Until We Meet Again

China has made news recently on a number of unfortunate topics. They’ve added poisonous substances to exported pet food so that it would test higher in protein content than it actually was. Then they put an anti-freeze chemical in exported cough medicine and toothpaste for who-knows-what reason. Lead paint on children’s toys, bacteria-infected antibiotics, exploding cell phones and car tires are just a few of the other Chinese innovations which have hit the world market as of late. And who could forget the image of the Chinese street vendor using boiled and “seasoned” filthy street cardboard as filling for his savory dumpling treats.

Well, China has acted swiftly to repair their tarnished image….. They’ve executed the head of their food and drug administration, Zheng Xiaoyu. This is undoubtedly after a fair trial. And undoubtedly Mr Xiaoyu was acting alone. His practices must have been unknown to the Chinese government and were carried out without their silent consent. So we can now breathe easy that our Made-in-China purchases will no longer maim or kill either us or our pets.

As for Mr. Xiaoyu who paid dearly for his indiscretions …… maybe we can look forward to seeing him once again. Maybe he will be one of the tastefully posed, scientifically and artistically relevant plasticized “Bodies” on display at the Carnegie Science Center this October. I’m sure he, like all the other bodies in the display, will have given his permission to be used for such an enlightening purpose. After all, the Chinese government has approved and verified it as being so.