1/7     Are you from a family of Mormons, Cuban exiles, Nigerian Americans,
        Indian Americans, Chinese Americans, American Jews, Iranian Americans
        or Lebanese Americans?
        http://www.csua.org/u/123d (shine.yahoo.com)
        \_ Somehow she misssed WASP Episcopalians.

1/2     "What would a U.S.-China war look like?"
        http://www.csua.org/u/122i (theweek.com)

6/13    NSA NSA NSA!!!
        http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-prism-keywords-for-domestic-spying-2013-6
        \_ I am shocked, *SHOCKED* that the NSA spies on foreign and US
           citizens and foreign governments. This Snowden guy must have
           been born yesterday to think he is revealing anything of import.
           \_ Most people seem to have been surprised by this.
              \_ Most people are idiots, but in general the attitude of
                 the general public seems to be indifference.
                 \_ http://tinyurl.com/nsa-obama-poll
                    "It is clear that revelations about NSA surveillance
                     programs have damaged Obama's standing with the public"

6/6     Wow, NSA rocks. Who would have thought they had access to major
        data exchangers? I have much more respect for government workers,
        crypto experts, mathematicans now than ever.
        \_ flea to Hong Kong --> best dim-sum in the world
           \_ "flee"
        \_ The dumb ones work for DMV, the smart ones for the NSA. If you
           had served in the military, you would have learned to have more
           respect for government employees.
           \_ Do DMV employees count at government employees?
              \_ Who else would they be working for?
                 \_ That's my point.  -- PP
                    \_ Are you implying that the DMV is full of anti-American
                       moles? That would be a really funny way to try and
                       destroy a country, fill it full of lifeless
                       beauracrats.
                       bureaucrats.
                       \_ I didn't imply that the DMV is full of moles.  The
                          poster who wrote "The dumb ones work for DMV" above
                          did. -- PP

6/4     June 4th, never forget.
        \_ I don't want to remember, but I'll always remember.
        \_ clarify please?
           \_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_Massacre

5/28    WTF??? Even the Defense Contractors can't do cybersecurity right?
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/o6kc3yu

3/28    "Horrifying Video From China Shows Just How Suddenly A Sinkhole Can
        Appear"  http://www.csua.org/u/znh (http://www.businessinsider.com

3/13    "China's Drone Swarms Rise to Challenge US Power"
        http://www.csua.org/u/zgz (news.yahoo.com)
        Before our drones dominate the sky, we are already losing dominance.

7/21    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cold_War_pilot_defections
        This week's food for thought, brought to you by People's
        Republic of Berkeley: Did you know that many US pilots defected to
        communist Cuba?  South Korea pilots defected to communist
        North Korea? Iran<->Iraq pilots defected to each other?
        W Germany pilots defected to E Germany? Taiwan/ROC pilots
        defected to communist PRC? South Vietnamese pilots defected to
        communist North Vietnam? You didn't know any of this,
        because Western media has a powerful weapon:
        WESTERN PROPAGANDA. Heil.
        \_ Any comparison on the number of legal and illegal immigrants to the
           west vs. to the east?
           west or capitalist side vs. to the east or communist side?  (Iran
           <-> Iraq might be more about sectarian stuff, I don't know.)
        \_ It's not that surprising.  Defecting pilots probably get treated
           very well in their new country.  If you defect from a capitalist
           country to a communist country and get paid a fortune to do so, that
           probably means that, ideologically, you're more a really good
           capitalist than you are a communist.  That list only has three
           American pilots on it (not exactly "many").
        \_ North Korea held an almost hypnotic appeal for many Koreans living
           in Japan after the Korean War; it was the last bastion of a
           Korean nationalism.
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreans_in_Japan#Loss_of_Japanese_nationality
           \_ why not South Korea?
              \_ South Korea was considered too controlled by outside
                 influences like the US.

4/12    USA! USA! USA! We ranked #11!
        http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-the-best-all-come-from-one-country-2012-4

3/2     I just came back from Asia and I'm completely convinced that
        it is where economic boom will really happen in the next decade.
        What's a good web site to learn Chinese?

12/22   "Chinese Hack Into US Chamber of Commerce, Authorities Say"
        http://www.csua.org/u/v26 (news.yahoo.com)
        "At one point, the penetration into the Chamber of Commerce was so
        complete that a Chamber thermostat was communicating with a computer
        in China."

12/20   A higher percentage of people in China than in Pakintan have an
        unfavorable view of China:
        http://www.pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=24&response=Unfavorable
        Go figure.
        \_ damn these self critical liberals!

12/2    "Students Uncover China Nuke Tunnels"
        http://www.csua.org/u/uv7 (news.yahoo.com)
        ~3000 miles of tunnel network.
        \_ WaPo article on same:
           http://csua.org/u/uwn

11/14   "Miles of mysterious striped network grids discovered in Chinese
        desert" http://www.csua.org/u/uqf (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ Interesting discussion about this:
           http://www.quora.com/What-are-these-structures-in-the-Gobi-Desert-in-China

11/3    Herman Cain worries that China is trying to develop nuclear
        capability.  http://www.csua.org/u/un0
        \_ All of a sudden Sarah Palin seems smart.
        \_ All of a sudden Sarah Palin seems smart in comparison.
           \_ Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann know to change the subject
              and start parroting right wing rhetoric when they can't answer
              a question (around 90% of the time). Herman Cain hasn't even
              learned how to do that.

10/7    Report from Boston Consulting Group:
        "Overseas Jobs Come Home - Up to 3 million jobs once outsourced to
        China forecast to return to the U.S."
        http://www.csua.org/u/uep
        Cool!

9/16    "Chinese condoms too small for South Africans: report"
        http://www.csua.org/u/ua8 (news.yahoo.com)
        "A South African court has blocked the government from buying 11
        million Chinese condoms, saying they are too small, a newspaper
        reported Friday."
        What an embarrassment.
        \_ too small, made from the wrong material, and not approved by the
           World Health Organisation. Embarrassing, indeed!
        \_ Related news: "Condoms 'too big' for Indian men"
           http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6161691.stm
        \_ Aren't these female condoms? Too small might not be such
           a bad thing then.
           \_ It's still an embarrassment for Chinese men that these aren't too
              small for them.

8/15    "Pakistan gave Chinese peek at U.S. .copter remains: reported U.S.
        intel assessment"
        http://www.csua.org/u/u0j (news.yahoo.com)

8/8     11 Real Madrid's vs. 109 Chinese kids:
        http://www.csua.org/u/tyq (sports.yahoo.com)
        \_ Holy smokes, that looks like most AYSO games I've seen.

8/3     http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/03/us-cyberattacks-qa-idUSTRE7720IS20110803
        Chinese suspected behind massive wave of cyber attacks.
        \_ CHING CHONG I had an epithany!!!

6/30    Wanna run a marathon completely on a bridge over water, one-way?
        http://www.csua.org/u/tqc (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ no.  Grow up.
        \_ This is awesome. Too bad America can't build public works anymore.
        \_ This is lame.  Talk more about home ownership/refinance trends.

6/30    Chinese officials hover over the surface of a road!
        http://www.csua.org/u/tqd (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ yeah like i'll believe that.  4 words bro "Beijing Olympic Opening
           Ceremonies."

5/19    Is it some cultural chinese thing to never take sick days?
        \_ Chinese New Year Day Off!
        \_ No.  When I was in primary school, my parents used to tell me to
           take a sick day when I overslept (i.e. when they overslept and
           wake me up in time.)
           didn't wake me up in time.)

4/15    "Special report: In cyberspy vs. cyberspy, China has the edge"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110414/ts_nm/us_china_usa_cyberespionage

2/1     10 Industries in Which the U.S. Is No Longer No.1"
        http://www.csua.org/u/sgw (finance.yahoo.com)
        China betas us in 7 out of 10 categories, including high-tech exports
        category.
        \_ So, only 3 more to go until we declare war?
        \_ Some of those positions are simply determined by
           by demographics and geography. Why should anyone be surprised
           that Chinese produce more beer and more cars? I bet they
           are also number 1 in toothpaste production and other consumer
q          are also number 1 in toothpaste production and other consumer
           goods. Likewise, oil and coal production are primarily based
           on geographic determinants. Don't buy into the republican hype
           about offshore and alskan oil drilling bans stopping us from
           supplying all of our oil needs ourselves. Department of Energy
           thinks that undeveloped domestic oil sources won't conver
           even 10% of our needs in the coming years.
        \_ "It's not my biz, why do i care?"
           \_ Because eventually they will come for you and there will
              be nobody left to stand with you.
              \_ Libertarians need no one!  We have guns!

1/28    "China's CCTV news report was 'Top Gun' scene"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/chinamediamilitaryfilmoffbeat
        'BEIJING (AFP) . China's state broadcaster is facing questions after
        Internet users spotted that footage in a report on air force
        manoeuvres in a national newscast was taken from the 1980s Hollywood
        film "Top Gun".'
        \_ Is McCain going to run again in 2012?
        \_ Another article with the actual CCTV footage and the Top Gun movie
           clip side-by-side: http://www.csua.org/u/sgo (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ You're dangerous.

1/5     "China's New Stealth Fighter Is Revealed"
        http://www.csua.org/u/s8v (online.wsj.com)

10/20   Hottest police chief in the world:
        http://www.csua.org/u/rv7 (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ "It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does?"
           \_ (12/1) There was already rumon in one Chinese media that she's
              already dead:
              http://news.163.com/10/1201/13/6MQPI5KT00014JB6.html

5/26    "China could join moves to sanction North Korea"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100526/ap_on_re_as/as_clinton_south_korea
        How did Hillary manage to do that when we're also asking China to
        concede on the economic front at the same time?
         \_ China doesn't want NK to implode. NK is a buffer between SK and
            China, or in other words a large buffer between a strong US ally and
            China. As a matter of national security, they don't want to see
            Korea's unification happen, because it would put them in a situation
            where US troops would be stationed at the border with China.
            Furthermore, the occupation of NK by SK would likely result in a
            large number of NK refugees in China, which, as an ally of NK, they
            would be obligated to host, but which would cause socioeconomic
            problems. It's in their interest for NK to remain as it is, a buffer
            state between SK and China, even if that means cooperating with the
            US for now; it serves their needs. The real danger is the
            possibility of NK's internal power structure destabilizing and
            causing unpredictable behavior. Until now, NK has managed to survive
            by predictably backing off its threats when the US pays it money to
            stop being a pain in the ass.  Obama has broken this cycle of paying
            off NK, which may be causing internal turmoil.
            \_ Actually, SK has usually been the one paying off NK, not the US.
               So, I would say Prez. Lee had more to do with this than Obama.
               Especially since Bush was really the one that broke the cycle
               by insisting on the 6-party talks.  Bush wussed out a bit near
               the end because he was desperate for a diplomatic victory. I'm
               glad Obama has turned the pressure back up, but credit where
               credit is due.
        \_ It is called diplomacy. I know it has been a long time since we
           had anything other than a bully and a moron as President, but
           other tactics work better.
           \_ facepalm.
              \_ http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Mission_Accomplished

4/25    "Aliens may exist but contact would hurt humans"
        http://www.csua.org/u/qmq (news.yahoo.com)
        Normally I'd just shrug it off when I hear comments like this, but
        this time the one who said it was Stephen Hawking.
         \_ Why? what aspect of Hawking's intelligence makes him any more
            compelling than the 1000s of others who have pointed out this
            analogy?
         \_ Only Arizona will be safe.
        "White man may exist to the east but may hurt our tribe, pocahontas."
        \_ A follow-up article: http://www.csua.org/u/qo0
           '"Anything that we have here, they could find where they live,"
           Shostak said. If there was a resource found on Earth that did not
           exist on the aliens' home planet, there would certainly be easier
           ways to get or make the resource than coming here.'
           I wonder if the Native Americans had similar reasoning before
           Columbus arrived.
           \_ It's not about the resource, but the cost of obtaining a
              resource.  There was silver and gold in europe but there was
              a way cheaper way to get it from the new world.  I think the
              same happens today with food, it's cheaper to import than
              grow your own.  Same with labor (cheaper to buy chinese than
              local).  Alien physiology is unknowable, but the steady law
              of supply/demand is a constant in the universe.
              \_ Unless they have replicators.
                 \_ I'll posit that once a civilization has those deus ex
                    machines to make anything from nothing, it won't bother
                    to explore much, or care much, about anything anymore.

