Dan de mingzi

I used to live in Foshan. So funny to see a city of over 1M people referred to as a "bedroom community"

On the whole Joe vs. Jose comparison: No offense meant to anybody, but I hate seeing all this misinformation being passed around as if it is true. This is a great example of an emotional issue that brings out poorly thought out or researched arguments like this Joe vs. Jose example. I was going to respond to it, but happened on a much better online rebuttal; sorry it is long but this author does a great job of demolishing this example point by point. I think the lesson here is that if you look into the reality of things it is seldom so simple as cute internet chain mail rants would have you believe. Here is the quote: "I received this email a few days ago. Normally, I don¡¯t bother to look at forwards before I delete them; this one, however, caught my eye. I can see how one might be upset and ready to jump on the bandwagon¡­if that person had no capacity for thinking, and was willing to blindly follow the crowd. It has been my experience that following the crowd will often put you on the winning team, but it doesn¡¯t always make you right. While I¡¯m not sure who the original author is, their reason for writing it is quite evident; racism and ethnocentrism, with a bit of ignorance mixed in. I include racism based on ¡°Jose¡±, an obvious dig at illegal immigrants originating in Mexico. Of course the author of this propaganda has done some research; I wonder why he/she didn¡¯t compare Joe with Jahan. Surely s/he realizes that according to usimmigrationsupport.org: ¡°¡­individuals from India actually make up the group with the largest percentage increase in illegal immigration since 2000.¡± It seems this email has been making the rounds, indicating a number of people are willing to ¡°educate¡± the rest of us. I hope you will be as willing to forward this one as you were the original. This scenario is set up with ¡°Jose¡± having NO Social Security Number. The following is a direct quote: ¡°Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".¡± There are two problems with this right from the beginning. First, this implies that Jose is doing the same job as Joe is, for $15.00 while Joe gets paid $25.00. While this could be the case, it is unlikely. In fact, the majority of illegal aliens seldom work at jobs that are equal to those of Americans. But for the sake of argument, we¡¯ll let that go. Second, Jose is being paid less money for performing the same duties as Joe, but he is being paid cash, ¡°under the table¡±. Besides the fact that Jose is being paid less for doing the same job, his employer seems to be doing something illegal. Because the writer is obviously a law abiding citizen of this country, why was no more said about that? Maybe it¡¯s because Joe is an American and the things he does illegally should go unnoticed. Did you notice Jose¡¯s employer is a criminal, and were you willing to look the other way so we could stay focused on Jose¡¯s iniquities? At any rate, the important part of this sentence is that Jose has NO Social Security Number and his income is undocumented. Next, we are reminded to ¡°Pay attention¡±. I did; did you? The email states: ¡°Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.¡± Maybe this is the new math I¡¯m unfamiliar with, but 30% of 52,000 is 15,600. When I subtract that from 52,000, I get 36,400. That¡¯s 5,169 more than we are told. But, for the sake of argument, we¡¯ll let that go too. Next, we are told how much Joe pays for medical and dental insurance and that he gets limited coverage for his family, and how much money he has left over. Then we are told, and this is a quote: ¡°Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.¡± Do you really believe this? Do you think Jose and his family get to see the same doctor Joe and his family sees? Does Jose really have full medical and dental coverage, or is it just the emergency care that we are all (including Joe and his family) entitled to? I have to wonder, if Jose has such a great deal, why doesn¡¯t Joe and his family use the state and county medical services, just like Jose does; that would save him $7,200 per year. Now we are told that Joe makes too much money for food stamps, while ¡°Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare.¡± Remember the first quote I took from this scenario? Here it is again: ¡°Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".¡± Now here¡¯s a quote from the California Department of Social Services: ¡°Non-citizens who are in the U.S. temporarily, such as students, are not eligible.¡± Illegal immigrants are not eligible. Period. In regards to: ¡°Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy.¡± Here is a quote from the Section 8 Program Fact Sheet, by the Housing & Urban Development Department. ¡°Eligibility for a rental voucher or certificate is determined by the HA based on the total annual gross income and family size and is limited to U.S. citizens and specified categories of non-citizens who have eligible immigration status.¡± Remember, Jose ¡°has NO Social Security Number¡±. Did any of you stop to think about how Jose was able to qualify for this $500 per month Federal rent subsidy without a Social Security Number or income documentation? I also have to wonder why we have Jose paying $500 per month, while Joe has to pay $1200. Is there a requirement for Americans to pay more than twice what illegal immigrants pay, or is this something Joe decided to do for himself? If he made that choice, I really don¡¯t think he should be complaining about it; nor do I feel sorry for him. Then we are told Jose doesn¡¯t have insurance. I¡¯m sure he doesn¡¯t, he doesn¡¯t own a car either (at least not one that is registered in California), or a California driver¡¯s license. We are told: ¡°Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200..00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.¡± I¡¯m not sure why Jose sends his money out of the country every month. It was established, was it not, that his wife and two children are here with him? We are then told that at the end of the school day: ¡°Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.¡± I don¡¯t understand the complaint here. Is it because Jose¡¯s children attend an ESL program, or is it because Joe¡¯s children do not. Surely all-American Joe¡¯s children already speak fluent English, so the problem must lie with Jose¡¯s children attending the ESL program. Why, I wonder; maybe it¡¯s because some of us are only happy when immigrants can¡¯t speak English- gives us something to complain about. Now, nearing the end, we are reminded: ¡°Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.¡± Hmmm, let¡¯s think about that for a minute. All of this, I think, is really getting at the idea of the taxes that illegal immigrants don¡¯t pay, and how much they don¡¯t contribute to this country (or at least to not to California). The fact is, Jose pays sales taxes on everything he buys, and that, I believe is where the funds originate for police and fire services. Okay, now you have my first thoughts on each point brought up in this nonsense. Now, let¡¯s get back to reality. The fact is, Jose probably isn¡¯t working for cash ¡°under the table¡± at a discounted rate. More likely, Jose has a fake Social Security number. It won¡¯t work to get him on food stamps, or housing assistance, but it¡¯s good enough for his employer. This means Jose is having all the same taxes, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, social security, medicare, etc. deducted from his pay as Joe is (by the way, do you think Jose will ever see a social security check?). However, what happens at tax time? Any idea? I know; April 15 is just another day for Jose. He won¡¯t be filing his taxes¡­and he won¡¯t be getting a refund. Joe, on the other hand, will more than likely have all his tax deductions returned to him. According to Shikha Dalmia of the Reason Foundation, In 2005, ¡°the revenues from these fake numbers ¡ª that the Social Security administration stashes in the "earnings suspense file" ¡ª added up to 10 percent of the Social Security surplus. The file is growing, on average, by more than $50 billion a year.¡± The money Joe paid in, he will get back, what do you think will happen to the money Jose paid in¡­maybe that will be sent to Mexico for the rest of Jose¡¯s family."

