China

Saturday morning I drove to Fort Lauderdale, Florida which is about an hour from my house to learn the “Ba Gui Fa” system of healing and pick up some CEU’s for my acupuncture license. Although the first part of the day was all theory it laid the foundation for practice and application. After lunch is when the fun started. We used a combination of cupping and Gua Sha to relieve pain and correct imbalances and clear the facial tissue. Although the cupping and Gua Sha (scraping of the skin) shows up as redness and temporary marks, they dissipate within a few days and for the most part take care of the pain and stagnation action in the muscle. If you look at someone’s back after treatment you would think they got in a fight or had road rush up and down their back. A few years ago I worked on 2 children to clear up a lingering cough. When they went back to school the teacher called childhood services because she thought there was some abusiveness going on at home. When I was in China you would see people walking with red round marks and red spots all over their bodies. The treatments usually removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic, promoting normal circulation and metabolic processes. The patient experiences immediate relief from pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, nausea and so on. Gua Sha is valuable in the prevention and treatment of acute infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive problems, and many other acute or chronic disorders. I have been doing both cupping and Gua Sha in my office for the last 20 years with great success. When I was studying with Jerry Alan Johnson he showed us how to combine the treatment with medical Qi Gong and now I have discovered how effective it is with Gua Sha as well. I use it to clear up stubborn coughs, colds, pain, and asthma. It even works well for knee pain, sore shoulders and neck pain as well as stomach problems. Treatments like this have no side effects and work like magic to clear up stubborn problems in no time at all. Once the problem is resolved I teach the person how to keep the Qi and blood flowing so the problem doesn’t return. I always know if the person is practicing or not by the amount of treatments they need. If I am working on them and the patients isn’t the healing process takes twice as long. I wish you the best in your Health, Wealth and Happiness Dr. Wu Dhi Ps. Want to learn these techniques? I share them with the members of the Qi Gong Inner Circle www.qigonginnercircle.com I’ll send you a DVD with a technique to increase your chances of living a longer life with less pain more energy and a lot of fun. Join us today.www.qigonginnercircle.com

Today I plan to head out farther afield. I had my first French breakfast from the coffee shop EIGHTY STEPS yes much less than China below us. Megan you would be proud of me I had Cafe con Leche but I did score it in decaf though. Drinkable way more so than home. I got one of those flat donut peach from the fruit stand and then my con Leche and crissant from the Cafe. The croissant w

When GM announced last week that it wants to increase Cadillac’s share of the global luxury market from 8.5 percent now to 9 percent by 2016, we opined that from “looking at the plan, GM appears to be betting big on the success of its new Chinese assembly plant.” It turns out that Cadillac is betting big on China. Cadillac “aims to quadruple its share of China’s luxury auto market to 10 percent by 2020,” Reuters reports today. By 2020, GM is “targeting about 250,000 luxury car sales in China,” says Reuters. It will be rough. China is an astoundingly sophisticated and well-informed market when it comes to cars. When I came to China first some 10 years ago, I was amazed to see internal Volkswagen platform codes being routinely bandied about in the media. I helped a bit with the 2006 launch of the Magotan in China, to learn to my bafflement that media and the masses called it the “Passat B6” as opposed to the Passat B5 that was built by Shanghai Volkswagen. China bypassed the buff books completely, the Internet car sites are huge and influential, and they read all the foreign sites. Chinese car buyers, especially those interested in the higher segments, are well informed, and recently well traveled. They know that in terms of premium marques, it’s the Germans that rule the world. GM’s Susan Docherty was right when she said: “If a luxury brand is successful in Europe, whether that brand is Chanel or Prada, or Mercedes or BMW, people in parts of Asia look to see what Europeans validate as true luxury.” This thinking will strongly limit Cadillac’s chances in China, unless there is a serious change of mind. In China, Cadillac is a relative nobody. “German luxury nameplates accounted for 80 percent of premium car sales in China last year,” says Bloomberg, “with the remaining shared by other European, U.S. and Japanese brands.”  Audi is the absolute ruler of the premium segment in China, with BMW, up 30 percent in 2012, catching up quickly. Mercedes sales were more or less stagnant – proof that even a Benz has to work hard in China. Absolutely stagnant was Cadillac. For 2012, GM reported sales of 30,010 Cadillacs in China, two (2) more than in the year before, and we won’t be surprised if the numbers received one of those well-known Chinese massages to finish at a not totally unhappy ending. The design of the Caddys did not help much to wean Chinese away from their love affair with German premium brands. Caddy’s “edgy new designs, with sharp creases and flat planes inspired by U.S. stealth fighter jets, have failed to impress China’s wealthy car buyers who have voted with their wallets in favor of smoother-looking European rides,” says Reuters. Made in China designs have been toned down and rounded off a bit. Cadillac’s all-out attack on China, and the optimistic market share targets have the smell of desperation. Premium class buyers are conservative and have a high degree of brand loyalty, which – just ask Audi – can take many decades to dislodge. GM is probably listening to consultants who promise that the young affluent of China have a more open mind. They sure do: They buy BMW instead of Audi. Brand-wise, Cadillac is a disaster abroad and has seen better times at home. Nevertheless, China is a (in my view, very slim) chance that simply must be taken for Cadillac. Currently the world’s second largest market for luxury cars, China is projected to overtake the U.S. by 2020. If you can’t make in there, you won’t make it anywhere.

