pollution in China

I figure it makes economic sense to use rats ... cheaper to breed, shorter mating cycle and less hassle with taking care of chicks. Assuming they are lab rats and not caught from the sewers. Still, I'm not ordering roast pigeon ... You have to admit their butchering skills are pretty artistic.
 
I have to say that the Chinese people are the most resourceful on earth. Deep-fried rats - wow.
 
Slraep said:
I found this article though....

Tainted Medicine Scares in China

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/ginseng-10132008095509.html
Click to expand...

In the article it says:
"This is really a case of moral collapse," said Li Hongkuan, editor of the U.S.-based online Chinese magazine Da Cankao. "Most people who do business in China don't even have the slightest moral conscience."

Unfortunately, that's all too often true in many countries. It really saddens me to see humanity sacrificed for bigger profits. We need to keep our moral conscience.
 
dkan 168 said:
When I first saw the pics a while back, I too thought they look just like pigeon, yum! :D

If there are any undesirable germs to start with, they'll be dead after being deep-fried, so I would eat them :D

Being Chinese, I eat (almost) everything :D

DK :)
Click to expand...

You're brave. My mind can accept that they might be a good economical alternative food source, but I'm afraid there's that part of me that just couldn't...!:eek:
 
Well, I wouldn't eat it because the mouse genome is freakishly similar to the human genome. If there are any communicable diseases, it would be a fair bet it can pass directly to humans with very little mutation. If mad cow disease originated from kuru, which started in sheep, and sheep weren't even that close to humans genetically, I'm not risking it. Though that's slightly different as herbivores aren't supposed to be fed omnivore feed, much less ground up brains and spinal cords. SARS is supposed to have started in civet cats, which the Chinese also coveted as game. I'm Chinese myself, but I draw the line at safety.
 
Slraep said:
A very interesting article along with a video clip.

--- from "What Matters" looks at degradation of China's Huai River Basin

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/27/what.matters.huai/


"For all their wealth, China's cities have yet to conquer the challenge of clean water.
Click to expand...



Same here. To a tee. Only smaller scale. You should see what the 'solution' looks like... LOL!

[OK. feel free to tell me why I can't keep my mouth shut on this thread. I know I'm getting burned :eek:]
 
Valeria - please don't shut your mouth - debate is interesting - helps the world go round and examine our own reasons for our points of view.
 
Re: Oh My Goodness.... Where is Zaggie?

Re: Oh My Goodness.... Where is Zaggie?

Valeria101 said:
[OK. feel free to tell me why I can't keep my mouth shut on this thread. I know I'm getting burned :eek:]
Click to expand...

Ha! This is nothing, compared to what's happening over at the Pearl-Professor.com. (Under the LINKS to the article 10/31/08 "GIE Perles De Tahiti Fades Away".)

Gail
 
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Valeria101 said:
I know I'm getting burned :eek:]
Click to expand...

Oh my, Pearlgully, that is F-U-N-N-Y as hell(no pun intended)!

That's not just being burned, that's being flame-broiled! Yikes.

Slraep
 
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Polluted pearls-- the solution

Polluted pearls-- the solution

Dear Friends of all Pearls:
Every problem has a solution. We are the solution. If you see pitted pearls that have been attacked by bacteria in the ocean (like the Akoyas I saw in Phuket, Thailand), don't buy them. Boycott them. If you are worried about the quality of freshwater pearls declining, through urban sewage or petrochemical runoff, send emails to the top companies in China that organize freshwater pearl production. The managerial staff of those companies is lucid, competent and hardworking. They'll remove production to remote areas where petrochemicals are not in use. The decline of freshwater pearls in China is not inevitable. China is not Japan. There is no shortage of land and labor in China. And there won't be, not for hundreds of years. Currently there is a surplus population that needs employment and the pearl industry is a clean, decent work opportunity. Believing in the inevitability of the decline of Chinese pearls is fatalism. The Chinese are smart. They respond instantly to market conditions and concerned emails from friends. They'll find a way. Don't moan; email your Chinese suppliers. In rough economic times, focus your energy on hunting for perfect pearls at perfect prices. Don't whine. Never give up.
 
