The mysterious buyer, known only as Mrs. Wang, first met the dog while traveling China’s Qinghai province, and has another Tibetan Mastiff that she plans to breed with the new 18-month old pup. The new dog, whose name was White Root, was renamed Yangtze River Number Two. The dog and its new owner were met at Xi’an airport by a motorcade of 30 luxury cars and ready-made fans waving banners and signs to welcome him to his new home.

Mrs. Wang managed to break the world record with her purchase, as the prior most expensive dog, a cloned Labrador, went for “only” $155,000.

About the purchase, Ms Wang said, “Gold has a price, but this Tibetan mastiff doesn’t.”

The Tibetan Mastiff is a very old breed and have been used for centuries as guard dogs.

[image: zuma press]

Post from: Blisstree

Woman Buys Dog for $582,135

People contract the plague through the air with an infection to the lungs. It is an extremely dangerous disease and can cause death within 24 hours. Most cases of the plague occur in Africa.

Image: sxc.hu.

Post from: Blisstree

Pneumonic Plague Outbreak

Negative

I wrote that post from the perspective of actually being accidentally pregnant – as an actor would preparing for a role in a movie, I suppose. I tried to take on the thoughts and fears and excitement I would have felt. Those feelings were real. And for a moment – no, a while – I was actually a little disappointed not to be pregnant.

I had never questioned having an only child. My husband wanted another baby and I didn’t rule it out. But I never had the longing. And, sort of passively aggressively, I let time slip away until it became no longer plausible.

It does give me pause, at times, when my darling son asks if he can have a brother. (He wants an older one.) There are women who would give their life’s blood to carry a baby, yet each month I am preventing this well-working mechanism in my own body. Should I feel guilty for not giving my son a companion to share his 5-year-old dreams, a best friend for life? Am I selfish for wanting just one child?

According to OnlyChild.com, the percentage of women who have only one child has more than doubled in the past 20 years, making only-child families the fast growing families in this country. Figures recently released by the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s “statistics authority,” families with only one child now make up 46 percent of all families in Britain, a number that’s jumped four percent since last year. This only-child trend, affectionately coined “little emperors” by China which imposed a one-child family limit, has taken root in Britain, so say the experts, because of the need for mothers to work, the high cost of raising children, and the prevalence of family breakups and single parenthood.

Are my reasons as rational? Maybe not. Mine are more selfish. But it is a decision I made and, at this point, there’s no looking back.

Source: Daily Mail

JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

OK, I’m NOT Pregnant

USAID, United States Agency for International Development, a federally funded program that distributes 10 billion condoms to poor countries, in an attempt to help curb the spread of AIDS. They will no longer be distributing American-made condoms.

“Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move,” said a USAID official who spoke on the condition that he would not be named. But he said the reasons for the change included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped “buy American language” in a recent appropriations bill.

Okay, so they are cheaper, which means that they can give out more, but when you look at the track record of recent Chinese products, do you still think that this is a good idea?

First, there’s the loss of 300 American jobs. A company in Alabama called Alatech was the previous USAID program supplier. In case you haven’t noticed, American families are struggling. We certainly don’t need to cut jobs, we need to increase jobs. Banks and auto makers aren’t the only folks going broke.

Second, there’s the Chinese baby formula scare, the Chinese toy scare, the Chinese __________ (fill in the blank) scare. When it comes to health, welfare, and birth control, do we really think cheaper is the best way to go?

I didn’t give it much thought before, but from now on, when I buy condoms, I’m going to make sure that I’m buying American.

Image credit: All Posters.com

Post from: Blisstree

Condoms – Buy American

Since they’ve lived here, this older woman hasn’t missed a day of morning exercises. I am lucky if I get 3 push-ups done in a week. Son and daughter-in-law of this woman are both bio-quantum-engineer genius-types…and their children seem beyond smart; they are wise beyond their toddler-hood.

My neighbors to the right, are from South Africa. They too bring many things that help them stay connected to their homeland…for one, they speak only Afrikkans among one another at home. They too, have an incredible work-ethic. Thier children are each straight A+ students; one recently graduated from university with honors…on top of which, she landed a prestigious publishing job in NYC, not more than 2 weeks after her graduation.

It is expected that when you arrive in America, you bring along the traditions, celebratory activities, idiosyncracies, language and many other fascinating nuances of your heritage.

As we in America, quarrel over immigration issues, we should stop bickering for a minute and look around at our neighbors, our fellow colleagues and our friends from other countries.

Yes they bring rituals and habits that we may not be familiar with, but they also bring us a treasure trove of experiences. Just where would we be as a country without them?
We also hope that immigrants try their best to assiimilate into our culture, so that we can co-exist and communicate.

I can tell you that both my neighbors, inluding Chinese meditation woman, wear Nike’s, playbaseball and bbq every weekend.

Post from: Blisstree

Globalized Suburb.