13^th of July. The day prior to our first day of teaching, we were taken to the Ancestral Temple in Foshan.

Foshan is a city described as being famous for a great many things. Canton Opera, arts and crafts, masks, silk, ceramics, wood carving. In reality, I’m not sure how famous it is for any of them outside of Foshan, but this temple tranformed the sweltering, dusty, cracked, pop up book city of Foshan into something much older and much greater for me.

There were golden gods looming over us, intricate carvings trying to tell us tales we could only guess at, and many paths taking us through a temple that nobody seemed able to understand. Our guides couldn’t tell us how old it was, and everyone else seemed to find our little European party more of a spectacle than Beidi, God of the North, charged with holding back the water from the flood planes of Guangdong, and all his friends.

In two large areas at the rear of the temple old men and women played Mah-jong whilst boys in costumes fought with swords, refined their martial arts skills and risked unpleasant bruising with nunchukus.

The visitors joined in, then we went for simply brilliant sushi, and played on all the games in the arcade twice, as it was so cheap.

I later found out the temple was founded in 1080 as a metallurgist’s guild temple. China seems to be upside down. 

N.B. Uploading to this website was completely impossible whilst I was in China. I'm not sure if this was because it's not allowed, because the internet was rubbish, or just a fluke. But anyway, now I'm back in Hong Kong, here's some back dated updates on my little trip to China.

Written 10th of July 2008.
After visiting the schools I will be teaching at in Hong Kong, on Thursday the 10th I and the other members of the intrepid Team 6 (Paddy Brannack, Sarah Bartley, Grace Rigg, Jasmine Ho, Emma Woods and Jane McIvor) left with Juan, our venerable project leader and the Teaching Assistants (Emily, Mandy, Crystal, Tiffany, Zoe and Carmen) from Hong Kong by train and bus for Foshan, in Guangdong Province.

When we arrived we were shown our hotel (or Mah Jong palace as I came to think of it, pretty much ever other room had four old Chinese men sitting round a Mah Jong table and gambling until the small hours) and whisked off for a banquet with the principal of the school we are going to be teaching at and representatives from the Regional Education Bureau. The food was plentiful, far cheaper than HK (I haven’t actually paid a penny for food yet) and various. New eats since I’ve been here include chicken feet, pig stomach, lotus flower, vegetable roots, duck neck, turtle jelly and many others that I probably couldn’t even give a name.  

Foshan is a huge and rugged Chinese city. The area around the school is made up of huge apartment blocks, a great many restaurants and cracked hot roads without marking. Cars and mopeds never stop beeping “Hello, I’m here!” “I have a car!” “I’m overtaking!” “Hey look, a foreigner!”. "It is an area for the middle class people, see, they all have cars" we were informed. On the day we arrived we were given a tour of the area, from the flashing KTV Karaoke tower, local supermaket (‘A. Best’),  to the Chinese market lined with buckets of snakes, crabs and frogs, yum yum yum.

Since we’ve arrived we’ve been either planning our camp in the school, eating or sleeping. It’s both our first school and the longest school (9 days, no break 8-5, urgh) so there’s an awful lot to sort out. I wrote a play for our opening ceremony, and am MC-ing. Two days ‘til we start, however, when we’re done for the afternoon, Karaoke time.

(In million tonnes)

According to the Customs, it is the international iron ore talk and rocketing freight rate that combine to cause the increases in import volume and prices of iron ore in Guangdong province in the first half of 2008.

Baosteel's first acceptance of 65% iron ore price rise earlier this year with Vale and then the settlement with Australian miners of 96.5 hike on lump lead to worldwide upsurge of this resource. Meanwhile, freight rate from Brazil to Tianjin port surges to current USD 80 per tonne from USD 20 per tonne in 2006, and the case is true with ports in Guangdong province. The rise in freight rate directly triggers cost increase of imported resource.

According to sources, this GPRS Internet access fees will include the adjustment of 130/131/132/156, and other users of all, the basic involving all the numbers in Guangdong Unicom users paragraph.

It is learnt that the new programme will take three ways, first, every one yuan / MB calculation method and the other is in accordance with preferential packages, one yuan per day, limit 5 MB; Third, in accordance with the five yuan to 200 yuan a month on the set, Of which 15 yuan per month subscription, limit 100 MB; In addition, 5 G will be clear for the cap, costs 500 yuan a month for all brands. World Wind will support the adoption of a type that one yuan / MB the method of calculation.

