This & That, Ceci et Cela

Cool new building product: LiTraCon; the Light-transmitting concrete. A new concrete composite with embedded optical fibers that allow light to pass through it, resulting in translucent blocks or walls. Created and patented by twenty-seven year old Hungarian Áron Losonczi. Biopaver by Joseph Hagerman; a precast permeable paving ...

"Common wisdom has it that Asia is dreaming if it thinks economies as diverse and as far-flung as China, Japan, South Korea, the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations and now India can emulate Europe. For one thing, Europe has settled the question of hegemony; Asia has not. "There is no hegemon in Europe," argues ...

Holy hypocrisy in this cult of life: After participating in the frenzy that was the Schiavo case, Jeb Bush's minions are now fighting to stop state aid for young Marissa Amora -- four years after they sought a court order to let her die following a savage beating, The Palm Beach Post reports. What's more, these same minions -- the Department of Children and Families -- could have ...

"When Luca Ricci sold his first batch of leather sofas in 1998 he told the North American distributor they were made in Italy. "I was scared because I didn't know if a sofa made in China was saleable," he admits, laughing at the memory. Three months later, he felt confident enough to own up and told his startled buyer, "It's made in China ...

"Whole districts are being flattened, with former residents literally scraping a living - scavenging for building materials to clean up and sell on.  Chongqing today  is a huge, messy building site - clearly a project in its early stages of construction as it vies for investment" (BBC).

A very interesting issue; Should EU migrant workers (e.g. East European labour which costs a quarter of West European wages) be paid according to the wages and conditions of their home countries or the countries where they do the job? (IHT) Interesting issue. Any bright ideas?

So the Runaway bride made up her kidnap story; the Georgia woman confesses she got cold feet about the elaborate wedding. Instead of being the center of a lavish wedding Saturday night, Jennifer Wilbanks flew home to Georgia from New Mexico, where she surfaced early Saturday morning after a nationwide missing-person search. ... Although Wilbanks initially told police in Albuquerque that she had been kidnapped, she ...