Eliana’s audience
China: Pride, Protest and the Olympic Games
The Olympics are an irresistible stage for athletes—but also for those who wish to act out their grievances before the world. The Beijing Games, which kick off on Aug. 8, are hardly an exception. While Chinese leaders furiously insist they’re not, and should not be, “political,” these Olympics promise to become one of the most charged in history. Rarely has a more varied array of contentious issues crystallized around a single sporting event.
China is bedeviled by internal problems—human-rights violations, media censorship, corruption, pollution, labor abuses and lack of due process, to name a few. Several “domestic” issues—Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong—have also regularly spilled over into the international realm. At the same time, a host of relatively new, purely international problems have accrued to China as the country has aggressively sought access to natural resources around the world. By dealing with pariah states like Burma, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Iran in order to feed the country’s voracious appetite for oil, timber and metals, Chinese leaders have been accused of playing an irresponsible global role. Their critics would like nothing more than to flay Beijing before a worldwide television audience of hundreds of millions.
Quake couples can have more children
Parents who were crippled in the Sichuan earthquake have been given the right to have another child. Those whose only child was seriously wounded in the quake can also have another, local authorities have announced.
On Friday, the standing committee of the Sichuan provincial people’s congress passed the long-awaited implementation rules on which quake victim couples were eligible to have more children.
Yang Guo’an, chairman of the education, science, culture and public health committee of the congress, said the decision is in line with people’s wishes and the requirements of the State Council.
A large number of parents whose children died or were crippled in the quake had shown a strong desire to have more children, he told the media.
A survey conducted in the city of Deyang showed more than 90 percent of parents whose children were killed in the quake, are of childbearing age (20-49 in China). More than 74 percent of them plan to have another child. The sample size was not disclosed.
According to the Deyang population and family planning committee, some parents went to the committee just days after the quake, consulting policies pertaining to the birth of new babies. But they had to wait for the detailed rules from the provincial commission.
“Both officials and ordinary people said parents whose children died or were crippled in the quake had to be permitted to have another,” Wang Yukun, vice-chairman of the standing committee of the Sichuan provincial people’s congress, said.
Meanwhile, the more than 5,200 Sichuan parents who lost their children or whose children were crippled in the earthquake will get 100 yuan ($15) a month each, a provincial population and family planning commission official said on Friday.
He Tiangu, deputy director of the commission, said at a press conference in Chengdu that parents will get the subsidy at the end of the year.
It is designed to help parents who lost their children or whose children will not be able to support their families in the future.
In June, authorities in Chengdu said they would pay the subsidy to parents in the city, but this has now been extended to the whole province.
Earlier regulations said parents with just one child would get 60 to 120 yuan a month, depending on their employers, until the child is 18. They would also get a one-off payment of 1,000 yuan, when they turned 60.
[source article from China Daily]
Married man, married man, drives around in a minivan
Our 3 years of bliss without a car payment has come to a close.
Yesterday evening, Carmi and I paid a visit to a Kia dealership and drove off with a pre-owned 2005 Kia Sedona minivan.
Just in time for a roadtrip next weekend to Charleston, SC.
Woohoo!
Bang, bang
Post-floss checkup
1st grade assignment
We received a postcard today from Eliana’s school.
She has been assigned to a class for the 1st grade. We were given her teacher’s name and information about orientation on August 21.
Time to go purchase that new backpack.
Beijing Olympics made of Legos
What can you build with 300,000 LEGO bricks and 4,500 mini-figures?
The Hong Kong LEGO User Group kicked off an Olympic-themed exhibition featuring some creative models of Beijing Olympic landmarks such as the Bird’s Nest, Water Cube and Sports Village. Check out these and others on their blog.
Bird’s Nest
Water Cube
Sports Village
China Week on the Travel Channel
Starting Sunday, July 27, the Travel Channel is showing a week of specials on China in a lead-up to the Olympics.
Here’s the schedule (all show times are EST):
Sun, Jul 27
8 pm—Wild China, episode 1
9 pm—Wild China, episode 2
10 pm—Wild China, episode 3
11 pm—Seven Wonders of China Special
Mon, Jul 28
8 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Beijing
9 pm—Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations—China
Tue, Jul 29
8 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Sichuan
9 pm—Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern: Beijing
10 pm—Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern: Guanzhou
11 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Beijing
Wed, Jul 30
8 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Xian
9 pm—Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations—Shanghai
10 pm—Seven Wonders of China Special
11 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Sichuan
Thu, Jul 31
8 pm— Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Beijing
9 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Sichuan
10 pm—Samantha Brown: Passport to China—Xian
11 pm—Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern: Beijing
Fri, Aug 1
8 pm— Asia Cruise Special
Sun, Aug 3
8 pm—Wild China, episode 4
9 pm—Wild China, episode 5
10 pm—Wild China, episode 6
11 pm—Wild China, episode 1
Victoria Jacoby on America’s Got Talent
Week 4 of America’s Got Talent was broadcast on July 8 from Atlanta, GA.
One of the contestants in this episode was an 11-year-old girl who was adopted from China when she was 6 months old. Her name is Victoria Jacoby. She is a contortionist and made quite an impression on the judges. They unanimously advanced her to Vegas.
My jaw dropped like Sharon Osbourne’s.