There may be no shortage of land in China, and in the short-term there will not be a relative labor shortage, but it will not last hundreds of years. More like decades. With the one child policy and an aging population, most of which have no access to healthcare, plus an increasingly affluent society that focuses more on academics than menial labor, it's only a matter of time before China becomes a developed nation in terms of population demographic. The scale of pollution in China is so horrendous that while there is starting public awareness, I am still skeptical of any significant change. It will take decades, if not centuries to clean up the pollution in China. However, I do agree with not giving up. Once you do, it's over.
 
suzannelowrie said:
Dear Friends of all Pearls:
Every problem has a solution. We are the solution. If you see pitted pearls that have been attacked by bacteria in the ocean (like the Akoyas I saw in Phuket, Thailand), don't buy them. Boycott them. If you are worried about the quality of freshwater pearls declining, through urban sewage or petrochemical runoff, send emails to the top companies in China that organize freshwater pearl production. The managerial staff of those companies is lucid, competent and hardworking. They'll remove production to remote areas where petrochemicals are not in use. The decline of freshwater pearls in China is not inevitable. China is not Japan. There is no shortage of land and labor in China. And there won't be, not for hundreds of years. Currently there is a surplus population that needs employment and the pearl industry is a clean, decent work opportunity. Believing in the inevitability of the decline of Chinese pearls is fatalism. The Chinese are smart. They respond instantly to market conditions and concerned emails from friends. They'll find a way. Don't moan; email your Chinese suppliers. In rough economic times, focus your energy on hunting for perfect pearls at perfect prices. Don't whine. Never give up.
Click to expand...

Kudos to you! I think this is excellent advice! The only way we can get producers to do what we want is to boycott what we don't want and encourage what we do want. This is best achieved by using our buying power(read: dollar) judiciously, together with sending letters of protest and such...

People are so very resilient and innovative when conditions change and they are forced change with them. The Chinese are great examples of this. And We need to change as much as THEY need to change.

As consumers, we must constantly pay attention to what we are consuming!

Slraep
 
Just for more shock value, I thought I'd throw in an article about air instead of water.


The Dirty Brown Haze---coming to a sky near YOU.....

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iiDlfwqOC5I71KgFjzSBuany-hrAD94EBGJ80

"UN: Clouds of pollution threaten glaciers, health
By TINI TRAN and JOHN HEILPRIN – Nov 13, 2008

BEIJING (AP) — A dirty brown haze sometimes more than a mile thick is darkening skies not only over vast areas of Asia, but also in the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, changing weather patterns around the world and threatening health and food supplies, the U.N. reported Thursday."
 
A little hope is a good thing.

http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3432

"Under a sooty exterior
A green China emerges

Posted: 18 Nov 2008

by Fred Pearce

You’ve heard the environmental horror stories: rivers running black, air unfit to breathe, two new coal-fired power plants a week. But thanks to a surging entrepreneurial spirit and new policies, China is fast becoming a leader in green innovation, from recycling to developing electric cars to harnessing the wind. This article by Fred Pearce is reproduced by arrangement with Yale Environment 360

....."
 
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China and other countries "land grab" for future agriculture to feed the growing masses. They are not yet wanting another planet(soon though). But they sure want more of this one. The WWF report might be right on target.


"Food crisis leading to an unsustainable land grab

Private companies across the world are buying huge quantities of foreign land for the mass production of food. Sue Branford wonders if this quick-fix solution risks creating an even bigger environmental crisis

The world map is being redrawn. Over the past six months, China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other nations have been buying and leasing huge quantities of foreign land for the production of food or biofuels for domestic consumption. It's a modern day version of the 19th-century scramble for Africa."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/22/food-biofuels
 
It is a fact that on the same acre of land you can raise a cow, you can feed a family of 10 vegetables. Not too many years ago the Japanese and Koreans ate a little meat with their rice and vegetables. They had very low rates of heart disease. Almost nobody was overweight and diabetes was extremely rare.
Not that I want to turn back the clock but the eating habits of this country haven't helped either.
barbie
 
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