Another Fuck China Moment !

China faces new melamine scandal

Alright , it is just plain Ridiculous that this is still happening ,
Bad enough that it happened ONCE, But yet again we see tainted products being sold in China !
Melamine is an Industrial CHEMICAL used to make Plastic Products !
Why do these retards keep putting it in Milk based products?
The trial for the Six guys and three owners of the "Base Product " manufacturer and dealers , is to start soon ! and through all this do you think that anyone has stopped dumping Melamine in their Product ? Hell no !
The Deceptive tactics used by Chinese Manufacturers is beyond believability , It really goes a long way in showing how Chinese manufacturing is Performed , And still we are expected to Purchase products from China !
It is very hard not to purchase something from the Communist Country , and I believe that they will continue to "TAINT" their products for Export Until they are found out !
An all Boycott is in order , But very difficult to do !
What we need is our "Government" to impose sanctions on Chinese goods !
Stop the flood of Shitty ,fucked up crap ! that flows freely out of China !
And you want to help the Economy ? BRING BACK OUR MANUFACTURING JOBS !

BEIJING (Reuters) - More than 1,500 boxes of Chinese biscuits exported to Hong Kong and Singapore have tested positive for melamine as suspects in the protracted tainted-food scandal go on trial in China, local media reported on Tuesday.

The scandal has battered faith in Chinese-made products after a series of food- and product-safety scares and led to recalls of Chinese-made dairy products around the world. At least six babies died after drinking contaminated formula in China and hundreds of thousands fell ill.

Melamine is an industrial compound used in making plastic chairs, among other things, and is added to food to cheat nutrition tests.

Quality inspectors in Dongguan in the southern province of Guangdong found the latest contaminated biscuits after examining 13 batches of 4,800 boxes for export after neighboring Hong Kong, a "special administrative region" of China, and Singapore reported tainted samples, the China News Service said.

The tainted products had been destroyed while others were sent back to the manufacturer, it said. Investigations showed the melamine in the biscuits came from milk powder, it added.

Tian Wenhua, former chairwoman of Sanlu Group, goes on trial on Wednesday along with other three senior executives of the company that was at the heart of the scandal and since gone bankrupt, the Beijing News said.

By Monday, 17 suspects involved in producing, selling, buying and adding melamine into raw milk had gone on trial, the China News Service said.

Taliban = Big Pussies

Taliban threaten to kill Pakistani schoolgirls

The Taliban are such Pussies ! What the hell are they afraid of ? Going around and Killing School girls ? Blowing up any school that teaches girls ! With all the Bullshit going on in the world Here we have the Taliban , Doing whatever they want and NO-ONE says a thing !
It seems like the whole World is out of balance with normality !
When has it become O.K. for little douchebags like the Taliban to get away with murder and basic enslavement of the people of Assghanistan , But when Israel retaliates against another group of douchbags , Hamas , the whole fucking world gets their panties in a bunch , Israel is Defending itself !!! The Taliban are fucking vicious murderers !!! it's not that hard to figure out but it seems that a lot of people see it the other way around !!!!
the times of IndiaH/T Kyros

ISLAMABAD:Taliban extremists in Pakistan's troubled northwest Swat valley have banned girls from attending school, threatening to kill any female
students, officials said Thursday.

The threat was delivered this week by local Taliban commander Shah Durran in an address carried on an illegally-run radio station in the area, local officials told AFP.

"You have until January 15 to stop sending your girls to schools. If you do not pay any heed to this warning, we will kill such girls," one official quoted the commander as saying.

"We also warn schools not to enrol any female students; otherwise, their buildings will be blown up."
The mountainous Swat valley was until last year a popular tourist destination featuring Pakistan's only ski resort.

But the region has been turned into a battleground since radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan's Taliban movement, launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in the valley.

Durran said local Taliban leaders were determined not to allow girls to attend school, saying: "We want to enforce the true Sharia in the area -- for this, we are fighting and laying down our lives."

Swat residents said Taliban fighters had already destroyed scores of government-run schools, leading some to set up private schools in their homes to educate girls.

An official at the Pakistani education ministry said there are about 1,580 schools registered in Swat -- once known for its top-flight schools.

But the official, Naeem Khan, said: "Already Taliban militants have destroyed 252 schools, mainly those where girls and boys were studying together."

Education has suffered badly in Swat as a result of the ongoing fighting between Taliban-linked militants and security forces, with only a handful of schools still open in the region's main city Mingora, Khan said.

The government had reached a deal with the rebels in May to gradually pull out troops and introduce an Islamic justice system in exchange for an end to rebel attacks, but the violence eventually resumed.

Police Commit Murder, Arson During Forced Relocation

This story is so fucked up it is just unbelievable !
If this were to happen here , The entire United States would be in a tizzy !
The Bastards ( Pussys ) Killed this guys Mother And then threw him And his brother in jail charged with their mother's Murder !
What the fuck is wrong with these idiot's ?The Epoch Times

Nanjing police beat to death Wu Zhonghua’s 78-year-old mother while trying to evict him and his family. The local authorities in turn charged Wu’s brothers with murder of their mother and arson. The convicted brothers have now spent over a year in prison on these charges.

Wu Zhonghua, a resident of Nanjing’s Xuanwu district, explained to The Epoch Times that city planners had decided to include their inherited property in a new public park and ordered them to relocate. According to Wu, they are just one of the many cases of forced relocations occurring in Nanjing.

In 2007, the local real estate prices ranged from $65-$82 per square foot. Wu’s family asked for $49 per square foot for compensation, but the local authorities were only willing to pay $34 per square foot. After a one time meeting between the authorities and Wu’s family, no agreement for the sale of their property was negotiated.

On the morning of April 27, 2007, the deputy director of the Nanjing Public Security Bureau, Huang Xinguo, led hundreds of police, special force police and law enforcement officers to break into the Wu residence. The authorities claimed to be firefighting, and then pried open the building door, smashed the windows and set fire to the house.

When Wu’s brothers and mother rushed outside to escape the fire, six policemen attacked them, according to Wu. His mother was beaten to death on the spot. The police also kicked Wu repeatedly in the groin till he lost consciousness. Wu’s 60-year-old brother, 56-year-old sister and 50-year-old brother were all seriously wounded and required urgent care

Wu was sent to the local police station and then held in secret detention at a local hospital. He was later detained at a local detention center for over a year.
To date, the Wu family still has not received any compensation from the Xuanwu district. After filing many written requests to the local authorities to prosecute their mother’s murderer, the family was only told, “There is no crime evidence. The case can not be established.”

The local authorities first reported that Wu’s mother had died of a heart attack. According to the local state-controlled media’s report, Wu’s brothers were not happy about the offered relocation compensation, and they committed arson, which caused their mother’s death.
According to Wu, the court had access to his mother’s autopsy report and photos, but just ignored them. He also believed that the prosecutor fabricated the evidence. “The local prosecutor used edited video clips to arrest my brothers. The court also sentenced them for arson without any conclusive evidence,” said Wu.

“We have no other choice but to risk our lives in our efforts to reveal to the public the truth of these brutal forced relocations sanctioned by the authorities,” explained Wu.

Mery efing Xmas !!!

Ah ! Michigan ! the winter wonderland !
I have been in culture shock mode every since I got home ! I went from 65 , 70 degree weather , to the frozen wasteland that is Michigan ! Fucking snow everyday !!!
But it is home , and excluding the Incident that wasted the ass end of my Jeep ! it's been a real trip !

This is what I have been driving in all week !

Bah HumBug !

Before I forget !

Slipknot , has to be one of the most ultimate bands ever ! The shear brutality of the controlled chaos they create has yet to be rivaled !

Stupid ass Politician !

This Jackass is a real piece of work ! I think it would be hard to be more Busted than this Douche Of a Democrat is busted !!!
But Denial reigns supreme in politics when you have just plain Fucked up!
Should he step down ,Hell Yes ! it should not even be a question!
should he be prosecuted , Most definitely ! and he should get the harshest penalty Allowed for this kind of crime !
Anyone who defends this Prick , In the court or outside , should also be investigated ( where there is smoke their is a crooked politician)
I'm not saying that everyone is Guilty , It's just that when you are caught red handed "SELLING" a political seat in any way ! It should be hard for you to stick up for the guy!

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request that embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich be temporarily removed from office amid charges he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.

