Author Archives: chongping.zhao

This article  relavent that  after few day which S&P downgraded  US  long term debt FROM AAA to AA+, the SEC is going to aduit the donwgrade methodology that S&P used in downgrading. The US Dept of Treasury claim that S&P has 2 trillion dollar mistake in calculation and might violate the regulation. Accroding to the  Wall street journal and Financial time,  the SEC is going has wide-range audit among S&P included insider trade: because the 2 trillion dollar mistake mighe be cause by insider trade, and S&P did be aware of it.

After downgrading,Standard and Poor’s has faced tough criticism from lawmakers, market players and the U.S. many people believe the aduit by SEC is a revenge which the federal groverment want to warm S&P.  It might be true, in 1970s  the S&P is the first member of a group who were authorized of credit rating, and it is one of the largest credit rating agency in the US. Now, S&P downgraded US long term debt, it is like if one raise a dog to keep bad stranger away, the dog bite its master. Federal governemtn obiviouse does not feel so well about this matter. 

http://heylady.net/2009/07/25/review-picking-cotton-by-jennifer-thompson-cannino-and-ronald-cotton/

 I Read this book Picking Cotton last semester,  Picking Cotton is the true story of how a 22-yead-old college student, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino picked Ronald Cotton out of a line-up as the man who raped her; She claimed that she had studied every detail of the suspect and confidently indentified Ronald Cotton. Cotton was convicted and spent 11 years in prison before DNA evidence showed he was innocent. Picking Cotton is told in Thompson-Cannino and Cotton’s alternating voices, starting before the trial and leading up to their eventual friendship after Cotton was released.

This book remaind me about the video, Witch Hunt, which some innocent parents have been convicted child molestation by their children`s manipulated testinoy  Witness testimony is valued as vital evidence in the court no matter how the victim make the testimony: either manipulated by DA or false memories. W automatically presume that victim are telling the true: espectially the serious criminal charges like rape and molestation. Many innocent people has been locked up because of false witness testimony.  If there were no DNA test, Ronald Cotton would be still in the prison, while other innocents, whose case are not supported by DNA test would serve their full term.Picking Cotton is a powerful reminder to me that our system of justice that results in the imprisonment of innocent people needs to be improved.

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Food, Inc. is a documentary about the state of the food industry within the United States. Food is cheaper and more abundant than it has ever been, we could buy one-dollar-burger from fast food restaurant while the food, espectially vegetable in the supermarket are cost far more than a burger  We have detached ourselves from how food ends up on our plates. Food is marketed to us as if it comes from a little farm with a white fence and rolling hills, but this is simply an illusion. The food actually comes from mega factory farms: It is no longer feed cattle but produce it. Our society has cheaper food but there have been more E. coli  outbreaks in the past twenty years than ever before ,and obesity and the rate of diabetes are through the roof.

It is impressive that one of the walmart  manager says “we sell what comsumer want”, if comsumers want cheap food,  the corporation would”produce” food in cheap ways, and it is true today. Although comsumer pay much less for food,  they are also paying for the hidden price tage which could cost them more.