Thursday, October 27, 2016
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Here’s what it takes to be a 5 percenter
Here’s what it takes to be a 5 percenter: "So, what does it take to make the cut for the top 5 percent?
Households in the top 5 percent earned incomes of $214,463 or more. This number rose 3.7 percent. This group's mean, or average, household income rose to $350,870."
'via Blog this'
Households in the top 5 percent earned incomes of $214,463 or more. This number rose 3.7 percent. This group's mean, or average, household income rose to $350,870."
'via Blog this'
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Chinese Pigs Feed a Western Fashion Boom - NYTimes.com
Chinese Pigs Feed a Western Fashion Boom - NYTimes.com: "Chinese Pigs Feed a Western Fashion Boom
By LESLIE KAUFMAN and CRAIG S. SMITH
Published: December 24, 2000"
Americans are buying animal hides like Hell's Angels. In the first nine months of this year, leather clothing sales were up 71 percent, according to the Leather Apparel Association. Stores from Gucci to Wal-Mart are chock-a-block with skins -- and not just bomber jackets. The Limited's Express has pink and gold metallic leather halter tops, and Ralph Lauren has designed a leather five-pocket jean in red.
What has marked this holiday season more than the color and abundance of leather goods, however, are the incredible shrinking prices. A decade ago, leather was predominantly a luxury product, purchased at boutiques. Today, Old Navy has seamed A-line skirts in olive leather on sale at $39.99. Kmart has stadium jackets at $59.99. Target, the giant discounter, entered the leather market this year with a highly promoted black zip-up coat for $109.99.
In Haining, China, a coastal city about 100 miles south of Shanghai, Zhou Zhanghe, a leather wholesaler, has a theory on why America is suddenly awash with inexpensive leather. ''There are a lot of pigs in China,'' he said, chatting in his narrow shop stacked to the ceiling with tanned hides.
Pigs, of course, are not entirely responsible for transforming leather into the mass-market fabric that it is today. There are other important factors, among them an increase in meat consumption in the third world, easing of government labeling guidelines, and the wholesale movement of leather clothing manufacturing into the Far East, where the highly labor-intensive industry can buy workers' time for pennies on the dollar.
Retail prices in the United States are also being depressed because demand, while strong, has nevertheless fallen short of merchants' expectations.
A year ago, Gap Inc.'s ''Everyone in Leather'' promotional campaign, featuring sexy but wholesome youths in T-shirts and leather pants, was so successful that sales clerks in Manhattan reported women bursting into tears when stores ran out of stock.
Gap's foray was key to sparking the mass-market craze for leather, but also created too much of a hot thing as everyone jumped on the bandwagon. This year, Gap itself -- admitting it overordered -- slashed prices on its multicolor leather goods well before Christmas. Leather is being marked down substantially by department store and other speciality stores, too. Further cuts will probably come after Christmas.
''Put it this way,'' said Jack Dougherty, a Gap company spokesman. ''Pretty much everyone who wants to be in leather is there already.''
But Chinese pigs do figure in to perhaps the biggest contributor to lower leather prices: new technologies that can metamorphose cheap animal hides -- scratched cow, pocked sheep or porous pig -- into supple leather.
''The chief advantage of technology is that it improves finishes, making them softer and softer, so that leather that was only good for shoes is now pliable for clothing,'' explained Joel Waller, chief executive of Wilsons the Leather Experts, the leading American retailer of leather.
''The tannery people are magicians,'' said Hans Nutzhorn, who exports Chinese-made leather garments to Europe. ''They can do anything with the right chemicals.''
Increasingly sophisticated stamping and printing technology also allows tanneries to make low-quality skin from farm animals look like scaly snakeskin or crocodile -- or whatever manufacturers want. Wilsons, for example, used pig skin for its fall line of ''python'' blazers.
''As an extreme example, I can take a piece of leather and make it look like corduroy or over-dyed denim, and it is very economical,'' Mr. Waller said.
Very, very economical. Skins can be split into three layers, according to Mr. Zhou, and tanneries can now treat even the cheapest, innermost layer to give it a finish close enough to fine cowhide to fool most untutored buyers.
The inner layer of pig -- the ''split-grain'' leather once reserved for shoe sole inserts -- is now a staple for outerwear. It can cost as little as 30 cents a square foot, or a little more than $10 for enough to make a man's jacket. Skins account for roughly 70 percent of the cost of leather goods, according to Mr. Waller and other industry experts.
Previously, the Federal Trade Commission allowed only the most durable outer layer -- called top grain -- to be labeled leather in America, but it waived those rules in 1996.
Of course, most consumers, thrilled to get ostrich print boots at bargain prices, probably do not care if they are really wearing the inner hide of pig, the rest of which most likely ended up in a string of Chinese sausage. But even if they did, there is not much they could learn.
Under the F.T.C's labeling guidelines, anything made of animal hide -- including, say, gopher hide or rat hide -- can be labeled ''genuine leather,'' according to Susan Arthur, a staff lawyer who headed up the last review of the guidelines in 1996. That might give a shopper pause over the really inexpensive items.
The Commerce Department has regulations banning the import of skins from endangered species and house cats and dogs; the law rules banning the use of domestic mammals became law only last month, inspired, in part, by revelations in 1998 that cat and dog fur were being used on coats sold, unknowingly, by Burlington Coat Factory.
The government's main aim in regulating labels is to prevent consumer fraud. When leather has been embossed to look like alligator, for example, the label has to say as much.
However, even within these bounds there is ample room for interpretation. Lambskin has historically been prized as a fine quality leather, but much of what comes out of China labeled as such is actually a bit longer in the tooth. The United States tariff code, which defines calves by size, makes no distinction between the skin of a lamb or an adult sheep; both can legally be called lambskin.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has tried to create consumer outrage about the growth of leather imports from countries like China, where they say animals are treated particularly inhumanely.
This fall the animal rights organization began a campaign against Express. And in April, PETA was able to convince Gap to stop buying its animal hides from China and India by showing them videos of cows as well as dogs being skinned alive. Gap now manufactures clothing in China, but says it gets most of its hides from tanneries in Italy. On Thanksgiving, PETA started a television ad campaign called ''Cows are Cool,'' meant to raise awareness of all animal cruelty related to leather.
Perhaps out of concern that a backlash could emerge if enough consumers learned the source of their leather, many of the large chain retailers and manufacturers of leather products tend to offer more rather than less information.
The Gap says that the ''vast majority'' of its leather products are made from cow -- though shoppers have to guess themselves, because all of its products are labeled simply ''genuine leather.'' Kmart's low-priced stadium jacket is a pig product, but its label, too, reads leather. Wilson's says that its sales clerks have been schooled in the different types of skin in each garment, but customers must ask if they want to find out.
Though retailers may be fuzzy about the origins of the skins they sell, the Chinese are more than willing to brag about having found a new export market for a product previously used only as a food (boiled, roasted or fried).
''If it's cheap and it comes from China, then it's probably pigskin,'' said Zhang Xuhua, a China Leather Industry Association official.
Leather clothing imports from China have almost tripled since 1992, according to the Commerce Department, accounting for roughly two-thirds of imported leather. Imported leather goods account for more than 95 percent of the entire American leather apparel market.
According to the Chinese trade group, about half of the leather garments China ships to the United States are made of pigskin. Another third are made of Chinese sheepskin, and most of the rest are cowhide imported from the United States or South America and tanned in China.
The lowest-quality cowhides, scratched by brushes or pocked with insect bites, are buffed and made into jackets with the ''distressed'' look especially popular in the West.
Mike Woo, a young salesman at the Haining Import and Export Corporation, said he sold lots of pigskin garments labeled simply as leather to Wilson's -- but that American discount chains tend to buy their jackets for even less.
''Kmart and Wal-Mart go further inland to look for the cheapest labor and the cheapest leather,'' he said. ''We can't even do it that cheap.''
Photos: No longer the luxury it was even 10 years ago, leather apparel is now sold at stores in Manhattan's garment district and nationwide at prices not much higher than those for clothes made of wool and other fabrics. (Librado Romero/The New York Times); Zhou Zhanghe, a leather wholesaler in Haining, China, sells tanned hides that are made into clothes sold by retailers like Kmart and Gap. (Craig S. Smith/The New York Times)(pg. 22) Graph: ''Fashion Craze'' In the first nine months of this year, leather clothing sales were up 71 percent over the same period last year. Graph tracks leather clothing sales since 1995. (Source: Leather Apparel Association)(pg. 22)
'via Blog this'
By LESLIE KAUFMAN and CRAIG S. SMITH
Published: December 24, 2000"
Americans are buying animal hides like Hell's Angels. In the first nine months of this year, leather clothing sales were up 71 percent, according to the Leather Apparel Association. Stores from Gucci to Wal-Mart are chock-a-block with skins -- and not just bomber jackets. The Limited's Express has pink and gold metallic leather halter tops, and Ralph Lauren has designed a leather five-pocket jean in red.
What has marked this holiday season more than the color and abundance of leather goods, however, are the incredible shrinking prices. A decade ago, leather was predominantly a luxury product, purchased at boutiques. Today, Old Navy has seamed A-line skirts in olive leather on sale at $39.99. Kmart has stadium jackets at $59.99. Target, the giant discounter, entered the leather market this year with a highly promoted black zip-up coat for $109.99.
In Haining, China, a coastal city about 100 miles south of Shanghai, Zhou Zhanghe, a leather wholesaler, has a theory on why America is suddenly awash with inexpensive leather. ''There are a lot of pigs in China,'' he said, chatting in his narrow shop stacked to the ceiling with tanned hides.
Pigs, of course, are not entirely responsible for transforming leather into the mass-market fabric that it is today. There are other important factors, among them an increase in meat consumption in the third world, easing of government labeling guidelines, and the wholesale movement of leather clothing manufacturing into the Far East, where the highly labor-intensive industry can buy workers' time for pennies on the dollar.
Retail prices in the United States are also being depressed because demand, while strong, has nevertheless fallen short of merchants' expectations.
A year ago, Gap Inc.'s ''Everyone in Leather'' promotional campaign, featuring sexy but wholesome youths in T-shirts and leather pants, was so successful that sales clerks in Manhattan reported women bursting into tears when stores ran out of stock.
Gap's foray was key to sparking the mass-market craze for leather, but also created too much of a hot thing as everyone jumped on the bandwagon. This year, Gap itself -- admitting it overordered -- slashed prices on its multicolor leather goods well before Christmas. Leather is being marked down substantially by department store and other speciality stores, too. Further cuts will probably come after Christmas.
''Put it this way,'' said Jack Dougherty, a Gap company spokesman. ''Pretty much everyone who wants to be in leather is there already.''
But Chinese pigs do figure in to perhaps the biggest contributor to lower leather prices: new technologies that can metamorphose cheap animal hides -- scratched cow, pocked sheep or porous pig -- into supple leather.
''The chief advantage of technology is that it improves finishes, making them softer and softer, so that leather that was only good for shoes is now pliable for clothing,'' explained Joel Waller, chief executive of Wilsons the Leather Experts, the leading American retailer of leather.
''The tannery people are magicians,'' said Hans Nutzhorn, who exports Chinese-made leather garments to Europe. ''They can do anything with the right chemicals.''
Increasingly sophisticated stamping and printing technology also allows tanneries to make low-quality skin from farm animals look like scaly snakeskin or crocodile -- or whatever manufacturers want. Wilsons, for example, used pig skin for its fall line of ''python'' blazers.
''As an extreme example, I can take a piece of leather and make it look like corduroy or over-dyed denim, and it is very economical,'' Mr. Waller said.
Very, very economical. Skins can be split into three layers, according to Mr. Zhou, and tanneries can now treat even the cheapest, innermost layer to give it a finish close enough to fine cowhide to fool most untutored buyers.
