ZON

"Zon is an unique interactive massively multiplayer online role playing game for learning Mandarin Chinese.

"By interacting in the Zon environment you will be exposed to Chinese language and cultural knowledge in a new and exciting way. Everything that you do in the game is another chance to learn new words, phrases and cultural info about China. Never before has learning Chinese been more fun.

"The nice part about Zon is it is all browser based. No client applications are required, so you can log in and play from school, work or home. Zon is a persistant environment, so when you log off, the world still keeps going.

"As you progress through the game, your character graduates from the tourist class, to a resident of Zon and then finally a citizen, where you can own businesses and create new content for the world. "

[The website is coy about pricing, but it seems to be free for a while anyway. It's in beta still. A university project of some kind. - Susan]

TJ and Baja Mexico: tourists are getting jacked

It seems masked and heavily armed banditos are running rampant in beach country these days, on the Mexican baja coast. Robbery, carjacking, rape ... everything you don't want on your vacation.

I hear good things about Lima and Peruvian beaches though. And airfare is really cheap right now. ... check out farecompare.com

Transit Maps from Around the World

Book available at Amazon

US Passport Office is Seriously in the Weeds

In another show of planning brilliance, the US gov started requiring its citizens to have passports for travel to and from Canada and Mexico on air, land and sea. But they forgot to staff up the office ... and didn't broadcast the new requirement on American Idol, apparently.

So bad news if you don't have a passport already and suddenly need one. Might want to apply now if you need one next year though. And get a receipt, because you might need to use that instead.

It's a good idea to have a passport anyway, and they last for 10 years. They can come in very handy if you lose your driver's license or need another form of picture ID in order to get a job, etc.

Just be sure to keep it in a very safe place (ID theft) and wrap it in tinfoil when carrying it in public (RFID sniffing).

Oh yeah.

But crossing borders is our human right -- so let's not quit, even though it's rather annoying these days.

Criticize Bush or go to a peace rally and get on do-not-fly list!

This is so wrong, so illegal, so appalling, words fail me. The effective response to this type of abuse of power is for everyone to do these things and thus render the list useless. (Clearly the list is already useless, but you know what I mean.)

How many cops does it take to arrest a jaywalker?

They arrest jaywalkers? (Jargon tip: "jaywalking" is simply crossing the street while not at a designated crosswalk.)

Actually, this visiting historian and conference attendee in Atlanta (Georgia) made the common mistake of asking Officer Friendly for his ID while being accosted for jaywalking ... between the Hyatt and Hilton hotels. Maybe the APD were trying to show equal treatment to rich people for once, but still. Dude spent all day in jail before charges were dropped. Safety first! Serve and protect!

Conferences are one of the biggest sources of income for Atlanta too, so go figure why the cops are bothering the cash cows ... or is it the irresistable ticket opportunity? That's penny wise and pound foolish for the city, if so.

Columbus (Ohio) and Oakland (California) police are also obsessed with you crossing at crosswalks, and there are probably many more places that micromanage foot traffic in the USA as well. Fines can be $75-150, and if you complain, that's resisting arrest and generally results in a beating then jail. It's for your own good, kids.

With that kind of tourist outreach plus the fingerprinting at the airports, it's a wonder anyone bothers visiting the US armed camp anymore.

If only all this security theater were making anyone safer.

Swiss man faces 75 yrs in Thai jail for defacing pictures of the king

"BANGKOK (Reuters) - Police are looking to prosecute a Swiss who defaced images of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej during a drunken rampage on the monarch's birthday with five separate acts of lese majeste which could land him in jail for up to 75 years.

Oliver Rudolf Jufer, 57 and a long-term resident of the northern province of Chiang Mai, was arrested earlier this month after several portraits of King Bhumibol, whom many Thais regards as semi-divine, were daubed in black paint.

He has been in jail ever since while police investigated an incident which falls under draconian lese majeste laws that carry a penalty of between three and 15 years in jail for any insult to a royal. [...]"

Bombing Beirut

Thanks to Stone.

Italian man shot by vandal squad - Como Italy

April 12: GOOD NEWS UPDATE: Despite being declared brain dead, Rumesh has begun to recover. He's even awake now, although partly immobile and deeply injured. In the meantime, the vandal squad has been suspended until further notice.


-----------------------------------
March 31: Airone sent this terrible news:

A young INNOCENT 19-year-old man, Rumesh Rajgama Achrige, has been killed by a vandal squad cop during a routine police check. 4 young kids (19 the oldest) were stopped in their car, and the vandal squad made them jump down and kicked them against a wall. While the kids were there, doing nothing and just waiting to be checked, Mr Marco Dainati, one of the cops, was pointing his gun at the kids when suddenly the gun fired. Rumesh was with his writer friends but he was not a writer himself.

The 19-year-old man is now in hospital, clinically dead, waiting for his organs to be harvested. The policeman was arrested at first but has already been released. This morning all the students of Como came down in the streets to protest. The Major of the city is still trying to protect the cop: this vandal squad was his own idea. Only a single newspaper is covering the story: elections are just around the corner...

For people able to read italian, it's possible to find extensive details here:

http://www.wildstylers.com/wstr/index.php

or here

Google translates Italian kind of.