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Two-snouted Pig Named Babe Born In China
A baby pig in northern China is hogging all the attention in his litter — mainly because he has two snouts.
The two-snouted pig was born in Deshengtang, Jilin province, northern China, and was named “Xiaobao,” which translates roughly into “Babe,” the name of the famous movie character, according to the West Australian.
But while the duo-nosed porker is getting lots of public attention, his owner, farmer Li Zhenjun, says Babe hasn’t been able to pig out very much.
“The mouths aren’t much of an advantage because his head is very heavy and he gets pushed around by the others,” Li said.
Officially, it’s the Year of the Rabbit in Chinese astrology, but one could make an argument that it’s also the year of the two-snouted pig.
Earlier this year, a pig with two mouths was, like Babe, also born on a farm in the Jilin province, and, like Babe, had its share of problems, according to PigProgress.net.
Its owner, Bai Xuejin, said that while the piglet was able to eat and drink from both mouths, it could not suckle because its head was so large, so it had to be raised by hand until it was old enough to eat solid food.
Luckily, that pig was saved from the chopping block and is being used by Bai as a way to attract visitors to the farm.
Related articles
- The Pink Bayou Pig! (bayouwoman.wordpress.com)
Almost Half of world's PCs use pirated software: BSA report
A man uses the internet in Beijing. Almost half of personal computer users around the world get their software illegally, with China‘s massive market the worst culprit, a Business Software Alliance (BSA) survey showed.
A Business Software Alliance (BSA) survey showed 47 percent of PC users globally believe there is nothing wrong with using unauthorised copies of software programs.
This includes buying a single licence for multiple installations or downloading programs from peer-to-peer networks, BSA said.
The survey of 15,000 PC users in 32 countries showed Chinese users have the most relaxed attitude to piracy.
As many as 86 percent of computer users in the country acquire their software illegally most or all of the time, the survey showed.
“The survey makes it clear that the global software piracy epidemic is spreading fastest in China, which is now the worlds biggest market for new PCs,” said BSA president and chief executive Robert Holleyman.
The Washington-based BSA is an industry group that works for copyright protection and counts among its members some of the world’s biggesttechnology companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe.
Pirated software installations cost the industry nearly $59 billion globally last year, a BSA report said in May.
It said in terms of value, China was the world’s second-largest culprit behind the US, installing $7.78 billion of stolen programs last year.
The commercial value of pirate computer software used in the US was estimated at $9.5 billion, the BSA said in the May report.
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Swastika Tattoo Found In Swedish Kids' Meal
In addition to his fast food meal, an eight-year-old child in Sweden also received an unexpected “gift”: a Swastika tattoo.
The surprising addition was one of several tattoos included in the meal.
“We could not believe our eyes. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” the youth’s mother, Malin Hagglund said.
The owners of the fast food restaurant, Frasses, apologized for the incident. They said the tattoos were from China and including the Swastika was a mistake.
The Local notes that the symbol is found in several Asian languages.
It seems like we’ve got a new Mealbreaker category on our hands; the food may not be contaminated but nonetheless an offensive tattoo can certainly spoil a meal.
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Drought-Stricken Texas Town to Recycle Urine
We all know that recycling is a good thing. But recycling sewage water?
According to Discovery News, the drought in Texas has gotten so desperate that the town of Big Spring is considering recycling toilet water for its 27,000 residents.While it sounds unusual (and more than a little gross) it’s not that uncommon. NASA for example, has a system where they filter urine directly to salvage water.
(PHOTOS: Drought in China)
However, the process in Texas would work a little differently than NASA’s system. “We’re taking treated effluent (wastewater), normally discharged into a creek, and blending it with (traditionally supplied potable) water,” Big Spring’s district manager, John Gran, told Discovery.
Which might not be enough to reassure the squeamish, but with less than 0.1 inches of rain in the region for months, you do what you have to do.
Related articles
- Texas Town to Recycle Urine (naveedtaji.com)
- Due to Drought, Big Spring Texas Is Drinking Recycled Pee Water (dailypicksandflicks.com)
How Much is an iPad2 worth ? Kid Sells Kidney for iPad 2, Regrets Transaction
So, the iPad 2 is a pretty cool device, right? What would you be willing to do to get your hands on one? Pay someone $900 to stand in line for three days? Shell out $13,500 because it’s sold out? Maybe even sell your kidney?
Apparently one Chinese teen thought that last idea wasn’t such a bad one. Shanghai Daily reports that a 17-year-old student in Anhui Province — identified only by his surname, Zheng — sold his kidney to buy an iPad 2.
According to Shanghai Daily, the boy “wanted an iPad 2 but could not afford it.” However, a “broker” (aka black market organ hustler) contacted the boy online and offered to help Zheng sell his kidney for 20,000 yuan (about $3100). Apparently Zheng was so desperate for an iPad 2 that he agreed to the transaction, traveled to Chenzhou City in Hunan Province, and had his right kidney removed at Chenzhou No. 198 Hospital.
He was paid his 22,000 yuan (about $3400) right after the removal. He then went home. His mother questioned him after he showed up with a brand-new Apple tablet, and he confessed to her that he’d sold his kidney. She immediately contacted the police (by the way, selling organs on the black market is totally illegal), and they opened an investigation. They were unable to contact the agents Zheng had worked with — because said agents’ phones were mysteriously always switched off.
Zheng has since had post-surgery issues — the hospital, after all, was reportedly not qualified to perform an organ transplant. The hospital also claimed they had no knowledge of the surgery, though they did admit to contracting out the urology department to a Fijian businessman. That’s not sketchy at all.
The case remains under investigation, and Zheng’s health continues to deteriorate. Needless to say, Zheng now regrets selling his kidney for an iPad 2.
