Write a caption to the image above. Winner gets my eternal respect.

Image from the webcomic 猫男.

Popularity: 16% [?]

I wish I lived the life an Reuters or AP news writer, hanging around exotic locations while slamming together quotes and stats, and pumping out articles while being a suave journalist.

Case in point: It’s a dog’s life in China, found via the quite racistly titled Dogs in China: From entree to accessory. Chock full of statistics, and quotes thrown in with little care where they land. For example:

Despite popular perceptions that dogs and cats are poorly treated in China compared to Western countries, both animals have long histories there.

Some scientists believe dogs emerged 15,000 years ago from a group of wolves tamed in China. Since ancient times, cats have been valued for their pest-catching skills.

The region’s pet craze has also caught on in Hong Kong, which has around 200,000 registered dogs, according to government data, though a dog serial killer - dubbed the Bowen Road Poisoner - has haunted the city for 19 years, dropping poisoned meat on walking trails which kills most dogs that eat it.

But the hard life for dogs and cats in greater China could be changing as Western pet culture takes root.

In December, Taiwan legislators passed a law that calls for fines of up to $US7,730 ($8232) on sellers of dog meat, a winter staple once popular in military units.

“The animal markets keep getting smaller and smaller,” said Marek Michalski, 43, a Polish trader in Guangzhou who spoke at a cafe near a market where live cats are sold as food.

“Many Chinese I know say if they buy a cat like that at the market, they’ll set it free.”

Oh those Polish traders, well know experts on Chinese psychology. And they buy the cats and then set them free? Where do the cats go then? How does that help the problem?

And this sentence, “Despite popular perceptions that dogs and cats are poorly treated in China compared to Western countries, both animals have long histories there.” doesn’t make any sense. I’m not sure if this is some kind of logical fallacy or just poorly written.

I am very aware I could be accused of being a bit hypocritical here, with my sometimes badly written diatribes. However this isn’t my job.

Popularity: 19% [?]

From the Calgary Herald:

Sixty years ago today an eager young man, wearing a No. 11 New York Rangers jersey, skated onto the ice in the old Montreal Forum.

In that historic moment, 24-year-old Larry Kwong became the first person of Asian descent to play in the National Hockey League. It was literally a dream come true for Kwong, whose life story reads like a piece of classic fiction.

Kwong was born in Vernon, B.C. in 1923, one of 15 children. It was in the cramped apartment above the family’s grocery store where young Larry Kwong’s infatuation with hockey began, listening to Hockey Night in Canada on the radio.

In a Rudy like turn of events, Kwong played one shift for about a minute and a half, and never played in the NHL again. He went on to play and coach for many years in Quebec, England and Switzerland. And even though he had to have both of his legs amputated because of poor circulation, he seems to be in pretty good spirits.

As for the NHL’s popularity in China…

With only about 20 ice rinks and fewer than 500 registered players in the country, hockey has tumbled into obscurity in China’s highly competitive sports world. Only three hockey teams remain in its domestic league, and only one Chinese team has survived in the professional Asia Hockey League, where teams from Japan and Korea dominate.

Lan Li, the vice-chairman of the Chinese Ice Hockey Association, noted that, “We have fewer hockey players than pandas”

Of course there are organizations like the Charles B. Wang Ice Hockey Project Hope, started by the owner of the New York Islanders. A description, from Inside a Mind of a Sports Junkie:

The focus of this Project Hope is not only to spread and create the awareness of ice hockey, but also to help Chinese students excel academically. Project Hope plans to bring a number of Chinese student-athletes to the US to learn English during the summer holidays. The long-term target is to provide scholarships to students who do well in both academic and athletic areas as well as master English proficiency to attend American educational institution.

Popularity: 8% [?]

You would think since China has intellectual property problems, and wants the Beijing Olympics to go well, that they would try not to violate any intellectual property laws in conjunction with the Olympics, and especially not on the official website. But apparently the Olympic Website Features Pirated Video Games. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The operators of the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games website have removed an online flash game after a graphics designer said it was a rip-off of a game he had made two years earlier.

Detailed examples of the original game and examples taken from the Olympic website can be seen at the game designer’s blog The Pencil Farm

Two other games on the site also appear to be taken from flash game site Orisinal.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The year of the rat brings unexpected consequences as Hamster prices triple in China.

Pet shop owners say stocks are running low - and prices high - as children clamour for a furry friend.

According to the Chinese media, prices have tripled to about 30 yuan ($4.20, £2.10) per hamster across the country.

In the Year of the Rat, this tiny creature has become the most acceptable rodent, a type of animal that is not everyone’s first-choice pet.

I think I remember seeing a hamster once while I was in China, in Guangzhou. Although frankly I tried to avoid the pet stores…

image from flickr user locomom

Popularity: 11% [?]