August Birthdays for Obama and McCain http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-27-candidates-age-gap_N.htm?csp=34 John McCain and Barack Obama are approaching August birthdays that will highlight the biggest-ever age gap between major American presidential candidates. Obama will be 47 on Aug. 4. McCain will be 72 on Aug. 29. Their 25-year gap, and the questions it inherently raises about experience and vitality, is part of a powerful generational subtext of the 2008 campaign. This is the first presidential contest to substantially involve the emerging "millennials," a generation that some political and social scientists predict will be the most politically active and powerful of any since the "GI Generation" that won World War II. McCain comes from what social scientists call the "Silent Generation," those tucked between the "GI Generation" and the baby boomers that followed the war. McCain's generation fought in Korea and Vietnam and has been split over baby boomer politics since the 1960s. http://Activeenglish.biz

Australian Short Story...Barney Take Me Home by Henry Lawson

Australian Short Story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/technology/chi-bold-thefts_glantonjul22,0,923780.story At first it seemed like ordinary shoplifting — stuffing a few pairs of jeans into an oversize bag and walking out of the store. But the thieves got bolder. They began showing up in groups of five or six in the middle of the day, spraying store clerks with mace and knocking customers out of the way as they gathered armfuls of clothes. Sometimes they tossed a brick through the glass. Sometimes they drove a truck through the front door. The thieves aren't looking for just any kind of jeans. They're snatching high-end designer duds that sell for $150 to $350. The "bluejean bandits" have hit more than two dozen stores in the Atlanta area since January, stealing more than $1 million in goods and selling them everywhere from online auctions to high school parking lots. Smash-and-grabs have long been popular among thieves. But in the past five years, authorities said, there has been a proliferation of retail robberies involving rings of thieves who have gotten more aggressive, more specific in what they are looking for and better organized in carrying out the crimes. Related links How you can spot stolen goods Organized retail crime Graphic According to the FBI, these robbery rings have increasingly turned to the Internet to fence their goods, making it tougher to catch them. "They've moved from flea markets to the Internet," said Richard Hollinger, a criminology professor at the University of Florida who compiles the National Retail Security Survey. "They sell a lot of merchandise on the Internet with the price tag still on them. Some might say, 'If I got a pair of jeans that didn't fit for a gift, I might sell them on eBay.' But who would have 50 pairs in different sizes?" Craig Sherman, spokesman for the National Retail Federation, said selling online can boost the thieves' profits. "When a thief sells something on a traditional street corner or pawnshop, he might get 30 cents on the dollar," Sherman said. "But if he sells it online, he gets as much as 70 percent on the value." In a survey this year by the federation, 85 percent of retailers said they had been the victim of organized robbery rings, a 7 percent increase in three years. Retailers estimate that they lose more than $30 billion a year to organized retail crime. In Illinois, retailers said they lose $1.3 billion a year, costing the state $82.3 million in lost sales tax revenue. http://Activeenglish.biz

Dry Murray will leave 1m Thirsty: July 21 2008 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24049714-421,00.html AUSTRALIA'S worst fears about the drought-stricken Murray River have been confirmed again with available drinking water supplies plummeting to record lows. The diabolical forecast for the Murray-Darling Basin - the nation's food bowl which is supposed to sustain thousands of farmers and irrigators - showed a rapid deterioration of water between March and June this year, the joint report by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and state governments warned. However, the damning report card by senior officials - which is predicting more dry weather - said work was continuing to remedy the river, including water-sharing agreements between states, to protect critical water needs for the next year if the drought persisted. Governments would also need to consider how to allocate water early to protect "critical human needs" for 2009-10, the report said. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said water for households, irrigators and the environment was at record low levels across much of the basin. "More than one million people draw their drinking water from the Murray, so it's essential that we continue to make critical human needs our No. 1 priority," she said. "Longer-term, tackling the problems in the Murray-Darling Basin requires serious action on climate change." Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt said the latest report highlighted why Labor state governments were irresponsible after spending 18 months playing "political football" with the Murray. "They deliberately deferred any action on the Murray until after last year's election," Mr Hunt said. "Even today the Rudd Government still has no plans for immediate action." Senator Wong said the report showed that "yet again we are in real trouble" in the Murray-Darling Basin. "We've had very low inflows, we've had a very dry June and the focus has to be critical human needs, that is the needs of the million-plus people who rely on the basin for drinking water," she said. This month, the federal and state governments signed a historic agreement to establish an independent authority to manage the river, ending years of mismanagement and blame shifting. Farmers have warned that prices of food grown in the basin are skyrocketing due to the state of the river. A recent CSIRO report predicted there could be 40 per cent less water in the region by 2030. http://Activeenglish.biz http://Activeenglishspeaking.com