These stories are really heartbreaking; it is sad to see these animals so abused for the cheap thrills of some tourists. I hope as China further progresses and develops its people come to realize the tragedy of treating animals like this

I agree also; government entities like when things fall into nice pre-defined categories. Confusing the issue even a bit between fiancee and married could cause unnecessary complications

I think you must have been looking at the Standard flight options (vs. the Saver ones), or something like that. It is still 65K miles RT to China; I just bought a 32.5K one way ticket using miles a few days ago.

I also have traveled to China many times without a return ticket to the US (that is kind of required when you live there!). And a lot of people have lived there for years on L tourist visas. I think you have a few good options: 1) If you have frequent flier miles, United airlines (maybe others also?) will now let you buy one way tickets by using 1/2 the normal required miles (i.e. the RT ticket to China is 65K miles, one way is 32.5K) 2) If you will purchase, two one way tickets are prob going to be very expensive ($1600 or more). It is likely better to buy a round trip ticket and just pay the change fee if you need to change your return date.

The problem is definitely one of Return On Investment. The huge costs of constructing/operating these bullet trains across long distances means it only makes sense if you have massive population groups that need to be moved around, and not enough of them are willing/able to drive their own cars. It might make sense in a country like China, with a huge population accustomed to train travel and a great population density in the large cities, combined with a relative lack of autos (per capita I mean; I know there are a LOT of autos). In the US, where we are unused to train travel, where most of us have our own cars as an alternative to flying for medium distances, where population density is a fraction of China's, and where we already have a big air travel infrastructure built up, the value proposition is a lot more questionable.

If you're talking about community college, rules about residency probably vary from school to school. At my wife's, I believe they require a year of living in-county to get the lowest tuition rate. When my wife first started, she had only been in the US for about 5 months, but the school was willing to accept my residence history since we're married. But I very much got the feeling that they were letting us slide through. You'll probably just have to check with the school, do some negotiating, and hope you don't 'peng ying dingzi'... I had known that CA requires a person to actually live in the state for a year before they are considered a resident for tuition purposes; I wasn't sure though if there was a way around that in the event that the husband was a resident. Turns out there isn't. I looked it up; in CA at least the marriage doesn't matter (unless I worked for the university, or other special conditions). The one year requirement is pretty strict.

