What's in the News

I've met him. Had dinner with him in Jianxi. he has nothing but contempt for foreigners. He particularly dislikes Americans. He also doesn't seem to understand that some foreigners can understand Chinese spoken between two or more Chinese people. In Chinese he's quite crass. Typical businessman type. Others fawn over him but don't like him. As Decurso said, his English is not very good. He speaks in idioms. In Chinese that shows education in English it just makes him sound like an idiot.

 Yeah an Ozzie friend of mine went to one of his cult meetings. The guy totally ridiculed him in Chinese and was shocked when my friend told him in Chinese that what he was saying was rude. He attempted to apologize in English and my friend told him he couldn't understand his pronunciation and to either speak slower or use Chinese. What a loss of face!

Recommended reading...

VERY funny piece in the latest edition of The Onion entitled:

"Chinese Authorities Execute 10 Million Recalled Toys"

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/chinese_authorities_execute_10

Typical of this little piece of manure:  running behind in election results and tries to show his 'green' credentials - but actually does nothing,.

Australia's PM Goes Green, Opponents See Red

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CANBERRA - Australia's prime minister, facing a tough re-election fight and under pressure over his climate credentials, has pledged new "clean energy" targets in a move environment groups said would not sway green-leaning voters.

By 2020, John Howard said, 15 percent of Australia's energy would come from "clean" sources including solar, wind, nuclear or clean coal, reversing his coalition government's previous reluctance to lift its renewable energy target from 2 percent.

The promise also dropped "renewable" from the government's agenda, paving the way for a controversial switch to nuclear energy, backed by Howard as a greenhouse-friendly alternative.

"It will drive additional investment in renewable energy and other low-emissions electricity generation. This will reduce costs for business, and ultimately for households," Howard said, promising to roll state and national schemes into one.

But environment group Greenpeace said the target only streamlined existing state-based schemes, leaving sunny Australia lagging behind renewable energy leaders such as Germany and Spain, which are harnessing solar and wind power.

"The coalition's clean energy target is a missed opportunity to drive the growth of Australia's renewable energy industry and cut greenhouse pollution," Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham said.

Howard, 68, is expected to call a national election within weeks and is polling well behind the opposition Labor Party, whose leader Kevin Rudd has pledged to sign the Kyoto Protocol capping greenhouse gas emissions in 35 developed nations.

A long-running drought in much of Australia and warnings by international scientists about the impact of global warming have spooked voters and elevated climate change to an election-turning issue.

A Galaxy poll on Monday had Labor 12 points in front of the government, 56 to 44, which would hand a landslide election victory to the youthful Rudd.

Rudd, who is this week tipped to unveil a renewable energy target of 20 percent, also won backing at the weekend from former US vice-president and climate change campaigner Al Gore.

To win over voters Howard has promised a carbon emissions trading system, banned incandescent light bulbs and pledged A$200 million (US$173 million) to combat forest clearing in Asia.

Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne said Howard's clean target of 30,000 gigawatt hours each year did not add up and was just 9 percent of demand projected by the government's official commodities forecaster to reach 342,000 GWh in 2019.

"Around the world, the renewable energy industry is booming. In Australia, where we have tremendous resources and world-leading researchers, our industry is stalling," Milne said. (US$1=A$1.15)


Story by Rob Taylor

Story Date: 25/9/2007

Recommended reading...
VERY funny piece in the latest edition of The Onion entitled:
"Chinese Authorities Execute 10 Million Recalled Toys"

A most excellent article!!!

To 15 percent by 2020?  That will likely happen anyway, even if the guv does nothing.

I got 3 for yez.

Bush's grammar lessons: "Childrens do learn"
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=300075

Things you can buy at auction: (smoked long-ham) (dammit they took it off before i could get it here. Some guy bought a smoker at an auction and found a human leg in it. The previous owner lost it in an accident and kept it there.)

And my favourite, Everyone Loves Elton is now guilty of distributing photos of naked children! The Kingpin of Child Porn! (Er, he gave famous old pictures to a museum but some idiot objected by the sound of it.) http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=300079


Remember, you read it here first. Pictures at 11.

Elton John investigated for child porn after artwork seized
Thursday Sep 27 08:00 AEST
By ninemsn staff

Elton John has become the centre of a child pornography investigation after a painting of two naked girls he donated to an art gallery was seized by authorities.

The artwork was taken by British authorities yesterday after the gallery began fielding a number of complaints, the Times of London reports.

Authorities are concerned the painting, which John said has been published numerous times around the world, could breach UK child pornography laws.

 
"We attended the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead last Thursday at the invitation of the management, who were seeking advice about an item for an exhibition prior to it going on public display," a police spokesperson told the paper.

