Apple has been doing fantastically well these last several years. The company released their Q1 2012 earnings last week and the results were nothing short of amazing. The iPhone now accounts for a solid chunk of their revenue.

With the release of the iPhone 4S back in October, the smartphone has done very well and made it’s way into tens of Millions of consumer’s hands. Thanks to its success, the tech giant was able to catch up with Android in terms of market share and as of recently, is barely ahead.

Quite the feat from just a few smartphones compared to who knows how many Android phones currently available. Seems like a new one comes out just about every other day. Okay, that’s exaggerating, but there’s a lot of ‘em. According to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, Apple could sell as many as 40 Million iPhones next year, just in China alone.

The fact is, China is still a largely untapped market for the company. Morgan Stanley looked at three carriers: China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. They then looked to see what percentage of high end subscribers have an iPhone.

The results are as follows:

• China Mobile – 8 percent
• China Telecom – 7 percent
• China Unicom – 20 percent

Out of a combined 150 Million high end wireless customers, that’s pretty low. Again, there’s a lot of untapped potential for massive growth.

Via Mashable:

“The iPhone is currently available in China from carrier China Unicom. Despite it being unavailable on the larger carriers, China Mobile and China Telecom, Chinese buyers have responded to the iPhone in a big way. In fact, Apple had to temporarily suspend iPhone 4S sales in order to protect store employees from overly enthusiastic crowds.”

“Huberty believes that if Apple is able to extend its China partnerships to include China Telecom, the company could sell an additional 26 million iPhone units in calendar year 2013. That would mean 40 million units for the entire region.”

And if they want to really do well in the country, inking a deal with China Mobile, the country’s largest carrier, would be very beneficial.

Do you think Apple has what it takes to dominate the smartphone market in China?

Apple Could Have Massive iPhone Sales In China Next Year is a post from: The Inquisitr

Many escalators post warnings about child safety, however those warnings usually only talk about little feet getting trapped at the top or bottom of the moving stairs. In China however a nine-year-old boy was killed on Saturday when his head got caught between two escalators at a mall.

According to the Shanghai Daily:

The child had been playing on the escalator alone while his mother, a saleswoman, was working, said the Beijing Emergency Medical Center.Traveling from the fifth to the sixth floor about 12:30pm, he craned his neck over the side and looked down, unaware that he was approaching a point where the escalator he was traveling on passed close to another traveling downwards.

The boy’s head became wedged between the two escalators and he was killed immediately.

The Beijing Administration of Work Safety has launched a full investigation into the incident and in the meantime they are asking that parents with children under 12-years-old accompany their kids on elevators and watch their every action.

In response to the boys death some groups have asked that bumper guards be put in place when escalators cross over or close to one another.

Do you think the mall should have had better safety guidelines in place?

Young Boy Dies In Freak Head Trauma Escalator Accident is a post from: The Inquisitr

29 Chinese workers have been attacked and taken hostage by Sudanese militants at a remote work site in the volatile Sudan region.

Following the attack Sudanese forces immediately mounted a rescue mission in coordination with the Chinese embassy in Khartoum. China and Sudan share close economic and political relations, especially in the energy sector.

At this time it’s still not clear if the militants have released a list of demands while the state governor according to the official Xinhua News Agency said the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement attacked a road-building site in South Kordofan and seized the workers.

The SPLM is a guerrila force that has been fighting against the Sudanese government for control of the area, it’s members are made up of a minority ethnic group that controls much of South Sudan which became the world’s newest country six months ago after breaking away from Sudan.

The hostage taking situation adds already mounting tensions to the area where Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro-South Sudan militants in South Kordofan. The South Sudan government has called those accusations a “smokescreen” intended to justify the potential invasion of South Sudan in the future.

In the meantime the Chinese government has sent a large number of works to the volatile region over the last year to help with the emergency evacuation of at least 30,000 citizens from fighting in Libya.

Adding to China’s headache, the country has attempted to build a relationship with South Sudan over the last several years. South Sudan houses most of the countries oil fields and reserves.

29 Chinese Workers Captured By South Sudan Militants is a post from: The Inquisitr

Warren Buffett is both a billionaire and a philanthropist and now we can add ukulele player to his list of talents. The 81-year-old Berkshire Hathaway CEO took to the Chinese airwaves this week to help the country usher in the year of the Dragon as part of the Chinese New Year.

Buffett showed off his talents on one of the most watched TV programs in the world, Chine Central Television’s New Year’s show.

Warren Buffett sang “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and the clip aired on the CCTV website.

At the end of the clip Buffett said “Xie Xie” the Chinese work for “thank you.”

Buffett is a large investor in Chinese carmaker BYD Co.

Here’s the Warren Buffett ukulele video:

What did you think of the Oracle of Omaha’s skills on the ukelele? I have to admit not too bad but a less dated song would have been nice, perhaps something by Johnny Cash.

Warren Buffett Rocks Out On Ukulele For Chinese TV Show [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite often large, thick clouds of smog that hang over Beijing, China the countries officials have often complained that it’s nothing more than fog. Now under intense scrutiny from citizens the country has begun to release official detailed data about smog in the city. But surprise surprise the data is overly positive.

Beijing’s official weather websites on Saturday began including PM2.5 readers, particulate matter that is less than 2.5 micrometers in size and which is considered especially dangerous. Yet even with those readers experts are calling output display “surprisingly low” given the amount of smog in the area.

Furthering the crisis in Beijing is the fact that governmental readers of PM2.5 was listed as “Good” under EPA standards at a time when US Embassy data shows “moderate” smog conditions in the country.

As one expert noted, it’s all a “bit suspicious” especially when examining Beijing’s seven ultra-low readings. The expert tells the Associated Press:

“In all of 2010 and 2011, the US Embassy reported values at or below that level only 18 times out of over 15,000 hourly values or about 0.1% of the time.”

It’s no surprise smog levels are so high in the country, preceding the Beijing Olympics the city was forced to shut down many factors and private transportation in order to allow for smog levels to decrease while providing fresh air to athletes participating in the countries Summer Olympics events.

Do you think the Chinese government is attempting to pull “rosy” numbers out of thin air in order to quell fears over a growing problem?

