China starts recall system for food, toys

Beset by safety scandals, Beijing says it will begin requiring manufacturers to stop production and alert the public when defects are found.
August 31 2007: 3:45 PM EDT
BEIJING (AP) -- -- China's first nationwide recall system for unsafe food and toys came into effect Friday in one of the strongest steps taken by Beijing to clean up the country's scandal-hit manufacturing industry.
China, a major global supplier, has been facing growing international pressure to improve the quality of its exports after dangerous toxins - from lead to an antifreeze ingredient - were found in goods, including toys and toothpaste.
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At home, scares have centered around fake milk powder that led to the deaths of at least a dozen babies and the use of the banned cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red, to color egg yolks.
The recall systems, put in place by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, follow an earlier system set up for defective cars in 2005.
They require manufacturers to stop production and sales, notify vendors and customers, and report to quality control authorities when defects are found.
The administration oversees all products made in China and the measure appears to be targeted at goods manufactured for both domestic and global consumption.
The administration said food producers should voluntarily recall any potentially harmful products and investigate immediately. It will force a recall and issue a consumer alert if manufacturers fail to take actions or if a food safety incident occurs, the administration said.
The toy recall system requires producers to stop making and selling toys that are confirmed to have problems, even if the products are made in accordance with Chinese laws and standards, the agency said.
It will "provide a powerful legal weapon for protection of children's health and life safety," the administration said.
While authorities were initially reluctant to address the issue, the government has launched several sweeping measures in recent weeks focused on cleaning up shoddy manufacturing practices and cracking down on illegal businesses at the heart of recent safety scandals.
Chinese-made toys came under new scrutiny this summer after a series of high-profile recalls by Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy maker.
Blame U.S. too, China says
The latest centered around 18.2 million Batman figures, Polly Pocket dolls and Barbie play sets, which were pulled from the shelves because of a revision of international standards in May that required safety warnings for toys with magnets or magnetic components not attached tightly.
Another 436,000 "Sarge" cars, based on a character from the movie "Cars," were also recalled because they contained lead.
Two weeks earlier, Mattel ordered a global recall on 1.5 million Fisher-Price infant toys that were made in China because of lead-contaminated paint. In June, about 1.5 million Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys, imported from China and distributed by the RC2 Corp., were recalled also because of lead paint.
Chinese officials have said Mattel should share a large part of the blame because of insufficient inspections and poor designs on its part.
The safety administration also announced Friday that it had detected harmful pine wood parasites in 13 batches of wooden packages used for U.S.-imported goods this year.
Daimler, BMW may sue over China 'copycats'
China has increased the number of announcements of substandard imports in recent weeks in an apparent effort to show that other countries also have problems with quality.
The European Commission said Friday that the European Union's food safety chief, Markos Kyprianou, will meet with Chinese officials from Sept. 6 to Sept. 14 to talk about ways to help them track down problem products.
The EU's executive arm said the meeting with Li Changjiang, the head of the Chinese governmental agency for quality supervision, inspection and quarantine, would discuss Chinese seafood - where U.S. and European authorities have found high doses of a carcinogenic antibiotic given to farmed fish - as well as protein-rich animal feed contaminated with melamine, a toxic industrial chemical.

On the Lot

I was first exposed to the fine craft of filmmaking back in the Summer of 1985, as I accompanied my cousin, Philippine actor and senator Bong Revilla, around Metro Manila in the Philippines as he starred in up to three films at one time. Back then, my grandfather was the manager of the family's studio, Imus Productions, and he always encouraged me to go with Bong on a shooting. Finally, I took him up on the offer and climbed into Bong's green Ford Econoline van. I had never been exposed to any kind of on scene location shooting until that summer. Fresh out of high school, I was naive to most things that had anything to do with making movies, and I am still to this day for the jmost part. The scene I remember the most involved Bong getting roughed up and taken to a "safe house" where he was roughed up some more. I watched an actress do an assault scene in a room that was full of lights and filled with sound people, the director and a very old Panavision camera, yet her performance seemed very real to me. I think this is where I started my affinity with filipina women.

After several shots until the take, she got up and joined us for some catered food, which at the time was the funnest part of what were long days and nights in and around Manila. From watching the scene with the actress and accompanying my cousin day after day for a month, I had a new found respect for those people who make movies. It is hard work no matter where you are and what you do to contribute to the art.

Which brings me to the latest reality show, On the Lot. The premise is like any other reality show, but with those of dreams of directing. The show has been tasked to determine who are good filmmakers and find the best one of the lot. It premiered last night, and I was able to catch a few minutes of the show. Judged by Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner and Garry Marshall, the show will pick a winner and give them a $1 million deal to make a movie. Last night was the first episode, and 14 of the 50 contestants were eliminated, and this is from the thousands that submitted their films to be considered. Each of the 50 had to pitch a movie based on a few sentences provided by the judges. Well it didn't go too well for some, who either froze on the stage or pitched their movie in a few words or less, with no actual thought to the story. It was truly sad, with some of the contestants in tears. Others walked on the stage exuding confidence, came up with a viable story line and plot and were sent to the next round. There was some brutal and honest advice from the three judges and the elimination rounds have begun. For those who aspire to make movies, this is poised to be an interesting reality show to watch. The show left with the contestants in groups of three, tasked to write, shoot, and edit a movie in 24 hours. Next week promises to bring even more reality as they begin filming and cutting their movies.