4/8     Dear Chinese motd people. I'm looking for a children's book that
        goes over the timeline of Chinese emperors, both in [traditional]
        Chinese and English. How do I search for it? Amazon = English only.

4/8     In addition to below, can someone recommend a movie or soap
        opera that describes the life of Kangxi Emperor? Netflix = useless.
        Mandarin is fine as long as there's subtitle. Thanks.
        \_ Not exactly a soap opera, but Kangxi Di Guo is a very good TV series
           featuring Chen Dao-Ming as Kangxi.  Whether or not it's accurate to
           history is another matter, though.
           http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%B7%E7%86%99%E5%B8%9D%E5%9C%8B
           \_ Thank you. I guess it's not possible to rent this on Netflix, and
              I guess it's all simplified s*** that I can't read. ARGH!
              No wonder Chinese media is so rare in the west, it's so darn
              inaccessible.
              \_ Oops!  Here's the same page in Traditional Chinese:
                 http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E5%BA%B7%E7%86%99%E7%8E%8B%E6%9C%9D
                 I've watched so much mainland Chinese media that I stopped
                 noticing whether it's in Traditonal or Simplified Chinese.
                 -- PP, Hong Kong immigrant
                 \_ Does this have English subtitle? My wife doesn't read
                    Chinese and doesn't understand Mandarin.
                    \_ The version I watched doesn't have English subtitle.
                       -- PP
                 \_ is it hard to learn one if you know another? I only know
                    one type, but my type is disappearing in the face of
                    dominating mainlanders
                    \_ It's hard to learn how the characters are exactly
                       written in one type if you know the other type.
                       However, you don't need to learn the exact characters
                       if all you want is to read text in newspaper and
                       magazines, because you can guess some characters from
                       the context.  I guess from context to learn simlified
                       characters, which in turn allows me to guess more from
                       context.  My wife knows simplified characters and she
                       learned traditional characters the same way.  -- PP
                       \_ whoa you married a mainlander? How's that working
                          out? My parents would kill themselves had I
                          married a commulander as they call it. BTW do you
                          have problems learning the 4 tones? How about your
                          wife, does she have problems learning the 8-9
                          Cantonese tones? My wife can't hear any differences
                          in tones, period.
                          \_ My wife is from Guangzhou which is a Cantonese
                             city.  After watching Mandarin TV series on
                             Channel 26 for two decades, I have no problem
                             with the four tones.  My wife formally learned
                             Mandarin when she went to school in Mainland. --PP

3/1     "China eyeing perks of ice-free Arctic: study" - Yahoo! News:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp
        \_ working link:
            http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100301/sc_afp/chinaarcticbusinessenvironmentresearch_20100301114437
           \_ Oops, I meant to post the shortcut http://www.csua.org/u/q83
              -- OP

2/19    Gee.  I thought Woods was half black and half Thai.  But actually he's
        1/4 Chinese + 1/4 Thai + 1/4 African American + 1/8 Native American +
        1/8 Dutch.  http://tigerwoods-information.com/family
        \_ Hybrid superiority.
           \_ This is why colonial food is more awesome than ethnic food.
        \_ I didn't know that Jimmy Page of the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, etc
           and a bazillion AWESOME rock riffs is.... 1/4 chinese.
           \_ URLp?

2/4     Don't be evil.  Unless it's with China, or doubleclick, or the NSA...
        \_ Google on the China deal: "We're not being evil because
             we'll do a better job providing information to the
             Chinese than any other company."
           Google on getting out of the China deal: "We're not
             evil because we're cutting our losses in China
             to make our shareholders happy."
        \_ Don't deal with fucking communists. End of story.
        \_ The WWII gen would have never put up with this shit.
           \_ China (Republic of China) was our ally in WWII.
              \_ And I'm sure a base in taiwan would be a good place to
                 supply a fleet of cruise missile ships to turn the
                 mainland into porcelain.
                 \_ Japan would help.
                    \_ If they help we can give them back Manchukuo.

1/12    "Skewed China birth rate to leave 24 mln men single"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100111/hl_afp/chinapopulationmenmarriage
        We'd better enact a slew of anti-male-immigration laws now before the
        wave hits our coasts!  Here's our slogan: "SAVE OUR WOMEN ...... For
        Ourselves"
        \_Shit, I wouldn't want to get in a war with them.

11/2    Guangdong of China installs big breasts. Did the State pay for it?
        IMHO there should be a Separation of Breast and State:
        http://www.ananova.com/News/story/sm_3539376.html
        \_ Is this real?  Is http://ananova.com like The Onion?
           \_  Appears to be.  http://starcasm.net/archives/20941
           \_  Appears to be real.  http://starcasm.net/archives/20941
              \_ "The fact that this is happening on the other side of
                  the globe in a culture as distantly removed from our
                  own as possible only confirms my theory: Boobs are
                  awesome!"

11/2    "Father of China's space tech program dies at 98"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091031/ap_on_sc/as_china_obit_qian
        "Qian ...... began his career in the U.S. and was regarded as one of
        the brightest minds in the new field of aeronautics before returning
        to China in 1955, driven out of the United States at the height of
        anticommunist fervor."
        Which moron back then decided to send this guy away?  If we kept him
        we would have faced much less competition both in the space program
        and in the arms race.
        \_ You're an idiot
        \_ This is probably McCarthyism.

10/1    Signs that Communist China is really opening up!
        http://www.csua.org/u/p6f (news.search.yahoo.com)
        \_ WOW that is TOTALLY AWESOME. I'd love to see a porn
           of this genre. Asian. Lesbians. Military. That
           is just awesome.
           \_ This unit has unusually good drill and ceremony discipline.
              Check out what an American unit on parade looks like. Maybe
              they are primarily a ceremonial unit though and spend all their
              time on the parade field. I like the white boots. Hot.
              \_ You expect miniskirts and white boots from American units?
                 Our GI Janes aren't cheerleaders.
                 \_ http://efamilyportal.com/brian/Iraq/242C.jpg
                    http://www.oknapc.org/PICT0025-b.jpg
                    Check out how crooked the formation is in both of these
                    pictures.
                    The Old Guard looks good, but it is a ceremonial unit:
                    link:tinyurl.com/ydkq4hv
           \_ I envison a series with Asian women in the light blue uniforms
              and the white boots, and Asian guys in marine camouflage.  Scenes
              include the women lying at the edge of king-size beds with their
              miniskits rolled up and their legs in white boots placed on the
              shoulders of the guys with pants down; the guys thrusting into
              the women in wheelbarrow position to the beats of "March of the
              Volunteers", the last line of which literally being "Advance!
              Advance! Enter!"
        \_ This is better than the Miniskirt Police of Japan, and this is real.
        \_ http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/28/world/20090928-CHINA_7.html
           \_ Those two faces are creepy.

9/30    China October 1st national day parade:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091001/wl_nm/us_china_anniversary
        "The soldiers goose-stepping past Tiananmen Square at exactly 116
        steps a minute carried the message that this Party knows how to run a
        show -- and a huge, restive country."
        1. What's the significance of the speed 116/min ?
        2. It's not hard to do.  For each unit of soldires, desinate one in the
           front row of the unit as the leader.  Make him carry a small
           one-way radio in his pocket (no need for earpiece) which listens to
           a central broadcast.  At the broadcasting station, just put the
           microphone next to a cheap metronome that music students use, and
           set it to 116.  Since all spectators are banned anyway, no one that
           would leak the secret would be close enough to hear the ticks.
           \_ you're an idiot.
              \_ How so?  It's not like they didn't fake the fireworks on TV
                 (http://www.csua.org/u/m1v or pull a Milli-Vanilli
                 (http://www.csua.org/u/m3n during the Olympics or anything.
        \_ Maybe they should have done 118, 188, or 888 beats a minute.
           It's more auspicious for the Communist Party.

9/29    "Shanghai Black Girl Lou Jing Abused By Racist Netizens"
        http://www.asianoffbeat.com/default.asp?Display=2072
        "After Lou Jing's mother was married, she had sex with a black man.
        The black man returned back to the United States, left Lou Jing's
        mother pregnant with her. After Lou Jing was born, mother divorced the
        original husband, alone raising this special girl."
        Cheating with a black guy in China!  That mother doesn't look that
        promiscuous.  I guess you can never tell one's sexual appetite from
        one's face.
        Anyway, whether or not what the mother did was acceptable by Chinese
        standard, it shouldn't be Lou Jing's fault even by Chinese standard.
        \_ The husband and the OB must have been shocked at the moment the baby
           was delivered.
        \_ Lou Jing is beautiful and this just proves how backward China
           still is. It can only benefit the Chinese to increase their
           gene pool.
           \_ exactly. Jou Ling can only improve China's basketball team.
              \_ This thread is a good example of "why the MOTD really
                 shouldn't be anonymous anymore."  -tom

9/2     "Freed reporters say they were dragged into NKorea - Yahoo! News:"
        http://www.csua.org/u/oyx

5/28    "China volcano may have caused mass extinction"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090528/ap_on_sc/us_sci_volcano_extinction
        "WASHINGTON - A mass extinction some 260 million years ago may have
        been caused by volcanic eruptions in what is now China, new research
        suggests."
        It's all ChiCom's fault!
        \_ Please, that was during one of those dynasties.  Don't you know
           your history?
        \_ I am smart and read the New Yorker and it tells me that last
           mass extinction was caused by the Yucatan meteor

5/12    How many people have your light bulbs poisoned?
        http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6211261.ece
        \_ Why do you hate the environment?
        \_ There is no reason the factories can't be set up to handle
           mercury safely.  But then you don't get to be nearly as
           self-satisfiedly smug by going after the real villians, the
           factory owners and the corrupt chinese government that lets them
           continue to poison their workers.

5/6     happy anniversary for Chinese Exclusion Act.
        and yes, please continue lecture China on human right... with a
        straight face... because I can't.
        \_ Hey chicom troll, that was in the 1800s. The US had a lot of
           atrocious policies, but we've evolved. China is still stuck in
           the 1800s.

3/13    I present to you a bleeding-heart liberal's nightmare:
        China's Mobile Execution Bus
        http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-death-van_x.htm
        Can be yours for only $37-75K, depending on options.
        \_ Er, you're kidding, right? Non-bleeding-heart liberals would
           support a rolling death chamber?
           \_ Tough-on-crime conservatives would love it though.

3/6     Chinese UNIX^H^H^H^Heunuchs Museum:
        http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/06/biography-of-the-las.html
        \_ Oh come on. Nobody appreciated the UNIX/eunuchs pun? -op
           \_ Thanks. I was too young to understand what ^H meant until
              now. Great link. Let's castrate everyone to rid the world's
              problems, like over-population and war.
                \_ FYI: some of the historically most corrupt people have
                   been eunuchs.
                   \_ Like who? And what does that have to do with anything?
                     \_ I'm not your babysitter.  It has to do with "war."
                        \_ Then it's not FOI is it?  It's just you being a
                           wanker.
                           If you got rid of overpopulation you'd be rid
                           of war, mostly.
                                \_ learn to use google.  It's pretty easy.

