長安的AW習作&Economist閱讀分析

長安UID: 2573189

Economist.03.26

The Great Stabilisation
The recession was less calamitous(disastrous災難性的) than many feared. Its aftermath(bad consequence) will be more dangerous than many expect
IT HAS become known as the “Great Recession”, the year in which the global economy suffered its deepest slump since the second world war. But an equally apt name would be the “Great Stabilisation”. For 2009 was extraordinary not just for how output fell, but for how a catastrophe was averted. （提出文章的T-word——great stablisation）
Twelve months ago, the panic sown(the seed were sown broadcast.播撒的方式下種) by the bankruptcy(go belly up) of Lehman Brothers had pushedfinancial markets close to collapse(push sth close to collaspse). Global economic activity, from industrial production to foreign trade, was falling faster than in the early 1930s. This time, though, the decline was stemmed within months. Big emerging economies accelerated first and fastest. China’s output, which stalled but never fell, was growing by an annualised rate of some 17% in the second quarter. By mid-year the world’s big, rich economies (with the exception of Britain and Spain) had started to expand again. Only a few laggard(lag behind.落後;laggard落後者)s, such as Latvia and Ireland, are now likely still to be in recession.
There has been a lot of collateral damage. Average unemployment across the OECD is almost 9%. In America, where the recession began much earlier, the jobless rate has doubled to 10%. In some places years of progress in poverty reduction have been undone as the poorest have been hit by the double whammy(晦氣/劇烈打擊) of weak economies and still-high(a.居高不下的)
food prices.(這句話很喜歡) But thanks to the resilience(elasticity≠elastic;) of big, populous economies such as China, India and Indonesia, the emerging world overall fared no worse in this downturn than in the 1991 recession. For many people on the planet, the Great Recession was not all that great.
That outcome was not inevitable. It was the result of the biggest, broadest and fastest government response in history. Teetering banks were wrapped in a multi-trillion-dollar cocoon of public cash and guarantees. Central banks slashed interest rates; the big ones dramatically expanded their balance-sheets(n.資金平衡表). Governments worldwide embraced fiscal stimulus with gusto. This extraordinary activism helped to stem panic, prop up
the financial system and counter
the collapse in private demand. Despite claims to the contrary, the Great Recession could have been a Depression without it.
Stable but frail
So much for the good news. The bad news is that today’s stability, however welcome, is worryingly fragile, both because global demand is still dependent on government support and because public largesse has papered over
(paper over=dissemble掩蓋)old problems while creating new sources of volatility(易揮發volatile易揮發性volatility). Property prices are still falling in more places than they are rising, and, as this week’s nationalisation of Austria’s Hypo Group shows, banking stresses still persist. Apparent signs of success, such as American megabanks repaying public capital early, make it easy to forget that the recovery still depends on government support. Strip out the temporary effects of firms’ restocking, and much of the rebound in global demand is thanks to the public purse, from the officially induced investment surge in China to stimulus-prompted spending in America. That is revvingrecovery in big emerging economies, while only staving off(v.阻擋延緩=postpone=delay. the explorers ate birds' eggs to stave off starvation.) a relapse(舊病復發)
into recession in much of the rich world.
This divergencewill persist. Demand in the rich world will remain weak, especially in countries with over-indebted households and broken banking systems. For all the talk of deleveraging, American households’ debt, relative to their income, is only slightly below its peak and some 30% above its level a decade ago. British and Spanish households have adjusted even less, so the odds of(…的頻率) prolonged weakness in private spending are even greater. And as their public-debt burden rises, rich-world governments will find it increasingly difficult to borrow still more to compensate. The contrast with better-run emerging economies will sharpen. Investors are already worried about Greece defaulting, but other members of the euro zone are also at risk. Even Britain and America could face sharply higher borrowing costs.
Big emerging economies face the opposite problem: the spectre of asset bubbles and other distortions as governments choose, or are forced, to keep financial conditions too loose for too long. China is a worry, thanks to the scale and composition of its stimulus. Liquidity is alarmingly abundant and the government’s refusal to allow the yuan to appreciate is hampering the economy’s shift towards consumption. But loose monetary policy in the rich world makes it hard for emerging economies to tighten even if they want to, since that would suck in(v.吸收吞沒) even more speculative foreign capital.
Walking a fine line
Whether the world economy moves smoothly from the Great Stabilisation to a sustainable recovery depends on how well these divergent challenges are met. Some of the remedies are obvious. A stronger yuan would accelerate the rebalancing of China’s economy while reducing the pressure on other emerging markets. Credible plans for medium-term fiscal cuts would reduce the risk of rising long-term interest rates in the rich world. But there are genuine trade-offs(對無法兼顧的事物作出取捨). Fiscal tightening now could kill the rich world’s recovery. And the monetary stance that makes sense for America’s domestic economy will add to the problems facing the emerging world.
That is why policymakers face huge technical difficulties in getting the exit strategies right. Worse, they must do so against a darkening political backdrop(n.背景幕). As Britain’s tax on bank bonuses shows, fiscal policy in the rich world risks being driven by rising public fury at bankers and bail-outs(跳傘，緊急措施≠bail out保釋出). In America the independence of the Federal Reserve is under threat(under fire/attack) from Congress. And the politics of high unemployment means trade spats(bicker=skiff) are becoming a bigger risk, especially with China.
Add all this up, and what do you get? Pessimists expect all kinds of shocks in 2010, from sovereign-debt crises (a Greek default?) to reckless
protectionism (American tariffs against China’s “unfair” currency, say). More likely is a plethora of lesser problems, from sudden surges in bond yields (Britain before the election), to short-sighted fiscal decisions (a financial-transactions tax) to strikes over pay cuts (British Airways is a portent預兆). Small beer(a.n.小巫，微不足道) compared with the cataclysm(=deluge,earthquake大災難) of a year ago—but enough to temper(n.脾氣v.緩和，使回火) the holiday cheer.

