China’s elite eat pure food as babies die

Not very surprising from a communist run country ! only the rich get the best while the poor struggle to get by!

From the Timesonline CHINA’S children may be dying from tainted milk but the country’s leaders are dining on pure organic ingredients. Like the emperors of old, the new communist elite enjoy the finest produce from all over China, sourced by a high-security government department.

The revelation has provoked anger among the public and embarrassment for the leadership as it battles a food scandal that has further damaged the country’s reputation.

Chinese milk products have been banned by the European Union and the state media have admitted that one child in 20 in Shanghai may now have kidney damage as a result of drinking contaminated formula milk.

No such peril lies in wait, however, for the members of China’s political elite.

Their diet includes beef from cattle that have grazed on the pesticide-free pastures of inner Mongolia and fish from the crystalline rivers and lakes of Hubei province in central China. They dine on rice that costs 15 times the price of the ordinary grain; as well it might, being grown on the slopes of a mountain near North Korea and irrigated by clear waters from melting snows.

They sip tea brewed with the most delicate leaves from lofty plantations on the fringe of the Tibetan plateau. It costs more than £100 a pound.

The task of selecting the best falls to a body known as the State Council Central Government Bureau Special Food Supply Centre. It caters for the dietary needs of the senior leaders such as President Hu Jintao who, foreign diplomats say, is a diabetic.

“To care for the health of elderly officials, we consider healthy food a special task,” said Zhu Yonglan, the centre’s director, in a recent speech.

“For security we insist food is approved by scientists for no contamination or chemical additives and there must be a quality audit right down the food chain to the provider.”

The text of Zhu’s speech was removed from a biotech company website hours after the People’s Daily published a denial that either the centre or Zhu existed. “That news is fabricated,” it said.

More cover up , as usual! communists in charge don't care about the little guys at all, Only that they get what ever they need , and the best of it!

Bloggers then published its address at 12 Dongtu Road, in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, named the police-owned farms that it used, and said it supplied 94 individual officials.

The centre was set up in 2004 after a spate of tragic incidents revealing that China’s food chain is fraught with danger. Poisoned dumplings exported to Japan, fish laden with carci-nogens, counterfeit rice spirit that makes the drinker go blind – the average Chinese consumer has endured them all.

In this latest scandal, at least 13,000 children are in hospital and three babies have died after drinking formula milk containing melamine, a chemical that can cause kidney damage. It is added illegally to watered-down raw milk to increase its protein content.

Twenty-two Chinese dairies are implicated and milk sales have fallen sharply. Chinese milk and products containing it, such as cakes and biscuits, have been banned or recalled from many countries.

So far the authorities have taken more than 7,000 tons of suspect products off shelves, arrested 18 people and sacked seven government officials.

The Communist party propaganda machine has gone into full damage control mode. Xin-hua, the state news agency, last week praised western-style public relations and “brand crisis management” for restoring public confidence.

The Chinese public appeared to be more sceptical in its uncensored online response to the news. One blogger complained: “In China tigers are made of paper and milk powder is made of poison but high officials have their own food supplies and that’s why they don’t really care about safety.” China has sacked its police chief and deputy governor in Tibet six months after riots by Tibetans embarrassed the government and led to worldwide protest ahead of the Olympic Games.

What a bunch of ASSHOLES!

Al Gore , 1 big Asshole!

Al gore just may be the worlds biggest Asshole !
how can you call for civil disobedience over a coal plant , and expect to be taken serious ? And who does he think he is anyway?
What is his plan for energy ? Carbon Capture , and sequestration ? A method never before been done ! a method so expensive nobody will even give it a shot!
Give us all a break , there is nothing worse than one of the true Fat Cat's in the world trying to tell Me and you that we need to pay more money for our energy use !
I am all for the environment , but there has to be a line ( both ways of course ) that should not be crossed ! we try our best to not screw things up in the world and for some people that just is not good enough ! and on the other hand you cant expect us to be willing to pay more money for our energy just because the " Manbearpig " says so !!!/span>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

The former U.S. vice president, whose climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award, told a philanthropic meeting in New York City that "the world has lost ground to the climate crisis."

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."

The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.

Scientists say carbon gases from burning fossil fuel for power and transport are a key factor in global warming.

Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.

But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage.

More problems in China

Now they are starting to recall more than milk! A new recall on White Rabbit candy is now the new problem , I'm sure that if they keep digging they will find more products tainted with Melamine ( stuff we should not be eating ) China is Having some denial problems in not coming forward and openly saying that there is a problem ! which is more of a reason To not by their products they seem to intentionally put defective products on the market just to make a buck and now it is causing the loss of life (that they will not admit to )

BEIJING (AP) — Food recalls expanded in Europe and Asia Thursday as an industrial chemical linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candies and other Chinese-made exports that were quickly pulled from store shelves.

In China, authorities were pulling White Rabbit candy from shelves in Shanghai and the southern province of Hainan. They were the first public reports of domestic recalls of goods other than milk products and milk.

