China’s Disgusting ‘Gutter Oil’ Street Food.

I have always loved Chinese food. I think it rocks, especially the stuff that’s only on the menu in deepest Chinatown, in those restaurants for the locals where you have to go downstairs to get in. I’ve so far not been lucky enough to go to China for the “real deal,” but after learning what lies below these words… I would now likely dine exclusively in the hotel’s eatery or in a private home…

Via Business Insider:

The next time you consider eating Chinese street food you might think twice.

The use of gutter oil it turns out is pretty common. This refers to a process of pulling waste oil from sewers, grease traps, waste from slaughterhouses, reprocessing it and then selling it as cooking oil.

RFAVideo Published on May 2, 2013

Most of China’s ‘gutter oil’ winds up in cheap restaurants and among street food vendors.

Gregory Taylor Published on May 29, 2013

Gutter oil is illicit cooking oil which has been recycled from waste oil collected from sources such as restaurant fryers, drains, grease traps and slaughterhouse waste. Reprocessing is often very rudimentary; techniques include filtration, boiling, refining and the removal of adulterants.

Gutter oil has been shown to be very toxic, able to cause diarrhea and abdominal pain. There are also reports that long-term consumption of the oil can lead to stomach and liver cancer as well as developmental disabilities in newborns and children.

Oh, Gawd!

In early October of 2013 a Chinese man was sent to prison for life for making gutter oil, as that is the official penalty, (lenient version!), but still the practice continues. There is simply too much of it going on to keep up, I suppose.

Greed rules, you see, especially, it seems, in China.

In the ATS thread that alerted me to this, member crackerjack replied:

I’ve been living in China for 7 years and you would be AMAZED at how many cheap, hole in the wall restaurants use this stuff.
One thing you gotta understand about China is that it’s PROFIT FIRST, safety last, most people don’t care as long as there’s a profit in it, they have no morals to whom they might be harming, just think of their own wallet. Also the people who do eat this stuff eat for the sole reason that it’s CHEAP.

My family has always ate at home because of the food safety concerns here.

Whoa.. confirmation!

Well, now, keep an eye out, folks!

Peace.

Behold The Mystery Of The Lotus!

When I hear the word Lotus, my mind immediately goes to thoughts of the wonderful mechanical creations of Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, CBE, but this is a bit different and not about those clever devices at all.

Indeed, it is about a mysterious event on the Lotus River in Lotus County, China, where on two recent occasions slicks of something appeared on the river and morphed in the shape of a lotus flower. Some were more perfect than others. They’re quite pretty, really. But I do hope they’re not dangerous, as…

They look rather like some sort of pollution, a leakage or seepage of some oil-based compound from under the ground, what with the rainbow patterns and colorful disappearing central discs. Indeed, an intrigued member of the ATS forum spoke of his related experience thusly… “I remember when I was younger and was repainting a dock on the water, I would see similar patterns form when drops of the paint would drip into the water. The shapes and colors created were stunning.”

Interesting that the event happened twice and in such a localized manner. Interesting also that apparently this has occurred in the past as well.

I am not aware of any tests being done to provide us with any sort of definitive answer.

Well, there’s not much more to say at the moment, so, see what you come up with…

Published on Jul 23, 2012 by pshift7

貢井區蓮花鎮鎮政府門前的河岸邊站滿了當地居民，路過附近的居民們也紛紛只住了腳步，居民們的雙眼死盯著腳下只有五六米寬的河面。這麼多人站在河邊看什麼呢？原來一出奇特­的景象正在居民們的腳下發生——河水中開出了「蓮花」。

流傳：因為鎮上河中會開出「蓮花」所以先輩們將鎮名取為「蓮花鎮」

「我活了這麼多年了，這還是頭一次看到這種景象。」84歲的當地居民盧楚雲感嘆道，「那麼難得遇到的景象，我居然看到了，真是有幸啊！」盧楚雲說，之前他聽自己的長輩說起­過，在很久以前，河中曾出現過開「蓮花」的景象，但他的長輩們也從來沒有親眼見到過。「由於流傳著河中開『蓮花』的傳說，所以，我們的長輩們把從鎮上流過的這條沒有名字的­河稱為：蓮花河。」

