Letting Steam Off

The sad story of the CCTV blaze

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

I was in a Rotary board meeting when it happened and only later in the evening we went to have a closer look. At that time (around 11pm) the building was still smoldering. Police and emergency vehicles were everywhere and so were busloads of military security forces. See my pics.
I collected some of the best pics, in the frenzy I am not sure where they all come from, some are from China Daily, South China Morning Post, Reuters, AFP, Tom Van de Weghe etc. Others are mine and dated.


You can see how the complex looked like in April 2008 and just a very few days before the blaze.
The 159-meter building is around a corner from the iconic CCTV main tower. It was not used during the Olympics, contrary to some reports and was due to officially open around mid-2009. The building is a 30-story luxury hotel, the 241-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The building seems doomed and insurance claims could be refused.
CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company (Hunan) to ignite several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside the hotel, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing Fire Control Bureau. Total cost: 1 million RMB. Their idea was to organize the greatest of all fireworks and they were filming the whole process. A great show it indeed was…
We heard that a massive amount of fireworks were brought to the rooftop where they ignited by accident. This explains the massive explosions seen over the roof. The whole structure burned like a torch, using the aluminum façade as a conduit for the fire from the roof, down to the ground. Apparently no water was available in the building and the fire services of the city can’t cope with such high-rises. Scary.
The type of fireworks used is strictly banned in the whole city because of their dangerous nature.
In other words, some people in CCTV did incredible stupid things and planned nothing in fire prevention planning. The culprits promptly ran away when the fire started but the police caught up with them in Lanfang, halfway to Tianjin.
A massive amount of brand new TV equipment was stored inside. Losses could reach 5 4 billion RMB.
It is also a massive loss of face for the city.
The SCMP reported:
A mainland website poking fun at China Central Television’s programmes has become an overnight hit as netizens gloated over the fire that gutted a building in the complex of the state broadcaster’s new headquarters.
Netizens who claimed to have been subjected to CCTV’s whitewashed news reports and the mainland’s strict censorship said they were rejoicing in the fire.
Many said the fire was CCTV’s most entertaining event in decades.
The authorities ordered newspapers and websites to strictly follow Xinhua’s reports on the fire and banned any independent articles or unauthorised pictures. Journalists complained that they were banned from commenting on the fire.

If you see above a blank space,  🙁 most probably China has blocked YouTube or this video. It is supposed to show one of the best videos of the fire. You can go directly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avBkDtVCNng
Official media coverage was pathetic. Officials tried to prevent media coverage but that was impossible – one hour later it was on YouTube and other websites. Local Chinese newspapers simply ignored the “restrictions” and discussed about the drama in detail. But now pictures are gradually being removed.
We expect some heads to roll. Literally. Over ten people are already “in custody”.

Hell and chemistry

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a university chemistry exam. The answer by one student was so profound that the professor shared it with his colleagues:
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let”s look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.
Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.
With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa Gibbons during my Freshman year that, “it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you”, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct … leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting “Oh my God.”
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY “A”
devilsending
Received from my friend Siegfried… (do note he sent it on a Saturday, his day off!)

The Wongs have a baby!

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Su Wong marries Lee Wong. The next year, the Wongs have a new baby.
The nurse brings over a lovely, healthy, bouncy, but definitely a Caucasian, WHITE baby boy.
‘Congratulations,’ says the nurse to the new parents. ‘Well Mr. Wong, what will you and Mrs. Wong name the baby?’
The puzzled father looks at his new baby boy and says, ‘Well, two Wong’s don’t make a white, so I think we will name him…
Are you ready for this?

“Sum Ting Wong“sumtingwong

Fed up with (some) U.S. politicians

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Well, at least with those anti-American negativists. With the USA in very deep trouble, affecting the whole world economy, the new team in Washington is facing a tremendous challenge to repair the damage done by the previous team.
I am fed up with all the nonsense and the fact we would not be allowed to express our opinion.
All is well? See this:

“US economic contraction worst since ’82” (SCMP & Agencies)
The world’s biggest economy shrank 3.8% in the fourth quarter of last year – the most in almost three decades and confirmation that the US is in a recession. US President Barack Obama seized on the figures as a “continuing disaster” for American families and further proof that more action was warranted on his US$819 billion economic recovery plan.
and:

“Meltdown prophet warns that much worse is still to come” (Bloomberg in Davos)
At the World Economic Forum two years ago, economist Nouriel Roubini warned that record profits and bonuses were obscuring a “hard landing” to come.
American International Group vice-chairman Jacob Frenkel countered: “I really disagree.”
No more. “Roubini was intellectually courageous, and he called the shots correctly,” said Mr Frenkel, whose AIG survives only on the basis of more than US$100 billion of government loans. “He gained credibility, and he deserves it.”
Even as he wins plaudits for his prescience, Mr Roubini says worse lies ahead. Banks face bigger credit losses than they realise, more financial firms will require state takeovers and the world economy will keep shrinking throughout this year. “The consensus is catching up with me, but it’s still behind,” Mr Roubini said. “I don’t know what some people are smoking.”
He remains pessimistic and sees banks writing down at least US$3.6 trillion, compared with the US$1.1 trillion disclosed so far.
Some neocons stick to fraudulent and cheap attacks. Some now say it’s all because of Soros. On what planet do those people live? Obviously they are just as bad as Red Guards in old China or the regime in North Korea. Only listen to the voice of the party, don’t think, don’t do your homework. The new president is a Muslim, a communist, whatever. He will destroy the U.S., blablabla. Went to check those blogs where people spit out all their attacks. Disheartening. Simply speaking, many people are not ready to have somebody at the helm who dares to THINK and consult others.
At least some people keep our faith up in the USA. About the U.S. stimulus plan, attacked by those negativists, I could not express it better than Paul Krugman:
“Bad Faith Economics”
See attached the pdf version if you can’t find it.
Yes China is full of problems and we have plenty of brainless people too, spitting out nonsense. But overall the central government has a pretty correct analytical view, though sometimes they are clumsy in handling details. Idem for their stimulus plan. Not perfect, not enough, but not that bad either.
I will keep away as from now from those neocon polemics unless China’s economy is concerned. I just needed to get it off the chest. Others things to do.