The Wikipedia reference for the Tree Sparrow, which is apparently what my Siao Meinung is: a rarity in Europe and America (albeit present), but an abundance in Southeast Asia and China. And all this time I'd been confusing Meinung with the "House Sparrow" of my American childhood. Two big differences between the species: the Tree Sparrow is smaller, and there are no markings that distinguish male from female.
At times it feels hopeless to imagine that the Chinese government will ever develop a sense of universal rights or even common decency. More proof of this from the following Associated Press article printed in the local Taipei Times newspaper on Sunday, February 08, 2009, Page 1. Days before China's human rights record comes under scrutiny before a UN panel, the government's grip on dissent seems as firm as ever. Government critics have been rounded up and some imprisoned on vaguely defined state security charges. Corruption whistleblowers have been bundled away, while discussion of sensitive political and social topics on the Internet remains tightly policed. On Friday, officers stationed outside a government building in Beijing took away at least eight people — members of a loosely organized group of 30 who had traveled to the capital from around the country seeking redress for various problems, almost all of them involving local corruption. One member of the group, Li Fengx...
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