China Visa issues

The news has been inundated with stories of how hard it is to get a visa to go to China and how the tourism industry in China is suffering. Americans not used to having to fill out tedious paperwork for visas are besides themselves!

This is my take:- 1. Okay so maybe Hu Jintao and his buddies are trying to keep out activists under the guise that they are tightening security, but look on the bright side...if there was to be a terrorist attack during the Olympics, at least the rest of the world wont criticize them for not tightening security innit?
2. Next:- Those of us used to applying and lining up for visas from "western/ developed/ what ever they are called these days!" countries are used to pretty much 'undressing' for immigration officials. They want to see your bank statements showing ridiculous amounts of money that majority of their own citizens rarely have, the bank statements of the person inviting you or acting as your sponsor, they want letters of invitation, proof that your family is still in your home country, letter from your job saying you can have it back when you return, proof that you have a car or a house, you have to be the right age for school...etc. Then at the end of the day, they reserve the right to deny you entry without a reason even if you have provided all necessary information!
So way to go China!!! Let the whiny babies in the west feel how we feel when we apply for visas, or when we get them denied for dumb reasons or no reason at all!
3. They say the rules are not all written down...duh! The USCIS (usa boma for those not familiar) has a few listed requirements but they are not extensive/ exclusive. For example, it wont tell you anywhere that they will require your bank statements or W-2 or whatever, but they do.
Schengen and Benelux are just as crazy! The British and Canadians seem to make the rules up as they go at times. So yeah...getting a visa depends on the mood of the immigration officer,your luck that day and how well you can tell a white lie:-)

NPR had the story a day ago...and I emailed them my comments on the issue:-) Y'all know when I'm moved by a story I attack it passionately:-)

Next on the agenda.....
The anthrax suspect dude Bruce Ivins commit ed suicide because the FBI was hot on his trail! See you've gotta love Maryland on the Baltimore side! Everyone says how boring it is and all sorts of things! All this drama fo yo mama was in frederick...very near by! So then one of the first suspects of the anthrax scare (after jihadists of course) was Steven Hatfill...(and Mr Hatfill sir if you're listening...I'm up for adoption) the dude was awarded $5.8 million to settle his suit!!! Dang!!!

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Tonight I am headed to a bar to unwind:-) looking forward to it. Probably dinner in Annapolis too...by the water. It looks like rain though...so that's sucky!
On closer observation... my bathroom doesn't look as sucky as I thougt...or maybe the people that have seen it are just plain nice and don't wanna hurt my feelings:-)

I promise to have the videos of everything from previous weekends posted this weekend...:-)

Man oh man do I have a craving for wings! That damned C$ had wings for lunch and told me about them...spicy honey bar-b-q and now I want them! How many more hours is it to dinner again????

Oh and where is the president of Zambia now???? I like how lax the country is. Now I know everyone thinks it's none of our business where our fearless leader is... but the day he chose to become our leader he lost his right to total privacy and as a nation I think we should be cordially kept abreast of how he is doing. I mean even Fidel Castro (a major dictator) came out and showed the world that he was okay. It's like knowing one of your parents is sick in another country, and no one ever calls to tell you anything about their welfare. It's totally absurd!
Any way...the people of Zambia are more worried about where their next meal will come from and not what's going on in the presidents life I suppose.

aahh...?

I found this nice video on Mwabi's page and 'borrowed' it for my own. I am one of those who has given up on trying to understand what the rules of "football" are. Many have tried to teach me and many have given up...:-) indeed I am that dense when it comes to football. You can read back to all my previous posts about the game if interested.
Another fun video is:-


It fits in splendidly with the news on the BBC ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6267754.stm ) about strained relations between Zambian mine workers and Chinese investors. I guess we're back to the WENELA days! If you're from the southern African region and have no clue what Wenela is...shame on you!
I am in the process of reading Animal Farm again. Yes. I am one of those annoying people that can watch the same movie and read the same book over and over again. I feel like books and movies have a different meaning if you read and watch them at different stages of your life. it's pretty cool. It's been 10 years since I last read Animal Farm, but I still enjoy it. George Orwell...aka Eric Blair was a fun writter.