Are you an aware and smart tourist?
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Posted:Jan 25, 2014 10:25 am
Last Updated:Jan 29, 2014 8:20 am 14016 Views
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tourist scams
10 travel scams you might not know about
By Ray Pagliarulo
Remember the days when a fanny pack and a "game face" could protect you from getting your money stolen? We don't either! Vacationers have always been targets for smart, enterprising crooks, and the farther you get from home, the easier it is to fall for popular vacation scams like the dropped baby, the fake fight and the I-need-five-euros-to-replace-my-lost-train-ticket. But these days, you are at risk for more than just some lost bills. Watch out for these scams from around the world that can put your personal safety—and even your very identity—at risk.
Orlando
Here's a scam so bad even Mickey Mouse took a stand. Guests in hotels around Disney World have been finding pizza delivery menus conveniently slipped under their doors, but place an order—and make the mistake of giving your credit card number—and you'll really pay. The phone number isn't connected to a pizza parlor but to identity thieves. Disney World supported a law designed to crack down on the people handing out the fliers, but Orlando police say the problem persists.
Solution: If you're craving a slice, get a recommendation from the hotel.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, open-ended bus tickets are the best way to travel at your own pace between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and the Sinh Tourist line is widely considered the best. So widely considered, in fact, its many impostors call themselves Sinh Tourist, too. Because of Vietnam's lax intellectual property laws, it's difficult to know which Sinh is the real deal. Take the wrong carrier and you'll get iffy service, or worse, an unexpected overnight stop at an overpriced hotel in cahoots with the bus line. "In summary," said Stuart McDonald of travelfish.org, a travel advice site that covers Southeast Asia, "it is a snake pit!"
Solution: Always use the bus company's official website.
New York City
New Yorkers are famously pushy, but Times Square's so-called CD Bullies take the stereotype to a whole new low. A guy on the corner barks, "Check out my music!" and hands you what seems to be a free copy of his CD. He's so nice, he'll even offer to autograph it. But once the disc is in your hands, the aspiring rapper—suddenly surrounded by friends—refuses to take it back. You need to pay $10 or so to stop them from menacing you.
Solution: If the rapper won't take the CD, gently place it on the ground and walk away.
Las Vegas
You go to Vegas to gamble, but you don't want to risk your luggage, too. Sin City's cab drivers are notoriously sketchy; one common scam involves a cabbie who insists on unloading your bags at your hotel or the airport. He says he's in a rush, slams the trunk, and speeds away. Only later do you notice that one of your bags is missing. "When you're coming to Vegas, you gotta be on your A-game with your stuff," says Sergeant Jerry MacDonald of the Las Vegas PD. "Trust me when I tell you, they'll snatch your luggage up faster than you can blink an eye."
Solution: Note the driver's name, cab number, and company when you get in; that way, if anything should happen, you have recourse.
United States
Some criminals who want your money are brazen enough to come right out and ask. An increasingly common scam involves hotel guests who receive a phone call in the middle of the night from someone claiming to work at the front desk. There's been a problem with your credit card, they say. Could you read the number back one more time? The scammers are banking you'll do something while half-asleep that you never should—give out credit card info by phone.
Solution: Hang up and call the front desk directly to make sure the request is legit.
Egypt
The pyramids around Cairo are one of the world's best photo ops, and some tourists up the ante by posing on the back of a camel. Often, there are trainers standing by to coax the 8-foot-tall, 1,500-pound animals to lie down passively in preparation for riding. Once you've paid your $15 and mounted the beast, though, some touts will insist that you pay again to disembark and hold you hostage on the hump until you do.
Solution: "Never just get on a random guy's camel," says Kara Lucchesi of STA Travel. It's safer to stick to rides arranged via an established tour company.
Bali
Bali has an altogether unexpected kind of crook—the monkeys who are so beloved that they have their own sacred forest and temple, where they're allowed to roam free. These monkeys can have sticky fingers, going after food if it piques their interest—and, worse, valuables. Some enterprising locals are usually on hand to coax the monkey to give back its plunder, though they'll ask for a small tip of up to $3.50.
Solution: Seek out a staff member for assistance if a monkey snatches something from you. Better yet: hold on tightly to purses and backpacks and remove and secure glasses or anything else that can be easily purloined.
Rome
While some pickpockets make their living on not being noticed, others do it by getting aggressive and in your face—then ripping you off while you're distracted. Rome is home to the infamous "fake baby" ruse, which sees a woman trip and throw a bundled doll into your arms, or just drop it on the ground, in an attempt to draw your attention away from pickpockets, often , nicking your wallet or making away with your camera bag.
Solution: Beware of women who "throw" their babies or any other unusual distractions.
