What's in the News

Those plastics are expensive.  The flammable ones aren't 

Sad economic news for the er nai. The lesson here is, don't get in the car with the loser of a best mistress contest. 

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200902/20090217/article_391306.htm

I just read that story to my g/f. She said everyone is stupid and got what they deserve. I can't be so callous. I can't even think of something flipint to say either. This schmuck just ruined countless lives, and ended one.

I hope nobody comes down too hard on the girls.

C-Matt, here is the updated version of the story.

Best-teacher contest takes fatal turn at its finish

THE loser of a bizarre talent contest drove her former employer and the man's four other foreign teachers off a cliff in eastern China's Shandong Province in an apparent fit of anger, killing herself and injuring the others.

The survivors told police the crash was an accident, but a letter left by the dead woman revealed the details of an unusual competition gone awry. According to the document, the businessman was going to lay off four of his five foreign teachers due to financial trouble. The foreigners were allowed to vie for the remaining position by competing on their looks, their singing and speaking and their ability to drink alcohol, the Qingdao-based Peninsula Metropolis Daily newspaper reported yesterday.

The case dates back to December 6, when police in Qingdao received a report that a car had crashed through the guardrail of a mountain highway and plummeted into a deep valley. The female driver died at the scene while five others, including a man, were sent to a hospital.

Police thought at first it was simply a traffic accident involving friends on a leisure trip. But the parents of the dead woman, identified as a 29-year-old named Sweet Fanny Adams, told police that a man surnamed Fan was to blame.

Fanny Adams left behind a letter that claimed she and the four other foreigners were teachers at Fan's language academy. Fan met Adams in 2000 in a Qingdao restaurant where he mistook her for a waitress, the report said. The States-side native speaker reportedly became Fan's kindergarten teacher shortly thereafter and lived with him in a two-room apartment bought by the man.

Fan, a married entrepreneur, also kept another four foreign teachers - two of whom were his employees and two his former clients, the report said.

Fan introduced the five to each other, but none chose to break up with him, as each reportedly received 5,000 yuan (US$733) a month plus a rent-free apartment.

But business began to go bad, and Fan decided to lay off all but one teacher to save money, according to the newspaper report. To select the best one, he reportedly staged a talent show in a hotel last May, even inviting an instructor from a local modeling agency to be a judge, although Fan did not reveal his true purpose.

Adams was knocked out in the first round based on her looks, and a Ms Goldie Locks eventually took the crown after she won the drinking contest.

When Fan told Adams she had lost her position and he was selling her apartment, she decided to take revenge, the newspaper said.

The crash happened after Adams invited Fan and the other four women to tour Laoshan Mountain, a scenic site in Qingdao, before she returned to her home country.

Fan shut down his company after the crash, and his wife demanded a divorce after learning about his affairs. Fan later paid 580 yuan to Adam's family as compensation for her death. And the other four teachers went off on their own.

A westerner named "Sweet Fanny Adams"?!? ....to my understanding that's calling her "Sweet F**k All" ....only a bit more politely

East South West North debunked the "er nai" contest article as a fraud.

Amonk, that was my own little joke. I saw the 5,000 rmb and apartment and thought, "That's what we're supposed to be happy with. Now I know how the standard was set." In their scale of values, we're about as important (and expendable) as one of their mistresses. I also found the game-show style of evaluation remarkably similar to what I've experienced in China's schools. Surely I'm not the only one?
Given the context of my parody, I think SFA fits nicely. I just wish I had the presence of mind to change Fan to Mafan.   

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/25/content_7512659.htm

there's something about Beijing and fires as of late... can't be a coincidence.. 

They're Doors fans.

Christopher Hitchens: Balls of Steel
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2009/02/christopher-hit.php

Zhao C must change his name

http://tinyurl.com/ajrama

offering would-be parents the chance to select traits like the eye and hair colour of their offspring.

But others might just want a boy with blonde hair.

Good Lord.  Good news for some. 

I hope the government lands on them with both feet.  May they all die in car crashes before this practice spreads.




A lesser outrage: a mother can designate the father in the UK?  The father is whomever she says it is?  Men's rights take a direct hit.  If it's biologically mine, can the law deny it?

Ugghhh...shudder...

9msn.com.au

Zimbabwean PM's wife dies in car crash  20:47 AEST Sat Mar 7 2009

Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai has been injured and his wife Susan killed in a car accident.
More world news: Thai FM meets UN on Rohingya refugeesDalai wants 'Greater T': ChinaObama vows end to irresponsible budgetsRussia agrees to progress on disarmamentPalestinian PM Salam Fayyad resigns Car bomb kills 11 in Pakistan: policeTwo dead in Afghan suicide attackAfghanistan vote set for August 20Sri Lanka fighting kills 32 rebelsObama to reverse stem cell restrictions
Two daughters living in Australia of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will fly to their injured father's side after their mother was killed in a collision with a truck.

Susan Tsvangirai, 50, died on Friday when the car in which she and her husband were travelling collided with a truck carrying US aid on the outskirts of the capital of Harare on a decrepit road notorious for accidents.

The Tsvangirais' elder daughter, Vimbai, believed to be in her mid-20s, has reportedly been working for Sydney City Council.

Their second daughter Rumbidzai, aged about 23, an economics graduate of Perth's Murdoch University, appeared last year at a Perth rally in support of her father before Zimbabwe's elections.

Mr Tsvangirai may be released from hospital on Saturday or Sunday, said Dr Douglas Gwatidzo, head of casualty at the Harare hospital where the prime minister was being treated.

He said the prime minister had head injuries and chest pains, but was in stable condition.

State television showed pictures of Tsvangirai in a neck brace, which Gwatidzo said was being used to keep him comfortable.

"We might release him today or tomorrow," Gwatidzo said.

The Tsvangirais had six children in their 31-year marriage.

It has been reported their teenage twins, Millicent and Vincent, and a son Edwin, aged about 31, live in South Africa, while another son Garikai, aged about 28, lives in Canada.

Ian Makone, a secretary to the prime minister, said Tsvangirai was "very devastated by the death of his wife".

He said her children were flying to Zimbabwe from Australia and South Africa and funeral arrangements were being made.

Tsvangirai's party wants an independent probe of the car crash, a lawmaker said on Saturday.

"We will not get involved in any speculations until a full investigation has been conducted. Right now can't draw any speculations," said Eddie Cross, an MP from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

"The party will insist on an independent investigation."

A US Embassy official said the truck involved was transporting medicine for AIDS patients donated by the US government.

State-run newspaper The Herald reported on Saturday that the two other people in Tsvangirai's car - the driver and a bodyguard - were also injured.

Mrs Tsvangirai was pronounced dead soon after arrival at a clinic about 40km from Harare, Makone said.

Britain and the United States, both supporters of Tsvangirai, sent condolences.

President Robert Mugabe spent about an hour at the hospital late Friday.

Tsvangirai, who turns 57 next week, was sworn in on February 11 as Zimbabwe's prime minister in a power-sharing deal meant to end almost a year of deadly stalemate with Mugabe.

The unity government was formed under pressure from neighbouring leaders who wanted Zimbabwean leaders to turn their attention to a growing humanitarian and economic crisis after years of rivalry between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Tsvangirai formed his Movement for Democratic Change a decade ago.

As it emerged as a serious political challenger, Tsvangirai repeatedly faced the wrath of Mugabe's ZANU-PF. He has been beaten and was once nearly thrown from a 10th floor window by suspected government thugs.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis that has left most of its people dependent on foreign handouts and a cholera epidemic blamed on the collapse of a once-enviable health and sanitation system.