長安UID: 2573189

Economist.03.27/28

The world this year

Barack Obama was inaugurated as America’s 44th president. In a whirlwind first year in office, Mr Obama overturn(v.推翻顛覆革命)ed a prohibition on federal funding for stem-cell(干細胞) research, eased some restrictions on dealing with Cuba, lifted a ban on people with HIV travelling to the United States, pushed Congress to pass health-care reform, promised to close the detention(拘留detention center青少年感化中心) camp at Guantánamo, pledged a cut in America’s emissions and promoted the first Hispanic person to the Supreme Court.whirlwind：resembling a whirlwind especially in speed or force <a whirlwind campaign> <a whirlwind romance>
A new sheriff in town
Mr Obama also set about(set about doing開始著實某事=get down to doing) changing the tone of American foreign and security policy, for example by seeking to “reset” relations with a prickly(prick刺prickly多刺棘手的) Russia and by stopping the use of torture during intelligence interrogations. Speaking in Cairo, Mr Obama’s call for “a new beginning” with Muslims was applauded by the Arab world. The new president was awarded the Nobel peace prize, though many said this was premature. He defended the use of force in “just wars”.
Iran and North Korea
remained belligerent despite Mr Obama’s plea(n申訴懇求) to tyrannies to “unclench your fist”. Iran moved ahead with its nuclear programme, conducting missile tests just before it attended talks in Geneva with six leading powers. A secret Iranian uranium-processing facility was discovered. North Korea launched a rocket that the West believed could target Alaska. Two American female journalists held by North Korea were freed when Bill Clinton went to Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong Il, the Hermit Kingdom’s ailing(a.生病,境況不佳的ail=ill) dictator.
Hermit=seclude
American troops withdrew from Iraq’s big cities in June. Earlier, Mr Obama presented a plan to withdraw most troops from Iraq in 2010. Sporadic bursts of suicide-bombings that killed scores of people(幾十的，大量的) continued to plague the country. A general election will be held in March.
Efforts to stabilise Afghanistan were hampered by a disputed presidential election. Amid claims of corruption and poll-rigging, Hamid Karzai was declared the winner, but only after his remaining rival pulled out of a run-off ballot.
rig: our ship was rigged for sail.(to manipulate or control usually by deceptive or dishonest means)
It was the worst year by far for coalition casualties in the war in Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal, the American commander there, requested more forces to fight the resurgent Taliban, but Mr Obama came in for some flak for dithering(v.發抖，猶豫不決)
over his response. He eventually agreed to send an extra 30,000 troops.
dithering over:
to keep being unable to make a final decision about something
The violence also intensified in Pakistan, with the most savage terrorist assaults carried out in Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province. In October the Taliban attacked Pakistan’s army headquarters in Rawalpindi. Pakistani troops began a campaign against the Taliban in the tribal areas of South Waziristan.
To the right, quick marchA military coup in Honduras
ousted
Manuel Zelaya
from the presidency. Mr Zelaya found refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the capital. After much fruitless diplomacy, an election was won by Porfirio Lobo, the centre-right candidate, though many governments said they would not recognise the result.
The European Union’s Lisbon
treaty finally came into force after the Irish approved it in a second referendum and the Czech president (eventually) signed it. This did not lessen the enthusiasm of Eurosceptic(對歐盟持懷疑態度的人)s for bashing the document. Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium’s prime minister, was elevated to the lofty position of permanent president of the European Council.
come into force: if a new law, rule, change etc comes or is brought into force, it starts to exist
referendum: the principle or practice of submitting to popular vote a measure passed on or proposed by a legislative body or by popular initiative
Mexico’s government in December achieved a rare success in its war on drugs when troops killed Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a leading trafficker. In March, the United Nations renewed its commitment to drug prohibition, though there were more waverer(n.動搖不定的人)s. Marijuana is becoming legal in many parts of the Americas.
trafficker: someone who buys and sells illegal goods, especially drugs. Drug-dealer.      Marijuana:大麻
China’s economy began to roar ahead again; imports and exports grew following a sharp decline and itsreturning appetite for raw materialswas partly responsible for a rise in commodity prices.
Labour painsGovernments around the world took measures to tackle the worst economic crisis in decades as unemployment shot up. The American Congress passed a massive $787 billion stimulus package in January and the Bank of England implemented a programmeof “quantitative easing” that
pumped
&pound;200 billion ($330 billion) of new money into Britain’s economy.
shoot up:to increase very quickly and suddenly
As a result of such measures Western economies emerged tentatively from recession, allay(v.減輕緩和)ing fears that the world would enter a Depression-style slump. But worries were soon aired about the sustainability of large budget deficits: America’s hit more than $1.4 trillion. The IMF, European Central Bank and others urged countries to take steps to unwind(v.展開鬆開=unbend) their stimulus schemes.
With stock
markets up, and after passing government “stress tests” to see how they would cope in future downturns, many banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, began to repay the bail-out money(緊急援助) they had received at the height of(crest=頂點) the crisis. Many financed this by offering shares through big capital-raising plans.
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Bank bosses were roasted by politicians for continuing to pay out large bonuses. The revelation that bonuses were given to executives at American International Group, a troubled insurer that obtained a $170 billion bail-out, sparked outrage. Britain’s chancellor imposed a supertax on bankers’ bonuses in Britain.
roast:(n.a.v.烘烤)
to subject to severe criticism or ridicule <films have been roasted by most critics ― H. J. Seldes>
Bernie Madoff received a 150-year jail sentence for defrauding clients of $65 billion in his Ponzi scheme. Sir Allen Stanford, a Texan billionaire and cricket promoter, was arrested for allegedly defrauding investors out of $8 billion through his bank in Antigua.
An Air France jet en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the mid-Atlantic in June killing 228 people, the worst plane crash in a decade.
The Iranian presidential election brought about the Islamic Republic’s worst crisis since the 1979 revolution. Polls had suggested that Mir Hosein Mousavi, a reform-minded(具有革新意識的) candidate, might defeat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The scale of Mr Ahmadinejad’s victory caused millions to take to the streets to protest against what they said was a rigged election(a manipulative election). Hundreds were arrested in Tehran and elsewhere. Dissidents were sentenced in a series of televised trials(電視播送的).
After a quarter of a century of conflict, Sri Lanka’s civil war came to an end when the army overwhelmed the last remnants of the rebel Tamil Tigers. Thousands were killed in the final days of fighting and up to 300,000 were displaced.
Australia suffered its worst-ever outbreak of wildfires in February, in which more than 170 people died across Victoria.
Deck the hallsRevelations about the expenses charged by British members of Parliament
crushed many reputations. The juicier claims included those for duck islands, manure, moat-cleaning and adult films.
General Motors
went bust(n.失敗破產go belly up) with debts of $172 billion, America’s biggest-ever industrial failure. The American government took a majority stake in the carmaker as it emerged from bankruptcy protection. GM and its rivals benefited from “cash-for-clunkers” subsidies schemes, which encouraged consumers to trade in their old bangers for more fuel-efficient models.

