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There’s a piece in The Guardian today on the horrific incidents of lead poisoning in a Hunan village, the result of pollution from a factory operated by the Tenda Corporation. It’s a terrible tragedy. Even worse are the repeated attempts by local officials to intimidate into silence those who are suffering the most, including a busload of [...] Christmas in Montpelier, VT. We’re up here visiting my sister and I have to say…it’s been a nice break from the daily grind of Beijing living. YJ and I are constantly amazed over such commonalities as “pedestrian right of way” and “customer service.” Having a bit of a break from family to-do’s, we wandered around the downtown [...] I’ll admit it. I’ve been remiss about writing. Just know that my time has been well spent teaching history and writing dissertations. But when historians go on blogging vacation, it’s history that suffers. Really. In the US we have the wingnut brigade comparing President Obama’s health care reform plan to the Nazi Holocaust. Not to be outdone, PRC [...] For what it’s worth, David Bandurski and his team at China Media Project absolutely rock, and today’s commentary and translation of a bit of whiny blather from Qiu Shi on “people being mean to China” or some other such spray of sputum and self-pity is just the latest in a line of great posts. For what [...] Who cares what we believe, just as long as those with different opinions or alternative perspectives shut the hell up. Comparisons between the riots in Urumqi and 9/11 are not quite right (a closer parallel can be found in the race riots which swept US cities during the 1960s), but even if we are to swallow hook, [...] The (increasingly nervous) supreme leader of Iran speaking on the demonstrations this week in his country: The ayatollah reached beyond Iran to criticize “media belonging to Zionists, evil media” for seeking to portray Iran as divided and accused what he called arrogant Western powers, particularly Britain and the United States, of hostile comments, saying they failed to [...] Irrepressible Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, whose grip on reality would give Syd Barrett circa 1967 a run for his money,* called the situation in the Τibetαn regions of China “stable” on the same day that the government declared giant swathes of western China off-limits to foreign travelers. I must be in a classic rock mood today. ——- *I’m [...] It’s interesting how the insult of hurling a shoe at someone with whom you disagree is catching on. I’m not really in favor of people lobbing their loafers at speakers but it sure beats hand grenades. The only thing about the Wen Jiabao “shoe incident”: When it happened to George Bush it was shown a gazillion times on [...] |
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Copyright © 2010 Jottings from the Granite Studio - All Rights Reserved |
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A big thanks to author Michael Meyer
Michael Meyer, author of one of my favorite books about Beijing, was kind enough to spend some time on Sunday night talking with the students in my program. You could tell he’s given this talk a few times, and it was funny, polished, and informative. The students loved it. They’re all undergraduates from different colleges and [...]