Bolivia
The cramped and congested passageways of Cochabamba's famed La Cancha—the largest market in Bolivia—make it the perfect staging ground for "the squeeze." Overwhelmed by the chaos and distracted by the overflowing stalls, you might find yourself suddenly pressed among a group of burly men, unable to move your arms. By the time the surprise wears off, the thugs have already rummaged through your pockets and disappeared.
Solution: Pay extra attention at cross-streets, which lend themselves to fast approaches and easy escapes.
Colombia
It costs nothing to spend the day at Barú Island's Playa Blanca, which with its white sands and crystal Caribbean surf might be Colombia's most beautiful beach. Lying on your towel, you might feel a pair of warm hands on your shoulders, and hear the soothing voice of a woman saying to accept this massage as a gift. Tempting, but if you aren't prepared to part with at least $10 in pesos, the price will be an especially histrionic fight.
Solution: Remember, there is no such thing as a free massage.
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Browsers
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Posted:Jan 24, 2014 9:35 am
Last Updated:Jan 25, 2014 4:57 pm 14387 Views
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I've been using Firefox for years, because it came along and was much faster than Netscape, and far more faster than Internet Explorer... I tried a few others, Safari, Lunascape, and etc....
Now it is very slow to load pages, and the pages jump so much until all the content is loaded. Its quite irritating.
I am at the moment using Chrome, I did not prefer to use Google's browsers because Google certainly collects more data on users probably than Firefox did or could have.
What is another way to engage the web without the need of a highly marketed browser program ?
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Why you can't "bootstrap" yourself out of poverty
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Posted:Jan 19, 2014 5:20 pm
Last Updated:Feb 14, 2014 7:02 am 16084 Views
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By Nicole Goodkind January 17, 2014 12:12 PM Daily Ticker
It’s a counterintuitive idea to say the least, but it costs a lot to be poor in the United States. When money is at its tightest, cost-saving choices are often impossible to make, digging impoverished Americans deeper and deeper into the pit of day-by-day living.
A common narrative in today’s political arena is that the nation’s least fortunate only need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps – that they’re just not working hard enough. What often goes unnoticed, however, are the overwhelming barriers that those living below the poverty line face on a daily basis.
A car, for example, is a necessity for many jobs but the down payment can be insurmountably high. And even after the down payment poor drivers still face monthly payments, high gas prices, and the fact that low-income car buyers pay 2% more for a car loan than affluent people. Low-income drivers can also pay up to $400 more annually than wealthier drivers to insure their cars (for a car of the same model and with the same driver risk).
A lack of capital can also make it impossible to afford the security deposit on an apartment causing those in poverty to live day-to-day in expensive hotels. Chris Arnade, a friend of The Daily Ticker, has documented this phenomenon. Those in poverty who are able to rent or buy homes are also more likely to get household appliances through rent-to-own companies and end up paying more due to added interest.
Even saving money is a burden for the poor, as banks often charge large fees for those who don’t have a minimum amount of capital in their accounts—this makes cash checking establishments, who charge incredibly high interest rates on pay-day loans, the only choice for many.
Ben Hecht, CEO and president of Living Cities, an organization that works to revitalize impoverished areas, joined The Daily Ticker to discuss why it costs so much to be poor.
“Many of us are salaried employees and many poor people, if they’re working, are hourly employees,” explains Hecht.
If you’re an hourly employee who needs to apply for benefits or even see a doctor, you’re missing out on vital pay, Hecht points out.
Another challenge that low-income Americans face is a lack of services. “If you walk in many neighborhoods they’ll have one store—it may even be a corner store and not a grocery store,” Hecht says. The competition that neighborhood stores typically face doesn’t exist in poorer areas, allowing them to charge more for goods.
High quality food and produce is also often hard to come by. “You can’t find fresh broccoli…and if you think about it, it’s a logical, rational and economic choice for people to pick fast food in cheaper and larger quantities,” Hecht explains. This leads to obesity and other health issues that end up costing individuals more down the line.
“In many cities there are food deserts where you can’t even go to get the fresh food that we’re used to everyday," Hecht says.
One of the biggest disadvantages that those in poverty experience is a lack of broadband Internet. “One of the fundamentals about poverty is a lack of access to economic opportunity,” says Hecht. “And we all know that the number one factor in economic opportunity is education and we know that in today’s world much education, even in public schools, is done online.”
Furthermore, the Internet provides social networks where we can exchange vital information. Hecht gives this example: “I gave a speech years ago to 500 folks who helped people get jobs and I said to them -- how many of you got your job by a reference? All of them. How many of you got your doctor by reference? All of them. The power of those networks is being shut out in these neighborhoods and without the access to those types of technology.”
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Homes
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Posted:Jan 14, 2014 9:59 am
Last Updated:Jan 16, 2014 2:46 pm 14493 Views
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We see many many entertainers, selling their massive expensive homes. Once it may have been a method of burying their income in what appeared to be a equity growth investment. But I'd think many are finding the upkeep cost to be mounting while the function of the home as to their usage declining, and the prices not bringing the expected gains they had hoped would offset upkeep, taxes and other expense related to owning these homes.