Chrysler also went bankrupt and was eventually rescued by Fiat. Other companies of note(famous companies)
that went to the wall(v.go to the wall,碰壁受挫) included Nortel Networks, a telecoms-equipment maker, Reader’s Digest, Six Flags, an amusement-park operator, Trump Entertainment, a casino-owner in Atlantic City, the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, and Waterford Wedgwood, a maker of crystal and china.
go to the wall:
ZImbabwe saw Robert Mugabe retain the presidency and Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, become prime minister. A month after being sworn in Mr Tsvangirai was injured in a car crash in which his wife died.
After Hamas stepped up its rocket attacks at the end of 2008, Israel began a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, launching
air strikes and a ground invasion. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed and thousands injured before Israel pulled out in mid-January. Following an investigation, the UN’s Goldstone report, published in September, accused both Israeli forces and Hamas of committing war crimes, but reserved its harshest criticism for Israel, which rejected the document as grossly biased.
Binyamin Netanyahu became prime minister of Israel—for the second time—at the head of a coalition government following an election. Diplomacy over prisoner exchanges and settlement freezes continued at a glacial pace(蝸速), frustrating many, though in June Mr Netanyahu for the first time publicly accepted the idea of Palestinian statehood.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez won a referendum that abolished term limits for the presidency. Mr Chávez continued to harass the opposition and threatened military action against Colombia, after its government updated an agreement which allows American troops to use its bases to fight drug-traffickers.
The H1N1 influenza virus, or swine flu, spread from Mexico prompting the World Health Organisation to declare a global pandemic. Countries advised their citizens to restrict travel and avoid public places. At least 9,500 people worldwide are thought to have died from the disease so far.
Global warming
Hordes(horde群，遊牧部落) of environmental activists mingled with heads of state at the Copenhagen
conference on climate change, at which governments tried to thrash out(after much argument we thrashed out an agreement通過反復研討得出)
agreements to reduce emissions.
In other elections, Angela Merkel was returned to power in Germany
at the head of a new centre-right coalition, the Congress party increased its majority in India, Jacob Zuma was chosen as South Africa’s new president and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was re-elected president in Indonesia. Japan’s election was won by the Democratic Party of Japan, ending almost half a century of
uninterrupted rule長達n久的持續統治)
by the Liberal Democratic Party.
Greenland celebrated home rule(n.地方自治Home Rule Movement自治運動) from Denmark by distributing two tonnes of rare whale meat.
Georgia’s
entry was banned from the Eurovision song contest. Its ditty, “We Don’t Wanna Put In”, was deemed to be a swipe at Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister, whose “negative move” was allegedly “killin’ the groove”.


這篇好長，有用的詞組太多了，生動形象又地道，要堅持下去，deserves to be a life long habit.

長安UID: 2573189

Economist.03.29

Google defies(v.藐視反抗) Chinese censor(檢察官censorship.審查制度)s after cyber
attack(網絡攻擊)s on Gmail accounts of activists
Chinese man, under the watchful eyes of a security guard, talks to the media after he places bouquet(n.花束banquet晚宴)s of flowers in front of the Google China office in Beijing on January 13, 2010.

Google has announced it will no longer submit to Chinese internet censors(A person authorized to(被授權做) examine books, films, or other material and to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable) in protest after it discovered cyber attacks aimed at Chinese human rights activists.
The internet company's decision to take a stand(表態) may cost it its share of the lucrative and growing Chinese market.
The internet giant company said last night that it had detected a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China”.
Further investigation showed that “a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists”. Google said that at least 20 other large companies from a range of businesses had been similarly targeted.
