Why do people with "Moderator" after their name often come across so negatively? It is the moderator's role to be "the cop" but, especially on a site like Boing Boing, can't this cop be one of the cool ones? The sort that can maintain order but still hold your respect? They are a rare breed but they do exist.

I say this because of the tone of things like "...you haven't been a very careful reader. Go back and try again." and "It was a group decision. Why do you think it took so long?" and "I expect she'll survive it." I realize some of you will disagree with me on this but I read that and my mental hackles start to go up (even though I have nothing to do with the commenters they are directed at). It comes across as... ack, what's the best way to put this... chippy, maybe? There's just a touch of "in your face" to it and I don't like it. Boing Boing is "us" to me and I don't want the folks I hang with to be jerks.

Now for the constructive element of my comment. Perhaps saying "It was a group decision, thus the delay" or to express your annoyance "It was a group decision. Have some patience." would have sounded better? Rather than "...you haven't been a very careful reader. Go back and try again." try "You missed our point. Read the previous comments again." I have no clue as to why you all are unhappy with the individual whose articles are at the heart of this issue but rather than the snide "she'll survive it" maybe just leave that out? Since I don't know what the issue is YOU are the one that comes across negatively when you make statements like that.

I'm just sayin'.

In my experience whenever mysterious bones are found in the woods they are almost always either the remains of a previously unknown to science form of life (often a Big Foot but sometimes a run of the mill Chupacabra) or they are the remains of a person who disappeared under circumstances most mysterious and foul.

Whatever the case there's no way it's a deer. I mean, come on... let's be realistic here.

We have many Amish and a handful of Mennonites where I live in NE Ohio. When I saw the photo of the cleancut guy leading the women in singing I surprised that he didn't look even a little like he is "supposed" to. In fact, the way he is dressed and the way they are so publicly proclaiming makes me suspect they are not very mennonite at all... probably more run of the mill conservative christian.

@Method -> You say that the reason for using the Mao reference is to point out how little some things have changed. That is the problem. They HAVE changed and have changed quite a lot.

That professor I mentioned in my post was a young reporter for China Radio International back when Tiananmen Square happened. She was in the square that dawn morning when the shooting began (not to report as the Chinese media was not covering that incident, rather she was bicycling through the area on her way to work at the radio station). After seeing that she determined to get out and move to the U.S. to study journalism. She got her Masters and PhD in journalism from the J-School at Ohio University (one of the best programs). She is, definitively, an expert on China, Media and related cultural issues as she is now a professor focusing on exactly that area. She's a smart cookie who has practical professional and academic experience re: China and it's media and she is sick of the uninformed, inaccurate garbage like this junk from JWB (which is, sadly, the tip of the willfully ignorant iceberg). When she says STFU she isn't just tossing out some rude language. It is a heartfelt response based on an accurate and informed opinion and I (a white American who also has a background in journalism) completely agree with her because, well... she's right.

The bit at the top about "Mao's China..." tells me most of what I need to know about this bit of propaganda. American's who want to stir up scary images of China often resort to tossing out Mao's name. Thing is, in China, people hardly think of it as "Mao's". To them they have advanced far beyond the period of Mao and today's China is something Mao could hardly have imagined.

So to say "Mao's China..." as is done here indicates an outdated, cold war era mindset that really needs to be updated to the 21st century. Certainly the Chinese I know to whom I just showed this ad laughed out loud about the Mao bit. One, a university professor currently sitting a few feet away from me, said that people who don't understand China should just, and I quote her, "Shut the f@ck up. I'm so sick of these people who don't know what they are talking about."

I posted this to digg and reddit... more people need to know about it.

@Bob
You said "Gee, and we don't even have to invade to make these changes happen? Amazing! (heavy sarcasm)"

I agree with the anti-invasion sentiment but your comment reflects another problem with Western thinking in general. It is that "we" make changes happen over there. We don't.

When corporations talk about making change in China simply by being there and exposing folks to "Western" business (specifically Google,Yahoo and Starbucks have all talked of this) they are fooling themselves or, more likely, trying to fool us. They are not going to change anything. Rather, it is more likely that they will be changed by the experience. Regardless, they shouldn't be trying to bring change. They should be selling internet services and coffee. Period. Anything else smacks of typcl Wstrn arrogance.

My in-laws all use solar powered water heaters (they live near Shanghai) and they work pretty good. The only draw back is that the older models (like 4 years old and older) require you to be careful about not emptying them early in the day as there is a risk of cracking as the cold water flows in ti replace the hot that was there.
Not sure if this is my in-law's own precaution or if it is actually recommended by the manufacturer. But, regarding water temp, they work quite well even with the (usually, but not always) smoggy air.