The inner layer of pig -- the ''split-grain'' leather once reserved for shoe sole inserts -- is now a staple for outerwear. It can cost as little as 30 cents a square foot, or a little more than $10 for enough to make a man's jacket. Skins account for roughly 70 percent of the cost of leather goods, according to Mr. Waller and other industry experts.
Previously, the Federal Trade Commission allowed only the most durable outer layer -- called top grain -- to be labeled leather in America, but it waived those rules in 1996.
Of course, most consumers, thrilled to get ostrich print boots at bargain prices, probably do not care if they are really wearing the inner hide of pig, the rest of which most likely ended up in a string of Chinese sausage. But even if they did, there is not much they could learn.
Under the F.T.C's labeling guidelines, anything made of animal hide -- including, say, gopher hide or rat hide -- can be labeled ''genuine leather,'' according to Susan Arthur, a staff lawyer who headed up the last review of the guidelines in 1996. That might give a shopper pause over the really inexpensive items.
The Commerce Department has regulations banning the import of skins from endangered species and house cats and dogs; the law rules banning the use of domestic mammals became law only last month, inspired, in part, by revelations in 1998 that cat and dog fur were being used on coats sold, unknowingly, by Burlington Coat Factory.
The government's main aim in regulating labels is to prevent consumer fraud. When leather has been embossed to look like alligator, for example, the label has to say as much.
However, even within these bounds there is ample room for interpretation. Lambskin has historically been prized as a fine quality leather, but much of what comes out of China labeled as such is actually a bit longer in the tooth. The United States tariff code, which defines calves by size, makes no distinction between the skin of a lamb or an adult sheep; both can legally be called lambskin.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has tried to create consumer outrage about the growth of leather imports from countries like China, where they say animals are treated particularly inhumanely.
This fall the animal rights organization began a campaign against Express. And in April, PETA was able to convince Gap to stop buying its animal hides from China and India by showing them videos of cows as well as dogs being skinned alive. Gap now manufactures clothing in China, but says it gets most of its hides from tanneries in Italy. On Thanksgiving, PETA started a television ad campaign called ''Cows are Cool,'' meant to raise awareness of all animal cruelty related to leather.
Perhaps out of concern that a backlash could emerge if enough consumers learned the source of their leather, many of the large chain retailers and manufacturers of leather products tend to offer more rather than less information.
The Gap says that the ''vast majority'' of its leather products are made from cow -- though shoppers have to guess themselves, because all of its products are labeled simply ''genuine leather.'' Kmart's low-priced stadium jacket is a pig product, but its label, too, reads leather. Wilson's says that its sales clerks have been schooled in the different types of skin in each garment, but customers must ask if they want to find out.
Though retailers may be fuzzy about the origins of the skins they sell, the Chinese are more than willing to brag about having found a new export market for a product previously used only as a food (boiled, roasted or fried).
''If it's cheap and it comes from China, then it's probably pigskin,'' said Zhang Xuhua, a China Leather Industry Association official.
Leather clothing imports from China have almost tripled since 1992, according to the Commerce Department, accounting for roughly two-thirds of imported leather. Imported leather goods account for more than 95 percent of the entire American leather apparel market.
According to the Chinese trade group, about half of the leather garments China ships to the United States are made of pigskin. Another third are made of Chinese sheepskin, and most of the rest are cowhide imported from the United States or South America and tanned in China.
The lowest-quality cowhides, scratched by brushes or pocked with insect bites, are buffed and made into jackets with the ''distressed'' look especially popular in the West.
Mike Woo, a young salesman at the Haining Import and Export Corporation, said he sold lots of pigskin garments labeled simply as leather to Wilson's -- but that American discount chains tend to buy their jackets for even less.
''Kmart and Wal-Mart go further inland to look for the cheapest labor and the cheapest leather,'' he said. ''We can't even do it that cheap.''
Photos: No longer the luxury it was even 10 years ago, leather apparel is now sold at stores in Manhattan's garment district and nationwide at prices not much higher than those for clothes made of wool and other fabrics. (Librado Romero/The New York Times); Zhou Zhanghe, a leather wholesaler in Haining, China, sells tanned hides that are made into clothes sold by retailers like Kmart and Gap. (Craig S. Smith/The New York Times)(pg. 22) Graph: ''Fashion Craze'' In the first nine months of this year, leather clothing sales were up 71 percent over the same period last year. Graph tracks leather clothing sales since 1995. (Source: Leather Apparel Association)(pg. 22)
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
The 15 Cancer Causing Foods You Probably Eat Every Day - Page 9 of 16 - Prevention Pulse
The 15 Cancer Causing Foods You Probably Eat Every Day - Page 9 of 16 - Prevention Pulse: "Of the 200,000 postmenopausal women participating, those who consumed at least one alcoholic beverage a day showed almost a 30% increase in breast cancer rates in comparison to those who did not drink."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Sunday, September 4, 2016
VHP's Togadia praises Nitish for liquor ban in Bihar - Times of India
VHP's Togadia praises Nitish for liquor ban in Bihar - Times of India: ""I congratulate CM Nitish Kumar on successfully enforcing total prohibition in the state. It should be implemented across the country for the health, social and financial benefits of the people," said Togadia, who was in the city to inaugurate a "health ambassador training camp".
Togadia claimed that the decision to ban liquor in Bihar has received good response in many parts of the country and hoped everyone would appreciate the move some day."
'via Blog this'
Togadia claimed that the decision to ban liquor in Bihar has received good response in many parts of the country and hoped everyone would appreciate the move some day."
'via Blog this'
Friday, September 2, 2016
3 professions with the most arrogant workers - MarketWatch
3 professions with the most arrogant workers - MarketWatch: "If you work in certain professions, beware: Your co-workers may be egomaniacs.
Fully 74% of private chefs, 72% of chief executives and 65% of art directors say they feel that they are the best performer in their company for jobs similar to theirs, according to a survey of more than 380,000 workers across about 480 professions released this week by compensation research company Payscale.
You might think that professions like lawyer and psychiatrist would land top spots on this list, but instead they are in the bottom half of the spectrum. Instead, these professions round out the top 10 with high percentages of self-important employees: floral designers, bartenders, airfield operations specialists, plant and systems operators, sound engineering technicians and farmers and ranchers."
'via Blog this'
Fully 74% of private chefs, 72% of chief executives and 65% of art directors say they feel that they are the best performer in their company for jobs similar to theirs, according to a survey of more than 380,000 workers across about 480 professions released this week by compensation research company Payscale.
You might think that professions like lawyer and psychiatrist would land top spots on this list, but instead they are in the bottom half of the spectrum. Instead, these professions round out the top 10 with high percentages of self-important employees: floral designers, bartenders, airfield operations specialists, plant and systems operators, sound engineering technicians and farmers and ranchers."
'via Blog this'
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Russian Muslims Face Challenges of Demography and Migration
Russian Muslims Face Challenges of Demography and Migration: "“Mass depopulation, a reduction in the share of ethnic Russians, population ageing, immigration flows and the demographic success of the Muslim people – all these factors testify that in the coming years, Islam’s role in Russian social and spiritual reality will grow significantly”, ‒ Damir Mukhetdinov, the Deputy Head of Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, notes.
There is no exact data on the size of the Muslim population in Russia. This is a result of a lack of systematic polls and adequate estimates regarding immigration. According to a 2002 census, there were approximately 14.5 million Muslim people in Russia, about 10 per cent of the country’s total population. It is clear that even back in 2002, this figure greatly underestimates the true total. President Vladimir Putin has given a more realistic estimate, around 18-20 million people, approximately 14-15 per cent of the total population.
Based on these estimates, it is possible to speculate on the future of Muslims in Russia. According to estimates by the authoritative Pew Research Center (“The Future of The Global Muslim Population”), by 2030, the number of Muslims will increase by 3 per cent. However, it is important to understand that the authors of the report make estimates based on the most modest figures available, not taking into account the realities of immigration. According to other estimates, in particular the National Intelligence Council of the US, taking into account immigration and the depopulation of the Russian population, it is conceivable that by 2030, the proportion of Muslims in Russia will amount to 20-22 per cent. "
'via Blog this'
There is no exact data on the size of the Muslim population in Russia. This is a result of a lack of systematic polls and adequate estimates regarding immigration. According to a 2002 census, there were approximately 14.5 million Muslim people in Russia, about 10 per cent of the country’s total population. It is clear that even back in 2002, this figure greatly underestimates the true total. President Vladimir Putin has given a more realistic estimate, around 18-20 million people, approximately 14-15 per cent of the total population.
Based on these estimates, it is possible to speculate on the future of Muslims in Russia. According to estimates by the authoritative Pew Research Center (“The Future of The Global Muslim Population”), by 2030, the number of Muslims will increase by 3 per cent. However, it is important to understand that the authors of the report make estimates based on the most modest figures available, not taking into account the realities of immigration. According to other estimates, in particular the National Intelligence Council of the US, taking into account immigration and the depopulation of the Russian population, it is conceivable that by 2030, the proportion of Muslims in Russia will amount to 20-22 per cent. "
'via Blog this'
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Indonesia's Muslim cyber warriors take on IS - Times of India
Indonesia's Muslim cyber warriors take on IS - Times of India: "Some 500 members of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) - one of the world's biggest Muslim organisations - are seeking to counter the Islamic State group's extremist messages.
• "We'll never let Islam be hijacked by fools who embrace hate in their heart," tweeted Syafi' Ali, a prominent member of the NU's online army."
'via Blog this'
• "We'll never let Islam be hijacked by fools who embrace hate in their heart," tweeted Syafi' Ali, a prominent member of the NU's online army."
'via Blog this'
Monday, May 9, 2016
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Taiwan economy - an ageing tiger in need of cubs - World | The Star Online
Taiwan economy - an ageing tiger in need of cubs - World | The Star Online: "DEMOGRAPHIC COSTS
In fact, the alarming drop in Taiwan's fertility rate to less than 1 per woman - among the lowest in the world - from around 1.7 in 2000, has created a major demographic challenge for policymakers.
As more of today's youth transfer the burden of caring for their parents to the state, government resources are getting stretched to breaking point amid spiralling health-insurance and pension costs.
"Reforms need to be carried out soon or state employee pensions will collapse. The government cannot sustain it for long," Wu Chung-cheng, deputy minister of the civil service ministry, told Reuters.
But fears of a political backlash have discouraged lawmakers from watering down a taxpayer-funded generous average monthly retirement pension of T$60,000, even though a flagging economy can no longer sustain these costs.
A look at some of the numbers makes for glum reading.
Public debt burden is now at a record $550 billion, while pension costs are set to rise to an all-time high of 7.37 percent, or T$147.2 billion in 2016, of the total government budget.
Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je has warned that 10 percent of the city’s budget will go into paying city employee pensions in 2016.
And the pressure on finances continues to grow as state employees rush to lock-in the generous pension. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of retired state employees jumped more than 50 percent to 32,000."
'via Blog this'
In fact, the alarming drop in Taiwan's fertility rate to less than 1 per woman - among the lowest in the world - from around 1.7 in 2000, has created a major demographic challenge for policymakers.
As more of today's youth transfer the burden of caring for their parents to the state, government resources are getting stretched to breaking point amid spiralling health-insurance and pension costs.
"Reforms need to be carried out soon or state employee pensions will collapse. The government cannot sustain it for long," Wu Chung-cheng, deputy minister of the civil service ministry, told Reuters.
But fears of a political backlash have discouraged lawmakers from watering down a taxpayer-funded generous average monthly retirement pension of T$60,000, even though a flagging economy can no longer sustain these costs.
A look at some of the numbers makes for glum reading.
Public debt burden is now at a record $550 billion, while pension costs are set to rise to an all-time high of 7.37 percent, or T$147.2 billion in 2016, of the total government budget.
Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je has warned that 10 percent of the city’s budget will go into paying city employee pensions in 2016.
And the pressure on finances continues to grow as state employees rush to lock-in the generous pension. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of retired state employees jumped more than 50 percent to 32,000."
'via Blog this'
Friday, April 29, 2016
Married young: Meet China's teenage brides - CNN.com
Married young: Meet China's teenage brides - CNN.com: "Thirteen and just married, Jie looks at her wedding picture framed in white. Next to it, incongruously, are stickers from the Pixar movie "Cars."
Jie married her 16-year-old husband three days after they met during the Lunar New Year in 2014. Not long after, she was pregnant.
It sounds like a scene from China's feudal past, when early marriage was customary, especially for girls, but teenage brides and grooms aren't uncommon in some poor and rural parts of the country's hinterland."
'via Blog this'
Jie married her 16-year-old husband three days after they met during the Lunar New Year in 2014. Not long after, she was pregnant.
It sounds like a scene from China's feudal past, when early marriage was customary, especially for girls, but teenage brides and grooms aren't uncommon in some poor and rural parts of the country's hinterland."
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Houston flooding: Parts of city largely shut down - CNN.com
Houston flooding: Parts of city largely shut down - CNN.com: "More than 400 water rescues in Harris County, fire spokesman says
"Avoid travel at all costs today," Houston authorities urge residents
(CNN)More than a foot of rain in some places flooded low-lying areas across the Houston region on Monday, forcing officials to suspend bus and rail service, close schools and government offices and urge residents to stay home amid what authorities said were extremely dangerous conditions.
"This is a life-threatening emergency," the city said on an emergency website. "Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.""
'via Blog this'
"Avoid travel at all costs today," Houston authorities urge residents
(CNN)More than a foot of rain in some places flooded low-lying areas across the Houston region on Monday, forcing officials to suspend bus and rail service, close schools and government offices and urge residents to stay home amid what authorities said were extremely dangerous conditions.
"This is a life-threatening emergency," the city said on an emergency website. "Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.""
'via Blog this'
Friday, April 15, 2016
Chinese Men Buying Brides From Vietnam Is Getting Out Of Control - Business Insider
Chinese Men Buying Brides From Vietnam Is Getting Out Of Control - Business Insider: "Vietnamese girls are sold for up to $5,000 as brides or to brothels, said Michael Brosowski, founder and CEO of Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, which has rescued 71 trafficked women from China since 2007.
"The girls are tricked by people posing as boyfriends, or offering jobs. Those people do this very deliberately, and for nothing other than greed and a lack of human empathy," he added.
It is likely that many of the girls end up working in brothels, but due to the stigma of being a sex worker they will usually report they were forced into marriage.
Communist neighbours Vietnam and China share a mountainous, remote border stretching 1,350 kilometres, marked primarily by the Nam Thi river and rife with smuggling of goods of all kinds: fruit, live poultry and women.
"It is mostly women who live in isolated and mountainous areas who are being trafficked across the border, because there is no information for us," said 18-year-old Lang, from the Tay ethnic minority, who walked across the frontier illegally and was sold to a Chinese family by a friend.
In northern Vietnam, trafficking has become so acute that communities say they are living in fear.
"I worry so much about it, as do all the mothers in the villages, but it has happened to a lot of girls already," said Phan Pa May, a community elder from the Red Dao ethnic minority group.
"I have one daughter. She's already married, but I'm worried about my granddaughter. We always ask where she is going, and tell her not to talk on the phone or trust anyone.""
'via Blog this'
"The girls are tricked by people posing as boyfriends, or offering jobs. Those people do this very deliberately, and for nothing other than greed and a lack of human empathy," he added.
It is likely that many of the girls end up working in brothels, but due to the stigma of being a sex worker they will usually report they were forced into marriage.
Communist neighbours Vietnam and China share a mountainous, remote border stretching 1,350 kilometres, marked primarily by the Nam Thi river and rife with smuggling of goods of all kinds: fruit, live poultry and women.
"It is mostly women who live in isolated and mountainous areas who are being trafficked across the border, because there is no information for us," said 18-year-old Lang, from the Tay ethnic minority, who walked across the frontier illegally and was sold to a Chinese family by a friend.
In northern Vietnam, trafficking has become so acute that communities say they are living in fear.
"I worry so much about it, as do all the mothers in the villages, but it has happened to a lot of girls already," said Phan Pa May, a community elder from the Red Dao ethnic minority group.
"I have one daughter. She's already married, but I'm worried about my granddaughter. We always ask where she is going, and tell her not to talk on the phone or trust anyone.""
'via Blog this'
Malaysia's underground student prostitution industry - Asian Correspondent
Malaysia's underground student prostitution industry - Asian Correspondent: "Malaysia is one of the most conservative countries in Southeast Asia. This is very overt when you wander around the cities and see most Malaysian wearing tudungs, or head scarves. However, student prostitution, even by the Government’s own admission, is rampant.
Prostitution by students occurs in many forms across the country. In truth, it has been happening for years. Even as far back as 2003, the Malaysian government set up a committee to monitor foreign students who could be tempted to enter the sex trade. This and other initiatives to curb the problem have had little impact, with student prostitution now a major underground industry involving both foreign and Malay students.
Local Malay girls who take up study in Kuala Lumpur usually come from “outstation” or towns outside Klang Valley, where the nation’s capital Kuala Lumpur is situated, and suddenly find themselves in the middle of a vibrant city after a sheltered life at home. They meet other outgoing people at the college they study at, and enjoy the new freedoms they have. This excitement lures them into experimentation with this newly found lifestyle of going out to various ‘night spots’, and restaurants.
These girls are often introduced to a businessman by a friend who needs an extra girl for a double date, for dinner. This may end up with a stay at one of the many small hotels around KL. Many girls find the experience of having sex with strangers after a dinner exciting. They are gratified by the tips usually given to them afterwards, and soon find out this is a very easy way of making money.
In this regard, many Malay girls don’t see themselves as prostitutes. Going out with strangers is a way of having fun and getting some extra money to buy the luxuries they want. They may undertake this activity spasmodically with a select group of men they get to know, or begin do this on a regular basis to make more money.
The girls very quickly build up a ‘social circle of men’ through recommendations given by satisfied clients. Much of Malay girls’ clientele is developed through this method.
Local Malay girls usually stick to Malay businessmen, hoping to get in with a rich and generous “Datuk” who can look after them. However many are also interested in expats. For some, this is an opportunity to experiment with sex before they get married and settle down.
Although the money is often seen just as a bonus, girls tend to seek generous types who look after them financially. They are selective. The young women can make up to RM500 (US$140) per encounter, and also get the opportunity to go away on weekends where they can earn up to RM1,500, plus the presents like iPhones they may be given.
(READ MORE: Prostitution: Thailand’s worst kept secret)
Some Chinese and Indian girls may follow the above pattern and have a couple of businessmen friends for the fun and extra money. Chinese girls like their own, preferring Chinese businessmen, particularly those girls who are Chinese educated.
Those who have the urge for more regular encounters use one or more of the many ‘dating’ sites like Tagged, Cupid, and Adult Friend Finder. Some even advertise in the classified pages of the local newspapers. The good thing about the Internet is that they can pick and choose who they want.
Taking on dates with businessmen on the side is usually enough to cover school fees and buy the luxurious things they want. There are actually very few work alternatives available, as wages in fast-food outlets or department stores are extremely low and require many hours work commitment, which would interfere with study. Prostitution is most often the best money making option to them.
Some work as guest relations officers (GROs) in the various karaoke bars or pubs around Kuala Lumpur, but this is very rare, and left more to foreign students. The karaoke bars are inhabited by the Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipinas, Thais, and some Cambodian and Lao girls. Indonesians tend to be found in one of the many Dangdut Clubs around town, catering for the Malay speaking customers. Some of these girls are just working to supplement their funds and pay their school fees, while others work full-time for as long as they can before returning home.
Some work out of escort agencies, while a few, who are not genuine students may end up in some of the massage parlors around Klang Valley. Many of these come to Malaysia to undertake short English courses end up in brothels.
Foreign students tend to rely more on others to organize their customers than locals, who operate much more on a freelance basis. Businesses matching foreign students with customers are now flourishing in Malaysia."
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Prostitution by students occurs in many forms across the country. In truth, it has been happening for years. Even as far back as 2003, the Malaysian government set up a committee to monitor foreign students who could be tempted to enter the sex trade. This and other initiatives to curb the problem have had little impact, with student prostitution now a major underground industry involving both foreign and Malay students.
Local Malay girls who take up study in Kuala Lumpur usually come from “outstation” or towns outside Klang Valley, where the nation’s capital Kuala Lumpur is situated, and suddenly find themselves in the middle of a vibrant city after a sheltered life at home. They meet other outgoing people at the college they study at, and enjoy the new freedoms they have. This excitement lures them into experimentation with this newly found lifestyle of going out to various ‘night spots’, and restaurants.
These girls are often introduced to a businessman by a friend who needs an extra girl for a double date, for dinner. This may end up with a stay at one of the many small hotels around KL. Many girls find the experience of having sex with strangers after a dinner exciting. They are gratified by the tips usually given to them afterwards, and soon find out this is a very easy way of making money.
In this regard, many Malay girls don’t see themselves as prostitutes. Going out with strangers is a way of having fun and getting some extra money to buy the luxuries they want. They may undertake this activity spasmodically with a select group of men they get to know, or begin do this on a regular basis to make more money.
The girls very quickly build up a ‘social circle of men’ through recommendations given by satisfied clients. Much of Malay girls’ clientele is developed through this method.
Local Malay girls usually stick to Malay businessmen, hoping to get in with a rich and generous “Datuk” who can look after them. However many are also interested in expats. For some, this is an opportunity to experiment with sex before they get married and settle down.
Although the money is often seen just as a bonus, girls tend to seek generous types who look after them financially. They are selective. The young women can make up to RM500 (US$140) per encounter, and also get the opportunity to go away on weekends where they can earn up to RM1,500, plus the presents like iPhones they may be given.
(READ MORE: Prostitution: Thailand’s worst kept secret)
Some Chinese and Indian girls may follow the above pattern and have a couple of businessmen friends for the fun and extra money. Chinese girls like their own, preferring Chinese businessmen, particularly those girls who are Chinese educated.
Those who have the urge for more regular encounters use one or more of the many ‘dating’ sites like Tagged, Cupid, and Adult Friend Finder. Some even advertise in the classified pages of the local newspapers. The good thing about the Internet is that they can pick and choose who they want.
Taking on dates with businessmen on the side is usually enough to cover school fees and buy the luxurious things they want. There are actually very few work alternatives available, as wages in fast-food outlets or department stores are extremely low and require many hours work commitment, which would interfere with study. Prostitution is most often the best money making option to them.
Some work as guest relations officers (GROs) in the various karaoke bars or pubs around Kuala Lumpur, but this is very rare, and left more to foreign students. The karaoke bars are inhabited by the Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipinas, Thais, and some Cambodian and Lao girls. Indonesians tend to be found in one of the many Dangdut Clubs around town, catering for the Malay speaking customers. Some of these girls are just working to supplement their funds and pay their school fees, while others work full-time for as long as they can before returning home.
Some work out of escort agencies, while a few, who are not genuine students may end up in some of the massage parlors around Klang Valley. Many of these come to Malaysia to undertake short English courses end up in brothels.
Foreign students tend to rely more on others to organize their customers than locals, who operate much more on a freelance basis. Businesses matching foreign students with customers are now flourishing in Malaysia."
