countries to grant these women official recognition," Leona told AFP after a recent presentation. Leona -- formerly known as Leonard -- Lo was born 35 years ago to a middle-class family of Chinese descent living in Singapore. Lo's difficult teenage years, mandatory military service, school in England, and finally the sex change in Thailand are the subject of a 2007 book. Transsexuals have different experiences across Asia, and the show, which includes song and dance numbers, attempts to portray this variety. The "Ah Kua Show" covers a broad range, from 'ladyboys' in Thailand to transgender women in Malaysia. Islamic clerics often turn the Malaysian transgenders in for counseling, "and they can only have jobs as sex workers," said Lo. In Thailand, Lo said, transgenders "can only be show girls" because they are discriminated against and cannot find regular jobs. In Hong Kong, Lo said, transsexual men who have not undergone an operation are in high demand. However, in Singapore "we are ahead of a lot of Asian countries," said Lo. "I can marry a guy and I have a passport." Nevertheless, she said, "there is a lot of silent discrimination for being a transsexual." Last year Lo became involved in the Asia Pacific Transgender Network, the first group of its kind in the region. "HIV is a huge problem among transgender women in Cambodia and Pakistan," said Lo. "Forty percent of all Pakistani transgenders have HIV/AIDS." In Malaysia and Indonesia "they have a huge problem with religion, preventing them from living as women. In Hong Kong we have a case right now where a woman is struggling to get married and we are supporting her." Also, the group "just helped a transgender woman to escape from Mongolia and she has a refugee status in a European country right now." The show's name, Ah Kua, are words in local Chinese dialect describing an effeminate or transsexual man. The show also mentions frustrated encounters with white western "heroes" who promise eternal love and a ticket out of the world of prostitution and cabarets. Sadly, this dream often ends up being a nightmare. "There are lots of so called foreign guys who are looking for a transgender woman to bring back to the country and to abuse them," said Lo. "Until I met my present boyfriend, I was in and out of several unhealthy relationships because I also had an illusion of getting the ideal boyfriend and everything else in my life would change." Lo's advice: "Be happy with yourself, be happy where you are, but do something constructive with your life."

Fiji White Pipe Organ only comes occasionally with Iwarna's Walt Smith shipment. So U have to wait patiently for their next shipment.

...there's one more nasty 'havoc' nitemare...BUBBLE ALGAE.

In fact, there are several sub-species assigned under the Acropora hyacinthus group... Acropora hyacinthus Group Tables, calices very even; digitate first, then grow to tables; labellate corallites Acropora hyacinthus - Tables or plates; short, regular, rosette branches; wine pink Acropora surculosa - Fuzzy, thick, tapering branches, and purplish color. Digitate with thick, stubby, tapering branches that tend to have numerous wart-like, stubby side branchlets that do not develop much. Branches appear fuzzy, especially toward their base, as a result of expanded polyps. Polyps have one especially lonf tentacle which is responsible for this fuzzy appearance. Colonies are brownish purple. Acropora cytherea (= Acropora symmetrica) - tabletop with anastomosing branches, can slide fingers through spaces, at least partway; crumbly texture Acropora microcladus - small tables (50 cm maximum), pink, just subtidally at reef edges Acropora paniculata - more open anastomosing than Acropora cytherea, more delicate; very fine structure

