Feb 2 2005
Words of wisdom WorldCom case: Sullivan told Bernie in
Oct. 2000, "The only way to meet the Wall Street expectations is to cook
the books. He stared at document and said we have to meet the numbers."
Red state leader gives state of union :
Social Security will be broke in 20042 America's immigration system is also
outdated -- unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our
country.
The Bobai County government issued a statement saying government property
was destroyed by the protesters and blaming the outburst on excessive
enforcement tactics and attempts by officials to overcharge families with more
than one child. By Tuesday, the area was calm except for a continued police
presence in the most restive towns and the frequent passage of Public Security
Bureau vehicles with sirens blipping.
The way the one-child policy has been interpreted in this region of fertile rice
paddies and pineapple fields, families whose first child is a daughter can try
again for a son but have to pay a $375 fine for their second offspring, parents
said. Those who give birth to third and fourth children have to pay
progressively higher fines, residents said.
But, they added, Bobai authorities traditionally have been lenient about
collecting the money, realizing that farmers often face a cash shortage between
crops. As a result, many Bobai area families, particularly in tradition-bound
farming villages along dirt lanes cutting between paddies, have three or more
children. For many of them, the new determination to enforce the rules meant
financial stress, and for others financial impossibility.
Chen Hua, 32, a mother of two, said she and her husband were suddenly faced with
demands for swift payment of their fine. After pleading for a delay, they
coughed up the money just before the May 1 Labor Day holiday. Part of the money
came from Chen's earnings as a taxi driver, a trade she plies in the nearby city
of Yulin for $90 a month while her husband tends the family farm in Cow Town.
Chen said they had a daughter, now 8, but wanted a son as well. He was born six
years ago, making them liable for the $375 fine that they paid three weeks ago.
"It's worth it," she said. "I finally got a son. In our area, if
you don't have a son, you haven't made it. In the countryside, if we don't have
a son, who will take care of us when we are old? I donot want to move to Fort
Worth TX"
Don't be angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, because
you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.