This is not the first time Guangdong Unicom adjustment GPRS rates, it was learned that Guangdong Mobile and China Unicom Guangdong GPRS charges generally quite. Prior to the beginning of Guangdong Mobile in the GPRS charges have been adjusted, launched five yuan / month (100 MB) try to attract a large number of wireless Internet users.

"Tariff reduction on the use of value-added business user training habits significantly affected." Ai-borne Chang, senior analyst at market advisory that rates will decline in China's wireless Internet development and the future 3 G in the popularity of value-added business data provided the best training opportunities.

Analysts have pointed out that China Mobile will follow later or wireless internet used to adjust quickly occupied the site.

"As the current round of restructuring in place, the new China Mobile has always been in voice revenue in the absolute superiority will face the new Telecom, China Unicom new means of marketing the combination of provocation, therefore, must be vigorously China Mobile of the wireless value-added." Expert analysis of the case.

China competes with Venice

Residents row boats along a flooded street in the township of Yuecheng in Deqing county, west of Guangdong Province, June 18, 2008. REUTERS/Aly Song. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Here's what the China "Frankenstein" looks like:

Hundreds of troops, police and rescue workers are shoring up dams which might burst under torrential rain that has already flooded an area of about 24,000 square kilometers, including homes, businesses and farmlands.

The damage:

• Floods have killed about 180 people so far in Guangdong
• Another 60 people are missing
• More rain is expected in the annual flood season
• Six reservoirs are in "danger of bursting" in southern Guangxi region
• About 1.7 million people have been evacuated in nine southern provinces since the start of the flood season earlier this month.
• Floodwater has collapsed about 150,000 homes,
• About 2.4 million hectares (~ 6 million acres) of crops have been damaged or destroyed
• The mounting economic losses already exceed $4 billion

All of this comes in addition to the soaring food prices the have already plagued China, record snowstorms last winter and, of course, the Sichuan earthquake which killed about 70,000 people and left five million homeless. Serious danger of epidemics in the soaring summer temperatures looms.

Droughts, floods and other human-enhanced disasters throughout China are nothing new, of course, but their frequency and intensity this year are alarming experts.

The biggest disaster yet to strike China in 2008 may prove to be a major drought causing water shortages throughout the country later in the summer.

It's as if nature is mad at China: Drop the Olympics, or have your annual quota of H2O now!

Related Links:

• China rushes to fix dams as 9,000 sq miles flooded
• China earthquake: Teacher left students behind as he ran to safety

• Why Didn’t China Prevent the Loss of 86,000 Lives?
• The Anguished Cries of China Quake Nurse
• Chinese paratroopers rescuing survivors or preventing plague?
• How Many More Survivors?
• Heavy Death Toll, Corruption, Criminal Incompetence
• Why Was the Girl Removed from Family?

• Chinese Leaders Incapable of Handling Quake Aftermath
• Bigger China Disaster Unfolds

• China’s grieving quake parents start to voice anger
• Beijing’s quick response to disaster won’t cover cracks of corruption
• Almost five million left homeless, China says
• Corruption blamed for rising death toll in China
• Parents’ grief turns to anger at shoddily built deathtrap schools

• Earthquake Predictions In China Are Also Political

More Links:

• China “quake lake” fears force new evacuation
• Swelling China lakes a danger 2 weeks after quake
• Big aftershock causes more misery in China

.

by Robert J. Saiget

BEIJING (AFP) - Heavy rains in southern and eastern China have left at least 62 people dead or missing, while more than one million residents have been evacuated, the government and state media said Sunday.

Rains were expected to further pound southern China in the coming days, with rising river levels threatening towns in Jiangxi, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, the state meteorological bureau said.

According to the civil affairs ministry, at least 55 people have been killed and seven others were missing following torrential rains in nine provinces over the past week, the China News Service said.

More than 1.27 million people have been evacuated in the hardest-hit regions, with large swathes of farmland submerged and economic losses already totalling more than 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion dollars), it said.

Almost 18 million people had been affected by flooding while more than 141,000 homes had been wrecked or damaged, it added.

State television showed people rowing boats in the middle of towns in flooded areas, while in rural areas farmers frantically filled sand bags to block swollen rivers from spilling their waters onto croplands.

The rains have washed away roads across the nine provinces and many areas have been hit by landslides, Xinhua news agency said.