Vietnam's thirst for beer hard to quench Sunday 29 August 2010, 13:01 SGT Vietnam's thirst for beer is hard to quench, and a new production line with a capacity for 50,000 bottles an hour is the latest industry attempt to target one of the region's key markets. VBL Danang Ltd opened the line producing Larue beer at its factory in central Vietnam on Friday. The brew with a tiger on its label is a down-to-earth favourite in the seaside city of Danang. "Vietnam... is one of the largest beer markets in Asia Pacific and of the highest growth potential," Christopher Kidd, regional director of Singapore-listed Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (APB), said in remarks prepared for the opening ceremony. APB and Vietnamese state-owned SATRA Group comprise the VBL joint venture. VBL said the expansion, "to meet robust and surging beer demand", will double bottling capacity and is the latest upgrade since it bought the brewery from Australia's Foster's three years ago. At the ceremony, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry, Lim Hng Kiang, said Larue is now available in most of Vietnam's provinces and showed healthy volume growth of 25 percent last year and 50 percent this year. Along with the Danang brewery, VBL manages and operates three others in central and southern Vietnam. A wholly-owned unit supplies Tiger beer, Heineken and other brands in the country's north. "Over the next 18 months, APB through its joint ventures and subsidiary, plans to invest close to 100 million dollars in capacity expansion in our various breweries in Vietnam," Kidd said. He said APB was one of the first foreign-invested firms to enter Vietnam after the communist country began to adopt a policy of economic openness 24 years ago. Other beer firms have kept coming. In Danang, stubby bottles of the Philippines-based beer San Miguel sat on wooden tables at a roadside restaurant, hoping to tempt drinkers away from Larue or other labels. The US brand Budweiser, among others, has moved into Vietnam, and Japanese brewer Sapporo Holdings said in December that it will enter the country from early 2012 in a joint venture with Vietnam National Tobacco Corp. Sapporo said it will be the first Japanese brewery to build a production and marketing base in the "promising Vietnamese market which has been growing at an annual rate of more than 10 percent". In a report last year, Spiros Malandrakis, an analyst with global market research firm Euromonitor International, said Vietnam's integration into the World Trade Organization opened up more opportunities for investment and imports from foreign companies, particularly with the government's commitment to slash tax on imported beer. However, Malandrakis said Vietnam's domestic "economy lager" generated the strongest yearly sales increase, 10 percent in 2008. The brewers are trying to capitalise on a beer market which Euromonitor International forecasts will continue to be one of the region's largest and fastest-growing. Total beer sales volume at Vietnamese cafes, restaurants and other outlets grew 56 percent between 2004 and 2009 to 1.6 billion litres, the second-fastest growth rate in Southeast Asia after Cambodia. Euromonitor International sees continued expansion of the Vietnam beer market, at 8.9 percent for 2009-10 and 5.6 percent growth by 2013-14, slightly behind Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam's leading brewer is Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corp (SABECO), which had up to 35 percent of national beer sales and was increasing its production, the official Vietnam News Agency reported last year. It said Hanoi Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corp (HABECO) had a 15 percent market share. Earlier this month HABECO inaugurated its new Hanoi-Me Linh brewery built with an investment of more than 100 million dollars, Vietnam News Agency said. HABECO bottles Hanoi Beer and is a major producer of the draft brew known as "bia hoi". The draft is dropped off every day at Hanoi's ubiquitous sidewalk bars which are little more than plastic chairs and a metal tank of the beer. "In my opinion, bia hoi is the best drink," said Nguyen Duc Trung, 42, citing its relatively low alcohol content and thirst-quenching abilities in Hanoi's heat. "I drink bia hoi every day and that's become my habit."

Singapore counts winnings as casinos boost tourism Sunday 29 August 2010, 11:31 SGT Singapore's massive bet on two casino resorts is already paying off after the number of arrivals in a single month crossed the one million mark for the first time in July, analysts said. Six months after opening its first casino in February, followed by the second in April, Singapore is already counting its winnings despite lingering concern about gambling-linked social problems among the local population. "Let there be no mistake about it, the legalisation of casino gaming in Singapore was always intended to be a part of an enhanced tourism strategy for the country," said Jonathan Galaviz, a Las Vegas-based expert on Asian gaming. "The development of multi-billion dollar integrated resorts in Singapore is clearly paying off for the country, and they will continue to do so for at least the next decade," said the managing director of Galaviz & Company. DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, said the casino resorts are expected to contribute about 1.5 billion US dollars to the economy this year. Church and civic groups had opposed the legalisation of casinos but the government went ahead in 2005 and allowed US-based Las Vegas Sands and Malaysia's Genting group to build two complexes at a combined cost of 10 billion dollars. As a safeguard, the casinos were told to charge an entry fee equivalent to 74 dollars from Singaporean citizens and permanent residents, and a campaign against "problem gambling" was launched by the government. Singapore's tourism board said the city-state, which has a population of just five million, welcomed one million visitors in July, thanks in large part to the pull of its new man-made tourist attractions. Tourism officials hope to see between 11.5 million and 12.5 million visitors this year -- a figure well above the numbers visiting neighbouring countries blessed with white-sand beaches, towering mountains and other natural wonders. As well as the casinos, Singapore's euphemistically named "integrated resorts" also offer theme parks, high-end shopping, hotels and convention halls. Analysts say Singapore understood the importance of casinos in a broader context -- not just as a means to lure the high-rollers but as part of a strategy to stay competitive as a travel destination and a "global city". Founding father Lee Kuan Yew said the government had been "against casinos for decades" and "refused offers of seedy casinos from Macau." But officials changed their position after seeing how the casino industry developed in Las Vegas, which offers Broadway hits and fine-dining restaurants featuring some of the world's famous chefs. The 4.4 billion dollar Resorts World Sentosa, built by Malaysia's Genting Group, opened in February. It boasts Southeast Asia's only Universal Studios theme park, among other attractions. The 5.5 billion dollar Marina Bay Sands, owned by Las Vegas Sands, started operations in April. Its iconic building, consisting of a boat-shaped "skypark" perched atop three 55-story hotel towers, is the newest jewel on the city's glittering skyline. Revenue figures from the two Singapore casinos paint an upbeat picture. Resorts World Sentosa said it generated revenues of 636.5 million dollars in the three months to June. Net profit came in at almost 300 million dollars for the quarter. The Universal Studios theme park has attracted about 8,000 visitors a day and hotel occupancy rates are an estimated 70 percent. Marina Bay Sands declared net revenues of 216 million dollars in just its first 65 days of operation, with the casino accounting for 191 million dollars. Las Vegas Sands chief executive Sheldon Adelson said he was "gratified by the overwhelming reception the property has received". Galaviz, the gaming consultant, said Singapore's total gross gaming revenue should reach 2.7 billion dollars this year, rising to 3.0 billion dollars in 2011. But he said this is unlikely to reach the levels in Las Vegas and Macau "if Singapore's market just remains at two casinos at their current size". Macau took in 14.5 billion dollars from gamblers in 2009, while casinos at the Las Vegas strip earned about 5.5 billion dollars. Hong Kong-based brokerage and investment group CLSA was more upbeat on the Singapore casino market. Aaron Fischer, head of Asia consumer gaming at CLSA, estimates Singapore gaming revenues will rise to 5.1 billion dollars in 2011 and 6.5 billion dollars in 2012 from 3.0 billion dollars this year.

