Mood:  not sure

Seriously. A part of my chair just fell off. I don't think it's an important part because I'm still *in* my chair, not on the floor, but it's still somewhat disconcerting. It's just been that kind of day.

I ask now that you take a moment to read this short article, courtesy of Reuters Oddly Enough column. Go ahead, read it. I'll wait.

(hums to self)

BEIJING (Reuters) - Think a bottle of mineral water might have poisoned you? Then test it on a chicken.

One Chinese family on the southern island province of Hainan had just that idea when one of their number started vomiting blood after drinking a bottle of water, a newspaper said.

They fed the luckless chicken the rest of the water to see what would happen, the Beijing News said, citing a report in a local paper. "The result was the chicken died within a minute," it said, showing a picture of a man holding a plastic bottle squatting over the crumpled body of the bird.

The province's authorities were investigating, it added.

Barely a day goes by without some new scandal over a made-in-China product, be it toys, toothpaste or fish, which has raised safety concerns in major export markets around the world.

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Okay - you done now? What's the problem with this article? It's not the dead chicken. It's not the last paragraph about the perils of China. It's the two following phrases:

"when one of their number started vomiting blood after drinking a bottle of water"

and

"showing a picture of a man holding a plastic bottle squatting over the crumpled body of the bird"

Get it yet? One of their "number" was "vomiting blood" and the story describes a picture of another of their "number" holding the bottle over the dead bird. Hello? What the hell happened to "vomiting number?" Is he okay? Did they at least take him to a hospital? doctor? mortuary?

And a larger question lurks still: did they eat the chicken after it died?

Hmmm... maybe I'll get Chinese food for dinner tonight.

Later!
Laura

P.S. I apologize for the lame ending, but my brain "died" after I wrote "mortuary." HA!

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