57歲的當地居民肖發君告訴記者，他也聽自己的父親說起過，河中開「蓮花」一事，「那可是一百年不遇的喲！」肖發君說，父親在十多年前已經離開了人世，「要是我父親還在世­的話，現在已經有100多歲了。」肖發君的父親曾給其講起過關於蓮花鎮的由來，「我父親告訴我，就是因為鎮上的河中會開出『蓮花』，所以先輩們才將這個地方取名叫『蓮花鎮­』。」肖發君補充道，「是不是真的，如今已經很難考證。但經過今天我親眼所見後，我相信了關於蓮花鎮的傳說。」

解密：目前還沒能得出科學解釋

對於，蓮花河中開出「蓮花」現象的科學解釋，記者諮詢了不少當地居民，但居民們都不知道具體原因。隨後，記者帶著疑問，諮詢了相關部門，在相關部門中也未能得到具體的解釋­。關於蓮花河中開出「蓮花」現象的科學解釋。
——————————————————————————-
In Sichuan province, these lotus flower patterns began appearing in a river on July 13th. They seem to grow out of nowhere, but every few minutes, they form these distinct lotus flower shapes — complete with white petals. The remarkable phenomena happened again six days later (19.07.2012).

Interestingly enough, this river is called Lotus River, and the town — you guessed it, Lotus County. Apparently the river was known for producing these lotus flowers in ancient times.

The incredible “lotus flowers” have baffled locals. Some say they’re simply oil patches in the water, others say it’s nothing short of a miracle.
——————————————————————————-

蓮花是佛的象徵。
朵朵蓮花從河底上升到河面，寓意眾佛從最髒的底層已經達到潔淨的高層。
河中的蓮花最初的形狀是圓形，象徵歸源，表示回到生命源頭的地方。
然後蓮花的形狀從圓形變成了蓮花形狀，寓意生命回到源頭時將會成佛。
眾多蓮花逐一出現，寓意有許多生命將會成佛。
蓮花鎮，蓮花河 開出「蓮花」
巧合嗎？非也。
是神的特意安排。
蓮花鎮，蓮花河 開出「蓮花」寓意三花碰頭。
碰頭也叫聚首。首為人的頭部，也即頂部。
三花聚首，即三花聚頂。
三花聚頂是世間法修煉的最後一個過程，之後就是出世間法的狀態。
此現象寓意眾佛即將出世。
蓮花顯現後，保持一段時間最後消失了。
象徵眾佛離開人間，功德圓滿，成就正果。

http://blog.boxun.com/hero/201207/morishenpan/7_1.shtml

And also watch this English language news report.

Published on Jul 26, 2012 by NTDTV

In traditional Chinese culture, lotus flowers are symbols for purity. They grow out of muddy waters yet maintain their beauty. But very rarely do we see this kind of lotus flower.

In Sichuan province, these lotus flower patterns began appearing in a river on July 13th. They seem to grow out of nowhere, but every few minutes, they form these distinct lotus flower shapes — complete with white petals. The remarkable phenomena happened again six days later.

Interestingly enough, this river is called Lotus River, and the town — you guessed it, Lotus County. Apparently the river was known for producing these lotus flowers in ancient times.

The incredible “lotus flowers” have baffled locals. Some say they’re simply oil patches in the water, others say it’s nothing short of a miracle.

Peace.

Soylent Green. Made In China. As We Speak.

The following report is reprinted from Yahoo! News, because you need to know; and no one clicks my links.

South Korea seizes capsules containing powdered flesh of dead babies

By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow – 18 hrs ago

A baby in China wears a protective face mask (AP/Kin Cheung)

The South Korean government revealed Monday that it recently seized thousands of capsules filled with the powdered flesh of dead babies. Reportedly, some people believe the powder has medicinal purposes and was created in northeastern China.

South Korea has reportedly been reluctant to criticize China directly over the incident, out of fears of creating diplomatic friction with the country. But the process by which the powder is allegedly created is one of the most disturbing stories imaginable.

According to the Korea Customs Service, the bodies of dead babies are chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder. The customs officials have refused to say exactly where the babies come from or who is responsible for making the capsules.

China has already been in the spotlight over activist Chen Guangcheng, whose work involves protesting the government’s sterilization and forced abortion policies. It was recently reported that China is working to “soften“ its one-child policy slogans, though not the actual policy itself.