3/6     Chinese UNIX Museum:
        http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/06/biography-of-the-las.html

2/13    Follow-up for "moral of the story" guy:
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7885078.stm
        Arrests follow China tower fire
        "Twelve people have been detained in connection with a fire that
         partly destroyed the unfinished headquarters of China's state
         broadcaster."
        Moral of the story: break the law, go to firing squad.
        \_ What makes you think these guys are going to the firing squad?
           \_ Hyperbole. Assumptions about PRC's legal system.

2/9     Moral of the story, never stay in a Chinese-built high rise?
        http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/world/asia/10beijing.html?hp
        \_ Moral of the story, high rises suck. I prefer my single family house
           \_ Because single family homes never burn down?
           \_ Moral of the story: building safety is yet another thing you
              shouldn't leave to deregulation.
              \_ moral of the story: not everyone shares young people's vision of
                 dense living urtopia. A SFH has less dependency on others, hence
                 is more fault resilient. Also as you get older, you realize that
                 there's much more than meeting new people and partying everyday
                 in your dense living utopia in San Francisco. Also, when you have
              \_ moral of the story: not everyone shares young people's vision
                 of dense living urtopia. A SFH has less dependency on others,
                 hence is more fault resilient. Also as you get older, you
                 realize that there's much more than meeting new people and
                 partying everyday in your dense living utopia in San
                 Francisco. Also, when you have
                 kids, you really don't want them to grow up with a bunch of
                 crackheads and weirdos. There's a reason why SFHs in Pasadena
                 and San Marino cost so much.   P.S. Jackie Johnson & JPL rock!
                 Francisco. Also, when you have kids, you really don't want
                 them to grow up with a bunch of crackheads and weirdos.
                 There's a reason why SFHs in Pasadena and San Marino cost so
                 much.   P.S. Jackie Johnson & JPL rock!
                 \_ moral of the story: 80 col is the standard. Also, I'm 39.
                    I very purposefully do not live in a SFH. I like a vibrant
                    neighborhood with shops and diversions in walking distance.
                    Not all urban living is the projects. Get over your fear.
                    \_ any kid?
                       \_ Working on it.
                  \_ Stop trolling.
                \_ http://www.spur.org
        \_ Some hot girl from school added me in Facebook.  Looks like she
           just had a kid.  A cute kid.  A cute kid with Down's Syndrome.
           Her husband is a manly alpha male Special Forces officer.
           No nerds for miles.  Kids are overrated.

2/5     Funny, the country that started WW 1 and 2, and killed millions
        are viewed as the most favoriable.
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7873050.stm
        \_ They haven't killed as many Vietcongs, Korean commies, and
           Super EVIL Terrorists as America for the past 50 years.
           \_ Vietcong is already plural. You wouldn't say Chineses. --tt
              \_ Sure he would.
        \_ Funny that was 4 generations ago.
        \_ I'm not sure you can accurately say that Germany "started" WWI.

2/3     Bad economy is good for military (puts on conspiracy hat)
        http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/us/19recruits.html?_r=2&hp

        It wasn't just the market. (Governments steered the market into
        the wall.)
     http://blogs.cfr.org/setser/2009/02/02/it-wasnt-just-the-market/#more-4618

        Wen Says Crisis Shows Dangers of Unregulated Markets
        http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=ahk0bbmaDQm4
        \_ I agree with Comrade Wen.                            -comrade
        \_ The fetishtic more efficent markets are always better crowd
           forgets that an efficent system that is highly unstable
           is worse than worthless.

1/30    http://www.antiwar.com/orig/ketcham.php?articleid=13506
        \_ How Israeli Backdoor Technology Penetrated the US Government's
           Telecom System and Compromised National Security
           \_ where's the discussion of the homeland?
           \_ I bet you love hammas.
              \_ I like hummus?
              \_ Are you anti-semitic or something?
        \_ most of our government's firewalls are from CHECKPOINT,
           the 'microsoft of Israel'.  I heard on NPR over a year ago that
           an Israeli company made the routers the NSA was using to sniff
           all traffic at the SF internet peering point.

1/26    The Google logo on http://www.google.com doesn't honor Lunar New Year.  Hmm.
        \_ Isn't that tomorrow?
           \_ It's today 1/26.
        \_ it's Chinese New Year.   The New Year is not a pure Lunar for almost
           400 years.  While is not very politically "sensitive," it is
           more accurate description, as the calendar was commissioned,
           maintained and issued by the Chinese Imperial Court and funded by
           Chinese tax dollars.  Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and others
           had no resources nor technology to maintain the calendar like that.
           Back then, Chinese influence was a lot more previlant.
                                                kngharv

1/12    What is the purpose of having best men and groomsmen besides
        standing around so the groom doesn't look like a loser? Why would
        you need 2 groomsmen, let alone 3, 4, 5? Do they actually DO
        anything besides costing you money and trouble to get them
        exact same type of tux+bow ties?                -wedding dumb
        \_ yes. Typically you're supposed to represent family members
           from either side as the groomsmen.  Normally the person being
           the godparent of the childe would be there.  Back in the day
           weddings weren't just about the couple, they were about the
           uniting (think: politics) of two houses.  Now they're just
           glorified ushers.  Just go to vegas. save your money for the
           5 or 10 year anniv.
           \_ Forget Vegas. Do a Taco Bell wedding.
        \_ The best man is supposed to keep track of the wedding ring.  And in
           Chinese wedding the best man is supposed to divert to himself any
           drinking challenges directed at the groom.
           \_ Does that ever actually work? Most weddings I've been to, groom
              is soused in no time.
        \_ In Hong Kong there used to be only best man and maid of honor,
           no groomsmen or bridesmaids.  And the best man and maid of honor
           had to be single.  Nowadays I don't know.

11/23   Sic Transit Gloria Bud
     http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/daily-bread/2008/11/20/king-beers-toppled

11/22   http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/22/news/economy/Bush_APEC
        Bush pushes for free trade, allowing unskilled and uneducated work
        to move to overseas so that unskilled and uneducated Americans
        can get better education in community college where they can be
        productive again in corporations like Walmart and McDonalds.

11/20   "Panel: China has accelerated computer espionage"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/ap_on_go_ot/us_china

10/27   I'd like to go to China one day but I heard that people are assholes
        there. For example, everything has a 3-tier pricing. If you're
        a Caucasian, you get a special bi-ren price. If you're an outsider
        like Taiwanese, Singaporean, Mayasian, etc, you get a special
        hua-chiaw price. If you're a mainlander, you get the original
        price. There are exceptions of course (e.g. Caucasian who speaks
        fluent Mandarin gets the hua-chiaw price). Does anyone have
        actual experience with this?
        \_ None of the three prices above are the actual price anyway.  I
           heard that if you're a tourist, bargin it down to 10% of the (i.e.
           your) "original" price and it'll be about right.  On the other hand,
           Chinese can also call people here assholes, because when you go to
           restaurants, the waiters expect something called a tip on top of the
           listed price plus tax.
           \_ Um, tips is customary in civilized countries. Having to
              haggle is the most uncivilized thing I have to do. It's
              no better than going to used car dealership and to spend
              1-2 hours haggling about the price only to get something
              that is subpar in nature.
              \_ No tip in Japan which is a highly civilized country.
              \_ No tip in Japan, a highly civilized country.
              \_ Tips are customary where tips are customary.  Waiters in the
                 U.S. expect a tip because the custom is to pay them below
                 minimum wage and expect them to make it up in tips.  In
                 countries where they pay the waitstaff, tips are not
                 customary.  In some places where tips are not customary,
                 they are welcomed; in others, leaving a tip can be considered
                 insulting.  You don't have to like or understand the rules,
                 you just have to know them.  -tom
              \_ They don't tip in France. -Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey
              \_ I think not having to tip is definitely more civilized.
                 Dealing with tips is vulgar.  Dealing with raw cash at all
                 is vulgar.  Tips are a needless burden of obligation with
                 no real benefit to the customer.  At least, there shouldn't
                 be a benefit if the society is civilized and people do
                 the jobs for which they agree to be paid.
                 \_ Thank you. We need to tip people because we underpay
                    waitor/waitresses. You can thank your FREE MARKET
                    pay employees as low as you can mentality for this.
                    \_ Stop squishing my changes kchang.
                    \_ Stop squishing my changes ausman.
           \_ I once haggled over 7 cents in Thailand not because it mattered
              but because it was expected. It can take a while to get used to
              haggling over everything, and I was immensely relieved to get
              back to a non-haggling society, even though the prices were much
              higher.
              \_ Americans don't seem to have good haggling genes. That's
                 why foreigners love it when Americans shop at their
                 street booth. Love Americans. FIE DOLLAH!
                 \_ It's more like Americans aren't used to it.  If you lived
                    there long enough, you'd get used to it, and then it
                    would be second nature. For a vacation, however, it's
                    simply not worth the agita. Unless, of course, you don't
                    want to be rude, in which case, haggling is a necessary
                    evil. Cf. "bu yao" as reflex in China.
        \_ It is like this everywhere in the 3rd world. I definitely got
           this experience in Cairo, too and my friend who lived there
           and spoke fluent Arabic confirmed it.
               \- for a somewhat intereting historical episode, if you can
                  read russian, see here:
                  http://www.yale.edu/annals/Steinberg/Images/Steinberg05.JPG
                  also discussed in John Reed's "Ten Days that Shook the
                  World".

10/23   why does OBama want my pie?
        \_ Because you're too wealthy and should share with those who
           are less fortunate. Fucking asshole
           \_ The solution is simply to control population growth.  All
              issues of class warfare and whatnot are related to
              overpopulation and competition for resources.  If you stop
              having kids you don't need handouts.  If the population
              gets low enough we can all have enough land and be basically
              self-sufficient.  Look at the success of China since their
              population control policy.  But we can implement it as a free
              market: require people to "purchase" their child in advance;
              it will be kind of like buying a house where you have to show
              enough income and a significant downpayment towards raising
              that child.  Otherwise you can't have it.
              \_ I like this idea. Singapore has something similar where
                 they have incentives for people with PhDs or higher education
                 to have more kids without more financial burdens. The problem
                 is really when immigrants flock here and have kids, how
                 the hell are you going to enforce the no-kid policy?
                 \_ Crack down on immigration.  But yeah actually enforcing
                    it seems difficult... China does it somehow but it is a
                    totalitarian police state.
              \_ Errr..  I think it's pretty hard to prove that China's rise
                 has anything to do with the 1 child policy.  Espcially since
                 China is about to get it's butt kicked by the demographic
                 drop.
                 \_ Hard to prove perhaps, but very strong corrolation. You
                    don't think increasing the ratio of productive:unproductive
                    members of society can lead to increased growth rates? You
                    are probably the only one, then. China was seriously in
                    danger of massive overpopulation before they instituted
                    the one child policy, but yeah, there is going to be
                    a demographic bump up the road because of it. Not for
                    a while though, at least 20 years.
        \_ When did progressive taxation become contreversial?
           \_ When 1st person narrator entered the $250k+ tax bracket.

