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Sky-Mobi (MOBI) went public last December and saw its shares immediately drop 25%. The Hangzhou-based mobile applications provider went on to announce several partnerships with large portal companies in China and its stock price increased 400% very quickly. But it was then accused of fraud by American short-seller Citr...
More worrying are recent accusations against New York Stock Exchange-listed Longtop Financial (LFT). This financial software company was taken public by no less than Goldman Sachs (GS) in 2007. It has a large roster of well-known American hedge funds as major investors and a multi-billion dollar market capitalization.
Short-sellers recently accused Longtop of inflating its margins by hiding operating costs. The stock has been halted for weeks, pending clarifications from the company. If Longtop gets delisted like a much smaller RTO company (which seems very likely), it will send shockwaves through the American investor community.
In May, the National Audit Office of China published financial problems at 17 state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The allegations included overstating earnings, understating asset values, forging invoices, and paying excessive executive bonuses. Companies involved in the accusations include China Three Gorges Corp and Chin...
Finally, in recent weeks, there has been a major uproar in the United States involving Yahoo!'s (YHOO) investment in Alibaba Group. Yahoo! claims that they were only recently notified by Alibaba Group that Alipay had been transferred to Jack Ma's personal control last year to comply with requirements by the Chinese gov...
As Yahoo! investors had come to place a good deal of hope in the future growth of Taobao and Alipay as reasons to own Yahoo!, the abrupt news immediately caused the American internet company to lose 10% of its value.
Yahoo! claimed -- even though Jerry Yang sits on the Alibaba Group board -- that they had been deceived. Alibaba Group denies this strongly. The parties now say they are in discussions to settle the matter.
The bottom line is that American investors feel nervous about all these matters -- and the recent decline of major Chinese Internet stocks like Sina (SINA) and Baidu (BIDU) this month have also spooked them.
There are increasingly voices within the United States cautioning investors against buying Chinese stocks because their financials and the rules of the game for doing in business cannot be trusted.
Most of my Chinese friends can spot over-sensitive American patriotism a mile away and realize that it usually doesn't have much effect on Sino-American relations. However, these recent lapses in Chinese corporate governance are worth paying attention to.
There are too many "isolated incidents" to not conclude there is potentially a more concerning systemic problem to be addressed.
We hear the Chinese government often discussing how important "social harmony" is to the Chinese society. That's why a property bubble that makes basic home ownership for the working class is a problem. That's why food inflation is important. Equally important though is corruption. Poor corporate governance leads to co...
The elites of business cannot be allowed to take advantage of the workers through paying themselves excessive bonuses or overstating the earnings. If there continues to be evidence of more widespread fraud at large and well-known Chinese companies, there will eventually be a crisis of confidence in Chinese businesses.
Not only is there a risk of foreign investors not trusting Chinese companies if there is not sound corporate governance but all Chinese people. They could also pull their capital out of the stock market.
If there are problems at large Chinese companies, they must be dealt with now. Microblogging tools from Sina and Tencent should be used to identify where there are problems to be corrected.
CEOs of Chinese largest companies must also take steps to ensure their own financial statements are clean and push their peers to do the same.
Crises tend to come from places you are not on guard against. Everyone has been so concerned about a property real estate bubble bursting over the last year but the steps to deal with it have worked. There's yet been a concerted effort to improve the quality of Chinese corporate governance but there should be.
Two months ago, if asked about fraud in China, I would have said it's only in the domain of the small reverse take-over companies. I can't say that any more.
A small brush fire has now grown larger. The problem can still be dealt with if it's given appropriate attention. However, I fear it is being ignored.
I worry one day we'll wake up and find a lack of confidence in Chinese corporate governance will lead to a run on these companies' stock inside and outside of China. Investors will judge investing in China is similar to investing in a country like Russia, where rules can change routinely and arbitrarily.
As we saw in 2008, when confidence goes, Chinese stocks' values can decline by more than 90% - and relatively quickly.
It is not too late, but proper oversight is required from the board of directors of every organization. I hope each of these Chinese boards' have sufficiently strong-willed and knowledgeable directors who are willing to challenge their CEOs to ensure that everything is as it appears to be at these companies.
