Results tagged “china” from The Daily Nugget

The earthquake that struck China was the same magnitude as the earthquake that struck San Francisco in 1906.  That earthquake and the ensuing fire destroyed the city of San Francisco.  The Chinese earthquake's epicenter was at least 900 miles from the large urban center of Beijing in an area that can best be described as suburban.  Still, the Chinese earthquake's death toll is currently 10,000 people with tens of thousands of people injured.

Can you imagine if an earthquake this big happened again in San Francisco?  Is our infrastructure advanced enough to withstand the next earthquake?  In San Francisco, it is not a matter of "if" but "when" the next quake will happen.  Scientists all agree a "big one" will occur in the Bay Area sometime in the next 30 years, with a 50 percent chance that it will be larger than a 7.5 magnitude.  Those reports plus the images now coming from China are enough to scare the bejeesus out of San Franciscans.

Several people I have spoken to today mentioned the Chinese earthquake and made parallels to our own geographic area with fear and concern.  Some even went as far as calling their insurance companies inquiring about earthquake insurance, which is insanely expensive.  It typically doubles most homeowner's premiums and adds a 10 to 15 percent deductible.  Also, if the insurance company does not do the math right, you may never get paid on your claim if the insurance company folds after the earthquake.

The fact that people here are considering the insurance after seeing the devastation in China says a lot about the human condition.  I would be interested to know how many new earthquake riders are sold due to the Chinese disaster.  Whether you have insurance for the next earthquake or not, I am sure the "big one" is somewhere in the back of your mind.

Jerry Yang, the CEO of Yahoo, was chastised by congress for Yahoo's role in helping China identify and jail a journalist in 2004. "While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies," said Tom Lantos of Yahoo. Lantos also instructed Yang and Yahoo's chief counsel, Michael Callahan, to turn and face the dissidents' families, seated in the front row, and plead for forgiveness. Nothing like a public beatdown to change how a company does business! Let's see if they learn a lesson.

Another Chinese gamer dies after a 3-day marathon Internet gaming session. As you may remember, another Chinese guy died during Chinese New Year earlier this year.

Chinese reserve wants to turn panda poop into paper. Apparently the 40 pandas in the reserve can generate 2 tons (4,000 lbs.) of poop a day! That's an average of 100 lbs. of poop per panda per day. That's a lot of poop to scoop. Hey, it rhymes!

An obese 26-year-old man Chinese guy died after a seven-day "marathon" online gaming session on the last day of the Chinese New Year holiday. The guy weighed 330 pounds and probably didn't move much for seven days. My guess is he developed a blod clot that traveled to one of his lungs.

Anyway, the article continues to say that about 2.6 million -- or 13 percent -- of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classed as addicts. Huh!? China has 1.3 billion people and there are only 20 million Internet users under 18!? They must mean 20 million online gamers under 18, not total Internet users under 18. It seems low to me. Can that stat be right!?

"First rule of Dog Club, don't talk about Dog Club."
-- Luoping County Health Worker (i.e. Dog Clubber)

We're not talking a country "club" here. In an effort to control a rabies outbreak, a province in China ordered all dogs except for military and police dogs to be slaughtered. A five-day massacre ensued in which dogs that were being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death with clubs on the spot! In total, over 50,000 dogs were killed in this manner. Crazy! China is just not a good place to be a dog, since you are likely to be beaten and/or eaten, according to the article.

Young people assembling iPods in China earn $130 per month while working 12-hour days. They are given "factory housing," where hundreds of workers share common rooms, bunk-style, in large dorms. The dorms have no air conditioning and the temperature can reach 96 degrees in the summer. Since the factory floor is air-conditioned, working a Saturday shift sometimes is better for these workers than resting in the hot dorms.

Top-of-the-line iPods sell for $400 here in the U.S. and are about $420 in China. They are priced higher there because they appeal only to the wealthiest clientele. Needless to say, the people that make the iPods are not spending three months of wages to buy one. They aren't having weekend getaways to Hong Kong to go shopping. They are working their asses off to build something that they will never afford. That just seems wrong. Great story by the Chronicle.

Beijing is not known for its manners. People there hold one nostril down with their finger and exhale violently in order to clear their other nostril of snot. Other people will hock a loogie on the sidewalk as they walk without missing a beat. This happens all the time and is acceptable in their culture. The Chinese government wants to change that. Since the Olympics are coming to Beijing in 2008, the government is teaching its citizens manners, such as "the right way to spit" and "the right way to sit."

I am not sure why the government is teaching people to sit. Perhaps the men flash people when they are wearing shorts, I really don't know. Anyway, spitting and sitting is the tip of the iceberg. Most of my Chinese friends tell me that people will light up cigarettes in elevators, waiters will have cigarettes in their mouths as they bring you food, and even the people cooking the food don't stop for smoke breaks! Needless to say, teaching manners in Beijing will be tough.

It seems that wearing pajamas in public is pretty common in China. It's only a matter of time before this starts happening on Irving Street in San Francisco's Outer Sunset District (aka Chinatown II).