Dan R

So you mean you keep Kosher? Salting is part of Kosher preparation. It does kill the bacteria is done thoroughly. I recommend using a bleach and water solution in a spray bottle on boards, counters etc after rinsing.

That about covers it Tony. As for salmonella on Chicken it is much more common on vegetables. Most chicken in the U.S. is almost salmonella free processed at USDA inspected facilities. Recontamination is the main problem at markets and home. I would recommend buying chicken packaged with the mark of inspection. Frank the air will get you first.

I recall more than once having bowls, grabs, obstructing the path, etc., just to get something. I followed my SO's lead on this one, which was to ingore and not acknowledge. j You guys were in L.A. and didn't stop by?

Hey I didn't say I don't love being able to locate the floor with a public toilet easily in a hospital restaurant or train station. You don't even need to read Chinese signs.

After the wages go up enough I'm sure they will opt for American high tech methods of controlling shoplifting At this time it is cheaper to have watchers than install mirrors and cameras with recorders, tag everything and make you walk through the tag detector. By the way this morning a former Mayor of Beautiful Downtown Burbank was arrested for cocaine trafficing. Her boy friend was arrested for trading guns for cocaine to the gang that killed a policeman recently. Seems China isn't the only place with problems I think the odor of toilets smelling up areas near the toilets and people talking in your face with very bad breath were my big annoyances.

I wonder if this has any connection with the Ba Gua of Taoism which is used for fortune telling too.

Cooked foods left out are only safe until recontaminated. This comes from all surfaces and the air. The fat will continue to oxydize and in a couple days taste rancid. A good rule is that any moist protein will develop dangerous levels of pathogens within 4 hours left at 75 degrees. The advantage in Chinese cooking is that high temperature oil is used which more thoroughly kills the bacteria. Steaming is not complete in cooking. Using lower oil temps will result in bacteria remaining to develop. So don't encourage low temp frying if they insist on leaving things out.

Scraping the side with saw dust is safer. The spine contains high levels of bacteria and so T-bone or Porter House will spoil quicker than Boneless cuts. Traditionally meat was wrapped in cheese cloth and left on a butcher block for the day. The cheese cloth wicks away moisture delaying spoilage. Wet meat wrapped in saran wrap and placed in a refrigerator over 40 degrees will spoil faster than the wrapped meat in a 70 degree room for two or three hours. The fat may turn rancid but this is a different condition of oxidation. Washing has no effect at all on the fat.

In the U.S. where slaughter involves quick draining of blood unless you see clots or bruising, there is no value to washing. In fact aggressive washing is risky. The bacteria level does not reduce from rinsing in cold water. Agressive washing is more likely to result in bacteria being worked into the meat where it won't be killed by cooking rare to medium rare. The main effect is to reduce the beefy flavor which is carried in the blood. Since searing the outside of unwashed meat kills surface bacteria (harmful pathogens are surface not internal bacteria) it is preferable to washing which can carry it below the surface. Meat that is dry will not support bacteria growth well but wet meat left for a couple hours will have many times the level of bacteria. Trimming any suspect spoiled areas off is much safer than washing. My job title is Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager.

This custom is seen in all places with poor sanitation. Even the owners here where I work insisted on it the first 15 years they were in the U.S. (from Israel). Now they don't ask but prefer it be done. This is childhood conditioning which is very hard to change. It is basic concept of what is clean. Not only cleanliness but also to wash out coagulating blood from poor slaughter practices which makes it spoil and taste disagreeable. Goodluck

"When pregnant women and breast feeding women take it, Pearl Powder is believed to speed up bone development and promote intelligence in babies." That Emperor's Herbalist website is a good one on it. Pete already gave it. You can order there also. Kokichi Mikimoto, one of the key figures in the creation of cultured pearls when asked about his excellent health at the age of 94 said, I owed my fine health and long life to the two pearls I have swallowed every morning of my life since I was 20.

I would sit back, relax and join the many people here in the Official Waiting Room of GUZ. You are now in the waiting game phase of the process. You may think we are a bit wacky here but over the next few months you will understand. Nothing really to prepare for the P-3. THat is just the forms she will fill out and send back saying "I'm here and waiting Mr. GUZ". THe P-4 is the documentation thing and that she'll take to interview with her. So relax, join in anytime you like and have some oo long cha. I just made it fresh.

Congratulations on the visa news. While this should never have happened, this signifies a bright new start. I hope all is going as well as can be for Rick and Guohua.

Resending the P-3 info might give it a jump start. Like the others I would not overload thtem with the things they are not suppose to have at this stage. I would also write a short letter saying these forms are in lieu of the P-3 originally sent on ----- . This way maybe they wont get confused wondering why they have two sets.

David I played that game too. Nice thing is it can be played solitaire or in groups. Of course if your SO is fluent in English you might think it is not needed. But it still comes in handy for when she wont tell you what she and her friend said. Be very suspicious if there were giggles with it.

