That's the problem. The other countries leaders don't like us because we'll accept anybody. They can't get it through their head that they are being racist by being upset by the fact that we're not...sort of. We'll take them in, give them everything, THEN judge them.
I talked with a girl who came here from Italy. She said that in Italy they say that the American streets are paved in gold. She was also told that when when she gets off the plane to always look down cause there is money everywhere. She was told that this land is the land of opportunity and jobs are plentiful.
Well, needless to say, that after she was here for about 1 year, she said that once she found a penny on the grounnd and that some streets were not only NOT paved in gold, but were in need of repair. She also said that the only opportunity here is that you can find a job, but you need a couple of them to survive.
She said that she also missed her 'siesta' in the afternoon which is common practice in Europe. I think that is called a 'lunch break' here in America.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Today, the term "siesta" refers to a short nap (15 to 30 minutes) taken after the midday meal. Siestas are traditionally no longer than 30 minutes and are more of a light rest than any kind of serious sleep. Other names for a siesta may include: cat nap, snooze, doze, kip, winks, power nap, or simply, afternoon nap.
In Argentina, the siesta is supposed to be between 13:00 and 16:00, and in some regions, such as Santiago del Estero, it's called "sacred" because people don't want to be disturbed. Business hours in these regions are usually 8:00 to 12:00 and 16:00 to 20:00. Other business hours (extended) vary between 6:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 21:00, but most either add or shift 30 minutes to the regular 8-12/16-20 times. In bigger cities such as Buenos Aires, and with the time and money it takes to commute, businesses just use the regular 9-to-6 time.
In Malta, business hours are usually between 9:00 and 12:30 and from 16:00 to 19:00 to enable workmen to return home during the break, have lunch and possibly take a siesta. Due to the shortness of distance between the place of business and their residence, this practice is not uncommon.
Older, pre-teenage children are usually incapable of napping, but acquire the ability to nap as teenagers.[1] Some people sleep the whole time (up to two hours), but most people watch television or take a short 15 to 30 minute nap. In any case, the streets are deserted at the siesta time in those cities.
Quoted Text
Siestas are traditionally no longer than 30 minutes and are more of a light rest than any kind of serious sleep.
Should be plenty of time on a normal lunch break for a "siesta."
NYC has those 'sleep cafe's'.......the 'city that never sleeps' has sleep cafe's.......is that an oxymoron or just American advertising......
As for the streets paved in gold......she must not know where oil comes from or what it is called...BLACK GOLD..isn't blacktop an oil derivitive??.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
SHANGHAI, China -- Nearly half of pregnant teens in China's financial center Shanghai met their partners on the Internet, according to a newspaper report that also spotlighted widespread ignorance about sexual health.
Fully 46 percent of the more than 20,000 girls who called the city's pregnancy hot line during the past two years said they had sex with boys they met online, the China Daily said, citing Dr. Zhang Zhengrong of Shanghai's No. 411 Hospital.
Most of the would-be fathers disappeared after being told of the pregnancies, while in some cases the girls did not even know their partners' true names, the report said.
The report said calls to the hot line have shot up 12 percent since the start of school holidays, which began two weeks ago and run through August.
Earlier reports have cited a 30 percent increase in abortions by teens during holidays, with high school students between 16 and 18 accounting for a growing percentage of those seeking to end their pregnancies.
Zhang said callers to the hot line generally knew little about birth control or the physiological aspects of sex and widely considered abortions to be harmless.
About 10 percent who called had undergone multiple abortions, while "there were some who were unaware they were even pregnant until very late," Zhang was quoted as saying.
While underage sex remains taboo in China, abortion is widely available without the requirement that parents be notified. China has long promoted abortion as part of its attempts to enforce policies limiting most families to just one child.
Zhang said 79 percent of high school and university girls cited the Internet as their main source of information about sex in a survey conducted by her hospital.
Just 7.9 percent of parents discussed sexual matters with their daughters, she said, while 46 percent of parents said it was the responsibility of schools to provide sex education. The survey gathered results from 2,043 parents, 2,680 teachers and 1,577 teens.
Imagine that the girls got pregnant due to the internet, where the heck were the parents and why didn't they teach them about the birds and bees. No-one takes responsibility for anything it's always somebody or something elses fault.
NYC has those 'sleep cafe's'.......the 'city that never sleeps' has sleep cafe's.......is that an oxymoron or just American advertising......
As for the streets paved in gold......she must not know where oil comes from or what it is called...BLACK GOLD..isn't blacktop an oil derivitive??.....
asphalt concrete, a composite material commonly used for construction of pavement, highways and parking lots bituminous macadams tarmac "Blacktop", a song by Helmet from their 1990 album Strap It On "Blacktop", a 5 piece rock band from Derby, UK. "Blacktop", is the 2nd track of the album Aerocalexico by Calexico A slang term, predominantly used in inner city areas, referring to any area of hard standing that is used for recreational basketball. Used regardless of the material from which the hard standing is formed.