9/8     "So far only 1 China quake orphan adopted"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080908/ap_on_re_as/china_quake_orphan

8/20    So is the correct pronunciation PeKING, Beijing, Pecking, etc?
        I've seen it spelled as Peking, Beijing, and pronunciated like
        PAY-jing, pay-JING, pay? Jing, etc. How do I say it?
        \_ bay-jing is accurate. Mandarin is tonal and the tones are
           hard to describe with English analogies, so you really just
           have to listen to how a native speaker says it. If you learn
           the four major tones, that will also make things clearer.
           \- it seems like more TV people are learning to say Bei-Jing
              instead of Bei-Zhing. Note also similar Nan-jing (southern
              capital).
           \_ I think they should not bother. They don't bother to
              pronounce German or Russian names properly. Just use the
              anglo names, fuck 'em.
        \_ No matter how you say it, if you're a Westerner unaware of
           tones, you'll say it wrong, no matter how many times you say
           it. It drives me NUTS to hear dumbasses on NBC saying
           "Now this is Lin-Lin. Did I say it right? Is it LIN lin? lin
            LIN! LIN LIN! lin lin?"
           Fucking dumb ass fucktard Westerners.
           \_ Ling Ling FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
           \_ Maybe if Chinese had an alphabet like a civilized language.
              This is a nation that doesn't even use forks. The Chinese
              contributed a lot to the world. Language and writing are not
              among the contributions.
        \_ Peking was the old correct spelling which was pronounced Pe-King.
           The current correct spelling Beijing was last adopted in 1949 by
           the Chicom.  (Insert Chicom troll here.)
              \_ Text written in Chinese usually takes fewer bytes to store
                 (uncompressed Unicode) than the same text written in English.
              \_ Text written in Chinese (Unicode) usually takes fewer bytes to
                 store than the same text written in English (ASCII).
                 \_ That's it, the motd must be in Chinese from now on!
                    \_ about 5 months.  I highly respect anyone who can
                       read and write Chinese at above retard level and
                       is not a native speaker.
                 \_ Doesn't unicode use two bytes for each character, versus
                    one byte for each in ASCII? So what you are saying is
                    that written Chinese uses less than 50% as many
                    characters. Is that right?
                    \_ Yes, that's what I'm saying.  -- PP
                 \_ How long does it take to write it?
              \_ And fork usage is more civilized because ......
              \_ I dunno, Hanzi has the big advantage that it's readable no
                 matter which dialect of Chinese you speak.  Imagine if we
                 had a writing system that was readable by anyone who
                 speaks any european based language.
                 \_ I think having an alphabet of less than 90000000 characters
                    is a big win.  Yes I know commonly people use a much
                    smaller alphabet, in the low thousands, but jesus christ
                    that's just too much.
                 \_ You mean like the Latin alphabet we use?
                    \_ Wow, you don't speak french, german, or spanish, yet you
                       can read and understand anything written in those
                       languages just because it uses the same alphabet?
                       That's a neat trick.
                       \_ Yes, you can read it. You might not understand it.
                          What's the big deal about being able to read
                          Chinese no matter which dialect of Chinese you
                          speak? That's true of all languages. Southerners
                          can read English as well as Yankees. What's
                          limiting about Chinese is that people in other
                          nations have no idea what something says or how
                          to pronounce it. Not so with French vs. German
                          vs. Spanish vs. Tagalog vs. Hungarian. These are
                          not just simple "dialects".
                          \_ Apparently you can't read _and_ understand
                             English either.  I sure wouldn't trust you on
                             Tagalog.  Understanding is the point here, not
                             being able to guess at phonetics.
                          not just simple "dialects". PS Jackie Johnson
                          is totally hot and Asian women are all flat!
                          \_ Please take a language anthro class and come
                             back when your brain power is higher.
                             \_ Is that class going to teach me why
                                logograms are better than an alphabet,
                                chicom troll?
                                "If we consider Sinitic languages as a group of
                                the great Sino-Tibetan family, we may further
                                divide them into at least the following
                                mutually unintelligible tongues: Mandarin, Wu,
                                Cantonese, Hunan, Hakka, Gan, Southern Min, and
                                Northern Min. These are roughtly parallel to
                                English, Dutch, Swedish, and so on among the
                                Germanic group of the Indo-European language
                                family." - Mair, Victor H. (1991). "What Is a
                                Chinese "Dialect/Topolect"? Reflections on
                                Some Key Sino-English Linguistic Terms. --
                                Well, guess what? English, Dutch, and German
                                all share an alphabet, too. Nothing unique
                                about Chinese there. Further, so do farther
                                removed languages like the Romance languages,
                                Baltic languages, and Finno-Ugric languages.
                                \_ The point here, bone-head, is that the
                                   differing chinese dialects can read _and_
                                   UNDERSTAND each other's writing.  The
                                   average English speaker can (sort of) read,
                                   but cannot understand German, Dutch,
                                   Swedish, etc.  This is why Chinese TV shows
                                   are all subtitled in Chinese.  And no, I'm
                                   not Chicom.  Nice try.
        \_ Peking was a previous official spelling which was pronounced
           Pi-King.  (Cf. Peking Duck.)  The current official spelling Beijing
           was last adopted in 1949 by the Communist Party of China.
        \_ الله أَكْ!

8/15    "The Chinese pulled a Milli-Vanilli during the Opening Ceremony"
        http://www.csua.org/u/m3n (sports.yahoo.com)

8/14    Cheating China caught changing the web articles exposing the cheating
        http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/08/busted-china-caught-cheating-female.html
        \_ What is it with communist countries giving way too much importance
           to the Olympics?
           \_ It's the trappings of democracy. They love the appearance of
              legitimacy without all of the mess of actually going legit.
           \_ Totalitarian governments need propaganda to legitimize themselves
              and rally popular support. It's like how they build fancy
              buildings to demonstrate how great the government is doing.
           \_ I'm pretty sure capitalist countries give way more importance to
              sports than communist countries.
              \_ capitalist countries don't drug their female athletes
                 with steroid and other dosages like they did in
                 East Germany (when they incidentally won a bunch of
                 metals in the 70s and 80s) and tried to hide the
                 records in secret government files.
                 \_ yeah, right, they just drug them with steroids and other
                    dosages and try to hide the records in secret corporate
                    files.  -tom
                    \_ So what's worse, government sponsored steroid or
                       corporate sponsored steroid?
                       \_ I choose: none of the above.
                    \_ Uh no, they don't.
                       \_ what planet are you living on?  -tom
                          \_ So western governments drug people and hide
                             the records in corporate files?  Prove it?
                             People may take drugs, but that's different.
                             \_ Are you Lack Of Reading Comprehension Guy?
                                Here's a hint: google BALCO.  -tom
                                \_ The Invisible Hand doesn't like your tone
                                   of voice.
                                \_ You dumbass, that wasn't a "country" doing
                                   that. Our country investigated that shit,
                                   not instigated it.  Tom, I revoke your
                                   privilages.
                                   \_ One smack for misspelling "privileges."
                                      Another smack for making me look up
                                      the correct spelling. For fuck's sake,
                                      look it up next time.
                                     \_ some joker added that sentence to
                                        my post
             \_ Sorry, to be more specific, I meant 'governments.'  Also,
                'Olympics' != 'sports'.
        \_ Between the fake fireworks on TV (http://www.csua.org/u/m1v and
           the Milli-Vanilli on stage (http://www.csua.org/u/m3n this is not
           that bad.

8/11    Why the heck did China want to have the Olimpics in Beijing anyway?
        Surely China has SOME nice areas...

8/9     In-law of U.S. Olympic volleyball coach killed in Beijing
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oly_china_american_killed

8/8     China Olympics opening ceremony is currently sucking like GWB.
        \_ The ceremony looked great to me, but while I was watching I kept on
           thinking about the % of annual GDP that it was burning.
           thinking about the % of annual GDP that it had burned.
           \_ It cost very little. Most of it was manpower. Cheap Chink
              power, in the millions.
              \_ I read it cost $300M.

8/8     The Tiananmen Massacre Map
        http://pajamasmedia.com/claudiarosett/the-tiananmen-massacre-map
         In that 1989 article, in the closing paragraph, I tried to set down
        something that still applies today; not least as visitors to Beijing
        survey the massive security efforts, not all of which are intended
        strictly to protect the Olympics:
         "No doubt when the Chinese government has finished dealing with its
        people, the tidy square will be presented again as a suitable site for
        tourists, visiting dignitaries and the Chinese public to come honor the
        heroes of China's glorious revolution. It will be important then to
        remember the heroes of 1989, the people who cried out so many times
        these past six weeks, .Tell the world what we want. Tell the truth
        about China.' "

7/26    An interesting blog post about oil prices and elasticity:
        http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/07/oil_prices_and.html

7/23    "Are You Satisfied? The World's Most Optimistic Countries"
        http://www.citizensugar.com/1805531
        The US is on par with France -- in a bad way.
        \_ We used to rank higher, before Bush got hold of the economy.

7/14    Source of the torture techniques used at Gitmo revealed to be...
        Chinese Torture Tactics from the Korean War:
        http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/us/02detain.html

7/9     Why do foreign companies like Toyota start new manuafcturing plants
        here in the US?  Should they be going to China or Thailand or India
        where blue-collar labor costs are much lower and regulations are
        looser?
        \_ It is a way to get around protectionist US import quotas.
        \- YMWTFG(Voluntary Export Restraints)
        \_ It's good public relations. More recently, some manufacturing
           work is moving back to the US due to the higher costs of
           shipping product from overseas.
        \_ It's cheaper to build it here when you're selling it here.
         \_ Which is key.  The parts are built out of country.  Parts are
            easier to ship and easier to do JIT delivery over long time
            frames.  Labor savings are not as important as being local when
            it comes to the finished car.  (Also us workers, while costly
            are also pretty damn educated and OSHA laws actually have huge
            benefits when it comes to not losing educated workers or time.)
            \_ I didn't know these.  Thanks.  -- OP

6/24    Jesus in China: Christianity's rapid rise
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/4ef5k2 [chicago tribune]
        \_ Jesus H. Chicom!
           \_ Jesus just left Chicom, headed down to New Orleans...

6/24    Jesus in China: Christianity's rapid rise
        http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-jesus-1-1-webjun22,0,833717.story
        \_ Holy Jesus H. Chicom!
        \_ Jesus H. Chicom!
           \_ Jesus just left Chicom, headed down to New Orleans...

6/24    Correlation between temperature, skin color, and IQ:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/yvaru4 [majority rights]
        \_ What, you couldn't find a stormfront link?

6/24    Correlation between temperature, skin color, and IQ:
        http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/intelligence_and_skin_color

6/22    china + africa
        http://www.fastcompany.com/node/849662/print

6/22    china + africa
        http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/special-report-china-in-africa.html

6/19    "In South Africa, Chinese is the New Black"
        http://www.csua.org/u/lrv (blogs.wsj.com)
        \_ Is anyone else here an "honorary white?"

6/4     "China cordons off schools collapsed by quake"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080604/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake
        The Chinese govt's short-lived openess is over.

5/28    How come China doesn't ask the US to provide some CH-47 Chinooks to do
        the heavy lifting of personels, aids and machinery up to those disaster
        areas where roads are blocked?  It'd be much better than PLA troops
        carrying tools and supplies to the areas by hiking tens of kilometers.
        \_ Haven't the Chinese stolen plans for the Chinooks by now
           and built their own?
        \_ 1 million Chinese soldiers carrying supplies over the
           mountains >> a few US Chinooks.  remember the Korean war?
           \_ It's hard for 1 million Chinese soldiers to move earth-moving
              machinary that can weight a dozen tons each through mountains.
              (Unless they disassemble and re-assemble it, in which case it's
              inefficient.)
           \_ China actually has helicopters of their own now.

5/12    Another big disaster in Asia in a week:
        "Death toll in China earthquake up to nearly 9,000"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080512/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake
        \_ my work place is full of mainlanders trying to get funding
           to help their fellow mainlanders. however, they're also the
           people who are insulted at FREE TIBET and LEAVE TAIWAN ALONE
           slogans and we've had heated arguments on this. why should i
           help people who just want to fuck your homeland?
           \_ It's nobody's business but China's, but hand over your donations.
              \_ Very few American knows that China donated 5 million US$
                 for the Katrina disaster (that's from the government alone)
                 because it was rarely, if at all, reported in the media.
                 But I guess most Americans consider New Orleans an hostile
                 alien regime that should be wiped out  anyway.
        \_ I'm pretty much as anti-PRC as a person can get, but getting
           the Premier out to the disaster sites and having him shouting
           to survivors to hang in there is poignant. Go, PLA, go!
           \_ It's funny how accidental deaths are only a concern to
              governments when they happen in a large enough spurt
              that there is intense media coverage.

