Parading "Criminals" and "Suspects" - 嫌疑犯游街

Chinese newspaper People Daily reported that in the city of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, police posted a series of photos, featuring young women accused of prostitution, walking bare-feet, held by thin strings.

These photos generated much debate in China. People no longer accept this humiliating practice as norm and demand more humane treatments to criminals and suspects, and denounce this indignity.

中国《人民日报》报道，近日，广东东莞警方开展了“创平安、迎亚运”的扫黄行动，其中一组卖淫女赤脚游街的照片 在网上引起热议。从相片所见，两名穿着时尚的涉嫌卖淫女，不但赤脚，且戴着手铐，背后还被幼绳牵着。

中国人现在不肯接受这种不人道，让人丧失尊严的行为。即使是罪犯和嫌疑犯，也应获得人道对待。

Oil Spills - 石油泄漏

Three months after BP's oil spill in Gulf of Mexico, "China is dealing with the worst oil spill in its history, according to Greenpeace, after two pipelines in the coastal city of Dalian exploded Friday, sending crude gushing into the Yellow Sea," reported AOL News.

"On July 16, At approximately 6:20 p.m. local time, an explosion in a pipeline near Dalian Xingang Harbor set off a secondary explosion in a smaller pipeline.

The oil slick was 10 centimeters thick in some places, the Chinese state television news network reported, according to BusinessWeek. Approximately 1,500 tons of oil gushed into the sea before the spill was contained, Chinese state-run radio reported.

Chinese officials say oil is now spread across 165 square miles of water. There is still no word on what caused the explosion."

At least in the US, we have a villain but there, as usual, after a major disaster, no one is to shoulder the blames. What is left to do, is heroic cleaning efforts and usual hands wringing.

墨西哥湾英国石油公司的石油泄漏3个月后，“中国正在处理其据绿色和平组织称历史上最严重的漏油事件。两条沿海城市大连管道的星期五爆炸，原油涌入黄海，”美国在线新闻报告。

"在7月16日当地时间大约下午六点20分，在大连新港港附近的一个管道爆炸引发了在一个较小的管道二次爆炸。

据商业周刊称，中国国家电视台新闻网报道说有些地方的浮油达标10厘米厚。中国国营电台报道，泄漏被抑制前，大约1,500吨原油涌入大海。

中国官员说，目前的原油在165 平方英里的水域传播。目前对爆炸引因还没有说法。"

至少在美国，这里有一个恶棍，但在那里，像往常一样，在大灾难之后，没有人承担的责任。剩下可做的，只是英勇的清洁工作，和一贯的捶胸顿足。


One Fine Day / 美好的一天 © Matthew Felix Sun

Ordering Food in Restaurant / 点菜

How to order food in restaurant is quite telling sometimes. In the US, even in Chinese restaurants, when dishes are tend to be shared, all the dinners have a menu and in general will contribute an idea to the table, while in China, it was less democratic. Over there, usually one menu is given to a table, even if there more a full dozen dinners. Usually one or two people put them heads together and decide the entire menu for the table. This sometimes creates some displeasure.

Recently, I heard a story happened to a distant relative of mine. He is in his eighties and doesn't dine out often, because he can only eat very soft food now. A few weeks ago, he invited his children and grandchildren to dine in a restaurant and he picked up the check. However, whoever studies the menu and placed the order didn't consult with him and didn't order any dish he could chew on. Considering he was to pay for the dishes and there was nothing for him to eat, he was furious.

It can be easily fixed perhaps, but that is not how Chinese people behave. They would rather see things go wrong and fret and complain about it then try to prevent it.

Perhaps, they should learn to practice democracy from dining table first.

如何在餐館點菜有时很说明问题。在美國，即使是在菜肴往往共享得中餐館，所有食客都会有一份菜單，和他人一起分享点菜的主意；而在中国大陸，点菜就不那麼民主。在那裡，通常一张桌一個菜單，即使有一整打人吃饭。往往一個人或兩個人決定整個菜單。這有時會造成一些不欢。

最近，我聽到一個發生在我的一個遠房親戚的故事。他年過八旬，只能吃很軟的食物了，所以极少在餐馆吃飯。幾個星期前，他邀請他的子女和孫輩在餐館吃飯，由他付账。然而，点菜的人沒有與他商量，沒有点任何他可以嚼得动的菜。考慮到是他付账，却沒有吃到什麼，他非常生氣。

这个问题其实可以很容易地解决，但這不是中國人行事方法。他們寧願等事情變壞，然后抱怨，也不設法阻止不快发生。

也許，他們應該從餐桌上开始學習如何實行民主。


Birds and Men / 鳥與人 / Vögel und Menschen by Matthew Felix Sun

61 星美国国旗 - 61 Stars American Flags

It has been reported that The Dollar Tree in Texas sold plastic American flags with 61 stars, thanks to the generosity of its manufacturer China.

The Dollar Tree assistant store manager wouldn't comment on camera, but said the flag is sold as a "patriotic banner" — not as an American flag.

Indeed.


據報導，在德克薩斯州樹美元出售塑料美國國旗有61顆星，由於中國的製造商的慷慨。

美元樹商店 (Dollar Tree) 的經理助理不肯在鏡頭前發表評論，但表示該旗织是一個“愛國”的标记, 而不是美國國旗。

果真如此!