"This item is being assessed, and Northumbria Police, in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding it."

An investigation has begun to determine whether it violates Britain's 1978 Protection of Children Act.

According to a statement posted on the singer's website, the photograph is one of 149 comprising the "Thanksgiving installation by renowned US photographer Nan Goldin."

"The photograph … has been widely published and exhibited throughout the world," the statement read.

"It … has previously been exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich without any objections of which we are aware."

Neither the artist or the gallery have commented on the investigation.

We told you so...

BEIJING - China's huge Three Gorges Dam hydropower project could spark environmental catastrophe unless accumulating threats are quickly defused, senior officials and experts have warned.

The dam in southwest China, the world's biggest hydropower project, has begun generating electricity and serving as a barrier against seasonal flooding threatening lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Xinhua news agency reported late on Tuesday, citing a forum of experts and officials.

But even senior dam officials who have often defended the project as an engineering wonder and ecological boon now warn that areas around the dam are paying a heavy, potentially calamitous environmental cost.

"There exist many ecological and environmental problems concerning the Three Gorges Dam," the senior officials were quoted as saying. "If no preventive measures are taken, the project could lead to catastrophe."

The US$25 billion dam, whose construction flooded 116 towns and hundreds of cultural sites, is still a work in progress, but state media have said it could be completed by the end of 2008, just after the Beijing Olympic Games.

Wang Xiaofeng, director of the administrative office in charge of building the dam, told the forum that it was time to face up to the environmental consequences of constructing the massive concrete wall across the country's biggest river.

"We absolutely cannot relax our guard against ecological and environmental security problems sparked by the Three Gorges Project," Wang told the meeting, according to Xinhua.

"We cannot win passing economic prosperity at the cost of the environment."


LITANY OF THREATS

Wang cited a litany of threats, especially erosion and landslides on steep hills around the dam, conflicts over land shortages and "ecological deterioration caused by irrational development".

The strikingly frank acknowledgement of problems comes weeks before a congress of the ruling Communist Party that is set to consolidate policies giving more attention to environmental worries after decades of unfettered industrial growth.

Wang revealed that Premier Wen Jiabao had used a cabinet meeting earlier this year to discuss the environmental problems surrounding the dam.

Tensions over residents resettled to steep hills where good farmland is scarce had been reduced and water quality in the dam was "generally stable", Xinhua said.

But the officials and experts were worried about the landslides threatening densely populated hill country.

"Regular geological disasters are a severe threat to the lives of residents around the dam," senior engineer Huang Xuebin told the forum.

Huang described landslides into the dam waters making waves dozens of metres high that crashed into surrounding shores, creating even more damage.

The dam has displaced 1.4 million people and is retaining huge amounts of sediment and nutrients, damaging fish stocks and the fertility of farmland downstream, researchers say.


Story Date: 27/9/2007

Chinese, US citizens charged with espionage in San Francisco
Agence France Presse
September 27, 2007

A Chinese national and a US citizen have been charged with conspiring to steal sensitive microchip designs capable of use in military technology, justice officials said Wednesday.

The US Attorney's office in northern California said Lee Lan and Ge Yuefei had been indicted on multiple charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and to steal trade secrets.

Lee, 42, a US citizen, and Ge, 34, a Chinese national, had sought to steal secrets from their employer, NetLogics Microsystems, and from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, a statement said.

The two men had set up a company for the purpose of developing and marketing products related to the stolen trade secrets, and had attempted to secure funding from the Chinese government, it added.

"The vigorous enforcement of intellectual property statutes increases the economic vitality of this region, and adds to the security of our nation as a whole," US attorney Scott Schools said.

"This office is committed to the prosecution of individuals who seek to benefit foreign governments or instrumentalities with stolen trade secrets."

Lee and Ge have been released on 300,000 dollars bail and must reappear in court on October 29. They face up to 15 years in jail and a 500,000 dollar fine if convicted.

US officials have said China and Russia are spying in the United States at levels close to those of the Cold War.

In July, FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that China's espionage operations were a "substantial concern" and Beijing was stealing US secrets to boost its fast developing military and economy.\

Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that China's military had hacked into the Pentagon's military computer network -- though the Chinese government denied the report.

More than 600,000 toys recalled
Playthings ranging from rakes, jewelry to train sets could contain lead
The Associated Press
Sept. 26, 2007

WASHINGTON - Toys and children’s necklaces made in China were recalled Wednesday, including five more items from the popular Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line, because they contain dangerous levels of lead.

