TresSugar

Poke! The Chinese Premiere Logs in to Facebook

CitizenSugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:00:26 -0700

Since the earthquake, Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao has made a bunch of friends. Over 13,000 of them to be exact - according to his hopping Facebook profile. He's become wildly popular for his fast and feeling response to the May 12 earthquake. At one disaster site, a collapsed school, the 66-year-old politician called out these touching words of comfort: "This is Grandpa Wen Jiabao, hang on child, we will rescue you!"

Since the creation of his page two days after the quake, Wen has gotten messages posted on his wall like "I love you, oh my God," "a model Premier for the world!" and the text-rageous, "it's so great 2 see u here!" For wasting no time rolling up his sleeves and heading to the worst hit locations with a bullhorn and hard hat, he seems to have eclipsed President Hu Jintao (who has no Facebook page of his own). Is an popular profile the answer? To find out, read more.

Saying things like, "the central government hasn't forgotten about this place. We will rescue those who are injured. If the roads are blocked, we'll use airplanes to lift them out," he provided comfort. But was it enough? Chinese parents are now lashing out at the government for suspect construction that allowed the schools to collapse in the first place. In one school of 900, only 13 made it out of the rubble. Can Grandpa Wen Jiabao help them forget?

Has he set the new example for how politicians should respond to disasters? Do some times call for a grandfatherly type with the presence of mind to have a Facebook profile? All in all, are you impressed with the Chinese government's response to the quake?

5 Wacky and Weird Stories From This Week

CitizenSugar — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:00:56 -0800

Statues Could Get You Pregnant - More than 2,000 women have reported becoming pregnant after touching fertility statues at Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Woman Fails Driving Test 771 Times - A South Korean woman has spent $3,000 on fees for the test.
Man Goes to Jail For Taking 50 cents - India sentenced a 75-year-old Indian man to jail for accepting a $0.50 bribe 24 years ago.
Israeli Ambassador Latest Target of Shoe Throwing - A Swedish protester threw a shoe at Israel's ambassador this week at Stockholm University. Earlier this week a protester in England aimed a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Man Gets 50 Traffic Citations in One Day - After police tried to stop Elvis Alonzo Barret for a traffic violation, he fled from police, running through red lights and crashing into another car and a fence. Police also found crack cocaine and a crack pipe in the car.

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Front Page: Chinese See Footage of Shoe Thrown at Premier

CitizenSugar — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:00:58 -0800

After a protester threw a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday in England, blogs in China began discussing the copycat incident. Hours later, the Chinese media finally showed footage of what happened. - London Times
President Obama will spend today selling his stimulus plan to the American people with a full-court media press. - USA Today
A medium-range rocket landed in the Israeli city of Ashkelon today, while delegates from Hamas are meeting in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials. - AP
Comcast has determined that the porn clip that interrupted the Super Bowl in Arizona was caused by an "isolated malicious act." - Arizona Daily Star

Iran announced today that it launched its first domestically made satellite. France expressed concern that the technology is similar to that used for ballistic missiles, but Iran says its intentions are peaceful. - BBC News
President Obama is set to name Republican Senator Judd Gregg as Commerce Secretary, after a deal was struck to keep his seat in Republican hands. Obama will be the first president since Teddy Roosevelt to appoint three members of the opposing party to the cabinet. - Huffington Post

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