In Hong Kong, tests on White Rabbit showed it contained an "unsatisfactory" level of melamine of more than six times the legal limit, according to the government's Center for Food Safety.

There has been no public announcement of a nationwide recall of the candy from China's safety watchdog. A woman who works at the propaganda department of the quality body, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said that she did not know of White Rabbit candy being recalled in China. She did not give her name, as is common with officials in China.

read more here

Build the fence and shut up O.K.

My problem with this article is the fact that not one person in it even thinks about the people who's Constitutional Right's are being violated by their opposition to A border fence that will help keep Illegal immigrants from crossing into this country out , I have rights to!!!
And I am opposed to the opposition of the Border Fence !
I have a right to a safe country !
I have the right to demand action be taken to stop the flood of illegal immigration!

El paso times AUSTIN -- El Paso County will ask the nation's highest court to rule in a case officials hope will halt construction of fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez said Tuesday.

"This is an unconstitutional delegation of authority," Rodriguez said, referring to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's use of waivers to circumvent more than 30 laws that could slow construction of the 670-mile fence.

The county, along with the city, the Tigua tribe, the local water irrigation district and environmental groups filed the lawsuit in June. The suit alleges that Chertoff's use of waivers to complete the fence by the end of this year was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo dismissed the lawsuit earlier this month, ruling that Chertoff did not violate the Constitution "because 'Congress constitutionally delegated its authority in the Waiver Legislation.' "

Rodriguez said the next legal step to continue the fight was to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

"We definitely are proceeding with the appeal," he said.

The lawsuit might not stop the fence building, but El Paso County Commissioner Veronica Escobar said the case makes an important statement.

What these people fail to understand is the fact that an overwhelming amount of people in the U.S, want a fence ON THE BORDER , to help stop the flood of illegal immigrants, who overburden the legal taxpayers of this country !!! If they insist on their way then I insist that they cover the cost of all expenses incurred By illegal immigrants in their area !!!! I DO NOT WANT MY TAXES GOING TO COVER THESE COSTS !

"If government can find a reason to waive our constitutional rights on this

occasion, then it certainly opens the door for them to do that again," Escobar said.

Mayor John Cook said the City Council has not yet voted to continue pursuing the case, but he expected that it would.

Even if fence construction is not stopped, he said, the lawsuit would help the city understand which federal laws apply on the border.

"The point is we don't know which laws we can enforce," Cook said.

Tigua Lt. Gov. Carlos Hisa said the fencing project would impede the tribe's access to water in the Rio Grande that the Tiguas have used for centuries to farm and conduct ceremonies.

"We just want our concerns to be heard and to be taken into consideration before the fence goes up," Hisa said. "We've basically been asked to shut up."

El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 joined the lawsuit because the fence would impede its access to maintain eight miles of canals that provide irrigation water to about 20,000 acres of farmland in the Lower Valley, said executive director Jesus "Chuy" Reyes.

"We need to do everything we have to do to protect the water users," he said.

Department of Homeland Security officials did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.

The El Paso County lawsuit is similar to one filed by the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife over Chert off's use of waivers to build fencing in Arizona.

The Supreme Court declined earlier this year to hear that case.

Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club spokesman, said the El Paso lawsuit might have a better chance because the timing and circumstances are different.

Fence-building expenses have grown higher than the DHS expected. The Bush administration is drawing to a close. The federal government is considering spending nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer money to buy bad loans that have put the nation in a financial crisis.

"More opposition and more attention to this project is going to help slow it down," Bernstein said, "so that hopefully a more rational administration can look for other ways to balance border security and the environment and human rights."

So in other words "waste more taxpayers money anyway, cry and whine because you are trying to farm a fucking desolate wasteland called a DESERT, and say it should not be done because "GEORGE BUSH " is spending money elsewhere!" Give me a break ,these hippies need to get out in the real world and see what it is really like ! I have lived on both coasts and as far north and as far south as can be , the world does not revolve around El Paso , even with a fence life will go on !!! Hopefully with a few less illegal's .

Poor Countries and Corruption!

O.K here is something I have an issue with, so Poverty and Corruption go Hand In hand ( No reason to beat around the Bush ! ) Why the hell does this Group insist that everyone monitor these poor , poor , Corrupt little countries ?
Every time the U.S gives a Country Money I consider it A wash , The people will still Hate us ,Regardless of the fact that Their Own People Are stealing the money / food we Have givin to them (And we give Because that's what we Americans do ), These Corrupt people will tell them ,As they are starving ,That the Americans don't care They need to do more , they Have so much and give so little !
I say Fuck off ! we give and give Even to countries that are corrupt And hate Us ! and wish us dead , and think we are the cause of all the problems in the world !
No we will not Monitor where the money goes ( the U.N can't and wont do it ) ,In fact I wish we would stop sending it , And when these same people are starving to Death and dying by the thousands ! who will they cry to.........THE UNITED STATES !!!
These countries don't want us there to begin with ,we still give because we just give , How about addressing the problems these poor , poor , countries have With the corrupt leaders that run them ? Oh that's not so easy is it ,Better to just sit and bitch and tell someone else they need to do it !!!