Blendec – via Amazon.com One of my main financial policies is: “Make sure it is worth the money.” I don’t care if we are talking about a one dollar ice cream cone or a half-a-million dollar house. The question is: “Is it worth it?” With this in mind, here is the first of a series of posts about “Is it worth it?” My first subject is my Blendtec blender. This little piece of kitchen equipment set me back around $450 (tax included) AND I bought it new – not used! (It is currently on sale for $399 through Amazon.) I thought about buying this blender for a long time. I wasn’t sure if I would really use it. But I am here to tell you that YES! It is worth it. I use my blender almost every day. Because the blender actually has a digital counter built into the base unit, I know that I have used this blender over 650 times. (That is about 630 more times than I used my food processor which is so big and bulky that I keep it on the bottom shelf of my pantry and should just give it away, but I can’t because I spent so much money for it. But, that is a topic for another article.) So, right now, I stand at about 69 cents per use. That is pretty high per use, but I have a 10 year warranty on this blender. If I continue to use it the same amount, I will use it 3,250 times and the cost per use will be around 14 cents. This is still more expensive, then say, the per use price of a spoon, but I’d hate to try and make a smoothie with a spoon. Here are my top ten reasons for loving my Blendtec blender: My number one reason for loving this blender is because since I bought it, my husband makes himself a superfood smoothie several times a week. It would be worth it just to get him to do that. I no longer use canned cream of mushroom soup in my recipes because I found out how simple it was to just make my own in my blender. I love this because I am now in control of the ingredients – no preservatives and flavor enhancers. I use my Blendtec blender to turn my veggie scraps into a compost soup that I can put directly on my plants or into the composter. This drastically cuts down the decomposition time. And means less garbage to take out! It only takes a minute to clean the blender – warm water and a spritz of dish soup. Turn on the blender for a couple of second. Rinse. Dry. Simple. The Blendtec is shorter than some other blenders. It fits right under my cabinets. Therefore, I regain some valuable counter space when not in use. You can make ice cream in the Blendec. Yep! I’ve made it. I love to make homemade apple sauce (or use other fruits). I just cut up the fruit. Simmer it on the stove with a bit of water until it is soft. Then I blend it. Sometimes I add a bit of cinnamon. Yummy! I don’t have babies anymore, but if I did, this is how I would be making nutritious homemade baby food for my young ones. Every time I go to one of those expensive organic restaurants, I always get the soup. Then I realized it is just a veggie soup thrown into a Blentec. Now I can make my own expensive soup, but for a much cheaper price tag. (Note: I like to serve it in my best china bowls.) My mother’s secret to getting us kids to eat veggies? She blended them into almost everything she made. You can blend veggies into a smoothie that can then be added to hamburgers, tomato sauces, even brownies! There are lots of ways you can hide veggies in your kid’s food. Now, you may be saying… hey, why not just use a regular blender? They are way cheaper than a Blendtec. Well, I tried that and I kept just burning through the motors. The cheap blenders are fine for whipping up eggs, but they can’t handle chopping up ice or turning raw celery hearts into celery soup. So, I love my Blendtec. Do you have a Blendtec? What is your No. 1 reason to love your Blendtec? This post contains affiliate links.