China Officials Release Amusingly Good “Smog Report” is a post from: The Inquisitr

In China an iPad competitor is on the way that one company hopes will be the antihesis of the iPad. Known as RedPad Number One the tablet based device features the same 9.7-inch display as an iPad and also shares the same dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chipset and an iOS-like app tray that runs on Google Android 3.2.

Eventually selling for 9,999 yuan ($1,584) the company also plans to release government-related apps that include the ability to check for accredited journalists and read private updates on officials that are published by People’s Daily and the micro-update service Weibo.

The luxury tablet also ships with a leather case that has the words “serve the people” written across the case, a funny gesture considering the high price of ownership for the device which most people in China can’t afford.

The makers of the RedPad Number One claim they have already formed partnerships with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the People’s Daily although the latter denies that claim.

To put the high cost of ownership in perspective the The 16GB, 3G-capable tablet is far more expensive then even the highest end iPad 2 with 64GB and 3G which can be purchased in China for 6,288 yuan or $996. The iPad 2 equivalent with 16GB and 3G is even cheaper 4,688 yuan ($743).

In the meantime many citizens in China have voiced their outrage over a luxury item that is only attainable for governmental officials.

Would you be willing to pick up a highly customized Tablet for a premium price or is the iPad 2 or a comparable Android tablet enough for your likes?

RedPad Number One Hopes To Be iPad Competitor For China’s Communist Leaders is a post from: The Inquisitr

The State Department is preparing to reject the proposed reroute of the Keystone XL oil pipeline today.  The Keystone XL Project is intended to be a direct route for Canadian Crude to make it to Gulf Coast refineries.

During the contentious debate over the payroll tax cut extension in December, Republicans managed to attach a rider that said the State Department had 60 days to make a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline.  The State Department has already had three years to investigate whether the proposed route, which takes it through a sensitive Nebraska Aquifer, but they claim that they will reject the route because the 60 days given to them by Congress is not enough.  They claim that environmental impact statements need to be completed first.

It was rumored that the State Department was going to approve the project which set off a large backlash by the Environmental Lobby.

Canada has openly said that if the United States can’t get its act together quickly it is going to build the pipeline to the West Coast and sell the crude to China.

President Obama’s own Jobs council gave a stamp of approval to the project last year saying,

“[America should ]expeditiously, though cautiously, move forward on projects that can support hundreds of thousands of jobs. We think this all-in energy strategy can create significant economic growths and significant job creation,”

The project is estimated to be able to produce more than 100,000 jobs almost overnight.

House Speaker John Boener is a big supporter of the project and accused Obama of trying to put off the decision until after the election.  He said,

“If we don’t build this pipeline to bring that Canadian oil and pick up the North Dakota oil and deliver it to our refineries in the Gulf Coast, that oil is gonna get shipped out to the Pacific Ocean and will be sold to the Chinese. This is not good for our country. The president wants to put this off until it’s convenient for him to make a decision. … The president’s got an opportunity to create 100,000 new jobs almost immediately. The president should say yes.”

Do you think the President should approve the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline?

State Department to Reject Keystone XL Pipeline Reroute is a post from: The Inquisitr

The World’s largest country based on population at well over one Billion people, also has the largest amount of people who access the web. New data came out that showed in 2011, 513 Million people accessed the Internet in some form.

While the Internet isn’t anything new to most of us, there’s still people from other countries who have never experienced it or are fairly new to experiencing it. Keep in mind there’s still various parts of China that are underdeveloped and rural.

Via Los Angeles Times:

“The number of Web users in China soared past 500 million last year, a tech-industry group said Monday, capping a period of explosive growth that has elevated Chinese Internet companies and challenged social and political discourse in the communist-controlled state.”

“The government-run China Internet Network Information Center said Monday that the number of Web users in China grew 12% in December, to 513 million, compared with the same period in 2010.”

What’s interesting to note is that, despite the Internet being controlled in China thanks to the communist government, the number of users of social networks or micro-blogging platforms quadrupled in the past year. Of course, larger sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are blocked so there are other sites similar in nature that offer a workaround.

“Micro-blogs were instrumental last year in exposing government mishandling of a deadly high-speed rail collision in the eastern city of Wenzhou, protests concerning a chemical plant in the northern city of Dalian and corruption in the southern village of Wukan.”

“Today we can say without hesitation that an independent and richly participatory civil society is emerging on China’s Internet,” wrote Hu Yong, a journalist and commentator in a recent article translated by the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong.”

Over Half A Billion People Access The Web In China is a post from: The Inquisitr

Apple was no doubt banking on the launch of the iPhone 4S in China being a success, but the launch didn’t quite turn out as hoped. According to various reports, violence erupted within crowds after the Apple store in Beijing failed to open on time, forcing Apple to postpone sales.

Many would-be customers eagerly waited outside the Apple store in Beijing’s Sanlitun district for their shot at being among the first in the nation to pick up their very own iPhone 4S, but things got out of hand quickly when the store remained unopened at 7 a.m., the advertised time.

Various reports indicate that fights broke out among gangs of scalpers, of irate customers flinging insults at one another, and even reports of egg-throwing. Fortunately, there aren’t any reports of any injuries at this time.

In a statement to AllThingsD, an Apple spokesperson confirmed that the launch of the iPhone 4S at that particular store has been postponed for the time being.

“The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible, and our stores in China have already sold out,” an Apple spokesperson told AllThingsD. “Unfortunately we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being. Customers can still order iPhone through the Apple Online Store, or buy at China Unicom and other authorized resellers.”

You can check out a video of the irate crowd below.

Source: Bloomberg, AllThingsD

[Image credit: Feng Li/Getty Images]

iPhone 4S launch in China gets violent, Apple postpones sales is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Super Secret X37b unmanned space aircraft was launched into orbit 10 months ago.  Its capabilities…classified.  It mission…classified. Its return date…classified.

According to Spaceflight magazine, there is a theory.  The craft is in space spying on China.

The orbital path of the X-37b is known, as it has been picked up by amateur skywatchers, and it appears as if every 170 orbits around the Earth it intersects very closely with the Chinese Space Station, Tiangong-1.

Spaceflight Magazine Editor,  told the BBC:

“Space-to-space surveillance is a whole new ball game made possible by a finessed group of sensors and sensor suites, which we think the X-37B may be using to maintain a close watch on China’s nascent space station,”

The X-37b was originally a civilian craft that was being developed by NASA, but with the potential military capabilities of the plane apparent it was taken over by the Army’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and made top secret.