The ruling, issued without comment, came as Blagojevich began fighting efforts in the state legislature to impeach him.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat as is Blagojevich and Obama, had asked the court to use a never tested provision allowing the governor to be removed for disability, saying that the charges against him placed him in that category.

"Because of Governor Blagojevich's refusal to resign, the state of Illinois is in an unsustainable situation," Madigan said in a statement after the Supreme Court decision.

"The serious criminal charges against Governor Blagojevich strike directly at the heart of his decision-making process and seriously impede his ability to legitimately exercise the powers of his office," she said. "I am hopeful that the General Assembly will act with deliberate speed."

Blagojevich and his chief of staff were charged on December 9 with conspiracy to bribe in a scheme to swap political favors, including choice of Obama's replacement, for cash, high-paying jobs or other considerations. They have not been indicted and the governor through his lawyers has denied any wrongdoing.

Obama's U.S. Senate seat at the center of the scandal remained unfilled, with Blagojevich holding sole power to fill it but not acting in the face of suspicion that any choice would now be tainted.

Quick action to fill the seat now looks unlikely before Congress convenes on January 6 ahead of Obama's inauguration.

LAWYER CHALLENGES LAWMAKERS

Blagojevich sent his criminal defense lawyer, Edward Genson, to the state capitol in Springfield to challenge a committee of state lawmakers trying to decide whether impeachment proceedings -- with possible removal from office -- are warranted.

"I find nothing, nothing ... that talks about what the basis for impeaching can be," or what it takes to prove the action is warranted, Genson told the bipartisan committee.

Genson, a prominent Chicago defense attorney who recently helped the R&B star R. Kelly gain acquittal on child pornography charges, also suggested that some members of the House panel be removed because they had already said in public that impeachment is warranted.

The panel's chair, state Rep. Barbara Currie, a Democrat from Chicago, told Genson the hearing was not a court of law and that members could not be expelled.

She said she was satisfied there was a legal underpinning for the committee, which could meet for weeks before deciding on impeachment proceedings.

The federal complaint filed last week by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was detailed in a 76-page affidavit supported by numerous court-approved wiretaps.
Fitzgerald's investigation is still going on and he has made clear Obama is not implicated in the matter.

Blagojevich on Wednesday went on with business as usual, telling reporters in Chicago that he is "dying" to tell his side of the story and would do so soon.

When the new U.S. Congress meets in January, Democrats will hold 57 of the 100 Senate seats, with the Illinois seat vacant and the outcome of a Republican-held Minnesota Senate race still undecided.

Democrats are counting on retaining Obama's seat for their party. Republican-backed efforts to hold a special election that they would have a chance of winning have so far failed.

I Don't Wanna Work !

Less than five days before I head home for Christmas ! I almost can't take it !!!

Another Fuck China Moment !!!

Chinese Regime Resumes Blocking Websites Opened During Olympics !
Well that did not take long!
China has gone back to ruling with an Iron fist !
It's truly amazing that any information gets out of China , The way that they clamp down on everything !
Eventually they will get what they deserve!

Epoch times China

Under pressure from foreign media, the Chinese government withdrew the ban on several overseas websites during the Beijing Olympics. These sites have recently been blocked again.

Two weeks before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese government’s Internet firewall allowed access to several overseas websites which were considered very sensitive, including Radio Free Asia, Voice of America (VOA), BBC Chinese Network, Hong Kong’s Mingpao Daily News, Asia Weekly and Apple Daily News and others. However, these sites can no longer be accessed in China.

Huang Liangtian, former editor-in-chief for Journal of the Common People,” and current editor-in-chief for “China Agriculture Week” told Radio Free Asia, “Your website has been blocked since last month. Ming Bao Daily News and other sensitive websites have been very hard to open since early this month. BBC and VOA Chinese Network have already been blocked too.”

Like many throughout China, Huang is very dissatisfied with how the government has affected his ability to receive information. “They are throttling freedom of the press,” said Huang. “And it’s all because the Chinese government is not ready to open up to the outside world. The beneficiary group (the government) uses this method to maintain so-called stability. Superficial stability overrides everything [in China], even the law and freedom.”

When the Chinese government bid on and hosted the Olympic Games, they promised the world on several occasions that they would provide the foreign press with full freedom when they visited, including unblocking previously banned overseas websites.

In July, China’s State Press and Publication Director Liu Binjie emphasized that China’s freedom of information would not only be a promise honored during the Olympics, but a trend the nation would carry for the long term.

However, in less than half a year, sensitive overseas sites remain blocked again. Zan Aizong, an activist for Internet freedom, said that although he expected it to happen, he is still frustrated.

The reporter tried to contact China’s General Administration of Press and Publication to inquire about these blocked sites, but calls could not go through.

Space Shuttle

What a surprise to be at work and to look up and see this !
The Space Shuttle Endeavor flew right over our jobsite at Mc Gregor range in New Mexico , on its way to Biggs field ( Fort Bliss ).
It was such a surprise that I forgot I had my camera , and did not get a better picture ! but it sure was Awesome !


click to enlarge.

Cant stand this weather !

Sent home early today due to shitty weather , I can get this kind of crap in Michigan , but El Paso Texas and snow !

DIMEBAG DARRELL!

Dimebag Darrell - August 20 1966 - December 8 2004 , truly one of the greatest guitar players ever ! His sounds alone were like cleaning your ears with a chainsaw ( and I mean that in a good way )

O.J. Simpson's trail of trials

Speaking of Assholes , O.J Simpson Finally gets what he has deserved all along , A nice little stint in the Pokey ( pun intended )
No riots anywhere ? Oh , Because he is guilty as hell ! just like the last time !!!!! This is what I call a feel good story!
Here's a little account of his trials!

The L.A Times Jan. 24, 1995: Simpson's trial begins.

June 14: Simpson tries on the pair of leather gloves that prosecutors allege he wore during the killings. Simpson says they are "too tight."

Sept. 27: Simpson attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. urges jurors to deliver a verdict that "talks about justice in America." Of the gloves, he says, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."

Oct. 3: After less than a day of deliberations, the jury's not-guilty verdict is announced on national TV.

Jan. 22, 1996: Simpson testifies for the first time in a pretrial deposition for wrongful-death suits that the victims' families and estates have filed against him.

Feb. 10, 1997: The civil jury orders Simpson to pay $33.5 million to relatives of Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman.

Dec. 4, 2000: Simpson is involved in an altercation with another driver in a Miami suburb. A jury later acquits Simpson.

Dec. 4, 2001: Federal authorities and Florida police raid Simpson's Miami-area home as part of a probe into a drug ring. No charges are filed against Simpson.

Sept. 13, 2007: Simpson and an entourage confront two collectors in a Las Vegas hotel room over memorabilia that Simpson said had been stolen from him.

Sept. 18: Simpson and three others are charged with felonies, including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

Oct. 3, 2008: A jury convicts Simpson on all charges.

Dec. 5: Simpson is sentenced to a maximum of 33 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in nine years.

Hey You , Jihadi Bitches!!!

You tube Muzzys ! lookout !!
Operation you tube Smackdown is gaining momentum ! you little punks will soon have to try and get your message of hate , intolerance and Blatant goat molesting ,out somewhere else !



Props to - Hirabisthunter , the entire you tube smackdown corps , and all who support them!!!

Somali pirates to free Yemen cargo ship

Nobody has a good Idea of how to stop the Pirates from hijacking any more ships ! so they keep negotiating their way out of these situations ! the Pirates are being pressured to release the Yemini ship because it is one from their own area !!!
A nice naval blockade along with a lot of Ammo , and the will to just eliminate these meatbags from the earth is all it will take ! fuck going on land , that is a lost cause ! Don't let them ever leave the land again , that should reduce the threat to a insignificant level!!!

BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - Somali pirates have agreed to release a Yemeni cargo ship, the MV Amani, without ransom, after negotiations between the hijackers, local elders and provincial officials, a minister said on Friday.

"No ransom was paid, but after negotiations, the pirates will get off the ship soon. The Yemeni ship will be released in the coming hours," Ali Abdi Aware, state minister of the northern province of Puntland, told Reuters.

The ship was seized on November 25 in the Gulf of Aden. No other details about the vessel, its crew and cargo were available.

Aware said the Yemeni ambassador to Somalia was also in Puntland to participate in the negotiations to release the ship.

A surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden has sent foreign warships rushing to the area, but the attacks continue despite the huge presence of international forces.

In a separate development, a Kenyan maritime official said on Sunday that gunmen who captured a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks and other military hardware had reached a deal with its owners to release the vessel.

The pirates and owners of the MV Faina were discussing arrangements for delivering the money, said Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

The pirates had previously demanded a $20 million ransom.

Somali pirates have taken advantage of chaos on the Somali mainland to launch attacks offshore in a major global sea artery used by about 20,000 vessels a year. The gangs normally seek and often received large ransoms, and it is rare for pirates to release vessels without some monetary incentive.

U.S. Troops Kill Taliban Commander Clad in Woman's Clothing

I know this has been posted all over the place but you know it is so damn fitting that this puke bag be caught in his evening gown! I think that if these homo's were to just come to grips with their sexual orientation , they would be much happier and therefore less likely to want to commit Jihad !( not that there is anything wrong with being a homo dressed in a Burqa but you know!)
from fox news

KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunbattles and airstrikes by NATO and Afghan troops killed 53 militants in Afghanistan, including a wanted Taliban commander who tried to hide from soldiers under a woman's burqa, officials said Saturday.

The U.S. forces targeting the commander surrounded a house Friday in Ghazni province and ordered everyone inside to leave, a military statement said.

Six women and 12 children left the building, but while soldiers were questioning the women they discovered one was actually a man dressed in a burqa, the traditional all-encompassing dress that most Afghan women wear. The man, later identified as the targeted commander Haji Yakub, tried to attack the soldiers and was killed, the military said.

Yakub allegedly directed roadside bomb and suicide attacksagainst Afghanistan's government and coalition forces in Ghazni, according to the statement. Three other militants were killed in the operation, it said.

Meanwhile, Afghan and coalition forces killed 33 militants when their patrol came under attack in southern Helmand province Friday, a military statement said. The troops responded to the attack with gunfire and air support,it said.

In Kandahar province, meanwhile, a three-day NATO-Afghan operation in Zhari district killed 12 militants, said police Chief Matiullah Khan. No police were killed in the operation, which finished on Friday, he said.

Police in western Farah province said they killed four insurgents setting up a makeshift base in a village, apparently aiming to launch strikes on Farah city.

Residents of Raj, about two miles north of Farah city, tipped off officials that a convoy of enemy fightershad arrived in the village, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Ghafar Watandar said.

Afghan army and police attacked the nine-vehicle convoy, killing four insurgents and wounding another three as other insurgents fled, Watandar said. An Afghan police officer was also killed in the gunbattle, he said.

Afghanistan has seen a spike in violence over the last two years as more international troops pour into the country to battle a growing militant insurgency. Some 65,000 international forces now operate in Afghanistan.

More than 5,800 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.

Wal-Mart Morons kill a man !

What the hell is wrong with you people that do this black Friday shopping bullshit? Shootings and a stampede ? killing a temp worker ? I hope they go over this tape and prosecute as many of these scum bags as possible !
I hope you all saved a few bucks , was it worth it ?
Fucking Morons!!!the L.A.Times

Wal-Mart worker dies in shoppers' stampede Friday morning's two shootings in Palm Desert weren't the only violent deaths on Black Friday: Across the country hours earlier, shoppers straining to get into a Wal-Mart in a New York City suburb trampled an employee, police said.

The three fatalities struck a somber note on the day after Thanksgiving, which is traditionally a day of leftovers, football and bargains at the mall.
At 5:03 a.m. Friday, customers surged toward a Long Island Wal-Mart store's entrance.

A 34-year-old temporary employee was killed when a "throng of shoppers . . . physically broke down the doors, knocking him to the ground," according to a statement from Nassau County officials.

He was declared dead at a hospital at 6:03 a.m. The exact cause of death has not been determined.

The surge at the Valley Stream store on Long Island also left three shoppers with minor injuries, and a pregnant 28-year-old woman was taken to a hospital, according to Nassau County officials.

A Wal-Mart statement called the situation tragic. "The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority," the company said.

Store managers had expected a large crowd on Black Friday and had requested additional internal and third-party security, more store associates and help from the Nassau police. Barricades were even put up, according to a follow-up statement from Hank Mullany, a senior vice president for the company and president of its northeast division.

"Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred," Mullany said.

FDA sets 'safe' levels for melamine in baby formula

The FDA finally decides it is O.K. to give babies Melamine , I don't really think that it is O.K. !
Safe levels or not , WHY is it in the formula in the first place ?
China started out saying the same thing to it's people and the world when their problem first arose , and look what happened there!
Now they say that they found traces of "Cyanuric Acid"
( Also used as chlorine ,
Cyanuric acid is classified as "essentially nontoxic."[1] The 50% oral median lethal dose (LD50) is 7700 mg/kg in rats.[9]

However, when cyanuric acid is administered together with melamine (which by itself is another low-toxicity substance), they may form extremely insoluble crystals,[10] leading to formation of kidney stones and potentially causing kidney failure and death -- as evidenced in dogs and cats during the 2007 pet food contamination and in children during the 2008 Chinese milk scandal cases. From Wikipedia )

I Don't really trust the FDA , I Believe they are a bought and sold entity within the Government , Any one who wants to tell me what I can or can't put in my body ( Vitamins ,and supplements )Can basically kiss my ass! They , along with some members of congress ,want to make Vitamins , A controlled Substance ! But it is O.K. to put plastic and acid in your babies formula????

(CNN) -- After first saying that they could not determine a threshold for the safe amount of certain toxic chemicals in infant formula, Food and Drug Administration officials said Friday that trace amounts are safe.
"Amounts of the industrial chemical melamine or the melamine-like compound called cyanuric acid that are below 1.0 ppm [1,000 parts per billion] do not raise public health concerns," said Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

When it became known in September that thousands of babies in China had been sickened by tainted infant formula, the FDA ordered the testing of U.S.-manufactured infant-formula products.

Sundlof said Friday that results from 74 of 87 samples of infant formula and other products babies and young children had been completed. The results of the other 13 are pending.
That total differed slightly from the one the FDA offered Thursday, when its acting commissioner of public affairs, Judy Leon, told CNN that 77 sample results had been completed and just 10 were outstanding.

Among the 74 final test results discussed Friday, the FDA said, two samples of Nestle's Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron tested positive for melamine at levels of 137 and 140 parts per billion, well below the level of concern cited by Sundlof.

In addition, three samples of Mead Johnson's infant powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron, tested positive for cyanuric acid at an average of 247 parts per billion, also well below the FDA trace level.

The FDA's October 3 risk assessment of melamine and its analogues concluded that "levels of melamine and its analogues below 2.5 ppm in foods other than infant formula do not raise public health concerns."

But the agency said then that it did not have enough data to determine a safe level of melamine and its analogues in infant formula.

On Friday, an FDA official said it was still not possible to determine a safe level for infant formula containing both melamine and cyanuric acid compounds, but officials "believe that at very low levels there should not be any health concerns."

more at CNN.com
Nice HuH ? they get paid all that money ,and try to tell us it is O.K. , then they say they don't know really what a safe level is ? So go ahead and keep feeding this formula to your babies it "SHOULD" be Alright!

Over 1,000 melamine babies still in China hospitals

Just a little update about the Melamine situation in China !

BEIJING (Reuters) - Over a thousand Chinese infants are still in hospital receiving treatment for kidney damage caused by tainted milk, China's Health Ministry said on Thursday, more than two months after the scandal broke.

A total 50,741 children have recovered and been discharged, since news that many dairy products were contaminated with an industrial chemical sent parents rushing for check-ups.

Four children died from problems caused by melamine and there was a global panic as products including sweets, biscuits and ice-cream were found to be contaminated.

The scandal fueled domestic fears about the food safety and dented the "made in China" brand at a time of global slowdown and sluggish exports.

The United States has since banned all imports of Chinese food products unless they are certified either free of diary or free of melamine.

The white powder was added to watered down milk because it mimics protein in some quality tests, and has since shown up in eggs because it was added to animal feed for the same reason.

It is normally used in making plastics including floor tiles, whiteboards and kitchenware.

Door-to-door screening of more than 307,000 Beijing families with children under the age of three found that over 75,000 babies had been fed contaminated milk formula, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Heading home!!!

