Absurdity, Allegory and China

I considered entitling this entry The Embarrassment of Bitches using the term bitch in one of its other-than-canine, more offensive definitions, as “a man considered to be weak and contemptible,” and bitches as its affixed plural. My thoughts on the definition of this word were a lot less kind this morning while I circumambulated Tian’anmen [...]

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This entry began as a comment concerning the anti-CNN clique, though it is clear that I cannot add anything new to the debate, other than to say that the Chinese press is reporting that the “Chinese public is venting its spleen online over inaccurate reports about the Tibet riot.” That said, I cannot imagine that [...]

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I would never make the claim that I view everything being written about the current problems in the Tibetan cultural region of China, but I try my best to read as much as I can, given the constraints imposed by my current location. Information is, at best, second and third hand, since each (all) side(s) [...]

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The US Department of State, aka the State Department, has today (March 21, 2008) issued a Fact Sheet concerning the Olympics 2008. It is a document that anyone coming to China for the Olympics should read. One paragraph seems to have gotten the most attention as well it should: All visitors should be aware that [...]

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Todays’ person of interest is Zhang Qingli, secretary of the CPC (Central Party Committee) Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee. I have been pouring over Mr. Zhang’s resume which tracks his ascent from general worker in a fertilizer plant in Dongping, Shandong to Secretary of the CPC (Central Party Committee) Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee. For those unaware [...]

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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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What will happen tonight, in three hours, in Lhasa may very well hold the key not only to the Olympics, but also to China’s future. If the Chinese actually do strike harshly after the midnight hour passes, then there is a very good chance that there will be growing support for an international Olympic boycott. [...]

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I have posted several times in the recent past concerning the new CCTV Building project. It has become a sort of ramp for me, one that I am seemingly always huffing up. My feelings concerning this building are in constant flux. I have been taking many photographs of this project over the past three months, [...]

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It is not news that the CCTV Building, which has topped out along the East Third Ring Road, is one of the most expensive office building projects in the world. For whatever mixed feelings I might have about the complex, it is impossible to visually ignore it. (I cannot pass by without taking several hundred [...]

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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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