Internet outrage has forced the dismissal of a senior Chinese Communist Party official after video footage from a restaurant security camera showed him shoving the father of an 11-year-old girl he had allegedly assaulted.
It was a moment that stirred fury among parents concerned for the child and touched a chord among the tens of millions of Chinese angered at abuse of power that has become increasingly blatant as prosperity has offered more opportunities for officials to profit from their positions.
Armies of netizens have taken part in numerous online manhunts in China in the past couple of years, but this appears to be the first time that a search by "human flesh engines" has resulted in the sacking of a senior government official and even a police investigation.
The incident began last week when a male diner at a seafood restaurant in the southern city of Shenzhen asked a young girl walking past his table to direct him to the lavatories. Closed-circuit television footage shows a pot-bellied man in a white shirt following a little girl with a ponytail across the room. A couple of minutes later the girl is seen running back alone.
Reports on the internet say the child told her parents that the man grabbed her by the neck and tried to force her into the toilets. She ran for help. The video shows her reappearing with her parents to look for the man. He returns to the dining room and into the frame, where he is seen shoving away the girl's father when challenged to explain his behaviour.
Even state media said that the man then shouted: "Yes, I did it. So what? How much to you want? Just tell me. I'll give you the money."
The two men argue and the older man points and tries to push away the father. He shouts: "Do you know who I am? I am from the Ministry of Transportation in Beijing. I have the same seniority as the mayor of your city. So what if I grabbed the neck of a small child? You people count for fart! If you dare challenge me, just wait and see how I will deal with you." When the father calls the police, the man leaves with his female companion.
Chinese websites reported that the police said the man had drunk too much, did not remember anything and, with no witnesses to the girl being assaulted, there was no evidence that he had behaved indecently.
An online furore soon led to his being tracked down and identified as Lin Jiaxiang, party secretary of the Shenzhen Maritime Bureau. Photos of Mr Lin, 58, receiving various government awards, including a commendation on behalf of his "Civilised Work Unit", were soon plastered across the internet.
He was dismissed on Monday. The Ministry of Transport party committee said that his "wild words and behaviour have had an extremely negative impact on society".
Online commentators were enraged about the incident. One wrote on the website sina.com: "It looks like organised crime and the Government should swap places. In this case organised crime seems more righteous than the Government."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2008 00:00 ||
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This incident has got CHINESE HOLLYWOOD + LIFETIME, ETC. MADE-FOR-TV-MOVIE all over it, ala LONG ISLAND LOLITA/AMY FISHER STORY > all thats missing is an abused or sexually frustrated wife, "attorney versus attorney" courtroom drama, + firing squad "All Men Must Die, ergo Its America's Fault" justice trailer at the end???
The long arm of the law didn't have to reach too far to arrest one Australian teenager, who was caught breaking into a police station in the early hours of Monday.
Officers working in the back of the police station in a suburb of the southern city of Adelaide heard the front door glass being smashed and found the 16-year old in the front hall.
"A teenage boy has discovered the quickest way of getting arrested is to break into a police station," South Australia state police said in a statement on its website.
About Aus$2 000 of damage was caused and the boy was denied bail, the statement said.
A police spokesperson added the youth did not give a reason for his actions, and may have had "a bit too much to drink".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2008 00:00 ||
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"Here, I'll just jimmy the lock here and . . . uh, oh! Oh ****! It's the Five-O! . . . How'd you dudes get here so fast?"
Posted by: Mike ||
11/05/2008 17:54 Comments ||
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According to his Web site, best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly on Nov. 4, in Los Angeles, after a courageous and private battle against cancer.
While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us -- and entertained us all while doing so -- his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes. He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.
Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.
He will be profoundly missed by those whose lives he touched, but he leaves behind the greatest gifts of a thirst for knowledge, the desire to understand, and the wisdom to use our minds to better our world.
Michael's family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time.
A private funeral service is expected, but no further details will be released to the public.
#6
Just a great author. No one tied science to engaging storylines like this guy. I will miss his work, especially on cross-country flights. RIP Michael.
An intrepid wallaby has escaped from its pen at an exotic zoo and gone on an 80km walkabout across eastern Canada, where he remained on the lam on Friday, zookeepers said. Wendell, a three-year-old Bennett's Red Necked wallaby, was reported missing on Wednesday after a storm toppled a tree, which destroyed the animal's pen at a facility near the capital Ottawa.
The animal, native to eastern Australia, and three others as well as a kangaroo, "just hopped out of their broken enclosure", Carla Saunders, co-owner of Saunders Country Critters and Garden Centre said.
But only Wendell strayed very far, she said. Indeed, Wendell was last spotted on Thursday evening 80km south-west of the Kemptville, Ontario zoo. "He's covered a lot of territory and crossed a major highway," she said.
Wallabies are not well-adapted to Canada's colder weather, "but Wendell's a bit chunky because he was well-fed, and there's a lot of leaves for food and snow for water for him" in Canada's outback, she said.
But Saunders expressed worry that Wendell is stressed, and may succumb to predators such as coyotes and wolves. As well, the wallaby's last tracks showed it was now travelling on all four paws, instead of hopping on its two hind legs, indicating it is tired, she said.
Saunders urged anyone who spots Wendell to grab him by the tail and stuff him in a pillow case. To the wallaby -- a marsupial closely related to a kangaroo -- it would feel like his mother's pouch.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Couldn't see much value in that one, tipper. Sorry. Drunk Limeys just aren't interesting; most of the ones I've met spend far too much time that way.
Michael Alix, the former chief risk officer at investment bank Bear Stearns Cos., which nearly collapsed in March, is now a senior official of the Federal Reserve division that supervises U.S. banks. The appointment is apt to raise questions because of the key role Alix played at Bear Stearns and given the Federal Reserve's role in Bear Stearns' sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) (JPM) after its breathtaking slide.
"That's incredible," said James Cox, a Duke University law professor and securities law expert. "This is not reassuring. ... What is there in this person's experience and skill package" that qualifies him for the Fed position? Maybe he needed a job?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The long arm of the law didn't have to reach too far to arrest one Australian teenager, who was caught breaking into a police station in the early hours of Monday. 
An intrepid wallaby has escaped from its pen at an exotic zoo and gone on an 80km walkabout across eastern Canada, where he remained on the lam on Friday, zookeepers said. Wendell, a three-year-old Bennett's Red Necked wallaby, was reported missing on Wednesday after a storm toppled a tree, which destroyed the animal's pen at a facility near the capital Ottawa.
