8/13/2008 - A dark turn in Beijing as U.S. Olympi

 A dark turn in Beijing as U.S. Olympi

   A dark turn in Beijing as U.S. Olympic tourist is killed

Two relatives of a U.S. volleyball coach are stabbed by a Chinese man, who then commits suicide. Their tour guide is also wounded in the attack at a city landmark.
By Mark Magnier and Evan Osnos, Special to The Times
August 10, 2008
BEIJING -- In an incident that cast a shadow over the start of the Olympic Games here, a Chinese man armed with a knife Saturday attacked the parents of a former U.S. Olympic volleyball player and their Chinese tour guide, killing one of the Americans before committing suicide.

Todd and Barbara Bachman, both 62, were stabbed at the 13th century Drum Tower, a landmark five miles from the Olympic village in a neighborhood of lakes, restaurants and bars popular with tourists. The attacker then jumped from the tower's second story, about 130 feet above street level.

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Black-clad commandos swarmed the area after the attack, which left Todd Bachman of Lakeville, Minn., dead and his wife in intensive care. Barbara Bachman, who suffered multiple stab wounds, was in critical but stable condition at a Beijing hospital after about eight hours of surgery. The couple's female guide was injured.

Their daughter, Irvine resident Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman McCutcheon, a member of the 2004 Olympic team, was with them at the time and watched the attack in horror. Her husband, Hugh McCutcheon, is the coach of the U.S. men's volleyball team competing here at the Summer Games, but after the attack, he did not plan to be on the bench today for the team's opening game against Venezuela.

Chinese leaders have deployed more than 100,000 police officers and military personnel to safeguard the Games, in addition to several hundred thousand neighborhood watch volunteers. Xi Jinping, the presidential heir apparent, earlier said security would be a top barometer of the Games' success.

Quoting Beijing police, the U.S. Olympic Committee said the assailant acted alone. His identity card listed him as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern province of Zhejiang, according to the official New China News Agency.

Beijing and Shanghai have low crime rates for cities of their size, and attacks against foreigners are rare in China.

"It's really sad after the celebration of the opening ceremonies, which were the best opening ceremonies I've ever been at," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics.

Penny said he had spoken to team leaders and would talk to athletes' families but felt no fear about being identified as an American, adding that he would continue to wear the red-white-and-blue "USA" hat he had on.

President Bush, in China for the Olympics, said he and First Lady Laura Bush were saddened by the attack.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. And the United States government has offered to provide any assistance the family needs," he told reporters.

Todd Bachman, chief executive of a family-operated chain of garden centers and flower shops in Minnesota, and his wife are well-known in Southern California volleyball circles as boosters of the sport. Friends recalled the pair for their enduring support of their daughter's volleyball career at UCLA and when she joined the Olympic team in Athens four years ago.

Elisabeth McCutcheon's former coach, Andy Banachowski, said his heart went out to her and her family.

"The only comfort is that Wiz was not injured in the heinous attack," Banachowski, who heads the UCLA women's volleyball team, said in a statement.

Banachowski called McCutcheon's parents "two of the most supportive and friendly people that I have ever encountered. . . . They love the sport and are beloved in the volleyball community."

Details of the attack were sparse.

A 40-year-old shopkeeper near the Drum Tower, who gave only her last name, Li, after police warned her not to talk, said she was watching a weightlifting competition on TV when she heard a commotion. On peeking outside, she saw the crumpled body of a man on the gray cobblestones in the tower complex, she said, and later learned that it was the body of the attacker.

"I only saw the dead body," she said. "I didn't see anything else."

Shortly after the attack, an estimated 300 security officers, including black-clad commandos, arrived, said two witnesses who declined to be identified, having been told by police not to speak to foreign reporters. The body was removed and the broken, bloodstained cobblestones were covered with sand.

The state media, quoting police, said the attacker divorced in 2006, had a 21-year-old son and had no fixed address or job when he arrived in Beijing from the eastern city of Hangzhou on Aug. 1 after telling his landlord that he was moving for business. He had no criminal record and his motive was unknown, authorities said.

The incident's timing and high-profile nature come at an awkward time. China has geared up its vast security apparatus, forced thousands of critics out of Beijing and spent record sums in a bid to pull off a perfect Olympics.

"This is a very unfortunate incident," said Jin Canrong, an international relations professor at People's University in Beijing. "The Chinese government will try not to let this event have a serious impact on U.S.-China relations."

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In the short term, Chinese officials should cooperate fully with their U.S. counterparts on an investigation and in helping address the needs of grieving relatives, Jin said.

Although some Chinese, particularly young male Internet users, bristle at perceived insults by Americans, many respect Americans, and most were pleased with Bush's decision to attend the Olympics.

