Via: tubecrunch.blogspot.com

A giant panda sits in a tree at a panda breeding center in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province January 11, 2012. He is among six young giant pandas which were bred in captivity and were released as a group of "pioneers" into an enclosed forest in Sichuan province. The release is the first step of a project aiming to help the endangered species to adapt to the wild environment and eventually survive in the wild.

(Reuters / China Daily)

Yao And A Panda Laughing Together

Yao, His Wife Ye Li, And A Couple Of Panda Cubs

But Then Yao Was Like...

Source: behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com  /  via: deadspin.com

Trainees gather at the beach as they wait for the beginning of a training session for female bodyguards organised by Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant Ltd. Co. in Sanya, Hainan province January 8, 2012. According to the company, a total of 20 women, mostly college graduates, participated in the training session on Sunday, which was the first open group training for female bodyguards in China. All trainees will have to undergo 8-10 months of training to develop sufficient skills to serve their clients. The company will offer the best trainee a chance to attend further study at the International Security Academy in Israel. Picture taken January 8, 2012.

(Reuters / CHINA DAILY)

(Reuters / CHINA DAILY)

(Reuters / CHINA DAILY)

(Reuters / CHINA DAILY)

View Entire List ›

A protester stands in front of a burning barricade during a demonstration. Cairo, Egypt 1/28/2011

“I was in south Sudan covering the referendum when I found out that there were going to be protests in Egypt. I felt that there could be big troubles, so I returned to Egypt. I arrived at 8am and dropped my bags at home and then went to the office. Later in the afternoon clashes began in Cairo. People were shouting and the police came out on the streets. There were protesters, riot police and also plainclothes police. The plainclothes police started chasing people around: kicking them, beating them. I had to shoot quickly. I saw a lot of plainclothes police standing in a line like soldiers. There were some street battles with civilians. The next day we knew it was going to be a big protest so I took my camera downtown to look for possible trouble. We went to a couple of neighborhoods but people were walking through the small streets heading towards the city center. One moment we witnessed some clashes. Police started to fight and the protesters fought back.”–Goran Tomasevic

Passengers on Cathay Pacific flight CX715 prepare to disembark from a nearly downed airplane after it landed safely. Changi Airport, Singapore 5/16/2011

“We took off smoothly for the short flight from Singapore to Jakarta, and I started falling asleep. Suddenly I was woken by the sound of two bangs, like a bomb or truck tire blowing out. My wife gripped my hand and asked, 'Do you smell something burning?' Yes, there was a sharp smell stinging my nose. I realized there was something wrong because all the stewardesses ran back with the food carts.

The plane started to vibrate, harder and harder. I held my wife’s hand tightly and looked at her face as she started praying. My two younger children were asleep, after their first ever trip abroad, but not Pradipta, the eldest one. 'Pra, look through the window and watch outside,' I said. 'I see light, I see fire, I see fire,' he said. Then the electricity was switched off. I realized the plane, an Airbus A330, had a big problem. I was afraid because I thought we would die. Pradipta looked into my eyes and asked: 'Will we die?' I was afraid and could not answer the question. I looked at all my children’s faces and held my lovely wife’s hands tightly. During my many years of assignments as a Reuters photojournalist, when flying I have imagined being on a plane that had a problem that forced an emergency landing, and then taking pictures. But I never imagined this situation with my family. But it happened. We will die together, so we can fly to heaven together, I thought. If we die together, I will not miss my wife’s delicious cooking. I will not miss the smell of my kids’ sweat. There will be no tears among us. My thoughts, to my surprise, stopped me being afraid any more. 'Will we die?' Pradipta asked again. I looked into his eyes, held his hand tightly and said: 'No, we’re alive, we’re still alive,' then I gave him a high five just as if we were playing basketball. After that, I became calm because I was not afraid to die because we would all die together. I started to adjust my camera, which was hanging around my neck. I set the ISO higher, set the white balance, checked the battery was full and saw I had around 300 clicks for the rest of the memory card. I started to take pictures, though it was dark. I forgot my camera had a full HD video, so I forgot to record the situation. After 20 years living as a photographer, I was thinking as a photographer. I saw a steward sitting in front of me and shouted: 'What happened?' 'The engine is on fire and we are flying back to Singapore,' he replied. My wife put life vests on herself and the kids, though there had been no order to do so, and other passengers followed. I asked Pradipta to look out of the window, and he said he could still see a lot of light and we were over the sea. The plane was vibrating but still flying. I opened all my senses to prepare for everything, and heard the airplane wheels come out. We landed and stopped on the tarmac. I heard the captain say: 'I am Captain Brad, the situation is under control and our engine fire has been extinguished. Please wait in a line and walk to exit through the front door, don’t run. And the ground crew will take care of you. Thank you.'"–Beawiharta Beawiharta

A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan. Natori, Japan 3/13/2011

