Today's (unlinkable) South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's very own syncopantic organ of the CCP, has a plethora of entertaining stories:

1. An Australian expert such as television star Steve Irwin may be invited to Hong Kong to help catch the Yuen Long crocodile.
The young reptile yesterday evaded capture for a third day. In spite of taking advice from Australian specialists, a 20-strong team from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has had no luck so far.

There are 20 of them, and they've not caught the croc, so they'll call a TV personality instead. Another good use of HK tax money

2. It will be the first time the Stones have played in Hong Kong. They had been scheduled to play two concerts in March but cancelled because of Sars.

There are still tickets for sale - "good seats are available but they are going fast", said a Harbour Fest spokesman.

The Stone are on in two days, and there still tickets available. Anywhere else in the world this would have been sold out weeks ago. Still, Harbour Cluster Fest continues.

3. Shenzhen's ambitious plan to reorganise its government has been effectively scrapped because it challenged the power of the Communist Party, according to academics.
A pet project of former mayor Yu Youjun, who has been reassigned to Hunan as vice-governor, the reform envisaged a western-style separation of the government into policymaking, implementation and supervisory divisions. But the plan was allowed to fade into oblivion after his departure.

More political progress in the People's Republic. Can't have different bits of the Governemnt making the policy, implementing it and supervising the necessary bribes too, can we?

There's much more: another full page of China's spaceman and how he makes his kid do homework (fascinating stuff); a two page splash on last night's horse races which co-incidently enough had the SCMP 100th anniversary race; and plenty of other meaningless crap.