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Dating Etiquette and Sexual Relationships in China
Dating Etiquette and Sexual Relationships in China: "Although social mores in this regard are slowly changing, it would not be unusual to find even a 30-year old virgin in China for—although it doesn't mean very much in the West—virginity at marriage, still to this day, means something in China, very much so. In a study conducted by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, 60 percent of 500 single men and women between the ages of 20 and 30 years, living in 25 neighborhoods, reported that virginity is a marriage requirement, while only 16.5 percent claimed that it didn't matter (People's Daily, 2003)."
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For some Chinese college students, sex is a business opportunity - latimes
For some Chinese college students, sex is a business opportunity - latimes: "In a country fast-changing economically and culturally, some middle-class women become mistresses to live a better life. A university pimp explains how it works.
October 20, 2010|By Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times
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Reporting from Beijing — The girls from the drama academy cost the most. Actresses are pretty, after all, and pretty is the point. Steady access to their sexual favors could cost a man more than $25,000 a year, not to mention the perks and gifts they would expect.
The gentleman on a budget had better browse through students at the tourism institute, or perhaps the business school. Women there can be had for as low as $5,000 a year.
Those are the prices advertised by the young man who calls himself "Student Ding," a senior at Shanghai University who, in the grand tradition of Chinese entrepreneurship, is earning his money by working as a pimp.
Ding calls himself "an agent, a fixer," but his job is all pimp. He started out small: fliers passed on the street to the chauffeurs of expensive cars. He has found his niche arranging long-term, cash-for-sex arrangements between wealthy men and aspirational students, taking a 10% commission off the top.
He is nonchalant about the work, even vaguely proud. He insists that he is doing a service to the men who don't want to hire streetwalkers, and to his middle-class, ambitious and frostily pragmatic college friends.
"Most of the girls are financially comfortable, but they see their classmates carrying Louis Vuitton or Gucci bags, and they're jealous," he said on the phone from Shanghai. "These girls want to have better lives."
He is feeding on a wave of prostitution that, academics and sex workers say, has spread throughout universities and among young, would-be professionals in recent years. This semester, at least two universities introduced rules banning students from working as escorts or mistresses.
But the motivation is strong. The young women are coming of age at a time when China's family structure has eroded and staggering class divisions mean living, for the first time, in a country where shiny things are dangled carelessly under the noses of those who can't afford them.
In China, everybody seems to be selling something these days. Advertising crowds the skyline and the roadsides. A closed country has opened up in a span of decades, and is experiencing an economic boom that has introduced new desires and an "anything goes" mentality.
"More and more students are making this choice, taking a shortcut to a better life" said Lan Lan, a former prostitute who now advocates for the rights of sex workers in China, where prostitution is technically illegal but often tolerated. "They find a rich lover, post services on the Internet or just walk into a high-end club and sell themselves. The end result is the same."
Lan Lan has years of street-level research in China's sex trade; today, she runs an organization that raises HIV awareness and distributes condoms to sex workers.
Just a few decades back, premarital sex was looked down upon by respectable families. Now, some members of those families are not just having premarital sex; they're selling it.
Lan Lan calls the Chinese prostitution market "very complicated," with various manifestations of sex work at each economic level, from relatively cheap streetwalkers catering to migrant workers to the students. Many in the latter group are reluctant to think of themselves as hookers and are therefore lax about protecting themselves.
"If they're trying to become a mistress, they won't take a condom when they go to meet this man," she said. "They want to show their purity and loyalty."
The women are generally careful not to get trapped in a life selling their sexual favors. This is paid sex as a strategy, a way to look more elite, get a better job, find new opportunities.
"They move on to other jobs after a while," Lan Lan said. "It's not that they're too poor to make a living. The younger generation wants to wear all the brand names, the expensive cosmetics, use the newest cellphones and computers."
But even if that's true, few women want to admit it. And, perhaps, sex and love aren't quite so simply parsed.
Xiao Yi, a 27-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong, insists that she and the other young, paid mistresses are misunderstood.
She met her lover when she was an intern at an advertising agency, and he was a much older boss, nestled in the comforts of money and family. In the years since, she has taken his money, and he has set up profitable business opportunities and what she calls "financial aid" for several of her relatives. (Her family, she insists, doesn't realize that she's sleeping with this man, and takes him for a friend.)
"He can look after people," she said. "And as a very independent girl, when I'm with him, even I can rely on somebody."
But she insists she is drawn by something deeper than the cash and perks. She says she has fallen in love with him. Sometimes, she says, she even takes him out for a meal."
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October 20, 2010|By Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times
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Reporting from Beijing — The girls from the drama academy cost the most. Actresses are pretty, after all, and pretty is the point. Steady access to their sexual favors could cost a man more than $25,000 a year, not to mention the perks and gifts they would expect.
The gentleman on a budget had better browse through students at the tourism institute, or perhaps the business school. Women there can be had for as low as $5,000 a year.
Those are the prices advertised by the young man who calls himself "Student Ding," a senior at Shanghai University who, in the grand tradition of Chinese entrepreneurship, is earning his money by working as a pimp.
Ding calls himself "an agent, a fixer," but his job is all pimp. He started out small: fliers passed on the street to the chauffeurs of expensive cars. He has found his niche arranging long-term, cash-for-sex arrangements between wealthy men and aspirational students, taking a 10% commission off the top.
He is nonchalant about the work, even vaguely proud. He insists that he is doing a service to the men who don't want to hire streetwalkers, and to his middle-class, ambitious and frostily pragmatic college friends.
"Most of the girls are financially comfortable, but they see their classmates carrying Louis Vuitton or Gucci bags, and they're jealous," he said on the phone from Shanghai. "These girls want to have better lives."
He is feeding on a wave of prostitution that, academics and sex workers say, has spread throughout universities and among young, would-be professionals in recent years. This semester, at least two universities introduced rules banning students from working as escorts or mistresses.
But the motivation is strong. The young women are coming of age at a time when China's family structure has eroded and staggering class divisions mean living, for the first time, in a country where shiny things are dangled carelessly under the noses of those who can't afford them.
In China, everybody seems to be selling something these days. Advertising crowds the skyline and the roadsides. A closed country has opened up in a span of decades, and is experiencing an economic boom that has introduced new desires and an "anything goes" mentality.
"More and more students are making this choice, taking a shortcut to a better life" said Lan Lan, a former prostitute who now advocates for the rights of sex workers in China, where prostitution is technically illegal but often tolerated. "They find a rich lover, post services on the Internet or just walk into a high-end club and sell themselves. The end result is the same."
Lan Lan has years of street-level research in China's sex trade; today, she runs an organization that raises HIV awareness and distributes condoms to sex workers.
Just a few decades back, premarital sex was looked down upon by respectable families. Now, some members of those families are not just having premarital sex; they're selling it.
Lan Lan calls the Chinese prostitution market "very complicated," with various manifestations of sex work at each economic level, from relatively cheap streetwalkers catering to migrant workers to the students. Many in the latter group are reluctant to think of themselves as hookers and are therefore lax about protecting themselves.
"If they're trying to become a mistress, they won't take a condom when they go to meet this man," she said. "They want to show their purity and loyalty."
The women are generally careful not to get trapped in a life selling their sexual favors. This is paid sex as a strategy, a way to look more elite, get a better job, find new opportunities.
"They move on to other jobs after a while," Lan Lan said. "It's not that they're too poor to make a living. The younger generation wants to wear all the brand names, the expensive cosmetics, use the newest cellphones and computers."
But even if that's true, few women want to admit it. And, perhaps, sex and love aren't quite so simply parsed.
Xiao Yi, a 27-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong, insists that she and the other young, paid mistresses are misunderstood.
She met her lover when she was an intern at an advertising agency, and he was a much older boss, nestled in the comforts of money and family. In the years since, she has taken his money, and he has set up profitable business opportunities and what she calls "financial aid" for several of her relatives. (Her family, she insists, doesn't realize that she's sleeping with this man, and takes him for a friend.)
"He can look after people," she said. "And as a very independent girl, when I'm with him, even I can rely on somebody."
But she insists she is drawn by something deeper than the cash and perks. She says she has fallen in love with him. Sometimes, she says, she even takes him out for a meal."
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A Woman. A Prostitute. A Slave. - The New York Times
A Woman. A Prostitute. A Slave. - The New York Times:
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(By Nicholas D. Kristof) Americans tend to associate “modern slavery” with illiterate girls inIndia or Cambodia
Those who think that commercial sex in this country is invariably voluntary — and especially men who pay for sex — should listen to her story. The men buying her services all mistakenly assumed that she was working of her own volition, she says.
Yumi Li (a nickname) grew up in a Korean area of northeastern China
So she accepted an offer from a female jobs agent to be smuggled to New York 5,000 a month. Yumi’s relatives had to sign documents pledging their homes as collateral if she did not pay back the $50,000 smugglers’ fee from her earnings.
Yumi set off for America New York
“When they first mentioned prostitution, I thought I would go crazy,” Yumi told me. “I was thinking, ‘how can this happen to someone like me who is college-educated?’ ” Her voice trailed off, and she added: “I wanted to die.”
She says that the four men who ran the smuggling operation — all Chinese or South Koreans — took her into their office on 36th Street
If she continued to resist working as a prostitute, she says they told her, the video would be sent to her relatives and acquaintances back home. Relatives would be told that Yumi was a prostitute, and several of them would lose their homes as well.
Yumi caved. For the next three years, she says, she was one of about 20 Asian prostitutes working out of the office on 36th Street
Yumi played her role robotically. On one occasion, Yumi was arrested for prostitution, and she says the police asked her if she had been trafficked.
“I said no,” she recalled. “I was really afraid that if I hinted that I was a victim, the gang would send the video to my family.”
Then one day Yumi’s closest friend in the brothel was handcuffed by a customer, abused and strangled almost to death. Yumi rescued her and took her to the hospital. She said that in her rage, she then confronted the pimps and threatened to go public.
At that point, the gang hurriedly moved offices and changed phone numbers. The pimps never mailed the video or claimed the homes in China
I can’t be sure of elements of Yumi’s story, but it mostly rings true to me and to the social workers who have worked with her. There’s no doubt that while some women come to the United States voluntarily to seek their fortunes in the sex trade, many others are coerced — and still others start out forced but eventually continue voluntarily. And it’s not just foreign women. The worst cases of forced prostitution, especially of children, often involve home-grown teenage runaways.
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College girls woo sugar daddies | The Australian
College girls woo sugar daddies | The Australian: "A growing number of "student concubines" are marketing themselves to older, richer men willing to support their studies and pay for a desirable lifestyle.
Millions of female students can be found on the website Jiayuan, the biggest dating site in China, which was created by 24-year-old Shanghai student Gong Xiaoyuan.
Among its 25 million members are students explicitly seeking men who will give them what the Chinese call the si you or "four haves". The candidates must have: a prestigious business or job, a house, a car and a high salary.
Zhang Yan, a female student at Guiyang Medical College, demanded 200,000 yuan ($30,000) for marriage. "No matter who the man is, so long as he is willing to give me 200,000 yuan I will marry him immediately," she wrote on a dating site.
Local television news broadcasts showed footage of her accepting the money demanded from a young man - and even her mother agreed to the transaction.
A 54-year-old man named Wang began a relationship with a 24-year-old graduate student who listed her desires as "a man with a house in Shanghai and 1 million yuan in the bank".
Wang reported they met in a coffee shop and then moved in together for several months until his lover found a 60-year-old American-born Chinese man, who wooed her away with a promise to take her to the US.
Unfazed, Wang is now dating a science student who came to Shanghai with her classmate.
The classmate had come to meet a 28-year-old graduate but dropped him on their first date after finding out he rented a small house from a farmer.
"I could not fall in love with a man who didn't have his own house, even though he was young and handsome," she lamented.
Young men are not averse to advertising their readiness to trade love for money, either. Xiao Louming, a student in Hangzhou, confessed to a state journalist: "If a family can give me 10 million yuan investment capital, then I'm ready to marry a woman 10 years older than me."
