Supplier Ca-noodling

Couldn't resist the headline when I saw this AP story on purported price-fixing in the Chinese instant noodle (Ramen) industry.

The report came amid a nationwide probe into whether price-fixing or hoarding by producers is to blame for a 15.4 percent jump in food prices in July over the year-earlier period. The government accused violators of damaging social stability. [emphasis mine - Al]

and finally buried at the end of the article on Page 2, a better discussion of the real issue: collusion of the producers:

"Some industry groups have organized coordinated price rises," the agency said in an Aug. 3 statement. It said the collusion "influences social stability." [emphasis mine - Al]

There's that delicate social stability again.

Cheers China! Where everybody knows your name...

Aug. 6, 1945: 'I Am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds'

Saw this in the morning feed:

Aug. 6, 1945: 'I Am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds'

and realised I'd forgotten how long it had been since this actually happened - over 60 years! And they didn't have shiny new [$200m super]computers to do the calculations.

Quite interesting that the NCSA - one of the US groups that actually have the word in their name is finally coming back to prominence after what seemed to be a period of being eclipsed by the National Labs.