Prosperous Guangdong province was the worst affected. Rains there left at least 28 people dead or missing, with flooding in the Pearl River delta the worst in decades, it added.

The Guangdong government issued an emergency flood alert throughout the province as levels in tributaries of the Pearl River hit or were surpassing danger levels, Xinhua said.

Read the rest:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080615/ts_afp/
chinaweatherflood_080615161518

Looking out from the inside of the Gold Peak atrium in Guangdong.

Taking a look at the scaled-down model of Gold Peak's factory and staff apartments.

Jesse and Julie show off their dust-proof shoe covers in Gold Peak's sound quality room.

On May 13, 1992 Falun Gong founder Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, to the general public in mainland China. According to official statistics, in a few short years it grew dramatically in popularity until there were at least 70 million Chinese practitioners.

(photo: people practice Falun Gong in Harbin City, Heilongjiang province, northeast China )

In the wake of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong (video: Why is Falun Gong persecuted in China), which started on July 20, 1999, the scenes of Falun Gong group practice in mainland China have become events worth recalling. Let us take a look at these historic photographs of Falun Gong group practice in China in celebration of this year's World Falun Dafa Day.

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, northeast China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Weihai City, Shandong Province, east China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Shanghai City, east China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Shenzhen City, Guangdong province, south China

More photos from the Epochtimes

I 50.000 soccorritori dell'Esercito di Liberazione Nazional Popolare stanno tutt'ora scavando sotto le macerie per recuperare il maggior numero possibile di corpi nascosti sotto le case distrutte e devastate dal violento sisma,che con i 7.8 gradi della Scala Richter,è uno dei più violenti della storia della Cina.

Presso la televisione di stato,la CCTV,alcuni esperti hanno fatto una triste previsione del bilancio delle vittime,che supererebbe le 25.000 unità,ad esempio nel Mianzhu si parla di almeno 20.000 corpi nascosti sotto le macerie,su un totale di 3.500 morti nella sola città che è ormai divenuta un paese fantasma.

Le notizie sul numero dei morti rimbalzano nei telegiornali con una certa frequenza e sono stime sicuramente inesatte,ma si dice che nella sola città di Mianyang sono 19.000 i morti sotto le macerie.La situazione in effetti è molto più grave di quanto stimato ieri,forse a causa dei successivi crolli che hanno causato nuove vittime soprattutto negli ospedali e nella popolazione degli anziani e dei bambini.

Il terremoto del Wenchuan,è sicuramente il più forte degli ultimi 30 anni in Cina,a distanza dal sisma del 1976 che sconvolse il Tangshan,con 250 mila morti e 177 mila gravemente feriti e menomati,ma come intensità i due violenti movimenti della crosta terrestre,sono allo stesso livello:7.8 Gradi della scala Richter.

Grazie a numerose leggi sulle costruzioni degli ultimi anni impartite dal governo cinese,si è avuto un numero inferiore di morti,considerando anche che la zona del Wenchuan e prettamente rurale.

Le scosse,avvertite in tutta la Cina,dal Guangdong a Pechino fino a Shangai,hanno mobilitato un numero altissimo di soccorsi in tutto lo Stato,che in un certo senso hanno salvato molte vittime ed evitato l'apocalisse.

Secondo la guardia popolare cinese nella zona sono crollate l'80% delle case e il 70% delle strade sono impraticabili e un portavoce dello Stato Maggiore ha rifornito la zona di un carico di cibo e di acqua,mentre George Bush ha stanziato 500.000 dollari in aiuti che sono già partiti alla volte della località tristemente nota per la calamità naturale.

Si parla inoltre nella città di Beichuan di un totale di 1000 morti tra maestri e studenti nel crollo di una scuola su un totale di 98.000 abitanti,ogni famiglia ha praticamente perso un suo componente.

Tra i paesi che hanno aiutato la Cina anche l'Italia,mentre i capo religioso esiliato,il Dalai Lama ha inviato a Pechino gli attestati di solidarietà per l'evento accaduto.

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Africans living in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are being forced to leave the country because of new visa policies, the South China Morning Post reported, citing an unidentified spokesman for the community.

Nearly half of the 10,000 Africans in the city have already been forced to leave because their visa-renewal applications have been denied and at least 100 people are stranded in Macau without enough money to return home, the newspaper reported.

African nationals in the city have been running small businesses on flexible, six-month ``F'' visas and are now being given only tourist visas of up to 15 days, the Morning Post said.