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24043730-462,00.html AUSTRALIA must capitalise on the Chinese economic boom with large structural and economic changes or risk becoming nothing more than a branch office to the world's largest mining houses, says BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus. Mr Argus says the Chinese economic boom has created a once-in-a-century political, social and economic change similar to the Industrial Revolution. He says Australia is well-placed to benefit from the runaway growth, which he predicts will continue for many years, but says we need to act now on numerous fronts. Mr Argus said in Brisbane late Thursday that BHP Billiton (bhp.ASX:Quote,News) directors had made a conditional offer for Rio Tinto (rio.ASX:Quote,News) to create a global resources company with scale to compete with China's industrialisation that was changing the world. China's staggering growth would be the greatest urbanisation in history. Mr Argus said China had a plan to build 400 new cities by 2020 and was already building a city the size of Sydney every six weeks, consuming 50 per cent of the world's concrete. "This industrialisation and urbanisation is still in the early stages and we need to capitalise on it," Mr Argus said http://Activeenglish.biz http://Activeenglishspeaking.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080717/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironmentspecies_080717040502 Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect of a thriving illegal wildlife trade. Indonesia is struggling to take on a multi-million-dollar industry that is stripping the archipelago nation's vast forests of endangered species for enormous profit by selling them to buyers around the world. Activists and the government estimate Indonesia loses at least 80 million dollars a year through the illegal trade, with rare animals -- dead and alive -- being sold at huge mark-ups once they get to overseas markets. What's interesting is that an orangutan caught in Kalimantan (on Borneo island) costs no more than three million rupiah (327 dollars) and is sold in Jakarta for five million rupiah," said Asep Purnama from the non-government organisation ProFauna. "Once they get to Taiwan they will sell for around 100 million rupiah and in Europe they'll sell for 400 million," he said, adding that an estimated 100 orangutans are taken every year from Kalimantan's forests alone. Purnama's group estimates around 10,000 animals found only on Sumatra island were poached in 2007 to supply the illegal trade. Peddlers sell slow lorises, a rare bug-eyed primate from Sumatra's forests, for less than 10 dollars each as pets for middle-class families. Most buyers likely don't know trade in the seemingly cute animals is illegal -- or that they usually die within weeks from the stress of captivity -- but the sellers do, and they are extremely camera shy. A few hundred metres (yards) away in Jatinegara's gem market, however, one trader selling tiger skins was happy to show off her wares. The skins are from tigers killed more than a decade ago, she said... http://Activeenglish.biz

Made in Australia, Exporting to Asia http://business.theage.com.au/made-in-melbourne-exporting-to-asia-20080705-3273.html ONE look at the soaring profits of mining companies is enough to show how important exports to China and other emerging markets are to the success of domestic companies. But it is not just the vast multinationals such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto that are making their presence felt across South-East Asia. Thousands of Australian businesses, many of them small or medium sized, now export to the region. "Of the Australian companies doing business in the region, only about 10% would be the huge corporations that are well-known names," says Tim Harcourt, chief economist with Austrade, the government body that helps domestic firms find foreign markets. "The vast majority are smaller firms. That said, about 90% of the business is done by that top 10% of exporters." While the resources sector has been at the vanguard of the exporting game, the burgeoning middle classes in South-East Asia are behind a boom in Australian-produced goods and services. The expertise of engineers, architects, lawyers and educators has been much sought after, and top-end manufactured goods and foodstuffs. Victorian-based outdoor clothing specialist Wilderness Wear has bucked the trend of importing clothing from Asia by selling their garments to Korea, Japan and Taiwan. And founder Philip Endersbee is hoping to add China to that list in the coming year. "We've sent products to possible clients in China and they're very interested, as there's a middle class emerging there who are wanting to do things like bush trekking and climbing and can afford to buy high-quality gear," he says. Mr Endersbee believes Australian companies can achieve success in South-East Asia even when competing in areas where these countries have large exports. "If you think about your brand and product and produce high-end goods, which they don't do so well, then you can find a niche in the market," he says. "Also, it helps if you can address all those things which make dealing with China such a headache, such as long lead times, large minimum order quantities and lack of flexibility. If you can make these your strengths, then you can be certainly be competitive overseas." There are more than 4250 domestic businesses exporting to China alone; more than 3000 of them have offices there. Tim Harcourt believes that future growth in the country, especially for small and medium-sized companies, may well be focused on the second- and third-tier cities such as Kunming, Chengdu, Qiangdao and Chongqing as opposed to Beijing and Shanghai, which have been penetrated by foreign companies for many years