Only for a week though , but it has been awhile since I have been home !
were taking a road trip this time (me , five co workers )
WE are driving straight through from El Paso ,To DETROIT ( the northern burbs really , but close enough!)Posting will be erratic at best! but I will try and do some ,the wife plans on having me quite busy ,lots of stuff to fix around my house !

Rise in unemployment sparks suicide bids in Hong Kong

This is how the Chinese deal with financial ruin and distress over the job prospects ( or lack of )
with the big three looking to to tank next , an estimated 3 million people will be out of a job ( just in America I believe ) If the Government can help out the stupid banks that helped start the ball rolling , and the even stupider people who were ignant enough to take one of the stupidest mortgages ever put on paper , Then they most certainly should Help out the big three with their problems , they are the ones employing people at a bad time in our history ,Its only fair !!!!
No jobs , No houses , we could start seeing Suicides here like in China!!! From China news

A jobless driver leapt to his death from the 33rd floor of a building in Hong Kong, becoming the latest victim of the economic downturn, the police said Wednesday.

The 29-year-old married man was confirmed dead at the scene after jumping Tuesday evening from the window of his flat. He had been out of work for a month.

His suicide came as government statistics revealed growing job losses and a fall in the number of job vacancies in the city of 6.9 million people.

On the same day, a decorator who had just lost his job prepared to jump from a window in a flat where he had been working, but was talked down to safety.

The cases are the latest in a series of suicides and attempted suicides in Hong Kong that have been linked to debt and the economic slump.

Last month, a 62-year-old businessman leapt to his death from the eighth floor of a building after suffering huge losses as the stock market posted its biggest selloff in more than 10 years.

In September, a 59-year-old businessman and his wife killed themselves and their two-year-old son because of the fear that they faced financial ruin.

Security for any Afghan Taliban talks, Karzai says

I would not trust the Taliban as far as I could toss a Grenade at them ( I don't throw well ) But Mr. Karzai , Along with the Obamasiah seem to think that they might be trusted !
I guess it is not out of the realm of possibilities , But we are talking about the Taliban , The guys who throw Battery acid in school girls faces , the guys who just willy nilly ,kill anyone they please , even their own for speaking against them and their suicide bombing campaign !
Trust ? Hell no ! Talk , from a distance ,Maybe ? Surround ,contain /kill ! everyday of the week!!!

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday he would guarantee security for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar if he ever wanted to negotiate and said Western allies should remove him or leave if they disagreed with that.

With the Taliban insurgency spreading seven years after the hardline Islamists were forced from power, the possibility of talks with more moderate Taliban leaders is increasingly being considered, both in Afghanistan and among its allies.

The Afghan government says it is willing to talk to anyone who recognizes the constitution.

A tentative first step toward talks was taken in September when a group of pro-government Afghan officials and former Taliban officials met in Saudi Arabia for discussions on how to end the conflict.

But the Taliban have rejected any suggestion of talks as long as foreign troops remain. Karzai, who visited the United States and Britain last week, said that Taliban condition was unacceptable.

However, Karzai said he would guarantee the safety of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar if he ever wanted to talk peace.

"If I hear from him that he is willing to come to Afghanistan or to negotiate for peace ... I, as the president of Afghanistan, will go to any length providing protection," Karzai said.

"If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar, the international community has two choices: remove me or leave if they disagree," he said.

"PROVE THEMSELVES"

But Karzai said there was a way to go before a security guarantee for Mullah Omar was even an issue. He was still waiting for the Taliban to prove that they wanted peace.

"We are not in that stage yet. Right now, I have to hear it from the Taliban leadership, that they are willing to have peace in Afghanistan. They must prove themselves," he said.

Mullah Omar carries a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. As with Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders, Omar is believed to be in hiding somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Violence in Afghanistan has surged over the past two years, raising the doubts about prospects for the country and its Western-backed government.

About 70,000 foreign troops, about half of them American, are struggling against the Taliban, whose influence, and attacks, are spreading through the countryside in the south, east and west.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has also suggested he was open to talks with more moderate Taliban leaders to explore whether a strategy used in Iraq of talking to enemies, that is credited with helping turn around the situation there, would work in Afghanistan.

Chinese economic figures take on disturbing trend

I'm no Economist ,but I think this means China is in deep shit ! It will be tough to watch their Economy Tank like ours !
I just hope that in the end ,they are the ones that choke the longest!!!

China news , China has released the disturbing news that its economic growth is slowing drastically.

The growth in China's industrial output slowed to 8.2 per cent in October, compared to 11.4 per cent a month earlier.

Premier Wen Jiabao, on the occasion of unveiling an $880 billion stimulus package, declared that the effects of the world economic crisis on China had been worse than expected.

China's overall industrial output figures have dropped considerably and October's 8.2 per cent growth was a sharp reduction on the 17.9 per cent in October 2007.

Major Chinese Cyber Attacks on U.S. Continue

There still is some spying going on in the world ,it is just done on the internet now !If the U.S Government can prove that China's Military is actively hacking Government PC'S then we should launch an all out assault on their system , see how they like it !
Oh, and maybe our people should uh BEEF UP SECURITY ON THEIR SYSTEMS!!!

The Epoch Times , A federal investigation was launched recently when the computer systems of both candidates Barack Obama and John McCain were found to have been compromised by hackers inside China.

The report on the attacks was originally released by Newsweek, which said that Obama’s campaign team was approached by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service, who told them, “You have a problem way bigger than you understand,” said the report. “You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.”A similar report was released by the Financial Times on Nov. 6, which said that U.S. defense companies have had attacks on their systems, warning that the attacks could be attempts to learn about future weapon systems. A senior U.S. official also told the Financial Times that Chinese hackers have infiltrated the computers of the White House on numerous occasions, extracting information such as e-mails between government officials.

Dr. Li, from the Internet Freedom Consortium told The Epoch Times that the U.S. government is still “naïve,” in many ways.

“What the Chinese are most interested in is how the election goes,” said Li, who requested that his first name not be published. “In their mentality they want to control the outcome of the election. From processing the information they can see what they can do for the next election.”

The Internet Freedom Consortium is the largest anti-censorship operation in the world and focuses on dismantling government firewalls in oppressed countries such as China and Iran. A grassroots operation, they have been fighting an invisible information war with China for years, focusing on creating ways for people living there to break through the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) internet censorship and information blockades.

Dr. Li warned that the risk of Chinese hackers stretches from simple independent hackers trying to make a name for themselves, right up to the Chinese military.

Li said that there is a false understanding in the West that if they help the CCP improve its economy and technology, it will improve its human rights. One example he gave was that before China was granted the rights to hold the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, they had agreed to improve their human rights, yet leading up to the Olympics, human rights in China worsened. “Unfortunately the U.S. companies and U.S. government are kind of naive of what’s going on. They always say that China will improve if they help with its economy and technology, but it didn’t work.”

“Some people have given China very good technology but they have only helped the CCP censor information. They have turned it into a superpower,” said Li. “They helped the CCP build its technology and economy, but the people there are still not free. The technology has become something that has helped it suppress its people.”

“The U.S. government and the American people are just being utilized by China,” said Li. “If they think [the Chinese communist officials] are as much of gentlemen as they are, they are very naive.”

read the whole thing

California = Embarrasing!

Whatever happened to the Majority rules ? when the people vote on a proposal , their vote should count ! not be subject to a court or some fruitcake that just plain disagrees!
California is now an Embarrassing state in our nation .
Growing up in San Diego was a wonderful time in my life , now it is hard to Admit to it.
The political system in the country is corrupt ,but in California it is plain Criminal !
To think that the people just don't understand a Proposition ,to the point of where it is passed and now because someone did not get their way they want to take your vote away and give it to a court ? INSANE!!!!

Democratic legislators ask state Supreme Court to void Prop. 8

The L.A. times Reporting from Sacramento -- Forty-three Democratic legislators, including leaders of the California Senate and Assembly, filed a brief Monday urging the California Supreme Court to void Proposition 8.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and incoming President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg signed the friend of the court brief, filed with the state Supreme Court.No Republican legislator signed the petition, though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, denounced the anti-gay marriage measure over the weekend.

With almost 11 million ballots tallied, Proposition 8 had 52.3% of the vote to 47.7%. Although many ballots remain to be counted, the 500,000-vote spread is viewed as insurmountable.