The General Committee of African People in Guangzhou has sent a letter to 10 African embassies in Beijing asking them to press the Chinese government on the issue, the newspaper added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing said May 7 that visa checks have been tightened ahead of the Olympic Games to ensure ``greater security.''

- Original report from Bloomberg: Africans Forced to Leave China on New Visa Rules, Post Reports

So here's another article related to the current rise in grain prices. This time, it talks specifically about my beloved ancestral home's province - Guangdong.

Sadly, I don't have much time to write today, so I'll just leave with that link.

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Berita ini saya terjemahkan dari: SINI. Hak Terjemah ada pada saya. Mau Kopas? Eit, cantumkan saya sebagai terjemahnya!! :)

Ratusan lebih telah terjangkiti virus EV71

seorang anak yang terinfeksi sejenis virus intestinal, teridentifikasi sebagai enterovirus 71, atau EV71, tengah menjalani pengobatan medis di sebuah rumah sakit di Fuyang, propinsi anhui pada 29 April 2008. [Agencies]

HEFEI -- Jumlah kasus penyakit lengan-kaki-mulut di Fuyang, sebuah kota di timur anhui, meningkat 3.736 pada Sabtu pagi hari dari 3.321 pada jumatnya, petugas lokal menyebutkan.

Lebih jauh, 4.529 anak-anak telah terjangkiti virus tersebut, yang diketahui sebagai entero virus 71, atau EV71, di 15 kota di Anhui. Kota-kota dengan kasus ini adalah Fuyang, Huanian, Bozhou, Bengbu, dan Hefei, seorang petugas dari deprteman kesehatan propinsi mengatakan.

Berita -berita terkait: Infeksi virus menyerang 2,477, membunuh 20 Virus terkendali, tapi 'akan menyebar' Cina mengambil langkah monitoring virus EV71 pasca penyebaran fatal Laporan harian virus yang bersarang di Cina Timur

Wang Jinshan, sekretaris Komite Propinsi dari Partai Komunis cina, mengunjungi rumah sakit-rumah sakit di fuyang pada Jum'at dan dan meminta sistem jangka panjang untuk mencegah tersebarnya infeksi penyakit ini.

45 ahli kesehatan yang diberangkatkan oleh Kementrian kesehatan dan departemen kesehatan propinsi telah tiba di Fuyang.

Pihak propinsi telah meningkatkan status emergensi kesehatan publik dari siaga 3 menjadi siaga 2, yang berarti pemerintah propinsi dapat meng-karantina pasien dan mengendalikan keluar-masuknya penduduk di Fuyang.

EV71 dapat menyebabkan penyakit tangan, kaki dan mulut yang seringkali diawali dengan demam biasa yg diikuti tumbuhnya bisul dan borok di mulut dan kudis pada tangan dan kaki.

Ia juga dapat menyebabkan demam tinggi, meningitis, radang otak, paru-paru dan kelumpuhan

Upaya lanjutan guna menontrol Penyakit menular ini (LIHAT JUGA INI)

Kementrian kesehatan cina (MOH) telah mendesak biro kesehatan setempat untuk melakukan pencegahan dan mengontrol penulran penyakit itu sebelum Olimpiade.

Kementrian telah menerbitkan edaran pada hari Sabtu yg menyuruh biro setempat untuk melakukan langkah tebaik untukmencegah dan mengontrol penyakit menular ini, dikarenakan penyebaran masal dapat dengan mudah terjadi saat-saat ini.

Di samping penyakit tangan, kaki dan mulut (HFMD) yang membunuh 22 anak di timur propinsi anhui, Kementrian juga memerintahkan biro untuk meningkatkan kewaspadaan terhadap pes, kolera, hepatitis A, demam tipes, diare, radang paru-paru, malaria dan meningitis.

Di samping progres keseluruhan yang telah dibuat guna mengontrol penyakit mematikan itu, sumber wabah masih menyebar berulangkali di beberapa wilayah, khusunya setelah cuaca yang tidak biasa dan perpindahan penduduk, kata edaran itu.

Sejak musim semi, epidemik HFMD, hepatitis A dan penyakit campak telah menyebar, menurut edaran itu.

Seluruh biro kesehatan setempat harus memberikan prioritas utama guna pencegahan dan mengendalikan penyakit menular ini khususnya di area pedalaman sehingga melindungi kesehatan penduduk sebelum Olimpiade, demikian dalam edaran itu.