Iran calls the X-37b a “Secret Space Warplane” and there are some in the US Intelligence community that agree.

There is speculation that the X-37b is doing work for the National Reconnaissance Office, the intelligence agency that builds and operates America’s spy satellites.

There are also analysts who believe that even thought he orbits of the X-37b are very similar to the Chinese Space Station, the coincidence could be a decoy.

Brian Weeden, of the Secure World Foundation and a former orbital analyst with the U.S. Air Force told the BBC:

“A typical spy satellite is in a polar orbit, which gives you access to the whole Earth,” Weeden told the BBC. The X-37B is in a much lower inclination which means it can only see a very narrow band of latitudes — and the only thing that’s of real interest in that band is the Middle East and Afghanistan.”

How do you feel about the concept of weaponizing space with systems like the X-37b?

Report: The Air Force Using Secret Space Plane To Spy on China is a post from: The Inquisitr

The iPhone 4S and its crazy clever digital assistant Siri will arrive in China on January 13, to the sound of ringing tills and, later this year, a Mandarin-speaking Siri.

China is on a list of 22 countries that will soon get the newest iPhone, and with a potential audience of almost a billion cellphone users, Apple’s coffers are set to swell even more. An Apple spokesperson confirmed the company intends to add official language support for Mandarin in 2012.

Analysts estimate the iPhone family now rakes in almost half of Apple’s annual revenue, with some claiming it earns Apple more than 60% of its profits.

Apple is currently partnered with China Unicom, one of the country’s bigger carriers with close to 200 million subscribers. It’s not the largest, however – China Mobile has a staggering 630 million subscribers, but Apple has already stated it won’t be joining forces with the carrier. Rumors in recent months have claimed Apple has been desperately trying to strike a deal with China Mobile. It’s also widely known that millions of China Mobile users have had their iPhones modified to work on the network.

News on when the Mandarin-speaking Siri arrives is less clear, though apparently the software will be able to speak and understand the lingo. However, Siri will be available only in English until at least February.

Another question: will Apple add Siri’s sarcastic streak and amusing movie references to the Mandarin incarnation?

See also: Apple’s SIRI System is Nearly a Swear Word in Japan

iPhone 4S Heads to China, Chinese-Speaking Siri to Debut in 2012 is a post from: The Inquisitr

“The only world I know is drowning in rage.”  Al Jourgensen, Front man for the band Ministry.

There are no words I can think of that sum up 2011 better than Al Jourgensen’s. Our planet, our world, our home is on the verge of chaos.  It is hard to conceive of a year that has brought more mayhem and misery to humanity than the last 12 months. Governments are falling like dominoes in the Middle East and Sharia is rearing it’s head in country after country. Israel and the Palestinians are now in their 63rd year of hostilities with no end in sight. Iran is on the verge of building an atomic bomb and no one seems to have the will or the desire to understand the risks of a nuclear Iran; no less the guts to do something to prevent it. Japan was racked by a massive tsunami and the near meltdown of several nuclear reactors. In Russia and China, it is the same old fist in a new glove. In Africa, there is famine, disease and death for millions. Europe and America are in dire financial straits and the politicians are unable to put aside their political differences to solve the problems. Protesters rampage and rant in cities across the globe with little purpose and no clear goals in sight. Al Gore and his ilk are still trying to sell the pipe dream of carbon credits while touring the world in their Lear Jets and milking the global warming scare for all it is worth.  It certainly has been a year to inspire doubt and fear while chilling our hearts about the future.

AMERICA IN DECLINE

It speaks volumes that to many in the Western World, May 2, 2011 was probably the high point of the year. That is the day that Osama Bin Ladin is supposed to have been killed by U.S Navy Seals. Of course, skeptics of American politics will be happy to remind us that no one in the public has ever seen any actual proof of Bin Ladin’s death. All we have is the word of Obama, who has not had the best record for honesty. Using the feeble excuse that he didn’t want to offend or incite Muslims by showing any evidence of Bin Ladin’s death, Obama sealed all the records of the raid and all the photos of Bin Ladin’s body. We should remember that Lyndon Johnson bombed North Vietnam into the stone age based on a previous government lie called the “Gulf Of Tonkin Incident.” Until proof is available to every single person who wants to see it, all we have is the word of a President who used the killing of Bin Ladin as part of his re-election strategy. Hopefully, Bin Ladin really is dead and buried but the way our leaders play so loose and easy with the truth, it is quite possible to believe that we will never know the entire story. Some people even think he was killed years ago and kept on ice until a convenient moment. Far fetched, but with politicians being what they are, anything is possible

On the economic front, the United States is now 15 trillion dollars in debt and there is no indication that anyone in political power is willing to do anything about it. The country is broke and yet the spending spree continues unabated. The only answers we hear from our leaders in Washington are laced with partisan political nonsense and outrageous attacks on the opposition. The Democrats and the Republicans have spent the nation into decades of debt and the only solution they have is to blame the other party or blame the rich and start a class war. The Republicans act like total cowards and instead of attacking the problem head on and calling the Democrats on their fiscal policies, they pull their punches and talk about working with the opposition. Democrats stick to their guns, blame Bush and continue to expand entitlement programs with no idea where the money will come from to pay for them. Conservatives, who are still the largest block of voters in America, are totally baffled as to why the Republicans will not stand up to Obama and his left wing cronies. It seems to them as if the Republican Party is determined to give Obama and the Democrats a pass and let everyone have free rein to spend America into oblivion. The Left wants to create a socialist state and turn what was once the world’s greatest economic miracle into a another failed European nation. Meanwhile many Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, their savings and their patience.

Politically in America, we are suffering under the non-leadership of President Obama, who may be on his way to becoming the worst President in American history. There is still a sizable percentage of voters who say they have no clear idea of who he really is or why he has a Connecticut Social Security Number. He continues to vacation, play golf and make one campaign speech after the other while we watch America’s AAA credit rating fly out the window. Meanwhile, the nation is experiencing the worst racial tensions since the 1960′s era of segregation and our society is on the verge of an Obama inspired class war. He has contributed to an atmosphere where people are looked upon as exploiters just for being successful or having personal wealth. Of course, if you are rich and contribute to the Democratic party, then you are forgiven. We have seen billions of Federal dollars given to questionable business ventures run by major fund raisers to the Obama campaign. Light Squared and Solyndra are just two examples of the new heights that political cronyism has reached on Obama’s watch. So much for what was promised to be the most honest, transparent, lobbyist free presidency in American history.

