Mega departments to help improve efficiency

Mega departments to help improve efficiency: "The country's numerous energy and finance administrative bodies are likely to be merged into two mega departments in a bid to streamline the sectors, a top policy planner said Wednesday.

Coal mining, crude oil, electricity and renewable energy bodies will be unified under a large new energy department, according to Zheng Xinli, deputy chief of the Central Policy Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Similarly, the regulatory commissions on securities, banking and insurance that make up the financial regulation system will be merged into one mega department."

China not a threat to world energy

China not a threat to world energy

ACLU Sets New "Surveillance Society Clock" At Six Minutes Before Midnight | Privacy Digest

ACLU Sets New "Surveillance Society Clock" At Six Minutes Before Midnight | Privacy Digest

New Video Surveillance Cameras - High-Tech Law Enforcement Spying Programs - Popular Mechanics

New Video Surveillance Cameras - High-Tech Law Enforcement Spying Programs - Popular Mechanics: "Security expert Bruce Schneier says that it is naive to think that we can stop these technological advances, especially as they become more affordable and are hard-wired into everyday businesses. (I know of a local pizzeria that warns customers with a posted sign: 'Stop stealing the spice shakers! We know who you are, we have 24-hour surveillance!') But it is also reckless to let the advances proceed without a discussion of safeguards against privacy abuses. 'Society is fundamentally changing and we aren't having a conversation about it,' Schneier says. 'We are entering the era of wholesale surveillance.'"

Epoch Times | Picturesque Lijiang River Is Drying Up

Epoch Times | Picturesque Lijiang River Is Drying Up: "The water level of China's famous scenic attraction, the Lijiang River in Guilin, Guangxi Province, is at the lowest level in 50 years. Part of the river course has dried up so much that riverbed rocks have been exposed. The famous golden waterway, which attracts millions of native and foreign tourists every year, no longer exists.
Riverbed rocks are exposed in the dried-up area of the Lijiang River. (The Epoch Times)
Riverbed rocks are exposed in the dried-up area of the Lijiang River. (The Epoch Times)

Guilin City is experiencing a drought and has had almost no rain since the fall"

EC gives go ahead to Huawei-Symantec joint venture

EC gives go ahead to Huawei-Symantec joint venture: "The joint venture will develop security and storage appliances for telecommunications carriers, and will be based in Chengdu in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. It will be 51 percent owned by Huawei and 49 percent by Symantec."

Backgrounder: Major PLA-related joint anti-terror military trainings_English_Xinhua

Backgrounder: Major PLA-related joint anti-terror military trainings_English_Xinhua: "KUNMING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Indian armies kicked off their first-ever joint anti-terrorism military training code-named 'Hand-in-Hand 2007' in southwest China Friday morning. Both armies dispatched about 100 ground troops for the training."