The official media have turned to mental health experts in an attempt to explain the trend. "I believe we can't just say that moral degradation is the only way for students to sell themselves," a professor in Shanghai told the People's Daily. He added it was a common expectation that women would provide sex in return for jobs and homes in a competitive workplace after graduation.
As the phenomenon spreads, other commentators are more censorious. "Some college girls even compete with each other when their sugar daddies come to pick them up for a weekend of fun," complained a scandalised columnist in the China Daily, a state-run newspaper."
'via Blog this'
Millions of female students can be found on the website Jiayuan, the biggest dating site in China, which was created by 24-year-old Shanghai student Gong Xiaoyuan.
Among its 25 million members are students explicitly seeking men who will give them what the Chinese call the si you or "four haves". The candidates must have: a prestigious business or job, a house, a car and a high salary.
Zhang Yan, a female student at Guiyang Medical College, demanded 200,000 yuan ($30,000) for marriage. "No matter who the man is, so long as he is willing to give me 200,000 yuan I will marry him immediately," she wrote on a dating site.
Local television news broadcasts showed footage of her accepting the money demanded from a young man - and even her mother agreed to the transaction.
A 54-year-old man named Wang began a relationship with a 24-year-old graduate student who listed her desires as "a man with a house in Shanghai and 1 million yuan in the bank".
Wang reported they met in a coffee shop and then moved in together for several months until his lover found a 60-year-old American-born Chinese man, who wooed her away with a promise to take her to the US.
Unfazed, Wang is now dating a science student who came to Shanghai with her classmate.
The classmate had come to meet a 28-year-old graduate but dropped him on their first date after finding out he rented a small house from a farmer.
"I could not fall in love with a man who didn't have his own house, even though he was young and handsome," she lamented.
Young men are not averse to advertising their readiness to trade love for money, either. Xiao Louming, a student in Hangzhou, confessed to a state journalist: "If a family can give me 10 million yuan investment capital, then I'm ready to marry a woman 10 years older than me."
The official media have turned to mental health experts in an attempt to explain the trend. "I believe we can't just say that moral degradation is the only way for students to sell themselves," a professor in Shanghai told the People's Daily. He added it was a common expectation that women would provide sex in return for jobs and homes in a competitive workplace after graduation.
As the phenomenon spreads, other commentators are more censorious. "Some college girls even compete with each other when their sugar daddies come to pick them up for a weekend of fun," complained a scandalised columnist in the China Daily, a state-run newspaper."
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Thursday, April 14, 2016
Friday, April 8, 2016
Thursday, April 7, 2016
AsAm News | Hapas Soon to Be the Majority in the Japanese American Community
AsAm News | Hapas Soon to Be the Majority in the Japanese American Community: "By 2020, just four years away, demographers says the majority of Japanese Americans will be multiracial/multiethnic.
A new exhibition now at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose in California runs through the end of the year. It is curated by Fred Liang and Cindy Nakashima who also co-curated an earlier version of the exhibition in 2013 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
“My parents married in 1965, when it was still illegal in sixteen states, but they married in Ohio, where there were no anti-miscegenation laws,” Nakashima told AsAmNews. My dad is a Nisei, my mom is a White Anglo Saxon Protestant(WASP). They met in graduate school.”
The interracial marriage rate in the Japanese American community is estimated at 66 percent. "
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A new exhibition now at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose in California runs through the end of the year. It is curated by Fred Liang and Cindy Nakashima who also co-curated an earlier version of the exhibition in 2013 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
“My parents married in 1965, when it was still illegal in sixteen states, but they married in Ohio, where there were no anti-miscegenation laws,” Nakashima told AsAmNews. My dad is a Nisei, my mom is a White Anglo Saxon Protestant(WASP). They met in graduate school.”
The interracial marriage rate in the Japanese American community is estimated at 66 percent. "
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Monday, April 4, 2016
Syed Ahmed was not AMU founder: ABVP - Times of India
Syed Ahmed was not AMU founder: ABVP - Times of India: "ABVP will launch a pamphlet distribution programme throughout the country in general and state in particular in which state of affairs in the JNU and AMU would be described, the ABVP member said."
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Centre not to support Aligarh Muslim University on granting it minority status - Times of India
Centre not to support Aligarh Muslim University on granting it minority status - Times of India: "AMU Act was enacted in 1920 dissolving and incorporating Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College. AMU (Amendment) Act in 1951 was passed by Parliament to do away with compulsory instruction in Muslim theology. The amendment opened membership of the Court of AMU to non-Muslims."
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Sunday, March 27, 2016
Friday, March 25, 2016
The Golden Generation - The New Yorker
The Golden Generation - The New Yorker: "The West is the plan for many of China’s new rich. In the past decade, they have swept into cities like New York, London, and Los Angeles, snapping up real estate and provoking anxieties about inequality and globalized wealth. Rich Chinese have become a fixture in the public imagination, the way rich Russians were in the nineteen-nineties and rich people from the Gulf states were in the decades before that. The Chinese presence in Vancouver is particularly pronounced, thanks to the city’s position on the Pacific Rim, its pleasant climate, and its easy pace of life. China’s newly minted millionaires see the city as a haven in which to place not only their money but, increasingly, their offspring, who come there to get an education, to start businesses, and to socialize."
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Do You Know About Berke Khan, The First Mongol Ruler Who Embraced Islam? | Mvslim
Do You Know About Berke Khan, The First Mongol Ruler Who Embraced Islam? | Mvslim: "Hulagu headed towards Iraq, determined to subjugate the caliph. Some Shias within Iraq were alienated from the caliph, who showed little respect for their community. As a result, cities with a substantial Shia presence like Najaf, Karbala, and Mosul, surrendered to the Mongols without a fight. In January 1258 Hulagu’s entire army had arrived in Baghdad. The Mongols captured the city within two weeks. A month later al-Mustasim was executed. Baghdad, a glorious city, a city home to intellectuals and artists, a city which had stood for over six centuries, was sacked and burned to the ground. Many of Baghdad’s citizens were massacred."
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Child marriage chart reveals girls can wed at 12 in some parts of the US - as lawmakers battle to raise age to 16 | Americas | News | The Independent
Child marriage chart reveals girls can wed at 12 in some parts of the US - as lawmakers battle to raise age to 16 | Americas | News | The Independent: "In the state of Virginia, it is officially still legal for girls as young as 12 or 13 to be brought to a courthouse with evidence of a pregnancy and wed, a practice that has come under increased scrutiny thanks to the Virginia Senator Jill Vogel R-Fauquier.
Legislation she introduced, which is now moving through the Virginia General Assembly, seeks to raise the minimum age for marriage to 16 to bring it in line with other states - and similar moves are under way in Maryland and New York, where 3,853 minors were married between 2000 and 2010, according to State Health Department data published in the New York Times.
In Virginia itself, according to state health statistics, more than 4,500 minors were married between 2000 and 2013, including about 220 who were 15 or younger.
And a separate Statista chart plotting the minimum legal age of marriage for girls worldwide reveals that the US is one of the lowest on record, with several places - including Massachusetts - allowing girls as young as 12 to be wed with the consent of a judge."
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Legislation she introduced, which is now moving through the Virginia General Assembly, seeks to raise the minimum age for marriage to 16 to bring it in line with other states - and similar moves are under way in Maryland and New York, where 3,853 minors were married between 2000 and 2010, according to State Health Department data published in the New York Times.
In Virginia itself, according to state health statistics, more than 4,500 minors were married between 2000 and 2013, including about 220 who were 15 or younger.
And a separate Statista chart plotting the minimum legal age of marriage for girls worldwide reveals that the US is one of the lowest on record, with several places - including Massachusetts - allowing girls as young as 12 to be wed with the consent of a judge."
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Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Deep Learning Is Going to Teach Us All the Lesson of Our Lives: Jobs Are for Machines — Basic income — Medium
Deep Learning Is Going to Teach Us All the Lesson of Our Lives: Jobs Are for Machines — Basic income — Medium: "All of this is why it’s those most knowledgeable in the AI field who are now actively sounding the alarm for basic income. During a panel discussion at the end of 2015 at Singularity University, prominent data scientist Jeremy Howard asked “Do you want half of people to starve because they literally can’t add economic value, or not?” before going on to suggest, ”If the answer is not, then the smartest way to distribute the wealth is by implementing a universal basic income.”
AI pioneer Chris Eliasmith, director of the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, warned about the immediate impacts of AI on society in an interview with Futurism, “AI is already having a big impact on our economies… My suspicion is that more countries will have to follow Finland’s lead in exploring basic income guarantees for people.”
Moshe Vardi expressed the same sentiment after speaking at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science about the emergence of intelligent machines, “we need to rethink the very basic structure of our economic system… we may have to consider instituting a basic income guarantee.”
Even Baidu’s chief scientist and founder of Google’s “Google Brain” deep learning project, Andrew Ng, during an onstage interview at this year’s Deep Learning Summit, expressed the shared notion that basic income must be “seriously considered” by governments, citing “a high chance that AI will create massive labor displacement.”"
'via Blog this'
AI pioneer Chris Eliasmith, director of the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, warned about the immediate impacts of AI on society in an interview with Futurism, “AI is already having a big impact on our economies… My suspicion is that more countries will have to follow Finland’s lead in exploring basic income guarantees for people.”
Moshe Vardi expressed the same sentiment after speaking at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science about the emergence of intelligent machines, “we need to rethink the very basic structure of our economic system… we may have to consider instituting a basic income guarantee.”
Even Baidu’s chief scientist and founder of Google’s “Google Brain” deep learning project, Andrew Ng, during an onstage interview at this year’s Deep Learning Summit, expressed the shared notion that basic income must be “seriously considered” by governments, citing “a high chance that AI will create massive labor displacement.”"
'via Blog this'
Deep Learning Is Going to Teach Us All the Lesson of Our Lives: Jobs Are for Machines — Basic income — Medium
Deep Learning Is Going to Teach Us All the Lesson of Our Lives: Jobs Are for Machines — Basic income — Medium: "Because of this, it’s been estimated that she can put 250 million people out of a job, worldwide.
Viv is an AI coming soon from the creators of Siri who’ll be our own personal assistant. She’ll perform tasks online for us, and even function as a Facebook News Feed on steroids by suggesting we consume the media she’ll know we’ll like best. In doing all of this for us, we’ll see far fewer ads, and that means the entire advertising industry — that industry the entire Internet is built upon — stands to be hugely disrupted.
A world with Amelia and Viv — and the countless other AI counterparts coming online soon — in combination with robots like Boston Dynamics’ next generation Atlas portends, is a world where machines can do all four types of jobs and that means serious societal reconsiderations. If a machine can do a job instead of a human, should any human be forced at the threat of destitution to perform that job? Should income itself remain coupled to employment, such that having a job is the only way to obtain income, when jobs for many are entirely unobtainable? If machines are performing an increasing percentage of our jobs for us, and not getting paid to do them, where does that money go instead? And what does it no longer buy? Is it even possible that many of the jobs we’re creating don’t need to exist at all, and only do because of the incomes they provide? These are questions we need to start asking, and fast.
Decoupling Income From Work
Fortunately, people are beginning to ask these questions, and there’s an answer that’s building up momentum. The idea is to put machines to work for us, but empower ourselves to seek out the forms of remaining work we as humans find most valuable, by simply providing everyone a monthly paycheck independent of work. This paycheck would be granted to all citizens unconditionally, and its name is universal basic income. By adopting UBI, aside from immunizing against the negative effects of automation, we’d also be decreasing the risks inherent in entrepreneurship, and the sizes of bureaucracies necessary to boost incomes. It’s for these reasons, it has cross-partisan support, and is even now in the beginning stages of possible implementation in countries like Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, and Canada.
