What's in the News

I'm not sure how many people would be put off by acts of nature, that wouldn't be one of my considerations, given that every country has these little occurrences.  But - dumb visa rules?  Too right!

Someone needs to tell Hu Jin Tao.

It ain't only just the one or two natural occurrences alone, LE.  It's the whole flaming package that's off-putting. 

Oh, and it seems that some of top-level BJ hotels (having already tripled their normal rates in honour of the Summer Event) still have lots of/way too many unbooked rooms still available.  They may even have to end by lowering their (inflated) rates

Why do I suddenly foresee an increased demand for deaf mistresses???

******

Corrupt officials betrayed by pillow talk

Thu Jun 26, 11:56 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Anti-graft authorities in a southern Chinese city are questioning mistresses of suspected corrupt officials and finding the information is paying off prettily, state media said on Thursday.

Mistresses and "second wives" are common among government officials and businessmen in China and are often blamed for driving officials to seek money through bribes or other abuses of power.

"At least 80 percent of corrupt officials exposed in Dongguan had mistresses who gave us important information that we did not possess," Zhou Yuefeng, deputy director of the industrial city's anti-graft bureau told the China Daily.

He declined to give details.

Besides having mistresses, Zhou said receiving bribes in the form of share dividends was also common among corrupt officials in Dongguan.

"Our focus this year will be on the taxation and medical departments." he said. "However, that doesn't mean we won't be looking at corruption in other areas."

A report by China's top prosecutor's office last year said that of 16 provincial-level officials punished for serious graft in the previous five years, most were involved in "trading power for sex," along with gambling, money-laundering and shady land sales to developers.

Dongguan    but, but, but...

Glad they are cracking down.  Could the movie title be, 'Revenge of the Mistresses'?

Give this boy a medal. Instead of locking up their children and molly-cuddling them, parents should take a hint from this awesome kid. Instead of the trite, stupid "Jamie, if a stranger tells you he has candy in his van, run away" routine, it should be, "Jamie, when you beat up perverted sick pedophiles, you must not kill them, only severely maiming is allowed. Otherwise, no dinner or TV!" This kid is a hero. The article is from Austrian News.

The convicted sex offender was allowed to work as a pool monitor...WTF!!! It's a loony hatch out there.

11-year-old boy smacked up 24-year-old child abuser
by admin June 27th, 2008 in Crime
A 24-year-old previously convicted sex offender broke into a guesthouse during the night, where a whole school class found a place to sleep during an excursion week.

The man was searching a boy for his sexual pleasure. He found his victim in an 11-year-old pupil, who returned from the toilet.


He did not know that the 11-year-old is a very talented karate fighter. When he tried to overwhelm the little boy, he was surprised by his brillant skills in martial arts.

The child abuser was seriously smacked up by the 11-year-old boy. After that he was able to escape out of the window.

His getaway was not crowned with success. After a short while he was found by the police and brought into the prison in Graz.

The sex offender already was in prison because of his sexual preferences. He was sent into freedom after a short while, and allowed to work as a pool supervisor[!]. Now he is in prison again. But for how long?

Pleased I didn't have to clear this one up.

Canada Truck Crash Stirs Up 12 Million Angry Bees


CANADA: July 2, 2008


OTTAWA - How do you deal with millions of upset bees? Very carefully.


A truck containing 330 crates of bees, about 12 million of them altogether, overturned on a major highway near the town of St Leonard, New Brunswick, in Eastern Canada on Monday, setting free thousands of irritated stinging insects. Police sealed off the vehicle and called for expert help with the millions that were left inside.

"Trying to unload 12 million agitated bees out of the back of a truck would not be a good situation," said Derek Strong, a local spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

A team of beekeepers arrived and poured smoke into the truck to calm down the bees, which will be moved later in the day. Police said there was no general danger to the public.

"If there's anyone in St Leonard who is allergic to bees, we're recommending they leave town for a couple of hours," Strong told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Very rarely has a simple car crash created such a buzz...

 

It's quite rare that I lol, so to speak.

Apparently, the Chinese earthquake was a "rare type".  Thank Gooodness!!

http://www.livescience.com/environment/080630-china-quake-rare.html

And now we find out that things are looking positively (Old Testament) Biblical for Ole PRC


http://www.latimes.com:80/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-locust3-2008jul03,0,5361489.story

I really liked this line:

Among the Internet search terms restricted in recent months include those linking the earthquake to the curse of heaven, the anger by the heaven or the change of dynasty.

I thought linking the 5 mascots to the 5 different major problems also interesting.  That could spread fast amongst the populace too.


The one about the earthquake won't load for me.

Toilets...Beijing...cleanliness... I'm in disbelief:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-07/04/content_6817886.htm
Now bring them to the rest of China!

Well, hopefully they really did clean the toilets in Beijing! Cause when I was leaving yesterday, even the airport toilets weren't 100% clean 

I cant beleive only 8000 workers have been trained to keep the toilets clean, they have a shit job on their hands, so to speak.  They are never going to stay clean for long and toilet paper wont last long either.

B.C. model working in Shanghai found dead

A young model from Saltspring Island, B.C., was found dead in Shanghai, China, her friends told CBC News on Monday.

Diana O'Brien, 22, had been in China since mid-June after landing a contract with a modelling agency in Shanghai.

RCMP confirmed Monday that they notified a Saltspring Island family of a death but refused to divulge any details or say whether the young woman was a victim of a homicide. Police said they are investigating her death.

"As of yet, the Chinese police are reluctant to divulge any information as it is an ongoing investigation and they must wait for results of an autopsy," Jesse Blanchette, one of O'Brien's friends, told CBC News.

Police in Shanghai had also started a murder investigation of their own but have not said how O'Brien was killed, her friends said.

O'Brien told to dance on podiums: friends

Several of O'Brien's friends, including her boyfriend, gathered at her Saltspring Island home Monday, after learning of her death.

O'Brien had told friends she didn't like working in Shanghai and had bought an airline ticket to return to B.C. in two weeks, after finishing her last assignment.

O'Brien told friends that she did legitimate modelling work but was also asked to dance partially nude for elderly men.

"She thought that was weird. It was right to one of these bars ... the agency had her dancing on the podiums," Brittany Brown, one of O'Brien's friends, said Monday at O'Brien's house.

Brown said friends called various government agencies to try to find out what happened but "no one has called back.

"We need to get to the bottom of things and have some justice served for her and protect other girls from the same thing happening to them," Brown said.

O'Brien began modelling locally more than a year ago and a stint in Milan was her first big break, friends said.

O'Brien was one of 27 female international models listed on the website of Barbara Coultish Model Management, a Victoria-based modelling agency. She just finished three months of modelling in Milan and was in Shanghai this summer on contract work, according to the website.

A spokesperson for the agency refused an on-camera interview with the CBC but said nothing like this has ever happened in its 27-year business in the modelling industry.