In the Democrat controlled U.S. Senate, party politics have taken over the functions of government. Bill after bill languishes on Harry Reid’s desk, never to be voted on, because they were sponsored and passed by the Republicans in the House. While the country is in dire need of effective governance to repair the damage that has been done by generations of political game playing, the Congress has ground to a virtual halt. Voters can barely remember the last bill that actually made its way through the Congress to end up on the President’s desk. The Republican controlled House is no better. The Republicans are caught up in a turf war between the old guard Rinos and the Tea Party. They can’t seem to decide if they would rather fight among themselves or attack Obama and the end result is a weakened Republican party that has no clear voice to present its plan for the future.

Out on the campaign trail, the Republicans candidates for the 2012 Presidential election have ignored every single opportunity to go after Obama on his record. Instead, they have engaged in an endless stream of ugly personal attacks on each other. When they were not clubbing Newt Gingrich over the head with the sordid details his divorce, they are busy making idiotic mistakes and political gaffes that would embarrass a ten year old. In 2008, it was Obama and the 57 states he visited. In 2011, it was the bad word that was written on a rock at a hunting camp that Rick Perry’s father acquired in the early 1980′s. If the current crop of Republican candidates doesn’t wake up and start to confront the real issues that plague America, we will see Obama re-elected. Maybe a Republican candidate of character and honor will surface before it is too late, but the time is getting late for a miracle.

The elephant in the room in the United States is illegal immigration. When the Democrats failed to pass the Dream Act, they decided to ignore the will of the people, 70% of whom are opposed to amnesty for illegals. The Democrats encouraged Obama to bypass the Constitution by Executive Order. In 2011, the Obama Administration issued one order after the other that reduced the number of illegal aliens who will be deported. Desperate to get re-elected and courting Latino voters, Obama has done everything he can think of to open our borders. Americans are struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table. True unemployment is estimated to be between 15% to 20% and yet the country is being overrun by 400,000 illegals a year, who are taking jobs away from legal citizens. The vast majority of Americans are simply appalled that there are close to 15 million illegal aliens and there is no end in sight. The American people have demanded secure borders and all they have gotten in return is politics as usual. Most voters are blissfully unaware of the real goal of the Progressives and the Democrats, which is to subvert the Democratic process by flooding the nation with new voters who will strongly side with their policies. To quote Eliseo Medina, international executive vice-president of Service Employees International Union, or SEIU,  “We reform the immigration laws, it puts 12 million people on the path to citizenship and eventually voters…. Can you imagine if we have, even the same ratio, two out of three? Can you imagine 8 million new voters who care about our issues and will be voting? We will be creating a governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle.”  Voters who were bribed to vote for destructive, Socialist programs by giving them easy access to the gift of citizenship, all at the expensive of close to 300 million of us, who were either born here or came here legally.

And then there was “Operation Fast and Furious.” In what many commentators felt was nothing more that attempt to undermine the 2nd Amendment, the ATF allowed thousands of guns to “walk” into the hands of Mexican narco-terrorists, resulting in the death of United States Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. No one will ever know how many innocent Mexican citizens died as a result of this debacle but the vast majority of the weapons still remain in the hands of violent criminals. Despite the fact that Attorney General Holder actually mentioned the operation by name in a speech 2 years earlier, he claimed ignorance when he testified before Congress on May 3, 2011, where he stated, “I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” Documents released by CBS News in October, 2011 showed that Holder had been receiving briefings on the Operation as far back as July, 2010. Other documents released by CBS showed that ATF Officials had openly discussed using Fast and Furious to to make the case for stricter gun regulations. Many on the Right are calling for the resignation of Holder yet Obama has remained silent and refuses to comment further on the issue. Obama’s opponents wonder if this will be his “Watergate.”

Rounding out the year in America has been the dubious rise of the Occupy Movement aka OWS or Occupy Wall Street. There has never been an uglier, more dis-organized and destructive group of malcontents to raise their collective, unwashed heads. OWS has been praised by the political bigwigs of the Democratic party including Harry “This bill is dead on arrival” Reid, Nancy “Insider Trader” Pelosi and Community Organizer Obama. Financed by their well funded union buddies, the Occupy movement has caused havoc in every city they have appeared. The mainstream media, always looking for something demeaning and negative to spike their ratings, transformed a small handful of professional agitators, disgruntled outsiders and a sprinkling of the homeless into what they have portrayed as a mass movement out to change the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that no one in the movement could agree on anything, drug use, robbery and rape was rampant and everywhere they went, they turned once lovely public parks into disgusting open air toilets. What made it even more despicable was that the media tried to portray these vermin as no different than the protesters of the Tea Party, who worked their rear ends off to elect new, responsible leaders to office, cleaned up after themselves, went home at the end of the day and showed up for work in the morning. It is a sad commentary on the state of education in America that the Occupy movement does not know the difference between the right to lawfully gather to protest and taking over public property without permission. The fact that these bozos think they have a right to do what ever they want, when ever and where ever they wish, shows how far we have fallen in our once proud nation. GIMME is the new mantra and Immediate Gratification is the new way of life. They think smashing in the windows of banks will restore freedom in America. Never mind finding someone to pay to replace all the broken glass.

EUROPE ON THE BRINK

Across the Atlantic, things are not any better. The European Union has finally shown itself to be the bad idea every sane person knew it was. Spain, Portugal and Greece are bankrupt. Italy is on the verge and the rest of Europe is footing the bill. The Euro is on its last legs and Germany is tired of paying for bailout after bailout. The misguided experiment of multiculturalism is proving to be the final nail in the coffin of the once great countries of Europe. While rampant socialism put a strain on Europe’s finances, the endless invasion of immigrants has taken Europe from the pinnacle of prosperity to the pit of crime and poverty. The invading masses refuse to assimilate and demand special treatment based on their religion while draining the coffers of every European nation. Jews are becoming an endangered species in Europe thanks to the rampant, unchecked hostility of Muslim immigrants towards the few Jews who survived the holocaust. When someone is brave enough to speak out about the problem, as in the case of Geert Wilders, they are faced with intimidation, ridicule, arrest, and trial. Political correctness has been taken to the height of true insanity in the European Union and people are being threatened with lengthy jail terms, or even killed, for saying anything against Islam or immigrants. The truth is no longer matters. The left leaning governments of Europe are so intent on their atheism and multiculturalism that they are cutting their owns throats while Europe is invaded by millions of impoverished immigrants who will change the very nature of everything Europeans ever held dear.