The future is a place of accelerating changes. It seems unwise to continue looking at the future as if it were the past, where just because new jobs have historically appeared, they always will. The WEF started 2016 off by estimating the creation by 2020 of 2 million new jobs alongside the elimination of 7 million. That’s a net loss, not a net gain of 5 million jobs. In a frequently cited paper, an Oxford study estimated the automation of about half of all existing jobs by 2033. Meanwhile self-driving vehicles, again thanks to machine learning, have the capability of drastically impacting all economies — especially the US economy as I wrote last year about automating truck driving — by eliminating millions of jobs within a short span of time."
'via Blog this'
Viv is an AI coming soon from the creators of Siri who’ll be our own personal assistant. She’ll perform tasks online for us, and even function as a Facebook News Feed on steroids by suggesting we consume the media she’ll know we’ll like best. In doing all of this for us, we’ll see far fewer ads, and that means the entire advertising industry — that industry the entire Internet is built upon — stands to be hugely disrupted.
A world with Amelia and Viv — and the countless other AI counterparts coming online soon — in combination with robots like Boston Dynamics’ next generation Atlas portends, is a world where machines can do all four types of jobs and that means serious societal reconsiderations. If a machine can do a job instead of a human, should any human be forced at the threat of destitution to perform that job? Should income itself remain coupled to employment, such that having a job is the only way to obtain income, when jobs for many are entirely unobtainable? If machines are performing an increasing percentage of our jobs for us, and not getting paid to do them, where does that money go instead? And what does it no longer buy? Is it even possible that many of the jobs we’re creating don’t need to exist at all, and only do because of the incomes they provide? These are questions we need to start asking, and fast.
Decoupling Income From Work
Fortunately, people are beginning to ask these questions, and there’s an answer that’s building up momentum. The idea is to put machines to work for us, but empower ourselves to seek out the forms of remaining work we as humans find most valuable, by simply providing everyone a monthly paycheck independent of work. This paycheck would be granted to all citizens unconditionally, and its name is universal basic income. By adopting UBI, aside from immunizing against the negative effects of automation, we’d also be decreasing the risks inherent in entrepreneurship, and the sizes of bureaucracies necessary to boost incomes. It’s for these reasons, it has cross-partisan support, and is even now in the beginning stages of possible implementation in countries like Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, and Canada.
The future is a place of accelerating changes. It seems unwise to continue looking at the future as if it were the past, where just because new jobs have historically appeared, they always will. The WEF started 2016 off by estimating the creation by 2020 of 2 million new jobs alongside the elimination of 7 million. That’s a net loss, not a net gain of 5 million jobs. In a frequently cited paper, an Oxford study estimated the automation of about half of all existing jobs by 2033. Meanwhile self-driving vehicles, again thanks to machine learning, have the capability of drastically impacting all economies — especially the US economy as I wrote last year about automating truck driving — by eliminating millions of jobs within a short span of time."
'via Blog this'
Austin ‘Top Chef’ winner arrested, accused of assaulting girlfriend | KXAN.com
Austin ‘Top Chef’ winner arrested, accused of assaulting girlfriend | KXAN.com: "AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin chef and restaurateur Paul Qui was arrested Saturday morning accused of assaulting his girlfriend, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police responded to Qui’s apartment in East Austin just before 8 a.m. after receiving a call from Qui’s friend who said “his friend and his girlfriend were fighting” in the apartment. When officers arrived, they heard screaming and yelling coming from the apartment before the door was opened, continued in the court documents
When Qui, 31, opened the door, officers noted he had “blood all over his face, arms, legs and clothing.” Officers noticed the woman inside the apartment was crying and clutching a small child, according to the affidavit. Officers reported the apartment was in disarray with furniture and glass broken—blood was also found smeared on the walls and the floor of the apartment, according to the affidavit.
The victim told police “Qui is very controlling and extremely jealous.” The victim said she had been asleep with her son when Qui and his friends came home and began partaking in drugs and alcohol before waking her up and asking her to join the partying. The victim said she agreed and joined the party, having a couple of drinks before she said an intoxicated Qui began accusing his friends of flirting with her before kicking them all out, continued in the affidavit.
The victim then stated Qui became enraged and began knocking over furniture and breaking glass. She then grabbed some of her things and tried to leave with her son, but said Qui “stood in front of the door” and blocked her exit and “forcibly pushed her and her son away.”"
'via Blog this'
Police responded to Qui’s apartment in East Austin just before 8 a.m. after receiving a call from Qui’s friend who said “his friend and his girlfriend were fighting” in the apartment. When officers arrived, they heard screaming and yelling coming from the apartment before the door was opened, continued in the court documents
When Qui, 31, opened the door, officers noted he had “blood all over his face, arms, legs and clothing.” Officers noticed the woman inside the apartment was crying and clutching a small child, according to the affidavit. Officers reported the apartment was in disarray with furniture and glass broken—blood was also found smeared on the walls and the floor of the apartment, according to the affidavit.
The victim told police “Qui is very controlling and extremely jealous.” The victim said she had been asleep with her son when Qui and his friends came home and began partaking in drugs and alcohol before waking her up and asking her to join the partying. The victim said she agreed and joined the party, having a couple of drinks before she said an intoxicated Qui began accusing his friends of flirting with her before kicking them all out, continued in the affidavit.
The victim then stated Qui became enraged and began knocking over furniture and breaking glass. She then grabbed some of her things and tried to leave with her son, but said Qui “stood in front of the door” and blocked her exit and “forcibly pushed her and her son away.”"
'via Blog this'
Friday, March 18, 2016
Religion is Spreading Among Younger Chinese | The Nanfang
Religion is Spreading Among Younger Chinese | The Nanfang: "Islam leading the way
Charles Liu, July 10, 2015 8:28am
China is officially an atheist state, but religion is making inroads with the country’s younger generation.
A recent survey shows over half of all Chinese religious worshipers are under 60 years of age, of which a majority under 30 are Muslim. "
'via Blog this'
Charles Liu, July 10, 2015 8:28am
China is officially an atheist state, but religion is making inroads with the country’s younger generation.
A recent survey shows over half of all Chinese religious worshipers are under 60 years of age, of which a majority under 30 are Muslim. "
'via Blog this'
Monday, March 14, 2016
Islamic State claims Jakarta attacks, its first strike in Indonesia - The Times of India
Islamic State claims Jakarta attacks, its first strike in Indonesia - The Times of India: "Islamic State on Thursday officially claimed responsibility for a gun and bomb assault in the centre of Jakarta earlier in the day that killed seven people, five of whom were attackers.
"
'via Blog this'
"
'via Blog this'
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
PIO dean mum on sexual assault charges against him - Times of India
PIO dean mum on sexual assault charges against him - Times of India: "The Indian American Dean of University of California, Berkeley, law school, Sujit Choudhry, will step down after facing sexual harassment charges made by his former executive assistant Tyann Sorell.
"Based on the findings of the investigation I believed that a combination of disciplinary actions, monitoring of his behaviour and formal training would be an appropriate and effective response, and would produce the necessary changes in his behaviour," University executive vicechancellor and provost Claude Steele said.
In a complaint filed on Tuesday against Choudhry and the University of California Board of Regents, Sorell said Choudhry sexually harassed her — rubbing her shoulders and arms, kissing her cheeks and giving her bear hugs that pressed her body against him. When she brought this to the notice of supervisors, they first failed to stop Choudhry and then tried to retaliate against her. "The hugs became tighter and more lingering and the kissing more intimate in that over time Choudhry's kisses began to land closer and closer" to her mouth, according to the court documents cited in the media."
'via Blog this'
"Based on the findings of the investigation I believed that a combination of disciplinary actions, monitoring of his behaviour and formal training would be an appropriate and effective response, and would produce the necessary changes in his behaviour," University executive vicechancellor and provost Claude Steele said.
In a complaint filed on Tuesday against Choudhry and the University of California Board of Regents, Sorell said Choudhry sexually harassed her — rubbing her shoulders and arms, kissing her cheeks and giving her bear hugs that pressed her body against him. When she brought this to the notice of supervisors, they first failed to stop Choudhry and then tried to retaliate against her. "The hugs became tighter and more lingering and the kissing more intimate in that over time Choudhry's kisses began to land closer and closer" to her mouth, according to the court documents cited in the media."
'via Blog this'
Donald Trump quickly recants new stance on immigrant guest-workers - Washington Times
Donald Trump quickly recants new stance on immigrant guest-workers - Washington Times: "Donald Trump promised Thursday night to be flexible on immigration, and as soon as he got off the stage at the debate in Detroit he made use of that flexibility, recanting a new position on guest-workers that he’d staked out just minutes before.
In response to Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly, Mr. Trump said he had changed his stance on H-1B visas and would welcome more high-skilled workers into the U.S. workforce — a reversal of a position he listed on his campaign website."
'via Blog this'
In response to Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly, Mr. Trump said he had changed his stance on H-1B visas and would welcome more high-skilled workers into the U.S. workforce — a reversal of a position he listed on his campaign website."
'via Blog this'
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Organs removed from live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic in China | Daily Mail Online
Organs removed from live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic in China | Daily Mail Online: "Livers, kidneys and even corneas removed from 11,000 live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic every year in China, claims documentary
Eight year investigation claims thousands had organs removed in China
Banned religious group Falun Gong is key target, documentary claims
Just 37 registered organ donors in China but country has the world's second highest rate of transplants
One surgeon is said to have removed corneas from 2,000 living people
Chinese government denies allegations claiming donors are volunteers "
'via Blog this'
Eight year investigation claims thousands had organs removed in China
Banned religious group Falun Gong is key target, documentary claims
Just 37 registered organ donors in China but country has the world's second highest rate of transplants
One surgeon is said to have removed corneas from 2,000 living people
Chinese government denies allegations claiming donors are volunteers "
'via Blog this'
Organs removed from live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic in China | Daily Mail Online
Organs removed from live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic in China | Daily Mail Online: "Livers, kidneys and even corneas removed from 11,000 live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic every year in China, claims documentary
Eight year investigation claims thousands had organs removed in China
Banned religious group Falun Gong is key target, documentary claims
Just 37 registered organ donors in China but country has the world's second highest rate of transplants
One surgeon is said to have removed corneas from 2,000 living people
Chinese government denies allegations claiming donors are volunteers "
'via Blog this'
Eight year investigation claims thousands had organs removed in China
Banned religious group Falun Gong is key target, documentary claims
Just 37 registered organ donors in China but country has the world's second highest rate of transplants
One surgeon is said to have removed corneas from 2,000 living people
Chinese government denies allegations claiming donors are volunteers "
'via Blog this'
Phantom Goods Disguise Billions in China Illicit Money Flows - Bloomberg Business
Phantom Goods Disguise Billions in China Illicit Money Flows - Bloomberg Business: "A steep rise in China’s reported imports from Hong Kong has raised concerns that trade invoices are being manipulated to get capital out of the country amid fears the yuan will continue to weaken. February data released Tuesday show those imports jumped 89 percent from a year earlier, even as total imports fell 14 percent. While the rise wasn’t as great as in January, economists said the spike follows similar patterns in recent months that point to companies using trade channels to pay for goods far in excess of their value or even that don’t exist at all."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Islam in Cambodia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islam in Cambodia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Like other Muslim Cham people, those in Cambodia are Shia Muslims of the Imami/ Twelver denomination Po Dharma divides the Muslim Cham in Cambodia into a traditionalist branch and an orthodox branch. (see Islam in Vietnam)"
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
The Trouble With Bright Girls | Psychology Today
The Trouble With Bright Girls | Psychology Today: "She found that bright girls, when given something to learn that was particularly foreign or complex, were quick to give up--and the higher the girls' IQ, the more likely they were to throw in the towel. In fact, the straight-A girls showed the most helpless responses. Bright boys, on the other hand, saw the difficult material as a challenge, and found it energizing. They were more likely to redouble their efforts, rather than give up.