5/2     Does anyone know how to use the "Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R.)" input
        method in XP?  When I select it, all I get are English characters.  I
        can't figure out how to bring up Chinese characters.  OTOH the
        "Chinese (Taiwan)" works fine on the same machine.  Thanks.

5/1     Humvee copycat in China: The Dong Feng EQ2050
        http://www.csua.org/u/le9 (http://www.chinacartimes.com
        Speaking of IP infringement ......
        \_ If you are stupid enough to copy the hummer...
           \_ As long as there is someone stupid enough to buy it ...

4/23    This report strikes me as dubious at best, and I'm no fan of PRC:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/4x5lke (The Independent):
        "Chinese troops are on the streets of Zimbabwean city, witnesses say"
        I can't find any more info on this from any other news source. Help?
        \_ Pics or it didn't happen!   Actually, even from this report it
           doesn't really seem like Chinese troops are controlling anything.
           10 guys?  They're probably protecting someone or something.
        \_ The Chinese are walking around various countries in Africa due to
           their new found interest in African mineral resources.  No one
           serious has claimed they're there in large numbers or controlling
           anything through military force or threat of said force.

4/17    Does anyone think Jiang Yu (the China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman) is
        hot?
        \_ Yes:
           http://shanghaiist.com/2006/06/15/we_love_foreign.php

4/11    Zombie Time piece on the SF Olympic protests
        http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/zombie-chronicles-the-olympic-torch-relay-in-san-francisco
        This is seriously a great piece.  Even if you usually hate Zombie
        check this one out.
        \_ That was actually reasonable, even though I usually don't like ZT.
        \_ Kind of funny - but isn't a guy who spends so much time photographing
           and obsessing over something he hates and loathes (protesters) kind
           of sad?
        \_ zombie time is not 'one guy'.  it's definitely several people.
           my theory is its former berkeley campus republicans.
           \_ Isn't someone who posts without RTFA kind of sad?
              \_ I did RTFA.  The guy is a mouthbreather and so are his
                 commenters.
                 \_ Umm... then you didn't comprehend?  For one thing, this
                    post isn't really funny.  You appear to have missed the
                    entire point of the article.  Who's the mouthbreather?
                    \_ What do you mean? "Stamp out Lou Gehrig's Disease?"
                       "Another Alcoholic for a Free Tibet?"  Shit is funny.
                       The mouthbreathers are Zombie Time and his freeper
                       readers.
                       \_ Wow, it's like you're pround of shooting yourself
                          down.
                          \_ Wow, it's like you didn't read the article that
                             you posted.
                             \_ Now shoot the other foot!
                                \_ So you don't think the article is in any
                                   way funny?  You think this shit is deadly
                                   serious?  Really?  You never laughed once?
                                   \_ zombietime cracked me up with his
                                      "wild eyed communist" remark, but usually
                                      he is too dogmatic to be really funny.-!pp
                                   \_ zombietime is usually too dogmatic
                                      to be funny, but this is really good
                                      stuff. -!pp
                                      \_ Yeah, it's comedy gold.  I don't know
                                         what "shoot yourself" guy's problem
                                         is.
                                        \_ Uh, did you laugh at *all* of it?
                                           Some of it was funny, some of it was
                                           dead serious.  If you can't see
                                           anything serious about it then
                                           sth is probably wrong with you.
                                           Also, the guy who said
                                           the author "hates and loathes
                                           (protestors)" is flat out wrong
                                           and either did not read the
                                           text or is mentally deficient.
                                           \_ From the text a little more than
                                              halfway down the page:
                                              "Because of this I ended up on
                                              the same side as people whom I
                                              normally loathe."
                                              \_ That referred to anti-
                                                 Israel protesters, not the
                                                 protestors in general.
                                                 \_ Ahhh, excessive parsing!
                                                    I'm amused that you
                                                    accused ME of lacking
                                                    reading comprehension,
                                                    and then willfilly
                                                    ignore a very clear
                                                    sentence in the article.
                                                    When the sentence is
                                                    pointed out to you,
                                                    you try to dodge by
                                                    incorrectly parsing
                                                    the meaning of the
                                                    sentence.  The "guy"
                                                    was used as an example.
                                                    Face it, "Zombie Time"
                                                    is a mouthbreather on
                                                    a site full of
                                                    mouthbreathers.  I'm no
                                                    fan of professional
                                                    protesters either, but
                                                    I'm certainly not going
                                                    to write Homeric photo
                                                    essays about them.
                                                   \_ Are you serious? Go
                                                      look at that paragraph
                                                      again. "for the most
                                                      part sympathized with
                                                      the causes of the
                                                      protesters". Christ.
                                                    Axe-grinders rarely have
                                                    anything really interesting
                                                    to say.

3/31    Dear Chinese people who are into feng-shui and szhuan4-ming4.
        There are a few main ways to szhuan4-ming4. If memory serves
        right, one of them is called zji3-wai1 and the other one is
        called zji3-ping2. Is that right? Where can I get more informatino
        on this? Thanks for any pointer.
        \_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune-telling#Asian_fortune_telling
           It lists four major methods and some other methods.
        \_ http://chinese-astrology.blogspot.com/2005/08/zi-wei-dou-shu-what-is-it.html
           The first one is called Zi3 Wei1 but I don't know other methods.

3/28    I like this quote the best

        "If the Chinese are wrong to hold on to their province of
        Tibet, then Lincoln was wrong to insist that the South stay in
        the Union. and we ought to immediately either grant the
        American Southwest (and California) independence, or else give
        it all back to the Mexicans.

        The same goes for Taiwan. China's rulers are no more likely to
        give up their claim to that island than Lincoln was inclined
        to let the Confederacy hold on in, say, Key West, Fla.

        http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j032608b.html
        \_ We can't change history.  But for the present, if most people
           in the American Southwest and CA want independence, sure, let those
           people (and *only* those people) vote for it.  (Cf. Quebec.)  It's
           nonsense to say Tibet needs to stay because "it's the will of 1.2
           billion Chinese people" most of which are not Tibetans.  Personally,
           I don't know about Tibet, but I do want Taiwan to unify with
           Mainland China.  However, since I have no ties with Taiwan, I should
           have no say in this matter.  -- Chinese
           \_ Oddly enough, quite a few young Taiwanese-Americans seem to
              favor "reunification." It's the terms of such that tend to be
              the sticking point.
              \_ How many is "quite a few"?  You can find "quite a few" young
                 Americans who awant to bring back slavery if you look hard
                 enough.  There are always "quite a few" stupid people in any
                 "sufficiently large" group.
                 \_ An unscientific number used to represent anecdote rather
                    than research; I spoke to my coworkers and some of their
                    friends, many of them Taiwanese-American, and I reached
                    the conclusion above. If you want real numbers, pay me
                    money, and I'll conduct an actual survey (with MoE and
                    all worked out).
                    \_ Why not just say, "Some of my Taiwanese friends ..."?
                       \_ 'How many is "some"?  You can find "some" young
                          Americans who awant [sic] to bring back slavery if
                          you look hard enough ... blah blah blah.'  -- !PP
        \_ This guy's arguments are fairly weak.  For example, if Puerto Rico
           demanded independence, the US would probably let them go.  The
           Puerto Ricans don't seem to be all the interested in either
           independence or statehood.
           Furthermore, Taiwan has been independent for 50 years now. It
           doesn't really compare well with the US civil war. Especially since
           Taiwan doesn't have the same vital economic importance that the
           South had (has) for the Union.  The Mississippi is a big deal.
           \_ Also, China invaded and annexed Tibet in the 50s. There is no
              comparison here to be made with the South.
        \_ Unlike the south, tibet did not join the union freely.
        \_ Another weird one: The US govt. is MORE hostile to China than in
           the past?  Wha?  Korean War? Vietnam war? Nixon? 'Yellow Menace?'
           There's a lot of lame populism around right now, but I don't think
           it approaches past tensions with China.
           \_ Also, we fall over backwards making accomodations based on their
              economic power/potential. First sign that things are back to
              any sense of normalcy, let alone anti-PRC sentiment, will be
              revocation of Most Favored Nation.
              \_ After they shoot a few olympic athletes, maybe.

3/28    So, has there been any report on how CNN and a lot of western
        media manipulated the image they posted on the Web about the
        Tibet riot? On the 17th CNN posted an image showing a Chinese
        army truck driving forward while 2 "innocent people" watched
        on the side. The right half of the image was cut. It had lots
        of looters throwing rocks at the truck. WTF? There were
        countless other examples. My dad mentioned this to me, he saw
        it on one of the local Chinese newspapers. I was suspicious at
        first, but then saw it on my local Chinese news last night.
        CNN's official response: we have to cut the image to fit the
        available space on the web page. If killing, looting, burning,
        and rioting can be justified, then nothing is illegal. Our
        balanced media would have you believe that invading a country
        looking for WMD which didn't exist, killing tens of thousands
        of innocent people in the process while pocketing billions,
        torturing, is all good, while enforcing law and getting rid of
        rioters is bad just because it's a communist government and
        it's just fashionable to bash against them, no matter what
        they do. In fact, if you don't bash against them, you will be
        in trouble.

        This is clearly an organized and orchestrated event. I asked
        myself why aren't the demonstrations peaceful. 2 explanations,
        either the Chinese police/army did something which enraged the
        protesters, nothing I've seen seems to suggest that, or the
        protesters rioted for a reason. They rioted because they know
        that peaceful demonstration will not trigger much response
        from the Chinese government, and hence cannot show how evil
        they are. They must riot, and ANY response from the Chinese
        government will be viewed negatively, because of the Olympics
        and the world's eyes are on China. Tell me that the oppressed
        and backward monk in Tibet know about this without any outside
        help? Was there any report that some rioters confessed that
        they were paid to riot? I wonder where the money came from.

        Let's face it, bashing China is the safe thing to do. Because
        it is a communist government, anything and everything they do
        is evil. Because we are a democratic government, then
        everything we do is right.
                                - pissed off sodan
        \_ http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080317-cnn-accused-propaganda-tibet-riots
        \_ Yawn.

2/20    Shot at satellite unlikely Wednesday: official - Yahoo! News:
        http://www.csua.org/u/ktq
        "The U.S. military does not anticipate trying to shoot apart a defunct
        spy satellite on Wednesday due to rough seas ..."
        Aha!  Didn't know that all the Iranians and the NKs have to do to nuke
        us is to wait for bad weather.
        \_ So our Infallible Missile Defense system will always work
           provided that:
           1) The skies are clear.
           2) We know the exact trajectory of the target.
           3) The target is the size of a school bus.
           I for one feel safer!
        \_ Since this is not an emergency then why not wait until odds improve?
           For instance, we know we *can* launch rockets during bad
           weather but why when you can just try again when the weather
           improves in most cases?
           \_ Ummmm....
           \_ Because the govt has been saying the first shot might miss the
              target and they might need a second shot.  Now if they don't take
              the first early enough, there might not be another window for a
              second shot.
        \_ missiles cost money.. so why not put the odds in our favor
           instead of messing around with clouds? also, the difference
           here is that it contains poisons instead of an defensive
           situation where just shoot it down asap is required.
           \_ We clearly need to spend more money on this project. How
              much have we spent on Star Wars so far?
              \- the SDIO bought my ex-ex-ex-ex boss a VAX 11/780
              \- the SDIO bought us a VAX 11/785 ... superstar!
                 we put it to good use.
        \_ And if they took a shot during bad weather you'd be saying they
           should stop cowboying and wait for good weather.  There's just no
           winning with some people.
           \_ We clearly need to spend more money on this project. How
              much have we spent on Star Wars so far?
           \_ Well, this time the govt has already admitted that they are
              cowboying by saying something like "first shot might miss and we
              might need a second shot" in its announcement.  So people
              probably wouldn't complaining about that.
              \_ No, that isn't cowboying.  That is "this is something we've
                 never done before so we're doing it as well as we can and
                 giving ourselves the best odds of success".  How is that
                 the same as cowboyism?  They aren't taking the shot because
                 it would be fun.  They are doing it because they don't want
                 to drop a bus load of hydrazine on anyone and they've also
                 probably already calculated that their snazzy spy sat. is
                 going to fall over unfriendly territory and don't want that
                 tech falling into foreign hands.