Millions upon millions in excess luxury things, yet, as they get older, they are finding they don't do the entertaining they use to do, nor do they have the time for the fancy of bouncing from home to home, and paying for staff at some of these homes, all of which becomes a costly drain. Not to mention the cost of furnishing it and securing it.
I think their advisers may need to find other means for them to bury their money. Some find they are no longer making the mega money they use to make in their prime and some are still making even more money.
but they are being motivated by some means....
Even we saw a great deal of people making over 250K bouncing from home to home, that trend has seemed to slow down as well, and these ranges of millions of dollars plus homes, may become something of a different natures as time passes.
We've seen so many go bankrupt, because not only is it about the house, they have to buy the expensive cars to park there, then they have to change cars to stay up to date and then the cost of outings all become more costly as each year rolls around.
It's amazing that some spend great deals of money on these homes and yet, there is something that drives them to come to sell them. Even some who have owned various properties for a long time, seem to be shedding those properties to the new generation who are eager to follow in the footsteps.
I guess being from a very diminished lower income spectrum, I'd not consider so many properties except as median renter market type homes purely for rental income.
I don't see a mass over multiple 100k vehicles parked at multiple locations all with insurance and maintenance cost, but low usage.
maybe this trend will change in some ways .... who knows.
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Men and Choosing a Mate
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Posted:Jan 12, 2014 10:11 am
Last Updated:Jan 22, 2014 9:27 am 15924 Views
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I think guys should not get so overwhelmed by what a woman looks like and how alluring she may appear, but learn to understand the person she is of character and what kind of ideals she is pursuing... Or he can be in for a shock of his life.
Much is out there that temps women to pursue and seek out many various things, and until a man meets a woman who has come to terms with her interest and temptations, it is not a good thing for a man to invest too much of himself in a young woman until she has come to that point. There are some young women who are not committed to be adventurist.... and want to raise a family and build a family home system. men need to know these differences in woman as persons.
What we do see in some of these websites, speaking of some of the women over 40+ seem to have a more stable sense of interest in a mate. Some have figured it out, that making a strong mated relationships is more important than being an adventurist.
Choices, there are many when it comes to mate selection. but on thing is sure, much relies on the man and him knowing which woman to choose.
many men think of settling down, is looking for a woman with a settling mindset who has interest to settle down. However, many young women don't have the same mindset, some pursue fashions entertainment and some see a wide variety of promoted things that become attractions an some of such things draw some women like a magnet.
some women who may have grown up with a single mindset of only seeing men as a source and means of security, may avoid relationships once she can provide for herself and has a income and stable job position.
There is definitely no potential for a stable relationship 'build a home and family, with a woman who has many insatiable hungers. These are in some cases two very different contextual realms.
there are couples where both the man and woman are globe trotters and their are raised by nannies or boarding schools and such. But the man has to know if that is the type of family he wants.
Point being.. the delusion men have held that the woman is the chooser and he is to submit,... may well learn that the man is the one who has to select and he has to do so, to choose a woman that matches with his concept of home/family building. Therefore he has to know which character and demeanor type of woman to choose. To do this he has to be with some patience and not be solely blinded by the body shape and facial imagery or the public caricature imagery of the woman.
Look at long term relationships, often times the women have long ago defined her personal style as to attire, and they don't switch up into different caricature every time the next fashion come out. They have come to terms with what is their style and what style of accessories that suits them. but there are many things which each individual man must consider before he pursue to select woman as his life long potential mate. In doing so, it will be apparent that his options will become more limited... and he is better able to deal with temptations by allure tactical fashion and other things ...
for sure, no many should ever chase any woman, because it is often that he is chasing his illusion of her more than he is seeing whom she is. Because in the basics of life, there is no need for him to chase that which already suits and desires him equally so.
(posted previously as a comment on a blog)
many men in these web sites see faces and begin to create many idealized concepts. Unfortunately, the faces are simply the nature of the faces... the character, the ideals, the motivations and relationship aims and interest become more of a matter far and beyond the attractions to a face or a body shape. GUARANTEED without a doubt, the face will change and so will the body... that does not mean the ideals and motivations won't change... but some matters which have better long term indications is the character and its sense of morality which matches with the concepts of morality the man is seeking within his relationship.
For the men who think his chance of relationships is controlled by the woman's choice.... is not respecting the fact that he is the one who will choose the woman he is proposing to develop his relationship. Therefore he does not have to foolishly patronize nor become a submissive relinquish responsibility of his choice to become a puppet to any situations. If she does not suit or fit with his wants of what is a relationship and family building unit, then he needs to know that.