"The citizens of California rely on the Legislature and the courts to safeguard against unlawful discrimination by temporary, and often short-lived, majorities," the legislators said in the document, written by attorneys at the firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

"This is a Hail Mary, no question about it," said Frank Schubert, manager of the Proposition 8 campaign.

Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown's office would be obligated to defend the initiative. But Schubert said that if the high court agrees to hear the case, backers of the initiative would seek to intervene to defend it.

In their brief, lawmakers described the 500,000-vote margin as a "bare majority," and said it was "compromising the enduring constitutional promise of equal protection under the law."

"Proposition 8 seeks to effect a monumental revision of this foundational principle and constitutional structure by allowing a bare majority of voters to eliminate a fundamental right of a constitutionally protected minority group," the brief says.

"If Proposition 8 takes effect, this court will no longer be the final arbiter of the rights of minorities," it continues.

The action contends that the ban, created by the initiative that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, cannot be done by a mere constitutional amendment. Rather, it must be done by a revision of the entire Constitution and the Legislature would have to be involved.

As advocates of same-sex marriage turn to courts, protests, and perhaps a future ballot measure in an attempt to overturn Proposition 8, Schubert declared that the vote is "as over as Barack Obama's election."

The chief strategist for Proposition 8 said the best way to overturn the measure would be to place an initiative on the ballot that would repeal it. But he doubts that will happen.

"Politically, this was the best chance they could have possibly had," Schubert said of the measure's opponents.

The all-important ballot title written by Brown cast the measure as one that would revoke a right, a move that had been viewed as particularly helpful to opponents.

Also, Schubert noted, there was a huge Democratic turnout -- although many Democrats, particularly African Americans and Latinos, don't support same-sex marriage and voted for Proposition 8. Exit polls showed blacks supported the measure 70% to 30%.

One of the closing ads featured Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Popular though she is, Schubert said, it was odd that Proposition 8 foes would select Feinstein to lecture voters, including minorities, about discrimination.

"It had the feel of a lily white, liberal campaign," Schubert said.

Bin Laden son, rejected by Egypt, arrives in Qatar

Ahhhhhh too Bad , you ran your mouth about your Dad and now nobody wants you !!!!Maybe It's because your dear old dad is the big OBL,and now he probably wants to kill you !
But really , I hope you the best ! you did denounce your father's handy work!

DUBAI (
reuters) - Osama bin Laden's son Omar and his British wife arrived in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday after being refused entry to Egypt, Al Jazeera television reported.

The Qatar-based television said Omar bin Laden arrived in the Gulf Arab state on an Egyptian passenger aircraft. It gave no further details.

Omar bin Laden and his wife arrived on Saturday in Egypt from Madrid after the Spanish authorities refused his request for asylum. The couple, who lived in Egypt for several months in 2007 and 2008, have also been denied entry to Britain.

Airport sources in Egypt said Omar bin Laden, who has not seen the al Qaeda leader for many years and says he does not support violence, had asked to go to Qatar, where as a Saudi citizen he would have right of entry.

The British authorities have denied Omar bin Laden a visa and the Spanish interior ministry rejected his asylum plea on the grounds that it did not consider he was in danger in Egypt.

His British wife, Zaina al Sabah, said in an interview with Reuters on Friday the couple fear they will be assassinated for condemning the views of Omar's father and al Qaeda.

She said her husband, one of bin Laden's many sons, had stopped living with his father before he masterminded the September 11 attacks on the United States seven years ago.

Omar bin Laden has lodged another request for a British visa, but this will not be considered until February 2009, his wife said.

It has just got to suck having the last name of Bin Laden,bht I would not want the guy near me either!

Iran president urges Obama to change U.S. policies

Rat fink Ahmadinejad , wants the Obamasiah , to change America's tune towards Iran! well Mr, Imabigjackass ! you should change your tune also !!!!

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday and called for "fundamental and fair" changes to U.S. policies in the region, Iran's official IRNA news agency said.

"I congratulate you for attracting a majority of votes ... I hope you will prefer real public interests and justice to the endless demands of a selfish minority," Ahmadinejad told Obama in a statement published by IRNA.

Iranian officials have said Obama's election victory on Tuesday showed the American people's desire for fundamental change in domestic and foreign policy from the policies of President George W. Bush, who labeled Iran part of an "axis of evil."

I don't see why they have such a problem being labeled as part of the Axis of Evil? I would think they would cherish it as a badge of Honor !!!!

"The great Iranian nation welcomes real, fundamental and fair changes in America's behavior and policies, particularly in the Middle East region," Ahmadinejad said.

Tehran and Washington cut diplomatic ties shortly after Iran's Islamic revolution, which toppled the U.S.-backed Shah.

The two countries have since been at odds over various issues, including Iran's nuclear program, which Washington and its European allies say is a cover to build nuclear bombs. Iran insists its aim is to generate electricity.

Washington has accused Iran of funding, equipping and training militants in Iraq. Iran denies this and says insecurity is due to the presence of U.S. troops who should quit Iraq.

Ahmadinejad said he hoped Obama would put an end to the United States' "war-oriented" policies.

"Other nations expect war-oriented policies, occupation, bullying ... and imposing discriminatory policies on them to be replaced by those advocating respect ... and non-interference in other countries' state matters," he said.

Obama has said he would toughen sanctions on Iran but has also held out the possibility of direct talks to resolve rows, including Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West.

The president-elect, like Bush, has not ruled out military action although he has criticized the outgoing administration for not pushing for more diplomacy and engagement with Iran.

Tehran has warned its response to any military action would be tough and would include targeting U.S. interests and America's ally Israel.

Iran's Prosecutor-General Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dori- Najafabadi called on Obama on Thursday to show goodwill and remove sanctions against the Islamic Republic, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"Through the lifting of the past government's cruel sanctions against Iran, Barack Obama can demonstrate his goodwill to the Iranian people," he said.

"Calling for forgiveness and remorse for the past U.S. government's deeds by the new government can bring about the great Iranian nation's forgiveness."

Iran's refusal to suspend its sensitive nuclear work has led to three rounds of U.N. sanctions since 2006, as well as bilateral punitive measures by Washington.

As usual All I here out of these Meatbags is that we (The United States ) are to give ,give ,give ! what the hell are they going to do ?
Not a fucking thing ! the Obamasiah is not even the President yet and these turd harvesters are already making demands ! this is not going to go away !

A little late!

Oblama wins ! now shut the fuck up !!!

Before you Vote!

Remember , there is more to being President of the United States than having Hope and Change , It's a little thing called Patriotism! you can't fake it you have to Be it !
This photo is Ultimately the reason why Barrack does not deserve the Job!




Totally Clueless!!!

Factory Slump Puts China on Verge of Recession

I love it ,China Appears to be going in the right direction now , DOWN !
It is about time that china feels the Pinch of hard times , no jobs and just a shitty outlook for the near future!
In our worst times China is swooping in to buy American companies in a hard way ,trying to buy 40% of a washington ore company that will Hand over control of almost all our ore to China!!!
I say Fuck them, help them with their hard times by Boycotting them!
give them a taste of what we have been going through, and see what they have to say about it ,PAYBACKS ARE A BITCH !!!
see my other post at Report on Arrakis

from china news Anyone who was looking for China somehow miraculously to save the world economy is going to be terribly discouraged by the latest signs of a economic slowdown in the Middle Kingdom. The CLSA China Manufacturers Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed that factory activity contracted sharply during October, with the index falling to its lowest level since the surveys began in June 2004.

Based on monthly questionnaires sent to 400 Chinese manufacturers asked to give month-on-month comparisons, the survey is widely considered one of the most robust leading indicators in China, where economic data are often suspect. The PMI is also important because manufacturing accounts for about 42% of China's gross domestic product. A rating of 50 is the cutoff for expansion/contraction. In October it registered 45.2, down from 47.7 in September. "Chinese manufacturers are seeing their order books cut, both at home and abroad, as the world economy falls into recession," Eric Fishwick, head of economic research at Hong Kong-based CLSA said with the release of the report. "The coming 12 months will be difficult for manufacturers, China included."

