The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Chinese tofu feud lands on Obama’s plate Posted: 08 May 2013 02:18 AM PDT
Created by US President Barack Obama, the online petitioning system was designed as an "easy way for Americans to make their voices heard", according to the website. But he may have underestimated its global appeal in the internet age. "We request that the US government make sweet the official flavour of jellied tofu, namely through the addition of syrup, granulated or brown sugar or other sweeteners," said one petition, written in Chinese, on the site. The number of signatures for the appeal created yesterday was steadily climbing. As of this morning, it had received more than 1,000 digital endorsements. That falls far short of the 100,000 signatures needed to merit a response from the Obama administration, a threshold the government has reserved the right to adjust. There is a regional divide in China on how jellied tofu should be consumed, with a slightly sweetened variety enjoyed in many parts of the south and a saltier style common in the north. "Send troops to liberate the Chinese people," reads another petition, this one with more than 3,500 signatures. Part protest, part entreaty, petitioning has deep roots in China, a country where courts are seen as beyond the reach of ordinary people or beholden to officials. Many seek redress for land seizures, factory layoffs, or medical and police disputes. But doing so in China can be a risky affair, often leading to detention in secret facilities dubbed black jails. The China-related requests appeared alongside pleas for Obama to reduce gun violence and increase the budget for NASA, the US space agency, and not all were funny. One called for the United States to extradite a suspect in the 1994 poisoning of Chinese graduate student Zhu Ling. It received 134,000 signatures in five days. – Reuters |
| Scientists may have found Brazilian ‘Atlantis’ Posted: 07 May 2013 09:53 PM PDT
Roberto Ventura Santos, a top official at Brazil's Geology Service (CPRM), said granite samples were found two years ago during dredging operations in an area known as "Rio Grande Elevation", a mountain range in Brazilian and international waters. Granite is seen as a continental rock. "This could be the Brazilian Atlantis. We are almost certain but we must bolster our hypothesis. We will have final (scientific) recognition this year when we conduct drilling in the area to retrieve more samples of these rocks," the G1 news website quoted Ventura as saying. Initially, the scientists thought they were mistaken, Ventura noted. But last month, their case was bolstered when team of Brazilian and Japanese scientists aboard Japan's manned research submersible Shinkai 6500, observed the underwater geological formation located opposite the Brazilian coast, he added. "From an analysis, were began to see that the area could be a piece of the continent that disappeared into the sea millions of years ago," Ventura said. — AFP/Relaxnews |
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