Daily Response: Feb 5, 2009

Daily Response is a new daily series I’m starting that will be hosted here on my blog and distributed via my Facebook Notes and also on my tumblr. Daily Response is my impromptu comments on any notable news I’ve come across during the day either in real life or here on the Interweb.

1. Michael Phelps being suspended from the U.S. Swim team is justice. The team has rules and it must respect and obey them. With this said, I believe marijuana should be legalized. We have bigger fish to fry than catching smokers.

2. There has been an unnecessary public discussion via school wide email today. The short of it is that a student took issue with the content of an email sent by an organization. Instead of addressing this privately, the student chose to blast the entire school with his thoughts. This prompted responses from others telling him to shut up. This is a waste of my email storage space.

3. This video, “Verizon Math Fail” is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time.

4. I hate that American banks are being federalized. That the federal government is capping executive compensation is disgusting. We have a capitalist economy. Some regulation is okay, but now we are going too far. These types of moves by the Obama administration make me question whether I should have voted for him to lead my country.

5. While making toast this morning an idea struck me. Toasters should be offset so that piece one springs up ten to fifteen seconds before piece two, thus allowing time to butter piece one before piece two starts to cool off.

Golf News Round Up #1

I’ve come across a lot of interesting golf stories today, so I’m posting them in a links post. Here we go:

Lots of caddies are wearing and being sponsored by Crocs, the hideous floating footwear that is really popular in Boston (personal observation).

In Golf We Trust takes a look at players who credit God for their on-course abilities.

Golf World says to watch the Presidents Cup closely or wait until January. Apparently the Fall Series isn’t that big of a draw. Duh.

ESPN provides the most poorly formatted Presidents Cup first-day line up.

Golf Digest says Nicklaus wants Woods to play Weir, but finding a partner for Woods in team matches is more difficult.

Euro-drama between Nick Faldo and some guy named Paul McGinley. Nick is captain for the GB & I team for the Seve Trophy and he’s also the 2008 Ryder Cup captain. Nick didn’t pick Paul for this years Seve Trophy, so Paul decided to quit as Nick’s assistant in order to “focus on his play for the Ryder Cup.” Uh huh, sure. (Via Waggle Room)

The Trilby Tour sounds like something an English tailor would organize. Designer clothes are supplied to all of the players.

Chinese McDonald’s Sued

A Chinese lawyer sued Mcdonald’s in China for not using enough Chinese on their receipts, thus violating his right to information. We recently studied the right to information in our Intro to the Chinese legal system. It is a new concept to Chinese law, and the person seeking the information bears the burden of proving it is important to him.

Recent Chinese News

OK, here’s a quick list of China news stories I’ve come across in the last couple of days:

“Who wants a Hover Wingle?” – Could China have picked a better name for the first Chinese-made car? I think not. The cars are selling very well in Europe, not for their horrendous safety record, but because they’re so damn cheap.

“Beijing Censors Silence Influential Newsletter” – The headline should read, NPC doesn’t like idea of free media. With only CCTV, I don’t like the NPC.

“Billions of Rats Invade China” – This isn’t that new, but it’s gross. I can’t imagine what a billion rats would be like. It makes me want to leave the country.

“Cardboard Chinese Food” – Great, I heard about this eight hours after eating dumplings twice in one day.

“Chinese Internet Usage Rivals U.S.” – Yeah, and they only have a billion more people than us.

“China Executes Former Watchdog Chief” – So, this is what happens when you take bribes for food.

“A Virgin Mary-themed Urinal? Online in China” – Forget Summer Palace, forget Terracotta Warriors, forget Forbidden City – seeing stuff like this is what makes a trip to China worth while. However, I don’t think I’ll be down that way.

(This post makes me realize that I get most of my news – especially while traveling – from blogs. And it all seems credible. That’s kind of weird.)

China Articles

American headlines I’ve read while in China. Sorry, no links. Don’t have time right now:

“In Food Safety Crackdown, China Closes 180 Plants” (NYT) – Hmmm… shall I stick to my peanut butter sandwiches? Really, we’ve been eating them everyday for lunch. It’s far easier than trying to order food.

“Text Messages Giving Voice to Chinese” (Wash Post) – It’s quite clear from my Intro to Chinese Law class that if the NPC doesn’t like something, it gets squashed. I guess text messages are a little tougher to suppress.

“Wider Sale is Seen for Toothpaste Tainted in China” (NYT) – I’ve been using my hotel supplied toothpaste morning, noon, and night (sometimes). I hope my teeth don’t fall out.

“U.S. Family Tries Living Without China” (Reuters) – The family says it’s not because they don’t like China. That sounds like BS.

“F.D.A. Issues Alert on Chinese Seafood” (NYT) – I ate a lot of shrimp, some fish, and stuff I can’t even name the other night. I wonder if the F.D.A. would like me to bring some samples home.

“Why Marathoners Won’t Break Records in Beijing” (blog.foreignpolicy.com) – It is truly filthy here. Smog hovers, like I’ve said. The articles says the levels are two to three times what is “healthy.” You don’t see anyone working out outside here. It’s weird.