Chinese teen sells kidney to buy an iPad 2!

Wait, what?

A teenager in China has sold one of his kidneys in order to buy an iPad 2, Chinese media report.

The 17-year-old, identified only as Little Zheng, told a local TV station he had arranged the sale of the kidney over the internet.

The story only came to light after the teenager's mother became suspicious.

The case highlights China's black market in organ trafficking. A scarcity of organ donors has led to a flourishing trade.

It all started when the high school student saw an online advert offering money to organ donors.

Illegal agents organised a trip to the hospital and paid him $3,392 (£2,077) after the operation.

With the cash the student bought an iPad 2, as well as a laptop.

When his mother noticed the computers and the deep red scar on his body, which was caused by the surgery, Little Zheng confessed.

In 2007, Chinese authorities banned organ trafficking and have introduced a voluntary donor scheme to try to combat the trade.

The cult of Mac is scary!

China pulls Avatar for making too much money!

We kid you not!

James Cameron's getting booted from China!

Specifically, his mega-hit Avatar will officially stop running in Chinese movie theaters this week as the country's censors feel it's success is taking away from homegrown flicks.

Actually, the pulling of Avatar makes room for China's biggest flick of the year, Confucius, starring Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-fat, which opens this Thursday.

Tough break, huh James? At least you have over a billion dollars to fall back on!

This movie, not only attracts money but weirdness as well!

Man jailed for eating rare tiger!

This story can only come from China!

Kang Wannian, a villager from Mengla, Yunnan Province, met the tiger in February while gathering freshwater clams in a nature reserve near China's border with Laos. He claimed to have killed it in self-defense.

The only known wild Indochinese tiger in China, photographed in 2007 at the same reserve, has not been seen since Kang's meal, the Yunnan-based newspaper Life News reported earlier this month.

The paper quoted the provincial Forestry Bureau as saying there was no evidence the tiger was the last one in China.

A local court sentenced Kang to 10 years for killing a rare animal plus two years for illegal possession of firearms, the local web portal Yunnan.cn reported. Prosecutors said Kang did not need a gun to gather clams.

Four villagers who helped Kang dismember the tiger and ate its meat were also sentenced from three to four years for "covering up and concealing criminal gains," the report said.

Kang was also fined 480,000 yuan ($70,000).

The Indochinese tiger is on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 1,000 left in the forests of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar

.

What would Tony The Tiger say!

Androids to have their own Olympics in China in 2010.

Officially, we are in the future!

China is planning to hold a robot Olympics in 2010.

The international event will be held in the city of Harbin and will see robots take part in 16 different events.

Robots will be able to compete in familiar Olympic sports such as athletics as well as those more suited to machines such as cleaning.

Entry to the competition will be restricted to robots resembling humans. They must possess two arms and legs. Wheels are banned.

The organisers of the games expect from more than 100 universities from around the world to send competitors to the event.

Harbin has been picked as the venue because the city's Institute of Technology is the home of a robot football research group that manages a very successful team of soccer playing humanoids.

Professor Hong Rongbing, from the Harbin Institute of Technology, said the idea of the competition was to drive innovation and produce robots that are more flexible and helpful.

No specific date has been set for the games as its organisers are still rounding up sponsors to help pay for it.

The Chinese event will face competition from the RoboGames that also stages sports events for robots. The 2010 RoboGames will take in California in April.

The Harbin robot games will be one among an increasingly crowded calendar for robot sports and other competitive events. One event, Roboexotica, is for robots that can mix cocktails, light cigarettes and chat with bar patrons.

Robots already have their own world cup. The 2009 competition saw entries from 400 teams that hailed from 35 separate nations. The 2010 event will be held in June in Singapore. A rival event is run by the Federation of International Robot-Soccer Associations.

Photo - Getty Images

Dwarves found 'theme park' commune to escape bullying!

There's something like this in the States, but it's inhabitants are carnival performers. These is the first one for small people.

Everyone in the mountain commune in Kunming, southern China, must be under 4ft 3 ins tall and they run their own police force and fire brigade from their 120 residents.

Now the group has turned itself into a tourist attraction by building mushroom houses and living and dressing like fairy tale characters.

"As small people we are used to being pushed around and exploited by big people. But here there aren't any big people and everything we do is for us," said spokesman Fu Tien.

The idea of housing dwarves in special compounds would be anathema in the West, and the village has sparked fierce debates among expats living in China.

"When I first heard this I pictured myself obscure freak shows from a hundred years back," wrote one commenter on the GoKunming website. "Pay the entrance fee and you can watch these people perform."

But others said that it was the dwarves' best chance of employment given the surplus of labour in China.

