From Dan Drezner, comes this quote from an article:

Article after article pores over the potential economic reasons for the increase in income inequality in China. We ignore the fact that of the 3,220 Chinese citizens with a personal wealth of 100 million yuan ($13 million) or more, 2, 932 are children of high-level cadres. Of the key positions in the five industrial sectors—finance, foreign trade, land development, large-scale engineering and securities—85% to 90% are held by children of high-level cadres.

Balzac: "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."

Let's see the USA's reaction

to the VT massacre....will it include a song called "Fucking Korea" by an American singer/activist? (Figure a gangsta-rapper could do it, easy)

And a video ending up with "Koreans go home?"

Knowing my track record, it'll be up on youtube tomorrow...

BTW, in my junior high, a slight friend of mine took a classroom hostage with a BB gun. They found a .22 rifle in his locker as well. He only shot out the intercom though.

Pretty quiet guy who ate his lunch with face pressed into the brown bag...rather a loner, too.

China-US Trade

The trade deficit with China is slightly down this month. I expect to see the trend go that way for a while as the renminbi appreciates slowly.


Now, I have some money parked in the renminbi over at Everbank, so I am happy to see this trend (though I really should have it in a Chinese bank to get the time deposit interest as well.)

On the other hand, I know I will have to deal with squealing China suppliers whose margins are being squeezed because they quote in USD but most of the costs are in Yuan. (Factories who import lots of raw materials and parts should do better.)

Oh, actually, the verb is wrong in the above sentence - we are already dealing with price rises due to the appreciation of the Yuan, and knowing the low margins factories in China operate on, I expect a lot, lot more.

In fact, its been a strange balancing act in China where raw material price increases that stagger the mind don't always translate into price increases for US retailers right away because everyone is too scared to raise prices as they will lose their orders. (China is way over capacity for production.) At some point, this has to stop - aluminum is up 52% in the last 12 months and yet my competitors can hold their prices steady?!?! (and wages are going up in China too!)

The two things going for China is that they have inertia - orders tend to stay where they are and foreign companies who invested in purchasing offices there will find their Chinese managers probably won't switch orders to other countries with any skill or speed. The second advantage is that they have a mature industrial base. You need a rare brass fastener? You need an electronic component? You need a oversized four-color box? You can find it in China. In Vietnam, you'll have to import it yourself from somewhere else or do without. And its not just strange parts - there are no cold-rolled steel tube factories in Vietnam that I am aware of.

I think Big John was right when he said over time, some manufacturing will come back to the States - China is not so cheap anymore when Taiwanese employees of big US corporations are heading to Malaysia on sourcing trips that once would not have gone farther than Dongguan. Not to mention that some famous chain stores are now arbitrarily cancelling orders for anything made in the USA - that's just stupid on so many levels that it seems like the sort of thing you'd see before a bubble collapses.

Private Space Station's Cockroach Problem

From this WaPo article about private inflatable space stations...

The prototype Genesis II will launch from Orenberg, Russia, and will carry a payload that includes a Madagascar giant hissing cockroach, scorpions, an ant farm, and an internal camera to watch their acclimation to space.

Yeah, right - it's a "science experiment" to watch their acclimation to space...more likely is that we'll be seeing a pay-per-view channel called "ZERO G BUG BATTLES" soon.

I'll take 20 on the roach.

BONUS LINK: Apparently people make money breeding and selling cockroaches in the USA.

Topline Roaches (don't want no low end kinds..)
Check out the one on his watch...ewwww.

Ronald's Roaches (The perfect gift for every occasion)
Check out his list of potential uses for a roach pet.

Do you think this could work in Taiwan? I know Kevlar's house is an ideal breeding ground.

UPDATE: There is a guy in Taiwan who loves roaches. Article doesn't say if he likes 'em deep fried or lightly sauteed in sesame oil.

Wikipedia Entry

Factoid: The world record for eating cockroaches is 36 in one minute.

Uncensored Photos

These are the shots of Tina's foot when it was infected by a Chinese medicine poultice...hope you aren't having lunch right about now.

This is an experiment...

Martin T. Orne, "On the Social Psychology of the Psychological Experiment," American Psychologist 17 (Nov. 1962): 776-783.

[T]he subject agrees to tolerate a considerable degree of discomfort, boredom, or actual pain, if required to do so by the experimenter. Just about any request which could conceivably be asked of the subject by a reputable investigator is legitimized by the quasi-magical phrase, "This is an experiment" . . . .

A number of casual acquaintances were asked whether they would do the experimenter a favor; on their acquiescence, they were asked to perform five-push-ups. Their response tended to be amazement, incredulity and the question "Why?" Another similar group of individuals were asked whether they would take part in an experiment of brief duration. When they agreed to do so, they too were asked to perform five push-ups. Their typical response was "Where?"

NOTE TO SELF: TRY THIS AT THE BAR NEXT TIME YOU ARE THERE..."This is an experiment...buy a drink for me..."

Stolen from this guy.

I don't want to believe...

I've lived in a Muslim country. I have Muslim friends. I even like the call to prayers at 5:30 a.m. That's why I don't worry too much about Eurabia or the Islamic Republic of Texas ever happening.

But this kind of story from the UK disturbs me:

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Governmentbacked study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

Then again, maybe I should be more disturbed by the PC/Multi-Culti people who made the decision? Because, seriously, who would stop teaching the Holocaust in schools, let alone for the reason that some people are Holocaust Deniers?!?!

And if enough Christian students "denied" evolution, would they have to stop teaching that in the UK?

UPDATE: Karl rightly wondered if this was not merely a figment of the Daily Mail (which I don't really know anything about) so I did some googling. Here is the BBC version.

Some schools avoid teaching the Holocaust and other controversial history subjects as they do not want to cause offence, research has claimed.

Teachers fear meeting anti-Semitic sentiment, particularly from Muslim pupils, the government-funded study by the Historical Association said.

It also said the way the slave trade was taught could leave both white and black children feeling alienated.

On a small humorous note, the school minister of the UK is named Lord Adonis...sounds like he should be the porn minister if you ask me.