Google believes that the attack was mostly blocked and that only minor information, such as creation dates and subject lines, were stolen from two accounts.
It said the investigation showed that accounts of dozens of China human rights activists using Gmail in Europe, China or the United States had been “routinely accessed” using malware (malicious software).
Despite its government-mandated filter(=the great fire wall, nickname for the government-managed filtering system)s, Google remains one of the few sites where images of students crushed to death under tanks in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown(n.壓迫鎮壓) can be found.
That may cease if Google holds to its promise to stop censoring its search engine and
pulls its plug on(終止結束v.) the world’s biggest internet population.
Google officials plan to talk to the Chinese Government to determine whether there is a way that the company can still provide unfiltered search results in the country.
If an agreement cannot be worked out, as is most likely, Google is prepared to leave China
four years after it created a search engine bearing China’s web suffix(n.v.後綴a verbal suffix構成動詞的後綴), “.cn”, to put itself in a better position to profit from the world's most populous country.
David Drummond, Google’s top lawyer, wrote in a blog posting yesterday: “The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching(深遠≠far-fetched牽強離奇的a.) consequences.”
The authorities have so far kept silent on the statement from Google.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, swiftly stepped into the fray, signalling that President Obama may be ready to take a harder line towards(采取強硬路線) Beijing. Mrs Clinton said: “We have been briefed by Google on these allegations(n.指控), which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese Government for an explanation.
"The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy.（希拉裡不愧強硬派，這話說得太贊了，土包子CCP多學學人家大國風範吧。別搞什麽河蟹了。要是不得民心，再高壓控制也沒用的）
“I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear."
Jeremy Goldkorn, a Beijing-based media expert, said: “It’s quite remarkable. It is unprecedented for a foreign company with significant operations in China to publicly state such things with such evident hostility.（去死吧，阿拉力挺google）
"It will be interesting to see what the fallout(餘波，附帶結果ensuing consequences=collateral effects=aftermath)
would be.”
In a sign that not all Chinese fall into line with some angry web comments that users would manage just fine without Google, some people had been delivering bouquets of flowers to the company’s Beijing office.
One accompanying note read: “Google: a real man.”(說到偶心坎里去了，愛gmail)
Wen Yunchao, the prominent and outspoken Chinese blogger, said: “This attack from China really targets some democracy activists, and for Google this is a challenge to their morals and their legal bottom line. "Google has fired an arrow and they know they can't take it back.”(想起：開弓沒有回頭箭/箭在弦上不得不發)
He added: “The Chinese Government cannot allow Google to operate without censorship(萬惡的獨裁！) Of course, we hope that following its economic development, China could have more self-confidence and could be a little more open and globalised. The pity is that since 2008, things have been going backwards with the internet.”(越來越回去了。原來還可以這么表達)
The company that has “Don’t be evil” as its motto had been a late entrant(n.新成員entrant firm新開商號=branch office) into China and its market share is estimated at just over 30 per cent, compared with more than 60 per cent for giant Baidu.
The latter is the mainstay(中流砥柱) of China’s internet population, which, at more than 300 million, exceeds the entire population of the US.
Chinese internet filters are intended to block access content that the Government deems threatening – such words as Tibetan independence, the Dalai Lama, Taiwan independence and, of course, the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Even with the filters, some references dribble through – far more than can be obtained via Baidu.
Previously, Google had repeatedly said that it would obey Chinese laws requiring some politically and socially sensitive issues to be blocked from search results available in other countries.(一黨專制有多么恐怖和可惡)
The acquiescence had outraged free-speech advocates and even some shareholders, who argued Google's co-operation with China violated its motto.（呵，這個蠻值得推敲的。Google的motto是don't be evil.言論自由派指責google違反了自己的準則，即說goole“從了”CCP是evil~哈哈，我喜歡。CCP本來就很猥瑣）