Last year, Chinese officials ordered an investigation into the manufacturing of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborn babies. Nonetheless, South Korean officials said in a statement they have discovered 35 smuggling attempts since last August, during which 17,450 capsules labeled as “stamina boosters” were discovered. Rather than containing any inherent medicinal properties, the capsules are said to contain dangerous bacteria and other harmful, unspecified ingredients.

Amazingly, none of the smugglers have been arrested in the various confiscations because the South Korean customs officials said the amounts of human flesh contained in the capsules were too small and were not intended for direct sale. The smugglers claimed to have no knowledge of the human flesh content, saying they believed the capsules were ordinary stamina-boosting pills.

I have known for a long time that the perceptions held by the Chinese and apparently Asia at large are radically different from the perceptions and views I am familiar with and that human life does not have quite the same meaning or value.

But this is… repulsive.

And no one is going to be arrested. Of this I am quite certain.

Some of this profoundly ignorant belief in the magical properties of various substances was touched on in my post long ago on the extraction of bodily fluids from bears under conditions such that the bears were driven to commit suicide. Yes, bears. Asian “medicine” (read: superstition) also feels that if whatever they’re seeking is extracted while the creature is alive…  then it is even more powerful. Right. Ignorance!

Before my near-suicidal depression drives me to blustering foolishness, however, I’d best say right now that the superstition would appear to be not completely universal, seeing, obviously, as how the South Korean authorities did indeed confiscate these abominations, so, there is that. Which is good. But…

These Pills Are Made Out Of People!

Babies!

But we won’t mention the jaw-droppingly lame excuse given by the customs officials. Somewhat telling, isn’t it?

Odd… The weird and discounted Fortean story of the Dropa just popped itself up in the midst of trying to fathom how people could think that chopping up dead baby bodies into little pieces so theyd dry out faster is perfectly mundane.

Maybe they really ARE  aliens…

Creepy.

Peace.

North Korea Has No Oil – And It’s Far Away.

There are two dozen concentration camps in North Korea called “Total Control Zones.” Two dozen. They’re not kidding about the designation. They started up in the 1950s and hold, all estimates say, at least 200,000 and probably more like 300,000 prisoners. Hidden in remote valleys between mountains, each one covers around 70 to 100 square kilometers. They are farms. They are mining operations. They are factories. Out of those well-maintained population levels, only two people have successfully escaped. In sixty years. Think about that.

If you are in one, you are there for life. Your family are there with you, or will be shortly. Five of your neighbor’s families will be there, too. Three generations worth. You will work 18 hours a day. Every day. You will get 200 grams of corn gruel to eat for the day. If you completed your task, that is. You will be beaten and tortured, frequently, on someone’s random whim. You might be taken away on a specific and official order for you – and your family – to be transferred to and used  at one of the places designated as a “Ward” for biochemical and biomedical experimentation. While the scientists watch you all die through the glass walls and roof of your test chamber.

The governments of the world, especially the United States and South Korea, are complicit in these operations.

They do not participate directly (as far as we know, but more on that in an upcoming thread) but offer the regime tremendous amounts of aid to carry on. They have done so for decades. They know exactly what happens there. They know exactly what happens to the aid. [Seventy five percent of the food goes the the army. Twenty five percent is sold on the black market.] They do not care. They care only about the regime’s nuclear weapons. Although the fear of the possible devastation that could be wreaked by the psychopathic Kim Jong Il is understandable on a level or two, the humanity in me still asks… Why? Well, folks, as it is so often said…

This just in… As I’m writing this thread a bit of positive news has come in… according to LiNK: Liberty in North Korea, South Korean officials are pressuring China to not forcefully send 35 refugees back to North Korea. Two of them reportedly already hold South Korean nationality. More here: http://j.mp/oHXPah. [China is a long-time supporter of the regime. But what about the tens of thousands of other refugees? – Ed.]

Back to the matter at hand… here is an excellent and powerful documentary that discusses the concerns noted above the update. While a government guided tour will not tell us much besides a good indication of the level of mental conditioning that the North Koreans exist under, the filmmakers go well beyond that… and even piss off a general! So fearful the North Koreans are of foreigners – and of what those foreigners might inadvertently see.

“Access Of Evil,” A Film by BBC This World.

