Chinese Police Drag Grieving Parents From Protest
Chinese police dragged away more than 100 parents Tuesday while they were protesting the deaths of their children in poorly constructed schools that collapsed in the earthquake that destroyed 7,000 classrooms. Many parents have accused contractors of cutting corners when building the classrooms, resulting in deficient schools, and pictures of collapsed schools surrounded by buildings still standing have fueled anger.
There's been a lot of chatter about
Sharon Stone's insensitive remarks regarding
the massive earthquake that recently struck China. I believe the actress said something along the lines of, "They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then the earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma?"
Sharon Stone has become a bit of a Karma Chameleon, and apologized for
her statement that the earthquake was China's Karma coming back to haunt them.
She
said, "Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people." She's been removed from Dior ads in China following the incident.
Since the earthquake, Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao has made a bunch of friends. Over 13,000 of them to be exact —
according to his hopping Facebook profile. He's become wildly popular for his fast and feeling response to the May 12 earthquake.
Chinese officials have announced that
families, whose only child was killed or critically injured in this month's
earthquake, will be exempt from the one-child policy, a decision that appears to be only fair.
The reprieve, which at first seems compassionate, highlights the unnatural quality of China's entire family-planning policy. A couple, dealing with the loss of their legal child, will have to apply for permission to have a "legal replacement."
Over the weekend at the
Cannes Film Festival, Sharon Stone had
the opportunity to tell the world exactly how she felt about the earthquake in China (the
death toll from which has just topped 65,000). Here's what Ms. Stone had to say:
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"Well, you know, it was very interesting .
Following the recent
earthquake, China plans to rebuild one of its worst-hit cities, Beichuan, in a completely different location. Of the city's 161,000 residents, at least 7,227
died in the quake. The region's Communist Party Chief
said:Safety is the top priority in selecting a new location and reconstruction.
Donating money for the victims of the
Myanmar cyclone and the
Chinese earthquake has not been an easy sell. Americans have given $12.1 million so far to the Myanmar cause, compared to the $1.92 billion that was collected for the 2004 Tsunami, and $5.3 billion for Hurricane Katrina. Donation amounts for China are not yet known.