The growing signs of slowdown (BusinessWeek.com, 10/29/08) are manifold. In Guangdong province, traditionally the center of China's light industry, nearly half the toy manufacturers have gone out of business. Some have moved to cheaper locations inland, but others have disappeared altogether, often leaving workers with several weeks of unpaid wages. On Oct. 16, Hong Kong-owned Smart Union Toy left 6,000 workers in the southern city of Dongguan in the lurch after it closed without warning. The government may now have to compensate workers from Smart Union, which produced toys for Mattel (MAT) and Walt Disney (DIS), for unpaid wages.

China's Poisoning of the world !

The International Herald Tribune

SHANGHAI: Chinese regulators are widening their investigation into contaminated food amid growing signs that the toxic industrial chemical melamine has leached into the nation's animal feed supplies, posing health risks to consumers.

The announcement came after food safety tests earlier this week found that eggs produced in three different provinces in China were contaminated with melamine, which is blamed for causing kidney stones and renal failure in infants. The tests have led to recalls of eggs and consumer warnings.

I don't even know where to begin , When will someone in the U.S government stand up for what is right and tell China to suck an egg?
It is difficult to understand why we are supposed to tolerate the ridiculous amount of Contaminated food ,and just plain shotty , inferior , pieces of shit that they call tool's And housewares!!
I as an American do not want to buy Chinese goods , and with there being almost all Chinese goods on the market , what the fuck are you supposed to do?
How many more animals have to die here ? how many kids will have to get sick? With it being Halloween , and all that candy , do you Know what country it came from? and why the hell do we allow Chinese candy here ? it does not taste the same .
How many more ripped up and broken fingers do I have to endure at work because it is almost Impossible to buy a good tool that does not break when you use it ?

In the United States, worried consumers frantically e-mailed one another on Thursday and Friday about the possibility of melamine-tainted Halloween treats following a spate of news reports that some candies and chocolates made in China or with ingredients sourced in China had tested positive for high levels of melamine or been destroyed in recent weeks as a cautionary measure.A spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration said the agency was adjusting a nationwide sampling of products for melamine "as necessary." The FDA, along with state and local authorities, have been sampling products in Asian markets since mid-September for traces of melamine.

I think my biggest problem with all of this , is that the people who test these things say that most everything is within the limits, "Within the limits?" why is it even in the food ? what is wrong here ? I do not want to eat melamine ! Yes ,I know they have said they have not found any contaminated food in the U.S , but we were also told that the pet food was o.k.! we will only find out after the fact ! NOT ACCEPTABLE !

"A year ago, everybody should have been in a complete panic about it, and done something then," said Marion Nestle, a professor of food studies and public health at New York University and the author of "Pet Food Politics" (University of California Press, 2008), which examines the pet food problem in detail. "Someone should have required that melamine not be in any food product."

The pet food case led to a vast recall in the United States and other parts of the world and also sparked a lengthy food safety crackdown in China, with regulators boasting that they had closed down thousands of illegal or substandard food factories and slaughterhouses.

Panicking ? no ! more like getting PISSED! the rest of the report goes on to say how China has fired a bunch of people , and how the FDA has largely been blind ( or paid off ? )( my feelings ) I say they are clueless and are only that way for the kickbacks!
I believe that some people in the FDA need to be fired for their sheer incompetence , why should they be there if they don't know whether to ban possibly Tainted ,imported food?

Syrian riot police form ring around US Embassy

Again I wonder why we are even there ? why do we bother trying to hold an embassy in a terrorist country ? It makes no sense at all when the people of syria believe we are the terrorists!

DAMASCUS, Syria: Hundreds of Syrian riot police ringed the closed U.S. Embassy here Thursday as tens of thousands of people gathered about a mile away for a government-orchestrated protest to denounce a deadly U.S. raid near the Iraqi border.

The troops, wearing helmets and armed with batons and shields, took up positions around the embassy and the adjacent U.S. residence building. The embassy was closed because of security concerns related to the protest, and the American school in Damascus was also shut for the day.

Good thing for them there wasn't a riot!

Thursday's protest came as Syria demanded a formal apology from the U.S. for Sunday's attack in the eastern border community of Abu Kamal that Damascus says killed eight civilians. It threatened to cut off cooperation on Iraqi border security if there are more American raids on Syria territory.

There has been no formal acknowledgment of the raid from Washington. But U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the target of the raid was Badran Turki al-Mazidih, a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure who operated a network of smuggling fighters into the war-torn country. The Iraqi national also goes by the name Abu Ghadiyah.

Syria insists the dead were civilians and has challenged Americans to provide evidence to the contrary.
"This aggression did not succeed," said Information Minister Mohsen Bilal. "It was supposed to yield a catch so that they could show it to the world ... But the catch turned out to be an innocent family."

As the protesters filled the Youssef al-Azmi square and surrounding streets in the upscale al-Maliki neighborhood, some Syrians formed circles and danced traditional dances while women and students joined the peaceful crowds.
The protesters waved national flags, carried pictures of President Bashar Assad and held banners, one of which called America "the sponsor of destruction and wars."

Hussam Baayoun, a 20-year-old university student at the rally, said the U.S. raid was a "criminal act" and added: "We want the Americans to stop their acts of terrorism in Syria, in Iraq and the rest of the world."

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said Wednesday that Syria had formally notified the U.S. of the closure order for the cultural center, effective immediately, and the school by Nov. 6.

Wood said Washington was considering how to respond and that the U.S. expects the Syrian government to "provide adequate security for the buildings."

Though Syria has long been viewed by the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion.

But American accusations that Syria wasn't doing enough to prevent foreign fighters from crossing its borders into Iraq remains a sore point in relations. Syria says it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border.

Attention nimrods of the Middle east , WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO STOP ALL TERRORIST ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN THE NAME OF YOUR IGNORANT RELIGION !!!!!!

Mudvayneitis

Wow , what a show , Mudvayne can sure kick ass , But on a work night A real drain !
A real surprise was the opening band "Snot" man did those guys rip it up!

Another "Fuck China " Moment!

Southern China to shed millions of jobs as economic crisis bites

What a headline to read !
I hope China does lose 2.7 million jobs , soon!
The global recession will at least Knock the Chinese down a bit , that along with the Major milk scandal and other tainted foods ,and the ever growing list of recalled toys and cribs ! why the fuck does anyone still do business with them?
Boycott Chinese goods (We should call them notso goods )NOW ,help out the American Economy , The more they lose the more we gain ! see other post at Report on Arrakis

from china news At least 2.7 million factory workers in southern China could lose their jobs as the global economic crisis hits demand for electronics, toys and clothes, according to industry estimates.

The region has seen massive export-driven expansion in recent years by supplying the world with cheap consumer goods, but rising production costs and falling US and European demand have marked a swift end to the boom.

Now 9,000 of the 45,000 factories in the cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Shenzhen are expected to close before the Chinese New Year in late January, the Dongguan City Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment estimates.

By then, the association expects overseas demand for products from the three manufacturing hubs to have shrunk by 30 percent, as the knock-on effects of the US housing market collapse and credit crunch filter down to Chinese workers.

"I am afraid it is not going to look good on the Chinese government if the decline of the export-led industries and the unemployment problem continue to worsen," Eddie Leung, the association's president told AFP.

Leung, also a member of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, said the estimate of 2.7 million job losses was conservative, given that many of the larger factories in Guangdong province employ thousands of workers.

One of them, Hong Kong-listed Smart Union, a major toy manufacturer in Dongguan supplying US giants Mattel and Disney, closed its doors last week, leaving 7,000 workers out of work and with several weeks of back pay owed.

Clement Chan, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, said a quarter of the 70,000 Hong Kong-owned companies in southern China, 17,500 businesses, could go to the wall by the end of January.

Describing the likelihood as a "worst case scenario," he said Hong Kong firms in the region employed a total of 10 million workers, but did not want to speculate on the extent of possible job losses.

While small and medium-sized factories are especially prone, the threat of lay offs looms just as large over the region's manufacturing giants, further squeezed by the appreciation of the yuan.

Harry To's Mansfield Manufacturing is a classic example of the spectacular growth in China's industrial heartland over the last three decades.

To started a metal business from a small room in Hong Kong in 1975. In 1991, he joined hundreds of other Hong Kong entrepreneurs moving their production across the border into China to take advantage of cheap labour and land.

He now employs 8,500 workers in 11 factories in China and Europe. His six factories in Dongguan cover 140,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet).