Access of Evil

59:15 – 5 years ago

BBC This World documentary, follows crew across North Korea on a gov’t guided tour. With Korean 한굴 subtitles.

Chongqing Skies Host Odd UFO Meet

From the website english.eastday.com, a Shanghai concern, comes this UFO report. Not much to it, really, but a half hour of hovering was pretty nice of it… wonder if there are any other photos around.

I actually posted it mainly for the reason that I simply think it’s looks are pretty deviant from your normal saucer. “Normal saucer” ha! What’s that? A triangle? They don’t really make discs anymore. Long-time readers will know of my fondness for rectangular and cubic forms, but hey, I think this one just looks cool. Kind of like two caterpillars meeting up and shooting the breeze…

Maybe it is two objects… transferring energy, data, whatever. There certainly does seem to be quite a bit of energy there, I mean, that’s quite a lot of light being emitting. Anyway, it’s 4am and I’m really just distracting myself from thoughts of imminent personal economic collapse, so, here ya go… enjoy.

UFO hovers over Chongqing for half an hour

2009-08-28 08:49

At about 10 pm on the evening of August 23, a UFO appeared in the sky above Beibei Binjiang Road in Chongqing.

At about 10 pm on the evening of August 23, a UFO appeared in the sky above Beibei Binjiang Road in Chongqing. The UFO was “V” shaped and its color changed in the order of red, blue, green, yellow and white at short intervals. Hundreds of people watched but no one heard any sound produced by engines or propulsion equipment.

During the half hour that the UFO appeared, a civil airplane passed by. Witnesses compared the civil airplane to the UFO and discovered that the UFO was obviously flying at a higher attitude.

After hovering for about half an hour, the periphery of the UFO began to twinkle and then it disappeared in the night sky.

At about 10 pm on the evening of August 23, a UFO appeared in the sky above Beibei Binjiang Road in Chongqing.

Source:People Daily Online

Holy Floating Boulders, Batman!

And now for something completely different, the floating rock UFO of Gushan, China.

This image set has been storming around the net for a couple days now and understandably so… after all we don’t get many UFOs shaped like boulders. Plus it’s from the always enigmatic land of China, giving it that extra spicy flavor. There doesn’t appear to be any MSG added, or not much at least, but it’s hard to tell as the only site I’ve seen linked along with it is this one, and it’s in Chinese. I haven’t copied it into a translator yet, but I am pretty sure it likely just has the usual things said in these reports. A site is actually referenced in the article, http://www.dnkb.com.cn, but I couldn’t find it on there. I’ll do that in a minute…

I’ve not blown it up, either, but at the magnification above there is some artifacting around the object, which might indicate sloppy Photoshopping or it could just be from the camera recording the scene as a JPG file.

So, assuming for now that all is on the up and up with this image, the question is what is it? A stealth probe, perhaps, seeking a nice unobtrusive spot to monitor the activities of this village? Why would the operators do that? Seems a pretty innocuous place to me judging solely by the location picture below… not the home of the ruling elite, that’s for sure. Kind of an interesting expression on the face of the dude in the photo.

Or maybe it’s the shot of the century – capturing a unique, non-burning, slow-moving meteor about to hit the earth? Don’t see any strings… Could it be a new, improved, high-tech version of the Chinese lanterns so popular in the UK? Weird.

Just ran the article through, and according to Google Translate, here’s what it says… well, sort of… Google seems to have had some difficulty with nuance and such…

Gushan mysterious flying objects (Photo)

UFO photos on what is in the end? True or false? Does any other day is also Gushan readers? We can log in East Express Network (www.dnkb.com.cn) download the image analysis or through our hotline 0591-87806110 express your views.

Gushan inadvertently climb took a landscape photo of a home, the photos of Gushan was floating over a UFO the same as a rock!

Other day, ground-based meteorological observation Fuzhou weather observer group in the finishing photo Gang Hao, a pleasant surprise.

Gang Hao said that the photos were taken at 15:34 on July 19, he took Gushan Valley of积翠Um. The same day, he and his family accidentally shot climbing photo, the photo was not found this strange flying objects, until two days later, he organize photos on your computer, picture zoom in when found.