AdelineShenUID: 2630498

来给长安加加油！~

長安UID: 2573189

Economist.03.30

The Lock Keeper's Inn outside Belfast is an attractive but otherwise unremarkable(plain) café. Serving up the usual Northern Irish fare of sausage rolls and stew, it's a place to stop for a quiet coffee after walking along the nearby riverbank. A world away, it would seem, from the bitter feuds of Northern Irish politics. But following a series of remarkable revelations this week, the inn is at the center of a scandal that could threaten the career of Northern Ireland's top politician.
On Thursday, a BBC television program called Spotlight issued a reportaccusing First Minister Peter Robinson's wife Iris of breaking the law by failing to disclose her financial interest in a 2008 business deal that helped launch the café. The report alleged that Iris Robinson — the aged 59 and, like her husband, a well-known politician in Northern Ireland — had obtained $80,000 from two property developers for a 19-year-old man, Kirk McCambley, with whom she had been having an affair. According to the report, the teenager allegedly used most of the money to set up the café but saved $8,000 to give back to his lover, the appropriately named Mrs. Robinson.
The revelation followed a series of other disclosures about the Robinsons' private lives over the past couple of weeks. On Dec. 28, Iris Robinson, who currently serves in both the British Parliament and Northern Ireland assembly, announced she would be ending her 20-year political career, saying she had been suffering from "serious bouts of depression." Then, on Jan. 6, a handful of television journalists were invited to meet Peter Robinson at his home outside Belfast. Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland's largest political party, is known for his clinical, dispassionate public image. As the cameras rolled, Robinson appeared to fight back tearsas he revealed his wife's extramarital affair and the fact that Iris had attempted suicide last March because she'd been "racked with guilt" over the relationship. The Spotlight program subsequently revealed McCambley's identity and his age at the time the affair began (he's now 21).
The news has stunned Northern Ireland, a staunchly(staunch.v.止血;a.堅固的) conservative society in which many politicians, particularly those in Protestant-backed unionist parties, see themselves as unofficial guardians of public morality. The Robinsons — who are practicing EvangelicalChristians — were certainly no exception.
Two years ago, Iris Robinson caused an outcry(n.強烈抗議)
when, during a BBC radio interview, she described homosexuality as "an abomination(可憎事物)" and suggested that gay people could be "turned around" through counseling. A few days later, she reiterated her views, telling a TV interviewer that "just as a murderer can be redeemed by the blood of Christ, so can a homosexual." Gay-rights activists accused her of inciting hatred, and scores of complaints were lodged with the police. According to the Spotlight report, Robinson's relationship with McCambley had started before those comments were made.
Although Evangelical influence over the DUP has wanedin recent years, Evangelical congregations — particularly those in rural Northern Ireland — still form the backbone(脊椎，主心骨=mainstay) of
the party founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley in 1971. The couple's standing among these devout(pious) members is now likely to deteriorate. "The Robinson affair will be difficult for core DUP supporters," says Gladys Ganiel, a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin and author of a book on Evangelicalism in Northern Ireland. "It certainly doesn't hurt to talk about your faith in public in Northern Ireland politics, and no one has done that more than Iris Robinson. But Evangelical voters expect a certain moral standard, and this [affair] could prove to be a real fly in the ointment."
Although Iris Robinson had already indicated her intention to quit politics before the Spotlight show aired, she now faces calls to resign immediately. As for her husband's political future, much depends on how much Peter knew of the money his wife is alleged to have obtained for her lover. The majority of the BBC's evidence came from Selwyn Black, a former political adviser to Iris, who produced several text messages sent by his employer referring to the business deal and her husband. Black also claims that, during phone calls with Iris, he overheard Peter allegedly advising his wife on how the money should be repaid.
Peter Robinson issued a statement Friday denying any personal wrongdoing: "While I have learned from Spotlight for the first time some alleged aspects of my wife's affair and her financial arrangements, I will be resolutely defending attacks on my character and contesting any allegations of wrongdoing." But that hasn't stopped his opponents from pondering whether he'll continue to have a political future. Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, has called for an investigation into the claims, describing the revelations as being of "deep concern to all those concerned with the integrity of political life and the democratic process."(也是political scandal. The publicity of the hypocrisy of the key politician)
The disclosures come at a delicate time
for Northern Ireland's fragile power-sharing government of Catholic and Protestant parties. Peter Robinson and his Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness of the Sinn Fein party, have failed to reach an agreement over the devolution of policing and justice powers from London to Northern Ireland, despite months of negotiations. Catholic republicans have for years accused the British-run law-and-order system of having a pro-Protestant bias, while Protestant unionists have been reluctant to alter the current setup. The impasse has added to the public's frustration over a perceived lack of progress on a host of key issues.frustrate over
At the end of Peter Robinson's emotional TV interview on Wednesday, the First Minister said he had no intention of resigning. "I am determined to try and put this issue behind me," he said. "It is my intention ... to continue the work the people of Northern Ireland have entrusted to me." But with the Northern Irish now scrutinizing the Robinson family ever more closely, business as usual looks increasingly unlikely.(看完感嘆一下Iris Robinson.天知道此刻這女人心裡有多苦)