To's company, which is now a subsidiary of Singapore-listed InnoTek Ltd. supplies metal components for cars, plasma televisions, printers and other electrical appliances to Japanese brands including Canon, Toshiba, Epson, Minolta and Fuji-Xerox.

Business for the company, among the largest in its field in China, has grown by 40 percent annually in recent years, but with credit being harder to come by, no manufacturer is safe, he said.

"With banks being so tight on their lending policies now, bringing down a factory overnight has now become very easy."

All his expansion plans have had to be put on hold.

"Some of our long-time Japanese and European clients have asked us to stop producing for them in the next two to three weeks," he said.

"They said they did not want to have too much stock piled up in their warehouse as demand continues to dwindle."

To recently started building a new 70,000 square metre factory in Dongguan and was planning to hire 2,000 more workers later this year. But now, all work on the unfinished factory has stopped until more orders roll in.

"No one would expand their business when the prospects for the entire manufacturing industry look so grim," he said.

Instead of hiring more workers, To is looking at cutting 1,000 employees across his operations.

But far from being downhearted, he is shifting part of the company's export-led production to developing energy-saving electrical appliances for the domestic market, which he sees as weathering the current financial turmoil.

"In the long run, I am confident that mainland Chinese consumers' purchasing power will keep rising as their Western counterparts continue to lose out."

Oil powerhouse Venezuela struggles to keep lights on

I guess Hugo (the fat ass ,red shirt wearing ,commie dink ) Chavez ,can't keep up with his role as the supreme leader !
Communism does not work ! never has never will !
I think that the Democrats should pay close attention to their beloved Communist countries they hold in high praise, and see that the programs they support DON"T WORK!
As for Hugo I hope that he is on the receiving end of a civilian uprising and gets his fat ass spanked out of power !

SAN FELIX, Venezuela (Reuters) - Despite having some of the world's largest energy reserves, Venezuela is increasingly struggling to maintain basic electrical service, a growing challenge for leftist President Hugo Chavez.

The OPEC nation has suffered three nationwide blackouts this year, and chronic power shortages have sparked protests from the western Andean highlands to San Felix, a city of mostly poor industrial workers in the sweltering south.

Shoddy electrical service is now one of Venezuelans' top concerns, according to a recent poll, and may be a factor in elections next month for governors and mayors in which Chavez allies are expected to lose key posts, in part on complaints of poor services.

The problem suggests that Chavez, with his ambitious international alliances and promises to end capitalism, risks alienating supporters by failing to focus on basic issues like electricity, trash collection and law enforcement.

"With so much energy in Venezuela, how can we be without power?" asked Fernando Aponte, 49, whose slum neighborhood of Las Delicias in San Felix spent 15 days without electricity -- leading him to block a nearby avenue with burning tires in protest.

Just next door, Carmen Fernandez, 82, who is blind and has a pacemaker, says she has trouble sleeping through sultry nights without even a fan to cool her.

Experts say Venezuela for years has skimped billions of dollars in electrical investments, leaving generation 20 percent below the level necessary for a stable power grid and increasing the risk of national outages. Officially Venezuela has a capacity of 22,500 megawatts for a population of 28 million people, but a sizeable proportion is not working, analysts say.

And while Chavez has won praise for investing in health and education, his government has done little to repair local distribution systems that deliver electricity to end users, from barrio residents to business and industries.
'GOD HEARD ME'

Pastora Medina, a legislator representing San Felix and nearby cities suffering chronic power problems, this month tried to bring the issue up in the national Congress in Caracas, but the legislature's leadership refused to let her speak.

Several hours later, as the legislature discussed a South American integration plan created by Chavez, Congress itself lost power for around 10 minutes.

read the rest at reuters

Iron Maiden.

The original lineup of Iron Maiden, with singer Paul Diano !
I never had the chance to see them in this line up , but they kicked Ass with Bruce Dickenson , The several times I did see them !





see more at Report on Arrakis

Fuck China once Again !

I like the saying "Fuck china" so much I have decided to make it a Category !
Anyway, China once Again is Asserting it's dominance over it's people !
I don't know about all of you who read this but I DO NOT LIKE being told what or what not to read , who I can talk to , and where I can go ,By ANYBODY!!!
That is why I am proud to be American I can do this without intervention by ANYONE!!!
Unlike China ,The People of China and their freedoms are severely hindered , and Hampered by the Communist Watchdog's ,step into an internet Cafe and now you must have your picture taken ! Why? probably to help Identify you when you try to log in to a website they do not think you Should , or when you use the wrong words And say something they do not like ! when they deem your actions as those of a dissident !!!
All to help Identify YOU!!! Good luck People of CHINA!

Technology times online

All visitors to internet cafés in Beijing are to be required to have their photographs taken in a stringent new control on the public use of cyberspace.

Hopes that the Olympic Games would usher in a relaxed approach to the internet had already been hit hard when the “Great Firewall of China” — the blocking of websites deemed subversive — was reimposed not long after foreign reporters left the country.

The temporary lifting of the firewall applied to only a few sites and Chinese citizens experienced few changes.

According to the latest rules, by mid-December all internet cafés in the main 14 city districts must install cameras to record the identities of their web surfers, who must by law be 18 or over. There are more than 250 million internet users in China, approximately ten times more than there were in 2000.
It has been several years since internet cafés were required to register users to ensure that customers were not under-age.

All photographs and scanned identity cards will be entered into a city-wide database run by the Cultural Law Enforcement Taskforce. The details will be available in any internet café.
At the Mingluo internet café in the Dongcheng district about 60 people were ensconced in front of terminals. Most were chatting online or watching films. The manager affected a lack of concern about the regulation, saying that he had introduced the policy a month ago. “I think most people don't mind. We explain to them that this will not have any impact on them,” he said.

The Times searched for online comments on the rules but was unable to find any — often a sign that most commentary has been critical and has therefore been erased. However, a survey by the internet version of the People's Daily showed that 72 per cent of respondents were opposed to the measure, calling it an infringement of their rights. Just over 26 per cent supported the photographing because it would benefit children.

Today is the expiry date on one of the concessions to the greater freedom that came with the Olympics: permission for foreign reporters to travel the country unhindered. China had promised complete media freedom when it applied to host the Games.

While its propaganda mandarins issued a 21-point directive limiting the domestic media, officials lifted restrictions on travelling and reporting by foreign journalists.

The authorities indicated that some freedoms could be maintained. Qin Gang, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said: “The Chinese Government will continue to follow the opening-up policy and to facilitate the work of foreign media and journalists in China.”

Sophie Richardson, of Human Rights Watch Asia, said that keeping the regulations and extending them to Chinese journalists “would be one of the most important legacies of the Games”.

Watching the media

— The Foreign Correspondents' Club says authorities interfered with reporters more than 335 times since January 1 last year

— Police beat the ITN reporter John Ray at a Tibet protest near Beijing's main Olympic zone this August

— Zhang Jianhong, former editor-in-chief of the banned literary website Aegean Sea, was jailed for six years in March 2007 for “inciting subversion”

— Police arrested the web dissident Du Daobin in July for violating probation, after his 2004 jailing

— More than 18,000 blogs and websites were shut from April to September 2007

— In late May 2008 media ordered to reduce coverage of collapsed schools in the earthquake zone that killed thousands of pupils

So Fucking Glad to Be An American!!!

Pakistan Taleban 'want to talk'

What a joke this is "we want to talk unconditionally with the government " In other words give us what we want and we will settle down (for now )
I have heard that the Taliban is getting tired of Al Qaeda , and the pressure that they are constantly under, Well I say good ! we should keep up with the pressure of Predator Missile strikes regardless of what the Taliban want to do.
An Ass beating does no good unless it's a good one and you learn your lesson ,I don't feel that these little bitch's have learned their lesson !
see my other post at Report on Arrakis

BBC Taleban militants fighting the Pakistan army in the country's tribal areas say they are willing to hold unconditional talks with the government.

Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the militants, said they were also willing to lay down their arms if the military ceased operations against them.

The army is conducting operations against militants in the tribal region of Bajaur and the Swat valley.

The operations are said to be a serious effort to eradicate the Taleban.

The army wants them and al-Qaeda to be removed from Pakistan's tribal regions next to the Afghan border.

'No foreigners'

"We are willing to negotiate with the government without any conditions," Maulvi Omar told the BBC Urdu service on Wednesday.
"We are also willing to lay down our arms, once the military ceases operations against us."