The old slang phrase, one can't turn a into a housewives, does not only apply to this lifestyle it can also mean, you can't change a spinster into a housewife, or a party girl may not become a mother figure nor a wife figure, an adventure seeker may not become one who's idea of home matches that of the man. These kind of reflective thoughts can entail many variations of lifestyle types..
For many men, in the search for a mate... it is always a matter to be mindful that the character type suits the aims you have within building a relationship... Not just in ideal concept, but take your time and 'learn who the woman actually is, and how does she actually function.
The media would love for men to think he is at the mercy of women's fancy... but that is only propaganda marketing, to entice women to buy many things, hoping to gain some allure factor.
Often marketing is trageted to women, and those targeted to men, are often about him having or acquiring something that attract the smiling face of a young pretty woman... Now is that what you want?
Most men, have become very keen on the young women who come to him because of his gains or his material holdings or even his public or job status. Men are becoming even more keen to review these women, because other facts which men have come to learn, is the wrong choice can lead to divorces that cost him too much of what he has earned and gained going to someone who has done nothing to earn their own comparable things. but is willing and some are eager to take from him, what he has gained.
Over-all the point is choose carefully... and you may find a mate who is a long term relationship partner....
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Maps, places, people and lifestyles
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Posted:Jan 12, 2014 7:35 am
Last Updated:Jan 19, 2014 5:12 pm 15432 Views
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Looking on Google maps at the home I had in Ca. and looking at the changes in the community over the past 8 years was rather interesting.
As I think back, I could have owned the houses on both sides of my house and down the street which connects to the street I lived on.
Now, what is the lesson? The lesson is" to be more asserted when the situations of opportunity present themselves. Looking back, all these houses could have been had for somewhere close to 150k ea... about 10 yrs ago... It's amazing, looking at the property value now, as some of the values have began to bounce back to the levels when I first left CA.
What is so interesting with property values. Is these homes back in the 1970's would have sold for around 30'sK , I'm sure in the 60's and the 50's when they were built it was so much less.
Other things of developments and redevelopments seem to have grown and changed in utilization.
Even Recently in the South were I am now, Last week we went to visit the house I was born in.... Can't believe it is still standing, its practically falling and many overgrowth surround it, but all the other houses that were in the small community lane, are 'gone', this is the only house that is still there. But the really interesting things, it is so much smaller than what it appeared as a , an all the other homes which are now gone, the land appears as if there was never homes there. The old Oak Tree that towered above our house is still standing. the roadway seems so much narrower than it appeared as a . The town itself does not have much economics as it began to decline during the mid 1960's when the freeway routed the traffic from the flow through this town. It was once a bustling small town, when the main highway travelers had to pass through the center of it.
Also over the last month, I drove to Houston with my sister, and we passed through many small town which reminded us of the town we grew up as . some are functioning because the highway with lots of traffic flow through them, and some have become less functional with many old building and closed shops.
We also went out in the country, where people have many fresh foods, and still hunt for various animals. It was interesting to see the sense of community where many people were connected as relatives and yet over all most of the people know one another. It's not spit and polished, but the air is fresh, the wooded areas has a calming effect, and there is no hustle and bustle. some of the areas are not surrounded with a mass of convenient shopping, and the people seem very content with having some what level of comfort about their community and environment.
It all reminds me that, If there was any type of major crisis that struck both city and country areas, The people in the country may end up to fare much better than the city dwellers, because they are still with some sense of living with connection and harmony with the land. they have gardens, livestock and they hunt for things they will eat. They don't hunt for vanity sport...
It's interesting, because they still have cellular accessibility, internet and all the things available, but they have the openness of the country atmosphere.
two very different environments, both with positives and negatives depending on the individual and what the individual is comfortable with interpreting and understanding of these different situations.
I have noticed that many people (after retirement) have moved from various large cities and came to some of these areas and bought land in the countryside, which maybe connects to how and where they originally grew up. Some came back and built up on family owned land which has been in their family for many decades.
the interesting aspect is, some of the older people's who grew up knowing the city, and only visiting the country on vacation, are not as eager nor willing to consider living in the country style setting. some of the people used their Retirement money to pay cash for their homes and land, so they only have utility bills, food and what ever else they want to do... but they don't have house payments.
My sister likes the home renovation shows, but what we saw was many of those shows have people buying homes that are very expensive in general society, such as homes over 650K upwards, and then dumping 80-120K upwards in them to upgrade and remodel. We discussed many of those depicted in the shows have people who have dual incomes of 90K each, which puts them in the 180-maybe close to 300k a year income, which helps them qualify for these homes and have the cash to upgrade. As many are young couples. it appears would need such incomes to have saved that amount in a short time without a high paying job or being business owners or other high income avenues ..
We were discussing the concept of scaling down these show models to fit for people in a lower income bracket who buy homes and want moderate upgrades.