Even if they never catch the organ brokers, I hope Zheng recovers — and never ends up in a situation in which he needs more than one kidney.
Related articles
- Would you sell your kidney for an iPad 2? (intomobile.com)
- Marware: Now Shipping Sleek, Smart Cover-Compatible iPad 2 Case (prweb.com)
- Kidney for an iPad ??? (2012patriot.wordpress.com)
Chinese coverage of train crash muzzled
Relatives of the victims of China’s train crash parade with a banner demanding the truth about the accident that killed 40 and injured 192 during a protest at Wenzhou South Railway Station on July 27.
BEIJING – After a week of unusually outspoken outrage among the Chinese public over a high-speed train crash, Chinese authorities imposed a news blackout on the subject over the weekend.
For about a week the Chinese media enjoyed unprecedented freedom with reports on the deadly train crash in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured nearly 200.
Social media, especially the many Chinese equivalents of Twitter-like microblogs, buzzed with millions of messages questioning why the accident happened, whether or not rescue efforts had been botched and if the investigation was jeopardized by the train cars being buried shortly after the accident. Even state-run media ran reports critical of the powerful Railways Ministry and that questioned the government’s handling of the accident.
But the brief flurry of “free speech” didn’t last long.
Late on Friday evening, the propaganda authorities imposed a media ban on the train crash, forcing newspapers nationwide to pull their pages of coverage at the last minute. Investigative reports and commentaries were no longer allowed to be published – only positive news or information released by the authorities.
As one tweeter @twccl wrote on his Chinese Twitter page, “for the last 20 years, it has proved to be a joke every time you think freedom of speech in the mainland has become more tolerated.”
Angry journalists and editors complained about having their stories pulled from the front page and posted their ditched pages on microblogs instead. “They can be so shameless…One night, all the media, including newspapers, Internet, print, video, are ordered to delete, scrap, be muzzled,” Gao Xubo, founder of the ChinaRFL web site wrote on his microblog. “This is humiliating to Chinese history and to Chinese people. This is one of the most notorious nights in human civilization. We give condolence for ourselves.”
‘A nest of corruption’
The outrage over the train crash had made citizen-journalists out of relatives and friends of victims.
Yang Feng, a young man who lost five relatives, including his mother and his pregnant wife, gathered more than 160,000 followers on his Sina.com microblog in just a few days.
Yang spoke directly to Premier Wen Jiabao, and demanded a thorough investigation into why his relatives were not found until 30 hours after the crash.
People have been particularly outraged that the Railways Ministry, which is responsible for overseeing high-speed rail transportation, was also handling the investigation and compensation for victims and their families. Several critics called for the entire organization, which has controlled China’s railway system exclusively for decades, to be disbanded.
He Weifang, an outspoken law professor from Peking University and a long-time critic of the government, published an open letter appealing for the disbandment of the Railways Ministry. “It’s not humane to let the one who made mistakes investigate how he made the mistakes and how much responsibilities he should take,” He wrote.
Liu Junning, a politics scholar at the China Culture Study Institute, wrote on his microblog that the Railways Ministry is “a nest of corruption that only focuses on political achievements instead of serving the people.”
Relatives of victims were particularly incensed by the fact that the ministry demanded to see a cremation certificate before they could be compensated, even though it had insisted on burying one of the train cars involved in the accident just one day after the crash.
Chang Ping, a journalist who was fired just a few months ago for his frank columns criticizing the government, posted a furious message on his microblog that was later forwarded far and wide: “This is the logic of robbers. As long as someone is confirmed dead, their relatives should be compensated. What has it to do with the Railways Ministry, whether the victims are cremated or buried or put in a crystal casket? You already killed them, and you want to make sure they are burned to ashes? Are there any murderers in this world more professional than you?”
Related articles
- China apologises for move to ban legal help for rail crash families (independent.co.uk)
- You: Chinese Officials Blame Design Flaws in Deadly Train Crash (nytimes.com)
- China Imposes Blackout on Train Wreck Coverage (nytimes.com)
- Anger lingers as relatives mourn China train crash dead (ctv.ca)
Truck Brings Bridge Crashing Down In China
A truck overloaded with sand has caused a bridge to collapse in China – leaving a scene that looked like the aftermath of an earthquake.
The vehicle, which was weighed down with 160 tons of sand, crushed the Baihe bridge in Beijing’s Huairou district.
The 230 metre structure can only support 55 tons and crumpled under the weight of the lorry as it tried to cross.
Officials have put in place and emergency repair plan for the crossing which opened in 1987.
Nobody has been reported injured but the driver was detained for questioning.
Liang Chaoyang, deputy director of Huairou road department, said: “We are going to build a contemporary road down by bridge for vehicles to pass.”
UFO Flies Over London Recorded Near BBC Radio 1 Building
After showed up in Colorado,United States, and the UFO sighted in China again, this time three UFOs had been seen again, they were flying over London and recorded near BBC Radio 1 Building.
In the video shows some people were looking to the sky, and there were 3 white dots moving and seen flying across the sky in daytime. When the camera pointed to the sky, over the BBC’s Yalding House, three white lights flashing across the sky quickly in triangle formation and then followed by two same white lights.
It was recorded at the Bolsover Street and Clipstone Street. But some people assume this video is a hoax. Thisvideo was first uploaded on YouTube by the username alymc01 on June 26, 2011.
Night club singer was arrested
Night club singer Simon Ledger was arrested following a performance at the Driftwood Beach Bar on Britain’s Isle of Wight in April after a patron complained to police. Ledger was covering the 1974 hit “Kung Fu Fighting,” and two customers of Chinese descent reported that they felt victims of illegal “racially aggravated harassment
Hawaii X News 