1/24    Any mandarin speakers here?  When do you call the mother of a friend
        (say, Chen) "chen2 bo2 mu3" and when do you call her "chen2 ma1 ma1"?
        Is there any difference between Mainland China and Taiwan?  Thanks.
        --- Cantonese speaker
        \_ mama is informal and buomu is more formal. On a related question,
           why do Mainlanders call China "Middle Nation" and
           Taiwanese call China "Big Land"? And what's the difference
           between hua-ren and jon-kuo-ren?
           \_ These questions certainly will spark debates around unification
              vs. independence which deserve a separate thread.
              \_ I seriously doubt there are enough FOBs on motd to spark
                 these debates.
           \_ Is this a real question?  Both of those have pretty obvious
              meanings.  Incidentally, Koreans also call China "Middle Nation."
              The US is "Beautiful Nation."
              \_ Chinese calls the US "Beautiful Nation" as well.  Japanese
                 calls China "Middle Nation" and the US "Rice Nation."  Anyway,
                 the "Middle" in CJK are taken for its meaning, whereas the
                 "Beautiful" in CK and the "Rice" in J are just taken for the
                 sound of the Chinese characters.
                 sound of the two Chinese characters.

12/5    Wow, she's pretty hot... She's 11?!?! Augh! My head-A-splode!
        http://www.gamersgallery.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/42725
        (bikini shot)
        \_ The earlier they blossom, the earlier they'll get fat/ugly/die.
        \_ More pics: http://leegy.egloos.com/2619337
        \_ I so wanna penetrate her!  -- 37-yr-old
        \_ You all are pathetic--drooling over a child.
        \_ You all are pathetic--drooling over a child. - motd boob guy
        \_ She is 14 now, but perhaps 11 when these were taken. In any
           case, she is waaay too young for me.
        \_ Jackie Johnson looks better.                 -dimwit

11/8    For the person who claimed the "toys from China" debacle could not
        be laid at BushCo's feet:
        http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/630782,CST-EDT-edit01a.article
        Only one person for toy testing.  Think that might cause a bit of a
        backlog?  Just maybe?
        \_ The problem is that China is holding $1.4 Trillion in cash.  Don't
           piss them off, or they'll crash the entire US economy.
           \_ Yeah, that's the direct cause of the obliteration of our safety
              agencies... Uh huh...
              \_ You haven't heard the noise China has been making, saying
                 we're making the whole lead thing up?

11/5    Look, PetroChina is worth $1T! Does this mean GOOG can go up 5X
        and still not be the largest company in the world?
        http://www.csua.org/u/jwl (Yahoo News)
        \_ You think GOOG will stop at 5x?  It can only go UP! baby!

10/18   dear other motd not getting laid guys, how are going to get laid
        after the Mayan Singularity of 2012?
        \_ What the hell are you talking about.
        \_ Other history channel not getting laid guys know what I'm talking
           about.
        \_ grammarP
        \_ reading news. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21356785
           Putin says Russian economy is great and birthrate is at its
           highest in 16 years. So why am I not getting laid? I am past
           my prime and I'm obviously losing the human race, evolutionarily
           speaking. I want to REPRODUCE.       -0 laid guy #3
           \_ Are you in Russia?  I believe Putin on the economy,
              but I think Russia's birthrate is still terrible.
              \_ Highest in 16 years ain't saying much for Russia.
           \_ My favorite souvenir from my trip to the PRC is the English
              version of the China Daily that proclaimed all Five Year Goals
              Met. No one does propaganda like old Marxists, except for
              Capitalists disguised as Marxists.
           \_ http://www.russianbrides.com
           \_ I hear American guys have no problem getting laid in Russia.

10/17   Watson on black people
        http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3067222.ece
        \_ Even if there is a genetic difference in intelligence
           between races, so what if there is?  Every *individual*
           should still be afforded the same opportunity and not
           face systematic discrimination.  Further, even if it
           is true that there is a measureable difference it doesn't
           justify racism.  It could easily turn out that Chinese
           or Jews test out smarter than whites:  does that give
           them the right to be the "master race"?
           \_ Yes. We already control most of the media         -jewish
           \_ The theory of evolution says the master race should proliferate
              and the proponents of evolution will claim that it is
              completely reversed right now (blacks/latinos have more
              ~6 kids, whites have ~1.6 kids). Thus, the proponents will
              favor furthering evolution with racism.
              ~6 kids, whites have ~1.6 kids). Thus, proponents of
              evolution will most likely favor evolution with racism.
              \_ No, evolution says proliferation is a natural advantage.
                 Having more kids survive shows that you're the master race.
                 \_ Well then, I need to bow down to my INNNNDIAN friend
                    at 7-11 because apparently, he's the MASTER RACE.
                    \_ And Aryan to boot!
           \_ No, we're not 'the master race'.  That is a Nazi thing.  But
              the sooner you come to accept that we are God's Chosen People,
              the happier you'll be.
                \_ "master race" not "masturbator race"
              \_ My brother converted from Catholicism to Judaism. We're
                 genetically Scandinavian. Which Chosen People is he?
                 \_ I hope a hot Jewish female with enormous breasts was
                    involved.  Did he convert for marriage purposes?
                 \_ If he married a Jewish girl, his kids are Jewish.  There
                    is no hope for him directly.
                    \_ You haven't answered the question.
                       \_ There's only one "God's Chosen People".
                          \_ Whoa! You're going go for the genetic purity of
                             the people of Yahweh argument? You're reducing the
                             number of God's Chosen People to a rough score,
                             my friend, and unless you've got a 3,000 year
                             pedigree, it doesn't include you.
                             \_ Uh no, see above, "If he married a Jewish
                                girl, his kids are Jewish".  We're good to go
                                on the Chosen People thing.
                    \_ What's your Halachic source for this, Rabbi?
                       \_ The motd of course.  What more do I need?
                 \_ HAHAHAHAHA.
           \_ It's only nutty elitism that values IQ more than (say) being a
              nice person, or having skill at a trade.  Being a plumber often
              pays better than an engineer/doctor/lawyer (and can't be
              outsourced), yet vocational training has been systematically
              eliminated in schools in favor of forcing every high school to be
              college prep.  Still, his comment addressing foreign policy to
              black nations could be accurate or could be wrong.
              \_ name the plumber that gets paid more than an engineer, doc,
                 or lawyer.  and no, pro-bono lawyering doesn't count.  the
                 carpenter i talked to yesterday was bitching about getting
                 $25/hr.  he could have got $33/hr but the work wouldn't be
                 as consistent at another place.
                 \_ I had a plumber come out to my place last week and he
                    charges $80/hr for his services. He works for himself,
                    so yeah, he has overhead, but he probably keeps most
                    of that. O'Grady plumbing, they do good work:
                    http://www.ogradyplumbing.com
                    \_ He's not getting paid $80/hr x 8hr x 5days x 50weeks.
                       His yearly income is going to be lower than the 100k
                       engineer, the 200k doctor or the 400k lawyer.  If he
                       makes 50k hes lucky.  His benefit is being his own
                       boss, not the income.  He's not pulling down 160k.
                       \_ I think you greatly underestimate what contractors
                          make. True, the journeyman isn't making that
                          much money. However, the foremen and the owners
                          make plenty of money. I know a lot of
                          tradespeople and they do very well. $160K is
                          very possible and guys with a lot of business
                          probably do better than that. I know a guy who
                          installs fire sprinklers. He's been doing it 8
                          years and he joined the union. He works for a
                          big company that installs fire systems in
                          commercial buildings. He makes $85K per year and
                          he doesn't even have a degree. In another so many
                          years he'll be well over $100K - about what an
                          engineer makes - and that's working for someone else.
                          He learned his vocation through 4 years in the
                          Navy. I think vocational training is much
                          neglected. Skilled tradespeople (especially in a
                          niche like wrought iron or cabinetry or whatever)
                          make a lot of money. The undocumented Mexican
                          guy is making $25/hour. A legal, clean-cut
                          caucasian or Asian guy makes twice that and also
                          has the Mexican guy work for him because he can
                          line up work for the other guy who doesn't even
                          speak English. If you own a house you'd know how
                          much you pay to have work done and it isn't cheap.
                          You'd also know that a lot of the better guys
                          turn work away because they have so much of it.
                          \_ If you are paying the undocumented Mexican
                             $25/hr, you are getting ripped off.
                             \_ Not really. He's probably getting $15 from
                                the guy who hired him and that guy is
                                then making $10 in profit/overhead. Do
                                something like get your hardwood floors
                                refinished or have some tile installed
                                (both take some skill and floors are hard
                                work). Do you think the guy is going to do it
                                for $8/hour? Not if he's any good he's not,
                                undocumented or not.
                                \_ So then you are paying $15 to the guy and
                                   $10 to his boss. Yes, this makes sense.
                                   But you can just hire the guy yourself,
                                   if you speak even high school Spanish.
                        \_ Actually, I suspect he makes more than that,
                           since he has people working for him. But at
                           that point, he is really "running a small
                           business" not just "being a plumber."
                           \_ What do you think doctors, lawyers,
                              civil engineers, psychologists, architects,
                              optometrists, dentists, and accountants who are
                              making money are doing? They setup a small
                              business for themselves. With some luck and
                              hard work their 'company' makes it. When a
                              lawyer or doctor makes 'partner' what are
                              they doing? Contractors are the same. They
                              start out working for someone else, they
                              hone their craft, and they strike out on
                              their own - maybe with employees and maybe not.
                              A lot of them start with themselves and some
                              daylaborers they had good experiences with.
                              So it really is "just being a plumber" in
                              that sense - at least at first. There's not a
                              lot of money at first, but neither is there in
                              being a medical student and resident. I think the
                              trades are greatly unappreciated career choices.
                              Did you ever see "The Money Pit?" They
                              lampoon how much contractors make (supposedly a
                              lot) as the contractor drives a Corvette and asks
                              the attorney client over the phone before he
                              considers starting work:
                              "How much money do you make?"
                              "How much do *you* make?"
                              (we can't hear the contractor's reply)
                              "Really!"
                              I have an acquaintance who is a contractor
                              and makes a good living (enough to have a
                              house and 3 kids w/o his wife working). We
                              talked about this once and he told me:
                              "Roofers drive Jaguars".
                              \_ I think we are in agreement here.
                        \_ Lawyers hardly make $400k. I think the average
                           salary for a lawyer is something like $85k.
                           HLS yes, Florida State, n
                           HLS yes, Florida State, no.
                 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money_does_a_lawyer_earn
                           http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm
        \_ Watson is an ass and has been for decades.  -tom
           \_ Which is how tom responds to any conclusion he doesn't like.
              \_ Doesn't change the fact that Watson's an ass and has been for
                 decades. -!tom
                 \_ Gotta agree with tom's fans here.  Watson is a complete
                    ass.  What's the name of that female who did a lot of the
                    original DNA work with Watson & Crick but didn't share
                    in the Nobel?
                    \_ Is that Watson's fault or the Nobel nominating/awarding
                       system?
                       \_ probably a little bit of everyone.  there was
                          a movie on the subject i think, never saw it.
                 \_ Yep.  Watson has been, and continues to be, a bad person.
                    \- RFRANKLIN was dead when they won the Nobel.
                       So the credit issue may be valid, but the
                       Nobel one is not. The Double Helix is a pretty
                       fast read. He comes across as a medicore pud.
                       (he goes on about how RFRANKLIN was a shabby dresser
                       and all kinds of crazy things). --psb
                       \_ BTW, note the difference between this and
                          tom's "he's and ass and always has been, take it
                          from me."
                       \_ Sure, the Nobel committee makes their own rules,
                          that's fine.  But, Watson had the choice not too
                          screw over Franklin.  He made the personal choice
                          to screw her over, and he's a bad person for that
                          and for several other poor choices in his life.