“Camera is the Canon SX110IS camera fool ordinary machines, photo did not undergo any post-processing. Based on analysis of photos the sky, the clouds should be about 1300 meters short and broken cumulus clouds, and the Weather Bureau recorded the same observation, the weather for sunny, high visibility, therefore, photographs can be seen clearer. “Gang Hao said that the photos under the 2 / 3 are trees and mountains, on the 1 / 3 for the sky, the trees in the photos the central junction of smoke and the sky a UFO, submitted under the small cone large column, looks like stone.

Gang Hao that he is doing as a result of meteorological observations, discovered the pictures after the unidentified object, also conducted at the time recalled the scene, and speculations. He said the UFO Um积翠should be located in the northeast ridge above ridge Department 500 meters above sea level should be about the size of objects is estimated that about 5 meters in diameter.

The discovery of the pictures after the unidentified object, Gang Hao also very puzzled, he showed a few colleagues, friends. Is a flying saucer? Is the detector? Or just ordinary stones up? As we all tell a所以然to.

Yesterday, the Gang Hao contact reporters, decided to show photos, I would like to quickly search through the East informed a friend, to identify this UFO is in the end.

Gushan UFO 4 large guess

Conjecture I: UFO?

Second guess:飞起blasting the rocks? Conjecture III: Book release a Hung Ming lantern or a balloon? Conjecture IV: PS picture?

Gang Hao colleagues said most of the UFO, such as the flying saucer. Can image objects with the most common we hear a great difference between UFO shape.

Second guess:飞起blasting the rocks?

Gang Hao a friend that is飞起blasting of rocks, large rocks nearby, and its shape is also the most like a rock. But the problem is to make such large pieces of rock off, which the power of the blast how ah! Certainly can feel when taking pictures, but did not feel abnormal at the time Gang Hao.

Conjecture III: Book release a Hung Ming lantern or a balloon?

Balloon release a Hung Ming lantern and a friend of the suspect is the most bizarre. “I have a best friend does not believe in such as UFO, he was even considered to be mischievous, to release a Hung Ming lantern or paste has become a strange balloon shape, and then placed in heaven.”

Conjecture IV: PS picture?

But it was also suggested that photographs of the UFO seems to no buzz, this photo will not be too PS by others?

Army reporter施焕

Actually, that’s a pretty reasonable report, don’t you think? It notes the lantern and Photoshop theories and notes as well that there was in fact blasting in the area, although the dude says that that wasn’t going on when he snapped it.

I kinda like my stealth monitor theory… seeking out a nice rock garden to carefully position itself in order to watch the activities of the town’s workers. Hehe.

Well, that’s pretty much it… and ultimately, as in all things Fortean, it’s up to each of us to come up with our own ‘likely suspect.’

Aw, Me Dino’s Gone All Fuzzy, Mate.

Hey, an exciting pushback of dogmatic dates has occurred, dinosaur fossils having been discovered in China that sport fuzzy, bristly “proto-feathers” in select areas at a much earlier time than thought. The BBC report excerpt is below… it conjures up some fascinating scenes of what could have been.

The critters in this image from the science journal Nature look pretty good with a mane on, don’t you think? Makes you want to hop into a Tardis, it does me at least, even with my strong trepidation regarding opening the door to a 3 meter long Eurypterid. Really. That wouldn’t be good. They’re slightly more dangerous than the ones that Saudi dude ate…

Fossil hints at fuzzy dinosaurs
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

A discovery in China has prompted researchers to question the scaly image of dinosaurs.

Previously, experts thought the first feathered dinosaurs appeared about 150 million years ago, but the find suggests feathers evolved much earlier.

This has raised the question of whether many more of the creatures may have been covered with similar bristles, or “dino-fuzz”.

The team describe the fossil in the journal Nature.

Hai-Lu You, a researcher from the Insitute of Geology in Beijing, was part of the team that discovered the fossil.

He told BBC News he was “very excited” when he realised the significance of what his team had found.

He described the filaments seen on the body of the new dinosaur, which the team has named Tianyulong confuciusi, as “protofeathers” – the precursors of modern feathers.

“Their function was probably display, as well as to keep the body warm” he said.

Dr You’s team noticed that the filaments on the base of their dinosaur’s tail were extremely long.

These, they suggest, might have evolved for show, and may even have been coloured.

“The world of dinosaurs would [have been] more colourful and active than we previously imagined,” he said.
[…] Continue reading this article.