Thursday, May 31, 2012

Stunning castles around the world

Chrisusc / Travel + Leisure

Partially destroyed in a Jacobite uprising in 1719, Eilean Donan castle lay in ruins for the best part of 200 years until Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the Scottish island in 1911 and restored the castle. After 20 years of work, the castle was re-opened in 1932.

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By Briana Fasone , Travel + Leisure

We dare you to find a traveler who?s left Scotland without at least a few castle photos. The countryside is riddled with hundreds of majestic, if sometimes crumbling, castles, and they capture our imagination like no other architectural wonder.


Slideshow: See where to find spectacular castles

Take Scotland?s iconic Eilean Donan Castle. When illuminated at twilight, with the distant hills cast a shadowy black, it conveys all the intrigue associated with castles. This is just one of the eye-catching images we turned up when we searched the submissions of Travel + Leisure?community members to find their most beautiful and varied castle photos.

Some have the fairy-tale charm of 19th-century Neuschwanstein Castle, which actually inspired Disney?s Sleeping Beauty castle. Travel + Leisure community user gikltd pulled back to capture its dramatic surroundings in Germany?s Bavaria region: thick woods, snowcapped Alps and placid water. Meanwhile, in Japan, Travel + Leisure community member bratbee79 gave added drama to the traditional flared tile roof of 14th-century Shuri Castle in Okinawa by shooting it from slightly below.?

Photography techniques influence the look of other beautiful castles featured in our community album. We encounter Germany?s Cochem Castle from within thanks to a photo of an interior stained-glass window and a decorative wall panel. Alternatively, an expansive shot of fortress walls along the Dalmatian Coast of Dubrovnik highlights the castle?s impenetrable, intimidating nature as it towers on rocks above the Adriatic Sea.

Castles in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, are naturally well represented.

Yet while we may not have royalty in the U.S., that hasn?t stopped the construction of beautiful castles on our side of the pond. A photograph of New York City?s Belvedere Castle, which offers panoramic views of Central Park, was submitted by raveille. (The castle?s name comes from the Italian for ?beautiful view.?)?

Check out all the photos of enchanting castles (and a few palaces) around the world to find the one that most inspires you. And after your next trip, upload your photos for a chance to win Travel + Leisure?s monthly photo contest and to be featured in a slideshow.

More from Travel + Leisure

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NEW eBook on Homemaking: The Heart of Simplicity

Posted By Mrs. June Fuentes on May 30, 2012

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We are pleased to announce that the NEW eBook?The Heart of Simplicity: Foundations for Christian Homemaking has been released today! Here are some of the wonderful contributing authors along with Courtney Dunkin of Simply Nurtured (the dream began with her) in the center.

Starting from the top: Stephanie Langford, Kelly Crawford, Natalie Klewja, Ann Dunagan, June Fuentes, Courtney Dunkin, Jennifer Ross, Heidi St. John, Jenny Ervin, Stacy Karen, Richelle McFarlin, Laura Coppinger and Marci Ferrell.

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Inspiring chapters include:

Chapter 1: The Foundation: Surrendering our Homes to the Creator?
Chapter 2: Marriage: Nurturing a Love that Lasts a Lifetime
Chapter 3: Motherhood: Delighting in our Children?
Chapter 4: Missions: A Home-Based Vision for God?s Great Commission
Chapter 5: Family Economy: Embracing the Simple Power and Peace of Contentment
Chapter 6: Education: Growing Hearts and Minds for God?s Glory
Chapter 7: Health: Bringing God Glory by Caring for our Bodies?
Chapter 8: Cleaning: Tending the Gardens of Our Homes to the Glory of God
Chapter 9: Organizing: Reflecting our Orderly God by Keeping an Orderly Home?
Chapter 10: Time Management: Managing our Hearts to Use Time Wisely
Chapter 11: Hospitality: Welcoming Others into our Homes
Chapter 12: Giving: Showing the Love of Christ through Simple, Intentional Generosity
Chapter 13: A Mother?s Legacy: Storing Up Treasures in Heaven

?What the readers are saying:

?I don?t think I?ve ever cried while editing until I edited this book. Encouraging, inspiring, convicting?a must-read for every wife and mother! I was so, so blessed while editing. It?s like the Lord put it in my lap because He knew I needed the message. ?

-Erin Odom, editor and blogger, The Humbled Homemaker

??The Heart of Simplicity is an inspirational and encouraging book that will help moms to get their focus right. Each of the writers brings a wealth of words of wisdom that caused me to do serious contemplation and to top it off they added study questions! It would be good to read with a group of moms. Applying all the knowledge and wisdom in this book will change your family?s life.?

??Kim Brenneman, mother of 9 and author of Large Family Logistics

and since today is the first day of it?s release you can get it HALF OFF for?

?$4.99 until midnight (original price is $9.99)!

Use the discount code: SIMPLE50

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Back-to-back asteroids harmlessly fly past Earth

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

PST: Liverpool gambles with its new manager

BBC is reporting Liverpool?s search for a manager is over. Now there?s only one big club in England without a permanent coach.

That?s because Swansea City?s Brendan Rodgers is set to take the helm at Anfield. He?ll get a three year deal. Swans will get $6-$7 million in compensation and the task of finding a new coach.

Seems Roberto Mart?nez would be a good fit, but would the booing stop at the Liberty Stadium should their prodigal son return? We?ll likely never know.

There was a number of reasons Mart?nez was a bad choice for Liverpool, all of which apply to Rodgers. Where Liverpool?s biggest concern is getting back into UEFA Champions League, Rodgers has no experience.?He?s proven he can win at lower levels. He?s proven he can keep a team up. Neither of those skills are pertinent to success at Anfield.

But this line of thought begs a question: What if a manager at a lower-table club had no experience competing for Europe yet was truly ? in an absolute, cosmic, indefatigable?way ? capable of success at Liverpool. How would we know?

We wouldn?t. That?s the unfair, double-edged sword that?s dividing this conversation. Rodgers hasn?t shown the skills to run Liverpool, the main reason being he hasn?t had the chance. Thus, any hire like this is going to be a leap of faith. The bosses with Fenway Sports Group must feel they have a view into Rodgers? cosmic truth, because they?re set to push on.