One show a couple had bought three homes near a shore on of the East Coast cities, and then before the end of the year, found their flood insurance jumped from $900 to $9000 a year some higher.. they were forced to sell at steep discounts, because the insurance was over bearing and squashed their plans of being bulk property owners in that particular area.
Being off work this past month during surgical recovery has been interesting.... it gave a bit of time for reviewing various things.
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Chinese students major in luxury cars
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Posted:Jan 8, 2014 7:26 am
Last Updated:Jan 29, 2014 10:26 am 17811 Views
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(news)
Chinese students at the University of Iowa began coming into Carousel Motors in Iowa City about three years ago to get their Mercedes-Benz and Audi luxury cars serviced. Finally, general manager Pat Lind started asking if they’d ever considered his dealership when they made their original purchase. No, the students told him. Back in China, they’d been told to buy their wheels in Chicago before heading to college.
So Lind began sponsoring the university’s Chinese student association, which sends information to incoming students in China before they arrive in the U.S. Sales to Chinese students doubled and now make up about 5 percent of the vehicles sold at the dealership, located about two miles from campus. “We became an advertiser,” Lind says, “and got our face in front of them.”
The number of students from China enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities reached 235,597 during the past academic year, more than triple the 64,757 enrolled in 2002-03, according to the Institute of International Education. These students often come from families that are better off than the typical American college student’s, says Sid Krommenhoek, a founder of Zinch, a consulting firm owned by textbook rental company Chegg that works with prospective Chinese students. Shelling out $50,000 for a high-end car is viewed as an affordable status symbol compared with back home, where such cars can cost two to three times as much because of hefty import duties.
Among Chinese student car buyers in the U.S. in the past two years, 32 percent paid cash (Photo: Clayton Cotterell …
Zinch surveyed 25,000 Chinese students last year and found that 62 percent said they could afford to spend at least $40,000 each year on a college education. “Most schools are recruiting [Chinese] students for whom the difference between a $20,000 and a $40,000 education is a rounding error,” Krommenhoek says. “This is a very attractive demographic for foreign brands.”
Chinese students in the U.S. purchased about $15.5 billion in new and used vehicles in 2012 and 2013 through October, according to Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research. His figures, based on car sales, student and family visa data, and other factors, include Chinese students attending high school, undergraduate, and graduate institutions in the U.S. A comparable group of American students purchased $4.7 billion in vehicles, CNW estimates.
The interest in autos among Chinese students in the U.S. shouldn’t be surprising. Teeming demand on the mainland has boosted global automakers’ profits in recent years. While China’s austerity measures slowed luxury sales somewhat in 2013, deliveries there of Volkswagen’s Audi—for many years China’s No. 1 luxury nameplate—increased this year through September by 23 percent, to 366,038. Only 114,411 Audis were sold in the U.S. during the same period.
A little more than half the vehicles bought by Chinese students in the U.S. during the 22-month period CNW studied were new, with an average purchase price of $52,796; and 32 percent of buyers paid cash. Those buying used vehicles paid about $36,500, and 58 percent used cash. About 40 percent of their U.S. counterparts purchased new vehicles, with an average price of $19,472, CNW says. And fewer than 5 percent of those buyers paid cash.
Lind’s Chinese student customers almost always pay with cash. “Many times they’ll come in here,” he says. “They’ll pick out the car and say, ‘OK, I’ve got to call my parents and tell them how much to wire over. I’ve only got $20,000 in my account and I need $50,000, so they’ll wire the difference.’ ”
Some dealerships, such as Mercedes-Benz of Eugene, in Oregon, have hired Mandarin-speaking sales staff to deal with the rush of Chinese students craving luxe rides. Steve Shaheen, general manager of Okemos Auto Collection, a BMW and Mercedes dealer near Michigan State University in East Lansing, says he’s seen his sales to Chinese students rise to as much as 15 percent of his total business, from zero five years ago. Chris Perantoni, sales manager at Royal on the Eastside, an Audi and Volkswagen dealership near Indiana University at Bloomington, trumpeted in his advertising that the store had a salesman who spoke Mandarin and Cantonese—until the staffer’s visa expired and he had to leave. “Him being bilingual definitely helped,” says Perantoni, who estimates that as much as 10 percent of his annual sales are now to Chinese students. “We’d love to have him back.”
Ralph Parshall, general manager at the Mercedes dealership in Eugene, says an influx of Chinese students over the past two years at the University of Oregon has boosted his annual sales by as much as 8 percent. Parshall began sponsoring several Chinese student activities, including dance parties put on by a student group called Pretty in China. In November the group took over a nightclub in Eugene for Asian Night, a party that included a special VIP entrance where guests took pictures on a red carpet in front of a Mercedes logo backdrop. Pretty in China’s online videos show young people arriving at previous events in exotic sports cars such as an Audi R8 and a Mercedes SLS with gull-wing doors, and posing in front of a BMW.