"We might feel aghast at treating humans this way but this is the best way the Chinese government can deal with the situation right now," wrote Tonyaod.

"Go back a hundred years or so in our culture and we will see that we did the same thing à la the freakshows and the circus."

It's a small world after all...
I can imagine they can sing "Hi Ho Hi Ho, is off to work we go..."
Yes I know, I'm going to Hell!

Image courtesy of China Daily

Bride wears a 1.3 mile long wedding dress!

More fun and lunacy from China...

A Chinese bride has attempted to break the world record for the longest wedding dress by walking down the aisle in a 2,162m-long (7,083ft) gown.

Lin Rong's dress was made for her by her husband-to-be, Zhao Peng, and his family in eastern Jilin province.

It took their 200 wedding guests three hours to unroll the fabric and decorate the train with 9,999 silk roses.

Mr Zhao's mother said she knew her son was trying to express his love, but she thought the dress was a waste of money.

"I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet," China's Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Zhao as saying.

So instead, he decided he would use his nuptials to challenge the current wedding dress world record of 1,579m (5,180ft), set in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on 1 April 2009.

Mr Zhao enlisted most of his family to pitch in with his idea, bringing materials, choosing patterns, making silk roses and stitching on jewels on the day, Xinhua said.

His aunt, who conveniently is a dressmaker, had agreed to make the design.

And Mr Zhao's feat did not end once he had tied the knot.

After the event, he cut the dress down to 1,984.1022m, to represent his bride's date of birth, and added 608 crystals, one for every day they had dated.

Mr Zhao said he had submitted his attempt to Guinness World Records in London and would also be sending video footage.

"Both the length of the dress and the number of silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," he said, but added that it did not matter to him whether he was successful or not.

The whole effort cost Mr Zhao about 40,000 yuan ($5,800; £3,470), but his schoolteacher bride was reported to have "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture".

Mr Zhao's mother appeared less impressed.

"It is a waste of money in my opinion," she told Xinhua.

"Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day."

The Chinese. Ahh! You have to love them!

This lady lost her flight, and lost her cool!

This lady's flight left without her last Thursday from Hong Kong International Airport...
somebody with a cell phone cam captured the moment...
watch this...



I don't understand what she's saying...

but it's freaking hilarious!!!!

Beware of Little Brother too!

If you have been following or reading my blog, you know my penchant for voicing my disapproval of governments infringing on citizens rights on the Internet, so called "Big Brother" tactics ("1984" anyone?).
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for getting rid of perverts and child pornographers, they use the anonymity of the Web to commit crimes, but why go after a couple that post photos of themselves during sex on a private web site, or a nice, legal teenage girl that has a nude, paysite that is unreachable to minors, because she needs the money? Or a person that makes cartoon sex, on the pretense that is Child Pron, like they did in Nazi Australia recently. That's is abusive and stupid. Big Brother doesn't realize sometimes that's part of the appeal of the Internet, the flow of free ideas, even if those ideas are not your cup of tea! But sometimes, the denizens of the Web can be even worse than any goverment on Earth!

Submitted for your approval, the strange case of the Chinese virtual lynch mob!

BEIJING (Reuters) - A man who lost his job and was harassed by strangers after his infidelity to his late wife was detailed online has won China's first case against Internet vigilantism, the China Daily said on Friday.

A Beijing court ruled Wang Fei's reputation had been damaged by his late wife's university classmate, Zhang Leyi, who posted online the diary excerpts she wrote months before she killed herself, and by the internet company that hosted the comments.

"As Zhang was spreading the details of the affair, he also gave out details of Wang's real name, name of his company and even family addresses, which infringed the plaintiff's privacy rights," the chief judge said.

More on this news here!

Little Brother can be as annoying as the big guy!

Remember, even if you are a public figure, you have a right to your privacy! Don't let anybody take that away from you!

You're under arrest, Mom, you creep!

Now this is a man that follows the law!

BEIJING (Reuters) - A police chief in a remote county of southwestern China has taken down 48 of his relatives, including brothers, cousins and a number of his wife's family, for various crimes, local media said on Tuesday.

Laobulaluo, a police chief in Heizhugou township, Sichuan province, had seen 25 relatives either jailed, sent for "re-education through labor," or punished in other ways, according to a report posted on state news portal Chinanews.com ( www.chinanews.com.cn ).

The police chief, who is in his 30s, is a member of China's Yi ethnic minority. Over a 10-year career, He had personally arrested a brother and two cousins after finding they had beaten local teachers at a primary school while drunk.

Other family members were arrested after stealing a woman's handbag.

The policeman's sense of duty had inflamed his relatives, some of whom had taken turns threatening his parents, and had "even secretly cut off the tails and slashed the legs of their cows," the report said.