There was a time when Liverpool didn?t have to make hires like this. They were capable of luring La Liga-winner bosses from Spain. They were capable of bringing in managers who took small West London clubs to within 90 minutes of a European title. Now, they?re hiring from below, even after an eighth place finish.

I still think Liverpool?s capable of hunting bigger game. Even the biggest cynic of Anfield?s lore would concede Liverpool?s managerial post is one of the 10-20 most prestigious in the world (excuse the large range). Is Brendan Rodgers one of the 10-20 best managers in the world? If he is, we have no proof.

Ideally, the Rodgers and Mart?nez?s of the world would have a spell at an Aston Villa-esque club ? a place where you can build a team that could compete on the fringes of Europe and give people reason to think ?if he can do it there ??

In fairness, that?s the same logic that led Roy Hodgson to Anfield, and we all know how that turned out.

There were other options, though they?re mostly names I?m pulling out of a hat. Luciano Spalletti?s done as much as he can in Russia. Manuel Pellegrini?s now linked with Roma; he seems willing to move from Malaga. Then there?s former boss Luis Enrique, or other Roma-linkee Andr? Villas-Boas (who Liverpool interviewed). Dick Advocaat?s done will with Russia, Slaven Bilic?s in his last tournament with Croatia. Rudi Garcia?s seen his Lille team gutted, and who knows. If Liverpool was as persistent with Ajax?s Frank de Boar as they were with Rodgers, he may have come available.

All of these men have a pedigree that?s more consistent with the Anfield job than Rodgers?. But who knows. Maybe Rodgers?s interview gave FSG a glimpse into his cosmic awesomeness. Maybe there?s something specific to where FSG?s taking Liverpool that may preclude bringing in a man whose ideas are too firmly entrenched.

Or maybe, as we saw with de Boar and (originally) Rodgers, Liverpool just isn?t that glamourous a destination anymore? Unfortunately, that seems to be the message.

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MSNBC's Chris Hayes apologizes for controversial comments

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Women make friends, men make business | Opinno

By Rania Anderson (Co-Founder, Women?s Capital Connection)

One of the most cited and real barriers to women?s professional and business success relates to networking: not enough, not the right type, and not enough access. The other problem some women have is?how they interact at networking events.

When I observe women (myself included) at networking events globally and coach women about networking, I most often see and hear women exhibit almost a singular focus on connecting with people and building relationships, practically at the expense of getting referrals and doing business.

In conducting research for their book??Business Networking and Sex: Not What You Think?, authors Misner, Walker and De Raffele surveyed 12,000 business people over a three year period on every populated continent.

Men and women reported having the similar goals for networking events ? essentially to build business ? but most seemed to agree that in networking situations, men were more focused on business and women more on relationships.

While connecting with people and building relationships is critical and a prerequisite to doing business, the key difference in business networking and hanging out with your friends is that business networking interactions are intended to result in business!

The time to build and nurture a network is always, and the way we interact at networking events is key. What can women do to better parlay their ability to connect and build relationships into business?

  1. Prepare ??Develop a few key questions or business topics to memorize prior to the event. Base these on the people you know who will be there and who you will want to meet and talk to.
  2. Make the most of your time ??Talk to people you know as well as meet new people. Business networking is not about building an ever-growing list of relationships that don?t result in business opportunities. Steer conversations to a mix of personal connections and focused business discussions.
  3. Genuinely ask others ??After spending a few minutes talking with someone, ask them what their most pressing business priority or challenge is. If what you do relates to their needs, share an example of how you have worked in a similar situation or explain how the type of work you do relates to their expressed needs.
  4. Share your ?sweet spot? ??When talking with someone you have previously met or have already established a relationship with bring up an interesting project, assignment or business opportunity. Clearly identify the type of work that you are best at and is in your ?sweet spot? and indicate that you are always looking for more of that type of work.
  5. Follow up ??Send a short email, note or information to the people you met that ties their business needs to services/products you offer. Don?t just send information about what you do. If you had an uncovered a potential business opportunity, ask for time to explore working together.
  6. Don?t waste your time ??Don?t fool yourself by regularly attending events where business opportunities for you are non-existent or negligible.

So, if you plan to attend a networking event get yourself in the business mindset, otherwise go have fun with some friends.

What?s your most successful business generating approach at a networking event?

This post was originally posted at?The Way Women Work.

About the author: Rania Anderson is a Co-Founder of?Women?s Capital Connection, a women?s angel network in Kansas City. She is an entrepreneur, writer, executive business coach and angel investor. Throughout her professional life, Rania has been observing, researching, connecting with and guiding the way women work. Rania guides women globally to achieve professional and business success. Follow her on Twitter at?@TheWayWomenWork.

Related posts:

  1. What if ? There Were More Women in Computing?
  2. First CloudNOW Awards honor top women in tech
  3. iVoted: How Technology Can Make Elections More Accessible
  4. Sebastian Delmont: How LatAm can embrace the web for business
  5. How to Make the Most of Next Startup Weekend

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Kinect-controlled satellites heading to space

1 hr.

Clever scientists,?engineers and tinkerers?have used the Xbox Kinect game controller to fly autonomous helicopters,?guide blind people and control robots. Now engineers from the UK are building two?satellites that will have the guts of a?Kinect controller embedded inside them ? guts that will help the satellites?navigate space and?dock with each other.

The Kinect-controlled satellites are part of the STRaND (Surrey Training, Research and Nanosatellite Demonstrator) project created by?a joint team from the?Univeristy of Surrey and Surry Satellite Technology Limited. For the project, engineers are creating a series of?small?satellites.

The STRaND-1 satellite, which will soon be completed, is?powered by a smartphone. Meanwhile, the STRaND-2 portion of the project will involve the creation of two nano?satellites.?The identical twin satellites will use components from the Xbox?Kinect controller "to scan the local area and provide the satellites with spatial awareness on all three axes," explains a press release:

The STRaND team sees the relatively low cost nanosatellites as intelligent ?space building blocks? that could be stacked together and reconfigured to build larger modular spacecraft ...?The STRaND-2 twins will be separated after launch. After the initial phase of system checks, the two satellites will be commanded to perform the docking procedure and, when in close proximity, the Kinect-based docking system will provide the satellites with 3D spatial awareness to align and dock.