I agree with Randy... they are cheaper in the US. It's now quite easy to unlock an iphone for T-Mobile; I've done quite a few. I have stayed abreast of iphone pricing over the years and Craigslist and Ebay are two good places to find them. The main consideration is how new you want it and whether 2G or 3G. The main concern with a used one is that since the battery is soldered inside the unit, you don't want one too old. Of course, new ones will cost more. Since it is for someone else, I would want a newer one without scratches, then expect at least to pay $350. Thanks David and Randy, I looked around on the AT&T Web site and of course, they offer nice phones for under 200 USD, but it comes with a two-year contract. I don't want to burden my daughter with having to deal with unlocking the phone, which can be quite challenging and often leads to reduced functionalities and feature availability. So, I may just get her a new plan with AT&T. However, if there is information out there that shows you can take an iPhone, unlock it, and stick SIM card from another provider, in this case, TMobile, and get it to work, then I may go with that. I would prefer not being locked into a highway robbery plan from a US cell phone provider. Unlocking it for TMobile is a piece of cake; go here: http://blackra1n.com/ and download the exe file. Run it and follow the instructions; takes maybe 5 minutes. You can search the web for "Blackra1n" if you want more details, but it is really very simple. Tmobile works fine on the iPhone; you won't get the visual voicemail and 3G won't work (ATT and Tmobile use different 3G standards, so the iPhone 3G only works on ATT). Everything else works that I've seen. In China, my experience was that the unlock I did in the US did not work the first time I tried using a Chinese SIM card; so I took it to an electronics place in China that sells iPhones and paid the guy 100 RMB to unlock it for me. But that was 2 years ago, so this Blackra1n unlock may also work for China now.

She can get it much cheaper over there (US) - say $200 vs. $600 or $700 here - but she would need to sign a new (or re-up an existing) contract Check out Blackberries, or Nokia, unless she just has to have an iPhone. I have bought un-locked phones and activated them on T-Mobile - no problem. Don't know if they need to support the iPhones browser, though. Thanks Randy. That's the pisser in the US. You have to buy plan with a cell phone company to use the phone. I love the China plans where you can buy any phone, anywhere and get a SIM card to operate. Very few restrictions. I just got a new phone with AT&T and activated it...at that time my old Razor-V3 was de-activated...ATT told me that they can't have 2 phones on one cell number. I think I can get a sim card for it and it will be my phone for when I'm in the PRC. Will that work? If it's a new phone it is probably locked; you just need to unlock it before going to China. Most phones you can unlock yourself pretty easily; go on google or ebay and search for your phone name and "Unlock". When you get to China buy a SIM card from a sidewalk stand and youre good to go

Yeah, all we know for sure is that on July 22, 2002, the rules changed, requiring the security clearance to be completed and back in GZ prior to the issuance of the visa. And when I look back on the domino effect of that one change, the term Black Hole seems so appropriate. The worse part Robert, and you and all of us who went through it know, was the total lack of credible information. For those who weren't around back in those days of horror and woe, don't know what fun you missed. The rule change required the FBI to complete the background check and send it back to GZ prior to the issuance of the visa. Only problem was, somebody forgot to tell the FBI. As a result, most of our cases sat around on various FBI desks for months. What's worse, there was a 90 day window and, if the check was not completed, it had to be resubmitted. Ours was resubmitted at least twice, maybe three times. By the time they got to the second one, the first one had timed out. I could go on and on. Li's visa was approved on August 20, 2002 and they said we could get it in "around 30 days." We picked up our visa, finally, on March 10, 2003. And that was after waiting almost a year, just for the initial interview. Those were, indeed, the days my friend, we thought they'd never end....we'd sing and dance, forever and a day.... I am SO glad I didn't have to go through all that; I think I would have gone postal

That's funny. We got married in Nanjing, and there were a number of other foreigner/Chinese couples getting married there. One was a fairly old, overweight white guy marrying a middle aged Chinese woman; whose attractive young daughter had also come to see the ceremony. Or so we thought. When they sat down to sign the papers, the young girl sat down and we realized he was marrying HER instead! My wife was mystified.

True; in fact we STILL haven't had our family/friends ceremony (we are having it in April when the weather is better and we figured I could get more people to make it out to China). But we are, without question, legally married (my wife makes sure I know this!).

I talked to dos on Friday and they said that there has been no interviews set by Guangzhou yet for March. Now this time for sure they admit they have our physical papers since February 1, 2010. Today I call in and they seem to be closed due to bad weather. Michael Stay confident Michael; it will happen!

Congratulations! We got our pink on Feb 4th, also a similar experience of only a few brief questions. I think having lived in China before really makes a big difference. Welcome to America!