Beware & Protect Yourself 03 (Sep 10 - Dec 14)

[winston]

Made in China ...

From Milk to Peas, a Chinese Food-Safety Mess By MARK MCDONALD

HONG KONG — There’s mercury in the baby formula. Cabbages are sprayed with formaldehyde. Gelatin capsules for pills, tens of millions of them, are laced with chromium. Used cooking oil is scooped out of gutters for recycling, right along with the sewage.

Accounts of dubious or unsafe food in China are as mesmerizing as they are disturbing — “artificial green peas,” grilled kebabs made from cat meat, contaminated chives, chlorine showing up in soft drinks.

There have been stories of imitation soy sauce made from hair clippings, ink and paraffin being used to dress up cheap noodles, and pork buns so loaded with bacteria that they glow in the dark.

A new investigation by the Chinese magazine Caixin has found that “these publicized food safety scandals represent only a fraction of unsafe food production practices. Hundreds of chemical food additives are pumped into products that Chinese people consume every day.”

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/201 ... /?src=recg

[winston]

25 Things to Always Have With You

Yes, we all know that an end of world event could happen at any time. However I look at things statistically and realistically.

I think I have a greater chance of getting into a car accident than getting hit with an asteroid or meteor.

So I first focus on my little corner of the world. Even if there is a catastrophic event you still need to get to your "go" bag and/or vehicle with your G.O.O.D. bag and perhaps onward to your home or retreat depending on each situation.

So what do you need for day to day survival? Because the world can come crashing around you and you alone. It may just be your end of the world event like an accident or illness.

It may not be you but a close family member or dear friend. It may be a local isolated event like a flood or power outage or a fire – who knows? As a former boy scout, “always be prepared”.

http://www.survivalblog.com/2012/06/25- ... -york.html

[winston]

Beware of fake TCM pills: HSA

SINGAPORE - Authorities are warning that some traditional Chinese medicine pills, purportedly made in Singapore and sold online, are fakes.

A search on a website found several netizens asking to buy these "Singapore-made" pills, which claim to treat rheumatism.

Some were even willing to pay double the price.

Singapore's Health Sciences Authority said the company that produces the pills is not a registered manufacturer in Singapore.

The manufacturer's address on the product label is also fake.

HSA advised consumers to be careful when buying and consuming such products, especially if they are bought from dubious sources, such as over the Internet or from street peddlers.

HSA said consumers should be wary of products that sound too good to be true, especially those that are supported only by testimonials from users.

Mr Leew Kin, chairman, Singapore Chinese Druggist Association, said: "Such products will emphasise words such as 'extra effective' and 'extra powerful'. We're not allowed by law in Singapore to use such words on products manufactured here."

Source: CHANNEL NEWSASIA

[winston]

Fined $2000 only, for stealing a lap-top worth $1500 ?

S. Korean businessman steals US engineer's laptop on SIA flight

Korean national Shin Dongwook, 43, was fined $2000 for stealing a laptop while onboard a Singapore Airlines flight from Seoul to Singapore.

by Khushwant Singh

An engineer did not realise his laptop had been stolen on a flight from South Korea to Singapore because the thief had placed a magazine of the same size and weight into the laptop bag. Mr Armando V. Lopez, 45, only found out about the loss at his hotel room in Foch Road in Jalan Besar.

The American then remembered that a man seated behind him on the Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight had been rummaging in the overhead compartment during the flight from Seoul on June 18. Upon receiving this information, police established the identity of a suspect who had boarded a connecting flight to Bangkok about an hour after the Seoul flight landed here.

Five days later on June 23, Shin Dongwook, 43, was back at Changi Airport. The South Korean businessman had arrived here from Bangkok at 1pm and was to take a flight to Seoul about an hour later. He was questioned by the police and a search revealed the stolen laptop valued at $1,530 in his luggage.

He was then arrested and charged for theft under the Tokyo Convention Act which governs offences committed in international airspace onboard a Singapore-controlled aircraft.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNew ... 19341.html

[winston]

21 treated for burns in "firewalk" at Robbins event: report

(Reuters) - Nearly two dozen people were treated for burns on their feet after walking on hot coals, during a motivational seminar conducted by self-help expert Tony Robbins in San Jose, California, local media reported.

Firefighters treated at least 21 people for burns to the soles of their feet, several of them second- and third-degree, on Thursday night, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News. None of the injuries was life-threatening, the report said.

It was the first night of the motivational seminar called "Unleash the Power Within," a four-day Robbins event attended by some 6,000 people, the Mercury News reported.

Phone calls to San Jose fire and emergency officials were not immediately returned, and Robbins could not be reached on Saturday through his media contacts.

In a written statement reported in the Mercury News, Robbins Research International defended the "firewalk," a regular part of the Unleash seminar.