Report: Corruption in Poor Countries Threatens Fight Against Poverty
from the VOA

A group monitoring corruption levels around the world says illegal practices in poor countries are threatening the fight against poverty. In its just released report, Transparency International says foreign aid must be more focused and more carefully monitored to ensure it goes where intended. VOA's Sonja Pace has details from London.

The Berlin-based Transparency International looked at indicators in 180 countries to measure perceptions of doing business or delivering aid there.

Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand ranked at the top - as least corrupt and most transparent. Somalia and Iraq were among those at the bottom.

Speaking with VOA from Berlin, Casey Kelso said the continuing conflict and rule by warlords in Somalia undermine any capacity at governance or development. "Everyone that tries to do any work there, any sort of assistance that goes in has to be monitored very carefully because there is a cut for everyone to pocket it instead of it going into the education, the health, the clean water that people need there," he said.

Kelso says Iraq is also widely perceived as still very corrupt and a difficult place to do business, with lingering questions about where the money goes. "Where is the oil going, how many bribes must be paid, the lack of clarity and transparency in assigning contracts out for establishing [everything] from new schools to pipelines to electricity generation," he said.

The Transparency International report says while these conditions directly affect businesses and aid organizations, they also have a direct negative effect on the recipient countries. Corrupt countries are less attractive for foreign investors, which impacts growth and development and often hits the poorest of the poor hardest.

Kelso says foreign assistance should be more carefully targeted. "Foreign assistance that is being poured out from the developed world also needs to be assessed as to how much is actually making it to the poorest of the poor, who's diverting it and whether the elites in a country are actually stealing a lot of that money and diverting it," he said.

Kelso says donors need to monitor aid money carefully and foreign businesses and investors should not turn a blind eye to corruption by agreeing to pay bribes.

In this year's report the United States ranked among those in 18th place out of 180.

Hunger levels soar in East Africa

You can blame soaring food prices all you want !what about the soaring cases of corruption? How about that Genocide ? Yeah real nice blame it on food prices !!!
Hows this U.N. , how about doing something on your own ! like really going after the people that are the reason for the hunger , Corrupt Government Officials and the so called military / militia !
I think everyone is tired of the same old bailout routine , Especially when most of the money comes from the U.S.!


from the BBC
Nearly 17 million people in the Horn of Africa are in urgent need of food and other aid - almost twice as many as earlier this year, the UN has said.

Some $700m (£382m) in emergency aid is needed to prevent the region descending into full-scale famine, it said.

Top UN humanitarian official John Holmes said food stocks were critically low in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, northern Kenya and Uganda.

The area has suffered from drought, conflict and rocketing food prices.

The number of those at risk could rise still further "as the drought deepens and the hunger season continues", Mr Holmes said.
Horn of Africa

"What we need essentially is more funds, and more funds now, otherwise the situation is going to become even more catastrophic than it is today."

The estimated total for the rest of this year for those in need is $1.4bn. Almost half of that has been raised, Mr Holmes said, but there remains a shortfall of $716m.

"We may need significant funds after that period - this is not the end of the story," he said.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation blames worldwide rises in food prices for helping to push 75 million more people into the ranks of the world's hungry last year - bringing the total to 925 million.

I understand that some people just don't want change, but to accept the Taliban over freedom? thats just fucking twisted!
If this is any window into the Minds of the Pakistani people , then I believe we need a new strtegy!
Pull away all the money and the troops , Yes I know it's a loss !, but when they descend into total lawlessness, who do you think they are going to call?
Yep , the U.S. !
And we should tell them to bite the big one and let them suffer a little more before we help them!
Really though if this IS what they want then we should let them have it !
But! if they decide to venture out into the world again ,outside " Talibanistan " then they should be wiped away like a bad stain on your carpet !!!!!
to Quote a Friend of mine,
"FUCK THEM , AND FEED THEM FISH!"


Turning to the Taleban in Pakistan from the BBC
US raids on Taleban and al-Qaeda targets in Pakistani territory have caused outrage in Pakistan. And that has added to the loathing that some people there have long felt for the way that the US conducts itself on the world stage, as Owen Bennett-Jones discovers.

"I would rather live in the dark ages under the Taleban than be subservient to any foreign power."

The unexpected comment comes from an urbane, sophisticated and, I had always thought, Westernised Pashtun lawyer.

He wears none of the badges of Islamic piety - a beard, for example - and he normally sports a navy blazer not the local shalwar kameez.

He is a former minister with the Pakistan People's Party, the most liberal in Pakistan.

Rejecting the West

The word liberal in the Pakistani context means modern, educated, secular rather than theocratic and, up until now at least, pro-Western.

"You can't mean it," I protested. "Do you know what the Taleban were like in Afghanistan when they ran it, with compulsory prayers five times a day, do you want that?"

