Drywall Imported from China may be Defective

The Los Angeles Times reports that drywall imported from China is at the center of complaints of foul odors seeping from walls, corrosion to air conditioners, mirrors, electrical outlets and jewelry. The problem may be a radioactive phosphorus substance -- phosphogypsum -- that is banned for construction use in the U.S. but is used by Chinese manufacturers.

Yet another reason to pause before using building materials imported from China, where an entire new 13-story building recently collapsed.

Summer Olympics Trivia

The 2008 summer Olympics starts in Beijing, China, on Friday. I was not at all interested in it until I read yesterday's New York Times Sports Magazine, which was devoted to the topic. Now I'm fired up, and plan to publish trivia about the event until I find that doing so is too annoying, run out of trivia, or something else happens.

The date and time of the start of the Olympics are geared around the number 8: 8/08/2008 at 8:00 p.m. According to chinadaily.com, the number 8 is considered lucky in China because when pronounced in Cantonese it is similar to the character 'faat', which means money, status and prosperity. (The link to chinadaily.com contains more info on lucky numbers, in case a trip to the casino is in your future.)

One item from the NYT that somehow struck me as odd: Romanian gymnastic sensation Nadia Comaneci, five-time gold medalist (three in 1976, two in 1980), the one who scored the perfect 10, now lives in Oklahoma. In my memory she seemed so exotic; Oklahoma? not so much.