長安UID: 2573189

Economist.04.01

Another Russian tragedy

BY EARLY evening on March 29th Moscow’s metro was functioning normally. It was emptier than usual and some people crossed themselves(在自己胸前劃十字祈禱) as they boarded. Blood stains, pieces of shattered glass and flowers marked the sites where 12 hours earlier two bombs had killed at least 39 people. The first explosion struck just before 8
am at Lubyanka station, near the headquarters of Russia’s security service, the FSB. Within 40 minutes a second bomb went off at Park Kultury. Both bombs, say the authorities, were detonated by young female suicide bombers. They put the blame on the north Caucasus(高加索), a mostly Muslim region. Some Russian reports say the Moscow police may have had a warning. Yet terrorists can slip through any net, especially given the
woeful(悲傷His woeful eyes betrayed his feelings.) state of the Russian police.
The security services soon identified the two suicide bombers and their minders (看護者) on security cameras as they boarded their trains(board train上火車). The response of the emergency services was fast and efficient, evacuating people, providing access to ambulances and setting up a special headquarters. Indeed, in large measure(to a large extent) the city coped well with the attacks.
That may be because Moscow’s metro has had several terrorist attacks in the past two decades. The deadliest was in 2004, when 41 people died. That black year saw two bombs on the Moscow metro, two lost aircraft and, worst of all, the siege(n.圍攻) of a packed school in Beslan(比斯蘭小學人質劫持事件).