?We were really impressed by what MIT had done flying an autonomous model helicopter that used Kinect and asked ourselves: Why has no-one used this in space?" said?SSTL Project Lead Shaun Kenyon.

Here's a computer model showing?what the Kinect-controlled?satellites will look like.

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here?on Google+. And for more video game news and reviews be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page right here.

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Discovery promises unique medicine for treatment of chronic and diabetic wounds

ScienceDaily (May 28, 2012) ? A unique new medicine that can start and accelerate healing of diabetic and other chronic wounds is being developed at Ume? University in Sweden. After several years of successful experimental research, it is now ready for clinical testing.

Behind this new medicine is a group of researchers at the Department of Medical Chemistry and Biophysics who have made the unique finding that the protein plasminogen is a key-regulator that initiates and accelerates wound healing by triggering the inflammatory reaction. Their discovery is now being published in the journal Blood.

?Today we have the knowledge needed to develop a medicine,? says Professor Tor Ny, one of the authors of the article. ?The bulk of the preclinical research has been completed, and we have had meetings with the Medical Product Agency to discuss a program for clinical testing.?

Plasminogen is a well-known plasma protein that is produced in the liver and found in all bodily fluids. The Ume? researchers have now re-assessed its role and managed to show that the concentration of plasminogen increases dramatically in and around wounds, which is an important signal to start the inflammatory reaction required for healing. In diabetic wounds the level of plasminogen does not increase in the same way, and this seems to be the reason why these wounds do not heal. In diabetic mice and rats the researchers were able to show that the healing process starts immediately when plasminogen is injected around the wound, which then heals fully.

A cell line for producing plasminogen on a larger scale has also been developed, and the goal is to start clinical testing as soon as funding can be arranged. The researchers have high hopes, as plasminogen is an endogenous protein that can be assumed not to produce side effects.

The need for a biologics for treating chronic wounds is urgent. Diabetic wounds that do not heal are the most severe type of chronic wounds, affecting millions of people annually. Many of the roughly 350 million diabetes patients in the world develop foot ulcers, and in 10-15 million cases this ultimately leads to amputation. Today?s treatment of diabetic wounds consists primarily of traditional wound care, with compresses and bandages; there is no effective medication.

The Ume? researchers are initially concentrating on diabetic wounds, but plasminogen also has great potential for working on other types of wounds. This includes tympanic membrane perforations and periodontitis. Being a pro-inflammatory activator, plasminogen has moreover been shown to be effective in combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria (MRSA).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ume? universitet, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Y. Shen, Y. Guo, P. Mikus, R. Sulniute, M. Wilczynska, T. Ny, J. Li. Plasminogen is a key pro-inflammatory regulator that accelerates the healing of acute and diabetic wounds. Blood, 2012; DOI: 10.1182/blood-2012-01-407825

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Diablo 3 as opposed to Star Wars The Old Republic Costs for Gaming

feyieon1982 Posted by feyieon1982 on 7 hours ago

The practice of getting gaming goods from outside of the game?s means is around with regard to quite a long time nowadays. It is more prominent inside long term games and especially in the multiplayer games. Multiplayer mode will always be really competitive to gamers, so that they take numerous measures to ensure they are on top. Many players need help in the game; not shifting along amongst people will depart the player discouraged instead of making them happy together with content. The greater experienced together with skilled players of the game help these types of beginners by selling games items that may help them. Because of this requirement for gaming goods, there is currently a fabulous developed marketplace on the net for gaming goods.

Diablo 3 in addition to Star Wars The Old Republic (SWTOR), abbreviated because swtor, are a couple of examples of computer games where gamers would check out seek help from outside. A handful of reputed sites in the internet offer you gaming goods for both these types of games along with other major competitions like World of Warcraft and Runescape. These two games, Diablo 3 and Star Wars The Old Republic have differences and also the prices of gaming goods are naturally different as well. We will take a look at which one is actually priced much better in general.

The plain simple truth is that Diablo 3 is actually launched really recently, that is definitely in fact inside the same calendar month of penning this article. So there will not be many knowledgeable gamers because of it yet who will sell gaming goods to the newbie participants, as a result you would expect the prices it to be a bit more than for the gaming goods from Star Wars The Old Republic. In fact it is with enough contentration to find virtually any sellers whatsoever for Diablo 3, merely the good video gaming websites may have the vendors for Diablo 3.

Swtor isn?t any doubt a far more complex along with a deep game than Diablo 3. The thing with Diablo 3 is that the gameplay is simpler when compared to the large MMORPG. It is in which players combat evil monsters in a dungeon while taking occasional breaks to buy items in addition to weapons. And yet swtor is different; many things can happen anytime and you have vast opportunities inside the computer game. This means that goods like gold will certainly finish more quickly in SWTOR so they really must be very popular. Many retailers are available to gratify this desire and as a result the prices of gaming goods fall because of the well balanced marketplace for it. And swtor have a much more number of players than Diablo 3 and it is not too likely that this will change even though Diablo 3 stays a bit longer. So it is organic for it to possess more vendors for gaming goods. All of this good competitors acts to take down the prices of goods and it also raises the quality of the acquired items.

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

2012 Sactown Royalty Community Draft Board: Pick No. 4

StR's #3 Pick

Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Thomas Robinson are off the board.

When a choice comes up, pick who you'd want the Kings to pick given all the players remaining. Note: THIS IS NOT A MOCK DRAFT. This is draft board, a list with the order of prospects you'd like to see the Kings pick. In other words, if we were the Kings front office, when our pick came up, we'd take the top name left on our board. So pick your choice, not who you think Geoff Petrie or anyone else would choose in a slot.

Explain your choice in the comments, and lobby for who should be added to the next pick's choices.

This poll ends at 5 AM tomorrow. The next one will be begin shortly thereafter. We will go roughly 20 picks deep.

