Finn Helps Chinese Cross Street
(download)
The Young Man and the Sea
Poon Lim, a 25-year-old Chinese seaman from Hainan, was second steward on the British merchant ship, Ben Lomond, which was carrying a crew of 55. It was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 23 November 1942. Poon Lim leaped over the side. He had tied a life jacket around himself, so he surfaced and swam away from the freighter.
Tampere: Center of Chinese Propaganda
China's Ghost Cities
One remarkable piece of economic news barely rated a mention this week: China surpassed the United States as the world's leading manufacturer. It is hard to grasp the magnitude and speed of China's economic transformation. However, things may not be as rosy as they seem. It is estimated that ten new cities are being built every year -- a sign of future growth or just another bubble waiting to burst? Adrian Brown reports for SBS Dateline.
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/601007/n/China-s-Ghost-Cities
China's Jasmine Revolution
We have seen how the Chinese society has collapsed and how the younger generation is suffering. China's autocratic regime has become an organization that merely shares the booty, and is becoming more and more fascistic day by day. The political system is rotten and corruption has run amok. The independence of the courts is being reversed. Government officials and their children have monopolized all resources. Chinese society has become extremely polarized; there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor. Prices are rising, especially real estate prices, causing seething popular discontent. China's human rights situation is dismal, arbitrary detentions and kidnappings are widespread. News are heavily censored. The Constitution performs practically no function; people's property is recklessly plundered and demolished. We feel that the root of all these problems lies with China's autocratic regime. What makes us even more troubled is that the rulers are closing off communication channels. We only possess a virtual space where we can feel that we exist. Last week, we initiated China's "Jasmine Revolution," hoping to gain momentum from the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. We urge China to reform or change.
http://www.google.com/buzz/116452835947032961239/gr5jen69Gjz/We-are-the-initiators-of-the-jasmine
The Curse of Superpowers
WikiLeaks above all shows the difficulty the US has in understanding other cultures and societies. The cables show an entire corporate mindset at work on world populations who must surely be, in their psychological make up, just like Americans. How do you tell a world superpower that the world's other 4.5 billion do not think the American, Chinese, or [Russian] way? That societies and cultures are as complex, subtle, and various as the millions of people who compose them. How do you prevent superpowers who, in trying to understand the rest of the world, take it to be their own reflections in a mirror coming back at them?
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/11/160-world-understanding
Month-long traffic jam
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