since then Moscow has had no terrorist attacks and has lived in relative comfort, insulated from the simmering(=brewing慢慢燉,快沸騰≈seethe沸騰) violence of the north Caucasus. The war in Chechnya was over and the republic appeared relatively calm under its strongman president, Ramzan Kadyrov. This former rebel had secured elements of autonomy, and massive subsidies, for Chechnya from Moscow.
However, in recent years, violence has spread from Chechnya throughout the region. (Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Russian security service, was careful to identify the sources of the Moscow bombing as the north Caucasus, not Chechnya.) Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, has described the situation in the north Caucasus as Russia’s biggest domestic political problem. Two days after the Moscow attacks, a pair of bombs exploded in Dagestan, which neighbours(鄰近locates closely to) Chechnya, killing many and injuring scores.
Arbitrary killings, disappearances, torture, inter-clan warfare and corruption have become normal in the region. As Russia’s own officials have admitted, some of the money and weapons come from corrupt bureaucrats who pay off terrorists. The corruption and brutality of those who identify themselves as representatives of the state have also helped the terrorists to recruit radicalised youths.
Last month Doku Umarov, a terrorist leader and the self-proclaimed(自稱的)
emir(king of Muslim) of the north Caucasus, warned that war was coming to Russia’s cities. Several high-ranking leaders of militant organisations led by him have been killed in counter-terrorist operations in recent weeks. Some observers see the Moscow bombings as an act of revenge. Others say they would have been in preparation for months.
Few Russians outside the north Caucasus pay attention to the violence in the region. Although it is part of the Russian Federation, few Muslims from the region feel comfortable and welcome outside their home. Yet as the Moscow metro bombings show, the north Caucasus is part of Russia—and changing the situation there requires reforms in the whole country.
Even after the Moscow attacks, there is little public discussion about the roots of the violence in the north Caucasus. Instead, politicians and commentators have talked up(talk up=大肆宣揚let talk up the game and get a bigger crowd.) the explosions to their own political advantage(to one's own advantage). Apologists(辯護者) for the Kremlin blame the civilian deaths on liberals who destabilise the country with their criticism of the authorities. The government has used previous terrorist attacks to justify scrapping independent television broadcasts and cancelling regional elections. This makes the apologists’ pseudo-patriotic slogans of unity with the Kremlin all the more alarming. Yet the Kremlin’s opponents, just as worryingly, all but accuse it of orchestrating(管弦樂配樂;精心策劃meditate. The demonstration was carefully orchestrated in order to attract maximum publicity.) the attacks as an excuse to grab more power.
Few Russian public figures rose above immediate political concerns. An exception was Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a veteran human-rights defender, who was one of only a few to agonise over whether to join an anti-government protest on March 31st. In the end, as she wrote in her blog, she decided to pay her respects to the dead instead. Depressingly few politicians or other public figures in Russia even recognised her dilemma.

長安UID: 2573189

Economist.04.02

Promises, promises

Donors pledge $5.3 billion for Haiti and talk bravely of fixing more than earthquake damage

THE effort to rebuild Haiti after its devastating earthquake on January 12th will run into countless pitfalls(pitfall陷阱;diagnostic pitfall誤診), but it seems that a lack of financing will not be among them. At a donor conference held at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday March 31st, nearly 60 countries pledged a total of $5.3 billion in aid over the next 18 months. Offers ranged from $10,000 (from tiny Montenegro) to $1.15 billion (from America). The total exceeds by 35% the Haitian government’s request for the near term and represents more than half the country’s expected economic output over that period. With promises made, the focus of reconstruction planning now shifts to converting these sums into improved conditions for survivors as quickly as possible.

Progress has been halting(stagnant.靜止的不景氣) in the 11 weeks since the earthquake claimed some 220,000 lives and caused an estimated $8 billion in damage. Haiti’s fierce rainy season has begun, with some 700,000 people still packed into nearly 900 tent cities in Port-au-Prince, the capital. As many as 40,000 have clustered(n.v叢，群) in high-risk areas, such as riverbeds, and many are reluctant to move. Concerns are growing about sanitation and contagious disease(infectious disease) in the camps. Moreover, although the improvised(即時) settlements were initially peaceful thanks to a mix of solidarity and shell shock, they have grown increasingly dangerous as frustration sets in, with rapes(查了下，震驚.油菜花居然叫rape flower) becoming particularly prevalent.

At the conference Jean-Max Bellerive, Haiti’s prime minister, outlined the government’s plan to tackle these problems(tackle=deal with直接tackle sth.). Over the next six months the priorities will be providing decent temporary shelter for the displaced, and getting police and schools operating again as normal. The latter, he said, will require $350m in direct transfers to the treasury. For the following year he outlined an aggressive agenda, including efforts to improve hurricane preparedness, launch infrastructure projects outside the capital, increase farmers’ productivity, attract investment in textiles, secure supplies of clean water and more.

Such initiatives are sound, even if many are designed to deal with problems that had plagued Haiti long before the earthquake struck. In an attempt to spend aid more efficiently and transparently than in the past, a fund held by the World Bank will administer the money and an interim commission co-chaired by Bill Clinton will oversee reconstruction projects. Every country offering at least $100m in aid within two years or $200m in debt relief will be given voting power.

However, the Haitian parliament has not yet approved these mechanisms. And no decision has yet been made about how much money will be channelled through the government, which was weak and corrupt before the quake and reportedly lost a quarter of its employees in the catastrophe. Although there is broad consensus among donors that the state must be strengthened, some participants see that as a long-term goal that should not be allowed to delay reconstruction.