Poll
At #4 on the StR Board, I select:

? 54 votes | Results

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secure.me


You've heard about the folks who lost their jobs because of a too-public, too-negative post (or simply, "because of oversharing") on Facebook. Are you perfectly sure the same couldn't happen to you? The secure.me app (free) will comb through your Facebook account and help you fix any problems. You can also use it for parental monitoring of your child's Facebook activity.

Getting started with secure.me is a snap. Just visit www.secure.me, sign in with your Facebook account, and install the secure.me app. Click the Scan now button, wait a few minutes, and you've got immediate insight into your profile. Secure.me can only get the most recent seven days from Facebook, but if you turn on automatic monitoring it can capture new activity in real time and retain it for up to 90 days.

Secure.me's Reports
Once the initial scan is complete, secure.me displays an overview, starting with a graph of scanned posts for the last seven, 30, or 90 days. Below this it summarizes its analysis of privacy issues as well as the state of your profile and your network. Each of these three topics gets a rating up to 10 points, with 10 being the best.

The Privacy Analysis page lists personal information found in your profile that could potentially be a threat to privacy. For myself, I'm not concerned that people can see my made-up political and religious affiliations, but it's reasonable for secure.me to suggest that I "think about whether this information will be useful or harmful." Marital status and family connections are among the other items that secure.me warns should be protected.

SafetyWeb ($100/year direct, 4 stars) also does privacy analysis, but with a different focus. It scans the Web to find accounts on over sixty social media sites, then reports on what information is public. The aim is to help you (or your child) make that public content private.

On the Profile Analysis page you can check for questionable status updates and posts. This page also rates the overall mood of your profile, from negative to positive, and offers advice on improving a negative profile. A word cloud identifies trending topics in your posts, and a simple pie chart breaks down your posts into those you made yourself, posts by others, and posts made through apps (including mobile Facebook apps).

You may have exemplary Facebook manners and a perfectly positive profile, but what about your friends? The Network Analysis page identifies questionable posts by others. In my own profile I found a number of dangerous links posted by friends as well as posts with what secure.me considers bad language. A similar feature in MinorMonitor (free, 4 stars) specifically flags individuals who regularly express negative sentiments.

MinorMonitor and SafetyWeb flag a huge range of words and phrases as negative. Secure.me seems to stick with undeniable bad language.

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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Charity: Widow of pilot of United Flight 93 dies

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HBT: Cardinals game streaker says he lost a bet

Don?t look Ethel!

We mentioned the streaker from last night?s Phillies-Cardinals fan in the recaps this morning, but Jeff Passan has his story. ?His name is Collin J. Grundstrom. And you will be shocked to learn that alcohol was involved.

Also, will someone please think of the children?

One row in front of Grundstrom sat Jackson Dement, a precocious 7-year-old redhead who had come to see baseball. Instead, he saw a naked dude ??Jackson Dement, fan, declared to his mom, Kellee: ?This was the best game ever.?

Great report from Passan, who found himself in the right place at the right time. ?Even if I am somewhat upset that he did not ask why a Phillies fan traveled all the way to St. Louis to disrupt a baseball game. God, those guys.

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FACT CHECK: Obama off on thrifty spending claim

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House is aggressively pushing the idea that, contrary to widespread belief, President Barack Obama is tightfisted with taxpayer dollars. To back it up, the administration cites a media report that claims federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since the Eisenhower years.

"Federal spending since I took office has risen at the slowest pace of any president in almost 60 years," Obama said at a campaign rally Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The problem with that rosy claim is that the Wall Street bailout is part of the calculation. The bailout ballooned the 2009 budget just before Obama took office, making Obama's 2010 results look smaller in comparison. And as almost $150 billion of the bailout was paid back during Obama's watch, the analysis counted them as government spending cuts.

It also assumes Obama had less of a role setting the budget for 2009 than he really did.

Obama rests his claim on an analysis by MarketWatch, a financial information and news service owned by Dow Jones & Co. The analysis simply looks at the year-to-year topline spending number for the government but doesn't account for distortions baked into the figures by the Wall Street bailout and government takeover of the mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The MarketWatch study finds spending growth of only 1.4 percent over 2010-2013, or annual increases averaging 0.4 percent over that period. Those are stunningly low figures considering that Obama rammed through Congress an $831 billion stimulus measure in early 2009 and presided over significant increases in annual spending by domestic agencies at the same time the cost of benefit programs like Social Security, Medicare and the Medicaid were ticking steadily higher.

A fairer calculation would give Obama much of the responsibility for an almost 10 percent budget boost in 2009, then a 13 percent increase over 2010-2013, or average annual growth of spending of just more than 3 percent over that period.

So, how does the administration arrive at its claim?

First, there's the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the official name for the Wall Street bailout. First, companies got a net $151 billion from TARP in 2009, making 2010 spending look smaller. Then, because banks and Wall Street firms repaid a net $110 billion in TARP funds in 2010, Obama is claiming credit for cutting spending by that much.

The combination of TARP lending in one year and much of that money being paid back in the next makes Obama's spending record for 2010 look $261 billion thriftier than it really was. Only by that measure does Obama "cut" spending by 1.8 percent in 2010 as the analysis claims.

The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also makes Obama's record on spending look better than it was. The government spent $96 billion on the Fannie-Freddie takeovers in 2009 but only $40 billion on them in 2010. By the administration's reckoning, the $56 billion difference was a spending cut by Obama.

Taken together, TARP and the takeover of Fannie and Freddie combine to give Obama an undeserved $317 billion swing in the 2010 figures and the resulting 1.8 percent cut from 2009. A fairer reading is an almost 8 percent increase.

Those two bailouts account for $72 billion more in cuts in 2011. Obama supported the bailouts.

There's also the question of how to treat the 2009 fiscal year, which actually began Oct. 1, 2008, almost four months before Obama took office. Typically, the remaining eight months get counted as part of the prior president's spending since the incoming president usually doesn't change it much until the following October. The MarketWatch analysis assigned 2009 to former President George W. Bush, though it gave Obama responsibility that year for a $140 million chunk of the 2009 stimulus bill.