RC2 Corp.’s “Knights of the Sword” series toys and some of its Thomas and Friends items, along with floor puppet theaters and gardening tools and chairs for children, were among the more than 601,000 toys and children’s jewelry announced in the recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recalled toys contain high levels of lead in their surface paint, and the necklaces and jewelry sets contain excessive lead in some of their metal parts, the agency said.

Under current regulations, children’s products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall. The government warned parents to make sure children are not playing with or using any of the recalled products.

This is the second recall from the Thomas & Friends product line after RC2 Corp. on June 13 announced a recall of 1.5 million wooden railway toys. The company is recalling five product items, totaling about 200,000 toys in all, of Thomas & Friends toys not included in the first recall.

Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the CPSC, said the latest recalls were a result of both pressure from her agency and the toy industry’s own initiative.

“There’s been a very concentrated, concerted effort by both the CPSC and the industry to do a top-to-bottom investigation of the products to make sure they are not in violation with any toy safety standards,” said Vallese. “The agency overall has been pushing and strongly suggesting to industry, whether it’s RC2 or anybody else, to do a systematic inventory. Today’s recall is a result of that work.”

“I don’t think consumers have seen the end to lead paint recalls,” she said.

The CPSC announced seven product recalls in all:

Target, the importer of Happy Giddy gardening tools and children’s Sunny Patch chairs, recalled about 350,000 items of the product. The children’s gardening tools and chairs, manufactured by Starite International Ltd., were sold nationwide from August 2006 through August 2007.

RC2 recalled about 200,000 Thomas and Friends Wood Railway Toys and 800 Britain’s “Knights of the Sword” series toys. The five recalled Thomas and Friends items, sold nationwide from March 2003 through September 2007, include the all-black cargo car, toad vehicle, olive green cargo box and all-green maple tree top and signal base accessories.

The “Knights of the Sword” recalled toys products include three items: a mounted silver knight on a red horse with an ax; a mounted silver knight on a red horse with two hands on a raised weapon; and a mounted silver knight on a red horse with a lance. The products were sold at specialty toy stores nationwide from April 2004 through March 2006.

Jo-Ann Stores Inc. recalled about 16,000 children’s toy rakes. The rakes, each about 24 inches long with a yellow duck head attached to the green handle, were sold only at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores from January 2007 to September 2007.

Guidecraft Inc. recalled about 10,000 floor puppet theaters. The recalled puppet theaters, each with a chalkboard surface on the front and colored side panels, were sold nationwide in specialty toy stores, gift shops, catalogs and Web sites from June 2006 through August 2007.

TOBY N.Y.C. expanded its recall of TOBY & ME jewelry sets to include 23,500 more. The company recalled about 14,000 jewelry sets Aug. 22, also due to high levels of lead in the metal jewelry. This recall was expanded to include two additional styles: a pink crystal and wood bead necklace and bracelet set with a monkey pendant as well as a pink and clear crystal bead necklace and bracelet set with a heart pendant.

The recalled products were sold at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, A.J. Wright, Cracker Barrel and Shopko stores nationwide from August 2006 through August 2007.

Rhode Island Novelty recalled about 850 children’s spinning wheel metal necklaces because the clasp on the necklaces contain high levels of lead. This recall includes necklaces with a spinning wheel pendant, which has rhinestones attached to the front and a silver base. They were sold nationwide from November 2006 through May 2007.

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It'll be interesting to see if these companies and this federal agency suddenly turn around and apologize to China...

These toys are not designed in China. They are designed in USAnia , Pommyland, or wherever, then contracted out to Chinese factories to be manufactured to a price! The responsibility lies on the designers to maintain quality control, but this might cost a little more, so they take the gamble. I have no sympathy for those importers who have to bear the costs of recall. They should have done their homework in the first place.

Wow, I figured America would threaten a trade war over these recalls.  I'm utterly gobsmacked that they're pusyfooting around the Chinese on this.

     I think the Yankx have lost face.  They should have gotten tough.  Call me dismayed.  Is it really too late? Is the U.S. over a barrel?

China couldn't sell this shit if there weren't buyers! The buyers, by and large, couldn't care less if the product is bad, poisonous, or faulty. They want something cheaper than their competitors. I have seen so many "offers to buy" on trade websites.....most stipulate a lowest price!! They don't care two hoots how the stuff is made, as long as it doesn't cost more than a dollar!

I think you're too cynical, old bean.  If Mattel had known, surely the basic fear instinct would kick in and they'd avoid being the butt of poisoning jokes on Letterman.

I think they would have planned to have their PR division ready to blame China, but something went wrong.

I think you're too cynical, old bean.

When it comes to Big Business (and politics) there's no such thing as "too cynical".