Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
They do eat cat in China. Yes, poisoned cat stew kills a billionaire, Long Liyuan. The article mentions that cat stew is a delicacy in the Southern regions of Guangdong, China. From the Guardian UK, “Huang, deputy director of agriculture in Guangdong’s Bajia township, is suspected of poisoning the hotpot with the herb Gelsemium elegans, according to a statement on the microblog of the investigating police. The poisonous plant is found in forests in parts of China.” The photo on the left is a Civet Cat which are evidently used in cat stew. Also it’s written that Long enjoyed house cat meat more!
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The Year of the Dragon stamp from China. Hilarious feedback from people who say it’s evil, mean, and represents the Foreign Ministry. What do you think? Aren’t dragons supposed to be tough, evil, and so on? Design wise, it’s obvious because the dragon is straight on, does it look attacking, but overall it’s just criticism of a stamp. What do you think? (Telegraph UK – China Stamp)
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On the heels of the news that Chinese students who are 1/5 of the foreign students in the US, and taking spots from good Asian American students is a small bomb of news. What kind of safeguards exist for those overseas students who are getting into decent schools in the US? According to Global Post, “A 250-student survey by Zinch China, a Beijing wing of the California-based Zinch education consultancy, suggests college application fraud among Chinese students is extremely pervasive. According to the survey, roughly 90 percent of recommendation letters to foreign colleges are faked, 70 percent of college essays are ghostwritten and 50 percent of high school transcripts are falsified.” The article goes to say that the agent who takes care of the grades and or test scores earn thousands when the student gets into the bigger schools. Yes, it’s not that easy to get into a school and even with large sums of money for tuition, the grades still count. (Global Post – Students)
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Not quite… it’ll be more a thumb print… The Western influence that many Chinese enjoy? Needs to get stepped down. Hu Jintao, the President of China, said, “”Hostile international powers are strengthening their efforts to Westernize and divide us.” It’s sort of back to the Mao days, but at the same time, Westernization is heavily about making money and many Chinese including Party members are enjoying making the cash. More censors? Maybe, but there’ll be a huge divide. (WSJ – China Iron Fist) This contrasts with another post also in the WSJ. Chinese have bought more British Rolls-Royces in 2011 than the US for the first time. At $245,000 each, it’s a bargain! (WSJ – Rolls Royce)
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The Field of Dreams may not happen in a corn field. This dream could happen in a rice paddy. Yes, this is a better first sentence than the Time Magazine article about baseball taking root in China. No knock on the article, it’s pointing out how baseball is so much smaller, and actually was erased from society by Mao although basketball stayed and thrived. Many of the players are just starting out and stepping onto a baseball field sponsored by the MLB, is the first time they’re picking up “the Rock”. From Time: “The Changzhou development center, which opened in September, is MLB’s second training school in China aiming to produce players who might one day have a shot at the Majors, or more realistically, China’s national baseball league.” (Time – Baseball)
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