"In the first few years, I did not dare head back to my hometown to pass the New Year holiday, but now it's all right. Everyone understands and supports what I was doing at the time," the report quoted him as saying.

This guy is the real Judge Dredd!

Don't you know who Judge Dredd is? Google it!!!!

More Olympic deaths!!!!

We expect the Chinese government to be less than forthcoming.

But, the U.S. government is being a little shady too!

According to a new report, the death of a U.S. volleyball coach's father-in-law wasn't the only American death at the Beijing games.

A woman from Chicago died first.

Twenty-five-year old Ann DeWaters was killed in Beijing on August 4 in an incident that went unannounced and is still 'officially' unexplained by both U.S. and Chinese authorities and the American relief organization she was working for.

DeWaters was working at the Olympics through a Florida human services organization that deployed 160 volunteers to the China games.

The organization's director would not reveal how DeWaters died, calling it "an unfortunate incident."

In D.C., state department officials refused to say what killed her. American diplomats in Beijing said it was an apparent accident.

Illinois congressman Don Manzullo is the only official who has shed some light on the death.

DeWaters worked for him as an intern in 2006. A Manzullo spokesman revealed, she was, "walking down a Beijing street returning to her hotel . . . when she fell through an open manhole and hit her head."

Manhole cover thefts in China are a deadly public safety problem; 24,000 covers were stolen from Beijing streets in 2004, according to official news agency reports.

Most were sold to scrap metal dealers trying to meet increased demand during the Olympic building boom.

This summer, Chinese officials ordered crews to begin bolting down the city's 840,000 sewer covers to prevent thievery and stop people from falling in and dying. It wasn't soon enough for DeWaters.

And, get this…

On one blog, one Olympic volunteer last week posted details of what happened to DeWaters. Within a few hours, it was replaced with a much more 'benign statement' that the volunteer's father says was written by someone else, possibly an embarrassed Chinese government official. Now, even that posting has been taken down.

If this is all true, it seems irresponsible for the U.S. and Chinese governments to not have spoken out truthfully about it.

Plus, do they really think the truth wouldn't come out???!

Makes both governments look like such big assholes!

Fake Olympics Part Deux!

You may have already heard about this item in other places, but I'm also placing it here, just to remind you how fake the Olympics have become!

China Olympic ceremony star mimed
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

A pretty girl who won national fame after singing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was only miming.

Wearing a red dress and pigtails, Lin Miaoke charmed a worldwide audience with a rendition of "Ode to the Motherland".

But the singer was Yang Peiyi, who was not allowed to appear because she is not as "flawless" as nine-year-old Lin.

The show's musical director said Lin was used because it was in the best interests of the country.

The revelation follows news that a fireworks display used during the opening ceremony was apparently faked.

Speaking on Beijing Radio station, musical director Chen Qigang said the organisers needed a girl with both a good image and a good voice.

They faced a dilemma because although Lin was prettier, seven-year-old Yang had the better voice, Mr Chen said.

"After several tests, we decided to put Lin Miaoke on the live picture, while using Yang Peiyi's voice," he told the radio station.

"The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first," he added.

"The girl appearing on the picture must be flawless in terms of her facial expression and the great feeling she can give to people."

Singer Lin, who is being called the "smiling angel", has already become a media celebrity because of her performance.

She told state-run China Daily that she felt "beautiful" in the red dress she wore during the performance.

Her dad told the newspaper that she already had fans all over the country.

According to Chinese news reports, Yang said she did not regret the decision, saying she was satisfied to have had her voice featured in the opening ceremony.

This is the second "fake" story about the opening ceremony

Viewers around the world saw a display in which 29 firework "footprints" travelled across Beijing from south to north.

But a senior official from the Beijing organising committee (Bocog) confirmed on Tuesday that footage of the display had been produced before the big night.

This was provided to broadcasters for "convenience and theatrical effects", according to Wang Wei, Bocog's executive vice-president.

"Because of poor visibility, some previously recorded footage may have been used," he told

Screw the Chinese and screw their fake Olympics! It's all propaganda anyway!

While we were asleep...

All this events happened...

Russia invaded the nation of Georgia yesterday, attacking their capital of Tbilisi with their air force and army. All of this because of the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, and defending their troops staying there.

President Bush called for Russia to pull out of Georgia and to respect it's sovereignty. Right...like HE did on Iraq.



The Olympics started underway in Beijing, China. 15,000 dancers and actors participated...nice but...BORING!!!!

But...

An American tourist has been killed in Beijing in what appears to have been a random attack in the center of the city.

A Chinese man pounced on two US citizens and their Chinese guide as they visited the Drum Tower monument in downtown Beijing today.

One of the US tourists was killed. The second tourist and the Chinese guide, both women, were injured.

