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In celebration of the New Year's Holiday EARTH took an extended holiday break. EARTH apologizes for the delay, and sincerely hopes that what follows will be well worth your having waited.

EARTH is back on course.

Government relations
As the HKLNA-Project is about changing government policy EARTH dedicated its last Viewpoint article of the year to just this end.  See Hong Kong's Window Dressers under new Website additions and maintenance below.

Community relations
In the end it is the Hong Kong, East Asian, and world communities that can reap the greatest benefits from the HKLNA-Project. It is for this reason that EARTH continues in its quest for community support.

• The EPSON Foundation - A letter (pdf document - 60KB) was sent inviting them to take a look at EARTH's revised proposal. The proposal is bigger and better, and the request for assistance much smaller. Perhaps this combination will encourage their support this second time around.
  
• Reaching Out Across the World-wide Web - Eight-five new letters of introduction and invitation were sent to various German institutions in both Germany and Japan. This was EARTH's first direct, major effort to establish a foot-hold on the European continent.

Website additions and maintenance

New additions

• Quality - A new section was added entitled Language as Tool. It is the first part of a two part series dedicated toward a better understanding of the use of English in non-native English speaking societies. It packs a both a speculative and factual whallop! Be cautioned.
• Viewpoint - Two new additions this month.
• Hong Kong's Window Dressers: What sound reasoning would not dictate. Some people care about Hong Kong; others appear to have different political and personal agendas - 31 December 2003 (pdf format - 40KB)
• Mene, Mene, tekel: Sharon's Decision Wall. Time is running out in Palestine and the democratic world must act quickly. 28 December 2003 (pdf format - 32KB)
• Tsong Kit - Chapter 1 of Part II was added this month. Click here to access it.
  

Maintenance

• Additional minor changes.

Software update

• It's your turn! - Many long hours on the telephone with Adobe Inc. resulted in an important discovery for Adobe! The crucial numbers that many of you were unable to find in EARTH's revised HKLNA-Project proposal can now be seen.  No need to download another copy of the proposal -- just update your software. Click here for details.
• No more dots. Hooray!
  

Strategy Update
For the moment keeping the HKLNA-Project alive means keeping EARTH alive. After a careful, but continued detour to drum up business from private industry in Hong Kong, EARTH is once again soliciting translation work from the world-wide academic community -- those who EARTH is forever remonstrating for neglecting the little people of our planet. See Reaching Out Across the World-wide Web above. What comes to EARTH goes to the HKLNA-Project.

EARTH will continue to develop its own neglected section on Quality.

If EARTH can find the time it will also create a character index for Tsong Kit for Students of Beginning Chinese and explore the possibility of finding a commercial partner to develop the project into something saleable.

Acknowledgments
EARTH thanks its friends and supporters wherever you are. Special thanks go to Professor Doktor Peter P. Baron for his informal proofreading of EARTH's Hong Kong Window Dressers.

Closing Remarks
If you would like to provide support to the HKLNA-Project but are unable to donate to the HKLNA-Project Fund, then at least hire EARTH to provide you with the best in telecommuted translation. Surely many ProZ.com translators would also be grateful. See EARTH's translation services' promotion material or better yet visit EARTH's homepage.

Sincerely,

R. A. Stegemann
hsmr@pacific.net.hk

p.s. For those who cannot read Arabic the subtitle this month is Arabic for Happy New Year!