Reader DK writes in about the death of one of the Times Square area's last seedy blocks, West 40th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, across from the Port Authority bus terminal.before He says: "what used to be such a proud block:$1 pizza • dive bar • secret afterhours • parole bldg • alley • porn • tranny bar • dance studio • rehearsal space • porn • chinese • liquor • pornis transforming into this:7/11 • hotel • hotel • hotel • parking • condos • condos • sports bar • gym • bank"after: with another new building behind itDK was living in 306 West 40th when the building next to his, 308 West 40th, was demolished.There's not a lot of history to find on this building, but there is a bit. In the 1990s, New York artist Bill Sullivan ran a small press from #308, publishing many gay and lesbian writers. The first floor was home to A&S Magazines, where (said New York magazine) "owner Kurt Westphal sits strumming his guitar among some 925,000 magazines, some of which date back to the 1920s."The building was sold in 2007 to Sam Chang, the prolific hotelier, and the spot is to become a 14-story, 53-room hotel. It's hard to imagine another hotel being necessary on a block recently loaded with hotels.the hotel encroachment on the block DK says #306 is probably next for the wreckers. I went in to check out the XXX business on the first and second floors. Upstairs, a crowd of hustlers wait around the buddy booths, all men of color. "Wassup," they say, sizing up every potential trick. "Wassup."Downstairs are rubber toys and the nastiest DVDs you can imagine--I won't go into the details--along with a trio of booths containing LIVE GIRLS. This is a true rarity. Sadly, when I was there, the Live Girl was out to lunch. But the sign over the booths is priceless.It reads: "This form of entertainment is purely a fantasy and should not be taken in any other way. Everything said and performed in the booth is just a pretend fantasy and should not be taken with any seriousness or reality. Enjoy your fantasy. May it be a good one." DK wrote up the following description of the block, the buildings, and the working girls who've made it their place of business:to the ladies on my block, it was their workspace. my building is next. they use the porn store below as a home base of sorts and the hallways up by me as a "break room." when my building is gone, they'll have no space left. so they're all planning on converting from outdoor to indoor ho's. there aren't a lotta their type left. most of the streetwalkers went online in the mid 2000s. they're the last of a dying breed.Nietzche the ho is the oldest. i don't know her age. i'd guess late 40s but she looks older. she's got a really dry blond perm. kinda looks like a dolly wig that was left in the desert. she has a funny superstition. she doesn't verbalize anything negative. if she has anything bad or negative to say, she either simply doesn't say it or if she has to say it she'll write it down. so it's kinda funny, cause she looks, frankly, very tired and grouchy all the time. but the words that come out of her mouth are anything but.she doesn't like the "change," she doesn't want to go online for work. she prefers the streets. i know this because she asked me to show her how craigslist and other online adspace worked and she grew uncharacteristically silent to the point where she wasn't even paying attention. she was kind of staring into space and muttering under her breath. so i stopped my lessons and said "OK. i know you aren't trash-talking my lesson under your breath, so what is it? i know this is upsetting having to change your way of life, but..." she interrupted, "no, that's not it." well, what is it? but of course she wouldn't verbalize it. so finally i made her type it and she typed this: "2 cops i didn't know wanted me to suck for free. i said no. one pushed me down. so i bit him. but then he choked me and i passed out."i asked her where she woke up and she went back to speaking: "in the conta

Procter & Gamble Launches Largest Consumer Event in Company's 175 Year History Everyday Effect of P&G Products Demonstrated, Live, On Streets of New York CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today Procter & Gamble (NYS: PG) will leverage the world's biggest stage -- New York City -- to share the power and meaning of its brands as part of its new campaign, The Everyday Effect. Through the largest consumer event in the company's 175 year history, P&G will serve the daily needs of New Yorkers and demonstrate how P&G products make everyday life better. The results will be broadcast to the rest of the country, live, through on-the-ground reports, social media updates and content featured across PGEveryday.com/EverydayEffect, Twitter (#EverydayEffect) and Facebook.com/PGEveryday. P&G brands participating in the #EverydayEffect Live From New York event include Cover Girl, Gillette, Duracell, Pampers, Old Spice, Febreze and Crest. More than 40,000 products representing 25 P&G brands are being distributed throughout Manhattan at the moments people need them most, including Scope mouthwash for coffee drinkers, Febreze car vent clips for taxis and Iams dog treats for pet lovers. These city-wide events will enable people to directly experience the everyday effect, benefits and superiority of P&G products, including: The delivery of everyday confidence through free barber, salon, personal care, make-up and nail services at multiple locations. P&G brand ambassadors canvassing the streets of Manhattan with free pedicab rides, product samples, brand giveaways and high-value coupons. Special deliveries by Pampers and appearances by the Charmin Bears, Old Spice and more. The P&G Innovation Center at Herald Square highlighting the company's 175 year history of innovation and broadcasting the #EverydayEffect Live events taking place in the city. "We're making a deliberate effort to demonstrate to consumers how our brands improve their everyday life in small yet meaningful ways," said Melanie Healey, P&G North America Group President. "Regardless of a person's unique challenge or need, P&G products provide daily benefits that improve quality of life - whether it's helping newborns and their parents get a good night's sleep or getting college students ready for life away from home, or simply getting that boost of confidence because of a clean shave, beautiful skin or a beautiful white smile. By providing innovative solutions to the challenges and needs faced in everyday life, P&G brands can help consumers in so many different but important ways. That's what we call the P&G 'Everyday Effect'." The New York event is part of a series of activities, programming and social media videos supporting the roll out of P&G's Everyday Effect campaign. Activities taking shape around the world include consumer events, retail partnerships, in-store displays and brand-focused "experiment" videos showcasing the everyday effect of using P&G products. Social media assets will be distributed and available across P&G social media channels in the U.S., Japan, China, Mexico, Germany and Brazil. "For more than 175 years P&G has been innovating for the seemingly ordinary and we can't wait to demonstrate the true power of P&G products on the streets of Manhattan," said Jodi Allen, P&G's Vice President of North America Marketing and Brand Operations. "Those outside New York will also have the ability to experience the superiority and benefits of P&G products through social media opportunities on June 19." To support The #Everyday Effect Live event in New York, followers of the @PGEveryday Twitter handle have random opportunities on June 19 to win $100 worth of product from the P&G eStore. Visitors to P&G brand experiences throughout the city are also be encouraged to tweet photos using the #EverydayEffect hashtag for the chance to win a