Hal ini tergantung rumah sakir dan biro kesehatan lokal dalam membuat laporan berkala tentang penyakit-penyakti mennular. Pembatalan atau kegagalan laporan-laporan tersebut akan dikenakan sanksi, kata edaran itu.

Pihak kementrian meramalkan kasus-kasus HFMD tersebut kemungkinan akan meningkat dalam beberapa bulan mendatang karena Juni dan Juli adalah titik musim bagi penyakit tersebut.

Tahun ini, lebih banyak kejadian HFMD, yang disebabkan oleh Enterovirus 71, atau EV71, yang dilaporkan di singapura dan taiwan wilayah china dibandingkan dengan periode yang sama tahun lalu. Di wilayah utama china, kasus lebih dilaporkan di anhui dan propinsi-psopinsi lainnya, menurut kementrian tersebut.

Kementrian telah menerbitkan petunjuk terakhir atas pencegahan dan pengendalian HFMD. Petunjuk itu, diposting di website milik kementrian, merincikan informasi asal muasal, simton, pencegahan dan pendegnalian HFMD.

Kemnetrian mengatakan pelatihan tentang diagnosis dan penanganan medis HFMD akan lebih diberikan terhadap para dokter spesaialis anak.

sebuah kematian yang ditenggarai tersebab penyakit HFMD dilaporkan Sabtu pagi di Propinsi china bagian selatan, Guangdong.

Pada hari Jum'at, pihak berwenang kesehatan setempat dari ibukota propinsi Hubei mengumumkan 340 kasus HFMD telah ditemukan, tetapi tidak ada kematian yang dilaporkan.

EV71 dapat menyebabkan penyakit tangan, kaki dan mulut yang biasanya dimulai dengan demam ringan dan diikuti dengan bisul dan nanah di mulut serta kudis pada tangan dan kaki.

China journalists protest the dismissal of newspaper deputy editor over Tibet comments

Media personalities and journalists on Nanfang Dushi Bao have protested at the dismissal of Chang Ping, deputy editor of the paper. A petition in support of his reinstatement is being circulated, on the initiative of Cheng Yizhong, the former editor of the Guangzhou daily. This proves that freedom of expression is still being trampled on in China", said Cheng Yizhong, who was himself sanctioned and arrested in 2004. Journalist, Zan Aizong, demanded “fair treatment” for his colleague.

06.05 - Deputy editor removed because of editorial about Tibet

The deputy editor of the daily Nanfang Dushi Bao, Chang Ping, announced today that he has been removed from his post because of his editorials about Tibet, especially two entitled "Universal Values" and "How to find the truth about Lhasa", that contrasts with the government’s propaganda, according to the web site Boxun. He has been the target of a smear campaign on the Internet and in other newspapers for daring to say that events in Tibet show that the government has not solved the problem of minorities.

"We deplore this unfair removal of a well-known member of the liberal press," Reporters Without Borders said. "Once again, only the voice of propaganda is permitted in China with the aim of getting the world to believe that all Chinese support repression in Tibet."

Chang is known for writing serious, independent editorials, in which he often denounces press freedom violations by officials. In 2006, for example, he criticised a government bill on crisis management that envisaged additional restrictions on the press.

He used to be deputy editor of the famous weekly Nanfang Zhoumo and deputy editor of Waitan Huabao. He was removed from the Nanfang Zhoumo deputy editor position in 2001 after publishing two investigative reports that had a lot of impact.

- Original report from Reporters Without Borders: Figures within Chinese media speak out against sacking of Chang Ping

Not that I smoke joints anymore but I do get disillusioned sometimes about my life goal which is to make Cantonese a world language. Here I was all happy about getting more and more students whom I can Canto-groom, thus making my dream of world domination a reality, and then I have to realise that there's a province right under my nose which is hard at work making my dream come to nought. Zip zero and all that.

The province I'm talking about is Guangdong, home, nay, cradle of the very Cantonese language without which I wouldn't be here. But as I'm toiling away with the spreading of the sacred Canto-word, it seems that Guangdong is giving up the holy Canto-ghost.

Last weekend I went to Long Tsuen (Dragon River) in the north-ish of the province and: Mandarin has become the new English! It used to be that if you spoke to very Canto-looking people they answered you in English. Now it's bloody Mandarin! I address people in my Norwegian accented and therefore Canto-sounding Cantonese, and they answer me in Mandarin. Putong bloody hua.