Looks like it's time to get radioactive, America.
The US has committed to cutting 80% of the greenhouse gases it currently pumps into the air by 2050.
It's a major project, and an expensive one, too.
But Columbia University environmental economist Geoffrey Heal said nuclear power could cut those costs significantly.
Shifting to an 80% cleaner grid will likely involve building up solar and wind from about 6% to 66% of total electric generation on the US grid. In addition to the costs of the windmills and photovoltaic panels themselves, the country will need to build giant batteries and interstate power lines to help deal with days ...
Though far from cheap, nuclear power could help cut those costs. New plants could reduce the burden of wind and solar from 66% to 50%, Heal found, saving money in the process.
Nuclear power plants get a bad rap, mostly due to safety issues with older reactors. But a properly functioning plant only emits one thing into the atmosphere: safe, clean, water vapor.
Stepping up plant construction could cut the solar, wind, and battery requirements down from two-thirds to one-half — saving the economy a lot of money in the process.
"That was a calculation I found surprising, because nuclear is something that's regarded as very expensive," Heal said. "and it's effectively priced itself out of the market these days."
Right now, nuclear power accounts for 20% of all electricity on the US grid.
But US nuclear infrastructure is aging. The last reactor to come online was Tennessee's Watts Bar facility back in 1996, which broke ground way back in 1973. Only one other plant, Watts Bar 2, is now under construction. At the same time, 20 old plants could shut down in the next decade. And of course, no one has offere...
At the same time, nuclear power has actually grown less popular in the US. For the first time in March 2016, a majority of Americans (54%) told Gallup they opposed nuclear power.
No matter what, turning the vast inertia of American power production toward an 80% reduction will take a massive effort. Heal estimates it'll cost some $42 billion $176 billion per year every year between now and 2050. The bulk of that spending will go toward building solar farms and winds plants, along with giant bat...
On the night of March 11, 1992, Special Agent Stanley Ronquest, Jr., was shot and killed when an assailant attempted to rob him outside of a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel. Special Agent Ronquest, Jr., who had served the FBI for over 21 years, was assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters. At th...
Sharon Coolidge of 'The Cincinnati Enquirer' writes about the death of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teen.
Editor's note: Leelah's suicide and the conversation her note inspired has rocked families in the Ohio region, becoming part of a national conversation. Here, we share the facts and report what happened.
In life, Leelah Alcorn felt alone. Born male, she feared she would never be the woman she felt like inside. In death, the transgender 17-year-old -- born Josh Alcorn -- wanted to make sure others never felt that way she did.
"The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was, they're treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights," Alcorn wrote in a post on Tumblr.
Her parents, she wrote, wanted her to be a "perfect little straight Christian boy."
"My death needs to mean something," she wrote in the post, which she scheduled to appear the day after her death.
Her final public words: "Fix society. Please."
On Sunday, just before 2:30 a.m., Alcorn was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on I-71 in Ohio, about four miles from her home in Kings Mills.
No charges have been filed, and the State Highway Patrol continues to investigate. Her body was sent to the Montgomery County Coroner for an autopsy, which will take several weeks.
"She was super bubbly and upbeat with a really brash sense of humor; she could make anyone laugh," said Abigail Jones, 17, one of Alcorn's co-workers and friends. They were caricature artists at Kinds Island, an Ohio amusement park.
Jones even drew Alcorn as Elsa from Frozen, "her favorite thing ever."
The duo was close -- going to see movies, getting ice cream and texting. In July, Alcorn told Jones that she was transgender.
Alcorn's family declined to comment to The Enquirer. In a statement via the Kings Local School District, they requested privacy. According to the statement, Alcorn was most recently enrolled as an 11th grader at the Ohio Virtual Academy, an online school.
"Joshua Alcorn was a sweet, talented, tender-hearted 17-year-old," the statement from Kings read. Counselors will be available when students return from winter break.
There are no national statistics about how many transgender people commit suicide, partly because it is not always known. In 2010 the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reported 41% of 7,000 transgender people surveyed had attempted suicide.
