Hello Pakistan, Iran and Chile.

I have sitemeter provide me with this blog's visitor and pageview stats.  One of the most interesting things I can do with sitemeter is see where people are visiting this blog from.  In the last few days, I have had visitors from Pakistan, Chile and Iran.

Hey King!  Who are your friends in these countries?

I went to the Blue Bar last night. My water still stinks. New Youtube video.

I went to the Blue Bar last night.  The place was hopping.  The people I talked to who are long-term expats in Wuxi seemed to be willing to wait out the water crisis.  Some talked optimistically that the problem will be solved. 

I feel that the problem is worse that the government likes to say it is.  The problem has been around for 3 weeks before most people in Wuxi and the World knew about it.

The water in my apartment still sinks.  The flushing out operation does not seem to be helping.

The water at school is not as bad as two days ago but it is still not odorless. 

I am glad my pregnant wife is in Nanjing.  It was a sad parting we had yesterday morning.

Here is a Youtube video, that is very informative, about the crisis.

 

My water still smells.

There has been talk that the water is better in Wuxi.  But this is not so where I live.  The water still smells.  For a while tonight I had no water and I was hoping that when it came back on that it would smell better.  Well, it is on and it still smells.  Maybe I have to let the taps run awhile before the water smells better. 

It is a good thing that Jenny, my pregnant wife, is out of Wuxi.

I just talked to Steph, the consort of the King of Wuxi.  She lives in the New District.  She told me her water still smells.

Meanwhile, Luis  (http://ponquenet.spaces.live.com) says his water smells Jim Dandy.

The death of Europe

The recent rise of the Canadian dollar and the Euro against the American Dollar is all the proof anti-Americans need to chortle about the fall of the USA. But is it America that is in decline? This opinion journal article suggests that it is really Europe that is in decline.

More Youtube video about Lake Taihu

This news report is in Chinese but the video speaks for itself.

 

Video of Tai Lake Algae Bloom

Seablogger links.

Seablogger is my favourite blogger.  Click here, here, and here to see why. 

I will say right now he does a lot of surfing for me.

My wife goes to Nanjing tomorrow. Stories the students have told me about the water.

 

My wife is going to Nanjing tomorrow.  She is pregnant so too much is at stake for her to stay here.  Wuxi TV news is reporting that the Water problem is getting better.  I don't believe.  My water is still malodorous.

I had a speaker's corner today about guess what?  Here are some of the stories the students have told me:

• Many people are not taking baths.  There are stories circulating that the water causes rashes.
• Restaurants have already shut down because most people believe they still use tap water.  Either that or they just cannot afford to buy bottled water.
• The Chinese are flocking to McDonalds and KFC because they are perceived as using only the best water.  Meanwhile, they don't trust Chinese restaurants.
• Instant Noodles are selling out.  People don't want to go to restaurants.  People don't want to cook at home.  A student has told me that he ate instant noodles yesterday for the first time in two years.
• Vendors are coming to Wuxi from Northern Jiangsu and Anhui province selling bottled water.
• Many Wuxi residents are getting their water from wells which are perceived as being clean and uncontaminated.
• The government's official position is that the water is safe for drinking.  This is what the students have repeatedly told me.
• One student sees a golden lining in this.  He believes this incident will be impetus for the government to seriously act to stop pollution.
• A student who lives by Lake Tahui said he first noticed smelly water about three weeks ago.  He lives near Lake Taihu.
• The students believe that the crisis is the fault of the government for allowing foreign companies, especially the Japanese, to  come here and pollute. 

The Duke of Wuxi had a soda at McDonalds.

The Duke of Wuxi had a soda at McDonalds two days ago.  He said it tasted putrid.

And of course now McDonalds is only serving pop in cans.

Apple, a student, says that the water situation is getting better because of the rain we have had the last two days.  There is a rumor that the rain was artificially induced.