But Obama's role in 2009 spending was much bigger than that. For starters, he signed nine spending bills funding every Cabinet agency except Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security. While the numbers don't jibe exactly, Obama bears the chief responsibility for an 11 percent, $59 billion increase in non-defense spending in 2009. Then there's a 9 percent, $109 billion increase in combined defense and non-defense appropriated outlays in 2010, a year for which Obama is wholly responsible.

As other critics have noted, including former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the MarketWatch analysis also incorporates CBO's annual baseline as its estimate for fiscal years 2012 and 2013. That gives Obama credit for three events unlikely to occur:

?$65 billion in 2013 from automatic, across-the-board spending cuts slated to take effect next January.

?Cuts in Medicare payments to physicians.

?The expiration of refundable tax cuts that are "scored" as spending in federal ledgers.

Lawmakers are unlikely to allow the automatic cuts to take full effect, but it's at best a guessing game as to what will really happen in 2013. A better measure is Obama's request for 2013.

"You can only make him look good by ignoring the early years and adopting the hope and not the reality of the years in his budget," said Holtz-Eakin, a GOP economist and president of the American Action Forum, a free market think tank.

So how does Obama measure up?

If one assumes that TARP and the takeover of Fannie and Freddie by the government as one-time budgetary anomalies and remove them from calculations ? an approach taken by Holtz-Eakin ? you get the following picture:

?A 9.7 percent increase in 2009, much of which is attributable to Obama.

?A 7.8 percent increase in 2010, followed by slower spending growth over 2011-13. Much of the slower growth reflects the influence of Republicans retaking control of the House and their budget and debt deal last summer with Obama. All told, government spending now appears to be growing at an annual rate of roughly 3 percent over the 2010-2013 period, rather than the 0.4 percent claimed by Obama and the MarketWatch analysis.

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Analysis: China's nine-dashed line in South China Sea

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Alongside an armada of paramilitary patrol vessels and fishing boats, China has fired off a barrage of historical records to reinforce its claim over a disputed shoal near the Philippines in the South China Sea.

While this propaganda broadside makes it clear Beijing will take a tough line with Manila as a standoff over Scarborough Shoal continues into a seventh week, the exact legal justification for China's claim and the full extent of the territory affected remain uncertain, according to experts in maritime law.

Like most of its claims to vast expanses of the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea, Beijing prefers to remain ambiguous about the details, they say.

This allows the ruling Communist Party to demonstrate to an increasingly nationalistic domestic audience that it can defend China's right to control a swathe of ocean territory.

And, it avoids further inflaming tensions with neighbors who are already apprehensive about China's growing military power and territorial ambition.

"This ambiguity serves China's domestic purpose which is to safeguard the government's legitimacy and satisfy domestic public opinion," said Sun Yun, a Washington D.C.-based China foreign policy expert and a former analyst for the International Crisis Group in Beijing.

POTENTIAL FLASHPOINT

Rival claims to territory in the South China Sea are one of the biggest potential flashpoints in the Asia-Pacific region.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have territorial claims across a waterway that provides 10 per cent of the global fisheries catch and carries $5 trillion in ship-borne trade. Half the world's shipping tonnage traverses its sea lanes.

The United States, which claims national interests in the South China Sea, recently completed naval exercises with the Philippines near Scarborough Shoal. It is stepping up its military presence in the region as part of a strategic "pivot" towards Asia after more than a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The acrimonious confrontation over Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in Chinese, began last month when Beijing ordered its civilian patrol vessels to stop the Philippines arresting Chinese fisherman working in the disputed area.

Beijing and Manila both claim sovereignty over the group of rocks, reefs and small islands about 220 km (132 miles) from the Philippines.

The Philippines says the shoal falls within its 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ), giving it the right to exploit the natural resources in this area.

SONG DYNASTY RECORDS

In a concerted response from Beijing, official government spokesmen, senior diplomats and reports carried by influential state-controlled media outlets have drawn on the histories of earlier dynasties to rebut Manila's claim.

They say the records show China's sailors discovered Huangyan Island 2,000 years ago and cite extensive records of visits, mapping expeditions and habitation of the shoal from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) right through to the modern period.

To back up these arguments, China has also deployed some of its most advanced paramilitary patrol vessels to the shoal in a calibrated show of strength, for now keeping its increasingly powerful navy at a distance.

A Philippines government spokesman said on Wednesday China had almost 100 Chinese vessels at the shoal, including four government patrol ships. Earlier, Manila demanded that all Chinese vessels leave the area.

China's Foreign Ministry responded on Wednesday that only 20 Chinese fishing boats were in the area, a normal number for this time of the year, and they were operating in accordance with Chinese law.

NINE-DASH LINE

Maritime lawyers note Beijing routinely outlines the scope of its claims with reference to the so-called nine-dashed line that takes in about 90 percent of the 3.5 million square kilometer South China Sea on Chinese maps.

This vague boundary was first officially published on a map by China's Nationalist government in 1947 and has been included in subsequent maps issued under Communist rule.

While Beijing has no difficulty in producing historical evidence to support its territorial links to many islands and reefs, less material is available to show how it arrived at the nine-dashed line.

In a September, 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported that a senior Chinese government maritime law expert, Yin Wenqiang, had "admitted" he was unaware of the historical basis for the nine dashes.

In a March, 2008 cable, the embassy reported that a senior Chinese diplomat, Zheng Zhenhua, had handed over a written statement when asked about the scope of this boundary.

"The dotted line of the South China Sea indicates the sovereignty of China over the islands in the South China Sea since ancient times and demonstrates the long-standing claims and jurisdiction practice over the waters of the South China Sea," the statement said, the embassy reported.

Scarborough Shoal falls within the nine-dashed line, as do the Paracel and Spratly Islands, the two most important disputed island groups in the South China Sea.

LAW OF THE SEA TREATY

China insists it has sovereignty over both these groups but it has yet to specify how much of the rest of the territory within the nine-dashed line it intends to claim.

One reason suggested for this lack of clarity is that China, like all of the other claimants except Taiwan, is a signatory to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

If Beijing defined its claim to conform with the provisions of this treaty, it would almost certainly reduce the scope of Chinese territory and expose the government to criticism from vocal nationalists.