An analysis of the survey responses by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and UCLA Law School's Williams Institute last January showed transgender people who experienced rejection by family and friends, discrimination, victimization, or violence have a higher risk of attempting suicide.
Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach, the city's first openly gay councilman, has taken on Alcorn's cause. In a post on Facebook - shared more than 4,700 times - Seelbach said Alcorn's death shows just how hard it is to be a transgender today in the U.S.
"By reading her letter, Leelah makes it clear she wants her death to, in some ways, help 'trans civil rights movements'" Seelbach wrote.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati.com.
Many children spend their summers with eyes permanently glued to the television and hands adhered to their choice of video game controller whether it is the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.
Try getting your kids out of their technology-enhanced coma by introducing them to a revolutionary concept — the excitement of their own backyard.
"It starts with getting the kids outside and letting them see they can enjoy the outdoors as much as indoors and video games and television," said Maria Schramm, communications specialist at Pocono Environmental Education Center. "Have children out there playing with grasshoppers at only a couple years old."
Schramm notes that kids can do something as simple as playing I Spy.
"Sometimes kids will see something that the adults would never have thought of. It's great when parents can send the kids to summer camps. That really helps open up their imaginations and helps them learn while they're having fun," Schramm said.
Besides I Spy, children can enjoy taking a hike at the state parks or the Kettle Creek Wildlife Sanctuary for free.
"The biggest part is the behavior you model. If you're running around stomping on bugs and using all these pesticides kids are going to model that kind of behavior," said Carissa Reilly-Longo, environment education specialist at Beltzville State Park. "Take them outside and just teach them things while you are out ther...
Reilly-Longo offers parents a myriad of nature activity ideas.
For instance, you can buy a hand lens which are child-sized magnifying glasses, and explore the outdoors. Try looking at the pollen and pollen tubes of flowers, bark and leaves.
You can also make bark rubbings by taking a piece of construction paper, placing it over the bark and rubbing a crayon over it.
"Another thing to try is download frog calls," Reilly-Longo said. "Or have a bird feeder set up and teach them about birds and bird calls. Get a 'Peterson' or 'Golden Guides' book."
Try the identiFlyer which is a machine that you can place different cards in to produce different bird or frog sounds. The identiFlyer costs around $35 and the cards go for about $10. Go to identiflyer.com for more information.
For a cheaper activity, have your children look for frogs and monarchs. You can then post your findings on the Web and become a citizen scientist at nwf.org/frogwatchUSA and monarchwatch.com, respectfully. Study hummingbirds and learn more about them at hummingbirds.net.
Keep enjoying what nature has to offer even at night. A common activity kids enjoy is catching fireflies. Make sure to explain to children how to take care of their "prey."
"Explain how to take care of these animals and how to move them from their environment and that no, you can't keep them," Reilly-Longo said. "Frogs have slime on their skin that enables them to breathe through their skin. Always have wet hands when searching for any kind of amphibian and no bug spray or sunscreen on yo...
For another fun activity, try teaching children about the stars and different constellations.
According to Reilly-Longo, five constellations you can always see in the northern hemisphere are called the circumpolar stars. These include Ursa major or the big bear, Ursa minor or the little bear, Draco the dragon, Cepheus the king and Cassiopeia the queen.
To make star gazing more exciting, visit the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society. The LVAAS has two observation sites in the area in Hamburg and South Mountain.
For more information about the LVAAS visit www.lvaas.net. To download a free sky map for the month, go to skymaps.com.
And kids may enjoy building forts or camping in the backyard in their own tent.
"Kids love that kind of place, their special place," Reilly-Longo said. "It doesn't have to be a huge playhouse it can be very simple. We all have memories of collecting things and leaving them in our own little fort. Let your kids get dirty. Let them swing in the trees and make a mess of something. Let them really get...
Even on a tight budget, no matter the age of your child or the weather, nature is always an alternative to soaking up the rays of your television screen.
"I think when they are younger being outside with their parents or the adults they live with is an opportunity to explore together. That's an important thing," said Karen Boyle, environmental educator for the Monroe County Conservation District.
"But I think you can start doing it from infancy, taking (children) outside, being out in the rain and just experiencing nature. Nature doesn't stop when it's humid, wet or cold."