Overseas Phone Cards

I've been getting a call at my home office from a gal in the Philippines who has been trying to sell me an overseas phone card, essentially a calling card that you pay for in advance so you can call the Philippines without worrying about racking up a phone bill (and I know about racking up bills, I once ran a bill into the thousands of dollars and got kicked out of the house for it). What bothers me is not so much the girl calling, which she has called three times, but her asking me personal questions, such as what is my email address, do I have a wife, etc. I am not so much angry at her, but more so I am angry at the country that is so rich yet many of its people are so poor. In her calls, she gets a bit personal, asking me if I've been to Bicol region where she is calling from (I haven't) or if I've been to Palawan (I have), how old I am, that sort of thing. I freely answer the questions she poses, but I get the feeling that in her job, she must also be looking for a way out of the country. Because although there is high fashion, fancy cars and gated communities, there is also corruption, loose moral values, and there is extreme poverty. I am not saying that I have the higest moral values, because although I would like to believe that I do, I don't, though there are certain standards that I'd like to maintain, and not in a monetary sense.

For every person who does well and finds a decent job at a living wage, there are thousands of others who look to escape what is a beautiful country. I don't think that the average filipino really knows what a great country it could be, given the appropriate leadership. The filipino though finally woke up and decided not to vote for movie stars this election, which is a good thing because I don't see what if anything those people have accomplished while in office, except maybe Vilma Santos. I even came across a blog advertising jobs in Iraq for Filipinos. They were paying $80,000 just to drive a truck in Iraq. Imagine that. That's a freaking good salary here in the US. Imagine 80k in the Philippines. Will they go for the carrot dangled in front of them in exchange for putting their life on the line? Many have.

Which brings me back to this girl. Even though I am happily married, I am still drawn to the filipina voice. Some have voices that are so magiling parang soothing when you hear it, but there are others that are really just annoying. I have an aunt who has the most annoying voice that you'd ever hear, but then one of my cousins has that voice. The girl on the other end of the line has that kind of voice, so I entertain her, answer her silly questions, just to keep her on the line to listen to that voice. And she doesn't seem to mind because it isn't her dime (or peso), but PLDT's, and who owns PLDT anyway, some Malayasian or Indonesian Chinese who has nothing better to do but pay shitty salaries to filipina women with lovely voices.

Baby makes 5

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged on this account. First I am a daddy again my baby girl, juliana rai montero virata was born march 6 2007. That makes her about 2 1/2 months right now. She was born in Fountain Valley California and she is really cute. Really she is a cute cute baby, though I don't see the filipina in her as she is really white, like my eldest son. She has a cute button nose and a really nice smile, not to mention a dimple when she smiles. A real cutie. She breast feeds with her mom for the most part, but now that her mom is back to work, she gets bottle fed formula and breast milk that her mom pumps. I am the one to take care of her during the day as I still am fortunate enough to work from home. Hopefully that won't change for the next several years. We'll see. On another note, I am the last editor standing at my company. Yup, I was the first editor hired back in 1999 and am the last one standing. the last few, one quit to work somewhere else, another left as he was already working for another company while drawing a paycheck from the company, and the third one was laid off. Most of them had already lost interest and weren't producing what they were supposed to produce anyway so screw them.

And finally, I heard that my ex's mom had died of heart failure. The thing is, I haven't seen her or her mother since 1990, that was 17 years ago, but I can remember it as if it was just yesterday. I think though that she died of a sad heart as the day before she died, she found out that her husband has liver cancer. Such a freakin bummer as she was a great woman. Anyway, I had flowers sent and was informed that they caused a minor stir, with some asking who they were from and such. Oh well, I sent them with the purest of intentions. Rest in peace lola.

Summer is almost here and I find myself with some extra baggage, so I have renewed a pledge to get into good physical shape before the boys take off for summer break. I hope that they go to Hawaii so they don't get too bored, but who knows. I still have dreams of moving back to Hawaii, things are getting weird in the Golden State. We've got illegal immigrants DEMANDING citizenship. Imagine that, they come here illegally, cut in front of thousands of people who want to come here and demand citizenship, yet they wave the Mexican flag. And now the congress has come up with a plan to give them a path to citizenship, yet the Mexicans in Mexico thinks that it doesn't allow enough mexicans to come to this country. Hello? Mexicans aren't the only ones who want to come here. We don't have to provide them anything.

memory loss(ed)

AHHH, the Internet. It still really amazes me what the Internet can do and what it is; communication medium, super highway, library, shopping guide, entertainment tool. bacon maker. The Internet has been a lot to me for the past eight years. I've made my living on it. I've used it to window shop, look up old friends, and get entertained. It even has brought back a lot of old memories, looking at pictures of those you haven't seen for years. I even found an old friend's mugshot. It appears he had been in and out of a Florida prison, but has been out since 1996. I also found the booking information for another friend who apparently carjacked and robbed someone. He is now doing time. In prison. The big house.

I even saw photos of someone who was dear to me a long time ago. Sometimes though having access to such vast amounts of information can open up emotions that perhaps you might wanted to have remained a closed book, sometimes it gets you to thinking. That is what it has gotten me to do for almost a month now. I've remembered a lot of things just by looking at images on web pages. Unlike some of my friends who had wasted away their brains on controlled substances and such, and can't remember things that we'd done in our early adult lives, I still have a fairly good long term memory.

I can remember places I've been and people I've been with at those places, I can remember long conversations. Carving things on trees by the seashore in a foreign land. Vinh and Tip. Smoking after sex. Smoking Marijuana and no sex. you are useless virata. But now, I think my short term memory is shot. I can't even remember what I did last month. Is time flying? am I getting old? The Internet is like one big memory bank. While it holds a vast amount of current information, It is still empty when it comes to things that you might have done in the 80s or early 90s. Unless of course you fill those memory banks with data. The medium is still new. But what do you do? It is what it is.

In-n-Out Burger Bitches

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