"Look," he said. "I can deal with Taleban, they are my own people. They come from here. I know them.

"I will be able to get around them. But the Americans never. No way."

That is how badly the battle for hearts and minds is going in Pakistan. It could scarcely be worse.

Taken aback by that conversation, I chatted about it with another senior Pakistani politician, a senator, again a well known liberal.

"I agree with him," he said. "Is there is no end to it? The Americans are now bombing Pakistani people. What are they doing here 12,000 miles away from home?"

And he told me about his children, four boys.

"I sent them to the UK for their education," he said, "I spent all my money on it. They had five, six years in England at boarding schools, it was a crucial time of their lives, they were young.

"They could have stayed and settled down there but they all choose not to. They didn't want to. All four are living here in Pakistan and praying five times a day.


Anti-Americanism in Pakistan has reached quite fantastic levels

"I don't pray five times a day," he said. "They do. Why? Because you in the West have forced them away, forced them towards Islam. You have forced them out."

Again, I was taken aback. Apart from the familiar complaints about foreign policy, what had those boys seen in their English boarding school that they did not like?

Drunkenness, I guess. Consumerism, maybe. Disrespect for the elderly always shocks Pakistanis, so perhaps that.

I guess that seen through some young Pakistani eyes there are things we do that they do not want.

Still, anti-Americanism in Pakistan has reached quite fantastic levels.

There are now suicide bombs every few days and no-one doubts that the Taleban recruit, train and equip the bombers.

After one recent suicide attack, the brother of one of the victims was quoted in the press.

Did he blame the Taleban? He did not. "America is responsible for my brother's death," he said. "If the Americans went back home everything would be calm here."

There is, I think, universal agreement amongst Pakistanis that, if the US continues to rely so heavily on military firepower in Afghanistan, and increasingly in Pakistan too, then the Taleban will win.

Preaching moderation

And, in fact, elsewhere in the world, there are signs that the US is using much more subtle and maybe more effective tactics.
Pro-Taleban militants in Pakistan
The Taleban are winning friends at the expense of the US in Pakistan

In a US base on the outskirts of Baghdad, for example, where captured insurgents are held, US taxpayers are paying the salaries of some heavily vetted Iraqi clerics who preach moderation.

I met one of them recently. When he relaxes he mooches around in an England football shirt, when he is working he wears the long flowing, gold-edged robes denoting his clerical status.

He told me about a session he had with a group of 20 recently detained Iraqi Takfiris.

Takfiris are really the last word in intolerance. They believe that anyone who does not share their very rigid interpretation of Islam is an infidel and should be killed.

The cleric described walking into the room where the Takfiris where waiting for him and offering the traditional greeting: "Salaam Aleikum".

The leader of the group responded by hurling his slippers into the cleric's face.

'With these guys you cannot let something like that go," the cleric told me, "or you lose all authority."

'Battle of wits'

The cleric looked the Takfiri leader in the eye and asked: "What did I just say to you?"

"You said Salaam Aleikum," the man replied.

"And what does that signify?" asked the cleric.

The Takfiri leader looked confused. "The word Salaam is one of the 99 names of Allah," the cleric went on.

"You have just thrown your slippers at Allah." He then turned to the other 19 Takfiris. "This man is an infidel," he said, "are you going to kill him?" He turned and left the room.

That night, the guards woke the cleric at 3am and rushed him down to the detention centre.

The Takfiri leader was huddled in the corner of the room shivering, his arms around his knees. "I didn't mean to offend you. Please get me away from here. I think they are going to kill me," he begged.

"So, in just 12 hours," the cleric concluded, "I dealt with the leader of some of the most hard-line people ever captured in Iraq."

"It's a battle of wits," I said. The cleric laughed. "Let's see who wins."

New Nozzle Rage!

Drill now ,Drill now Damn-it!!!!

Well , well , well, what is going on now ?this all sounds fine and dandy ,but I remain skeptical !
Our Government has a track record of really fucking shit up when they have the chance to do some good!
but we shall see!
I propose that we Build the biggest oil drilling platform Right next to the ones that China,Cuba, Venezuella,And north korea ,Are working on ,off the coast of florida , And suck that area dry !!! we should not let these Communist Countries get what they Want, I hope that The House and Senate , Pull their heads out of their ASS and do what is right ! DONT BE ASSHOLES!

House passes bill allowing offshore drilling
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday that lifts a longstanding ban on offshore oil drilling, opening most of the U.S. coastline to exploration.

The package proposed by Democrats would give states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles (80 and 160 km) off their shores. Areas more than 100 miles from the coast would be completely open to oil exploration and drilling.

The House voted 236 to 189 in favor of the package.

Until recently, Democratic leaders in Congress strongly opposed lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling, saying drilling would have only a small impact on gasoline prices in the immediate future.

But as gasoline prices rose to levels above $4 a gallon this summer, public opinion shifted in favor of offshore drilling. Republicans made removing the ban on drilling a key campaign issue for their party in this election year.