Hao He, 22, an Oregon sophomore from Guangzhou who says he paid cash for his black BMW 335i, is part of a campus group called the International Student Auto Club. The group has about 30 members, mostly from China. One student has a Lamborghini, though most prefer BMWs, He says. While members throw barbecues and help new students navigate the car-buying process, their favorite thing to do is gather in parking lots with their rides. “We don’t show off—we just park someplace and talk to each other about how to modify your car,” He says.
Club member Yang tries out a friend's Audi (Photo: Clayton Cotterell | Bloomberg Businessweek)
Oregon senior Calvin Yang, 24, another club member from Guangzhou, says many Chinese students arrive expecting to buy just basic transportation but soon learn they can afford much more. “After they know the price, they’re sure they want to buy a car,” he says. “I’ve seen some students—they’ve bought a car three days after they arrived in the U.S.”
Some can’t seem to stop buying. Iowa City’s Lind says one Chinese student recently came to him to purchase a Mercedes-Benz CLA, a sedan that begins at $29,900. The student then took a road trip to Chicago, where he traded the car in for an Acura RDX, which starts at $34,520, only to return to Lind’s dealership to swap that for another Mercedes, which he drove for 400 miles before switching it for a Lexus IS250, which begins at $35,950. “He finally said, ‘Oh, I just like trying different things,’ ” the dealer says. “We’re four cars behind as far as getting titles and licensing.”
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China eases one- policy, abolishes labour camps
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Posted:Dec 28, 2013 7:36 am
Last Updated:Jan 8, 2014 6:04 pm 17965 Views
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(News)
China's top legislative committee formally approved a loosening of the country's hugely controversial one- policy on Saturday and abolished "re-education through labour" camps, state media reported.
The decisions were taken by the standing committee of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, at the conclusion of a six-day meeting, according to Xinhua news agency.
The widening of existing exceptions to the one- policy will allow couples where either parent has no siblings to have two , reforming the strict family planning policy imposed more than three decades ago to prevent overpopulation in the world's most populous nation.
The abolition of re-education through labour, known as "laojiao", will see existing inmates freed, Xinhua said.
"Their remaining terms will not be enforced any more," it quoted the NPC resolution as saying.
China argues its one- limit kept population growth in check and supported the country's rapid development that has seen it soar from mass poverty to become the world's second-largest economy.
But enforcement of the policy has at times been excessive. The public was outraged last year when photos circulated online of a woman forced to abort her baby seven months into her pregnancy.
Now China faces looming demographic challenges, including a rapidly increasing elderly population, a shrinking labour force and male-female imbalances.
China's sex ratio has risen to 115 boys for every 100 girls, while the working population began to drop last year, Xinhua said earlier.
The birth rate has fallen to about 1.5 since the 1990s, well below the replacement rate, it added.
While the easing of the one- policy -- estimated to apply to around 10 million couples -- has been welcomed, critics say that the state has retained the principle of deciding itself how many people should have.
Provincial congresses and their standing committees will decide on implementing the new policy "based on evaluation of local demographic situation and in line with the law on population and family planning as well as this resolution," Xinhua said, citing the resolution document.
The one- policy reforms are expected to come into force in the first quarter of 2014, according to a senior official from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Xinhua reported last week.
A dark chapter in China's recent past
The approval to end the labour camps, introduced more than half a century ago, closes the curtain on a dark aspect of the country's modern history long criticised by human rights groups and which Chinese authorities admit is no longer viable.
China began re-education through labour in 1957 as a speedy way to handle petty offenders. But the system -- which allows a police panel to issue sentences of up to four years without trial -- soon became rife with abuse.
State media have cited the development of China's legal system as making the camps "superfluous", with their "historical mission" having come to an end.
A UN report published in 2009 estimated that 190,000 people were held in the camps.
But activists played down the significance of the labour camp system's abolition, pointing out that under Chinese law the authorities can still detain suspects for lengthy periods without a trial.
"Almost all the people I know who were staying at the camps have been released, starting from early this year," Zhao Guangjun, a former laojiao inmate and political activist based in Liaoning province, told AFP.
"Even if the labour camp system has been abolished, the government could still punish people by making them to stay longer in detention centres," added Zhao, who took part anti-laojiao protests in Beijing in March.
Earlier this month Amnesty International also warned that the closure of the labour camps amounted to little more than cosmetic change given that arbitrary detention will persist in unofficial "black jails", drug rehabilitation centres and other facilities.
The decisions came just days after the standing committee had expressed support for them and following promises by the ruling Communist Party at its Third Plenum meeting last month. Legislative approval was formally required to put them into effect.