THE ARAB WINTER

No where are things more explosive than in the Middle East. Starting with fall of Mubarak in Egypt, we have seen one Arab nation after the other replace their government with a strict Muslim theocracy based on Sharia. The Muslim Brotherhood has taken over Egypt and is openly talking about canceling the peace treaty with Israel. Coptic Christians in Egypt are being murdered with impunity and their churches burned. Once the most modern country in the Arab world, 90% of all Egyptian women are now subjected to Female Genital Mutilation. LET ME REPEAT THAT FOR YOU. 90% of all Egyptian women are now subjected to Female Genital Mutilation. Fifty years ago, hardly a woman in Egypt wore a headscarf. Today the majority of Egyptian women wear head scarfs and burqas are becoming a common sight. Egyptian Muslim clerics, some of whom are considered the highest authorities on Islam in the world, have come out in favor of wife beating, female genital mutilation, slavery, taxing infidels and openly called for the death of every single Jew on the planet. Yet Hillary Clinton and Obama talk to the Muslim Brotherhood like they are just another political party and plan to give billions to Egypt in aid and military assistance. Even sadder, not a word has been heard from the Woman’s Rights Movement on Female Genital Mutilation and the 2nd class treatment of Egyptian women.

Libya, Yemen, Tunisia and Syria are in chaos. Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait and Oman are rumbling in protest. In Libya, Muammar Gaddafi was killed and soon after Libya’s vast stockpile of modern weapons began to disappear into the hands of terrorists in Gaza and the Sinai. Iraq is about to plunge into anarchy as the American troops head home for good. Afghanistan has seen decades of war and this year was filled with one assassination after the other of ranking members of the U.S. backed government. Pakistan continues to beg for billions in aid from the U.S. while constantly undermining American policy in the region. In every single one of these countries, there are common factors. There is the crushing poverty that the vast majority live under and there is an oppressive government that rules over the masses. But more importantly, there is a rejection of liberal, democratic ideals and a total embrace of all things Islamic. Without exception, every government that has fallen has been replaced by an Islamic theocracy and without exception, in every country where the government is under attack, the prime movers are the Islamists. There is no majority in the Arab world for democracy. There is no majority in the Arab world for tolerance and freedom. There is no majority in the Arab world to ever accept non-Muslims as equals who are entitled to all the freedoms and privileges that are granted to Muslims. The real question is why can’t the Western World understand this simple truth and stop trying to force Democracy on people who have no interest in Democracy? When will the Western world stop living under its delusions and understand that Islam has a 1400 year, unbroken history of aggressive expansion at the expense of all other faiths and peoples? Do politicians like Obama, Sazorky and Ashton really believe that Islam is a religion of peace or do they just think we are all such idiots that we should be happy to have them constantly mislead us about the intentions of Islam?

63 YEARS OF HATRED AND DEATH

March 11th, 2011 was the date of one of the ugliest acts of Muslim terrorism ever perpetrated on Israel. The murder of the Fogel Family by two Muslim teenagers aroused anger in Israel to new heights. “The victims were the father Rabbi Ehud (Udi) Fogel, the mother Ruth Fogel, and three of their six children—Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, the youngest, a three-month-old infant, who was decapitated.” As is typical of the leftist world media, these murders were barely mentioned outside of Israel, while the Jew hating, has been, Jimmy Carter, continued to place all the blame on Israel for every problem in the Middle East. Anti Israeli publications, like The New York Times and The Guardian in the U.K., were more interested in harping on the fact that the Fogel family lived in a Settlement. That a 3 month old child was decapitated in her bed, simply because she was a Jew, was not even considered. 63 years of agitation and hate towards any Israeli presence in the Middle East was not mentioned. The fact that Hamas has a charter that calls for the eventual death of every single Jew on earth was not mentioned. All the Israel haters in the mainstream media could do was to try to find a way to blame the Fogels for being butchered.

September saw the Israeli – Palestinian conflict taken to the heights of the absurd as a former terrorist, Abu Mazin aka Mahmoud Abbas, stood before the U.N. to demand statehood for Palestine, despite the continuous terror attacks and rocket attacks against Israel. The fact that the Palestinians are 100% dependent on foreign aid for every aspect of their so called nation’s budget made no difference to the corrupt minds of those who are determined to eliminate the one safe haven on earth for the Jewish people. For the moment, the Palestinian application for statehood has failed because of the threat of a U.S. veto in the Security Council. Obama was afraid of losing much needed Jewish financial support and votes for his re-election so he said he would veto any move for Palestinian statehood. If Obama gets re-elected, many fear that he will reveal his true beliefs and totally throw Israel under the bus by voting in favor of Palestinian statehood. It should be noted that Abbas, the so called “moderate” Palestinian leader, based his doctoral dissertation on denying the Jewish Holocaust of WWII, even accusing Jews of making a deal with the Nazis to allow the Holocaust to happen in order to gain sympathy for the re-establishment of the Jewish nation of Israel.