The Haitian public will probably be given the chance to weigh in on the relief efforts(抗災努力). According to Edmond Mulet, the UN special representative to the country, both legislative and presidential elections will be held at some point in 2010. (President René Préval, having already served two terms, will not run again). The parliament will also be kept busy by a proposed constitutional amendment to allow dual citizenship. The bill’s proponents hope it will entice(attract) skilled members of the Haitian diaspora(散居在外的人.無單數形式。原來意義專指猶太人。也指歷史上的“大流散”時期) to return home.

At the conference participants unanimously spoke of rebuilding efforts as a chance to fix many of the problems that have affected the country for decades. Mr Préval advocates founding a “new Haiti.” Yet despite the generous pledges of aid, history suggests expectations may need to be tempered(expectations may need to be tempered.很委婉的說法:別期望過高). “Haiti has never come back from a crisis stronger,” says Dan Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think-tank. “It’s always come back worse. Hoping that this earthquake can be a real opportunity for the country is an extremely ambitious dream, and it’s betting
against(bet against sth=打賭某事不可能發生.I'll bet against your winning.我打賭你贏不了)
the odds."

長安UID: 2573189

補3月31號的。很喜歡的一篇commentary...但愿google長存~

Economist.03.31

Google and China
Searching questions
Google defies China's censors and risks being blocked. Its woes send a chilling message.

AFTER a couple of months of talks with the Chinese authorities, Google announced on Monday March 22nd that it had stopped censoring search results on its China portal(n.門戶網站), Google.cn, and was automatically redirecting its users to Google.com.hk, an uncensored portal in Hong Kong. The company said it would try to maintain an advertising-sales operation in China, and would continue research and development work there. However, it acknowledged that the Chinese authorities(這個authorities好，以後不用動不動都是government) might block access to its site, in effect putting(in effect doing sth.爲了達到某目的) it out of business. Google's decision follows several attempts to hack(v.劈砍hacker黑客) its e-mail system(誰那么缺德啊。唉。Hack email system破壞系統，好表達), ever stronger censorship of its searches, legal complaints tied to its digitisation(數字化) of books, and—always a worrying sign in China—growing vitriol(n.硫酸;刻薄 a dictator who rants his vitriol on to a captive audience.captive=被俘虜迷惑的) in the state-controlled press.
If Google, which first raised the prospect of withdrawal in January, seems to have hesitated on the way towards the exit, there are 400m reasons why. That is the number of people in China, the government reckons, who use the internet. Increasingly, they are choosing it over other media, notably television, as a source of entertainment, information and opinion, say Max Magni and Yuval Atsmon of McKinsey, a consultancy. Over the past decade revenues from digital advertising have grown exponentially, admittedly from a tiny base, and the trend, predicts Mr Atsmon, will continue for some time.
Foreign internet firms operating in China have been quick to see its potential but largely unable to grasp it. Foreign companies operating in China have been quick to see this potential but largely unable to grasp it. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all explicitly blocked. EBay faltered because of its own managerial errors(managerial problems管理問題,可以用於argument), but also because of delayed approval for PayPal, its online payment system, which this week announced a partnership with a Chinese rival. Yahoo! caused a stir by allowing the Chinese authorities to probe its users’ e-mails in a hunt for political dissidents—something it has since pledged not to do.
There are now domestic Chinese equivalents (counterpart=coeval= contemporaries) of all these sites—Baidu for Google, Taobao for eBay, Renren for Facebook, QQ for instant messaging, games and social networking—and they are doing well (see chart). The vast traffic they attract brings huge potential revenues and lots of useful data that could help them shape the internet in future, rather than merely following Western models, says Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, a consultancy.
To the extent that Western firms have seized on the growth of the internet in China, it has often been as a marketing tool. McKinsey cites two examples: Nestlé has promoted coffee in a tea-drinking country with clever online ads about the joy of a coffee break, and Nokia has run music promotions and competitions, accessed via its handsets, in conjunction with video sites.
Outright revenues from the internet may become even harder to capture in years to come as China takes further steps to control access. Content providers like Google have always needed to obtain local licences, and have thus been required to have a Chinese subsidiary(子公司,附屬機構) or partner. As awkward as this has been, new rules expand these impediments, requiring the licensing of domain names and, potentially, foreign sites as well.
Google’s possible departure from the Chinese market sends a chilling message to companies that remain. Advertisers and workers can both see that they will be better off with entities the Chinese government favours, which means domestic firms. A withdrawal would also cast a new light on Google itself. It is often perceived to be successful because of advanced technology, but, as China shows, it thrives only to the extent that local laws permit it to link to content and distribute it without interference. Alter the legal environment and the commercial results are quite different.

Econ