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“Doyou?” Joe asked me.

I shrugged. “Doesn’t make a damn to me.”

“Well, if it doesn’t make a damn to you, and Rennie and I think it’s a good idea, then it’s settled,” Joe laughed. “In fact, whether you want to learn or not it’s settled, if you’re not willing to refuse, just like this dinner business!”

We all chuckled, and the subject was dropped, Joe explaining to me happily that as a matter of fact my statement on the telephone (that I would come to dinner whether I wanted to or not) was unintelligible.

“Rennie would’ve told you if you hadn’t flustered her by making fun of her,” he smiled; “the only demonstrable index to a man’s desires is his acts, when you’re speaking of past time: what a man did is what he wanted to do.”

“What?”

“Don’t you see?” asked Rennie, and Joe sat back and relaxed. “The idea is that you could have conflicting desires — say, the desire not to have dinner with us and the desire not to offend us. If you end by coming to dinner it’s because the second desire was stronger than the first: other things being equal, you wouldn’t want to eat with us, but other things never are equal, and actually you’d rather eat with us than insult us. So you eat with us — that’s what youfinally wanted to do. You shouldn’t say you’ll eat with us whether you want to or not; you should say you’ll eat with us if it satisfies desires in you stronger than your desirenot to eat with us.”

“It’s like combining plus one hundred and minus ninety-nine,” Joe said. “The answer is just barely plus, but it’s completely plus. That’s another reason why it’s silly for anybody to apologize for something he’s done by claiming he didn’t really want to do it: what hewanted to do, in the end, was what he did. That’s important to remember when you’re reading history.”

I observed that Rennie colored slightly at the reference to apologizing.

“Mmm,” I replied to Joe, non-directively

Rule #1: Fiction about history almost never becomes part of the history of fiction. To put it another way: Novels that are mainly and directly about a particular culture and its heritage seldom become part of that culture’s cultural heritage. There are exceptions — we think of Faulkner’s fiction about the American South, or Isaac Bashevis Singer’s fiction about Polish-Jewish life before the Holocaust — but I believe that such apparent exceptions prove the rule: namely, that the more a novel’s main interest is in the time and place it’s about, the less likely it is to be a significant work of literature in its own right — though it might certainly be good light entertainment of the costume-drama sort. Aristotle, the first writer in history to describe the difference between historians and poets, says in the Poetics that the historian tells us how things were, while the poet tells us how they might have been, or ought ideally to have been. The trouble with much official history, by this famous and useful distinction, is that it is poetry: It tells us how its sponsor wishes things had been. “History is the propaganda of the winners,” etc. And the trouble with much historical fiction is that it’s so concerned with getting the “facts” straight — as given in the documents of history — that the artistic truth gets lost. The data might be correct, but the hearts and minds and souls of the characters come from Hollywood, not from human history. On the other hand, high-school students reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar like to point out the anachronism of the clock’s striking in Act II: There were no clocks in Caesar’s Rome. But of course Shakespeare’s play isn’t about Caesar’s Rome: It’s about Caesar and Brutus, and the poet has them right. Even if he didn’t, in detail, it wouldn’t matter, since the real subjects are pride and conflicting loyalties, not Caesar and Brutus, and the play is one of the treasures of English literature, not of Roman history.

With the rise in production of aftermarket auto parts in the past two decades, a non-profit organization called the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) was established in 1987 to test and certify parts used for auto body repairs. Setting rigid standards for aftermarket parts, CAPA鈥檚 testing process includes an industry-recognized 500-hour salt spray test to indicate rust resistance. Tests on metal composition, screws, chipping and scratching resistance are also conducted. While the founding of CAPA initially boosted the trust in the quality of aftermarket auto parts, many automotive consumers still describe CAPA parts as generally not as good as OEM parts. Furthermore, questions on the credibility of the CAPA certification, despite its supposedly strict standards, still exist.

Fast food chain Burger King is planning to open six more restaurants in Beijing by June next year, as part of a major expansion in China.

The company, which has 25 outlets in the country, officially opened its first restaurant in downtown Beijing this week in Joy City in the Xidan area.

John Chidsey, chairman and chief executive of Burger King Holdings (BKC), who was in Beijing for the opening of what was the company’s 12,000th restaurant worldwide, said the group was aiming for fast growth.

“We intend to be on a similar scale to our competitors. Certainly a heck of a lot bigger than we are today, ” he said.

Burger King was a relative late entrant to China, not opening its first store until 2005.

KFC, owned by Yum!, which first came to China in 1987, has 2,000 outlets and McDonald’s, having made its debut here in 1992, recently celebrated its 1,000th store opening.

There was speculation earlier this year that McDonald’s had slowed down its expansion in China as a result of the economic downturn.

Chidsey said because Burger King was starting from a low base it had major scope for expansion regardless of economic conditions.