During the 12 months of 2011, hundreds of rockets were launched at Israeli citizens from Gaza. If the occupation or the settlements were really the cause of the conflict, then why are attacks coming, almost daily, from territory that Israel turned over to full Arab control several years ago. The truth is there are no distinct Palestinian people. There are Arabs who hate Jews and wish to destroy anything Jewish based on a religious agenda that dates back 1400 hundred years. Let’s remember the words spoken about Palestine by a leader of the PLO. The Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview with Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here’s what he said: ‘The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our arab unity. In reality there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct “Palestinian people” to oppose Zionism. For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.” Let us also remember four of the points in the PLO’s charter: 1. Jews are the enemy of Allah. 2. Islam is fighting a continuous religious war against the Jews. 3. The killing of Jews is a religious obligation. 4. Palestinians are the vanguard in this war against the Jews, and all Islamic nations are obligated to assist in this war.  Finally let us remember the words of Mohammed himself who said, “The Day of Resurrection will not arrive until the Moslems make war against the Jews and kill them, and until a Jew is hiding behind a rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: ‘Oh Moslem, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!’  Let us reply to this hate by saying ” Oh American, remember these words well the next time you hear someone say Jews are to blame for everything in the Middle East. It is the Jews who rebuilt Israel from rubble after 2000 years of exile and the death of the six million. Let the Jewish people have their own land, promised forever in the holy bible, by the G*d of Abraham. Let there be peace with their neighbors so that all nations may prosper”

AFRICA BURNS AND THE PEOPLE STARVE

Sadly, just like in the Middle East, Militant Islam is on the march in Africa. Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan have all seen death and destruction at the hands of Islamic supremacist groups like Boko Harum, al-Shabaab and AL Qaeda. Nigeria has borne the brunt of Boko Harum’s viciousness towards non-Muslims with hundreds of Christian civilians killed and dozens of churches burned or bombed. Millions face famine in Somalia, where the Islamic group al-Shabaab murders, kidnaps or expels foreign aid workers while the people starve. The influence of Islam has spread to Kenya where a new constitution based on Sharia is being proposed. Even the one bright spot, which was the recognition by the United Nations of the newly formed nation of South Sudan, is being marred by ruthless border violence and constant threats from Islamic Northern Sudan. The one never changing fact is that Islam is always at the root of the violence and the attacks are being made on predominately unarmed Christians. As usual, Islamic leaders in Africa responded to the bloodshed by denying it all as a plot to defame Islam. At a meeting in Istanbul in November, they “denounced the identification of violence with Muslims and Islam, stressing that Islam is a religion of peace, love and brotherhood and that associating it with terrorism cannot be accepted.” Islamic leaders continue to ignore the persecution of “infidels” and the beheading and church bombings while happily blaming everything but Islam for the last 1400 years of jihad against non-believers.

MADMEN AND MULLAHS

Then there is Iran; the hotbed of crazed mullahs who are waiting for the 12th Imam to re-appear from the well he has been hiding in since the Occultation in 869 CE. For those readers who don’t study Islam, the Occultation refers to when the 5 year old  Imam,  Muhammad ibn al-hasan al-Mahdi, disappeared into a well, where he has remained hidden without dying until he returns to usher in the Islamic end times. The Occultation or lack of Occultation is at the root of centuries of bloody fighting between the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam. Iran’s leaders are members of the Shia sect and are deeply devoted to the return of the 12th Imam. Now all this may seem like a great deal of religious silliness to some of you, but when you combine the desire to usher in the end of the world with Iran’s race to build an atomic bomb, things start to get scary. Really scary. Add into the mix the fact that the current Grand Ayatollah of Iran and supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, also claims to be the only human who is in direct contact with the 12th Imam and it is time to panic. Most experts on the Middle East and Islam, who are not apologists for Islam, will tell you in no uncertain terms, that keeping Iran from getting nuclear weapons should be the world’s number one priority in the foreign policy arena. Meanwhile, Iran remains oblivious to any and all sanctions and continues its steamroller rush towards joining the world’s nuclear club. G*d help us all if the rest of the world allows it to happen.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE : THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME

Certainly, Russia and China have done their part in 2011 to compound the world’s problems. Russia continues its retreat back to the good old dictatorial days of heavy handed oppression under the rule of Vladimir Putin. They are merrily supplying Syria and Iran with weapons and technology while constantly obstructing any effective sanctions in the United Nations. It is rather ironic that Russia has more than its own share of problems with terrorists from parts of what used to be the U.S.S.R and surprise, surprise, once again the terrorists are Muslims. Blowing up airports and subways is par for the course but now woman who try to swim in the Caspian Sea in a bathing suit are being blown to bits by intolerant Muslim men. The situation has gotten so bad that the Russian State authorities opened the first Sharia compliant beach, where women swim while covered head to toe, in an attempt to stop the reign of terror against women.

China continues to build its economy on the sweat of its people and by releasing more poisons into the atmosphere than any other nation on earth. While the economy is booming and billionaires are starting to become common place, the iron fist of old guard communist oppression still wins the day in China. Dissidents routinely disappear into prisons for decades, foreign businesses are stolen from and spied upon, religious groups of any sort are ruthlessly stamped out and woman are arrested and sterilized for daring to become pregnant for a second time. At a time when the world is on the edge of a major explosion, China spent billions this year to vastly increase the size of its military arsenal. They continue to make threats to attack Taiwan and one Chinese General even went as far as to mention the possibility of using nukes on the United States if we tried to intervene. It seems with China, the more things change, the more things stay the same.

WHAT SHALL WE DO ?

I wish I could have written a glowing report on what a wonderful place the world became in 2011 but I am not given to fantasy. Surely there has been much to be happy about and proud of in 2011, but the world is teetering on the brink and people need to face reality. If we have any chance to change things for the better in 2012, we have to stop telling each other fairy tales and start to face the truth. The religious divisions that are creating such havoc in the world are real. It is time to stop making excuses for any religion that tries to impose itself on humanity. It is time to stop giving aid, treasure and support to nations or religions that oppress and brutalize non believers or outsiders of any sort. You may wish to deny that Islam is at the forefront of terror attacks, oppression of non-believers and persecution of women but it is the truth and it needs to be accepted before it can be changed for the better. Being politically correct and making more excuses for bad behavior will just encourage more bad behavior in the future. Do we really need to see signs like we saw from Muslim protesters in London on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Signs that said “DEMOCRACY GO TO HELL” and “BEHEAD THOSE WHO INSULT ISLAM.” The very fact that the British police allowed the public display of death threats against non-Muslims within a few hundred feet of where the Prime Minister of England was making a memorial address shows just how far we have fallen in the name of the dual evils of multiculturalism and political correctness. While it is mainly militant fanatics who are at the forefront of the violence, the utter silence of so-called “Moderate Islam” is alarming. When the supposed majority of “Moderate Muslims” start to make their voices heard against Islamic expansion, oppression and supremacist beliefs, maybe non-Muslims will start to see Islam as a true “Religion of Peace.” At the moment, the silence is deafening and the body count continues to rise is the name of Allah.