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said the victims wore nothing that identified them as Americans, adding that Chinese police have said they believe that it was a random act of violence. He said members of the men's volleyball team were shocked but planned to compete today; the USOC also had no plans to change its security arrangements.

"I'm saddened, but that doesn't make me think any less of this country," said Sydney Thayer, director of a small New York-based film company and a veteran of nine Olympics, who was in the audience of the fencing competition Saturday. "My feeling is that this has nothing to do with China."

Longer term, however, the incident suggests that the government needs to address rising social tension in China's fast-changing society, Jin said. In recent weeks, the country has seen several violent outbursts, including last month's killing of six policemen in Shanghai by an attacker wielding a knife and the killing of seven people in a mob attack in Yunnan province in May, indicating growing frustration among those left behind by the market economy, he said.

By late afternoon, new waves of tourists flocked to the Drum Tower area largely unaware of what had taken place a few hours earlier. The tower, built by Mongolian conquerors led by Kublai Khan, houses a collection of giant drums of the sort used to record the passage of time in China's last dynasty.

Ryan Zweng, a 23-year-old San Francisco musician on his second visit to China, said the attack seemed utterly at odds with his experience.

"China is the friendliest place for Americans that I've ever traveled. Period," he said. "Even after this, I still feel safer walking down the street in the middle of the night than I do in Philadelphia."

mark.magnier@latimes.com

Magnier is a Times staff writer and Osnos is a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune. Times staff writers Randy Harvey and Diane Pucin in Beijing and Louis Sahagun and Esmeralda Bermudez in Los Angeles, and Kevin Pang of the Tribune contributed to this report.

6/25/2008 - Go China!

Go China!

Whatever pains you got

Stick to it! Persevere!

I believe you can do it!

As long as you will hold on

China, I love you !

I hope you 'll get better

As soon as possible.    

You are the greatest!

4/21/2008 - Dazu County

Dazu County, located in the southeast of Sichuan province, is 271 kilometres away from Chengdu and 163 kilometres away from Chongqing. "Dazu" here means "harvest and abundance (Dafeng, Dazu)".

The work of Dazu Rock Carvings began in the first year of Yonghui in the Tang Dynasty (650A.D.), and continued until the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, it enjoys equal popularity with theYungang and Longmen Grottoes. The general term of "Dazu Rock Carvings" refers to all the cliffside carvings in Dazu County, which includes the carvings in Beishan (including Beita), Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan and Shimenshan. Baoding Grotto, 15 kilometres northeast of the county seat, is the largest and best preserved one and is a key cultural relic site under state protection.

There are more than 50,000 Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian rock carvings and 100,000 characters of inscriptions dotted around Dazu. The carvings not only include the statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva but also include that of monarchs, ministers, military officers, high and low-ranking officials, jailers, executioners, monks, rich and poor people, and folk art performers. The earliest grotto was carved in the early Tang Dynasty and most of them have a history over 1000 years.

Many of the carvings in Baoding Grotto reflect religious doctrines and another set of carvings reflects Confucianism, specifically filial piety. What the carvings offer to visitors is not only the wonderful enjoyment of the magnificent art but a Buddhist teaching like this: One can free himself from earthly worries by self-cultivation and does not need to go beyond his own inner world to

find the truth of Buddhism. There are also many other carvings at the site that tell Buddhist doctrines through the lives of ordinary people. With rich images as well as inscriptions, the Dazu Grottoes are regarded as an art treasure house that fully reflected the society, philosophy, religion and folklore of that time. In 1999, UNESCO listed Dazu Stone Carvings as a world cultural heritage site. One point to be noted is that the Dazu Grottoes are the only ones that were implemented according to an overall design among over 100 grottoes in China.

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1/15/2008 - Chewing gum: easy, practical tool for weight control

   A new study in UK found that chewing gum before an afternoon snack can help reduce hunger, dimish cravings and control appetite among individuals who limit their overall calorie intake, media reported Thursday.
    
     Calorie intake from snacks is significantly reduced by as much as 25 calories, according to the study.

      The research by Glasgow's Caledonian University in Scotland found that "chewing gum suppressed ratings of hunger, desire to eat and cravings for high energy snacks."
    
       This study supports the role of chewing gum as an easy, practical tool for weight management.

      In the study, researchers asked 60 people aged 18 to 54 to consume a sweet and salty afternoon snack after chewing a sweetened gum or not chewing gum.

      They then were checked for hunger, appetite and cravings.
    
       Apart from reducing caloric intake by 25 calories, the researchers also found that it specifically reduced sweet snack intake by 39 calories; and salty snacks by 11 calories.

      Hunger and desire to eat were significantly suppressed by chewing gum at one, two and three hour intervals after lunch.

      In a similar study among individuals not actively trying to manage their weight, chewing gum reduced snack intake by average of 36 calories.

