“So 2745 out of 302,703,731 in the past ten years have died in terrorist attacks, and we are getting our knickers in a twist about an arrow made of flour in the IKEA parking lot?
It is absurd. You are safe. I am safe. This nation is safe. Quit being such a damned pussy. All of you.”
John Cole on Balloon Juice
China Criticizes American Products for Safety????
OOOh our soybeans have some grass and dirt? Thats because we grew them in the ground, not in ethlyene di benzene carcinogenerate . Well at least somebody died for this; I am referring to China’s head of the Food and Drug Safety, not the hundreds of victimized children, pets, and unsuspecting practicers of toothbrushing.
Let us list the recent affronts to human health China’s system of capitalist exploitation has led to, not including child labor laws. Some are more offensive than others.
2005 Thirteen babies died of malnutrition after being fed powdered milk that had no nutritional value.
August 2006 About 40 people in Beijing contract meningitis after eating partially cooked snails at a chain of restaurants.
Nov 2006 A dye farmers fed to ducks to make their eggs look fresher is found to contain cancer-causing properties, and 5,000 ducks are culled.
March 2007 Melamine is found in wheat gluten exports from China for use in pet food, prompting a recall of at least 100 pet food brands.
May 2007 China probes reports that contaminated toothpaste was sent to the Americas. The toothpaste was tainted with chemical diethylene glycol and bacteria. In Panama, the deaths of some 51 people have been blamed on cough syrup tainted with Chinese-made diethylene glycol, commonly used in antifreeze.
Ceramic heaters – pose fire safety risk.
Children’s jewelery and toys – paint contains lead, substandard manufacturing increases choking hazards.
Farmed fish – traces of banned drugs and pesticides repeatedly found.
Most recently, a recycling center for disposable chopsticks was selling 100,000 pairs a day without any form of disinfection. China is already under pressure to stop using disposable wooden chopsticks due to the environmental and health risks.
Democracies do not always make societies more civil — but they do always mercilessly expose the health of the societies in which they operate.
Robert Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy
An Iraqi child hides behind a soldier during a bombing in Baghdad
The Civil War in Congo continues to rage despite elections since 2003.
Every 9.62 days, there is an equivalent amount of casualties in Iraq & Afghanistan as September 11th.
Pictures of the Israeli military Occupation in the Palestinian territories
Underrepresentation of Minorities in the US Government
Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse
The Rwandan Genocide, after multi-party parliamentary elections, Hutu extremists murdered almost a million Tutsi’s with machetes and small arms as the international community looked on.
Since 1998, civil war has raged in Congo, enveloping 7 other African countries and scores of tribes and militia while mostly being ignored by the Western media. Over 4 million people have died with egregious reports of cannibalism, rape, sexual slavery, incest, child prostitution, forced labor, and the use of the child armies.
There were sprinkles in her eyes, but I couldn’t notice, too lost was I in candy-coated thoughts of a land where the girls danced on striped sugar poles and the kisses they blew were chocolate. Pyramids give way to skyscrapers and time moves on like a golden river where one taste is never the same as the next. Still I wish I had thought to cross her more with more wit. It wasn’t till later that I thought about how grandely I could have sprinkled myself in her. Sweet sugar drunk together, dreaming of worlds that hadn’t existed till we spoke the words silently together star gazing in a field of coffee beans and fairies. Too saccharine thoughts of love when really all I could think to say was, “my mint mocha’s grande too, babe.” She would never buy my magic beans, roasted in the heat of unfulfilled desire, ground under the weight of self-made promises broken. Feeling like the ass instead of the juan, slumped down I just moved on to the next barrista at the next java shack, with a sprinkle in her eye and minty disposition.
