Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Making Money Job

Chongqing announced plans last week for perhaps China's most extravagant infrastructure project yet: A $387-million communist theme park (via Patrick Chovanec).


The 128-hectares park would take the shape of China and display sculptures of the predecessors of the Communist Party of China, imitations of former leaders' homes and landmarks in China's red culture and its revolutionary history, according to the Chongqing Red Classic Investment Co Ltd, the main investor of the project.


Although privately funded, the project would inevitably include government contributions. After widespread criticism, however, the Chongqing promptly canceled the project, according to China Daily:


"The project has been stopped by the municipal government because the authorities thought it was not feasible," Li Jing, deputy director of the publicity department of Nanchuan district, told China Daily on Friday.


Li declined to give more details.


Here's a look at some of the complaints:


On the Nanchuan district government's website, a resident surnamed Liao posted a letter saying the money should be spent on more urgent needs, such as providing financial support for migrant workers or building more affordable houses.


"The city government should carefully conduct feasibility research and solicit public opinion before making a decision," Liao wrote.


Ren Chengmin, a 48-year-old resident, told China Daily she feels the park is unnecessary because there are already many red tourism sites, memorial squares and monuments in the city.


"I wish the government would build more small community parks for our leisure and sports activities, rather than a huge theme park," Ren said.


This story may be the exception that proves the rule. Led by ambitious local governments, China has spent an unprecedented $1.4 trillion on fixed-asset investments in the past five months.


See pictures of the 'Austrian' town under construction in Guangdong >



If the casting for “The Cosby Show” had played out differently, Jaleel White – yes, Steve Urkel from “Family Matters” – could’ve been Rudy Huxtable instead of Keshia Knight Pulliam.


White, 34, tells Vanity Fair that the character was originally supposed to be a boy.


According to White, he thought he was all squared away – his agent had even told his parents to start looking for places in New York. But then, with one more audition left that was supposed to be a “formality for the network,” “a little girl comes walking in, and I’m like—even at eight years old—‘Who’s she?’” White recalls.



“And they’re like, ‘She’s auditioning for Rudy, too.’ So I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s not as much of a formality as I thought.’”


After lining up all the potential Huxtable kids, White, needless to say, was passed over. “The rest of us all went home crying. It was amazing. Obviously, I’m grateful that things worked out the way they did; I think it put a little more money in my pocket.”


Indeed, White continues, any job he didn’t get was probably for the best. “Let’s get something straight: All of these rejections resulted in me making a s--load of money elsewhere.”


Presumably, some of that cash came from his nine-year run as Steve Urkel, a job that White says he took seriously.


“I loved playing those characters…If I were Bart Simpson and I were animated, I’d still be on the air right now,” he says. The issue was that he was getting older. “I knew physically I had made certain sacrifices to keep that property alive that just couldn’t be made anymore. I wasn’t changing my hair; I was staying out of the gym. To be honest, I was retarding my own growth as a man in order to maintain the authenticity to what I thought that character should be.”


Meaning he apparently wore his pants way too tight for too long – White says network execs started mentioning “the bulge of my sack!” In the last season, the pants became looser. “It’s not overly sophisticated,” White says. “I’m the highest paid black kid in the history of television, just so you understand that. I was trying to prolong the checks!”


And in case you’re curious, not even White knows what happened to poor Judy Winslow, the character that seemed to just disappear.


“I didn’t get an explanation. Her momma asked for too much and they sent her upstairs. That was it,” he recalls. “Back then, family television had a way of getting away with certain things that, obviously, you couldn’t get away with now.”


White stars as a bango-strumming teacher in the family film “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer,” in theaters now.



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Chongqing announced plans last week for perhaps China's most extravagant infrastructure project yet: A $387-million communist theme park (via Patrick Chovanec).


The 128-hectares park would take the shape of China and display sculptures of the predecessors of the Communist Party of China, imitations of former leaders' homes and landmarks in China's red culture and its revolutionary history, according to the Chongqing Red Classic Investment Co Ltd, the main investor of the project.


Although privately funded, the project would inevitably include government contributions. After widespread criticism, however, the Chongqing promptly canceled the project, according to China Daily:


"The project has been stopped by the municipal government because the authorities thought it was not feasible," Li Jing, deputy director of the publicity department of Nanchuan district, told China Daily on Friday.