By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Thursday, July 12, 2007
BEIJING -- China will begin a daily food safety reporting system next month during test events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in a bid to reassure the world that it is serious about cracking down on unsafe practices.
The system will be put in place Aug. 8 in Beijing, where a series of 11 trials will be held for Olympic organizers to assess their transportation systems, technology and logistics.
Monitoring will start from the origin of production and continue through processing, packaging, transportation and distribution, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Thursday.
"There will be continuous supervision," the quality watchdog said on its Web site.
The reports, which would include details of any food safety accidents, will be overseen by the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office. The quality administration did not give details, and a man who answered the telephone at the food safety office refused to give any information or his name.
Confidence in the safety of Chinese exports has severely waned internationally, as the list of products found tainted with dangerous levels of toxins and chemicals grows longer by the day.
China has taken significant steps in recent days to clean up its dubious product safety record, including executing the former head of its drug regulation agency for taking bribes and banning the use of a chemical found in antifreeze in the production of toothpaste.
In a report aired Wednesday night, China Central Television showed how a bun maker in a district in Beijing used cardboard picked off the street as filling for his product.
The undercover investigation report showed how squares of cardboard were first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning were stirred in and minutes later, steaming buns were shown on screen.
This week, officials have vowed that the Beijing Games -- a source of tremendous national pride -- will be part of the crackdown on unsafe food.
Sun Wenxu, an official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, told reporters that athletes, coaches, officials and others can be assured of safe meals.
Organizers are also taking measures to ensure athletes' food is free of substances that could trigger a positive result in tests for banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Late Wednesday, China banned toothpaste manufacturers from using diethylene glycol, or DEG -- which can cause kidney failure, paralysis and death, but has been used as a low-cost substitute for harmless glycerin, a sweetener in many drugs.
Chinese-made toothpaste containing DEG has been yanked from sale in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
Although there have been no reports of health problems stemming from the toothpaste, dozens of people in Panama died last year after taking medicine contaminated with DEG imported from China and passed off as glycerin.
China had never had guidelines banning DEG as a toothpaste ingredient. However, a statement on the quality administration's Web site said the vast majority of Chinese toothpaste manufacturers had already stopped using it in order to reassure consumers, and "to avoid unnecessary losses incurred by exporting manufacturers." But it said the ban also covers imported products, and reiterated China's official stance that DEG is safe in small amounts, based on Chinese health experts' tests in 2000.
"Currently there's no evidence to show that the use of DEG in toothpaste directly causes cases of poisoning in people," it said.
The State Food and Drug Administration or SFDA announced stricter rules for approving new medicines Wednesday, a day after the agency's former head, Zheng Xiaoyu, was executed for taking bribes and gifts in exchange for letting substandard and fake products onto the domestic market. One, an antibiotic, has been blamed for at least 10 deaths.
Starting Oct. 1, the drug registration and approval process will be made transparent to curb power abuse and corruption, the state-run China Daily newspaper on Thursday quoted Wu Zhen, the agency's deputy chief, as saying.
A special panel will approve new drugs instead of a single person or department, and local watchdogs will be authorized to conduct preliminary approval procedures -- unlike before, when power was centralized, Wu said.
"Transparency is the enemy of corruption," he was quoted as saying.
Companies which provide false information or samples will not be allowed to apply for drug approval for up to three years, and the SFDA will make surprise spot checks on drug producers, he said.
BEIJING -- Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.
The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation.
Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. They are almost impossible to regulate.
State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district.
Baozi are a common snack in China, with an outer skin made from wheat or rice flour and and a filling of sliced pork. Cooked by steaming in immense bamboo baskets, they are similar to but usually much bigger than the dumplings found on dim sum menus familiar to many Americans.
The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.
The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground.
"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.
"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.
The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.
Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.
Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The reporter takes a bite.
"This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?"
"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."
The police eventually showed up and shut down the operation.
If this is what's really going on in China why are be buying any food from there at all. I guess that China doesn't have food inspectors and they're are letting their people eat poison.
Guess China doesn't have to place the 'ingredients' on their packaging. Although they would probably label cardboard as 'added fiber'!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Ordeal leaves family wary Local couple troubled about food safety after kids' illness from snack
By CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY, Staff writer First published: Friday, July 13, 2007
The Scheels buy the best groceries for their 20-month-old triplets, Sydney, Cole and Michael. The toddlers rarely eat junk food. Organic, gourmet and fresh food are the staples of their diet. "They eat better than us," said their mother, Elex Scheels.
That's why the Voorheesville family was shocked when they were swept into this spring's Veggie Booty salmonella outbreak.
Sydney and Cole were among 60 people nationwide and 15 in New York to suffer salmonella poisoning after eating the puffed rice and corn treats advertised as "gourmet" and "natural." Almost all of the victims were toddlers.
Veggie Booty and a sister product, Super Veggie Tings, suspected of being contaminated by seasoning imported from China. The products were recalled from store shelves on June 28. Two months earlier, Sydney and Cole had spiked fevers and suffered explosive diarrhea. Sydney was nearly hospitalized to treat her bloody bowel movements.