Entire Town of Big Sur, California, Evacuated for Fire… July 03 2008 BIG SUR, Calif. - Authorities ordered the remaining residents of this scenic coastal community to leave Wednesday because an out-of-control wildfire, one of hundreds in California, had jumped a fire line and was threatening more homes. Flames raged in the hills above and ash fell from orange skies as evacuees in packed cars streamed north along Highway 1, the only major road out of Big Sur. "The fire is just a big raging animal right now," said Darby Marshall, spokesman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services. The blaze near Big Sur is one of more than 1,100 wildfires, mostly ignited by lightning that has scorched 680 square miles, and destroyed 60 homes and buildings across northern and central California since June 20 New mandatory evacuation notices were issued Wednesday for a 16-mile stretch along Highway 1. Authorities have closed a total of 25 miles of the scenic roadway, The blaze had destroyed 16 homes and charred about 81 square miles of forest since it was started by lightning on June 21 in the Los Padres National Forest. It was only about 3 percent contained. The new evacuation notice means that all of the roughly 850 residents who live along the Big Sur coast from Andrew Molera State Park to Limekiln State Park have been ordered to leave Helicopters hauling large containers of water droned loudly overhead as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, R. David Paulison, visited Big Sur on Wednesday. "This is a very dangerous fire right now because of the wind and because of how dry things are and how early in the year it is," Paulison said Drought, heat and lightning storms have contributed to more than 1,100 separate fires that have blackened 680 square miles of land statewide in the past two weeks. The blazes have destroyed 60 homes and other buildings while threatening thousands more, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Federal fire managers predict an increase in severe wildfire activity in northern California through October due to the unusually hot, dry weather and scant rain. In Southern California, a fire in the southern extension of the Los Padres National Forest north of Santa Barbara prompted mandatory evacuations of about 45 people in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Officials said that fire had burned 350 acres of heavy brush Wednesday, and that a wind shift was pushing it Wednesday night closer to canyon homes. In the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield, crews struggled to contain a 13,500-acre blaze. Powerful gusts and choking smoke traveling up the steep canyons hampered their progress, and residents of neighboring towns were ordered to evacuate. Rough terrain in the Santa Ynez area hampered firefighters, said Santa Barbara County spokesman William Boyer. "It's mostly an aerial battle," he said. Elsewhere, a wildfire threatened 15 homes and the Okanogan tribal bingo casino near Okanogan, Wash., and some residents had been evacuated, said Ron Bowen of the state fire marshal's office. The blaze had covered 1,500 acres — just over 2 square miles — and the state sent people and equipment to help Bureau of Indian Affairs firefighters, officials said. Firefighters near Crown King, Ariz., were hacking away at brush and trees and burning back land near the town on Wednesday to try to quell a blaze that had burned nearly 12 square miles of land. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_on_re_us/wildfires_68

Spain wins First Major in 44 Years: 29 June 2008 http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-euro2008final&prov=ap&type=lgns A championship 44 years in the waiting is worth a special celebration. Spain made sure it didn’t disappoint any of its fans Sunday night, both during its 1-0 victory over Germany to win the European Championship, and after it. Fernando Torres scored in the 33rd minute and the Spaniards never backed down against such a formidable opponent. Their last significant title came in the 1964 Euros at home. “It is to me the most important day in Spanish football in many, many years,” Torres said. Against the highly accomplished Germans, the Spaniards weren’t intimidated. They got the one goal they needed and set off chants of “ES-PANA!” and “Ole, Ole!” at the final whistle. The entire Spanish squad ran over to the huge rooting section of red and gold, exchanging hugs, while many of the spent Germans collapsed to the turf. When Spain goalkeeper and captain, Iker Casillas, accepted the trophy on a stage, the Spanish fans began chanting the melody to their national anthem, which has no words. Thousands of camera flashes went off as the players jumped in place, then headed onto the field to show off their prize. … “We have won in a brilliant way,” coach Luis Aragones said. “We will be able to start saying we can win a European championship as well as any other thing.” In beating a team that makes a habit of appearing in championship finals, the Spaniards put to rest a reputation for underachieving. …That all changed at these Euros, where the Spaniards swept their first-round games, eliminated World Cup champion Italy in a penalty-kicks shootout in the quarterfinals, then routed Russia 3-0 in the semifinals. “We played the best for the entire tournament and we beat some great teams,” Torres said. “We beat Italy, the World Cup champion, and we beat Russia and now Germany. That is how you become champion.” Germany has won three Euros and three World Cups, but was no match in this final. “We had a great tournament, but made one mistake too many,” Ballack said. “We were lacking of power against a great Spanish team. We couldn’t keep up with them.” Torres, who had 33 goals for Liverpool this season but has been invisible in Euros, came through off a brilliant feed from Xavi Hernandez. Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, at 38 the oldest player in the competition, charged from his net when he saw that defender Philipp Lahm was beaten on the right side. But Torres chipped the ball over the sliding Lehmann and into the gaping goal. The crowd of 51,428 at Ernst Happel Stadium, split almost equally between Germany and Spain, might have expected the Spaniards to go into a protective shell. Instead, and even without leading scorer David Villa (leg injury), they continued to carry the attack and were far more dangerous than Germany the rest of the way. Indeed, Lehmann, who helped the Germans to third place in the 2006 World Cup, kept it close with several tough saves. This was the last game for 69-year-old Aragones, the oldest coach to win the Euros. “The most important thing about our team, perhaps, is the manager,” Torres said. “He has confidence in us and he lets us play. We have brought him the championship in his last game for Spain and we are very happy we could make this history for him and for us.” “Spain played very well during the whole tournament. and they were technically excellent,” Loew said. “They fully deserve victory.” A crowd of about 68,000 packed Vienna’s downtown fan zone to watch the final, police said. In Germany, flags fluttered from balconies and car antennas across the country. In Berlin, an estimated 400,000 fans watched the game on large outdoor screens. Spain has never made a World Cup final and was in one other Euros final, aside from the 1964 triumph. That was a loss to France in 1984. With two of the world’s top clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the nation has tons of talent. What it has lacked is fortitude. No one can say that anymore. http://activeenglish.biz