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Friday, June 11, 2010

The Farm And The Furious

A Chinese farmer is fighting off property developers who want his land, firing rockets from a homemade cannon made out of a wheelbarrow and pipes, state media said on Tuesday. 
Yang Youde, who lives on the outskirts of the bustling city of Wuhan, in central Hubei province, said he had fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks. 
"I shot only over their heads to frighten them," he told the China Daily of his attacks on demolition workers sent to move him off his land. "I didn't want to cause any injuries."The rockets, which can travel over 100 yards, exploded with a deafening bang, the official paper added. It did not say if anyone had been injured.
His approach is more aggressive than most, but Mr Yang's problem is a common one.
Anger over property confiscation is one of the leading causes of unrest in China, with many people forced to give up homes and land to make way for anything from roads to luxury villas.
Mr Yang said the local government had offered him 130,000 yuan (£13,000) for his fields, on which they want to erect "department buildings". He said the land is worth five times that amount.
Construction ditches have already been dug across the land of less obstinate neighbors.
A first eviction team attacked Mr Yang in February after his rockets ran out, but local police came to his rescue. In May he held off 100 people by firing from a makeshift watchtower.
The government is planning to reform property confiscation rules, but rights groups say the changes do not go far enough to address the potentially destabilizing issue.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Palmtree Save

A four-year-old boy had a lucky escape after falling from a 17th floor hotel balcony only to bounce off palm trees and land with minor injuries. Rescuers found Joey Williams still alive after he bounced off a cluster of palm trees and landed on a dirt surface near the hotel's swimming pool.
Less than four hours after the fall at his hotel in Miami, Florida, he was sitting up in bed eating chips and drinking.

Lt Ignatius Carroll, a spokesman for Miami Fire Rescue, said it was amazing the boy was still alive. "I've seen people die after falling 30 feet, but this boy fell up to 80ft," he said. "He looked to be in pretty good shape. He wasn't all banged up like we expected."
Joey was with his parents and grandparents at the Doubletree hotel in Miami when the incident occurred on Saturday.
His grandfather Jerry Unawich said the youngster had been chasing a balloon in the hotel room. When the balloon drifted out on the balcony his grandson chased after it and is believed to have climbed over the railing surrounding the balcony.
Williams landed by the hotel's pool on the 10th floor of the building in Miami, Florida.
"There are no broken bones and doctors told us everything is fine," said Unawich.