I even met a couple who were obviously Canto natives; they spoke Cantonese to each other. But to their child they only spoke awfully accented Putonghua, not even wanting the child to learn the language in the province in which they live! I asked them why and they said they didn't want their child to learn Cantonese.

This is going on all over the province. Will boring, communist party meeting, set in stone Mandarin win the day after all? Stand up, ye people of Hong Kong, soon to be the last bastion of Canto! I am thoroughly disillusioned and want to kill myself - linguistically at least. I have said many times that it's no fun fighting a downhill battle, but this? It's like two Hong Kong parents talking to their children in awfully accented English, not wanting them to learn the language in which ... hang on, that's already happening.

What is it with Cantonese, the most fun, vibrant, happening language on earth, that makes everyone want to kill it off?

Well it will be over my dead, stinking, putrefying body, that's for sure. Stand up to be counted all you people out there who don't want the fascist, dull, we-rule-and-own-the world, nationalistic, anti-fun-and-variety, support-every-awful-regime and kill-all-initiative language Mandarin, to win. Having lots of money, killing the whole world with fumes and being able to host a big sporting event isn't everything you know.

Articolo di Aneta Carreri (di Redattore Sociale)

Quando la fabbrica Yue Yuen aprì, gli operai lavoravano fino a mezzanotte e godevano del giorno di riposo in maniera saltuaria. Ma, verso la fine degli anni '90, alcuni clienti come Nike e Adidas chiesero che fossero migliorate le condizioni dei lavoratori. Così Yue Yuen portò la giornata lavorativa a 11 13 ore garantendo un giorno di riposo settimanale.

Purtroppo le multinazionali hanno un atteggiamento contraddittorio. A parole chiedono il rispetto dei diritti fondamentali mentre nei fatti impongono prezzi e tempi di consegna così stretti che non lasciano margini per aumenti salariali e ritmi di lavoro sostenibili.

Oggi le multinazionali concedono 30 giorni per la consegna degli ordini. Tre anni fa ne concedevano 60. Dieci anni fa 90.

Davanti ad ogni postazione di lavoro c'è un cartellone che indica in quanti secondi deve essere eseguita ogni operazione e i lavoratori sono cronometrati dai supervisori.

Trymun è una ragazza indonesiana di 19 anni che lavora in una fabbrica di scarpe. Sperava di guadagnare abbastanza per mantenersi e mandare a casa qualche soldo. Purtroppo non riesce neanche a coprire nemmeno le sue spese personali pur condividendo la stanza con altre nove compagne e facendo un sacco di straordinari:"

«Ogni giorno lavoriamo dalle otto fino a mezzogiorno, poi facciamo pausa per il pranzo. L'orario del pomeriggio dovrebbe andare dall'una alle cinque, ma dobbiamo fare gli straordinari tutti i giorni. Durante la stagione di punta lavoriamo fino alle due o le tre di notte. Anche se siamo sfinite non abbiamo scelta. Non possiamo rifiutare gli straordinari perché le nostre paghe di partenza sono bassissime. La mia corrisponde a 50 dollari al mese, che in realtà diventano 43 perché il datore di lavoro ci trattiene 7 dollari per le tasse di registrazione. Quando ci ho tolto le spese per il dormitorio, l'acqua e la corrente elettrica, mi rimane molto poco per mangiare".

La fabbrica in cui Trymun lavora appartiene a un sudcoreano e produce scarpe per la Nike. Nonostante mezzo miliardo di dollari all'anno di profitti, Nike si lamenta: «Con i tempi che corrono rimanere sul mercato è una battaglia continua. Per vincerla bisogna investire in pubblicità». E cosi fa. La Nike destina a questa voce l'l'11% del suo fatturato, tra spot televisivi, annunci sui giornali e sponsorizzazioni.

Nel 2003 James LeBron, un giocatore di pallacanestro appena diciottenne, ha firmato un contratto di sette anni che lo obbliga ad indossare maglie e scarpe col marchio Nike bene in vista. In cambio riceve 90 milioni di dollari.

Tutti si arricchiscono sul lavoro di Trymun, tranne lei. Su un paio di scarpe che in negozio costano 70 euro, a Trymun va solo mezzo euro.

Per le multinazionali questa realtà non è uno spot da mandare in onda, ed è un vero peccato perché per "Just do it" " fallo e basta" non ci sono testimonial migliori di questi migliaia di donne uomini e bambini che continuano a essere sfruttati nell'indifferenza generale.