Why does this happen? What makes smart girls more vulnerable, and less confident, when they should be the most confident kids in the room? At the 5th grade level, girls routinely outperform boys in every subject, including math and science. So there were no differences between these boys and girls in ability, nor in past history of success. The only difference was how bright boys and girls interpreted difficulty--what it meant to them when material seemed hard to learn. Bright girls were much quicker to doubt their ability, to lose confidence, and to become less effective learners as a result."
'via Blog this'
Why does this happen? What makes smart girls more vulnerable, and less confident, when they should be the most confident kids in the room? At the 5th grade level, girls routinely outperform boys in every subject, including math and science. So there were no differences between these boys and girls in ability, nor in past history of success. The only difference was how bright boys and girls interpreted difficulty--what it meant to them when material seemed hard to learn. Bright girls were much quicker to doubt their ability, to lose confidence, and to become less effective learners as a result."
'via Blog this'
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Home flipping reaches 10-year high: What it means - Yahoo Finance
Home flipping reaches 10-year high: What it means - Yahoo Finance: "Rising home prices are bringing more house flippers out of the woodwork, and that may be a sign of an overheating housing market. The number of active home flippers last year was the highest in nearly a decade, and it is only growing.
Nearly 180,000 family homes and condos were flipped in 2015, according to RealtyTrac. A flip is defined as a home that is bought and sold again within the same 12 months. Flips made up 5.5 percent of all sales last year, and that is the first increase in the flip share after four years of shrinking. Flipping increased in 75 percent of U.S. markets, and the profits are growing as well.
"As confidence in the housing recovery spreads, more real estate investors and would-be real estate investors are hopping on the home flipping bandwagon," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "Not only is the share of home flips on the rise again, but we also see the flipping trend trickling down to smaller investors who are completing fewer flips per year."
Jim Pinson works with investors to flip houses on the south side of Chicago and does two or three flips of his own each year in the Oak Lawn area. Home prices in Chicago have not soared as much as in other parts of the nation, but there are still a lot of distressed homes available for sale, and plenty of investor demand.
"Oh my God, there are multiple offers on almost every decent margin profit house that pops on the market," said Pinson.
The concern now is that prices are rising too fast, not because buyers can afford to pay more but because of extremely short supply of homes for sale, especially on the lower end of the market. Home prices in January were 6.9 percent higher than the January 2015, according to CoreLogic, a higher annual gain than in December. Home flipping can push prices artificially higher, especially in markets with the tightest inventory.
"When home flipping numbers go up, it is usually an indication that the housing market is in trouble," said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate in Seattle, who was quoted in the RealtyTrac report. "
'via Blog this'
Nearly 180,000 family homes and condos were flipped in 2015, according to RealtyTrac. A flip is defined as a home that is bought and sold again within the same 12 months. Flips made up 5.5 percent of all sales last year, and that is the first increase in the flip share after four years of shrinking. Flipping increased in 75 percent of U.S. markets, and the profits are growing as well.
"As confidence in the housing recovery spreads, more real estate investors and would-be real estate investors are hopping on the home flipping bandwagon," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "Not only is the share of home flips on the rise again, but we also see the flipping trend trickling down to smaller investors who are completing fewer flips per year."
Jim Pinson works with investors to flip houses on the south side of Chicago and does two or three flips of his own each year in the Oak Lawn area. Home prices in Chicago have not soared as much as in other parts of the nation, but there are still a lot of distressed homes available for sale, and plenty of investor demand.
"Oh my God, there are multiple offers on almost every decent margin profit house that pops on the market," said Pinson.
The concern now is that prices are rising too fast, not because buyers can afford to pay more but because of extremely short supply of homes for sale, especially on the lower end of the market. Home prices in January were 6.9 percent higher than the January 2015, according to CoreLogic, a higher annual gain than in December. Home flipping can push prices artificially higher, especially in markets with the tightest inventory.
"When home flipping numbers go up, it is usually an indication that the housing market is in trouble," said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate in Seattle, who was quoted in the RealtyTrac report. "
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Deposits in Najib Bank Accounts Topped $1 Billion, WSJ Says - Bloomberg Business
Deposits in Najib Bank Accounts Topped $1 Billion, WSJ Says - Bloomberg Business: "Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak received more than $1 billion in his private bank accounts between 2011 and 2013, according to the Wall Street Journal.
There was more money in the accounts than the previously known $681 million which appeared before the 2013 general election, the paper reported, citing two people it didn’t identify.
Investigators in two countries believe the $681 million originated from state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd.,rather than a personal donation from Saudi Arabia as stated by Malaysian authorities, it said, citing people familiar with the global probes.
The Wall Street Journal didn’t give details on the funds that were deposited in 2011 and 2012. It reported that investigators said two former Abu Dhabi officials helped move the $681 million through complex transactions across several countries before it entered Najib’s accounts."
'via Blog this'
There was more money in the accounts than the previously known $681 million which appeared before the 2013 general election, the paper reported, citing two people it didn’t identify.
Investigators in two countries believe the $681 million originated from state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd.,rather than a personal donation from Saudi Arabia as stated by Malaysian authorities, it said, citing people familiar with the global probes.
The Wall Street Journal didn’t give details on the funds that were deposited in 2011 and 2012. It reported that investigators said two former Abu Dhabi officials helped move the $681 million through complex transactions across several countries before it entered Najib’s accounts."
'via Blog this'
Mahathir Quits Malaysia Ruling Party Citing Najib's Scandals - Bloomberg Business
Mahathir Quits Malaysia Ruling Party Citing Najib's Scandals - Bloomberg Business: ""I am very much ashamed of all that is happening," Mahathir said at a briefing in the administrative capital of Putrajaya. "I decided I cannot be a party to all these things so the least I can do is to leave the party."
Hundreds of millions of dollars were deposited in Najib’s accounts in 2011 and 2012, before the $681 million already known in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing two people it didn’t identify. Najib’s office would not immediately comment on the report."
'via Blog this'
Hundreds of millions of dollars were deposited in Najib’s accounts in 2011 and 2012, before the $681 million already known in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing two people it didn’t identify. Najib’s office would not immediately comment on the report."
'via Blog this'
Monday, February 29, 2016
‘Gold is the new black’ with best start to a year since 1980 - MarketWatch
‘Gold is the new black’ with best start to a year since 1980 - MarketWatch: "Banks and pundits are singing gold’s praises as it leaps in 2016.
The chart below from The Economist says gold GCJ6, +1.46% has gotten off to its best start to a year in 35 years. The safety play is up 15% in the year to date as of Friday, helped by haven demand amid dives by stocks, crude oil and other assets."
'via Blog this'
The chart below from The Economist says gold GCJ6, +1.46% has gotten off to its best start to a year in 35 years. The safety play is up 15% in the year to date as of Friday, helped by haven demand amid dives by stocks, crude oil and other assets."
'via Blog this'
Tornado Outbreak Kills at Least 9; More Than Two Dozen Twisters Confirmed | The Weather Channel
Tornado Outbreak Kills at Least 9; More Than Two Dozen Twisters Confirmed | The Weather Channel: "Tornado Outbreak Kills at Least 9; More Than Two Dozen Twisters Confirmed
Published:
Feb 26 2016 12:00 PM EST"
'via Blog this'
Published:
Feb 26 2016 12:00 PM EST"
'via Blog this'
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Lawsuit: Sexual abuse of women allowed to flourish in New York prisons -- Society's Child -- Sott.net
Lawsuit: Sexual abuse of women allowed to flourish in New York prisons -- Society's Child -- Sott.net: "One plaintiff, Jane Jones 1, a 24-year old woman who has been incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility since 2011, alleges she had been abused for nearly three years. The abuse involved kissing, oral sex, repeated touching, and repeated sexual intercourse. The corrections officer gave her drugs, alcohol, and herpes. The plaintiff described how the officer chose places away from surveillance cameras, and how "officers call ahead to alert the officer on duty at the post that a supervisor is on his or her way."
The plaintiff reported the sexual abuse in writing to the DOCCS Commissioner, who began an investigation. The officer involved had previously been accused of sexually and physically abusing other female prisoners and bringing them prohibited contraband. "
'via Blog this'
The plaintiff reported the sexual abuse in writing to the DOCCS Commissioner, who began an investigation. The officer involved had previously been accused of sexually and physically abusing other female prisoners and bringing them prohibited contraband. "
'via Blog this'
British Muslim girls being forced into marriage via internet - Times of India
British Muslim girls being forced into marriage via internet - Times of India: "Minor Muslim girls in the UK as young as 11 are being forced to marry men living abroad via the internet notwithstanding a ban on forced marriage in the country.
Imams in the UK and abroad have been conducting ceremonies using Skype -- so girls can be married remotely before "being put on a plane and consummating the marriage at the earliest opportunity", according to Freedom, a charity.
The marriage is often conducted with the promise of a visa to the UK for their new husband, it said.
"The reason is to curb the behaviour of their children when they become 'too western'," charity founder Aneeta Prem was quoted as saying by 'The Sunday Times'.
"Once married, there is enormous pressure to get a spouse visa. The hope is the girl will visit (country of husband's origin) and fall pregnant to make the union seem more legitimate before bringing the partner back," she said.
In one case, an 11-year-old home-educated girl from London was married on Skype to a 25-year-old man in Bangladesh.
She contacted Freedom in November after reading a book about forced marriage that her older brother was given at school.
"She hadn't understood at the time but later realised the Skype call was a marriage ceremony. The plan was for her to meet her 'husband' at a later date and hopefully fall pregnant.
In the meantime, she was at home learning to cook and clean," said Prem, the author of 'But It's Not Fair' - an account of forced marriage.
"We see cases from many communities including those from Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Mormon backgrounds. No religion accepts forced marriage but some parents are using it as a method of control," she added.
Forced marriage was made illegal in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 but there has been only one conviction and it did not involve a child."
'via Blog this'
Imams in the UK and abroad have been conducting ceremonies using Skype -- so girls can be married remotely before "being put on a plane and consummating the marriage at the earliest opportunity", according to Freedom, a charity.
The marriage is often conducted with the promise of a visa to the UK for their new husband, it said.
"The reason is to curb the behaviour of their children when they become 'too western'," charity founder Aneeta Prem was quoted as saying by 'The Sunday Times'.
"Once married, there is enormous pressure to get a spouse visa. The hope is the girl will visit (country of husband's origin) and fall pregnant to make the union seem more legitimate before bringing the partner back," she said.
In one case, an 11-year-old home-educated girl from London was married on Skype to a 25-year-old man in Bangladesh.
She contacted Freedom in November after reading a book about forced marriage that her older brother was given at school.
"She hadn't understood at the time but later realised the Skype call was a marriage ceremony. The plan was for her to meet her 'husband' at a later date and hopefully fall pregnant.
In the meantime, she was at home learning to cook and clean," said Prem, the author of 'But It's Not Fair' - an account of forced marriage.
"We see cases from many communities including those from Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Mormon backgrounds. No religion accepts forced marriage but some parents are using it as a method of control," she added.
Forced marriage was made illegal in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 but there has been only one conviction and it did not involve a child."
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Beijing overtakes NYC as 'Billionaire Capital of the World' - Yahoo Finance
Beijing overtakes NYC as 'Billionaire Capital of the World' - Yahoo Finance: "Hoogewerf said China had a particularly high proportion of self-made billionaires compared to the United States.
"What we showed today is that at the super-wealth creation level, the Chinese are now leading," Hoogewerf said. "People will look at China the same way that people looked at Stanford or Silicon Valley in the 1990s.""
'via Blog this'
"What we showed today is that at the super-wealth creation level, the Chinese are now leading," Hoogewerf said. "People will look at China the same way that people looked at Stanford or Silicon Valley in the 1990s.""