Malaysia uncovers nearly 100 live reptiles in bag Reuters - Monday, August 30 KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian airport security arrested a convicted wildlife smuggler after finding almost 100 live reptiles in his luggage, the country's Wildlife and National Parks Department said. Anson Wong, already convicted of trafficking in wildlife in the United States, was in transit from the Malaysian island state of Penang to the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Thursday when Malaysia Airlines staff at Kuala Lumpur airport were alerted to a bag that had broken while on a conveyor belt. The department, in a statement issued late on Saturday, said its enforcement officers found 95 boa constrictors, two rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle inside the luggage. Boa constrictors are subject to regulations or a complete ban in international commercial trade as they are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The statement said Wong would remain in detention for two days. Under Malaysian law, if found guilty, he could face seven years in jail and fines of up to 100,000 ringgit for each animal or both. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Wong had previously pleaded guilty to a trafficking in the United States in 2001 and was sentenced to 71 months in jail. TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring organisation, said Malaysia must "rise to the challenge" of confronting new evidence of its role as an hub for those engaged in wildlife smuggling. "Their attempt at mocking Malaysia's legal system must be dealt with head-on," said Kanitha Krishnasamy, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Senior Programme Officer. On Friday, Thai customs officials found a two-month-old tiger stashed in a bag filled with tiger toys which had been checked in for an international passenger flight.