“I headed to the Yuriage district of Natori city in Miyagi prefecture just two days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan. The tsunami had destroyed buildings and left water everywhere. Smoke still hung over the smoldering ruins. I met Akane Ito amid the rubble as she sat crying on the side of the road, from where she should have been able to see her house. The tsunami had washed away her home together with the memories and her pet, which was family to her. It is not easy to photograph those in tears, but I took the picture as I felt it represented the sorrow the entire region was experiencing. I feel honored if readers were able to feel part of this sorrow. What I want to be able to do is to allow our readers to see what is taking place in the disaster-hit areas. I also sincerely wish for a swift recovery in the disaster-hit areas.”–Asahi Shimbun

Rebels hold a young man at gunpoint who they accuse of being a loyalist to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Brega, Libya 3/3/2011

“We were just passing by an area, not really the front line. We pushed ahead but didn’t see anybody so we came back to a checkpoint, somewhere between Ras Lanuf and Brega. We heard that the rebels had some mercenaries. They ended up in this room and they were talking to us. They didn’t look like mercenaries at all. One moment, they took one of them out and they put him on the ground and they interrogated him. They pointed fingers and a gun at him. I was really confused as I don’t understand the language. They took him away in a car. I don’t believe they killed him, I think they took him to Benghazi. They really didn’t look like mercenaries; just young kids under 20 years old. They were wearing nice shoes and jeans. They looked like immigrants. I guess here they don’t want to say that they are Libyans fighting Libyans. It was a bad moment. This gun was not locked at all. This is one of those situations: do you want to do pictures or do you want to react? I’m a photographer and I don’t want to interfere but at the same time I don’t want this young boy’s head to be blown off. It was really difficult for me to focus on the job.”–Goran Tomasevic

View Entire List ›

A journalist takes a sample of the red polluted water in the Jianhe River in Luoyang, Henan province December 13, 2011. According to local media, the sources of the pollution are two illegal chemical plants discharging their production waste water into the rain sewer pipes. Picture taken December 13, 2011.

(Reuters / China Daily)

(Reuters / China Daily)

(Reuters / China Daily)

Source: img.chinasmack.com

Source: img.chinasmack.com

Source: img.chinasmack.com

Source: img.chinasmack.com

View Entire List ›

A naked man gestures as firefighters try to prevent him from jumping off the Gaobu Bridge in Dongguan, Guangdong province December 6, 2011. The man, believed to be suffering from mental illness, was safely brought down.

(Reuters / China Daily)

Ni Linmei (R) stands on a chair as her neighbours comb her long hair in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, December 6, 2011. 55-year-old Ni started growing her hair out 14 years ago, up to the present day length of 2.53 meters (8.3 feet).

(Reuters / China Daily)

(Reuters / China Daily)

(Reuters / Asianewsphoto)

(Reuters / Asianewsphoto)

(Reuters / Asianewsphoto)

(Reuters / Asianewsphoto)

View Entire List ›

Dumped tires are seen piled in a wooded area near Elloree, S.C. on Nov. 17, 2011. The tires started piling up on some county land in South Carolina, little by little, growing to a mound of about a million tires covering several acres of land. Officials say a $400 littering fine is hardly enough to deal with the problem.

(AP / Rainier Ehrhardt)

(AP / Rainier Ehrhardt)

Source: Rainier Ehrhardt

(AP / Rainier Ehrhardt)

View Entire List ›

Via: theatlanticwire.com

Ai Weiwei: Only Detained By The Chinese Government For Advocating Democracy And Not Empathetic With The People's Struggle

Ai Weiwei, the bum who should have figured out some way to evade Chinese surveillance and censorship so that he could have participated in the drum circle outside of Bloomberg's mansion.

View Entire List ›

Source: chinasmack.com

Because if we were more like China, we could finally be less socialist. Or something.

Zhang Jiaojiao is a performer on the Chinese TV program “Blossoming Flowers.”

An FBC-1 “Flying Leopard” fighter jet crashed during an air show in southwestern China on late Friday morning, injuring one pilot and leaving another pilot unaccounted for.

From a Youtube video (which can be viewed below if you have a cast iron stomach) documenting the practices of a typical raccoon dog farm in China:

"Investigators filmed animals that were kicking and writhing as workers ripped their skin from their bodies. If the animals struggled too much, workers stood on the animals' neck Or they beat the animals' heads with knife handles until the creatures stopped moving.

It's also a very slow process, and they usually start from the feet(paw)-up, giving the animal plenty of time to endure the pain. After their fur was peeled, the animals' bodies were tossed into a pile like so much trash, most still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog, tossed onto a heap of carcasses; it had enough strength to lift its bloodied head and stare into the camera.

It raised its head, blinked with its remaining eyelashes and then lay its head down to continue dying for anything from 2-3 Hours."

So if you're wearing these...

You might be wearing these...

WARNING: This footage is awful. Don't watch if you're squeamish.

View Entire List ›

Via: dailymail.co.uk