I think this news has been out for a while now… but I figured I’d write it up anyway.
According to this article, the footage of footprint fireworks was faked — aka, digitally created on a computer… a feat that took almost a year to accomplish. In addition to that, the little girl singing Ode to the Motherland was switched at the last minute because she wasn’t pretty enough.
I have mixed feelings about the fireworks — on one hand, it’s neat that they were able to digitally create it and make it look realistic… but this is the olympics, not hollywood. At least when I go watch a movie, I KNOW that it’s probably fake.
The opening ceremony was as impressive as expected, but I think I’d be more impressed if I had watched it on a bigger screen and with better sound (my tv is smaller than 17″ and I watched at an angle from across the room).
The choreography is by far the most impressive aspect.. I was intrigued by the huge LCD screen/scroll, but since that’s just a display of money spent, it didn’t impress me that much. :p
The amount of practice the performers must have gone through to be totally in sync — now that I can appreciate. That and the artistic vision of the choreographer, of course.
Just saw this article which reported an increase in reports of hand, foot and mouth disease, as well as discovery and punishment of corruption related to it.
Apparently, some doctors and officials were giving injections of a bogus “vaccine” to make money, and knowledge of the disease was not spread or properly handled.
I think the biggest complaint from the sars outbreak was the under-reporting/cover-up of cases, so it’s encouraging that the CCP changed its guidelines for reporting cases to more accurately gauge conditions/progress of the disease.
I hope the increased transparency continues and that this isn’t just a political tactic for the olympics or whatever reason.
By the way, the WHO says this will peak in June and July so hopefully with increased vigilance it won’t turn out to be such a huge disaster as sars. The disease seems to target children, which I feel makes it a bigger tragedy.
After all, that’s what made the pharaoh finally give in to Moses, wasn’t it?
I had been meaning to cut down on the Tibet stuff but I read today that the PLA may have incited the riots using “agent provocateurs”. This conclusion was according to images from British satellites.
What caught my attention was this image (unfortunately, I don’t know where/when it’s from):
I guess you could say it’s photoshopped, but I can also say pictures of violence in Chinese media are too, and we won’t get anywhere on that line of argument.
However, this article reminded me of an emotional pro-China comment which accused the US of being the only country having the death penalty. I can’t find it anymore, but maybe s/he meant “developed” country?
It left an impression because I thought I was just ignorant, so assumed it was true.
In light of this article, I found it incredibly ironic that a Chinese person attacked the US for having capital punishment, even IF it was the only developed country with capital punishment. A bit “pot calling the kettle black”, aren’t we?
I just found out about the whole Jack Cafferty issue and I figured I’d highlight it just a bit.
This link is a decent source, with quotation of the whole thing he said, in addition to the video:
First we have to keep in mind that the question was about “our relationship with China” (which, for those who don’t understand English very well, means the diplomatic/political relationship between the two governments).
So the logical conclusion is that he’s talking about the Chinese government.
I fully agree with the author — it would be silly to say Tibet was perfect/wonderful before China invaded. The problem really is, are they better off?
Personally, I feel that intellectual restrictions and emotional stresses are far worse than physical imprisonment, especially because it’s not readily obvious.
Just because you can’t see the gun pointed at the back of a hostage doesn’t mean it’s not there, or that the hostage is going willingly.
Take someone in prison but allowed to say what he wants, read what he wants, and write to anyone he wants without censure.
Is he really less free than someone who is allowed to wander the streets but watched constantly and is in constant fear of being dragged to jail/torture on some small charge?
When looking at the situation from the last post (of Melbourne press not reporting an anti-media demonstration), some questions immediately come to mind.
First Question: “Did Western press receive a timely press release?” If they weren’t sent one or were given the notice too late, the blame is on the organizers, not the press.
Second Question: “If they had covered it, wouldn’t you criticize it as biased anyway?” Western media would surely have tried to defend themselves against an attack on their integrity.
Biased reporting is a serious allegation (at least in the US), so I imagine anyone covering it would address the claims somehow. It’s personal so it will most definitely be biased.
Third Question: “Would you rather have ‘biased’ defensive reporting of the event or no reporting?” If I were organizing this event, I’d say no reporting.
EDIT: My bad – that’s what I get for posting in the middle of the night and not reading well enough. So the blogger was referring to an anti-media demonstration. In which case, after a brief internet search, yes, the Melbourne paper did not cover it.
What I wrote before was because I was under the impression it was a torch rally. My comments still stand in that regard because I -have- heard complaints of media not showing pro-China supporters at the relay.
I’m planning to add another entry to address the actual Melbourne situation, so stay tuned!
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I read this blog post by someone who lives(? Au news sources linked were labeled as “where I live”) in Australia and expressed outrage at their media. The previous entry that was alluded to was quite logical and sensible.. which is why I don’t understand this entry.
S/he may be complaining about Au reporting, but I think the complaint is universal enough to also apply to Chinese Americans.
I couldn’t read all the text in that link, but I don’t understand the outrage. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of Chinese supporters, as well as pictures where Chinese and anti-Tibet supporters are intermixed. In fact, the first pictures I saw of the SF relay was a sea of red flags lined up.
I’ve been browsing various blogs and found this video:
There are YouTube versions as well, split into 5 sections. It’s a show called Dispatches where a British crew and a Tibetan refugee go undercover in Tibet to try to find out what life is like for the Tibetans there.
Notice I said Tibetans and not Chinese. I have no doubt the Chinese who relocated with government help/money/support have it good. If they didn’t, it would have been pretty stupid of the CCP to move them there and have double the trouble.
What I found interesting about the video is when this one guy said: if a Chinese came up to them and asked them questions, they would always be very positive. Why? Because you never know if you’re talking to a spy.
So counter-intuitively, a Chinese in Tibet would actually get the opposite impression, even if you mean well and really want to decide for yourself.
