Absurdity, Allegory and China

Last night while I was talking with my mother in Philadelphia, a wonderful woman (she’s my mom, after all), she said, “I heard that there was another earthquake in China close to where the big one was in May.” I told her I’d not heard, though as we chatted I got on the web and [...]

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From Networks Fight Shorter Olympic Leash in the NYT:
One I.O.C. commissioner, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid further complicating the situation, said matter-of-factly that Chinese officials had “put a tourniquet” on the Olympics.
“Had the I.O.C., and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that there would [...]

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I have been quiet concerning the events on the Plateau over the last couple months for a variety of reasons, all having to do with my involvement with a local school in Qinghai for the past three years, all very legal and officially approved in a place that is, even by Qinghai standards, known to [...]

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I just read the latest posting by Jeremiah at the Jottings from the Granite Studio and two quotes came to mind as I read. One is from King Lear as Lear, unhappy with the words of the youngest and most beloved of his three daughters, Cordelia, says, “Nothing comes of nothing. Speak again!” That nothing [...]

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In a land where media services are controlled by or sub-branches of government ministries, it is not surprising to finally conclude – whether sooner or later – that news, or what passes for it, is not really news when it’s spun into the larger cloak of maintaining, at every cost, the power. News stories are [...]

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