Top news
EARTH submitted two paper proposals for presentation this past month:

• English or languish - A severe case of market distortion (abstract - pdf 32KB) for presentation at the 2005 Pacific Rim Conference on Globalization and Regionalism in January of next year.
  
• Hong Kong's universal English language requirement: A close examination of its probable underlying assumptions. (abstract - 24 pdf ) for presentation at the 18th International Language in Education Conference on The Way Forward in Language Education in December of this year.
  

These are second best results of a best effort to find enough people to form a panel and a colloquium for the aforementioned conferences. Obviously myth-busting and government reform require heavy doses of courage patience, and a little chutzpa. If you are looking for more excitement perhaps you should think about joining al Qaeda!

Government relations
EARTH's manager and HKLNA-Project director has been allowed to remain in Hong Kong for still another year.

Community relations

Neither the panel proposed for the 2005 Pacific Rim Conference nor the colloquium proposed for the 18th International Language in Education Conference materialized. Let us see whether EARTH's two paper proposals are accepted before rendering judgement.

Scholars from Malaysia, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Brunei, Algeria, and the United States have now expressed an interest in the HKLNA-Project, and I am more confident than ever that the project will eventually get off the ground -- but perhaps just not in Hong Kong.

Website additions and maintenance

New additions

• HKLNA-Project Papers and Paper Proposals - This is an introductory page to new scholarly editions envisioned by EARTH as the HKLNA-Project moves forward. It can be accessed under the heading HKLNA-Project Fund.
• Quality Assessment - One page of this section entitled Language as Tool has been re-edited and reformated and is now available for downloading and printing (pdf document - 216KB. The document is 21 pages in length not including the graphs, charts, and other online materials which must be accessed online.  A special version with a Japanese introduction (pdf document - 268KB) is also available. The idea is to make the contents of the HKLNA-Project more accessible to interested readers. These new self-contained versions can also be freely distributed across the internet and used for promotional attempts to obtain funding.
• Imagine - My loss decade in Japan. As Imagine is the forerunner to the HKLNA-Project a small section of it has also been re-edited and reformatted for downloading and printing. This excerpt is 18 pages in length and includes a two-page Japanese cover and a table of contents for the entire book (pdf document - 312KB).
• EARTH's Viewpoint - In anticipation of the upcoming US presidential election EARTH has examined some of the more global aspects of US foreign policy in the Middle East and Central Asia. See More Democratic Folly - Suggested issues for the upcoming US presidential debates (pdf document - 92 KB).

Maintenance

• EARTH's sample translations from German (pdf document - 256 KB) and Japanese (pdf document - 816 KB) into English were re-edited, reformated, and posted afresh with cover pages.
• Additional editing work was performed on the Imagine website.
  

Software update

• EARTH upgraded to Panther 10.3.5 and Norton Utilities 3.0.1.
  

Strategy Update
Having paused to take advantage of the conferential windows of opportunity that opened in late July and early August, EARTH will finally return to its early July agenda of creating a video presentation for worldwide distribution and more targeted fund-raising. In addition EARTH will take advantage of its newly formed contacts in the world's scientific community and temper its research agenda, so as to make it more appealing to a wider professional audience.  Hopefully this will bring acknowledged experts on board and secure the funding that the HKLNA-Project so badly needs to succeed.

Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Professor Dr. Peter P. Baron for his ongoing use of EARTH's translation service. Special thanks can also be given to Professor Harold F. Schiffman for making his language policy mailing list available to EARTH's HKLNA-Project.  EARTH will abide by its new policy of not confiding new professional acquaintances until secure working relationships have been established. There are simply too many people who would like to see the HKLNA-Project fail.

Closing Remarks
Please do not forget to take advantage of EARTH's quality translation, research, and new tutorial service.  EARTH's survival might very well be the foundation for the HKLNA-Project's success!

Sincerely,

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