China completes Internet, phone monitoring scheme for Tibet

Good morning. Here's what you need to know. Markets in Asia were mixed in overnight trading. The Japanese Nikkei rose 1.8%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 1.1%, and the Shanghai Composite retreated 0.6%. Markets in Europe are mostly lower with the exception of the German DAX, up 0.1%. In the United States, futures point to a negative open. Japanese merchandise trade exports rose 10.1% in May from the previous year after a 3.8% advance in April, topping estimates of 6.4% growth. Imports only rose 10% in May, below consensus estimates for an 11% advance. Short-term interbank lending rates surged 200 basis points to an all-time high of almost 8% on Wednesday after the PBoC refused to inject liquidity into the market. "The only explanation is that the central bank wants to send a warning signal to commercial banks and other credit issuers that unchecked credit expansion, particularly through the shadow banking system, will not be accommodated," says CNC Asset Management's Na Liu. Today's release of the minutes from the latest Bank of England monetary policy meeting revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-3 to keep the central bank's asset purchase target unchanged at 375 billion pounds. Some members were in favor of increasing it, though, and the pound fell on the news. Incoming BoE Governor Mark Carney, seen as dovish, takes over at the BoE at the end of this month. At 2 PM, the Federal Reserve releases the FOMC statement from its June monetary policy meeting and updates to its macroeconomic forecasts. At 2:30, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a press conference and Q&A with reporters. The discussion will likely center on the recent rise in interest rates, and market participants will be listening for Bernanke to strike a dovish tone to counter it. The Congressional Budget Office said the immigration bill currently before the Senate would reduce the federal budget deficit by $875 billion over 20 years. $175 billion of deficit reduction would happen in the first ten years, while $700 billion of deficit reduction would take place over the second decade. Mass protests in Brazil over inflation and eroding standards of living continued Tuesday night, drawing 50,000 people into the streets to demonstrate. Small groups of protesters clashed with police and broke into stores. Concerns over a growth slowdown in China have emerged as a major theme in global markets. Today, HSBC knocked its China growth forecasts down to 7.4% in 2013 and 2014 from 8.2% and 8.4%, respectively. In what Magic Johnson called one of the two or three best NBA games ever, the Miami Heat staged an epic comeback to beat the San Antonio Spurs 103-100 in overtime in Game 6 Tuesday night, forcing Game 7 on Thursday. The Heat were trailing 10 points behind at the beginning of the fourth quarter and 5 points down in the final minute, but a couple of clutch three-pointers helped them pull out the win. Global shipping giant FedEx reported better-than-expected first quarter earnings this morning. EPS came in at $2.13 versus expectations for $1.96. Revenues were right in line with expectations at $11.4 billion. Join the conversation about this story »

Morning! Here's the overnight news. Google is challenging the government's gag order on data requests from the NSA. Meanwhile, the NSA says its Internet spying foiled 50 terrorist plots, including one to bomb New York's subway system. Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stone journalist who wrote that damning profile about General Stanley McChrystal, is dead from a car crash at age 33. Microsoft will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors in future Surface tablets. Tesla is going to recall 800 Model S cars that had bad seat brackets. "Forget lab rats. Some researchers are now testing medicines on a silicon chip that could provide a better read on how a drug will work." Facebook is delaying the rollout of video ads until at least the fall. Chinese Internet company Tencent is leading a $150 million investment in ecommerce startup Fab.com, which now has a $1 billion valuation. Dish abandoned its bid to buy Sprint, leaving SoftBank in the catbird seat. Donations are flowing in for the legal defense fund for the "anonymous" hacker who exposed the Steubenville rapists. Join the conversation about this story »

Part I of this series (here) addressed abuses of travel agencies, and Part II (here) detailed common euphemisms and fact patterns in China to disguise leisure travel benefits. Today’s post focuses on contractual travel and travel required under PRC law.