Pakistan's government has said that it is willing to talk to the militants once they lay down their arms.

But it has also said it will not tolerate the presence of any foreigners in the region.

Maulvi Omar said that the local Taleban did not want foreign militants in the region and would help the government to remove them.

"We can set up a shura [elders] committee to liaise with the authorities in removing such people," he said.

Maulvi Omar said it was useless to debate the security situation in parliament without taking the Taleban into confidence.

"What is the use of discussing the situation without talking to us?" he asked.
Claims

Pakistan's military says it has killed and captured hundreds of militants in recent fighting in Bajaur and Swat.

The military also says that it has destroyed fortified encampments and training facilities of the militants in Bajaur.

But locals point out that this is mainly a series of exaggerated claims made by the military.

They say the militants never fight in regular positions, or behind fortifications, in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

The tribesmen also say that claims that dozens of militants have recently been killed are also exaggerated.

Local journalists say that many of the places where the military claimed to have killed the insurgents were abandoned weeks before any attack.

They also say that there is a big discrepancy between the number of bodies recovered and buried and the numbers of militants the military claim to have killed.

The North Korean mystery?

Well, has North Korea changed their minds ? I doubt it , but swimming in the cesspool of world politics is no fun and you never know what you are going to get!
Total cooperation today could be a nuclear strike away from WW3.
So we will wait and see what happens here maybe this time it is for real ?

VIENNA (Reuters) - Monitors re-sealed equipment and reactivated cameras at North Korea's nuclear complex on Tuesday, diplomats close to the U.N. atomic watchdog said, after a deal to re-launch a faltering disarmament process.

North Korea readmitted IAEA monitors to its Yongbyon nuclear complex on Monday and pledged to restart measures to eliminate its atom bomb program, after it struck a deal with the United States that defused rows over how to verify denuclearization.

A diplomat familiar with International Atomic Energy Agency operations said IAEA monitors were putting seals back on equipment at Yongbyon's shutdown plutonium-producing plant and switching agency surveillance cameras back on.

The monitors regained access to the reprocessing plant, the kernel of its atomic bomb program, as well as a nuclear fuel-fabrication facility and 5 megawatt reactor.

Pyongyang halted dismantlement a few weeks ago in the escalating dispute with Washington but by then the facilities had been largely taken apart, to the point where it would take about a year to reverse the process.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said North Korea had started reversing its steps to restart Yongbyon.

"I understand that the IAEA has resumed its work. It has started to reapply seals," he told reporters.

"I think, as simply put, the North Koreans have started the reversal of their reversal, so they're getting back to that baseline where they were very close to meeting their obligations under the second phase that we're in, in terms of disablement" of North Korea's nuclear complex, he said.

North Korea had barred IAEA inspectors from Yongbyon last Thursday in anger over Washington's refusal to remove it from a sponsors-of-terrorism blacklist in a dispute over the extent of verification measures required for denuclearization.
Two days later, the U.S. State Department announced that it had delisted the reclusive Stalinist state after Pyongyang agreed to a series of verification steps.

McCormack said senior officials from North Korea and the other five countries assisting Pyongyang's disarmament process hoped to meet soon to formalize the set of verification steps, but he said there was no date set yet. The other five countries are the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia.

North Korea, which shut down the Yongbyon complex almost a year ago and began dismantling it, agreed to access for experts to all declared nuclear facilities and, based on "mutual consent," undeclared sites.

The isolated, impoverished North was keen to get off the blacklist so it can draw on international financing for modernization and be freed from trade sanctions.

see my other post at Report On Arrakis

N.Korea ,winners?

I don't know what to think about this ? On one hand North Korea just got it's way ! on the other hand North Korea just is willing to cooperate ?
Naaaaahhhhhh, North Korea will still be A pain in the worlds ass!samething as Saddam did before both wars! NEVER TRUST THE COMMIES!

North Korea Wins Removal From U.S. Terror Blacklist ( bloomberg ) -- The U.S. removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, granting the communist state a long-sought prize in exchange for allowing wider scrutiny of its nuclear-weapons program.

North Korea agreed inspectors could examine facilities it has revealed as well as other locations suspected of being used for any part of its nuclear program. It also agreed to immediately resume disabling its Yongbyon reactor, a source of weapons-grade plutonium, U.S. envoy Sung Kim told reporters in Washington today.

The agreement breaks a two-month deadlock in six-nation talks aimed at ultimately ridding North Korea of atomic weapons and its ability to export nuclear technology. The U.S. had refused to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism until the government in Pyongyang agreed to a credible nuclear-inspection plan.

``Every element of verification that we sought is included in this package,'' said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. ``Every single thing we sought going in is part of this package.''

The agreement resulted from a visit by U.S. negotiators to Pyongyang Oct. 1-3, officials said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a declaration this morning immediately taking North Korea off the terror list after President George W. Bush made the decision to proceed last night, McCormack said.

more at Bloomberg

How do you like the global markets now?

So ,the global markets are tanking !,I hope something good comes of this ,fortunately for me I dumped my credit cards and other bills years ago ,A slimming down of bullshit I really don't need !
But a lot of people did not ,and that's where the problem lies !
All you people who got those insanely stupid Mortgages , with those big fancy cars and maxed out credit cards , your kinda fucked aren't you ?
The problem with a global marke is that when One collapses they all collapse ,as we are seeing now with the U.S, economy in the toilet , and other markets around the world going down with it !
Big corporations like the Big three are on the verge of Bankruptcy ,Because a lot of people can't buy a new car ( and A lot of people but foreign pieces of shit )and they are now saying that the" Global auto market will collapse in 2009" What the hell are you going to do ?
The big bailout will not help the little guy it will only help the big corporations and banks and we have already seen some abuse with the bailout plan ,AIG and their big party on the taxpayers dime is a perfect example of why a lot of people and corporations deserve the ass kicking they are taking in the market, I have never been to a posh resort ,even when I could afford it ( fucking Elitist's )
Always screw the little guy , the ones who actually put the economy on track ,that seems to be the motto of the Government! we do most of the work (hands on stuff ,the dirty stuff )we struggle along milling about our daily lives, we spend when we need to spend , and sometime s when we don't ! and now with our tax dollars we get to help the rich and the stupid , how about throwing us a fuckin bone ?
If the government really wants to help the economy they should have sided with common sense! settle the minds of the people who make this country work , not the retards who screwed it up !
bank bailout out ? O.K. how about dividing all the money spent on the banks between all the mortgage holders and reduce our mortgages by that amount ? that would have impressed me , but did they do anything like that? NO ! And they wont because we have to pay our bills we have to get ourselves out of our situations! the big rich corporations , Mommy And Daddy government will wipe their ASS'S again !
how disgusting can it get ? See my other post at Report on Arrakis

Criminals in Juárez turn to bank heists

Things are really messed up in Mexico, Murders everyday by the drug Cartel's ,Kidnappings , and now Bank robberies!
If this crap starts spilling over into the U.S. I hope nobody takes it lightly ,these Assholes are as bad as they get , and need to be dealt with like they were the Taliban or Al Qaeda! see my other post at report on Arrakis

The four bank robbers appeared to be not much older than 20. But they used handguns to threaten tellers and take cash and even cell phones in a display at Banco Azteca in east Juárez, police said.

The Banco Azteca robbery was one of four bank robberies last Wednesday in Juárez, which is already struggling with a staggering number of killings -- about 1,040 so far this year. There have been more than 70 bank robberies in the city.

"It's a phenomenon we are seeing in Juárez this year that goes hand-in-hand with the armed conflicts between organized criminal gangs," Guillermo Dowell, the Juárez version of a city manager, told reporters last week.

Juárez city officials and experts on Mexico have said that drug-trafficking gangs have turned to bank robberies, extortion, kidnappings and other crimes to raise money lost from drug smuggling disruptions as cartels fight for supremacy.

Unlike the United States where some bank robberies are often carried out with nothing more than a threatening note, bank robbers in Mexico are almost always armed. Shootouts with police have also occurred in the past.

City officials are urging banks to take preventive steps, including requiring customers to remove sunglasses, caps and hats before entering. Authorities have also launched a "public enemies" program were residents can dial 070 to make anonymous tips to identify photos of suspects in robberies and other crimes. But there have been a few successes, they say.

On Sept. 29, police
captured a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman as they drove away after robbing a bank.