Contaminated Milk Resold in China
Most thought when the dairy products company Sanlu bankrupted and the chief culprits was sentenced to death in the wake of the 2008 melamine scandals, it was safe to trust the domestic dairy producers and that melamine would be no more.
Indeed, despite the initial fears and boycotts that almost ruined dairies, consumers have returned and the dairies industry has reported a "better-than-expected" recovery according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
But that was prior to the re-emergence of melamine-contaminated dairy products on store shelves. Five companies were found to have used melamine-tainted materials that should have been destroyed in 2008.
As a result, the Chinese government has launched a 10-day market wide probe to thoroughly investigate and destroy tainted milk powders produced in 2008.
However, it's doubtful that this 10-day purge will be effective given that the authorities were ineffective when they had more than a year to investigate and destroy.
For example, the Shanghai-based Panda Dairy Co Ltd had been on the official blacklist of melamine users in the 2008 scandals. The fact that it has survived and even committed new offenses is a serious and loud alarm. And for melamine to be redistributed into the marketplace is embarrassing proof that our food safety monitoring system is not working.
10-day crackdown is for show, we need a real long-term solution to hold all offenders, not just those adding melamine to our daily milk, accountable at all times.
My promise to China (if China promise to unblock Google)
I use Google to check my personal email and company email, I use it to share word documents and spreadsheets, I use it for search and read up on my favorite blogs. However, today, everything came to a grinding halt when China blocked (and still blocking) Google and its applications.
I don't care why China is blocking Google, but I'm innocent (I promise) and this punishment on Google have indirectly affected millions of people.
So here's my promise to the Chinese government if they unblock Google for me:
1. I promise NOT to search for politically sensitive keywords;
2. I promise NOT to search for "unhealthy" materials;
3. I promise NOT to search about that Gate in the middle of Beijing;
4. I promise NOT to search about that man in exile in India;
5. I promise NOT to search about that "law wheel gong";
6. Finally, I promise NOT to search for anything that might hurt the feelings of China.
OK now, would you pretty please with cherry on top, open your gate and let Google in?
Fake Gmail from China, Gmail China | Gmail 中国
Gmail China
Gmail or Google Mail is a mail service that I use everyday. So when I heard about Gmail China (Gmail 中国) I thought it's Google's email service tailored to the Chinese market. Boy was I wrong.
Gmail China is operated by "爱思美（北京）信息科技有限公司", an Internet service provider that offer services such as domain name registration and management, web hosting, website design, enterprise email service, blog service, photo service, and SNS.
Here's their copyright notice:
著作权
爱思美中国、GMAIL中国、GMAIL.CN、中国核电信息网著作权均属于爱思美（北京）信息科技有限公司（以下简称“爱思美”）。爱思美保留网站上独立拥有相关内容（包括但不限于文字、图片、音频、视频资料以及页面设计、编排、计算机软件及名称）版权和其他知识产权。商标
爱思美、ISM、Gmail、Heneng.net.cn、1997.cn 文字、字母或图形的商标或注册商标以及软件名称权受中华人民共和国著作权和商标权等知识产权保护，违反上述声明而给爱思美造成损失的，爱思美将依法追究其法律责任。
For those who can't read Chinese, the statement above simply states Gmail China, the Gmail name, the Gmail dot cn domain name, pictures and colors are copyrighted and are under the protection of the Chinese Copyright Law.
What a pile of crap!
Behind the May 1st Holiday
Tomorrow is the May 1st Holiday (五一劳动节). In China, May 1 used to mark the start of one of the country's three "Golden Weeks". However, since last year's holiday reforms, May 1 labor day went from "Golden Weeks" to "Golden Weekends".
I used to think May 1 is a socialist holiday (whatever that means) and it is only celebrated in communist countries like China, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union. However, interestingly enough, the May 1 holiday had its origin in the United States.
May 1 or International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour day, killing a dozen demonstrators. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891.
We take for granted our 8 hour day today but it's hard to believe that people actually died fighting for this right more than 100 years ago. So, thank you!
But, more and more people these days are getting paid for 8 hours of work but are working over 8 hours. According to a research report on China's migrant workers released by the policy research institute under the State Council, migrant workers usually put in long hours at very labor intensive jobs. Most work for more than eight hours a day and many work more than 10 hours a day. The studied showed only 13.7 percent worked for no more than eight hours a day, 40.30 percent worked eight to nine hours, 23.48 percent put in nine to 10 hours a day and 22.50 percent worked more than 10 hours. Over 85% of workers work more than 8 hours a day in China.
Zhaopin, a large job hunting site, recently conducted an online survey of 15,000 people. The survey found that approximately 40% of the respondents worked extra hours "voluntarily"; and according to a recent survey by the Chinese Medical Association of 330,000 people in 33 cities, 70 percent of the respondents complained of fatigue, insomnia and appetite disorders.
So let's not just celebrate a holiday because we get one day off, let us take this "Golden" opportunity to remember the people who died fighting for the 8 hour day and remember why they fought for it.