What is Digg?Sponsored by AVG
CNET Top Weekly Download for Free Anti-Virus view!
free.avg.com - 2.4 million people a week get AVG Anti-Virus Free, for the best protection against web threats.
87 Comments
- laserjobs, on 10/11/2007, -2/+87Who wants to bet the story is really true but the Chinese government does not want anymore to come out on tainted food. Think about it for a moment before you jump on me. The Chinese government just executed their Ex-Food and Drug Chief.
- fredrated, on 10/11/2007, -0/+30And we know the original story was fake how exactly? Because the Chinese government says so? What did you expect them to say?
- Infantrydude, on 10/11/2007, -1/+27Would the Chinese worry more about their reputation than the truth? Nawwww they wouldn't cover up scandals.
- catalysis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+18The funny thing is that if this were the US, everyone here would immediately question the government and be on the reporters side. But instead it's China, which has a substantially worse human rights and free speech record, and everyone suddenly believes everything with no questions asked? Seems kind of odd to me.
- Ajajadude, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Well, we won't have to worry about him doing that anymore. Something tells me we'll never hear from this journalist every again...
- DelSolMan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16Coverup? I mean we're not talking about a country that is shooting rockets in the sky trying to change the weather.
- LonesomeFighter, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15will he be sleeping with the fishes?... you know, if they weren't floating dead on top of the water.
- webcure, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17Oof! He duped me! I even did a digg about dumplings with cardboard inside.
- BESTenemy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Tomorrow's menu - Censorship Buns: "60% cardboard, 40% reporter".
- MrKrinkleDude, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13The Chinese Gov. saying the report was false? Yeah, and I'm Jesus Christ with some beachfront property in Arizona.
- kickballcar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13Well, considering the coming 2008 Olympic Games, chances are China trying to cover it up.
- Ajajadude, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8I like the "Thanks!" you get when you report people like this....
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8"The Beijing Public Security Bureau has taken the criminal suspect, Zi, into custody and he will be severely dealt with according to law.''
So, he'll be executed like that health official from about a week ago then? - marcee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Well, I live in China. And I have to say that I love baozi and street food. I know it poses some risks, but I decided long ago that I prefer to try and be happy not worry too much. If you do that in China you'll end up living in a prison and I don't think it's worth it. But I always eat in places where there is a lot of customers, mainly because local people know best.
But this doesn't mean that I dismiss completely the possibility of getting poisoned from the food, I had quite a case with some Tofu in bad shape some months ago, but most of the food is reasonably safe, and things are improving. You just have to be careful and apply you common sense. Same as in the West. - CanTheSpam, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I'm with you. The details in the original story seem pretty real -- not the kind of thing that you get from random actors pulled off the street.
But I generally distrust communist regimes that have a history of censoring the media, so maybe I'm just biased. - vroom101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6@laserjobs, you may be right. I should have thought about that before posting my earlier comment. I won't be surprised to see another story submitted along the lines of "The Reporter Was Right Afterall".
But I would think this is easy to confirm or deny...aren't there diggers living in China who would have first hand experience with the food? - vroom101, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7What's up with the lying? This is the second time in less than five minutes I have to say "To the Digg front page this story must go!" (The first time is on the "Al Gore's Endangered Fish Dinner Story Untrue" submit).
- bryano, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6They are not defending the guy selling crap, they are simply stating that he wasn't selling crap. This is simply because they do not want their international image to drop, especially with so many food scares going on.
- PATSCRU, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7I don't know about arrest, but reporters should be punished for disseminating false information. If not by a government body, then by the public in the form of ostracizing the reporter .
- TheAkolyte, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Who the ***** would want to own a ps3 anyway?
- marcee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Sorry for the long post, but there are a few more details. The blog EastSouthWestNorth (http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20070719_1.htm) translated a report from the Southern Metropolis Daily that explains a little about how the story was discovered to be fake and that congratulates "netizens" (is this an English word?) on their efforts to debunk the story raising doubts like these ones in online forums and blogs: (next part taken from Shanghaiist - http://shanghaiist.com/)
1. How can you eat something that had been soaked in caustic soda? The spice cannot cover up the taste. How big must a bun store be in order to maintain the normal profits after accounting for the caustic soda, flour, pork and spice materials as well as water, electricity, rent and labor? You must make "at least 1,000 yuan more per day." So how many buns do you have to sell in order to realize that? Is it possible that nobody could taste the difference after so many years?
Truth: According to Zi, caustic soda was not used during the filming. The caustic soda comment was added to enhance the audio-visual impact.
2. The film angles did not appear to be made stealthily. Many of the shots came from very good angles. Some of the shots did not appear to come from a hidden camera.
Truth: This was not a stealth job. This was a fixed set-up.
3. Throughout the report, the Industry and Commerce Department never made clear what the stall workers did wrong. In the end, the Industry and Commerce Department banned them because they had neither public health permit nor business license, not because they were using cardboard to make bun fillings. There was not even a mention of the term "waste cardboard boxes" from the Industry and Commerce Department.
Truth: The Industry and Commerce Department made a sweep of all the conceivable shops and stalls that could be selling breakfasts in the Chaoyang district and did not find anyone using cardboard to make bun fillings.
