Back in the Day 
Smashed
There are always days that I wonder if taking the leap to come to China was a good idea. Those days happen, when I start missing my friends the most. Pics for Kirby's little shindig in Guangzhou are finally up, msg me if you want the link, I'll send it to those who are curious.
I gotta figure out how to revive this damn blog.
Alicia Keys is so crazy.
Gucci in China
China's Gucci Team
The Gucci brand has such an aura amongst the local Chinese. Everybody loves Gucci. Everybody wants Gucci. But not everybody can afford Gucci. This has contributed to the vast network of counterfeit Gucci's throughout the motherland. You can find fake Gucci products in the most random places, and EVERYBODY knows Gucci, although they may not necessarily know how to properly pronounce it or spell it. (Many I know here call it Koochee)
I personally think the proliferation of these brands through the counterfeit markets does more good to the luxury brands in the short term than in the long term. It is unavoidable at this point mostly because of the number of people that it employs. From the hundreds of factory workers to the thousands of street hawkers. The markup is easily at least 100% and should a foreigner come by and buy a couple of items, we're looking much more in returns. It just makes sense right now for the locals to continue doing it. And why would the government put a stop to it overnight? You know they COULD if they really wanted to. China is great that way, don't really need much debate in parliament and then ask the people. I've seen Shanghai transformed overnight because a delegation of foreigners were coming into town. When I went to bed, the streets were filled with litter, dying plants and street hawkers. The next day, entire flower beds were replanted, roads repainted and litter completely gone. It would take a decade for some of these things to be done in other countries.
I have seen fake everythings here: Coach, LV, Ferregamo, Armani, Hugo Boss, Cartier, IWC, Panerai... you name it they got it. Mind you the quality may not be the same, but the locals and some foreigners don't mind at all. For a fraction of the prices, the feelings that one gets when owning a Gucci are worth it. And I am certain that if people could afford it, and really wanted it, they would stop at nothing to go for the real thing.
So although the battle seems quite uphill, the people behind it I'm sure are working hard to make sure the the aura of Gucci continues to live on. Go kooocheeeee!
The US Government is SO Self Serving it is Disgraceful
Shady...
Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts
FEMA taps Halliburton subsidiary, Shaw Group, Bechtel for cleanup
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) -- Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former
head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster
relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh,
President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start
recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co.
subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a
former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San
Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to
provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush
named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of
Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation.
Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and
Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once
they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in
the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars
for work in Iraq.
Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon
audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in
"questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for
Halliburton's work in Iraq.
Watchdog groups take notice
But the web of Bush
administration connections is attracting renewed attention from
watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has
already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a
down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100
billion.
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with
people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to
further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive
director of the Project on Government Oversight.
Bush appointees at Halliburton
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.
In
lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal
was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense,
disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown
and Root."
Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has
not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the
company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company
with any lobbying responsibilities."
Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA
who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to
Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume -- which he denies.
A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.
Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months
after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held
from December 2003 to December 2004.
On Friday, Kellogg Brown
& Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin
rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the
work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before
Allbaugh was hired.
Cheney's relationship with Halliburton
Halliburton
continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief
executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican
ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April,
Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company,
which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.
Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is
fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance
or earnings.
Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based
Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery
Projects -- Apply Here!"
Shaw
said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract
for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100
million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the
company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not
say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We
don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Forbidden City on Google Maps
So cool.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=beijing&ll=39.912969,116.393135&spn=0.020385
The Difficulty of Being Productive
With technology these days, things seem so convenient. You speak
the name of the person you want to call into your phone, and the phone
dials the number automatically. You pull up a couple websites,
and all the research and text you require is at your fingertips.
Not home during your favourite show? No worries, there's Tivo or
you can download it off the net.
But as I sit in front of my computer, I can't help but think how inundated we are with reams and reams of SHIT.
I just downloaded Google Talk. I already have MSN, I actually
started with ICQ (My ICQ NUMBER is 6 digits), and I tried to stay loyal
for a very long time. But it's hard. More and more people
started to use MSN. MSN added more and more features, and all
those reminders asking you to download the latest MSN, play games with
your friends, draw funny pictures, search online for new emoticons
etc...