BEIJING (AFP) — The death of a child in south China has raised fears that a virus that has already killed 22 is spreading, as authorities called Saturday for better controls of infectious diseases before the Olympics.

The 18-month-old boy died Friday in Foshan city bordering Hong Kong, from what was probably hand, foot and mouth disease, triggered by the intestinal virus enterovirus 71, or EV71, the health department there said....... (more: Boy dies in China as govt tries curb diseases before Olympics)

Related:
- China: At least 20 children killed, 1,520 people infected by virus which was covered up by officials

Apr 30, 08 release 3.0.3

* Improve the data transfering performance
* Fixed a bug in data transfering layer
* Fixed a bug in lauching external player
* Add a FAQ tab in client
* Fixed some other minor bugs

Features of SopCast :

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- Standard channel URL: click on any sop:// URL to play.
- Real time monitor of broadcasting source quality and network quality to help viewers to select a appropriate channel.
- Record the clips when you are watching it.
Can play the stream with your favorite player, such as Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, VLC, etc.
- Memory buffering, no harm to the hard disk.
- Support for authentication for both the broadcasters and the viewers. The broadcaster has full control on his channels.
- End-to-End security, encrypted messages, hi level P2P security, no hijack.
- Support multiple channels broadcast on the same server. Normally, you can run 5-10 channels on one PC.
- The Sop Player can be embedded into a webpage or any software applications. It works just like Windows Media Player.
- The Sop Server and Sop Player can be run both on Windows and Linux. The whole system can be ported to embedded Linux.
- Freeware, ad/spyware free!

Download

Se non sapete come fare a guardare lo sport via internet vi rimando a questo mio articolo

Articolo di Aneta Carreri (di Redattore Sociale)

I copy-writer avranno fatto una gita nelle fabbriche cinesi, indiane o thainlandesi per ideare gli slogan vincenti per due tra i più grandi marchi mondiali del settore sportivo:

"Just do it" per nike, e "Impossible is nothing".

Per evitare spiacevoli imbarazzi hanno sostituito agli operai, che lavorano per meno di 2 dollari al giorno, per cucire palloni da calcio, incollare a ritmo sfrenato suole di scarpe da ginnastica, ricamare t-shirt in condizioni disumane, atleti madidi di sudore, esausti sì ma felici. Niente di più azzeccato per esprimere lo spirito che anima le due multinazionali nonostante abbiano adottato un codice di condotta più di 15 anni fa per la tutela dei lavoratori asiatici. Un rapporto della Fair Play Campaign 2008 "Vincere gli ostacoli" promosso dalla Confederazione internazionale sindacale dei lavoratori del tessile, cuoio e abbigliamento, denuncia condizioni di lavoro disumane nelle fabbriche che producono su licenza gadget, cancelleria, borse e berretti con il marchio olimpico di Pechino 2008, e che forniscono i prodotti ai brand leader nel settore sportivo come Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok ,Umbro, Fila, Wilson ecc.

Il rapporto si basa su interviste choc rilasciate da circa 300 operai del settore sportivo, in paesi come l'India, la Cina, la Thailandia e l'Indonesia. In Cina le industrie pagano i dipendenti più fortunati «tra i 71 e gli 86 dollari al mese, meno della metà del salario minimo legale», ha sottolineato Neil Kearney, uno dei responsabili della Federazione che ha messo a punto il documento. «Gli ultimi arrivati non ricevono più di 41 dollari». Un lavoratore della Yue Yuen, fabbrica di Honk Kong che produce 1/6 delle scarpe mondiali e annovera tra i suoi clienti Adidas nike e new balance, dice" sono stanco da morire. In due dobbiamo incollare 120 paia di scarpe all'ora. Stiamo lavorando senza riposo e abbiamo paura di non lavorare abbastanza in fretta per fornire le suolo alla linea successiva."

"Non abbiamo risparmi perciò non abbiamo soldi per le emergenze. Una volta ho dovuto impegnare la mia bombola a gas per avere il denaro necessario a curare mia moglie. Un mio amico ha venduto persino il suo sangue per i soldi." Si sfoga un confezionatore di palloni in India. Mentre un altro operaio che produce scarpe per la New Balance, accusa"Nessuno di noi ha tempo per andare in bagno o bere .I supervisori ci assillano di continuo". Il fornitore della Puma è nel Guangdong, località Dongguan. Si chiama Pou Yuen, un colosso da 30.000 dipendenti. In un intero stabilimento, l'impianto F, 3.000 operai fanno scarpe sportive su ordinazione per la multinazionale tedesca. La lettera di un'operaio descrive la sua giornata-tipo nella fabbrica.