The Third Plenum meeting has historically been an occasion for the ruling party to expand reforms, and was the first such gathering since Xi Jinping took over as head of the party in November last year as part of a once-a-decade power handover.
The party also pledged at the meeting to reduce the scope of the death penalty "step by step" -- China is the world's biggest judicial executioner -- accelerate reforms to the household registration system and loosen controls on the economy by giving markets a "decisive" role in the allocation of resources.
Beijing (AFP)
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Money - (Nation to Nation) - opens various doors
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Posted:Dec 26, 2013 8:37 am
Last Updated:Dec 27, 2013 4:02 pm 16835 Views
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Money seems to over-ride the concepts of Communism Vs Democracy, when it comes to industrial dollars.
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Article;
By Mark Guarino
Why China is stepping up its presence in Detroit auto industry
Detroit auto know-how, as well as the city's cheap real estate, is a draw to Chinese investment. The amount is relatively modest, and Chinese companies aren't talking yet about making cars here. But that could change.
While the US automotive industry continues to rebound after its near collapse from the financial crisis few years back, China is quietly expanding its presence in the Detroit-based market. Encouraged by the low price of real estate and the high level of advanced engineering talent, dozens of Chinese auto companies and suppliers are opening plants and offices in and around the Motor City, where they hope to one day sell cars to US buyers.
So far, the emphasis has been on the supply chain, but automotive experts and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) hope that continued investment in the area will lead to much more, and they envision Chinese companies playing a big role in helping the city flourish after it emerges from its Chapter 9 bankruptcy restructuring, which got under way this year.
“They [the Chinese firms] want to be more global over time, so they need to look at North America. And if they’re looking at North America, this is the place to come,” Governor Snyder told reporters earlier this year.
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Snyder is opening the door wide to the China. In September he made his third economic development trip there in three years to court investors in all sectors, but mostly automotive. To date, he said, Chinese companies have invested about $1 billion in his state, 95 percent of which is related to the auto industry. Michigan companies exported 22 percent more goods and materials to China in 2012 than in the previous year. Although not all of the activity from China is auto-related, Snyder says he expects to see more Chinese involvement in the auto sector.
“Detroit is the value place in the United States, in Michigan, and potentially the world in terms of a great value opportunity,” Snyder said. “Come in and invest now, because there’s going to be a great upside.”
The Big Three automakers in Detroit – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler – are already investing heavily in China. According to a report released earlier this year by the University of Windsor’s Office of Automotive and Vehicle Research, about 60 percent of total global investments in new auto plants went to China, which is the world’s largest producer and consumer of new vehicles.
Much of this has to do with buying power: For the first 11 months of this year, auto sales in China totaled nearly 20 million units, an increase of almost 14 percent over the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturing in Beijing. By comparison, US auto sales reached about 16 million units through November, a 3 percent increase.
So why are the Chinese in Detroit?
“This is where the action is in terms of automotive,” says Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst for Edmunds.com, an online resource for the automotive industry based in Santa Monica, Calif., with an office in Detroit. “This is where the heart of anything to do with automotive is in terms of development, research, and production. This is where it is.”
Besides access to global auto technology talent, which is essential for companies in mainland China to tap to be competitive, the Chinese firms also get affordability in Detroit. The city’s population drain, which left acres of vacant real estate, may look dire to most, but the Chinese see opportunity, says Tom Watkins, a US-China business consultant who serves on the University of Michigan Confucius Institute Board of Advisors in Ann Arbor. (The Chinese government has funded some 440 Confucius Institutes worldwide "to promote Chinese language and culture," according to the Confucius Institute headquarters.)
Not only does Detroit's inexpensive real estate market make investment an easy choice, but investors are also eligible for various local, state, and federal tax credits for redevelopment. Today, about 50,000 Chinese live in the metropolitan area, including more than 15,000 automotive engineers. Business networks, mostly related to the auto industry, are also growing. Even within Big Three companies, Chinese worker organizations are popping up; the Ford Chinese Association boasts 650 white-collar workers, for example, making it one of the largest of its kind at the company.
“When you put all of this together, Michigan, and Detroit in particular, becomes a very good place to grow and build your business,” says Mr. Watkins.
More than 100 Chinese auto-related companies are already in operation in the Detroit area. They include:
Nexteer Automotive in Saginaw, 100 miles outside Detroit. The company represents one of the largest US industrial investments by a Chinese company; it produces electronic steering systems for “virtually every manufacturer,” says Ms. Krebs. “That is a massive operation.”
A123 Systems in Livonia, a lithium battery developer and manufacturer just outside Detroit. In December, GM awarded the company a contract to provide batteries for future electric vehicles that GM plans to sell in markets outside the US.
Changan Automobile, which launched the first-ever Chinese-run research and development center in Michigan, will focus on chassis design and technologies for the company’s luxury class of vehicles sold in China.