      Data from both studies found that chewing gum reduced intake of the sweet snack in particular by an average of 47 calories.

      Nutritionists say that even small changes in calories can have an impact in the long term.
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12/6/2007 - God Too Has No Solution

Two countries were at war. The bigger country prayed to God, "God, our Lord! That country may be small but they are very vicious! They refuse to obey us or offer tributes to us every year. Would You please help us hit their capital and kill them all tomorrow!" God didn't say anything. The next day, the bigger country came back: "Why? Didn't we ask You in our prayers to help us strike their capital and kill them all? Why did You send our missiles into the sea. What do You mean by that?" God replied, "Well, I am sorry! But your rival country also prayed to me for exactly the same thing!"
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7/5/2007 - Secret Tip from Cash Creating Guide for World of Warcraft

ÑôË·Don't let anyone know I told you
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I'm going to share a killer tip from the best World of Warcraft Gold Guide available. This secret tip has helped me earn a good deal of gold in a short amount of time.wow gold

Defias Windmill is pretty good spot to do some gold farming at just about any level. If you go to the Gold Coast area in Westfall, there is a windmill on a hill. Below the windmill, you can see a murloc camp. Surrounding the windmill are a TON of Defias mobs. Since these are humanoids, they will drop a lot of linen cloth and other good loot. They normally spawn around level 12 so they aren't too tough.

The key is that the respawn rates of the mobs are insanely fast. I took one of my higher end characters there and couldn't clear the area before more respawned. I eventually had to stop because my character was worn out and I was too. I left with stacks of linen and almost a bag or two full of lower level green items. All of these fetched a nice price at the auction house.

This spot also worked well for some of my middle level guys as well since they could grind away for experience and pick up some decent items that could be sold later.

This was the first I had heard of this spot, but it wasn't too crowded on the server I was on, so the secret might not be out..yet. Farm it while you can.

I'll see if I can find another good tip from the World of Warcraft Gold Guide. There are over 140 pages in the guide, so finding a good tip shouldn't be hard. I can't give them all away, but maybe one more to get the gold flowing.

6/21/2007 - Real-world buying for the 'World of Warcraft' crowd

(Credit: World of Warcraft) WOW Gold
The notion of "frequent gamer rewards" has been tossed around by trend specialists and pundits (like MAKE Magazine's Philip Torrone) for some time now as online gaming becomes more and more profitable and increasingly entrenched in mainstream culture. Now, it's a reality with the World of Warcraft Visa credit card.

You can apply for it now. With your first purchase on the card, according to the World of Warcraft site, you'll earn a free month of game time.

But you won't be able to buy yourself new weapons by using this card. The WoW Visa does not earn you virtual currency--rather, you accrue game time toward your subscription. It's unclear what the thinking was behind this decision, but it's true that there has been some controversy about bridging the gap between virtual and real-world currency, most notably the eBay ban on virtual goods earlier this year.

You can't brand the World of Warcraft credit card with your avatar (yet), but you can choose from 13 total designs. Whether or not you want to use this card when you pick up the tab on a first date, however, is up to you.

6/15/2007 - Sparter Launches, Go Buy Some World of Warcraft Gold

[ WOW Gold ] ·­Ò빫˾ / ·­Òë
Sparter, a stealth startup founded by Bessemer Venture Partners, launched this evening. They are jumping into the middle of the estimated $1 billion market for buying and selling virtual currencies in games like World of Warcraft (WOW), EverQuest, Eve and others. The current spot price of 100 gold on WOW? About $10.

The company is a true person to person trading company. Users can sign up and either buy or sell virtual currencies at market prices. There are already a number of sites that sell these currencies directly to users (IGE is the largest), but they don’t take sellers, just buyers. And the prices are set by the company, not the market.

I spoke to Dan Kelly and Boris Putanec, the two executives Bessemer brought in to start the company, earlier this week. They say that a major supply of WOW gold today comes directly or indirectly from “farmers” in China and India. People are paid a very low wage to play the game and gather small amounts of gold, which are then sold directly to players or to services like IGE. Those models are fine, they say, for people who want to buy currency. But it gives no way for people who want to liquidate their virtual gold into real world money.

eBay is one place where gamers currently try to trade virtual currency for real money, but the company started restricting the sale of virtual goods on the site earlier this year, and proactively removing listings that include virtual money and other items. Sparter is simply filling the void that eBay has voluntarily created, the company says.

Sparter acts as the go-between for the parties, keeping payments in escrow until both sides say the virtual transfer went through properly. Users are also asked to rate each other after a transaction. Users with higher reputational ratings may be able to charge a premium.

The company only supports trading in currency for now. Other digital goods cannot be traded on the platform. They say they have no plans to deviate from that strategy, unless users show strong demand down the road.