While religion may lie at the root of many of our Foreign Policy problems, we should also remember that politics in the United States have become an absolute disgrace. Republicans and Democrats alike put party loyalty ahead of the welfare of the people who elected them. They have replaced honesty, morality and ethics with cleverly written loopholes that allow elected officials to ignore the law with impunity while vastly increasing their personal wealth. The influence that lobbyists and special interest groups have on our elected officials is a gross breech of trust that should make every member of Congress hang their head in shame. The political elite in America have become the new royalty of the ruling class; throwing the working peasants scraps while they gorge themselves.

The men and women who run the major corporations in America are no better. Companies lose billions and the bosses still take home millions in annual bonuses and stock options. Executives get caught stealing and instead of going to prison, they quietly retire with a 20 million dollar golden parachute. Companies that are making billions in profits will close a factory in the United States that employs 2000 people in order to be able to pay slave wages in a Third World country. 2000 hard working Americans out of work so a company that already made 10 billion in profits can make another 100 million. Hardly anyone in business or government gives a second thought to all the lives damaged by such behavior. No one will say a word about it unless someone thinks it will gain them more votes or make a good ad campaign. While there is nothing wrong with capitalism, there is plenty wrong with the sort of greed and lack of business ethics displayed by many large corporations.

Passing more useless laws will not solve the problem. False flag movements like the OWS movement that are nothing but fronts for political insiders will not solve the problem. Letting manipulators like George Soros play puppet master while throwing around billions to impose his ideas on society will not solve the problems. The problems will only be solved when we finally realize that we are all Americans and we start to demand that government leaders and elected officials behave in a responsible manner and represent the will of the voters or they will be replaced. The problems will only be solved when we make it clear to big business that if they wont put the needs of their customers and their workers ahead of pure profit and greed, then we will spend our hard earned money elsewhere. We do need a movement but not one that is based on race, religion, status or political philosophy. We need a movement that speaks as one to say that we demand change. We demand an end to greed and corruption. We demand that our elected officials do everything in their power to improve our lives; not by enslaving us with endless handouts but by balancing the budget, reducing the deficit and rebuilding our nation. We will use our voices, our minds, our vote and our wallets to make sure that we are heard in 2012. Ignore us at your own peril.

[The views expressed in this political commentary are the sole view of Wolff Bachner and do not express the views of Inquisitr.com or the Inquisitr.com writing staff.]

2011 In Review – A Planet In Crisis [Political Commentary] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A bus driver from southern China died on Saturday shortly after testing positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus. This was the first confirmed case of humans contracting the bird flu in the country since 18 months ago, health officials said.

The man, identified only by his surname, Chen, died in the wealthy city of Shenzhen, an industrial town bordering Hong Kong, where thousand of birds were recently slaughtered after two birds were to confirmed to be carrying the H5N1 virus.

Health officials said that Chen first began developing symptoms on December 21, and was hospitalized only four days later. He was initially thought to have a severe case of pneumonia, but after testing he was found to be infected by the bird flu virus.

The H5N1 virus is typically contracted after coming into direct contact with poultry infected by the virus, but Shenzhen health officials say that Chen had no contact with poultry recently, nor did he leave Shenzhen in recent months.

The World Health Organization says that cases of the H5N1 virus are fatal in upwards of 60 percent of confirmed cases. Fortunately, the virus isn’t easily transmissible from human to human, and WHO says that, so far, there has been no reports of it spreading between humans since its emergence back in 2003.

via AP

[Image credit: ALAMY]

Chinese bus driver dies in first confirmed case of bird flu since 2010 is a post from: The Inquisitr

An Asian hooded crane, a rare bird normally found China, Japan and Southeast Asia, was recently spotted in southeast Tennessee, at the Hiwassee Refuge.

The Asian hooded crane, clearly quite a long ways from home, was spotted hanging out with a group of sandhill cranes that have made the refuge their residence for the winter. Asian hooded cranes are a rare enough site even in Asia, much less Tennessee – so, naturally, hundreds of bird-watchers have stopped by the Hiwassee Refuge to check out the rare crane.

“It’s a great thrill,” Melinda Welton, conservation chair for the Tennessee Ornithological Society, told Reuters. “People are coming in from all over the country to see this bird. He has had more than 700 people come and visit from all over the country to see this bird. People have come from 26 states and from two countries, including Russia.”

The majority of Asian hooded cranes normally do their wintering in Japan, and their nesting usually takes place in Russia or China. Welton says that this particular crane took a wrong turn, but he doesn’t seem too unhappy about his new environment – he’s even made a few friends.

“There have been other records of birds that take a wrong turn,” Welton explained. “And now that he’s on the North American continent, it looks like he’s associating with his closest relatives.”

Source: Reuters

[Image: Wikipedia]

Rare Asian hooded crane takes a wrong turn, ends up in Tennessee is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mitt Romney is on the defensive with his plans to cut government spending.  The Massachusetts Republican had to tell an audience in Iowa that “We are not going to kill Big Bird” when asked about his spending plans, according to the Huffington Post.  Romney wants Sesame Street and other public programming to be paid for by advertisements and not the taxpayers.

He also signaled that under his administration, the National Endowment for the Arts would also be cut, asked to survive on private donations and not taxpayers dollars.

Romney made a statement that basically spells out how he views every program in America.

“My test is, is a program so critical that it’s worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?”

Democrats were looking at his proposals to defund the arts with a bit a skepticism, as the National Endowment for the Arts and National Public Radio have long been a desired treat on the Republican Chopping block.

“The GOP should be less preoccupied with silencing cookie monster and more focused on reviving the economy,” replied Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.).

in 1995, when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House, Lowley had invited Bert and Ernie to testify before Congress when Gingrich tried to cut their funding then.

Romney says that when he is President he will cut $500 billion dollars a year from the federal budget by the end of his first term.  While this would be a drastic cut, it still would more than a trillion dollars a year short of a balanced budget if spending continues at its current levels.

Since losing to John McCain in the 2008 Republican Primary, Mitt Romney has been running an aggressive campaign to become the nominee to face President Barack Obama in 2012.  He is currently polling second in most key battleground states.

Watch a video of Romney telling the Iowa crowd his plans for Big Bird.

Mitt Romney: “I Am Not Going To Kill Big Bird” [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

China on Tuesday officially launched the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, a move that ends the countries dependence on America’s Global Position System (GPS).