So now, with all my efficient Microsoft Office tools, as I sit at my
desk, I'm getting random messages from friends on MSN, chatting with a
buddy from Google Talk, checking Flickr for the latest pics from
the weekend's party, talking on the phone, working on a word document
while researching on the Internet. My mobile phone is ringing and
I have to put the other person on hold. I get a delivery from the
courier, a fax is coming in for me and I have a meeting with the client
in 10 mins.
How the heck am I supposed to seriously get any work done?
Going to University in China
Going To University In China
It is one thing to get good entrance examination marks and get
accepted, but can you afford to go?
Here are the basic numbers via a post at Yannan:
[translation] According to the China Youth Daily, the Jilin
Provincial Government Research Center conducted a study of students at
a senior secondary school in a rural county. 28.7% of the students
said that they were afraid of attending university, because their
family cannot afford the university fees.
According to the study by the Jilin Provincial Government Research
Center, in 2004, the average university tuition fee was 6,000 RMB, the
average room charge was 1,000 RMB and the average food expenses was
4,800 RMB. Combining the three items, university students need 11,800
RMB whereas the average net income for Jilin rural residents was
3,000.42 RMB. That is to say, each university student requires the
net income of four rural peasants.
The report emphasized that tremendous pressure from the university
tuition is the biggest reason for rural students being afraid to
attend university. But this author believes that the uncertain
earnings is the true reason for rural students not wanting to attend
university. According to economic theory, expected benefits directly
determines investment confidence. If attending university is a form
of investment, then what are the expected benefits? Of course, it is
more than a piece of paper that is a diploma; it has to be the
benefits that the student will receives after getting a job.
The data indicates that the employment situation for university
graduates are not optimistic. In 2002, the number of university
graduates was 1,450,000; in 2003, 2,120,000; in 2004, 2,800,000; in
2005, 3,400,000. With the continuous increase in the number of
graduates, the job situation is getting tougher and tougher. Not only
does the competition for jobs increase, but the salaries are going
down. In 2004, the starting salaries for university students were 25%
to 30% lower than the previous year. According to a Beijing
University study, the average university students has a monthly salary
of only 1,550.7 RMB, of which 40.9% made less than 1,000 RMB and 45.5%
made between 1,000-2,000 RMB. The phrase "no salary job" is become
fashionable.
The difficulty in finding a job and the reduced salary directly
reduces the expected benefits of a university education, and this
affects investment confidence. This is all the more true for
low-income families. In order to increase investment confidence,
there was two factors. The first is to reduce the amount of
investment; that is, to reduce the tuition. The second is to increase
the benefits. There is not much hope to improve these two factors.
The university tuition was free when the nation was founded and
increased to a symbolic 200 RMB in 1998. The 11,800 RMB mentioned in
the report represented a trend of non-stop sharp increases. Although
this trend has been questioned by many, the trend is towards even
sharper increases. As for the benefits? Many universities attempt to
attract students by publishing the employment rates for their
graduates, but those figures are tainted by exaggerations and
inflation when compared to other data. The information, is that the
number of employed students will hold steady at 2,500,000 and this
means that it will be difficult to raise the expectations for getting
jobs. As for the salary, it is in direct proportion to the employment
rate. If employment is low, the companies have enough human resources
already and people should be glad not to have their salaries cut.
According to this, it will be hard to make the rural students not be
afraid to go to university.
The preceding is all very true, but somehow numbers leave me stone
cold. Perhaps that is a good thing, since I am a statistician by
profession. As a person, I am more likely to be moved by something
as sugary as in this previous post Why The Visitors From Beijing Cried
At The Sight Of The Bottle Of Remy Martin. As it turns out, there is
another post at Yannan that works at the personal level:
[translation]
Name: Yang Xiaojuan
University Entrance Examination Marks: 611
University Accepted: Sichuan University
"Dad and Mom, I have managed to be accepted by Sichuan University.
You can smile from your graves." Yang Xiaojuan took the letter of
acceptance from the Sichuan University and knelt in front of her
parents' graves for one full hour. Yang Xiaojuan is an unfortunate
child. When she entered junior secondary school, her mother passed
away from a nerve infection; during the summer of her second year in
high school, her dad passed away after suffering more than 20 years
from brain blood clot.
"Buy a newspaper! Buy a newspaper!" Yesterday morning at 10am, our
reporter found Yang Xiaojuan near the bus depot selling newspaper.
