China Sell-Off Causes Dow Jones Crash
Time and time again, writers talk about how when China sneezes, the world catches a cold. Well on Tuesday, China caught a cold and the world got Ebola. The Dow Jones crashing 416 points was the top story on all major U.S. news programs Tuesday. And the reason? China. So what exactly happened on Tuesday? Well, in order to understand, one must look all the way back to Monday when Chinese stocks hit a record high. As we’re taught in Econ 101, you’re supposed to sell high and buy low. So on Tuesday investors, who have watched Chinese stocks rise steadily in the last year, began to sell. As the New York Times reports:
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index, which had passed the 3,000 milestone on Monday after the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday, shed 268 points, or 8.8 percent, to close at 2,771.79…The wave of selling then spread to Europe, and later to the United States, where a government report showed that orders of durable goods — big-ticket items that include washing machines, airplanes and semiconductors — declined more than expected in January. That hastened the sell-off on Wall Street…Chinese share prices have swung wildly in recent months, rising on huge interest from largely inexperienced retail investors in soaring stock prices, then falling on stern Chinese government warnings about “blind optimism” in the market.
Basically, China’s markets are now officially linked to the world’s markets and the volatility of the China markets is beginning to become a problem. Market analysts predict that the China markets, as well as Western markets, will climb back up to normal in the coming weeks. Compounding the China sell-off was a report released Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department announcing a 7.8 percent drop in orders for big-ticket goods made in U.S. factories. It is not clear how big of a factor this was in the U.S. market crash. Who knew that Shanghai had such a real-deal stock market? I mean, they show the numbers everyday on CCTV, but I had no idea that this market was legit in any way.
•NYT: Dow Average Falls 416 Points After China Sell-Off
Anyone who caught “Lost” this week is probably wondering the same thing I am. Who on earth is the Chinese girl who plays Jack’s Thai lady friend? I mean it’s not so often you see a Chinese actress having some dirty floor sex on American television. So I did some research and found out that this lovely lady is Bai Ling, who despite many magazine, film and television appearances, is fairly unknown in the United States. Bai Ling hails from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. She began acting in China as a teenager and gained fame in her home country for the 1989 film Arc Light. Ling claimed to have participated in the Tiananmen Square protests that same year, though many believe this not to be true as the Chinese government allowed the actress to attend 1989 Moscow Film Festival 
as part of an official delegation. In 1991, she came to the U.S. to attend NYU film school and three years later starred in The Crow with Brandon Lee. While her acting career has never really taken off in the U.S., she appeared as the hot Chinese chick in an episode of “Entourage” and the hot Chinese chick in the 2005 film Lords of Dogtown. Okay, now to the interesting facts. The New York Daily New reported that Ling is bisexual. She also claims to have done a 3-year stint as a soldier in China’s People’s Liberation Army in Tibet, however this is unverifiable by anyone but Ling. But Bai Ling’s crowning achievement came in 2005 when she became the first Chinese woman to grace the cover of Playboy. While her steamy spread alienated the Chinese establishment, it certainly did not alienate yours truly. In fact, it is one of the 
In one of the more fucked-up publicity stunts imaginable on a U.S. college campus, the NYU young Republicans have organized a campus event called “Find the Illegal Immigrant.” The game is played as follows: one nerdy Republican wears a little pin that says “illegal immigrant,” and the rest of the college-aged neo-cons play immigration agents who have to find the “illegal immigrant” within a crowd. The dork who finds the “illegal immigrant” wins a prize. As I’m sure the Republicans expected, the mostly liberal student body accused the group of racial insensitivity. I would have just accused them of being sucky. President of the NYU Young Republicans Sarah Chambers told the AP, “It’s not a racist event, first and foremost. Just because we don’t want illegal immigrants being able to completely disregard the laws of our country doesn’t make us racist.” This reminds me of an old George Carlin joke that goes, “Why is it that most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn’t want to fuck in the first place?” I am all for open dialogue and inspired debate on college campuses, but give me a break. These young Republicans at NYU are just looking to provoke and offend others. They aren’t looking to “open up the issue of illegal immigration,” as Ms. Chambers put it. That’s bullshit. And who made it their job to do so in the first place? Hundreds of real NYU students, and by that I mean crunchy dudes and loose hippie bitches, showed up in Washington Square Park Thursday to protest the event. I wonder what inspires a young Republican to attend NYU in the first place? These folks must have a penchant for being different, sticking out and defending themselves all the time. New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg called the event, scheduled for Thursday, “distasteful and downright stupid.” And NYU released a statement saying that this debate is exactly what the school views as a healthy exchange of ideas. I think these young Republicans should just be like the rest of the NYU kids and pierce their nipples, get a pair of a dark-rimmed glasses and stop taking themselves so damn seriously.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney ripped China’s militarism in a speech Friday in Sydney. Cheney told the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue that “last month’s anti-satellite test and China’s continued fast-paced military buildup are less constructive and are not consistent with China’s stated goal of a peaceful rise.” Cheney praised the Chinese government’s role in the negotiations leading to North Korea’s half-ass agreement to somewhat shut down its nuclear program. However, Dick said that “other actions by the Chinese government send a different message.” The Chinese government responded to Cheney’s criticism by saying, “Isn’t he the guy who shot that dude in the face?” As Dick spit his venom down under, around 100 anti-war protestors held signs outside that read “Go home Cheney,” “Chain Up Cheney” and my favorite, “Cheney’s a dick.” Reuters reported that one protestor wore a skeleton suit, draped herself in an American flag and dragged two animal carcasses around. Not sure what this is supposed to represent, but good on you mate for making a spectacle. While in Australia, Cheney commended Australia and Prime Minister John Howard (who happens to look a lot like Cheney) for “never wavering on the war on terror.” When did “never wavering” become so hip for these guys? Though similar to Tony Blair, many believe John Howard is about to waver. With 2007 elections approaching, his party’s approval ratings are piss poor and over two thirds of Australians are calling for Howard to withdraw troops from Iraq. Now that we’re on the topic of Iraq, isn’t it getting a bit ridiculous for these U.S. policy makers to travel all over the world criticizing the militarism of other countries like China? It’s almost as hypocritical as being rabidly anti-gay while, at the same time, having a lesbian daughter.
