Well ok those things may be true. China does get a bad rap for a lot of things it doesn't deserve. But it's always nice to maintain decorum. no need for personal or ad-hominems. A lot of people don't know what's going otu there, including myself.
This time I actually have a link. :grin: <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080714095206/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2299785/China%27s-andpound4bn-drive-to-buy-Africa%27s-mineral-wealth.html">This article</a> in Britain's Daily Telegraph was written in 2008. The Congolese must have been happy: they signed a new deal with China in 2011. It's a full scale propaganda assault; and the lack of truth is seriously warping the minds of American decision makers. The Nazis would have smiled in recognition of what the U.S. is doing to China. Such a level of abuse is usually a preparation for war -- and both sides have nuclear weapons. Heh, I wasn't attacking leebigez; I was prodding his African conscience. (Okay, after he called me stupid, I did reply with somewhat intemperate language -- but only in that one instance.) Not surprising. The powers that be in the West do NOT want you to know, because the reality of what they have done (in Africa and elsewhere) is so horrific.
this is going to be unpopular, but why is Yao wasting time worrying about animals in Africa when there are major human rights violations occurring in his own country? http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/china
Because China's regime is much harder to break than a few poachers in southern africa. The problem of human rights issue goes farther and deeper than poaching. Yao would also be risking suicide both figurative and literal. Plus, most westerners care more about an animal than ai weiwei.
The trade in African rhino horns is not about the Chinese regime, any more than the trade in cocaine is about the U.S. regime. In both cases the poachers or smugglers are active because there is a market for their products. Yao is doing his best to ruin the market for rhino horns, and I respect him for trying.
Gotta love Yao for trying to save one giant specie at a time. I remembered he did some commercial speaking against the killing of sharks for their fins. Did that affect the shark fin market at all?
Here is hopefully a more readble version of my table above: Code: Year FG% Assists Rebounds Points Lin 2011-12 0.446 8.3 4.1 19.6 Francis 2000-01 0.451 5.8 6.2 17.9 I've added a "Year" column. Remember, these are per 36 minutes.
I don't know if Yao's efforts affected the shark fin market. But I don't understand why the sharks need to be protected anyway. As far as I'm concerned, the fewer of them there are, the less likely I'll get my leg chewed off when I'm swimming in the ocean.
Shark attacks are incredibly rare and there are around 5 fatalities in the world a year. Your much more likely to die falling off your bed (hundreds of times more likely) or even from using a toaster. Anyway I doubt Yao's efforts had much of an effect at all. A lot of sharks get killed as a result of bycatch.
It had to be protected bc some shark species were close to being extinct bc of an increased in ppl consumption, especially Chinese, of shark fins soup.
That is still 5 fatalities/year more than I want to see. I'm generally in favor of conservation, but sharks and mosquitoes are two species whose demise wouldn't sadden me. Maybe there's a good ecological reason for preserving the big, aggressive fish?
his body stopped him for completely completely ascending the ranks of rockets legendary players. but as a person he is, with amazing integrity, justice and commitment to taking advantage of his fame is easily my favourite Rocket Person.
With all due respect ( and yes, Leeb, and you, should have kept politics out of the GARM), could you be any more naive? China isn't doing what she's doing in Africa out of the goodness of her heart because she's just so special and different from every other power that's been exploiting Africa for their own ends for generations. China is busy doing what she's doing there in order to lock up resources she can exploit in Africa, just like everyone else. China is being greedy and crafty, like everyone else. The difference is that China is a relative newcomer to the Exploit Africa game. I won't address the arms comments made by Leeb here. It'll be hard enough to keep this thread in the GARM as it is. All I'll say is that Leeb didn't simply pull that out of his hat, and leave it at that. Everything of consequence that China is doing in Africa has the goal of exploiting the natural resources there. Everyone who doesn't have their head buried under a rock knows this. It doesn't make China different from any other power outside of Africa that wants those resources, and that's the point.
Yao and Caron Butler are helping out with a hearing aid foundation in China: http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2012/08/28/20120828_NBA_CARES_1_STARKY.nba/?ls=iref:nbahpt2