Although she was accepted for Sichuan University with a high mark of
611, she was in no mood to celebrate because the more than 10,000 RMB
in tuition fees did not make her happy. "I know that I can't earn too
much each day, but something is more than nothing. Not matter what, I
want to fulfill my parents' last wishes." Yang Xiaojuan told the
reporter.
Yang Xiaojuan is currently staying at her aunt's place. On July 30,
2004, her dad passed away and her aunt became her guardian. Her aunt
told the reporter that both she and her husband were laid off in 2000
and they are temporary workers trying to make enough money to get by.
They tried to borrow money from their relatives and friends for Yang
Xiaojuan, but most others are out of work with children. So far, they
have borrowed only 1,000 RMB or so.
Yang Xiaojuan told the reporter that her father had a blood clot in
the brain in 1983 and became paralyzed. This meant that her mother
was the sole income earner. Her mother not only had to take care of
her dad, but she had to earn money for his medical care as well as
feel the family. In 1998, when she entered junior secondary school,
her mom developed a nerve infection from overworking and died six
months later. When Yang Xiaojuan spoke of her mother, tears came down
her face.
In July 2004, Yang Xiaojuan returned home and found her father dead in
the bed. After her dad passed away, all the friends and relatives
went through the house and finally found 600 RMB underneath the tea
table with the words: "This money is left for Xiaojuan's university
tuition." Yang Xiaojuan said that this money is untouched so far, as
the funeral expenses were contributed by friends and family.
The family misfortunes motivated Yang Xiaojuan to study hard. At the
university entrance examination this year, Yang Xiaojuan was accepted
by Sichuan University with 611 marks. On the day when she received
the notification, Yang Xiaojuan told her parents in the first instant.
But the high tuition fees made her cry against and again. After all,
she is still student and many places do not want students who only
work while not in school. Yang Xiaojuan could not find any work, so
she is selling newspapers every day.
Publicly traded... CYOS
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc? s=CYOS.OB&t=5d
This seems interesting. I wonder how they will do in the China landscape.
CYOP's Chinese Poker Opening for Play on Sina.com; Online Poker to Be
Available for Exclusive Play on Game Channel
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 2005--CYOP Systems
International Inc. (OTCBB:CYOS), a leading provider of online gaming
software and operator of games portals, is pleased to announce that
its Chinese version of TenSeatPoker.com software will be open for play
on the Sina.com network this September.
The site is in the final stages of integration on Sina.com, and is
going through extensive quality control.
CYOP's Chinese TenSeatPoker.com will be found exclusively for the Game
Channel on SINA.com Online. SINA will further arrange fixed entry
points by providing tournaments on the SINA Taiwan and Beijing
Channels, linking on-line traffic to the co-branded Games site in the
US.
The Company intends to sell advertising and sponsorships within the
games and related site. As well, CYOP will be hosting and managing
multiplayer tournaments with cash prizes.
And the TensSeatPoker.com site is being translated into Chinese;
leveraging our tournament sponsorship and advertising model with the
plan to convert the play for fun database into cash play gaming.
Even with its minimal penetration rate, China already ranks second in
the world in total Internet users. According to eMarketer, during the
2004-2008 period, the US Internet population will grow at a 2.6%
annual rate. In contrast, China's Internet population will grow during
the 2004-2008 period by over 14.3% on an annual basis.
Mitch White, CEO of CYOP commented, "Interest in China is growing, and
North Americans are beginning to understand the potential of the huge
marketplace. Recent events such as Baidu.com's IPO and Yahoo's $1
billion Alibaba.com deal are proving that strong moves are being made
into the burgeoning Chinese Internet. CYOP is also strategically
positioning itself as an early entrant into the online poker industry
in Asia."
About CYOP
CYOP is a provider of multimedia transactional technology solutions
and services for the entertainment industry and a developer of online
skill games, poker, and bingo. The Company's range of products and
services include financial transaction platforms for on-line video
games, licensed online gaming software, gaming websites, poker portals
and integrated e-commerce transaction technology for on-line
merchants.
CYOP's central games portal, www.SkillArcade.com, features virtual
games where people play popular skill games against other players and
compete in tournaments to win real money prizes. CYOP's Software may
be viewed at www.RedFelt.com, its play for cash poker site at
www.TenSeatPoker.com and it Chinese site at www.CrediPlay.cn
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