'via Blog this'
Monday, February 22, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Friday, February 19, 2016
Is it time to brace for negative interest rates in the U.S.? - Yahoo Finance
Is it time to brace for negative interest rates in the U.S.? - Yahoo Finance: "Before the recent turmoil in the financial markets began, the Fed raised rates in December for the first time in nearly 10 years and signaled the possibility of four interest-rate hikes in 2016.
But recent financial volatility may be forcing the Fed to rethink its planned steps. Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney, says it's possible that the central bank will go the other way and introduce negative rates.
“In the eurodollar futures market, for example, there was only a single rate hike priced in between today and 2017,” said LeBas. “That scenario is very plausible, but just as plausible is that 12 months from now we head back to the Zero Lower Bound, and perhaps we’re even talking about negative interest rates in 2017.”
The move to negative interest rates has already happened overseas as central banks have run out of options to spur growth. Sweden was one of the first major economies to introduce interest rates below zero in February of last year, followed by the Bank of Japan in January of this year.
When Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was asked about negative rates during her semiannual testimony to Congress last week, she said the option is "not off the table."
Her comments come as inflation, a key data point for the Fed, is stuck below the central bank’s 2% target.
“Since the end of the Great Recession, we’ve barely had inflation. As a society, we no longer know what causes inflation,” said LeBas. “QE was supposed to cause inflation; it did not. Policymakers are certainly coming around to that uncertainty.”"
'via Blog this'
But recent financial volatility may be forcing the Fed to rethink its planned steps. Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney, says it's possible that the central bank will go the other way and introduce negative rates.
“In the eurodollar futures market, for example, there was only a single rate hike priced in between today and 2017,” said LeBas. “That scenario is very plausible, but just as plausible is that 12 months from now we head back to the Zero Lower Bound, and perhaps we’re even talking about negative interest rates in 2017.”
The move to negative interest rates has already happened overseas as central banks have run out of options to spur growth. Sweden was one of the first major economies to introduce interest rates below zero in February of last year, followed by the Bank of Japan in January of this year.
When Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was asked about negative rates during her semiannual testimony to Congress last week, she said the option is "not off the table."
Her comments come as inflation, a key data point for the Fed, is stuck below the central bank’s 2% target.
“Since the end of the Great Recession, we’ve barely had inflation. As a society, we no longer know what causes inflation,” said LeBas. “QE was supposed to cause inflation; it did not. Policymakers are certainly coming around to that uncertainty.”"
'via Blog this'
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Slowly, Americans Moving To China - Forbes
Slowly, Americans Moving To China - Forbes: "Americans are moving to China, and staying there. So are the Japanese, Germans and Australians.
It’s not a flood. Most of them are of Chinese descent. But the numbers, minuscule compared to U.S. immigration figures, are clearly on the rise.
All told, 1,202 foreigners received the equivalent of a Chinese “green card” — making them legal, permanent residents of the world’s No. 2 economy. Zheng Baigang, head of the Ministry of Public Security‘s Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration, told China Daily on Monday that perm resident visas were up more than 80% from 2012.
More than half are new visas are going to Chinese immigrants or adult-children of Chinese immigrants living in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan. They’re off to live in the major east coast cities, seeking — or already having — professional jobs.
“The principle of China’s ‘green card’ regulation is to attract foreign talent to promote economic and social development and enhance international communication,” Zheng told the Daily.
Ada Jen, a Chinese American interviewed for the story, said she applied for a Chinese permanent residency visa in 2011. She said the China visa gives her a sense of belonging to her family’s culture. China’s become her new home.
“I have to go back to the U.S. once or twice every year to see my family, and the green card reduces exit-entry troubles,” she told the paper Monday. She said many of her friends intend to apply for perm resident status there too.
In 2010, the government issued perm visas to 564 applicants, rising to 656 in 2011, according to the Ministry. Most are coming from the Chinese diaspora, at least 53% in fact. The next biggest percentage were professionals already working and investing in the country for years."
'via Blog this'
It’s not a flood. Most of them are of Chinese descent. But the numbers, minuscule compared to U.S. immigration figures, are clearly on the rise.
All told, 1,202 foreigners received the equivalent of a Chinese “green card” — making them legal, permanent residents of the world’s No. 2 economy. Zheng Baigang, head of the Ministry of Public Security‘s Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration, told China Daily on Monday that perm resident visas were up more than 80% from 2012.
More than half are new visas are going to Chinese immigrants or adult-children of Chinese immigrants living in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan. They’re off to live in the major east coast cities, seeking — or already having — professional jobs.
“The principle of China’s ‘green card’ regulation is to attract foreign talent to promote economic and social development and enhance international communication,” Zheng told the Daily.
Ada Jen, a Chinese American interviewed for the story, said she applied for a Chinese permanent residency visa in 2011. She said the China visa gives her a sense of belonging to her family’s culture. China’s become her new home.
“I have to go back to the U.S. once or twice every year to see my family, and the green card reduces exit-entry troubles,” she told the paper Monday. She said many of her friends intend to apply for perm resident status there too.
In 2010, the government issued perm visas to 564 applicants, rising to 656 in 2011, according to the Ministry. Most are coming from the Chinese diaspora, at least 53% in fact. The next biggest percentage were professionals already working and investing in the country for years."
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Man from Meerut gambles wife away for Rs 50,000 - Times of India
Man from Meerut gambles wife away for Rs 50,000 - Times of India: "Asma, 28, did not have the slightest idea that her husband Umer Ali, had gambled her away for Rs 50,000 and that the three men waiting for her in Moradabad had actually "won" her. Luckily for her she found something amiss in the behaviour of the three men and quickly raised an alarm, eventually taking refuge in a police station nearby.
Asma was asked by her husband to accompany him from their house in Amroha to Pakbara, 10km from Moradabad. When they reached the place, the three men were already waiting. She found, to her shock and disbelief, that her husband had "lost" her in gambling and was about to hand her over to the men, who in turn were to take her to an unspecified destination."
'via Blog this'
Asma was asked by her husband to accompany him from their house in Amroha to Pakbara, 10km from Moradabad. When they reached the place, the three men were already waiting. She found, to her shock and disbelief, that her husband had "lost" her in gambling and was about to hand her over to the men, who in turn were to take her to an unspecified destination."
'via Blog this'
Rupee nears record low; volatility surges - Yahoo Finance
Rupee nears record low; volatility surges - Yahoo Finance: "MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee fell to near record lows against the dollar on Wednesday, forcing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to intervene to stem further falls on a tough day for Asian currencies.
The rupee fell to as low as 68.67 to the dollar, not far from a record low of 68.85 hit in August 2013 when India was struggling with its worst financial turmoil since the 1991 balance of payment crisis."
'via Blog this'
The rupee fell to as low as 68.67 to the dollar, not far from a record low of 68.85 hit in August 2013 when India was struggling with its worst financial turmoil since the 1991 balance of payment crisis."
'via Blog this'
Why $100 bills and €500 notes may soon be killed off - Yahoo Finance
Why $100 bills and €500 notes may soon be killed off - Yahoo Finance: "Now, former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers has called for the $100 bill's execution, just as the Financial Times reported that the European Central Bank is planning on killing another big bill overseas, the €500.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Summers cites a new study from Harvard's Kennedy school by banker Peter Sands—he's President Emeritus of Harvard—that made a strong case for the elimination of the £50, the €500, the Swiss CHF 1,000, as well as the $100 because large currency notes such as these are the "preferred payment mechanism of those pursuing illicit activities, given the anonymity and lack of transaction record they offer, and the relative ease with which they can be transported and moved.""
'via Blog this'
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Summers cites a new study from Harvard's Kennedy school by banker Peter Sands—he's President Emeritus of Harvard—that made a strong case for the elimination of the £50, the €500, the Swiss CHF 1,000, as well as the $100 because large currency notes such as these are the "preferred payment mechanism of those pursuing illicit activities, given the anonymity and lack of transaction record they offer, and the relative ease with which they can be transported and moved.""
'via Blog this'
China's Subprime Crisis Is Here - Bloomberg Gadfly
China's Subprime Crisis Is Here - Bloomberg Gadfly: "The dynamic is clear. A splurge of new lending can help to dilute existing bad loans, but only at a cost. This is a game that can't continue forever, particularly if credit is being foisted on to an already over-leveraged and slowing economy. At some point, the music will stop and there will have to be a reckoning. The longer China postpones that, the harder it will be."
'via Blog this'
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Tuesday, February 16, 2016
China’s latest trade data are much worse than anyone expected - Quartz
China’s latest trade data are much worse than anyone expected - Quartz: "China’s trade data released today (Feb. 15) show the country’s economic slowdown may be even steeper than feared.
In January, exports from China dropped by 11.2%, the worst fall since March last year. Its imports fell by a massive 18.8%, the 15th month in a row of declines."
'via Blog this'
In January, exports from China dropped by 11.2%, the worst fall since March last year. Its imports fell by a massive 18.8%, the 15th month in a row of declines."
'via Blog this'
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Saturday, February 13, 2016
As economy slips, China’s wealthy move money out - Times of India
As economy slips, China’s wealthy move money out - Times of India: "For years, China soaked up much of the world's investment money, as the economy grew at annual rates in the double digits. A largely closed financial system kept China's own money corralled inside the country.
Now, with growth slowing, money is gushing out of the country. And the government has a looser grip on the spigot, because China dismantled some currency restrictions to open up its economy in recent years.
"Companies don't want renminbi and individuals don't want renminbi," said Shaun Rein, the founder of the China Market Research Group. "The renminbi was a sure bet for a long time, but now that it's not, a lot of people want to get out."
The Chinese central bank is fighting the downward pressure by purchasing large sums of renminbi, selling dollars from its currency reserves to do so. China's reserves sank by $108 billion in December and an additional $99 billion in January, to $3.23 trillion. A year and a half ago, they stood at $4 trillion."
'via Blog this'
Now, with growth slowing, money is gushing out of the country. And the government has a looser grip on the spigot, because China dismantled some currency restrictions to open up its economy in recent years.
"Companies don't want renminbi and individuals don't want renminbi," said Shaun Rein, the founder of the China Market Research Group. "The renminbi was a sure bet for a long time, but now that it's not, a lot of people want to get out."
The Chinese central bank is fighting the downward pressure by purchasing large sums of renminbi, selling dollars from its currency reserves to do so. China's reserves sank by $108 billion in December and an additional $99 billion in January, to $3.23 trillion. A year and a half ago, they stood at $4 trillion."
'via Blog this'
'Taliban militants publicly flog Afghan woman' for going to visit a doctor with her brother-in-law - Times of India
'Taliban militants publicly flog Afghan woman' for going to visit a doctor with her brother-in-law - Times of India: "Afghan woman has been publicly flogged by Taliban militants for going to visit a doctor with her brother-in-law, it has been reported.
It is understood that attackers wrongly thought that the woman had left her home with a stranger who was not a male relative, which would be contrary to some strict interpretations of Islamic code in certain parts of rural Afghanistan.
The man was also reportedly flogged. It later emerged that he was her brother-in-law.
Local media outlet Tolo News reports that the attack was videoed and footage has circulated online. They say that the video appears to show the woman pleading with her attackers and explaining that she urgently needed to visit the doctor but that her husband was not available to accompany her."
'via Blog this'
It is understood that attackers wrongly thought that the woman had left her home with a stranger who was not a male relative, which would be contrary to some strict interpretations of Islamic code in certain parts of rural Afghanistan.
The man was also reportedly flogged. It later emerged that he was her brother-in-law.
Local media outlet Tolo News reports that the attack was videoed and footage has circulated online. They say that the video appears to show the woman pleading with her attackers and explaining that she urgently needed to visit the doctor but that her husband was not available to accompany her."
'via Blog this'
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