China Bans Imports Of Food From 10 Of Japan's Prefectures

China's customs announced Friday to ban imports of food from Japan's Fukushima and nine other prefectures, as that country makes final preparations for dumping 1.25 million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea. 

 

In fact, they have been vigilant on the issue of radioactive contamination of Japanese food imported to China ever since the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. 

 

They had slammed the International Atomic Energy Agency for giving approval to the plan to dump contaminated water from the nuclear plant into the ocean. 

 

Chinese customs authorities maintained that IAEA had "failed to fully reflect the opinions of all experts involved in the evaluation and the conclusions have not been unanimously recognized by all parties". It is claimed that there are still many issues related to the legitimacy of Japan's dumping plan such as the reliability of the purification equipment, and the completeness of the monitoring plan. 

 

As for food products from other regions in Japan, especially aquatic products, (including edible aquatic animals), they added that strict examination of the accompanying documents will be conducted, and an absolute inspection will be implemented. 

 

China’s General Administration of Customs assured Chinese consumers concerned about the safety of imported Japanese food that continuous efforts are being made to strengthen the detection and monitoring of radioactive substances from potentially high-risk products entering China. 

 

I have a suggestion. Since Japan swears the water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is "safe", why don't they use it to irrigate their own rice fields instead?

900 Diamond Books And Counting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve reached another milestone. 

 

Yup, nine hundred “The Diamond in Your Speech” books have flown off the shelves, leaving us with just one hundred copies! 

 

Oops, sorry, that’s not entirely true because we’ve already been re-supplied with an additional 500 copies – our 3rd reprint – meaning, it’s 600 books we now have to sell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For sure, we’ll take a longer time to get rid of this stack of books – but it doesn’t matter because it’s a damn good book, and so, we should expect to carry on selling.

Philippines Tourism Advert Uses Footage From Other Countries

Be careful with tourism ads that popularize holiday destinations because they are not always what they depict. 

 

The advertising agency behind the Philippine government's 49 million pesos (nearly $900,000) "Love The Philippines" tourism campaign launched on June 27 had to ask for pardon after their Pilipinas promotional video showed "non-original" stock footage from other countries. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, the DDB Philippines agency released a statement and said they "profusely" apologised to the country's Tourism Secretary and the Department of Tourism, as well as the people of the Philippines. 

 

The clip featured many different shots that showed the Tegallalang Rice Terrace in Ubud in Bali, Indonesia and sand dunes in Cumbuco in northeastern Brazil as well as footage of a man riding a buggy in the desert in the United Arab Emirates. 

 

Explaining the mishap, the agency said: "While the use of stock footage in mood videos is standard practice in the industry, the use of foreign stock footage was an unfortunate oversight on our agency's part. 

 

Proper screening and approval processes should have been strictly followed. The use of foreign stock footage in a campaign promoting the Philippines is highly inappropriate, and contradictory to the DOT's objectives". 

 

The DOT released a statement on Monday and said they stand in "solidarity" with "fellow Filipinos" in their outrage over the matter. The department said they remain "fully committed" to developing and promoting the country as a "powerhouse of natural wonders, culture and heritage, and a fount of warmth and hospitality which is a source of great love and pride for all Filipinos". 

 

Blogger Sass Rogando Sasot, who also uncovered the use of other countries in the video, called out the agency and said "at least four scenes" were stock footage – which included shots from Thailand, Indonesia and Dubai. 

 

"When the people in the government and mainstream media didn't realise that the rice terraces and airport in the #LoveThePhilippines aren't in the PH, it means one thing: they themselves do not know our country... and you cannot truly love what you don't know", Rogando Sasot said in a Facebook post.

 

Tourism is a key industry in the Philippines, which boasts pristine dive spots and white sand beaches, but arrivals lag those of its neighbors due to poor infrastructure and high costs. There were 2.7 million inbound tourists to the Philippines last year, down 68 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to United Nations' World Tourism Organisation data.

