As most of the world knows by now, part of the CCTV complex (Mandarin Oriental Hotel, TVCC) burst into flames after an illegal fireworks show on February 9. The building ablaze as seen from my apartment window The aftermath Only a skeleton remains Official business (note how the official/guard has three walkie-talkies) A few thoughts: If something like this happened in the U.S., CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, local news, the Twitterati, everyone would be on it. CCTV, on the other hand, is infamous for controlling what news gets broadcasted, though it is clear that with the Internet, news dissemination has become increasingly difficult. As the fire blazed into its third hour, my friend and I turned on CCTV to look for any breaking news regarding a fire. Nothing. Chinese Lantern Festival performances, sports, talk shows, television series, commercials. What if there had been people in that building? How would the news broadcasting companies (including Xinhua) reacted? What were they worried about in the first place? I’m a little worried that, if a fireman died from toxic fume/smoke inhalation, how will the rest of us be affected? Granted, he was on-site and probably inhaling a lot of it, but the smoke
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(image of bicyclists in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square via nytimes) The UN Environment Program released a report last Thursday (side note: good typography, color choices, UN!) about the thick clouds of smog and soot over Asia and the likely effects it has on health, food security, and environmental changes. Due to the unprecedented nature of these noxious brown clouds, the exact consequences of their presence is not confirmed. Regardless of the consequences, it seems like countries are dilly-dallying around until the human/environmental toll is too hard to ignore, which may be years away. By then it will be too late. The world needs to get on this shit, pronto. And seriously this time. On a related note, though I may not be dying, I am still suffering. Now that I have finished consuming about 200 pills in the past two weeks, I don’t feel much better. I don’t really want to continue taking these pills. For one, I can’t bring myself to trust Western medicine produced in China. Second, I don’t like eating too many antibiotics over a long period of time. I mean, what if I created a mutant bacteria and created the next Avian Flu? Anyways, every time I
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Once word broke out that liquid milk had traces of melamine, I knew all liquid milk was done for. But what I didn’t think about was all of the food products that China makes that have milk in them. Not long after, White Rabbit candies were being pulled off store shelves across the globe. Then, investigative reports reveal that melamine usage has been “rampant” in the dairy industry. If that wasn’t mind-jostling enough, WSJ reports that Cadbury chocolates have melamine (as well as snacks like Oreos, Snickers). Oh wait, now Ritz crackers and Lipton teas are also tainted. My father sent me an e-mail that named all of the products and brand names affected by the melamine crisis (at least 30 different products, 30 different brand names). It’s already pretty messed up that government officials munch on pure, organic food while letting the masses suffer (population control conspiracy, anyone?). But are they the only ones to blame for the scandal? I see some blame on every level of the manufacturing chain. First, many milk farmers are often pressured to satisfy the growing demand for milk from consumers, while they also face decreased profits from government-induced price decreases. How are they
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I’m pretty certain that my thesis has infiltrated into every element of my life, as Osama bin Laden made a guest appearance in my dreams last night.
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