“When you are ahead in the market, any downturn in sales is going to hurt you very bad. If we were offered 10 suitable sites we would take them,” he said.

BKC’s global store development program has accelerated since the company, founded in 1954, was bought by a private equity concern in 2003 and then floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006.

Seventeen of the company’s current 25 China stores are company-owned so as to establish a Burger King business model for China but it intends to grow in future by finding franchise partners.

Its franchise partner in Beijing is Shenzhen-listed Beijing Mainstreets Investment Group Corporation (BMIG), whose major activity is land development.

Brian Li, chairman of BMIG, said his company was actively looking for upscale mall sites like the 200 sq m Joy City mall location, which can seat 110.

“We believe that high quality locations like this encourage people who come here to spread the word about the brand, ” he said.

“It is also difficult for our competitors to move into new developments like this since they have a number of stores in the area already and would just be cannibalizing their own customers.”

Chidsey said there is room for growth in the fast food market in China since eating at foreign branded outlets was no longer a luxury but part of an everyday life of an ever more affluent country.

“It might have been seen as a luxury 15 or 20 years ago but it is now the office club, where people from the office have their lunch,” he said.

Peter Tan, president of BKC Asia-Pacific, who previously held a similar position with McDonald’s, said the target market was people from their late-teens to 30.

“This group wants choice, freedom and the sense of being in control. The good thing about targeting this group is that younger people aspire to be in this age group as do older people who want to be young again,” he said.

Burger King has slightly tweaked its product range to Chinese tastes by introducing the Mala Whopper, a spicier version of its famous hamburger.

Online shopping continues to be popular among internet users in Asia-Pacific with 89 percent of people who participated in a survey saying they had shopped online in the past 12 months, Visa said on Thursday.

According to the Visa eCommerce Consumer Monitor survey, in terms of quarter-on-quarter growth, when compared with other respondents, those from China and India registered the strongest increase in online shopping over the last six months.

Respondents from South Korea (97 percent), China and Japan (94 percent respectively) and Australia (89 percent) reported the largest number of online shoppers of the six key countries surveyed in the Visa eCommerce Consumer Monitor, with 2,380 online interviews made on behalf of Visa with internet users, namely those who access the internet at least once a week.

The most popular items to buy online in the past 12 months were clothes and shoes (55 percent), books (50 percent) and music downloads (49 percent).

The Monitor found that top reasons for online shopping are to be able to shop anytime (80 percent), compare prices and save money (79 percent), find and compare products easily (78 percent) and search for bargains (75 percent).

The Visa eCommerce Consumer Monitor survey was conducted from January to March 2009. Internet users aged 18 to 49 years from six territories (China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia and India) were interviewed to measure their online usage behavior.

Teck Resources Ltd, Canada’s largest base-metals producer, said its partnership with China’s sovereign wealth fund will win the company more coal, copper and zinc sales and provide financing for future acquisitions.

China Investment Corp (CIC), which bought about 17 percent of Teck in July, has helped the company gain better access to customers including Jiangxi Copper Co as well as three of the nation’s largest steelmakers, Chief Executive Officer Don Lindsay said in an interview yesterday in New York.

Teck and China Investment have discussed at least a dozen ways to cooperate, including some acquisitions of a couple of billion dollars, he said. CIC may provide financing for purchases if Teck decided to make any, Lindsay said. While Teck doesn’t need takeovers, “opportunities will continue to be shown to us”, he said.

“We have a financial partner there that has basically the deepest pockets in the world,” said Lindsay, 51, a former investment banker at CIBC World Markets who took over as Teck’s CEO in April 2005. “These people can open doors.”

Teck and CIC have discussed opportunities including copper projects, Lindsay said, without providing details. So far, Teck has chosen not to move ahead because the assets were too low-grade or were subject to environmental or political risks, Lindsay said.

Shares surge

The market hasn’t priced much of a contribution from the CIC partnership into Teck’s shares, and the stock could gain if it leads to additional sales, said John Hughes, an analyst at Desjardins Securities Inc in Toronto. He rates the shares “buy” and doesn’t own any.

“Ultimately, CIC could provide a conduit for Teck to sell additional commodities such as metallurgical coal, zinc and copper into China,” Hughes said in an interview.

Teck’s shares have risen more than sixfold this year, partly driven by a recovery in demand for metallurgical coal, copper and zinc, the company’s three biggest products. Vancouver-based Teck rose 19 cents to C$36.49 on Monday in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.

China’s imports of metallurgical coal this year will surge to more than 30 million tons from 3.2 million tons last year, Lindsay said.

Chinese mainland set an anti-dumping tax rate at 3.8 percent on phenol produced by Taiwan’s Chang Chun Plastics Co., Ltd., the Ministry of Commerce announced Tuesday.