Russian Military Hardware

Military hardware deployed by Russian forces against aggressor Ukraine:

 

 

 

Note: The above is, by no means, exhaustive.

Mahathir Mohamad Questions Multiracialism

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad (right) on Monday claimed that promoting multiracialism is against the Federal Constitution, which he alleged instead endorses the “Malayness” of the country. 

 

I don't intend to waste precious words on him because it'll be a pure waste of my time. Who doesn't know that Mahathir is a ranting shock jock?! 

 

Chips are vital for everything from smartphones and self-driving cars to advanced computing and weapons manufacturing. 

 

And in the name of national security, the US government last October unveiled a set of export controls banning Chinese companies from buying advanced chips and chip-making equipment without a license. But it didn’t stop there. 

 

For the curbs to be effective, Washington needed other key suppliers, located in the Netherlands and Japan, to join. They did. 

 

China eventually retaliated. In April, it launched a cybersecurity probe into Micron Technology, one of America’s biggest memory chipmakers, before banning the company from selling to Chinese companies working on key infrastructure projects one month later. 

 

On Monday, Beijing imposed export controls on two strategic raw materials, gallium and germanium, that are critical to the global chipmaking industry. 

 

FYI, China is the world’s leading producer of both gallium and germanium, according to the US Geological Survey. The country accounted for 98% of the global production of gallium, and 68% of the refinery production of germanium. 

 

But according to CNN Business, the move is not considered “a death blow” to the United States and its allies. China may be the industry leader, but there are alternative producers, as well as available substitutes for both minerals. 

 

The United States also imports a fifth of its gallium from the United Kingdom and Germany and buys more than 30% of its germanium from Belgium and Germany. 

 

In any case, the United States and China are already immersed in a tit-for-tat chip war. And it is escalating.

More From Leigh Rubin

Get ready again for a dose of laughter and fun with Leigh Rubin! I last featured him in my blog – “Rubes Cartoons” dated October 29, 2022. 

 

He's an accomplished author and cartoonist known for his talent for creating humorous and light-hearted comics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rubin declares: "I love the constant daily challenge of creation. To be sure, some days are easier than others, but to be able to bring a smile or laugh to so many people every day is incredibly gratifying. Of course, it’s especially fun to have multiple layers in a cartoon. If a person has to think for a bit to get the joke, I think it provides a much more rewarding experience. It allows the reader to experience an 'AHA!' moment. I believe it’s important to allow the reader to contribute some of their imagination to get the joke".

Real Piggy Banks

Rachel Lewis from Arizona, USA is not your typical taxidermist – she transforms dead piglets into real piggy banks. 

 

The thirty-eight-year-old mom of two told SWNS her pre-order list has become so long since she began the project in May. 

 

“I thought a piggy bank would be really cute to do”, Lewis explained. “I tried to figure out how to make it work where it would hold the weight of change and be fully functional”. 

 

Lewis was a hairdresser until about four years ago, when she found her passion for taxidermy while taking a class on the art of preserving an animal’s body. She was inspired by her husband, who is a hunter. 

 

“He also cleans skulls for other hunters”, Lewis shared. “I’ve helped him with that, and I always wanted to be a mortician growing up". 

 

"When I was helping him with the skulls, I decided to take a taxidermy class”, she continued. 

 

Now she has her own business, Copper State Taxidermy, which boasts many creations, including life-sized bobcats and badgers. 

 

Working on this piggy bank was especially “labor intensive”, as it had to go through a special process, she explained. 

 

“Instead of making a traditional foam form it had to be altered, cut in half, hollowed out, and the insides finished”, she noted. 

 

Lewis said her two young children “fell in love” with the piggy bank and enjoyed putting money into it. But she ended up selling it for $750! Her other piglets typically go for $350. 

 

“I listed it high because I didn’t mind keeping it, but obviously someone else fell in love with it”, she said. 

 

She revealed that particular pig was stillborn, which she explained happens a lot with pigs and goats, as their mothers can “roll over and crush them”. She claimed she gets most of her animals from local farms. 