10/15   It occured to me this morning that treating women as equal to men has,
        so far, proven to be a poor choice for our society evolutionarily.
        This suggests the practice will probably die out evenutally.
        \_ Too soon to tell. I suspect that the socities with faster growth
           rates may be subject to a massive die-off sooner or later.
        \_ What do you mean?  Fewer offspring?  Fewer offspring may be the
           only long-term viable evolutionary strategy due to environmental
           limits.
           \_ That's a salient point, but it requires that all societies agree
              to limit reproduction.  You may get two sets of societies, 'the
              moral slow reproducers' and the 'immoral fast reproducers.' There
              will still be an environmental catastrophe, but the fast
              reproducers will have many more people than the slow reproducers.
              The result is the fast reproducers wipe out the slow reproducers
              in resource wars.  There is historical precedence.
              \_ Oh you mean like in California, the whites are getting
                 wiped out by the exploding Latino population? You RACIST!
              \_ Historical precedent is invalidated by technological
                 advantage.  When the slow reproducers have a massive military
                 technological advantage due to not living at or below bare
                 subsistence, numbers won't matter.
                 \_ This assumes that the slow reproducers live in segregated
                    political states. In reality there are slow vs. fast within
                    each political entity, especially now with multicultural
                    immigrant states. Therefore in the long run we have the
                    same result.
                    Multicultural states are therefore bad for the species,
                    because they lead to global homogenizing of cultures.
                    Diversity decreases in favor of the fastest-growing
                    domininant subcultures, leaving the population as a
                    whole at greater risk.
                    \_ There is about five assumptions you are making here,
                       none of which you have justified, but I will start
                       with the largest. Do you honestly believe that having
                       a multicultural state in say The Netherlands has any
                       effect on culture in Chad?
                       \_ Not so much, but it affects the culture in the
                          Netherlands. Multiculturalism is happening mostly
                          in countries which have slower birth rates
                          than the countries where the immigrants come from.
                          Large amounts of immigrants from [3rd world highly
                          populated country] have the potential to, in the
                          long run, make the culture in the host country
                          more like the 3rd world country.
                       \_ Not the pp, but jumping in here: actually, yes.
                          If NL hires guest workers from Chad, and those
                          workers come to appreciate the liberal freedoms of
                          the west, they'll export those ideas along with the
                          cash remittals. Consumerism has been shown over and
                          over again to be much more prolific than any
                          religion or ideology, given sufficient access to
                          resources and products.
              \_ Or you can get mass die off of the fast reproducers, which
                 we will probably see in a generation or two.
                 \_ A mass die off caused by what?  Is there some magic
                    disease that only infects people who have more than 2.2
                    children?
                    \_ Famine, disease, warfare, the usual things that
                       cause mass die offs, what else? It is already starting
                       to happen in some of the overpopulated parts of Africa.
        \_ You're begging the question; the societies which treat women
           equally are significantly out-competing the societies which
           don't.  -tom
           \_ Not in population, which is probably the most important metric
              from an evolutionary perspective.
              \_ Not if you're talking about survival of the society
                 (as opposed to the genotype).  -tom
           \_ In what way?  If there was a world wide plague which wiped out
              a few billion people, the less technically dependent people
              would have an advantage in numbers and societal structure in
              the aftermath.
              \_ So why aren't well all cockroaches.  Oh yeah, because pure
              \_ The U.S. is much better equipped to deal with a world wide
                 plague than India or China, partly because we haven't
                 overpopulated in the way those countries have.  If plague
                 with high mortality hits and the U.S. drops down to 100
                 million population and China drops down to 200 million,
                 does that mean China is doing beter?  -tom
              \_ So why aren't we all cockroaches.  Oh yeah, because pure
                 biomass is not what makes something a dominant species.  This
                 is especially true when talking about memes instead of genes.
                 \_ Cockroaches don't (can't?) compete in our ecological
                    sphere. We can eat cockroaches for example. Other humans
                    do compete with us: they use the same resources and inhabit
                    the same gene pool. Domination only matters if the dominant
                    ones are willing to crush the subordinate ones like
                    Nazis, an ideology which has been rejected. Hitler was a
                    Nazi. And thus the discussion is complete.
                 \_ You aren't cockroaches because the cockroaches are the
                    cockroaches.  Who says cockroaches haven't already won
                    from a survival and evolutionary perspective?  Long after
                    your pathetic species has imploded, the taken for granted
                    little cockroaches will still be here skittering about,
                    doing our cockroach things.  We pity you, human.  We've
                    already won, you just don't know it.

9/7     I can repost just as much as you can delete.
        Is China Quietly Dumping US Securities?
        http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1891633/posts

9/7     Is China Quietly Dumping US Securities?
        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/09/05/bcnchina105.xml

8/29    a rare tale of survival in China's coal mines, the world's deadliest,
        where an average of 13 workers are killed every day.
        http://csua.org/u/jev
        \_ racist
           \_ Oh, no, the mines are equal opportunity death traps.
        \_ Ate coal, huh?  How many calories in 100 grams of coal?
           \_ I would imagine quite a lot, or it wouldn't be such a good fuel.
              However, whether theyre digestable or not is another question...

8/16    This is a funny SAM
        http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/Secret_Asian_Man/strips/sam_apaunity_0104.asp
        \_ Funny, good one thanks for posting!
        \_ Don't know about the two Koreas, but this is very true for the
           Chinese communities.  Chinese communities of Mainland, Taiwan and
           Hong Kong origins unite well whenever issues of Imperial Japan are
           brought up.
           \_ If there was one good thing about Hitler, it would be that
              mentioning his name tends to unite the Jewish communities
              \_ What is a "Jewish communities"?  Can you name a few?

7/18    Am I the only one that thinks that many non-fiction books being
        published these days would be better suited to a series of online
        columns? To wit, Sara Bongiorni's "A Year without 'Made in China'":
        http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1220/p09s01-coop.html
        http://www.amazon.com/Year-Without-Made-China-Adventure/dp/0470116137
        \_ Yes.

7/12    In China, the military comes first.
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070713/ap_on_bi_ge/china_tainted_products
        "BEIJING - China needs to better integrate its fractured regulatory
        system to improve its food safety record, a top health official said
        Friday, as the military warned that unsafe food could undermine its
        ability to fight."
        "Wang's comments came on the same day an official newspaper reported
        that the People's Liberation Army -- the world's largest military --
        has ordered improved safety checks and will buy food only from
        suppliers who pass local government hygiene and safety tests."
        \_ This is so unsuprising as to be laughable... if only it weren't so
           unfunny.
        \_ I don't understand what you find wrong with this.  Any collective
           organization has better bargaining power than an individual, and
           the Army has a perfect right to demand safe food for it's soldiers.
           Is there something I'm missing?
           \_ The Chinese civilian population is much bigger than its military
              population.
        \_ and you are saying in USA, military doesn't come first?
           \_ If you've ever eaten C rations or MREs, you wouldn't have to
              ask.

7/12    Beijing steamed buns include cardboard
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070712/ap_on_re_as/china_cardboard_buns
        \_ Well, Americans need more fiber.  Maybe you could sell them as
           health food here.
        \_ The Chinese are really screwing themselves over. This has
           happened before in other countries, but not near as often
           in recent decades.
        \_ Just another part of their effort to meet Kyoto standards by
           recycling as much as possible.

6/28    First toxic pet food, then toxic fish, juice with unsafe color
        additives, Thomas toy trains with lead paint, toxic toothpastes, and
        now pigs force-fed wastewater and tainted snacks and seafood.  What's
        wrong with Chinese manufacturers these few months?
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_re_us/china_tainted_food
        \_ It's what happens when you don't believe in government.  We used to,
           y'know, inspect these sorts of things.
           \_ What?
           \_ We used to inspect 100% of all imports?
              \_ Did I say that?  Are you suggesting that these are one-off
                 issues?  A handful of bad apples from otherwise reputable
                 shops, and they just slipped through our totally respectable
                 and responsible screens?
                 \_ We do still do inspections you know. Most of the
                    contamination cases in China are for the domestic market.
                    Also, the ones they ship out are usually picked because
                    they can fool the simple tests.  I don't really think we
                    should've given China such a good trading status, but...
                    \_ So the chinese thinks it's cool to poison chinese?
                       i guess they can breed replacements easily.
                       \_ The Chinese think it's fine to do just about anything
                          as long as you don't get caught. Cf. the current
                          uproar about brick-factory slavery.
                          \- at least China had the "decency" to sentence
                             the SFDA head to death.
                             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_Xiaoyu
                             How about we execute Brownie? W should be
                             willing to pull the switch.
                             \_ Praising the broken clock for being right
                                twice a day does not make it fixed.
        \_ Not these few months, but always.  It is cheaper to do things wrong.
        \_ "It can be said that the quality of China's exports all are
           guaranteed," Wang [said.]  Oh really?  The PRC's gonna pay?
        \_ Seafood loaded down with lead continues to be imported to South
           Korean from China.  I first heard about it 5 years ago, and it
           appears to still be happening occasionally.

6/22    chinese auto makers not so hot
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/2lzp44 (autoblog.com)
        \_ I am a Chinese.  The sheer fact that they even have a domestic
           automobile, AND the fact that they are trying to sell it outside
           China amazes me... If you still think China is a closed market,
           go to China sometimes.  You may find that even Chinese with
           slightest sense of self-respect wouldn't buy a domestic branded
           car!
           \_ They've had domestic cars for a while.  Including the "Chery"
              a Daewoo (GM) Matiz rip-off.
              http://paultan.org/archives/2006/02/18/chery-qq-crash-test
              \_ The "Red Flag" brand has existed for a long while and is very
                 prestigious.
              \_ those doesn't count.  key components such as Engine are still
                 foreign made.
              \_ There are a few Chinese brands that are very big in South
                 America -- low prices and poor emissions standards make them
                 pretty attractive for buyers who can't afford a big western
                 prestige brand.  -John
           \_ Interestingly enough, in China Buick is considered a really hot,
              luxurious brand and a status symbol similar to a BMW or Merc in
              the States.  GM is doing much better in China than in the States,
              and I expect them to eventually become a mostly foreign company.
              \_ Cadillac in China probably has the same status as Buick.
                 Maybe it's because Buick and Cadillac used to be luxurious
                 brands in the US, which are then reflected in China after a
                 time lag.  Or maybe it's just pure marketing.
              \_ I kept telling my cousin in Shanghai that Buick is a piece of
                 shit... LOL
              \_ Buick may have the brand recognization which they don't
                 deserve, but American cars are still lag behind in terms of
                 sales figure and market share.  go figures.
              \_ Buicks are status symbols in Japan as well. I think it has
                 something to do with the car being so big, bloated,
                 unreliable, and completely unsuited to Japanese road design
                 that only a really rich asshole who doesn't need to care about
                 anyone else can/would bother to own/drive one. You can often
                 find them double-parked on two-lane streets in front of
                 pachinko parlors.
                 \_ Jeeps were the 4x4 king in Japan.  When I told my
                    counterparts in Japan that I drive a Jeep Cherokee back
                    home, they thought "Wow!", while the reason I bought a
                    Cherokee was that I couldn't afford a Nissan Pathfinder or
                    a Toyota 4-Runner.