With the moratorium facing expiration on September 30 and voter sentiment changing, Democrats supported repealing the ban as part of a larger energy package.

House Republicans, however, strongly protested the Democrats' package, calling the bill a "sham" and a "hoax."

The bill faces a possible veto from the White House.
"At a time when American families are in need of genuine relief from the effects of high fuel prices, this bill purports to open access to American energy sources while in reality taking actions to stifle development," the White House said in a statement.

Opponents of the bill say since the bill does not include a revenue sharing plan, states will not have an incentive to open their coasts to exploration. Another complaint is that the requirement that drilling occur at least 50 miles away from the U.S. coast closes a great deal of the outer continental shelf where oil may be located.

Democrats countered that their package would open 319 million acres to 404 million acres off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling.

"This legislation is a result of reasonable compromise that will put us on a path to energy independence by expanding domestic supply," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Conservation groups blasted the House bill, however, for not protecting the environment. "As it stands, the clean energy provisions in this bill are dwarfed by the push for outdated, dirty and expensive energy," said Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke.

Later this week, the Senate is expected to take up energy legislation that would expand offshore drilling, but not as much as the House. Both chambers would have to reconcile differences between their bills before a final energy package could be sent to the White House to be signed into law.

Time is running out for lawmakers to pass legislation as Congress is scheduled to adjourn on September 26.

Other provisions in the House energy package include:

-- Selling 70 million barrels of light crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to be replaced with heavy crude oil.
-- Offering renewable energy and efficiency tax credits that would be funded by repealing some tax breaks for the oil industry.

-- Allowing oil shale development in some western states, if the states approve.

Heading Home !

For the weekend ,maybe a post here or there !backsoon!

More terrorists convicted !!!

This is always nice to here ,jihadi scum bags convicted of their Crimes ! I hope their appeals don't go through , and that these convictions stand !

Australia's biggest terror trial ends, 7 found guilty
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's biggest terrorism trial ended on Tuesday with a seventh Muslim man found guilty of terrorism, a day after a Muslim cleric and five followers were convicted of planning an attack in Melbourne in 2005.

The trial saw 12 Muslims facing terror charges over plans to attack a grand final football match in Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, attended by 97,000 fans.

The attack, aimed at forcing Australia to withdraw troops from Iraq, did not take place.

Four of the men were found not guilty and the jury could not reach a verdict on one, who may face a fresh trial.

The Victoria state Supreme Court on Tuesday found Amer Haddara, 28, guilty of being a member of an unnamed terrorist organization.

On Monday, Muslim cleric Abdul Benbrika, 48, was found guilty of leading and being a member of an unnamed terrorist body, while five followers were found guilty of being members of a terrorist group. Four other men were acquitted.

Submissions for sentencing will be heard in November.

Australia has never suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil, but more than 90 Australians were killed in bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali since 2002.

Australia withdrew its 550 combat troops from Iraq in June 2008, but still has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan

Backwards politics and China!!!!!!

The political season always pushes me to the edge ! when I here that the two Candidates for the Presidency want to have a little circle jerk with China and Americans living in China!
Free trade is only free when it benefits both sides,What we have with China is not free or Fair!! it is you the United States ,While loosing all your manufacturing jobs to this Communist Country (China ) Will only be allowed to buy the inferior and tainted products of the previously mentioned communist country ! and you will like it ,that is all !!!!.
I say fuck these guys!, boycott their goods as much as possible ,yes it is hard ,but if you look hard enough you can get away from their cheap goods .
What better message to send than one of a broken economy,and hundreds of thousands of people without jobs ? Sound familiar ? That's what is happening here!!!!
help turn it around Boycott now !!!! see my other post at REPORT ON ARRAKIS

McCain, Obama call for closer U.S.- China relationship
BEIJING (AP) — John McCain and Barack Obama call for closer U.S.-Chinese cooperation on trade, the environment and nuclear proliferation in the upcoming issue of an American business group's magazine in an unusual effort to court voters abroad.

Neither candidate proposes specific initiatives, but both stress that the countries should work more closely to ease trade friction, combat global warming, improve military exchanges and block the spread of nuclear weapons to such countries as Iran and North Korea.

"A central challenge will be getting America's relationship with China right," McCain wrote in China Brief, the monthly magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Said Obama: "We know that America and China can accomplish much when we recognize our common interests."

The magazine is due out Sept. 22, but the group provided advance copies of the one-page articles to The Associated Press.

It is the first time American candidates have been asked to write for the magazine, said Jim Ruderman, the group's spokesman.

The articles, aimed at American entrepreneurs in China, add to unprecedented efforts by presidential candidates to appeal to voters abroad. Both McCain and Obama visited Europe during the presidential campaign. They also give McCain and Obama an unusual chance to address Chinese leaders; the magazine is sent to about 1,000 Chinese officials, in addition to the group's 2,700 members, Ruderman said.

Neither campaign responded to requests for details of their efforts to court businessmen and other Americans abroad.