State media reported that a zoo tiger in China’s southwestern Yunnan province bit a six-year-old girl to death on Thursday. According to a Xinhua story, the girl and her mother were posing for a photo behind the cat when the flash from the camera spooked the tiger and caused it to bite the girl in the head. In China’s zoos it is common for people to take pictures with tigers that are not kept in cages (pictured right). The tigers are normally just chained to something and are lying free out in the open. When the tiger clamped down on the six-year-old’s head, media reported that the Chinese zoo workers began to strike the tiger with “sticks and wooden stools” until the tiger let go. The tiger also bit the girl’s mother on the hand as she tried to rescue her daughter. The girl was rushed to a local hospital where she received emergency surgery, but sadly, could not be revived. The tiger was part of a “circus” that was putting on an exhibit at the zoo. The tiger was supposedly tame. As Chris Rock once put it, the tiger did not go crazy, it went “tiger.”
A Washington Post report Wednesday claims the government-approved clinics that treat internet addicts use mild electric shock treatments to cure internet addiction. The Chinese government has used harsh methods in the past to successfully battle substance abuse addiction and is now applying similar methods in dealing with the mounting social problem of web nerdiness. I guess I shouldn’t marginalize internet addiction by calling it “web nerdiness,” however it is what it is: socially awkward teens who substitute human interaction with computer dependence. A recent survey found that 14% of China’s teens are vulnerable to internet addiction. This doesn’t sound terribly grave. The Post fails to describe what this “vulnerability” to net addiction entails, but the way I see it, every teen these days is vulnerable. Chinese officials have focused on internet gaming when discussing addiction. Many local governments have passed resolutions to ban avid web gamers from internet cafés and also limiting Chinese teens from spending more than 5 hours on the web. But the most interesting aspect of the Chinese government’s war on internet addiction is the unusual form of therapy that has become standard at the treatment clinics. As the Washington Post reports, a popular Beijing-based clinic uses electric shock and other methods common in treating heroin addicts including military discipline, antidepressants, antipsychotics and intravenous drips. The example given for “military discipline” is a Chinese military man in fatigues busting into the sleeping quarters of one of the addicts and yelling “this is for your own good” in Chinese. That sounds like this thing I saw on Jenny Jones once where these parents sent their children to boot camp where they were verbally abused by these former military dudes who would yell directly in the faces of the messed up kids. Fucked up. In fact, the Beijing treatment center is located on a military base. Is it because China feels the best way to get through to a computer nerd is by subjecting him to a tough soldier? If China really wants to solve the problem of internet addiction, maybe it should start by having the 24-hour internet cafés close at night. And as long as electric shocks are fair game, how about hooking the shock up to the keyboards at the internet cafés? After the tenth consecutive hour of playing BlastArab, the teen gets blasted himself.
Because really, what could be more Chinese than Martin Luther King and the American black civil rights movement? So Chinese. And not only will the sculptor be Chinese, but the stone as well. China’s all over this one. On Thursday, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts chose China’s “national treasure” Master Lei Yixin to create the 28-foot likeness of Dr. Martin Luther King, to stand at the new D.C. memorial dedicated to the civil rights leader. Contrary to my initial assumption people in China couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Martin Luther King, Lei told the AP, “Martin Luther King is well known all around the world. In China, everyone knows about him.” I did a little research of my own, asked a few Chinese people. They all know the speech, nobody quite understands its message. The sculpture will be carved from a light beige variety of granite stone found in China’s Fujian province, according to the AP, and the project itself, expected to last a year, will take place in D.C. at the site of the statue’s erection. OK, that sounded bad. The statue won’t have an erection. At least I hope not. Because the statue is going to be of King with his arms crossed. And it would look kind of funny if…alright you get it, it’s being built where the statue will be. Facing the Jefferson Memorial, to be exact. There will be 14 quotations of Dr. King adorning the statue. Lei, who has carved a famous likeness of Mao Zedong said of the project, “When I was assigned to the task, I felt tremendous pressure and responsibility. This is the most important project I have ever had.” While Lei Yixin is obviously a very accomplished artist, I can’t help but think it is a little strange to have a Chinese sculptor carving the first D.C. memorial dedicated to a black American. I mean first, it would be nice to have an American do it. And second, it would be a bit more meaningful if an African-American sculptor was chosen to carve King. Of all the things to outsource to China?
The death penalty in China is used much more liberally than most places in the world. The Chinese government has always been a staunch supporter of capital punishment as a tool by which to scare the Chinese shitless into not committing crimes. Crimes like murder, rape or ripping off investors in a fake ant-breeding enterprise. Yes, a fake ant-breeding business. Wang Zhendong, the chairman of Yingkou Donghua Trading Group Company was sentenced to death Thursday for stealing $385 million from investors in a fake ant-breeding business. Wang had promised nearly 10,000 investors 60% returns on ant-breeding equipment that would be sold for medicinal purposes. Fifteen managers were sent to prison as well. While it sounds somewhat ridiculous, one of Wang’s investors, upon learning that his money was gone, committed suicide. In China, the death penalty is not only used for murder, but for crimes that are said to have a “pernicious social impact.” This covers crimes involving immoral business practices and crime that has the most pernicious impact in China– insect abuse.