The attacker, Tang Yongming, 47, of the eastern city of Hangzhou, then killed himself by jumping off the second story of the monument.

It comes just a day after the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Drum Tower, a major tourist site in central Beijing, has been sealed off and uniformed police are standing guard.

Murder and sports...a fitting tradition.


And late word that comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from pneumonia in Chicago. He was 50 years old. He was well known from movies like "The Kings of Comedy" and the "Ocean's Eleven" trilogy of films and "The Bernie Mac Show" on TV.

A very funny man. He will be missed!

Don't do it! I said DON'T DO IT!!!

The Chinese are going wild with their prohibitions before the Olympics start next week. Take a gander at the stuff they are prohibiting.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Do not sleep outdoors to save money at the Olympics. It is banned to "maintain public hygiene and the cultured image of cities."

Do not let the stifling summer heat tempt you into streaking, do not get drunk nor set off fireworks nor wave "insulting banners."

Anyone with mental illnesses or sexually transmitted diseases is banned. Smoking is not allowed at Olympic venues.

The rules on the organizers' official website say it all:

"Foreigners must respect Chinese laws while in China and must not harm China's national security or damage social order."

The security-obsessed authorities are taking no chances with the 500,000 tourists set to hit Beijing for the Games.

A battery of surface-to-air missile launchers are being deployed around the showpiece sites.

No detail is too trivial.

Lighters have been banned on domestic flights. Commuters are being asked to take a swig from water bottles on the subway to ensure they do not contain suspicious substances.

All public swimming pools in Shanghai will check shampoos and body wash.

Authorities have promised "civilized and convenient" security checks but have been accused of obsessive stage management -- visa restrictions have been tightened for visitors and Beijing is being rid of petitioners, the homeless and migrant workers.

Up to 1,000 Chinese families are opening up their homes to Olympic visitors, a move that would have been unheard of before the reform and opening up of China in the 1980s.

But the hosts could still be in for a culture shock.

Retired school teacher Yuan Xioaoqing, who is opening up her home, said "Foreign students like to stay out all night on the weekend. But in more intellectual and traditional Chinese households there is no way the kids would go out like that."

Beijing has learnt a lesson from the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Dog meat is off the menu in the Chinese capital during the Olympics in case animal rights groups are offended.

Exotic names and alarming translations abound in Chinese restaurants which are being given a linguistic makeover, though only in select restaurants.

Out goes the traditionally named "husband and wife's lung slice" appetizer which is being replaced by the more linguistically correct "beef and ox tripe in chili sauce."

But no mention was made of the many popular establishments that have donkey on the menu.

The authorities have also worked hard to eliminate "Chinglish" from road signs and menus in the run-up to the Olympics, even if efforts have been a little hit and miss.

Gone is the infamous "Racist Park" signpost for the Ethnic Minorities Park.

Anyone hoping to scoop up a bagful of cheap pirate movies or music could be in for a disappointment. The city has announced a round-the-clock drive to stamp out bootleg sellers, but pirated DVDs are still available if you know where to look.

Yet however much they are obsessed by security and a burning desire to portray the squeaky clean image of a well ordered society, the Chinese insist the welcome will be warm.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: "China is a safe place. Please be assured. China is a nation with great hospitality and courtesy."

Yup...as safe as the old Soviet Russia!
Photo courtesy of Manifesto.com.cn

Three Children sentenced in Holdup.

Yeah...it gets better!

BEIJING (Reuters) - Three Hong Kong children have been sentenced to more than three years for the armed hold-up of a jewelery shop, a newspaper said on Thursday, with the court saying the stiff sentence was in the public interest.

Disguised with masks and caps, the two boys and one girl, all aged 14, threatened staff at the shop with knives in September last year, grabbing gold necklaces, bracelets and pendants valued at more than HK$1 million ($128,200).

Sentencing the three, now aged 15, the judge said the offence was too serious to warrant a training centre term despite the age of the three, the South China Morning Post said.

One boy, an apprentice to the mastermind goldsmith who had earlier been jailed for seven years, was sentenced to three years and seven months, while the other two, who are cousins, were jailed for three years and five months.

Earlier this week, a court heard that a nine-year-old Hong Kong girl traveled alone into mainland China to collect heroin and bring it back in her rucksack for a drug trafficker who paid her HK$1,200.

Man oh man...Hell in a hand basket...

China retires dogs from it's menu due to the Olympics!

WTF! What? No scrumptious dogs to eat while we compete in the Olympics? Well it looks that the Chinese will have to settle their taste by eating pandas for a while!
Read the story here, courtesy of El Nuevo Dia and AP. (In Spanish).

And please, Don't look at spot like that!