Now, when Elex and Patrick Scheels walk the health food aisles and organic section of their grocery store, they shop with skeptical eyes.
"What was so troubling about all of this is how out of your hands it is," said Patrick Scheels, who owns Capital Painting. "The ingredients could be from anywhere."
Overnight, the Scheels have become food safety advocates. They are considering joining a class-action lawsuit against the Veggie Booty manufacturer, and they want to see country-of-origin labels on food products. Elex Scheels, an associate director at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., plans to write Congress with their story.
"My goal at the end of the day is to do something to cause change," she said. "To make people change the way we are doing business with China and the other countries we are buying food from."
Reports of the tainted seasoning, pet food and seafood from China are fueling the campaign for country-of-origin labeling. Congress passed a law in 2002 requiring such labeling on agricultural products, but the meat and grocery industries successfully blocked the law from taking effect. The labels are required only on seafood.
The Scheels discovered Veggie Booty at a Trader Joe's outside the region, a grocery store known for its natural and organic food selections. Sydney and Cole love the treats.
The manufacturer, Robert's American Gourmet, is a family-owned company located on Long Island. Company founder Robert Ehrlich said he created the snacks as a healthy alternative for his own kids. Ehrlich told the Associated Press he suspected the contamination came from a seasoning manufactured in China that is used on Veggie Booty and Veggie Tings.
Ehrlich said Robert's American Gourmet bought the seasoning from Atlantic Quality Spice & Seasonings of Edison, N.J.
Atlantic Quality Spice & Seasonings said its suppliers say all its ingredients were salmonella-free. It has tested other products made with some of the same ingredients used to produce the seasoning, and the results have been negative for salmonella, said the company's president, Stan Gorski.
"We are confident none of the materials that went into other products were contaminated," Gorski said.
The particular strain of the bacteria, Salmonella Wandsworth, is a rare form that has never been associated with an outbreak in the United States. The only previously documented outbreak of Wandsworth occurred in a Hong Kong hospital in the late 1970s, said Mark Sotir, an epidemiologist at the federal Centers for Disease Control who was involved in the Veggie Booty investigation.
Eight babies became ill in the Honk Kong incident and the source of the contamination was traced to a container where rectal thermometers were stored, Sotir said.
"We don't have a lot of information on it," he said about Wandsworth.
The unique fingerprint of the strain actually helped the epidemiologists. On average, five cases of Salmonella Wandsworth poisonings occur in the U.S. annually, but when public health officials saw the climbing number of cases this spring, they suspected a link.
"The outbreak showed us what's right about this country," said Dr. Laura Staff, the Albany pediatrician who treated Sydney and Cole.
Staff sent one of Sydney's dirty diapers to the state lab for testing, and during another visit, Sydney had a bout where "blood started shooting out of her rectum."
Tests came back positive for Salmonella Wandsworth. Cole picked it up a week later.
Brown-eyed Sydney withstood a 105.3 temperature and terrible bouts of diarrhea, much worse than her blue-eyed brother, Cole. Her parents bathed Sydney in ice water to keep her fever down and she lost 2.5 pounds from her 25-pound body.
"It was terrifying," Elex Scheels said.
Michael, whose curly hair and finicky eating habits separate him from his siblings, didn't get sick. But family's bulldog, Gus, caught the Salmonella.
The Scheels family fielded numerous calls from state health officials asking: Have you traveled to a foreign country recently? Have the children been around animals? What have the children eaten?
Then the CDC called and drilled down. What brand of chips did they eat? What flavor? Where did you buy them? The Scheels can't remember if they bought them in the Capital Region at Price Chopper or Hannaford.
Despite the family's devotion to organic and gourmet foods, there was nothing they could have done to prevent the poisoning, said Delia Hammock, nutrition director for the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.
"When it comes to food safety issues like food poisoning and food-borne illness, (organic and gourmet) don't make any difference," Hammock said. "You feel so vulnerable when something like this happens. It's like the bag of spinach. You can do everything right yourself, yet you can't protect you or your children against this."
Hammock, who oversees testing for the Good Housekeeping seal, has a history with Robert's American Gourmet. In 2002, she outed the company for inaccurate nutritional information on their Pirate's Booty snacks.
The nutrition label claimed the snack had 128 calories and 2.5 grams of fat, but an independent lab discovered the snack had 147 calories with a 8 grams of fat. Another lab found that Veggie Booty, which contains spinach and kale, had 10 grams of fat at the time, the same as a candy bar. The company recalled the snacks. Be skeptical, Hammock advises.
"What does gourmet mean? Gourmet means nothing," she said. "It's more of a marketing term."
While food certified organic meets government guidelines prohibiting growth hormones, pesticides and antibiotics, the USDA makes no claims that organically produced food is safer or more nutritious than conventionally produced food.
No extra measures are taken to kill bacteria, Hammock said.
Sydney and Cole are healthy again and the triplets are back to their routine of standing in their cribs and dancing to children's music before they to go to sleep. Gus is his old self, too.
Cathleen F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348, or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.
Logged
