Los Angeles Times, Feb 16, 2012

choi

(1) Timothy Garton Ash, How to Handle China's Xi Jinping (op-ed)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opin ... nash-china-20120216,0,2339878.story
("The best thumbnail summary that I have read comes in a forthcoming book by Jonathan Fenby called "Tiger Head, Snake Tails." (The title refers to modern China, not Xi)")

My comment: Besides the quotation, go to the bottom of the article to see the writer's credential and read only the second half of the article, starting with the sentence "So how should the West engage with China, and vice versa?" The first half talks about scenes we are all familiar with.

(2) Richard Fausset, Mardi Gras Beads Cause Environmental Hangover; Some green-thinking locals want New Orleans to recycle the tons of plastic necklaces that go flying during parades. But skeptics say it'll never happen.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nati ... gras-beads-20120216,0,1959252.story

Quote:

(a) web page 1:

"most of them [beads] destined, in all likelihood, for the landfill."

"In the touristy French Quarter, boozy packs of males stagger with beads stockpiled on their necks in the manner of Mr T, infamously offering to bestow their gaudier strands on women who agree to flash a peek at their bare breasts.

(b) web page 2:

"The beads were originally made of glass, and imported from the former Czechoslovakia, which had a centuries-old bead-making industry. Cheaper beads arrived from Japan and Hong Kong in the 1960s.

"The beads were eventually replaced by plastic beads from China. The manufacturing process was chronicled in the 2005 documentary 'Mardi Gras: Made in China.' The movie, with its depictions of harsh labor conditions at one bead factory, has become a key catalyst for the green Carnival movement. Filmmaker David Redmon stumbled onto the topic after being originally drawn, from a sociological perspective, to the 'Girls Gone Wild' video series, which has, for better or worse, shared the beads-for-breasts phenomenon with the world.

My comment:
(a) At most, for history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, start reading web page 2 at the clause "Mardi Gras, which translates as 'Fat Tuesday,' refers to both the day before Lent."
(b) The words "Mardi Gras" are French.
(c) Mr T
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
(born Laurence Tureaud; 1952-  )

A few photos of his:
http://finickypenguin.wordpress. ... the-church-of-mr-t/
(d) krewe (n; alteration of crew; First Known Use 1936):
"a private organization staging festivities (as parades) during Mardi Gras in New Orleans"
www.m-w.com

The word "krewe" is pronounced the same as "crew."