Brilliance Auto in Lansing, which supplies lightweight engine mounts for GM vehicles.
Shanghai Automotive Industries, the largest Chinese automaker, opened new offices in Birmingham, a Detroit suburb, late last year, and said it plans to focus on purchasing, logistics and technology, and engineering.
Right now, these Chinese companies are tapping into the Detroit market to establish partnerships with the US Big Three and the area’s subsequent supply chain, and to capitalize on the advanced engineering talent pool this city attracts.
The endgame, experts say, is that the Chinese plan to build cars here and sell them to US consumers, following the guidebook of Korean and Japanese automakers, who now control roughly 40 percent of the US auto market.
So far, automotive exports from China are dim: down 7 percent to almost 900,000 units during the first 11 months of this year, compared with the same time last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. This represents a tiny percentage of vehicles produced there. To date, the cars that trickle outside China's borders are headed mostly to Africa and the Middle East.
However, Nigel Francis, who was appointed by Snyder in October to be Michigan's “auto czar” and who led an automotive-focused delegation to China that month, says the Chinese are in a “preparation phase” in developing relationships with all the key players – from the supply base to legislators – to eventually enter the North American market. They are also learning the engineering needs of the market to target what US consumers want and to shape an appealing brand.
“It’s unreasonable for anybody to think that the Chinese will not go international. They have the largest domestic market in the world, which means they’ll be making lots of cars,” Mr. Francis says.
Their primary challenge: regulation and politics. Unlike in mainland China, safety and environmental regulations are strict in North America and Europe. There is also the threat of political blowback: For example, Republicans in Congress complained last year that technology developed by A123 Systems could help support military applications back home.
Krebs says she does not expect any of China’s biggest companies in Michigan to build cars “anytime soon.”
“They’ve got a growing market in their own country and they’re trying to fill the need there. So there’s not a need to do that now, and North America is not going to grow nearly as much as China,” she says. “There are other ways to get into the auto industry here, and the car-making part is not the most lucrative.”
(End article)
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When it comes to Money, as with Japan, many doors opened in America and the end result was a dominance by Japanese auto's and Japanese electronics, appliances, and more busting of unions and lower pay jobs with very limited benefits. Now the repeat of this comes from the doors opening to Money again, this time from China.
The same things came with the Arab nation in the 1970-early 80's, Arab Oil Money bought up many of the 'no-name gas stations' and put great pressure on the big companies like Exxon, Texaco, Shell, Philips-Conoco. and over the span, many companies vanished like Sinclair, Gulf downsized and sold off much, along with a host of companies that no longer exist, other were consumed by the bigger Oil companies, and many of the once Arab owned units were sold to major marketers, who expanded their Am-Pm, Circle K and 7-11 and some of the lesser players joined these ranks for their mere survival. and the min market fuel stop craze spread like wildfire., of which still to this day many of the big name players are still trying to work their way back into this new model.
The best scenario for the US is to build new ear -new fuel vehicles, and start developing fast charging station from coast to coast, and join with General Electric and invest billions to take a lead in new type of vehicle batteries, as well as home based solar/ batter/ electricity units, that utilize small amount of electricity, but high usage of solar and other fuel sources to power homes.
The new lead may began in America but it will quickly become a world model as other nations will pick up and began to modernize.
We are at the age of a new change in industrial modeling, on a global scale, where nations will be tied together in ways that will require United nation type of tribunals, to promote global fair play policies, to keep one country from staking nation claims in other countries lands. and it has much work to do to craft this to be economic co-operations and , not sovereignty rights... investments.
We have not got there yet, because the right players are not on the stage especially in the right wing side of politics.
Diplomacy, as President Obama said, is and will be the pathway forward. This will promote global aims of global equality among nations as we move forth. It's a big job, but remember 30-40yrs does past quickly.... because 60 yrs ago, no one would have assumed what is today, could have possibly existed 60 yrs ago.
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"Christmas" - A day, a season, a time of Joy.... make the most of it.
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Posted:Dec 25, 2013 6:47 am
Last Updated:Dec 27, 2013 4:02 pm 17594 Views
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Some come about and bring family together for the simple joy of the holiday, some of many things bring family together and it so happens around Christmas time and other holiday or occasions.
Well, today we have a combination of both.
I can say to any and to all... if you have feeling of care and love, let that be all that it can be, because all the pursuits of fantasy mate romanticism's and the aims of romantic interludes and the lack of such, has over time deprived so many of enjoying so much.
With or without a mate, this is a time to share in the joy of life and the company of those whom are friends, acquaintances, family, and even some you may be meeting for the first time, as well as some you may not have seen for a long time.
I do hope all remains good and well - for all persons, I got out of the hospital last week, been in bed for a week... and today, seems to be a good day for many to simply enjoy what the day unfolds of joys for all.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
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