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.