Trade and other ties with China have featured prominently in recent American elections but those issues have been overshadowed this year by Iraq and the slumping U.S. economy.

The groups asked the candidates in July to write about U.S.-Chinese relations after hearing little about them during the campaign, Ruderman said.

"We sensed there was a vacuum among our member companies and among business leaders in China, as well as Chinese officials, about what the two candidates thought about U.S.-China relations," he said.

In the articles, both candidates press Beijing for action on trade, currency controls and product piracy and to be more open about its fast-growing military spending. Obama also urges the communist government to improve its human rights record.

Fuck China ,Again!!!

O.K , they did not harm U.S. citizens this time ! but will this happen again ? you bet ! china thrives on shotty workmanship and tainted foods , if they didn't we would not here these things all the time !
we need to stand up against China And demand OUR manufacturing jobs back so that we can have good Tools and other products again!!!
I say we repeal all trade agreements with china and bring it back HOME!
see post at REPORT ON ARRAKIS



China Recalls Infant Formula
from the New York Times HONG KONG -- China’s Health Ministry announced on Friday a nationwide inquiry into the safety of all infant formulas as investigators from six government agencies descended on a milk powder factory that produced formula that has been linked to one baby’s death and kidney problems in at least 50 more.

The producer of the suspect formula, the Sanlu Group, recalled 700 tons after determining on Thursday that it had been contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical, according to the official China Daily newspaper.

The discovery of contaminated formula is a setback for the country’s efforts to reassure its own citizens and overseas buyers that the “made in China” label is trustworthy after a series of incidents involving everything from toys to pet food.

Contamination with melamine is especially embarrassing. Chinese pet food laced with melamine killed thousands of pets last year in the United States and the Chinese government promised at the time that it would prevent melamine from entering food products for people.

For people in China, the death of a baby from tainted infant formula brings to mind a national scandal four years in which 13 infants died after drinking substandard formula that carried the Sanlu brand but had been produced by counterfeiters.

China’s Health Ministry promised “serious punishment” on Friday for those found responsible for the presence of melamine in the Sanlu formula. The majority of the babies who have fallen sick had definitely consumed the Sanlu formula, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site.

Top Chinese doctors have been asked to perform urgent research into treatment for babies suffering kidney stones and kidney failure after drinking the formula, the ministry said. Doctors across the country were ordered to report any further cases of babies with kidney difficulties.

China also reported the problem to the World Health Organization, in an attempt to improve its reputation for transparency in health issues. China hid the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, for four months in late 2002 and early 2003, drawing international criticism when the disease spread to Hong Kong and then around the world.

An ingredient of plastics and fertilizers, melamine is sometimes added by dishonest merchants to animal feed in China. The melamine causes a common test of animal feed to show that the feed contains more protein than it actually has.

Sanlu ordered its recall and promised its own investigation after determining that batches of its formula manufactured before Aug. 6 had been contaminated with melamine.

Sanlu officials did not answer calls to the company’s headquarters in Shijiazhuang, in Hebei Province. It was not clear what production changes were made on Aug. 6 that prompted the company to conclude that formula produced after that date was safe.

There have been reports of babies developing kidney stones and kidney failure in at least seven provinces. A cluster of cases in Gansu Province in western China triggered the recall.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said that no infant formula from China has been approved for import. But the F.D.A. advised consumers to be cautious because limited quantities might have found their way into some ethnic grocery stores.

THE #1 ASSHOLE of the YEAR AWARD !

It should go to me , yesterday was my Anniversary , I spent it in Texas ,not back in Michigan With my wife of 19 years ! What a dick I am !
anyways I would say Barrack Oblama ,but he is more of a douchbag!than an Asshole!
please send in your suggestions!

Obama clings to narrow Mich. lead, poll says

I just hope that his lead slips away !
Barrack is out of touch like so many others in the Democratic Party!
Wanting to take away of our Gun's!
Wanting to talk with heads of Terror loving countries !
Wanting to tear down our Military
Just to name a few sore spots from Me!
But really I just hope Michigan realizes that Obama Lacks substance !
Change is Good , but not one that puts politics in a circle jerk with terrorist's
YOU CANT TAKE AWAY OUR GUNS!!! it is our right as Americans ,To keep and bear arms
punish the criminals not the people defending themselves!
The Military defends our freedom ,Support them ! fund them , give them what they want and need!

WASHINGTON – In the wake of the Republican convention, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama appears to be clinging to the narrowest of leads in battleground Michigan.
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Public Policy Polling of Raleigh North Carolina polled 1,147 likely Michigan voters over the weekend and found Obama holds a 47-46 edge over Republican nominee John McCain – well within the margin of error of three percentage points.

Is it a bounce from the convention or McCain’s surprising pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate? From the data, it appears that the Palin pick is clearly helping McCain in the race against Obama in Michigan – a state the Republican hopes to pick up in order to beat the Democrat.