 

“It’s sad”, Lewis said. “The farmers said they would just bury them on the property or that they’d just be waste”. 

 

“I feel like they get to live a second life, especially this little piggy in particular who someone fell in love with”, she continued. “It’s kinda cool”. 

 

Now, she’s aiming to make more piggy banks, with plans to transform a larger pig as well. 

 

“I’ll definitely keep one for me and my kids to keep”, she added. 

 

She isn’t the only taxidermist getting creative lately. 

 

In 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, a UK taxidermist, Jack Devaney decided to make a “high-five machine” out of rat legs for people who missed high-fiving their friends and family members. He called them “Pawtable High Five Machines”. 

 

And, last year, when an Australian family lost their beloved golden retriever, they hired a taxidermist to turn him into a rug. 

 

 

Taliban Achieves What US Couldn’t Do With Opium

The Taliban has reportedly accomplished in one year what America’s "war on drugs" failed to pull off in five decades: Eliminating the vast majority of Afghanistan’s opium output. 

 

Since the Taliban banned poppy (Scientific name: Papaver somniferum) farming nationwide in April 2022, Afghanistan has carried out “the most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history”, UK’s Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday. Afghan poppy production has dropped by an estimated 80% in the past year, the report said. Poppy cultivation has plunged by more than 99%, to around 2,500 acres, in Helmand province, which British troops occupied for much of the 20-year, US-led war in Afghanistan. 

 

The Telegraph noted that no such supply reductions were achieved during Washington’s 50-year war on drugs, including two decades of US presence in Afghanistan. The Central Asian country historically accounts for more than 80% of global opium production and 95% of European opioid supplies. The United Nations, among other observers, has raised concern that the resulting shortfall could lead to more use of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, which are potentially even more dangerous than heroin. 

 

With the US in control of Afghanistan in 2004, the Washington-backed government in Kabul set a goal of eliminating poppy cultivation within ten years. Instead, cultivation and output actually rose during the US occupation, even as American taxpayers reportedly spent at least $9 billion to eradicate the industry. 

 

And if you didn’t already know, the US Central Intelligence Agency has a long history of involvement in the narcotics trade. In fact, a US State Department report in 1991 found that covert CIA operations in Afghanistan had transformed the region from a “self-contained opium zone into a major supplier of heroin for the world market”. 

 

To add insult to injury, the US government’s United States Institute of Peace, last month, had the cheek to fault the Taliban for being too successful in slashing opium output. 

 

“The temptation to view the current ban in an overly positive light – as an important global counter-narcotics victory – must be avoided”, the institute claimed. “This is particularly true given the state of Afghanistan’s economy and the country’s humanitarian situation. Indeed, the ban imposes huge economic and humanitarian costs on Afghans and it is likely to further stimulate an outflow of refugees”.

The World’s Largest Working iPhone

A US YouTuber had posted a video of a fully-functional giant iPhone he built from scratch. The model of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple's highest-specced phone, astonishingly measures a staggering 8 feet. 

 

Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Beem carried the phone in a cart to the streets of New York to showcase its features. The display of the device has been built by using the touch-enabled screens of televisions, which is connected to a Mac Mini. Beem has also added a volume button and button for music to his astounding creation. 

 

In the YouTube video posted on his channel, Beem shares the process of constructing the massive iPhone. He begins by building a sturdy metal frame that will act as the foundation of the enormous device. Then, he replicates the design of the iPhone, giving the surface of his device a matte finish, to reflect the light, and feature functional buttons. 

 

Beem and his team focussed on the display, adding a laser to it to give the device a touch a realism. The Mac Mini allows the device to run the same applications commonly used on iPhones. And it also offers a seamless user experience despite its colossal size. 

 

The giant phone also has cameras, including the one in front for selfies. But Beem showed how difficult it is to take a selfie on his device. He asked one of his teammates to tap the camera button while he jumped to register himself in the frame.

 

Beem's effort led him to break the existing record held by another YouTuber named ZHC, who had built a 6-foot iPhone in 2020.