Alternatively, if Beijing was to maximize the extent of its claim to include all or most of the territory within the nine-dashed line, it would be difficult to justify under international law and antagonize its neighbors.

"Neither choice leads to a promising prospect," said Sun. "Therefore sticking to the existing path is the most rational."

This means that China is likely to remain vague, experts say, particularly during the current period of heightened political sensitivity ahead of a leadership transition scheduled for later this year.

TRADITIONAL FISHING GROUNDS

However, this lack of clarity doesn't mean China's claims over South China Sea territory have less merit than other claimants, experts say.

In the case of Scarborough shoal, Beijing says the land is Chinese territory and the waters surrounding the shoal have been China's traditional fishing grounds for generations.

"This geographic proximity argument the Philippines is using is not necessarily good in international law," says Sam Bateman, a maritime security researcher at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

"If China can demonstrate sovereignty, its claim is as good as the Philippines'."

Under the provisions of UNCLOS, a nation with sovereignty over an island can claim a surrounding 12-nautical mile territorial sea.

UNCLOS defines an island as a natural land feature that remains above water at high tide. If the island is inhabitable, it is also entitled to an EEZ and possibly a continental shelf.

JOINT EXPLOITATION

However, Beijing has not claimed a territorial sea or an EEZ from any of the features of Scarborough Shoal.

Most maritime experts doubt China will agree to have any claims over the South China Sea heard by the United Nation's International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the body set up to rule on disputes.

Beijing's policy is to negotiate on the joint exploitation of natural resources in contested areas but rival claimants are reluctant to accept this formula because it could be seen as recognition of China's sovereignty.

Beijing is also increasingly wary about the Obama administration's military "pivot" to Asia designed to counter China's growing power," security experts say.

They suggest Vietnam and the Philippines have already shown greater willingness to challenge China since the U.S. signaled a renewed interest in the region.

"They think they have the U.S. on side," said Bateman.

(Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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'Monkey' to go West again as cinema power shifts East

Generations of Chinese grew up under the spell cast by Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West", the 16th Century adventure epic which is the subject of two major upcoming film adaptations.

Hopes are that the tale will continue to leave audiences spellbound, with shooting now wrapped on actor and director Stephen Chow's version of the tale and another starring "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star Chow Yun-fat.

Lauded as one of China's "Four Great Classical Novels", it has inspired operas, including one penned by acclaimed British rocker Damon Albarn, a string of cinema hits dating back to the 1940s and a popular online game.

"'Journey to the West' is a story full of imagination," Chow told AFP.

"The plot is beyond any other fantasy," added the Hong Kong-based star, who is one of China's biggest box office draws with films including "Shaolin Soccer" (2001) and "Kung Fu Hustle" (2004).

As China's rapidly expanding film industry continues to break new commercial ground, Chinese filmmakers are increasingly looking to literary adaptations for their inspiration -- with "Journey to the West" a time-honoured favourite.

Chow is putting final touches to his 110 million yuan ($17.3 million) adaptation, whose working title is "Journey to the West" and stars Chinese actors Wen Zhang and Shu Qi. It will be the third time he has used it as source material for a film.

It will come up against another version featuring heavyweights Chow Yun-fat and Donnie Yen in the Soi Cheang-directed 3D epic "The Monkey King", costing an estimated 400 million yuan and which is also in post-production.

Chow's fascination with the ancient text was first fuelled 30 years ago when he watched a grainy, black-and-white Cantonese film version of the tale in his local cinema house.

"I think the reason it is still relevant nowadays -- and people still find it attractive -- is all down to its imagination. Until now I still don't see it being surpassed."

It is the sheer scale of the source material available in the original text that has Chow returning to those pages once again.

"The story is so creative. Yet it is so orderly arranged and structured. On the one hand the creative process is just as free as a bird but on the other hand the framework of the story is very well organized. This is very unique."

The story is based on the legend of the monk Xuanzang's journey to India during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to retrieve sacred texts.

The monk is ordered on this quest towards spiritual enlightenment by Buddha and is placed under the protection of three disciples -- Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), Zhu Bajie (the pig), and Sha Wujing (the water buffalo) -- who are making up for past sins as well as a dragon prince who comes in the form of a horse.

The story first started to appear on the big screen in the 1940s and has since been used as the basis for such hits as "Monkey Goes West" (1966) and the Jet Li-starring "The Forbidden Kingdom" (2008) as well as Chow's own "A Chinese Odyssey" parts one and two (1994).

It has also been retold in a number of television productions -- most notably the Japanese series "Saiyuki" from the 1970s, which was then dubbed and screened around the world.

More recently the tale was the basis of the acclaimed opera "Monkey: Journey to the West", put together by Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn and Chinese stage director Chen Shi-zheng.

It has also surfaced in the Nickelodeon multi-player game "Monkey Quest", which the company last month claimed was the "fastest-growing virtual world for kids" with 10 million registered users in its first year.

Kat Yeung, distribution executive at Filmko Films which is co-producing rival movie "The Monkey King" along with Mandarin Films, believes the lessons learned along the way by those characters still resonate centuries on.

She says her company is putting a very modern spin on how the tale is told. "3D technology can show the 'Journey to the West' like it has never been seen before," she said.

"We want to take this story international, not only to Chinese territories, and we think "The Monkey King" will be just the first episode. There are lots of chapters in the books with independent stories that can be told."

Both productions are underway at a time when China is cementing its status as a cinema powerhouse.

Box office takings surged 30 percent on-year in 2011, eclipsing those in North America. Beijing-based group Wanda is set to become the world's biggest cinema operator by sales with its $2.6 billion purchase of US firm AMC Entertainment.

With the government-enforced quota of just 20 international films allowed in for screening each year still in place, it's an industry in need of productions and ideas, with "Journey to the West" seen as rich source for inspiration.

Hong Kong-based film critic and historian Paul Fonoroff also believes its enduring success comes down to its universal themes.

"It's a tale that has something for everybody: fantasy, adventure, cartoonish characters for the kids, an allegorical subtext for the adults, underlying themes of Buddhist enlightenment for the more spiritually inclined, and plenty of sex or at least sexual innuendo, depending on how the filmmakers want to play it," he explains.