The ministry decided to impose anti-dumping tax on phenol from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Taiwan in 2004. The tax rate was 19 percent.

The company did not export phenol to the mainland during the investigation on which the 2004 anti-dumping ruling was based. The company should be treated as a new exporter to the mainland, the ministry said.

The new anti-dumping rate for the Chang Chun Plastics will be effective on Dec. 2, 2009

Boris Gryzlov, chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said Tuesday that Russia and China have carried out fruitful cooperation between their parliaments and parties in recent years.

Gryzlov, at a meeting with Li Hui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, said he is looking forward to visiting China in 2010. He said that during the trip he will co-chair with Wu Bangguo, China’s top legislator, the fourth meeting of the cooperation committee between the State Duma and China’s National People’s Congress (NPC).

The State Duma will continue to enhance friendly exchanges with China’s NPC so as to advance the Russia-China strategic partnership, Gryzlov said.

The activities held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Russia-China diplomatic ties, together with the success of the Russian Language Year in China this year, embody the close partnership between the two countries, Gryzlov said.

Li, in his turn, praised the State Duma for valuing its ties with China and for its firm support on core issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

China’s leaders highly value the exchanges and cooperation between the two parliaments, Li said.

The NPC has maintained frequent exchanges with the State Duma in recent years, and parliamentary cooperation has made great contributions to promoting the China-Russia partnership, Li said.

On behalf of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Li awarded medals to Gryzlov and Valentin Kuptsov, chairman of the State Duma Committee for Nationalities, to commend their outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese-Russian relations.

A man with an extensive criminal past is being sought following a deadly ambush on four police officers who were gunned down inside a coffee shop in Washington state.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters that Maurice Clemmons, 37, was believed to have been in the area around the time of the shooting, but declined to say what evidence might link him to the shooting.

Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history including aggravated robbery and theft, the sheriff’s office said. He also recently was arrested and charged in Washington state for assaulting a police officer, and second-degree rape of a child. Using a bail bondsman, he posted 150,000 U.S. dollars and was released from jail last week.

On Friday a man entered the coffee shop and gunned down Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; and Officers Ronald Owens, 37; Tina Griswold, 40; and Greg Richards 42. However investigator are unable to find any reason for the shooting. “We have no motive at all,” Troyer said. “I don’t think when we find out what it is, it will be anything that makes any sense or be worth it.”

On Sunday night, a motorcade of dozens of police cars and motorcycles with lights flashing escorted the bodies of the four officers to the medical examiner’s office. Troyer said investigators believe two of the officers were killed while sitting in the shop, and the third was shot dead after standing up. The fourth apparently “gave up a good fight.”

“We believe there was a struggle, a commotion, a fight … that he fought the guy all the way out the door,” Troyer said. “We hope that he hit him.” Investigators were asking area medical providers to report any gunshot wounds.

Dismissing any suggestion that it was a robbery gone bad, Troyer said, “This was more of an execution. A walk in with the specific mindset to shoot police officers.” The officers were catching up on paperwork at the beginning of their shifts when they were attacked at 8:15 a.m. There were marked patrol cars outside and they were all in uniform.

Two employees and a few other customers were in the shop at the time of the attack though none were injured. All were interviewed by the Pierce County sheriff’s investigators.

Authorities say there was no indication of any connection with the Halloween night shooting of a Seattle police officer recently. They say the man charged with that shooting also firebombed four police vehicles in October as part of a “one-man war” against law enforcement. Christopher Monfort, 41, was arrested after being wounded in a firefight with police days after the Seattle shooting. He remains hospitalized in stable condition, the hospital said Sunday. “We won’t know if it’s a copycat effect or what it was until we get the case solved,” Troyer said.

The coffee shop, part of a popular local chain, is on a side street near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, about 56 km south of Seattle. Investigators are continuing to check surveillance video from multiple sources in an attempt to identify a possible getaway car, Troyer said. “We lost people we care about. We’re working to find out who did this and deal with him,” Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told reporters at the scene.

Police in the U.S. state of Washington say they have shot dead the man suspected of killing four police officers at the weekend.

Maurice Clemmons was killed in Seattle early on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff told reporters.

Police had earlier named Clemmons as a possible suspect in the shooting. A reward of 125,000 U.S. dollars had also been posted for information leading to Clemmons’ arrest.

Police have said they do not know why Clemmons, a convicted felon, shot the officers in Lakewood, south of Seattle on Sunday. Clemmons is alleged to have gunned down Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; and Officers Ronald Owens, 37; Tina Griswold, 40; and Greg Richards 42 in an apparently motiveless shooting.

“We have no motive at all,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said on Sunday, “I don’t think when we find out what it is, it will be anything that makes any sense or be worth it.”

Later it emerged that Clemmons may have planned the shooting. Witnesses say he had threatened to kill police officers but did not report those threats until after the slayings, Troyer said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”