Siamo sottoposti a una disciplina di tipo militare. Alle 6.30 dobbiamo scattare in piedi, pulirci le scarpe, lavarci la faccia e vestirci in 10 minuti. Corriamo alla mensa perché la colazione è scarsa e chi arriva ultimo ha il cibo peggiore, alle 7 in punto bisogna timbrare il cartellino sennò c'è una multa sulla busta paga. Alle 7 ogni gruppo marcia in fila dietro il caporeparto recitando in coro la promessa di lavorare diligentemente. Se non recitiamo a voce alta, se c'è qualche errore nella sfilata, veniamo puniti. I capireparto urlano in continuazione. Dobbiamo subire, chiunque accenni a resistere viene cacciato. Noi operai veniamo da lontani villaggi di campagna. Siamo qui per guadagnare. Dobbiamo sopportare in silenzio e continuare a lavorare. (...) Nei reparti-confezione puoi vedere gli operai che incollano le suole delle scarpe. Guardando le loro mani capisci da quanto tempo lavorano qui. Le forme delle mani cambiano completamente. Chi vede quelle mani si spaventa. Questi operai non fanno altro che incollare...

Un ragazzo di 20 anni ne dimostra 30 e sembra diventato scemo. La sua unica speranza è di non essere licenziato. Farà questo lavoro per tutta la vita, non ha scelta. (...) Lavoriamo dalle 7 alle 23 e la metà di noi soffrono la fame. Alla mensa c'è minestra, verdura e brodo. (...) Gli ordini della Puma sono aumentati e il tempo per mangiare alla mensa è stato ridotto a mezz'ora. (...) Nei dormitori non abbiamo l'acqua calda d'inverno".

Continua...

]]> http://lushhomeonline.wordpress.com/?p=4573 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:43:48 +0000 lushhomeonline http://lushhomeonline.wordpress.com/?p=4573 KEPPEL Land said yesterday that it is developing a waterfront residential pro-ject in China's Pearl River Delta region.

Keppel Land is taking an 80 per cent stake in Sunseacan Investment, a Hong Kong company that will undertake the development. The remaining 20 per cent will be held by Sunsea Yacht Club, another Hong Kong company and the former owner of Sunseacan Investment.

Keppel Land had earlier announced that it was buying an 80 per cent stake in Sunseacan for HK$50 million (S$8.74 million) in cash. It will hold the stake through a subsidiary.

The luxury complex will be 35 km from Zhongshan city in Guangdong province and will cover 82 hectares. When completed, it is expected to yield about 300 villas with private berths on the Xijiang river and 2,500 condominium units and serviced apartments, with a total gross floor area of 408,000 sq m.

There will also be restaurants, berths for 550 boats and other recreational facilities.

Keppel Land's group chief executive officer Kevin Wong said: 'Waterfront living has become a worldwide trend. Keppel Land is confident this integrated development will present a new and refreshing lifestyle to home-buyers in China.'

Keppel Land said the deal is not expected to have a material impact on its consolidated earnings per share or net tangible assets per share for the current financial year.

Source : Business Times - 1 May 2008

Keppel Land is taking an 80 per cent stake in Sunseacan Investment, a Hong Kong company that will undertake the development. The remaining 20 per cent will be held by Sunsea Yacht Club, another Hong Kong company and the former owner of Sunseacan Investment.

Keppel Land had earlier announced that it was buying an 80 per cent stake in Sunseacan for HK$50 million (S$8.74 million) in cash. It will hold the stake through a subsidiary.

The luxury complex will be 35 km from Zhongshan city in Guangdong province and will cover 82 hectares. When completed, it is expected to yield about 300 villas with private berths on the Xijiang river and 2,500 condominium units and serviced apartments, with a total gross floor area of 408,000 sq m.

There will also be restaurants, berths for 550 boats and other recreational facilities.

Keppel Land's group chief executive officer Kevin Wong said: 'Waterfront living has become a worldwide trend. Keppel Land is confident this integrated development will present a new and refreshing lifestyle to home-buyers in China.'

Keppel Land said the deal is not expected to have a material impact on its consolidated earnings per share or net tangible assets per share for the current financial year.

Source : Business Times - 1 May 2008