"The story's themes are timeless and have a resonance regardless of one's cultural background -- think Wizard of Oz multiplied a thousand times. And with characters like a monkey, pig, a dragon, it's not only loads of fun but -- equally important for 21st Century filmmakers -- it's a synergistic marketing dream."

Both "Journey to the West" and "The Monkey King" are scheduled for release in 2013.

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Food & Drink's Finest Scoop Gourmet Gongs - Scotland Food and ...

More than a dozen of Scotland?s most innovative and respected companies also took home the spoils at Scotland?s food and drink ?Oscars?.

Date:

Fri, 25 May 2012

Source:

Scotland Food & Drink

Border Biscuits, the Lanarkshire based producer, has scooped the prestigious title of Business of the Year at the 2012 Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards. ?

The success completed a double for the company which was also recognised for its commitment to developing its employees with the Profiting Through Skills Development award.

The night?s second big winner was Katy Rodger?s Knockraich Farm, winning the coveted Product of the Year for its Probiotic yogurts. ?Produced using milk from the Fintry farm?s herd of British Friesians, the yogurts were also named ?best Dairy Product.?

One of the most anticipated awards is the Young Talent category which was expanded this year to reward exceptional talent across the food and drink industry.?

Fredrika Cockburn who works in the Palm Bar in Edinburgh?s flagship Balmoral Hotel was the winning entrant, having impressed the judging panel with her passion and knowledge for Scottish food and drink.?

Sponsored by ASDA and hosted by ?cuisine comedian? Hardeep Singh Kohli, the annual awards ceremony took place at the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro Hotel last night (24 May). ?

Guests enjoyed an exclusive menu of Scottish fayre created by renowned chef Nick Nairn.?

Cullisse won the Soups, Preserves and Accompaniments category with its Mixed Pepper & Spice Marinade and Highland Rapeseed Oil ? fast becoming the foodie?s oil of choice following an appearance on Nigel Slater?s television cooking show.Meat category winner Macsween of Edinburgh put a twist on the traditional with its microwaveable range of haggis and black pudding and the hotly contested best Fish product was taken by Loch Duart for its salmon range including Oak Roasted Flaky Salmon and Hot Smoked Salmon with Honey & Thyme.?

Lazy Day Foods won over the judges of the Bakery & Cereal-based Product category with its delicious tray bakes ? its ?free-from? products offer a solution to a host of food intolerances without compromising on taste. ? Equally appetising were Nairn?s Oaty Bakes which were named best Confectionery & Snacking Product.

Known for its alternative take on beverages, VC2 Brands was toasting its success in the Drinks category with its Double Espresso Premium Caffe Beer brewed with double strength coffee bean flavours. ?Another refreshing drink, Cuddybridge Apple Juice - made from hand pressed apples in the Borders - scooped the Food Service Product Award. ?

Healthy eating continues to be at the fore of the news agenda and winner Scotty Brand has made use of Scotland?s abundant natural larder with its home-grown range of fruit and vegetables.

The business categories recognise various important facets of running a successful company, from marketing to research and sustainability. ?

Export Business of the Year Spencerfield Gin is a regular at the awards and this year was rewarded for its efforts in growing its premium spirits business outwith Scotland. ?Seafood co-operative, the Orkney Fishermen?s Society, was awarded the top honour in the Success Through Working in Partnerships category.?

The Puffer Bar & Restaurant is situated on the tiny, car free island of Easdale on the West Coast of Scotland and thanks to its beautiful location and locally sourced produce was named the winner of the Food and Drink Tourism Category. ?The Environmental Sustainability award went to Stonehaven?s The Bay Fish & Chips which prides itself on sustainable sourcing and minimises the environmental impacts of its operations.?

The Profiting Thorough Research award recognises that innovation is key to business and industry growth ? Stonehaven based food ingredients manufacturer Macphie of Glenbervie won this year?s category. ? The New Product Marketing Award went to the Shetland Livestock Marketing Group for its campaign to promote native Shetland lamb.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said:??We?re fortunate to have a wealth of fine natural ingredients on our doorstep, as well as the producers with the expertise and entrepreneurial skills to make the most of our natural larder.??The Excellence Awards celebrate our many culinary successes and truly showcase Scotland as a land of food and drink. I?d like to congratulate this year?s winners and hope they continue to go from strength to strength.?

James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink said:?

?The Excellence Awards provide an inspiring snapshot of everything that is great about Scottish food and drink ? from mouthwatering products to innovative companies and inspiring people. ?The breadth of entries showcases just how varied the sector is with artisan producers, multinational companies and everything in between combining to create our internationally renowned Land of Food & Drink.?
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Michael Mccallion, local buying manager for Scotland at ASDA commented:

?The Excellence Awards are testament to the quality and variety of Scotland?s local produce and its vibrant food and drink sector. ?We are committed to growing our offering of over 850 Scottish lines in our stores and what better opportunity to celebrate our suppliers and discover new talent.?

The entries were judged by an expert panel of industry representatives, journalists and marketeers who had an even tougher job this year with every product entered being tasted.

The Winners

Business of the Year
Borders Biscuits

Product of the Year
Katy Rodgers Knockraich Farm ? Pro-biotic Natural / Raspberry / Rhubarb Yogurt

Soup, Preserve, Accompaniments - sponsored by ASDA
CCS Estates ? Cullisse Highland Rapeseed Oil; Cullisse Mixed Pepper & Spice Marinade

Fish - sponsored by ASDA
Loch Duart Ltd - Loch Duart Oak Roasted Flaky Salmon, Loch Duart Oak Smoked Salmon, Loch Duart Hot Smoked Salmon with Honey & Thyme

Bakery & Cereal-based Product - sponsored by ASDA
Lazy Day Foods - Belgian Chocolate Tiffin / Millionaires Shortbread / Chocolate Ginger Slice

Meat (Red, White & Game) ? sponsored by ASDA
Macsween of Edinburgh - Macsween microwaveable range: '60-second? haggis and ?90-second? black pudding

Drink (Alcoholic & Non-Alcoholic) ? sponsored by ASDA
VC2 Brands ? Double Espresso Premium Caffe Beer 6% abv

Dairy Product - sponsored by ASDA
Katy Rodgers Knockraich Farm ? Probiotic Natural / Raspberry / Rhubarb Yogurt

Confectionery & Snacking - sponsored by ASDA
Nairn?s Oatcakes Limited - Nairn?s Oaty Bakes in single and multi-packs?