I have gotten great use out of my BESTA translator. When I travel and have difficulty communicating I just type in the word, translate to Chinese and let them listen or look at it. We sometimes pass it back and forth. The ability to write Chinese on the screen is a big plus. The built in encyclopedia has come in very handy at times for explaining something. Just type in and display the entry in Chinese. I might even up grade to the new one. It now plays MP3s! This even adds to the usefulness while traveling. I use it even when using a dictionary if I can't read a character. I just type the English translate and play it. It also allows you to study by showing combined characters and by highlighting these you get the sound and a definition. And you can listen to both Mandarin and Chinese. For your SOs they can listen to the English pronounciation and it can be set to display directory in English or Chinese. Check them out http://0584.com/e828.htm Check them out

I agree with David in this. Proof, proof, proof..... Cover all bases to show the father according to the Vietnamese government has no rights regarding the boy. Does the birth certificate include any statement of marital status in addition to just mother, father? Even unmarried the stickler is that the U.S. gives rights and obligations. If Vietnam does not, proof of it would go a long way in this matter. This might be one of those situations where the embassy already knows about the Vietnamese situation. I think it may be time to start asking specific questions to the IV unit in Vietnam. The U.S. and Vietnam have recently made an agreement regarding adoption. Perhaps adoption would be a possibilty for dealing with the boys visa. usvisa@state.gov is the email given and 202-663-1225 the DOS number. It seems they do not have any listed direct contact for visas. Here is the new announcement regarding adoption. http://usembassy.state.gov/vietnam/wwwh050614.html This number is listed for information. 1-888-407-4747

So this is one of those subtle ways the Chinese have found for "trimming the fat" from rich Laowai. Have any of you Laowai that play ever walked away from the table with more than you came with? THE GAMBLER On a warm summer’s evenin’ on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep. So we took turns a starin’ out the window at the darkness ’til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak. He said, son, I’ve made a life out of readin’ people’s faces, And knowin’ what their cards were by the way they held their eyes. So if you don’t mind my sayin’, I can see you’re out of aces. For a taste of your whiskey I’ll give you some advice. So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow. Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression. Said, if you’re gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right. You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done. Now ev’ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowing what to keep. ’cause ev’ry hand’s a winner and ev’ry hand’s a loser, And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep. So when he’d finished speakin’, he turned back towards the window, Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep. And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even. But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep. You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done. You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count you r money when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

Contact these people http://www.afs.org/AFSI/ This is the oldest organization organizing high school exchanges. I have hosted students and had several of my students in Japan come to the U.S. for a semester. It is a great way to learn about the world and learn English.

I share your sadness and wish the best for both of you. I have learned a bit about Chinese cancer treatment over the past few years. It actually was very impressive. I have an interest in the subject since my Mother during her life fought cancer three times. She did die several years ago at 79 but free of cancer. Beijing and Shanghai have world class well recognised Cancer Hospitals. China also has more alternatives than the U.S. for treating cancer if it spreads. I agree with the Chemo but have also seen much better response to chemo when combined with Qi Gung healing. I have studied with Qi Gung doctors in China. Results are very impressive both for preop and post op or just for minimizing chemo effects. I have used it for a syndrom that results from x-ray and it has stopped immediately. Even the doctor was surprised and recommends it. Often the hard times draw us closer than the good times.

Sounds like one of those operations that provide house servants in exchange for room and board and a service fee. Is this a commercial kitchen? Do you mean a restaurant? Investigation is very costly and the government must build a defendable case (like we have to do with GUZ) so they rarely pursue them. THere are situations like this from many countries. Even legals who don't speak English and work for their own country's business owners often are trapped in less than half wages or tip only jobs (restaurants and sex trade are big for this). The worker has often paid to get here to do this work. With the shift to border security that ties up resources I have seen little interest by Immigration and the locals avoid confronting this. I've tried Labor Board, IRS, Insurance Commission (no worker's comp) Without hard evidence to begin with they aren't interested. It continues with participation from the workers because it gives poor people or socially shunned (like single mothers) an opportunity. Taiwan has taken the position that it is wrong but wont prosecute the organizers. SEA and Mideast countries view it as serving the poor and rich.

Through China, Korea and Japan mahjong is very popular. It is played anywhere people gather and many restaurants have a private room in the back for gambling with mahjong. It was very popular in the U.S. in the 60's played by women's groups. Although not so popular today most game shops carry the game which comes with English rules. When I was in college the Japanese students would get together in one of the rooms playing from dinner time to dawn. It is highly adictive. Just hearing the sound of the tiles shuffling gets some people the gambling urge.

In Liaoyang Xi Liaoning Sheng the shanyang is delicious

Have you been to Dandong? I was thinking of going there. Of course as an American I wouldn't risk walking across the bridge that ends in DPRK. A Chinese friend had a picture of himself taken leaning over into DPRK I almost ended up there by accident. The planes to North Korea leave from the Domestic terminal at Shenyang. I was waiting at the gate for my departure but they changed the gate. I got suspicious when I heard everyone around me speaking Korean and Japanese. No Chinese seemed strange. THen I overheard two older women speaking Japanese talking about going to visit relatives and this was their first time back since childhood. Luckily I didn't board. From the local terminal they flew into 3 DPRK cities.

Can't talk about death with Wei, either....and I thought I was telling her something good when I mentioned I have life insurance. 132633[/snapback] Ah life insurance.... you mean putting a curse on your life by betting on dying?