Here is yet another story about pollution in China.
One of the many reasons our factories moved overseas is because it is so expensive for companies to be responsible from a pollution standpoint, and that’s pretty much a requirement in the US, while not so much in countries like China, India, Mexico, and Pakistan. I’m not saying the solution to the problem is to allow US factories and mines to treat the environment like a toilet, I’m just pointing out one of the many reasons factories in other countries can make goods so much cheaper than factories in the U.S.
Cadmium, the current news item, is used in things like ni-cad batteries, paint, plastics, and children’s costume jewelry. Which points to a whole ‘nother problem of “no government regulation”.
Most of the news stories yesterday did not mention the name of the mining firm. Why is that? In the U.S. the offending company’s name is front and center of our news articles. I’m seeing a few articles this morning that state the name of the mining company: The Guangxi Jinhe Mining Co. Ltd is accused of dumping massive amounts of cadmium into the river. When the first news articles came out, it felt as if someone were protecting the mining firm. Things that make you go… hmmmmm.
The US was responsible for some horrible pollution back sixty years go. Even forty years ago. The politicians have managed to regulate it out, but they did a sloppy job of it by making it so complicated. Our pollution laws cover thousands of pages, and companies have to spend a whole lot of money to be sure they are compliant. I think it’s Sweden, if I’m remembering correctly, that has almost no pollution and a very thin pollution law book. They can do that because they thought things through. Simple laws, like, your river intake has to be downstream from what you put back into the river.
From an environmental perspective, I believe China is about where we were in the fifties, possibly early sixties. It’s only a matter of time before things reach a critical mass and they start regulating better to keep pollution to a minimum. The question is… how much time? The federal government in China really doesn’t have the kind of authority over the provinces that our federal government has.
In the meanwhile, there are pages and pages out there documenting the horrible pollution in China. This page is a pretty big eye opener, though without the ability to transport the smell to your computer screen, I’m not sure the impact is anywhere near what it should be.
I’m talking about China because China is relevant to those of us with kids who were born in China… but China isn’t the only place this is a problem.
For those bringing a child home from a heavily polluted area, the best we can do is put as much good nutrition into them, and to keep as many pollutants away from them, as possible. My intention was to not add to the pollution already in their system, and to try to counter it with good stuff. That requires research, as pollutants show up in places you don’t often expect. I fed my girls from glass bottles, I used glass and stainless steel sippy cups, and fed them locally grown fruits and vegetables as much as possible. I didn’t allow lotions or oils with petroleum products to touch their skin. I didn’t put cotton fireproof pajamas on them at night, and only used a few brands of fleece or polyester pajamas – the ones I’d checked out to be sure weren’t treated with chemicals. My list is endless, but I’d like to spend the next few weeks talking about ways to keep toxins away from our kids.
I can’t stop the pollution happening around the world, but I can do my best to keep it from coming into contact with my family in our home.
When we did it, it was the I600a, and it was the worst part of the process for us — both times. I understand the procedures have changed a great deal, so I’d like to open up the comments today for people to talk about what it took (or is taking) for them to get the paperwork on the US side of things. Any hints or tips to make it easier for others? Pitfalls they should avoid? Timing to get the paperwork together? Timing to get it back, approved, once everything is sent in?
How about the post-referral paperwork? Any hints, tips, or pitfalls to avoid there?
The first chart shows the size (in poll numbers) of the previous batches and this batch. Please remember each poll has to stand by itself, you can’t compare numbers from different polls. We can still get an idea of how the sizes of the batches have gone, but you can’t do a direct comparison.
I had to create a new projection column this month – you can look at the numbers and get an idea of why.
Next we’ll take a look at how reality has looked in hindsight with the projections. The graph below shows where past referral batches have fallen on my projections, the X shows where the actual referrals fell. In those cases where I’ve added a new column and things would have looked different had that column been in place at the time, I’ve used a ~ to show where they would have fallen had we had the new column.
And finally, here are my projections:
You can always find your way back to the Projections and When posts by clicking on the Analysis category in the lower right hand column.
I’ll end this with my standard disclaimer: As always, projections are based on the CCCWA continuing to do what they have been doing. There is nothing to say they will follow their recent behavior. They could choose to do a lot less, or a lot more.
The Babies!!! post is still being added to, if you haven’t checked it out since last week, you may want to check in again. Congrats to everyone receiving their referral.
The new LID Poll is up. If you are still waiting for your NSN referral, please click here to let us know when you were logged in. Someone asked how long it will run — LID polls always run from referral phone calls to referral phone calls.
I know I should have the projections post up today, but it’s going to be tomorrow. We’ve had a series of things happen over the past couple of days and I started it but haven’t finished it yet. Sorry. I should be able to finish it tonight and get it up tomorrow. I need to update the histories page, too.
Someone sent me this link to a petition to continue the adoption tax credit. I will remind you that signing these types of petitions is good, but writing letters to your representatives, and making phone calls to them, often gets their attention more. So while you’re signing the petition go here and here and contact your representatives, too. When you write them, be clear on what you are asking. Ask it at the beginning and end of your letter, with the personal stuff in the middle. Keep in mind that an office staff person will likely be reading it and either checking a column or making a note of five words or less to say what your letter said, and that’s likely all your congress person will see. Make it easy for the staffer to state your opinion – put it at the beginning and end, concise and easy for them to copy your words. On the other hand, sometimes (rarely, but sometimes) the really good letters get handed to the politician to read as a whole. So if that’s your aim, then make sure the middle part has something they could use in their arguments to other politicians, and to the general public. If that’s not your aim, then just write something short and to the point stating your wishes.
We saw phone calls at the 31 day mark this month. The last 12 referral batches arrived at 22, 36, 28, 31, 31, 27, 33, 31, 25, 35, 21 and 31 day intervals. The past 12 referral cycles they have arrived at 31 days four times.
The shortest time frame is 21 days, the longest is 36.
The average over the last year is 29, median is 31. If we throw out the two highest and two lowest the average is 30 and median is 31. If we look at the last six months… 29 and 31. If we look at the past three months it is also 29 and 31.
The CCCWA is now on their CNY holiday. Matching takes such a small amount of time these days that time off no longer seems to make for a longer wait time. Once upon a time, a week off meant it was likely we’d wait a week longer for referrals.
The soonest we’d expect to see them this month would be Thursday, February 9, the latest would be Friday, February 24. The most likely date of arrival this month is either Friday, February 17 or Monday, February 20.
We’ve got a new LID Poll up. If you are still waiting for your NSN referral, please click here to let us know when you were logged in.
We’ve got a new LID Poll up. If you are still waiting for your NSN referral, please click here to let us know when you were logged in.
There are reports of a few phone calls yesterday, let’s hope we see more of them today. Congrats to those seeing their child’s face for the first time!
If you are expecting a referral in this batch, or if you are in another program and would like to share your news, please list blog name and blog URL in the comments to this post. If your site plays music automatically, please post a warning.
The following sites have music and are not work safe:
Congrats to all of the families included in this batch, and congrats to everyone else with good news to share!!!!
If I could have help with that last category, please. I’ve disabled all of my computers from automatically playing (most) music on websites. It seems to be impossible to disable all types of music. But, since I think I’ve finally got most of it disabled, it’s hard for me to know if a site plays music. I know that many people want to check the blogs from work, and I’d like to be able to keep it safe for them to do so.