"We have been safely providing this experience for more than three decades, and always under the supervision of medical personnel ... We continue to work with local fire and emergency personnel to ensure this event is always done in the safest way possible."'

The firewalk is presented on Robbins' website as a way to conquer fears and "other fires in your life" by walking across a bed of coals heated up to 2,000 degrees. It is not a requirement of the seminar.

The first day of the event ended on Thursday night at the San Jose Convention Center, after which attendees crossed the street to a park equipped with 12 lanes of hot coals measuring 10 feet long and 2 1/2 feet wide, the Mercury News reported.

It was unclear how many people participated in the firewalk.

Considered one of the world's most successful self-help experts for nearly three decades, Robbins oversees an empire of self-empowerment seminars, books and tapes, life coaching and motivational presentations.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/21-treated-bur ... 50466.html

[winston]

Stay safe in a thunderstorm

1. Be aware that lightning can follow electrical wires and phone lines.

2. If you can hear thunder, you are within striking distance.

3. If you are driving during a thunderstorm, you should stay in your car with the windows closed

4. You shouldn’t take a shower, wash dishes or do laundry.

5. If you are swimming or boating when a storm starts, head for shore immediately.

Source: www.wisdomtips.com

[winston]

Nukes and Fallout: How to Survive When Others Won’t by Tess Pennington

1. How to Limit Our Exposure to Radiation
2. What if You Are Exposed to Radioactive Particles?
3. Symptoms of Radiation Sickness
4. Preparing for an Imminent Nuke Attack

http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-prepa ... t_08142012

[winston]

Received this by E-Mail ...

Duty Free Shoppers - Thailand

An Indian was detained in Bangkok for stealing a box of cigarettes in a duty-free shop in Bangkok International Airport .

He had paid for chocolates and a carton of cigarettes. The cashier put an extra pack of cigarettes into his bag and he thought it was a free pack. He was arrested for shop-lifting and the Thai Police extortion price was 30,000 Baht for his release.

He spent two nights in jail and paid 500 Baht for an air-conditioned cell, 200-300 baht for each visitor and 11,000 baht for his final release. The Police shared the money in front of his eyes.

On top of that, he was charged in court and fined 2,000 baht by the magistrate and handcuffed and escorted to his plane.

His passport was stamped "Thief". While there, his relatives requested help from the Indian Embassy and was told that they are helpless, and many Asians are victimized similarly daily and letters and phone calls to the Thai authorities are ignored.

He shared a cell with a Singaporean the first night who paid 60,000 baht for his release. The second night was a Malaysian national who paid 70,000 baht.

Mind you this was not in a shanty shop in downtown Bangkok but in a duty-free shop at the Bangkok International Airport .

[winston]

One of my cousins, has a tattoo recently and my boy now wants one too.

So I have to patiently tell my boy, that maybe he should wait a little while more, as it's something permanent and there's also the risk of infection.


Tattoo infections linked to manufacturers' ink

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contaminated tattoo ink caused at least 22 skin and soft tissue infections last fall in four U.S. states, according to an analysis released on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/ ... healthNews

[winston]

China blamed for fake goods seized in Italy

Italy's police said Saturday they have seized so far this year 52 million counterfeit items, including train tickets, smartphones, condoms and detergents, with much of them coming from China.

The financial police's counter-fraud division said 97 members of organised criminal gangs, 41 percent of them Italian, were arrested during the same first seven months of 2012 in connection with the counterfeit goods.

A statement said that 35 daily monitoring operations helped deprive the underground economy of some two million euros (2.5 million dollars) of illicit revenue per day.

It said two million counterfeit train tickets worth 14 euros apiece (17.5 dollars) for the trip from Termini station to Fiumicino airport in Rome were made in China, along with 100,000 condoms and one million toys.

In Fiumicino, the authorities dismantled a gang that imported through various ports in northern Europe, fake Ray Ban sunglasses as well as Nike and Adidas shoes. Seven Chinese living in Rome were arrested, the police said.

In the Sicilian port of Palermo, the authorities seized 9,000 boxes of brand name detergent that contained completely ineffective powder.

In the northern city of Salo, police confiscated fake Apple, HTC and Nokia smartphones that were sold via the Internet.

In Venice, a classic distribution scheme of fake Rolex, Philippe and Cartier watches was discovered at the height of the tourist season.

Fake Hogan sports shoes produced in underground factories were being exported from Naples and the port close to Caserta.

Police in Florence obtained "impressive" results on Italian-Chinese counterfeiting gangs, the statement said. They identified 155 illegal operators who conducted some 242,000 illegal money transfers using 58 aliases.

Since 2010, the same operation has led to the discovery of money transfers to China totalling 4.5 billion euros (5.6 billion dollars), the implication of 581 suspects, including 24 who were arrested, and the seizure of 207 firms, 283 properties and 471 cars.


Source: AFP Asian Edition