| Chinadaily.com.cn sharing the Olympic spirit
More than 200 Beijing Olympics cheer-squad volunteers listened carefully to a sports expert explaining the finer points of basketball. The associate professor from Capital Institute of Physical Education talked about its history, the rules and the etiquette of watching the game, made hugely popular in China by Yao Ming. "When the US coach asked: 'When would China's basketball players catch up with the US team?' the Chinese coach answered: 'When the US ping-pong team plays as well as our team'." Laughter erupted among the group, which included Jia Shuying, a 60-year-old woman who was part of last Friday's special cheer-squad gathering. She did not go to work that day, and instead rode her bicycle to her neighborhood residence committee to attend the meeting. Like everybody in the room, she donned a white cap and pink T-shirt, which had "Cheering from Beijing workers" written on the front.
Your guide to today, tomorrow and beyond
Robert Mirabal: Native American artist Robert Mirabal will perform his new stage show "In the Blood" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Rio Grande Theater, 211 N. Downtown Mall, Las Cruces. $25 general, $20 students with valid ID. 505-523-6403.
El Paso Wind Symphony: The El Paso Wind Symphony's concert of holiday favorites, "Tis the Season," will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Magoffin Auditorium, UTEP. $12.50 adults; $7.50 students, military, seniors. 747-5234 or Ticketmaster, 544-8444.
Vicente Fernandez: Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez will perform at 9 p.m. Friday at Anitas convention center, Ramon Rayon at Waterfill Highway near the Ysleta bridge in Juárez. $35 at Sounds Music Stores. 011-52-656-682-1486.
FREE -- El Paso Civic Orchestra: The El Paso Civic Orchestra and the El Paso Community College Chorus will present the annual fall concert at 8 p.m.
UQ Hosts Conference On Public Health Nutrition, Australia
The impact of climate change on health and the link between socio-economic status and food choices will be some of the topics discussed by the world's leading public health nutritionists meeting in Brisbane this week.
The University of Queensland is hosting the Australia Public Health Nutrition Academic Collaboration (APHNAC) conference (November 29-30) which will examine the imperatives driving change in public health nutrition, including the obesity epidemic, and explore the responses required by public health nutrition in relation to changing political, socio-economic and environmental priorities, including climate change.
APHNAC Chair, Associate Professor John Coveney, said the conference would highlight key issues that affect how the way food policy is developed and food choices are made.
Black Friday Shopping
Parking lots filled and lines formed at area retailers and malls early this morning. Shoppers looked for deals and a first shot at some of those hard to find items. The quest for those dollars led to a little history-making in Henrietta. The National Retail Federation is banking on about a 4 percent increase in sales this holiday season. In a town like Henrietta there's a lot of competition for those dollars. So on Black Friday it's about getting shoppers in the door early. Marketplace Mall opened earlier than ever this year. According to Mike Wilmot, General Manager of Marketplace Mall, the department stores make the call. " We get the department store hours back in early November and then we determine the mall hours and we were absolutely shocked to see that all of them were opened at 5 am.
Time for a hysterical overreaction
We've been having an argument in the office and I'd like you to settle it. On their side is sweet reason and a sense of proportion. On my side? I think the maths is on my side. The question is this - how seriously should we take the latest fiasco at the Home Office? I'll put my basic case quite briefly. My faith in airport security has never been the same since I noticed that the man confiscating the shaving foam in my hand luggage (while leaving me with the razor) had the word HATE tatooed on his knuckles. But, call me naive if you like, I did imagine that security staff cleared by the Government's Security Industry Authority had been properly checked. Otherwise, what's the point of all that queueing and "Would you mind if I looked in your bag, Sir"? Now it turns out that the checks are a sham.
Vista vs. Leopard Update, Disaster Preparedness, Microsoft and Facebook, Product of the Week
Last week was one of the busiest of the year. California, where I live, was mostly in flames, and that had me thinking about what we need to do to prepare for a catastrophic event. One of the most liked features in the new Leopard operating system from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) -- coincidentally -- is Time Machine, which could be a life saver. Let's also talk about how that launch is doing. Finally, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) small investment in Facebook had some folks going wacky as to what that company was actually worth. While great for headlines, it was incredibly overinflated. The product of the week is an online backup product backed by EMC (NYSE: EMC) for consumers primarily because keeping your stuff safe allows you to focus on your family so you can keep them safe.
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