Forty-five percent of respondents in the survey say they are more likely to vote for McCain thanks to the Palin selection (compared to 30 percent who said they were likely to back Obama for picking Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate). And accoridng to the polling company, the selection is actually bolstering support among Democratic men.

While 14% of self-identified Democrats in Michigan support McCain, the polling company says that group tended to include more middle-aged women before. Now, more than half – 61% -- are men, according to the poll. And 86% of all the Democrats supporting McCain say the Palin pick helps – as do 43% of independents (compared to 36% who say it makes them less likely to support McCain because of Palin).

And independents are a key in Michigan – possibly as much as a third of the electorate. Right now, according to the poll, they are up for grabs – where Obama once held a clear edge.

The poll shows independents split 42-42 with a huge chunk – 16% – undecided.

“There’s no doubt that the Palin choice shook up the race a good deal,” said Dean Debnam, PPP’s president. “The big question now is whether this tightening we’re seeing in Michigan is just part of a convention bounce or a sign that the state is going to be extremely competitive right through November. If it is, that spells trouble for Barack Obama.”

The Obama campaign responded to the poll saying, “Michigan is always a battleground, but as voters across the state hear from both candidates over the next two months it will become clear that this election is a choice between the Bush-McCain policies that have cost us jobs and Barack Obama’s plans to get our economy back on track. This election is about change verse more of the same, and Michigan is ready for change.”

Kilpatrick pleads guilty: 'I lied under oath'

And like he could deny it ! But The Asshole Still tried .
Detroit politics are Always funny, But this was Embarrassing ! Typical Gangsta Attitude and just plain Arrogance seem to have Just stuck with Detroit, Which is A shame Because Detroit Could Be A wonderful City Again.
But staying behind the times and Sticking to the The same Old "Coleman Young" style of Politics is not the way to do it , sure Kwame did do some things for Detroit , but bringing in a bunch of 300,000 dollar "loft" style construction Projects in a destitute city is not the way to revitalize it!
Hopefully Detroit will wake up and demand a Change Instead of voting in the same old Bullshit Again ! I know it's a few days late but here it is !



DETROIT -- In four short words, Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick acknowledged his guilt Thursday morning, admitting he lied during a whistle-blower case brought by two former police officers who claimed they were punished for looking into wrongdoing by the mayor's staff.

"I lied under oath ... with the intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice," Kilpatrick said after he pleaded guilty to two felonies -- a plea that will require him to spend four months in the Wayne County Jail, resign his office and pay $1 million in restitution.

Kilpatrick also will agree not to seek office during the five years he is on probation and will surrender his state pension to the county. And he will surrender his law license.

"The city of Detroit can now exhale," said Kwame Kenyatta, the City Council member who spearheaded efforts to force Kilpatrick from office. "It will go down in our history as a mayor who fell from grace."

The fallout from the guilty pleas was immediate. Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings announced her resignation as civic and business leaders sought to use the day to put a capstone on a scandal that has weighed upon the city since January.

"The last few months have been an unfortunate time for Detroit and a lot of damage has been done to the region's image," said Richard E. Blouse, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. "The business community will work with the new city officials and regional leaders to begin healing the region so we can concentrate all of our energies on moving the economy forward."

The historic court proceeding took just 29 minutes, but followed more than an hour of waiting as attorneys hashed out the final details.

In the end, Kilpatrick, a Democrat, admitted to lying during the whistle-blower case about a relationship with Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff, and whether he knew former officer Gary Brown was investigating the activities of the mayor's staff prior to his firing. Brown and Harold Nelthrope filed the case in 2003.

After a jury found on behalf of the officers and granted them a $6.5 million settlement, attorneys for the mayor and the city negotiated an $8.4 million settlement -- a deal that included a secret pact to hide the damaging text messages that revealed the mayor's lies.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 28.

The jail term means the mayor will spend both Christmas and New Year's behind bars; he'll get out just before the NCAA Final Four comes to Detroit, one of several high-profile sporting events the mayor had helped to land during the past seven years.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, Wayne County prosecutors will drop the remaining six charges against Kilpatrick -- including the perjury counts -- and agree to not prosecute him for other issues that might arise from the investigation into the perjury and obstruction of justice case.

But Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the deal is what she had sought "pretty much" from the beginning, although she acknowledged that her office had sought a six-month jail term.

"I made a decision to get the deal done and move the city forward," she said. Making sure Kilpatrick served time and paid the city were essential to her negotiations.

"You have to have some consequences for your actions," she said. "You don't just lose your job."

Kilpatrick has submitted a resignation that will become effective Sept. 18, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said. Kilpatrick must pay $20,000 of the restitution when he is sentenced.

Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice and Judge David Groner accepted the plea. Kilpatrick also pleaded no contest to an assault charge against him stemming from a confrontation with two investigators on July 24. The other assault charge was dropped.

Kilpatrick's answers during the proceeding were typically short and he appeared calm and even jovial. But then Groner, going through routine language regarding a plea bargain, asked Kilpatrick if he was giving up his right to be innocent until proven guilty.

