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Monday, June 18, 2007 AP report: Tainted foods are a daily problem in Asia It's scary, what men will do to fellow men, just for the sake of money. Do they understand the consequences? What kind of man does it take, to do such things knowing full well that people will die because of it? There once lived a young tortoise, who had an adventurer's soul. He travelled the world at a plodding pace, nosing anything that caught his fancy. He's been up in the mountains and down in the plains, he's seen a lot and nose a lot (pardon the pun). There came a day, as he was plodding happily through the hills, when a fragrance reached his nose. This was something new, and smelled nice, so he followed the scent until he came to a lily. He's seen mountains, and he's seen forests, but this was the first time he'd seen the lily, and he was enchanted. So he did what he always does to a new thing: he tried to nose it. Suddenly, a wasp sprang out of the lily, buzzing angrily. Quick as a flash, it stung the tortoise right on the nose. "Ow, ow!" cried the tortoise. Instinctively, he shrank back into its shell. The wasp buzzed angrily, looking for another opening. The tortoise trembled in his shell and wept from the pain, and did what tortoises were best at: he waited. As night fell, the wasp went away. The tortoise poked his legs out and stood, but left his head deep inside the shell. Stifling his sobs, he staggered away. For a long time the tortoise travelled thus, staggering about with his head in his shell, not seeing where he was going and not caring. He bumped into a lot of things, but as long as he kept a slow pace it was fine. One day, as he was staggering in the plains (where, he figured, there was less chance of bumping into things), a smell wafted through his throbbing nostrils and straight into his brain. Yet another fragrance, full of sparkle, mystery and wonder. And promise. Unconsciously, his feet led him towards the source of this amazing fragrance, but after two steps he stopped, sat down heavily. The memory of what happened the last time he followed a fragrance was still fresh on his mind (and on his nose). But he really wanted to find out, what was this wonderful thing that is setting off all sorts of fireworks inside his head, so he stood, and staggered slowly towards the source of the smell. He took a step, then another, then got pricked on his third. Quick as a flash he was back in his shell again, with a stinging leg. But this was not the sting of a wasp, and did not hurt as badly -- maybe it was just a sharp pebble, or a splinter of wood, or in other words, nothing to worry about. So, thought the tortoise, let's give it another try, shall we? Carefully, he stood up again, and began taking hesitant steps yet again. Step, step, step, *PRICK*. Our young tortoise doesn't know this, but he's stepped into a nice big patch of mimosa. Being the adventurous sort, he's gone so deep in that it's going to be painful whether he goes in or tries to come out. With his head still firmly embedded inside his shell, he has no idea whether it's less pain to carry on, or to turn tail and go look elsewhere. He doesn't even know if it'll be worth it at the end, or whether there're any stinging insects waiting for him there. He's thinking that, maybe it'll be best to just sit still, wait for the nose to heal fully, then stick his head out to take a good look before deciding. But maybe the flower will be gone by then, never to come back again. What do you think?
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