Last Friday, NBA star LeBron James testified in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over the ongoing case between Take-Two Software and Solid Oak Sketches. Tattoo studio Solid Oak Sketches filed a lawsuit against videogame company Take-Two in February 2016, alleging that it owned copyrights to tat...
The case has raised questions about the depiction of body art in games, film, and other media at-large. In copyright law, fair use or de minimis means that the use of copyrighted material is limited or fleeting enough that permission from the copyright holder is not required. While Take-Two has argued that the tattoos ...
My understanding is that the tattoos are a part of my body and my likeness, and I have the right to have my tattoos visible when people or companies depict what I look like … No tattooist has ever told me I needed their permission to be shown with my tattoos, even when it was clear I was a public basketball player.
If the judge does not agree, the case is likely headed for trial, where the future use of personal details such as body art in media could be at stake.
Asuogaman NPP Executes threatens mass resignation? Why don’t you all do so? Your bluff would be called! For all your bravado , were you able deliver the Asuogaman Parliamentary seat for NPP? All talk no substance? What did you all do for Psul Ansah to be rewarded with the job he just lost? Hopefully, Osei Ameyaw and th...
It'll all go by so fast. Walking down the aisle, swaying to the first dance, and waving goodbye in the getaway car are memories you'll want to remember for the rest of your wedded life. We compiled the ultimate list of must-snap wedding day moments and created a nifty checklist that you can pin, print out, and give to ...
Having this idea list on hand will ensure that all the T's are crossed and I's are dotted when it comes to your wedding photos. If you're on the road to marital bliss, then pin or print out our ultimate wedding day photo checklist to ensure the big moments are captured. Download it now!
Baghdad is carefully studying the issue of buying Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, TASS quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari as telling reporters on Tuesday. The statement came following a meeting of the Russian-Iraqi intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technologica...
In the first look at J.J. Abrams' sequel, the English actor presents a menace to Captain Kirk and the world at large.
Benedict Cumberbatch is The Darkness.
The BAFTA and Emmy-nominated Sherlock star, already the voice of the evil Smaug in the Hobbit films, looms large and destructive in this first, preliminary introduction to a teaser trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness, the J.J. Abrams-directed sequel to the hit 2009 series reboot.
After much speculation as to who, exactly, Cumberbatch is playing -- some said legendary villain Khaan -- his role is still unclear. But either way, he's not a nice guy, and a major turncoat, taking on Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the Enterprise.
From the first look, his destruction is mighty, and it more than shatters what he calls their illusion of safety. Get ready for an extra teaser on Dec. 17 for a few more morsels ahead of the first trailer.
The US food and drug administration (FDA) issued a press release in June stating that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of trans fats, are “not generally recognized as safe" for human consumption. The federal agency gave food manufacturers in the US three years to completely remove PHOs fro...
Trans fats are noxious for heart health and this single action by the FDA is likely to reduce both the incidence of heart disease and the number of heart attacks by the thousands in the US.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), however, is yet to issue any directive on this issue.
The reason trans fats have been used traditionally by the food industry in India and abroad is because they increase taste, add texture, increase the shelf life of regular food products and reduce the cost of production. Medical research, however, shows that consuming trans fats significantly increase the risk of heart...
A review of the medical literature, titled Health Effects Of Trans-fatty Acids: Experimental And Observational Evidence, on the effects of trans fats on heart health—published in the European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition in 2009—found that “among dietary fats, trans fats leave a unique cardio-metabolic imprint", contr...
vanaspati (a source of trans fats) compounds the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the Indian population."
Trans fats are found in many popular foods, including cakes, biscuits, cookies, potato chips, French fries and fried food. In the US, food manufacturers are required to state the amount of trans fat in their food product if the level exceeds 0.5mg per serving—as prescribed by the FDA. This isn’t required of the Indian ...
Only one Indian brand, a bakery, issued a press release in 2009 saying that it was removing trans fats from its baked products. And though an industry source says that more branded Indian food manufacturers are following suit, the only way of knowing that a processed food product doesn’t have trans fats, or has minimal...

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