"I think I gave up that right a long time ago," Kilpatrick said.

Worthy said she took the case because she had a duty to make sure such behavior is punished.

"We cannot tolerate -- in any form -- corruption in this town," Worthy said. When asked why she demanded the $1 million in restitution, she said, "well, this city was purged of $8.4 million," a reference to the settlement.

Kilpatrick admitted he lied during a 2004 deposition in the case and again at trial last August.

In court, he was joined by his wife, Carlita, who took notes in a day planner that reads "Teach" and quotes from the Book of Job: "Let us learn together what is good."

Just before the mayor pleaded, Beatty, his co-defendant, did not enter a plea. Instead, her case was continued a week to allow for prosecutors and her attorneys to strike a likely deal.

Fuck China!

I was saddened to read that Vise-Grip , is moving its operations to China! once a well made tool Vise-grips were the best ! Now they will go into the Piece of Shit tool made in China , Category! I will never buy another pair again, they will not be the same ,and it pisses me right the fuck off!
So for the people of DeWitt Nebraska , I feel for you and your families,I personally Know what it is like to loose your job like this , my home is in Michigan ,but I'm in Texas, because all our jobs have been shipped away to the commies, and this is where I found Work! So for you and the thousands of other AMERICANS, I boycott Vise-Grip!
next time you need a Tool look for an American made one , they are still out there!
and they are far superior !
BOYCOTT CHINESE GOODS!

See other post at Report on Arrakis

Border Fence ,Finally!

Here are some picture of the new Border fence
Isn't it nice !



Since I was in High school they have talked of doing this ,It is finally being built !sure people are pissed , But only the ones who Benefit from having an Open Border-Illegal Aliens ,Their Employers ,and a few Hippies!



See my post at Report on Arrakis

Violent democrats protest the RNC!

It is of no surprise that the RNC was the target of A group of violent protesters ( all of them anti war ,anti social ,and predominately Democrats!) Did this kind of ridiculous bullshit happen at the DNC? of course not , Did you see Republicans or Conservatives smashing peoples private property? how about setting fire to city property? how about plain old civil unrest NO!
NO you did not !

Anti-war protest turns violent en route to GOP convention site
Amy Forliti ,Associated press

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Thousands of protesters descended on the city hosting the Republican National Convention Monday, some smashing cars, puncturing tires and throwing bottles in a confrontations with pepper-spray wielding police who arrested at least five people.

Police said the size of the crowd shifted during the day before estimating it in the range of 8,000 to 10,000, many of whom marched peacefully. The arrests occurred in confrontations several blocks from the Xcel Energy Center where the GOP gaveled its convention to order in late afternoon. A handful of people were arrested for lighting a dumpster on fire and pushing it into a police car, said St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh.

Instead of a single coherent march that organizers had hoped for, fringe groups of anarchists and others wrought havoc along the streets between the state Capitol and the convention site. Some anarchists who had started the trash bin fire later tried to block a major intersection. Police quickly dispersed the group, then shot two tear gas canisters at the fleeing anarchists.

Pictures taken by Associated Press photographers showed officers using pepper spray on protesters who appeared to be trying to block streets.

"There are people who are committing violations of law and they're being arrested," Walsh said.

About 200 people from a group called Funk the War noisily staged its own separate march. Wearing black clothes, bandanas and gas masks, some of their members smashed windows of cars and stores. They tipped over newspaper boxes, pulled a big trash bin into the street, bent the rear view mirrors on a bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the sidewalks.

One man who seemed to be the leader of the group carried a yellow flag with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The group chanted "Whose streets? Our streets!"

" Someone needs to tell these douchbags that they are not just their streets they are Americas streets , and while they have a right to protest (peacefully) when they protest on Americas streets in a violent way ,They deserve to to be gased and arrested!"

Meanwhile, a group of about 100 anarchists pushed a dumpster filled with trash and threw garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took down orange detour road signs. In hot pursuit were teams of riot officers carrying batons, rifles and guns that could be used to shoot tear gas.

The day's march was organized by a group called the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, whose leaders said they hoped for a peaceful, family-friendly march. But police were on high alert after months of preparations by a self-described anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee, which wasn't among the organizers of the march.

At a rally preceding the march, speaker after speaker called for ending the war in Iraq and more spending on domestic needs.

Peace activist Steve Clemens, 47, from Minneapolis said he was disturbed by the number of police.

"But we can't control that," said Clemens, who had already been arrested once -- for crossing into a restricted area during a march Sunday.

Alan Rybak, a real estate agent from Lakeville, Minn., stood along the protest route carrying a sign that read "Support Our Troops."

"I'm here to support our troops and to tell (protesters) to get a job and go home," said Rybak, a Republican Party activist.

So here's to the Democratic Party you are truly Assholes , This little protest by a handfull of your supporters has shown how un American you really are !
And to Alan Rybak , A big thank you for saying what needed to be said ,your a Good American ! next time though slip in the "GO home and take a shower ,Fucking Hippie!"
One time for me !