Southwest Inspectors Claim Roadblocks in Enforcing Safety Rules
New Bill May Expedite Visas for US Artists
Seoul May Classify Dogs as Livestock
Insta-Cities Pop Up in China
SOUTHWEST INSPECTORS CLAIM ROADBLOCKS IN ENFORCING SAFETY RULES – USA Today
As Southwest Airlines continues to investigate allegations for untimely safety checks—which resulted in a $10.2 million propose fine against the airline—two federal inspectors in charge of overseeing the airlines claim to have been kept from enforcing pertinent safety rules. According to Congressional hearing testimonies of the aforementioned inspectors, regional managers of the FAA have “ignored repeated complaints that safety was being compromised.” Apparently, more details have emerged that make the whole fiasco appear, as USA Today noted, like something out of a “mystery novel, […] complete with allegations of attempts at revenge, orders to destroy incriminating documents and suspicion of a conspiracy that ran all the way to the FAA’s Washington headquarters.”
Link: USA Today
Don’t miss Peter’s take on the matter: Airline Safety Starts With Maintenance
NEW BILL MAY EXPEDITE U.S. VISAS FOR ARTISTS – The New York Times
To the public, artists and entertainers often seem to have the upper hand, and soon they even will be able to obtain visas in a speedier manner. The House of Representatives voted this week to expedite visa approval for certain artists and entertainers, and various heads of arts organizations said attention finally was being given to the real dilemma, namely the time, money, and complexity of obtaining visas for lower-profile artists. Nigel Redden, director of the renowned arts showcase Lincoln Center Festival said, “We hire someone in January whose only job is to do visas. We’re turning the United States into fortress America. It turns everyone into an enemy. It loses us friends around the world and respect around the world.” In one instance, a “visa wrangler” in China requested $75,000 to assist a group of acrobats and soloists to travel to the embassy and obtain all the proper paperwork.
Link: The New York Times
SEOUL MAY CLASSIFY DOGS AS LIVESTOCK: YUM! – The Age (AU)
If you fancy masticating on good ol’ Fido, then book a trip to Seoul, where the city government hopes to classify dogs as livestock in order to establish food safety standards for those South Koreans who enjoy feasting on dog meat. Because standards currently do not deem dogs as livestock, no hygiene regulations exist on their slaughter farms. “Dogs are consumed in their millions in this country every year. That’s a fact. We have to take care of this situation,” said Lee Hae-Woo, head of the city government’s department of food safety. Back in 1988, South Korea sought ambivalence about dog meat, so the country could avoid adverse publicity before the Olympics, so they banned dog meat and snake meat as “abhorrent food.” Though South Korea’s motto is globalization, approving dog meat for human consumption would tarnish the country with Stone Age-esque practices, according to the Korea Association for Animal Protection. “No other country in the world but South Korea gives a legal green light to dog meat consumption,” the association said in a statement.
Link: The Age (AU)
INSTA-CITIES POP UP IN CHINA – National Geographic
With the demand for light bulbs, buttons, bra rings, and more, “instant cities” are popping up in China for factory workers. As Peter Hessler reports, in one hour and four minutes, a few men, including a contractor and his assistant, mapped out an entire 21,500-square-foot factory, from bottom to top. The government motto of the Lishui Economic Development Zone is “Each person does the work of two; two days’ work is done in one,” but this slogan may be too modest. Lishui’s zone occupies what was previously rugged farmland, and to accommodate factories in Lishui’s zone, nearly one thousand peasants had been relocated, as well as 108 separate mountains and hills.
Link: National Geographic
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