Wildlife need more friends and protectors Bangkok Post Opinion EDITORIAL Published: 29/08/2010 at 04:38 AM The bizarre case of a woman at Suvarnabhumi Airport attempting to smuggle a two-month-old tiger cub on to a plane she was boarding to Iran brings some much-needed publicity to the problem of animal trafficking. It is not known if the heavily sedated cub hidden in a bag full of stuffed tiger toys was wild or had been bred in captivity, but regardless, it is clear that the suddenly famous representative of a rapidly disappearing species needs to stay in Thailand. The animal was turned over to a rescue centre in Bang Khen district operated by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (NPD). The director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, Chatchawan Pisdamkham, said the tiger cub will be transferred to a wildlife breeding station at Khao Prathap Chang Wildlife Sanctuary in Ratchaburi province next week. Unfortunately the ending is not so happy for the vast majority of trafficked animals, not only because they are not usually so high profile, but also because even if they are the traffickers are rarely caught. In Thailand we occasionally hear about truckloads of pangolins being seized as they head their way northward to China, where the meat from the supposedly protected animals is considered a delicacy, and to have medicinal and aphrodisiac properties. But we can only wonder how much more often the trucks full of their illegal cargoes traverse the full length of the country and pass through border checkpoints unobstructed. One thing is certain, the poachers concentrate their efforts in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and to some extent Burma, because pangolin populations have been severely decimated in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Unless more pressure can be brought on the traffickers it is only a matter time before this is the situation in Thailand and Malaysia as well. The NPD urgently needs more resources devoted to stopping the trafficking of wild animals in Thailand. At the end of last year the NPD reported that it was caring for more than 8,383 birds and 3,152 mammals that have been confiscated from wildlife trafficking gangs. These are now housed at 23 wildlife breeding centres across the nation. The 30 million baht provided to the department to care for the animals is proving inadequate. But the resources to track down and thwart the traffickers of pangolins, black bears, tigers and the even more exotic Asian leopard are even more inadequate. On a positive note, the NPD late last year began training dogs to help in the wildlife trafficking suppression effort. This is the second time the department has used dogs for conservation purposes. A few years ago a group of dogs were trained by police and military dog-training experts to track wildlife poachers at Khao Yai National Park but the operation was stopped when the department changed its policy. The new canine poaching detectors, all Labrador retrievers, are stationed at checkpoints in provinces where wildlife smuggling is rampant, such as Songkhla, Phetchaburi and Nong Khai, according to the NPD. But many more dogs and men are needed. As can be imagined it is an overwhelming task to monitor all the country's national parks and forests, protected or otherwise, for poachers. What's more, investigations by wildlife protection groups have named Thailand as a major transit point for wildlife trafficking throughout Southeast Asia. Thailand's disappearing diversity of wildlife is a national treasure. Species populations are difficult if not impossible to replenish if they fall below a certain level, and there are many species native to Thailand whose numbers are falling to dangerously low levels. The illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is estimated at US$20 billion (624 billion baht) per year, second only to arms and drug smuggling in the amount of money it generates. The toll this business takes on our environment and the animals that live in it is immeasurable. Worldwide the poaching of wildlife is driving tigers, elephants, rhinoceros and many less exotic species to the brink of extinction. Governments must do more to stop this scourge, but in the end, as with the drug trade, it is the ``consumers'' who fuel the trade. In the words of world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall: ``Our endangered animals are being wiped off the earth by illegal wildlife trade, and it is up to us to stop it. ``Never buy illegal wildlife products and we can save our endangered animals. When the buying stops the killing can, too.''

Singapore PM: We'll slow inflow of foreign workers By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer - Monday, August 30 SINGAPORE – Singapore will allow in fewer foreign workers this year than previously announced in a bid to quell a growing backlash among locals against foreigners, the prime minister said Sunday. About 80,000 foreigners will enter Singapore this year, fewer than the more than 100,000 Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced last month, he told a National Day Rally. About 150,000 foreign workers have entered Singapore per year since 2007, and they now make up about one-third of the island's 3 million work force. "I think we should consolidate, slow down the pace," Lee said. "We can't go on like this, increasing our population 100,000, 150,000 a year indefinitely. We should give Singaporeans time to adjust." Lee acknowledged that Singaporeans are concerned foreigners are crowding public transportation and boosting competition for jobs and housing. "I understand these sentiments because these are legitimate concerns which we take seriously," he said. Singapore's decades-long boom, which has made it one of the world's wealthiest countries, has been fueled in part by foreign laborers willing to do jobs such as construction and hospitality for lower wages than locals. A poll conducted last year by the Institute of Policy Studies found 63 percent of Singaporeans surveyed believed the government's immigration policy was weakening national unity. However, two-thirds of respondents also said they supported bringing in more foreigners if it helped the economy. Lee also urged immigrants to learn English, the most widely spoken of Singapore's four official languages. About 75 percent of Singapore's population are ethnic Chinese but there are significant minorities of Malays and Indians, and the government enforces strict public speech laws regarding race and religion to avoid conflict among groups. "Immigrants have to get along with the different communities here, different races," Lee said. "The immigrant Chinese and immigrant Indians may not be used to this. They should make the effort." Lee said the government will invest 60 billion Singapore dollars ($44 billion) during the next decade to expand the island's subway system and ease crowding on trains. Singapore economy _ which relies on trade, finance and tourism _ has emerged strongly from last year's recession. Lee reiterated the government's gross domestic product growth forecast for this year of between 13 percent and 15 percent. Some opposition politicians, such as Reform Party secretary general Kenneth Jeyaretnam, argue the government's immigration policy has provided cheap labor for companies and depressed wages for Singaporeans. Some foreign workers are necessary to keep the economy growing, Lee said. "You want higher growth? That means accepting more foreign workers," Lee said. "If we can manage these political and social challenges, then the benefits to us are substantial."