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        <title><![CDATA[Home/Opinion]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.834aa1e6fcecd3b733492d9253a0a0a0/]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Home_Opinion]]></description>
        <pubDate>2009-07-04 20:20:03</pubDate>
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            <title><![CDATA[Unimpressed by lawmakers' limp excuses]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=09b01c48a4142210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[I  agree with what you say in your editorial (&quot;Lawmakers must come clean on their expenses&quot;, June 27). Many &quot;honourable members&quot; of the British government are, at this moment, being ridiculed because of their unashamed abuse of  the expenses system.
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            <title><![CDATA[Asia must learn to lead]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=0b7f9d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[As Asia emerges from the global economic crisis faster than the rest of the world, it is increasingly clear that the world's centre of gravity is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is equally clear that Asian states are not yet ready to assume the more meaningful leadership in global affairs that will be necessary to ensure that this tectonic shift can make the world more stable and secure than it has been. Asian states have a tremendous opportunity to rise to this challenge. 
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            <title><![CDATA[Too good  to be true? Not in Indonesia]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=19a59d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[There is a rule of thumb to regional politics that  if something appears too good to be true, then it usually is.
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            <title><![CDATA[We cannot ignore the need for clean energy options in HK]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=53f01c48a4142210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[I refer to the report (&quot;Hikers join critics of Sai Kung wind farm&quot;, June 24) and the letter by Luiz Souza (&quot;Hong Kong's outstanding areas of natural beauty must be saved&quot;, June 30). 
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            <title><![CDATA[New 999 procedures will help save lives]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=5e901c48a4142210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[The ambitious response targets that fire chiefs have set for ambulance services have become increasingly hard for medics to meet. That is not their fault. The services are being stretched to the limit, with the number of emergency calls - whether critical or frivolous - rising each year. With the number of ambulances remaining relatively constant at 250-plus, it's  a matter of simple arithmetic to work out that more call-outs will not meet a response within the target time of 12 minutes.
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            <title><![CDATA[Take up the baton]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=6a6f9d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[West Kowloon needs a super CEO now to drive the project forward and help lift the fog of confusion, writes <B>Sir David Tang</B>.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Failing to help the failed states]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=6b5f9d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[This week, an unpopular president of a small impoverished central American state was ousted in a coup before he could emulate his new-found hero, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,  and brush aside limits on his stay in office. Half a world away in Tehran, the rulers more cleverly wrapped up the re-election of their president and confidently declared it was illegal  to contest the result, however much the rest of the world might protest against the cheating and thuggery that accomplished it.
]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Shameless Joe Jackson]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=78959d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[Michael Jackson's hard-driving father returns to the spotlight and ruffles  a few feathers, writes <B>Jake Coyle</B>.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Declining Japan: a sign of things to come]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=b2e01c48a4142210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[In recent years, Japan's concerned public has gradually turned its attention from the decline in economic growth rates to more long-term social trends. As one of the &quot;little dragons of Asia&quot;, Hong Kong used to follow Japan as head of the &quot;flying geese&quot; formation. So Japan's social trends are worthy of our attention, too.
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            <title><![CDATA[US job woes a reality check for exporters]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=b3d01c48a4142210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[The latest unemployment figures  from the United States have surprised many people, and hit stock markets. After several  months in which the pace of job losses had been slowing,  people had expected the jobless queue to grow more slowly.  Indeed, the falling trend has been pointed to as further evidence of the &quot;green shoots&quot; of economic recovery in the US. That has helped fuel optimism among investors and policymakers. Many have predicted the US will be the first major economy to come out of recession. Now, with the jobless rate rising again, that rosy forecast is being questioned. 
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            <title><![CDATA[Gay Iraq vet challenges 'don't ask, don't tell' policy]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=b9b59d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[On paper, Lieutenant Dan Choi is everything the US military could have hoped for. He is a graduate of the prestigious West Point academy in New York state, has served a tour in Iraq, and is fluent in Arabic and Korean.
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            <title><![CDATA[Order in chaos]]></title>
            <pubDate>2009-07-04 00:00:00</pubDate>
            <link><![CDATA[http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ca4f9d8b58042210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=opinion]]></link>
            <description><![CDATA[The much anticipated July 1 annual rally has come and gone. The turnout figure, usually considered a barometer of anti-government sentiment, again stirred substantial controversy but the general perception was that this year's turnout was well below expectations.
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