4. A netizen concluded: there may have been a rumor that cardboard was being use to make bun fillings; the reporter was intrigued; he found a few migrant workers and staged a "news story" in which the reporter discovered and filmed how waste cardboard was being turned into bun fillings.
Truth: The netizen's speculation was very close to the results of the investigation. - scabbers, on 10/11/2007, -4/+8There's work for a man like that at FOX.
- sicapitan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4lol i thought it was true, and im in beijing. mostly because some of them do taste like cardboard (theyve been heated up and cooled down into a rock mostly)
- dlsspy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Do you respect China and want to give them your money more when you believe they sell cardboard buns or when you believe they don't?
- alexanderhazard, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Original vid:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cOFNGsMUTnM - catalysis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I would be surprised if digg was allowed in china.
- miriclaire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Apparently, it tasted great!
- RedViper1999, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2yup that's exactly what I thought. China would do anything to try and gain back their credibility in the food department.
- miriclaire, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Ya know--most of FOX and CNN and a lot of newspapers would be cozying up in cells, if that were true. It's not that he disseminated false information (That happens all the time in China) it is that he FABRICATED the information himself. You see, if the GOVERNMENT fabricates it FOR you--it's OK!
- SteelFrog, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Reported your refferal code to the company. Thanks for playing! :)
- cryptoki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2hmm.. im bored today.. i think im going to tell the whole world china makes buns with cardboard. Hmm.. prison would be nice.. as long as they have hvac right? The story is disturbing... Even if it is true.. the Chinese government would still squash a guy like that and throw him in prison.. unless their caught red handed. BTW.. isnt cardboard a little nutritous?
Another thought.. the story was staged by the govt.. to make those who question their food quality look good. nice move .. checkmate!!!!! - SamuraiGhost, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3At first I thought it may be a cover up too...but does anyone else think it's a bit strange that people would confuse cardboard for meat? O_o Hell even soy burgers don't taste like meat, and the industry has put a lot of effort into that.
- pailsOfGrease, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1steamed meat bun now taste like corrupt reporter
- ronaldinho, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I still think the original story was true, and I'm Chinese. I smell a cover-up by the government, and believe me, anything is possible with us Chinese, as long as it cuts cost and adds a little profit. Yeah some of us can be pretty ***** up sometimes.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I agree. I eat baozi here all the time (Shanghai) and have never had any problems. I prefer the sweet ones though (red bean) - the article talks about pork and meat filled buns.
- VitriolAndAngst, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Doesn't it seem more likely that the government is more concerned that this story comes on the heels of many recalls and it just paints a clear picture of a China with few standards beyond making things cheaply?
They perhaps arrested him for hurting economics and this is the cover story.
Did you know that they passed a law that makes it a federal crime to make statements that "harm US trade" here in America? I won't be surprised to find a whistle blowing reporter thrown in jail for outing a similar travesty here in the US. - marcee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Euh, for the benefit of the clueless, the "prison" thing was just a metaphor. -_-
- Gabberwok, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2The trick is that they soak the cardboard in fat. You can do that to pretty much anything and people will eat it (check out the Morgan Spurloch (?) fry experiment video on YouTube/Digg). You can fry almost anything and it becomes "edible", so I'm sure people would eat cardboard soaked in pig fat.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0 - cryptoki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+1(sarcasm) actually look "bad"... for those who didnt get it.
- xGORDOx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Word ^
- qubesquare, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I say China is covering the up the truth. Neither the vendor or report are ever to be seen again.
- Gabberwok, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This is clearly the Chinese government spinning bad publicity - why would the reporter have lied? There's no international conspiracy against China, Chinese products have just been in the news recently for killing people and their pets. Frankly, this is a good move on the part of the Chinese government - it's what I would do in their shoes with so much attention on their safety practices. I hope for the reporter's sake he doesn't get executed (like their equivalent of the head of the FDA).
- HarryBauzonia, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Wow. Your English is excellent....and I agree with your philosophy.
I've tried street food in China too and it was damned good; whatever it was. - KayinAngel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1China comes off as incredibly shady to me, even now with their progressive capitalism image. The government appears to control every aspect of the media, and yes, I am surprised Digg is available in china.
- shreela, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"How can you eat something that had been soaked in caustic soda? The spice cannot cover up the taste."
Caustic soda can be used as a soak for hominy (corn/maize) in a similar way that dried corn is soaked in lime to make tamales. It gets rinsed in water a lot after soaking. - shreela, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1The way I read the original story was that it was only -a street vendor- doing this, so I didn't assume that Chinese bun companies were also doing this. The Chinese government might have come across as more credible if they'd have tried that angle, instead of an obvious cover-up so their trade and upcoming Olympics won't be hurt.
- bkemper, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1What a country! In China, cardboard goes inside buns!
- ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1In China, when you're arrested, you pretty much are guilty. The Chinese Communist Party does not make many mistakes.
- gettarat, on 11/24/2008, -0/+1Who knows who to believe now.
http://pyramidsofgiza.org/ -
Show 51 - 87 of 87 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is