Food Service Product of the Year - sponsored by Sodexo
Cuddybridge Apple Juice - Cuddybridge Apple Juice range (x11)

Healthy Eating - sponsored by Food & Health Alliance and Food Standards Agency Scotland
Scotty Brand - Scotty Brand range

New Product Marketing ? sponsored by Johnston Carmichael
Shetland Livestock Marketing Group (SLMG) - Native Shetland Lamb

Export Business of the Year ? sponsored by Clydesdale Bank
Spencerfield Spirit Co

Profiting Through Research ? sponsored by Interface?
Macphie of Glenbervie Ltd

Profiting Through Skills Development ? sponsored by Scotland Food & Drink Skills Academy and Skills Development Scotland
Border Biscuits Ltd

Success Through Working in Partnerships - sponsored by SAOS and the C2 Project
Orkney Fishermen's Society Ltd

Environmental Sustainability ? sponsored by Zero Waste Scotland
The Bay Fish and Chips

Food Tourism ? sponsored by VisitScotland
The Puffer Bar and Restaurant

Young Talent
Fredrika Cockburn ? The Balmoral Hotel

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'Monkey' to go West again as cinema power shifts East

Generations of Chinese grew up under the spell cast by Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West", the 16th Century adventure epic which is the subject of two major upcoming film adaptations.

Hopes are that the tale will continue to leave audiences spellbound, with shooting now wrapped on actor and director Stephen Chow's version of the tale and another starring "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star Chow Yun-fat.

Lauded as one of China's "Four Great Classical Novels", it has inspired operas, including one penned by acclaimed British rocker Damon Albarn, a string of cinema hits dating back to the 1940s and a popular online game.

"'Journey to the West' is a story full of imagination," Chow told AFP.

"The plot is beyond any other fantasy," added the Hong Kong-based star, who is one of China's biggest box office draws with films including "Shaolin Soccer" (2001) and "Kung Fu Hustle" (2004).

As China's rapidly expanding film industry continues to break new commercial ground, Chinese filmmakers are increasingly looking to literary adaptations for their inspiration -- with "Journey to the West" a time-honoured favourite.

Chow is putting final touches to his 110 million yuan ($17.3 million) adaptation, whose working title is "Journey to the West" and stars Chinese actors Wen Zhang and Shu Qi. It will be the third time he has used it as source material for a film.

It will come up against another version featuring heavyweights Chow Yun-fat and Donnie Yen in the Soi Cheang-directed 3D epic "The Monkey King", costing an estimated 400 million yuan and which is also in post-production.

Chow's fascination with the ancient text was first fuelled 30 years ago when he watched a grainy, black-and-white Cantonese film version of the tale in his local cinema house.

"I think the reason it is still relevant nowadays -- and people still find it attractive -- is all down to its imagination. Until now I still don't see it being surpassed."

It is the sheer scale of the source material available in the original text that has Chow returning to those pages once again.

"The story is so creative. Yet it is so orderly arranged and structured. On the one hand the creative process is just as free as a bird but on the other hand the framework of the story is very well organized. This is very unique."

The story is based on the legend of the monk Xuanzang's journey to India during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to retrieve sacred texts.

The monk is ordered on this quest towards spiritual enlightenment by Buddha and is placed under the protection of three disciples -- Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), Zhu Bajie (the pig), and Sha Wujing (the water buffalo) -- who are making up for past sins as well as a dragon prince who comes in the form of a horse.

The story first started to appear on the big screen in the 1940s and has since been used as the basis for such hits as "Monkey Goes West" (1966) and the Jet Li-starring "The Forbidden Kingdom" (2008) as well as Chow's own "A Chinese Odyssey" parts one and two (1994).

It has also been retold in a number of television productions -- most notably the Japanese series "Saiyuki" from the 1970s, which was then dubbed and screened around the world.

More recently the tale was the basis of the acclaimed opera "Monkey: Journey to the West", put together by Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn and Chinese stage director Chen Shi-zheng.

It has also surfaced in the Nickelodeon multi-player game "Monkey Quest", which the company last month claimed was the "fastest-growing virtual world for kids" with 10 million registered users in its first year.

Kat Yeung, distribution executive at Filmko Films which is co-producing rival movie "The Monkey King" along with Mandarin Films, believes the lessons learned along the way by those characters still resonate centuries on.

She says her company is putting a very modern spin on how the tale is told. "3D technology can show the 'Journey to the West' like it has never been seen before," she said.

"We want to take this story international, not only to Chinese territories, and we think "The Monkey King" will be just the first episode. There are lots of chapters in the books with independent stories that can be told."

Both productions are underway at a time when China is cementing its status as a cinema powerhouse.

Box office takings surged 30 percent on-year in 2011, eclipsing those in North America. Beijing-based group Wanda is set to become the world's biggest cinema operator by sales with its $2.6 billion purchase of US firm AMC Entertainment.

With the government-enforced quota of just 20 international films allowed in for screening each year still in place, it's an industry in need of productions and ideas, with "Journey to the West" seen as rich source for inspiration.

Hong Kong-based film critic and historian Paul Fonoroff also believes its enduring success comes down to its universal themes.

"It's a tale that has something for everybody: fantasy, adventure, cartoonish characters for the kids, an allegorical subtext for the adults, underlying themes of Buddhist enlightenment for the more spiritually inclined, and plenty of sex or at least sexual innuendo, depending on how the filmmakers want to play it," he explains.

"The story's themes are timeless and have a resonance regardless of one's cultural background -- think Wizard of Oz multiplied a thousand times. And with characters like a monkey, pig, a dragon, it's not only loads of fun but -- equally important for 21st Century filmmakers -- it's a synergistic marketing dream."

Both "Journey to the West" and "The Monkey King" are scheduled for release in 2013.

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