Li declined to give more details.


Here's a look at some of the complaints:


On the Nanchuan district government's website, a resident surnamed Liao posted a letter saying the money should be spent on more urgent needs, such as providing financial support for migrant workers or building more affordable houses.


"The city government should carefully conduct feasibility research and solicit public opinion before making a decision," Liao wrote.


Ren Chengmin, a 48-year-old resident, told China Daily she feels the park is unnecessary because there are already many red tourism sites, memorial squares and monuments in the city.


"I wish the government would build more small community parks for our leisure and sports activities, rather than a huge theme park," Ren said.


This story may be the exception that proves the rule. Led by ambitious local governments, China has spent an unprecedented $1.4 trillion on fixed-asset investments in the past five months.


See pictures of the 'Austrian' town under construction in Guangdong >



If the casting for “The Cosby Show” had played out differently, Jaleel White – yes, Steve Urkel from “Family Matters” – could’ve been Rudy Huxtable instead of Keshia Knight Pulliam.


White, 34, tells Vanity Fair that the character was originally supposed to be a boy.


According to White, he thought he was all squared away – his agent had even told his parents to start looking for places in New York. But then, with one more audition left that was supposed to be a “formality for the network,” “a little girl comes walking in, and I’m like—even at eight years old—‘Who’s she?’” White recalls.



“And they’re like, ‘She’s auditioning for Rudy, too.’ So I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s not as much of a formality as I thought.’”


After lining up all the potential Huxtable kids, White, needless to say, was passed over. “The rest of us all went home crying. It was amazing. Obviously, I’m grateful that things worked out the way they did; I think it put a little more money in my pocket.”


Indeed, White continues, any job he didn’t get was probably for the best. “Let’s get something straight: All of these rejections resulted in me making a s--load of money elsewhere.”


Presumably, some of that cash came from his nine-year run as Steve Urkel, a job that White says he took seriously.


“I loved playing those characters…If I were Bart Simpson and I were animated, I’d still be on the air right now,” he says. The issue was that he was getting older. “I knew physically I had made certain sacrifices to keep that property alive that just couldn’t be made anymore. I wasn’t changing my hair; I was staying out of the gym. To be honest, I was retarding my own growth as a man in order to maintain the authenticity to what I thought that character should be.”


Meaning he apparently wore his pants way too tight for too long – White says network execs started mentioning “the bulge of my sack!” In the last season, the pants became looser. “It’s not overly sophisticated,” White says. “I’m the highest paid black kid in the history of television, just so you understand that. I was trying to prolong the checks!”


And in case you’re curious, not even White knows what happened to poor Judy Winslow, the character that seemed to just disappear.


“I didn’t get an explanation. Her momma asked for too much and they sent her upstairs. That was it,” he recalls. “Back then, family television had a way of getting away with certain things that, obviously, you couldn’t get away with now.”


White stars as a bango-strumming teacher in the family film “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer,” in theaters now.




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But before Stewart could expound on his point, correspondent John Oliver presented him with a recap of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World scandal--a friendly reminder that the British will always find a way to out-shame ...

Jon Stewart Tackles the <b>News</b> of the World Scandal

Dispatches from the new <b>news</b> landscape, Univision edition | Felix <b>...</b>

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has a brother-in-law with a rather embarrassing past.

Dispatches from the new <b>news</b> landscape, Univision edition | Felix <b>...</b>

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Jon Stewart Tackles the <b>News</b> of the World Scandal

But before Stewart could expound on his point, correspondent John Oliver presented him with a recap of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World scandal--a friendly reminder that the British will always find a way to out-shame ...

Jon Stewart Tackles the <b>News</b> of the World Scandal

Dispatches from the new <b>news</b> landscape, Univision edition | Felix <b>...</b>

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has a brother-in-law with a rather embarrassing past.

Dispatches from the new <b>news</b> landscape, Univision edition | Felix <b>...</b>

<b>News</b> International&#39;s Leadership Crisis - Gill Corkindale - Harvard <b>...</b>

Among the many shocking facts that have emerged from the News of the World hacking crisis, it is the revelations about News International's dysfunctional leadership and the NoW's brutal organizational culture that have ...

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