According to the countries leaders the new system allows for the broadcasting of directions to China and its “surrounding area.”

The system was designed and launched by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. and is currently comprised of 10 satellites.

While the system is less accurate than GPS at this time it’s still believed to be capable of tracking US ships and other military targets, something the Chinese government wasn’t given access to via the American system.

A recent report in the Journal of Strategic Studies says “China still has a long way to go,” but added that the new system is allows China to

“Acquire greater ability not only to defend against intruding aircraft carriers but to project force as well.”

Chinese officials in the meantime are not touting the defense capabilities of the system but rather it’s free civilian applications, specifically the systems ability to support SMS messaging, something the American GPS system does not allow for.

Do you believe the Chinese government built the Beidou Navigation Satellite System for the benefit of it’s citizens or as a matter of better tracking military vessels and for offensive striking capabilities?

China Debuts GPS Alternative, Adds SMS To The Mix is a post from: The Inquisitr

China unveiled a brand new high-speed train over the weekend that is capable of reaching speeds of up to 300 mph, making it 100 mph faster than its closest competition.

The prototype high-speed train was revealed in the eastern province of Shandong. In development by CSR Corp, China’s largest rail vehicle manufacturer, the new train will be the newest in the line of their CRH series. It’s said to be a six-car train with a design inspired by an ancient Chinese sword – and, as previously mentioned, it’s quite fast.

China is home to the world’s largest high-speed train system, but there have been concerns raised throughout the year over whether or not the high-speed railways are actually safe, and if there’s even a need for faster trains to begin with.

Back in July, one of CSR’s other high-speed trains collided into the back of another train, killing nearly 40 people and raising doubts among potential passengers as to the safety of China’s vast railway. The cause of the crash is unknown.

CSR Corp didn’t say when their new prototype high-speed train would be put into use, nor did they state that it would even be put into commercial use at any point. Additionally, WSJ points out that there has been little indication in state media that CSR Corp has even had the chance to test the train yet, but the company didn’t say for sure.

Even if it doesn’t get put to use anytime soon, the new train, once it performs its first successful test run, should be somewhat of a morale boost for China’s reeling railway industry after public safety concerns raised from the July train crash.

via Wall Street Journal

[Image credit: Reuters]

China unveils new high-speed train prototype amid safety concerns is a post from: The Inquisitr

It is only coming to light now, but back in May 2010 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce discovered that their data network had been breached by a group of Chinese hackers and successfully shut down the breach. The only problem is that the best guess currently is that the hackers may have had access to the network for more than a year.

According to the report that is in the Wall Street Journal Online the Chamber of Commerce isn’t sure exactly how much data might have been taken by the hackers but they have evidence that leads them to believe that the hackers were concentrating  on four Chamber employees involved  in Asian policy.

While the FBI is not saying anything regarding the matter some people familiar with the break-in believe it is the same group that U.S. officials believe has ties to the Chinese government. Of course the response from both the Chinese embassy and from Beijing is that it is against Chinese law to commit cyberattacks, and that the Chinese government itself is also a victim of similar attacks.

“What was unusual about it was that this was clearly somebody very sophisticated, who knew exactly who we are and who targeted specific people and used sophisticated tools to try to gather intelligence,” said the Chamber’s Chief Operating Officer David Chavern.

Nevertheless, Chamber officials said they haven’t seen evidence of harm to the organization or its members.

via WSJ

U.S. Chamber of Commerce breached by a group of Chinese hackers is a post from: The Inquisitr

It seems as if there is another reason out there to despise the Kardashian family.  A new report shows that the reality show diva’s clothing line is manufactured in some of the most brutal sweatshops in the world. The report says the workers who are “employed” by these sweatshops are “abused and virtually imprisoned.”

There were a few noted products that were included in the report. K-Dash by Kardashian, the Kris Jenner Kollection and ShoeDazzle were among the products listed.  Star Magazine reports that all these are “manufactured in areas of China where government regulations are often ignored and workers are subject to inhumane conditions.” “People like the Kardashians are producing their products in China because they will get more profit, since the labor cost is so low compared to the United States and other countries,” Li Qiang, the executive director of China Labor Watch, told Star.

As could easily be predicted, the Kardashian family is claiming that this is the first they have ever heard of such things and are quite upset.  Their representatives were talking to the press today saying that the family was “investigating” the issue (which is usually Hollywood talk for ignoring the problem).

The report describes the condition of these factories and doesn’t mince words at calling them brutal.  It describes conditions where the workers are not allowed to listen to any outside music or distractions, and most are not even permitted to speak during work hours (which can be more than 12 hours a day).  Bathroom breaks are limited to four minutes for general labor and basically forbidden to specialized workers.

The Kardashian family earned $65 Million dollars last year.  Do you think they are prepared to take a stand?

Report: Kardashian Products Made in “Brutal” Sweatshops is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pegatron Corp., a Shanghai producer of Apple iPad products was damaged over the weekend and 61 workers were injured when an explosion at the plant was witnessed, 23 employees were hospitalized after the incident.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known and the plant was still under “pre-operation inspection” with only a running trial production currently underway.

This is the third time a Chinese factory carrying Apple Inc. components has exploded in the last 15 months, the first two occurring at plants owned and operated by top Apple parts partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn).

One explosion at a Foxconn factory in May injured at least 15 workers who were producing Apple iPad 2 devices, while a September fire slowed production but thankfully led to no reported injuries.

Once fully operational the recently exploded Pegatron plant is slated to produce back panel parts for the Appw iPad 2 along with part for other customers who the company has not disclosed at this time.

While some supply chain disruption will occur on Apple’s end they say the effects will be minimal at best.

Apple in the meantime has opened their own investigation into the explosion.

In the meantime this newest explosion will place China factories under even more nongovernmental scrutiny as worker safety and environmental issues continue to raise concerns in the region with a poor track record for safety and environmental concerns.

Moving forward Pegatron hopes to get the plant back online soon, noting that there appeared to be very little damage to machinery which should minimize the plants impact on operations and revenue.

After the explosion shares of Pegatron were trading down by 1.71 percent.

Apple iPad Factory Explosion Leaves 61 Injured, Some Workers Hospitalized is a post from: The Inquisitr