6/22    chinese auto makers not so hot
        http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/22/brilliance-bs6s-adac-crash-test-is-anything-but
        \_ I am a Chinese.  The sheer fact that they even have a domestic
           automobile, AND the fact that they are trying to sell it outside
           China amazes me... If you still think China is a closed market,
           go to China sometimes.  You may find that even Chinese with
           slightest sense of self-respect wouldn't buy a domestic branded
           car!
           \_ They've had domestic cars for a while.  Including the "Chery"
              a Daewoo (GM) Matiz rip-off.
              http://paultan.org/archives/2006/02/18/chery-qq-crash-test
              \_ The "Red Flag" brand has existed for a long while and is very
                 prestigious.

5/28    If I want to find out who owns the title of a certain property in Hong
        Kong, which government agency there is in charge of this?  Thanks in
        advance.
        \_ I work for the Hong Kong Tourism Board.  Feel free to email me.
           \_ Would love to. What's your id?
        \_ Found it.  http://www.landreg.gov.hk/en/services/services_b.htm
           --- OP

5/25    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275445,00.html
        "Damn those sneaky yellow bastards!!!"
        \_ I get the feeling that NASA really cares about random floating
           crap in near orbit (yes we put most of it there) and China
           does not.

5/16    Liquid condom:
        http://www.hiptechblog.com/2005/11/28/what-liquid-condom
        \_ Sounds hoaxish
        \_ I hope this doesn't burn as badly as spermicides that are
           usually 10% Nonoxydyl

5/8     new War Nerd:
        http://www.exile.ru/2007-May-04/war_nerd.html
        "So the likely winner of a war like this is an up-n-coming world
        economic power that has been investing in its own economy while we
        blow a trillion - yep, a trillion - dollars on nothing. Not hard
        to figure out who the likely suspects are here.
        China understands that an army is most effective when kept penned
        in and on parade, rather than riding around a hostile, far-away country.
        The answer to "Who won Iraq?" is Iran in the short run, and in the
        long run, China and India."
        \_ Actually China's army/military doesn't sit around doing nothing.
           They spend a lot of time stomping on rioters across the country,
           mostly peasants in rural areas upset at being treated like peasants.
           Old joke: The Soviets and Chinese go to war.  On the first day the
           Russians capture 100 million Chinese.  On the second day they
           capture another 100 million Chinese.  On the third day the Chinese
           rally and the Russians only capture 50 million Chinese.  On the
           fourth day the Russians counter attack with great success and
           capture 250 million Chinese.  On the fifth day the Russians
           surrender.
           \_ Yeah and India does a lot of foot stomping on the Kashmir border.
              I do think we've thrown over a trillion into a giant rathole.
              I don't understand how the Bush administration avoids being
              hounded from power by armed pitchfork bearing mobs.
              \_ rent Idiocracy
           \_ I am not sure which part of it is supposed to be funny..
              \_ It's a joke, son.
           \_ "During the Damansky Island incident the Chinese military
               developed three main strategies: The Great Offensive, The Small
               Retreat, and Infiltration by Small Groups of One to Two Million
               Across the Border."
               \_ What was the futuristic war book (could be by Dean Ng?)
                  that had the Wall of Lenin?  Also, brings to mind the line
                  about "1 billion Chinamen" in Red Dawn... -John
           \_ Note also that the PLA spends a lot of time putting down
              insurgents in the Uighur-populated Northwest.

5/2     "A Chinese anti-satellite test in January increased the risk that a
        spacecraft could collide with debris by up to 40 percent in some
        orbits,"
        http://www.csua.org/u/ilm (Yahoo! News Photos)
        Wow.  Killing N birds with one stone.
        \_ err... it is not like China is the only country doing this.  Both
           USA and formal USSR has done something similar in the past.
           What made Chinese anti-satellite test anymore special again?
           \_ now the world knows better?
              \_ very funny.  This is again one of those "it is ok for US
                 to do it, but not everyone else" kind of thing.
                 \_ So what you're saying is, that because idiots in the
                    past didn't know how stupid what they were doing was,
                    even though everyone now knows, it's OK for you to
                    do it?
                    \_ Why did China test the missile in the first
                       place?  If you read up a bit on this, you could
                       see that the whole thing could've been avoided,
                       if the United States does what it asks the rest
                       of the world do. It's like, "You can't have
                       nuclear weapons, but I won't sign the nuclear
                       non-proliferation treaty".
                       \_ So, some asshole (the US) shoots itself in
                          the foot, incidently splattering blood over
                          everyone nearby and putting them at risk
                          of disease.  You do the same?  Blowing up
                          a satellite in LEO was a stupid thing to
                          do even if the US is being a fucking idiot.
                          China damaged their own interests as well
                          as everyone elses.  There's just no other
                          way to call it excpet that it is stupid.
                          The US is stupid, for sure, and hypocritical,
                          but why does that force China to be stupid?
                          \_ Why do you think this is stupid?  The
                             risk of debris or something else?
                             \_ That was covered.  When you blow shit up in
                                LEO it leaves debris that can take out other
                                satellites.  Thus, it is stupid unless your
                                goal is to make certain orbits useless.
           \_ Doing != done.

4/29    U.S. Q1 2007 GDP only up ~1.3%?  It don't matter to investors in China!
        http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=000001.SS&t=5d&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=

4/27    Walmart building its own private CIA:
        http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8ON2P400.htm

4/24    China will pass the United States as the world's biggest source of
        greenhouse gasses this year
        http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OMPHM80
        \_ As long as they only use one square per wipe it'll be ok.
        \_ But they have more than four times the population than ours.
           \_ what is your point again?  Global Warming is caused by human
              activities *OF 6-7 INDUSTRIAL NATIONS* in past 100 years.
              Why China/India should be asked to curb greenhouse gasses
              when the problem is mostly caused by France/Germany/Britian/
              USA?
              \_ Why?  Because they share the same friggin' planet and if
                 they want to be alive in 2050 or 2100 or whatever they need
                 to cut back the same as everyone else.  Dead planets don't
                 care about your historic/cultural 'rights' to screw shit up.
                 \- Larry Summers and The Big Fuck You:
                      http://tinyurl.com/yvexcz
                    in particular:
                      The industrial world was responsible for much of the
                      problem, he said, but most of the solutions must
                      come from the developing world, where emissions are
                      growing the fastest and infrastructure is still
                      unbuilt. The developing world should "demand" that
                      it be compensated and supported for taking actions
                      "in the interest of all," he said.
                    [given the context, it is kind weird to refer to the
                    harvard episode rather than "former treasury
                    secretary" ... they that's the clown-side of the NYT
                    secretary" ... that's the clown-side of the NYT
                    for you.]
                    \_  that is why I am no longer an environmentalist.
                        The major "environemntal movement" is just a scheme
                        for the Industrial Nations to exploit their ex-colonies
                        in the form of "new, environmentally friendly
                        technology which Industrial Nations collect royalty
                        upon, as well as the "carbon trading scheme" which
                        Industrial nations can purchase their way out.
                        If one is serious about the environment, have a
                        carbon cap on per capita basis, and give out these
                        new technologies for free to developing nations as
                        part of the price to pay for fucking up the environment
                        in the past 100 years.

4/20    Offensive Chinese translation results in another stupid lawsuit.
        http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/04/19/canada.couch.ap/index.html
        \_ So what kind of dark shade of brown is "nigger brown"? They
           never explained it further in the article.

4/19    The late Asia's richest woman left her fortune to her fortune-teller.
        http://www.csua.org/u/ii8 (Yahoo! News)
        \- that wang woman is pretty odd. didnt she wear pigtails into
           her sixities .. on formal occasions.
           \_ Yeah, that's her.  Her Chinese nakename is something like "Little
              Sweetie".  Her husband was kidnapped twice.  The first time he
              survived.  The second time he or his body never re-appeared.
        \_ I really hope that they follow the original will.  It sounds like
           it has a lot of good intentions backed by adequate control of
           distribution.

4/12    WTO: China overtakes U.S. in exports
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_bi_ge/wto_china
        "Oh, we are just a developing country.  Really."
        \_ If you ever went to China and saw what a shithole it was you'd
           see that it's closer to Third World. I hope they begin to
           develop their own country.
           \_ I agree.  Once you go outside Shanghai it's a third world
              police state.  And Beijing has unpaved alleys right off the
              main streets where people are living in squalor that reminds
              me of the concrete bunker and dirt floor huts outside of
              Cancun on the way to Chichen Itza.
        \_ How did Germany beat the US?  All the BMWs, Mercedes's and Porsches
           did the trick?
           \_ Everything we export gets reverse engineered and/or copied by the
              Chinese
              \_ The Chinese don't do the same to German products?
                 \_ Apparently David Hasselhoff music doesn't sell as well
                    outside of Germany.

3/23    Chinese Burning Man
        http://jonlogan.phanfare.com/album/208729
        \_ How do the Chinese keep from getting frostbite when they run
           around naked and high on all that ice?

3/19    http://hooters.know-where.com/hooters/top/intl.html#China
        There are Hooters in China!?  Wow!  What do the waitresses wear (or
        not wear)?
        \_ Falsies?

2/12    "China sees risks of Africans."
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_on_re_af/china_in_africa
        China sounds just like the US in this article.

1/23    "China weapons test shakes up world view"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070123/ap_on_re_as/china_missile_test
        \_ I don't even know why people making a such big deal of this for
           the following reasons:
           - virtually all space program are run by the military.  What made
             China's space program so opaque again?
           - what China has done allegedly is something US and USSR has done
             in the 1980's.  That is 25+ years later.  What is a big deal?
           - China has tried this 4+ times and this is the first time it
             hit something.  There is a huge chance that this is nothing but
             a non-repeatable lucky shot.
           - China has begged US to sign a treaty banning the arming of space
             but US refused and said US need all means necessary to protect
             itself.  Don't you remember any of that yourself?
           \_ It's a big deal because only US and USSR had the capability to
              do this previously.  Also, there are concerns that the
              politicians don't have enough control over the military.

11/7    I just received my 250GB segate HD that is made in China. I've
        had good experience with segate but they were made in
        Singapore. Has anyone been using Segate drives made in China?
        Any issues? It'll suck if my 250G drive would go bad..
        \_ It doesn't matter.  Your drive *will* go bad, it is just a matter
           of when.  Do backups, use raid or mirroring or both.

11/6    Good grief:  China's foreign reserves top $1 trillion.
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120906.stm  -John
        \_ Why don't they spend some of that money on their POS country?
           The place is a cesspool, but it's all good because they are
           sitting on $1 T cash.
           \_ If they were to spend it, it would be on military spending
              They have been increasing their annual military spending by
              double-digit percentages for many years.
              \_ Agreed. Also, remember that the PRC is an oligarchy, not a
                 democracy. Benefits are doled out as rewards for service to
                 the party, not on the basis of need.
              \_ Maybe they should focus on their polluted, shithole country.
           \_ the #1 rule in China is stability
              \- i'm trying to stay out of these kinds of discussions
                 beyond leaving ptrs. if you are interested in this
                 and related topics, see:
                 http://www.frbsf.org/economics/pbc/index.html
                 (teh "pacific basin notes" are pretty accessible)
                 the feds will also send you all of their publications
                 the fed res bank will also send you all of their publications
                 for free. obtrivia: Janet Yellin of ucb dept econ is the head
                 of the SF fed. she is also married to ucb econ nobel
                 george akerlof.

11/7    Sample questions for China's driving test:
        http://www.bookofjoe.com/2006/11/driving_in_chin.html
        \_ I was in China earlier this year. They are crazy. People there
           use their horns like we use turn signals. Also, one time my driver
           missed a freeway offramp, so rather than continuing onto the next
           exit, he just drove the opposite way on the subsequent onramp.
           \_ which part of China were you at?
              \_ Shenzhen/Guangzhou
        \_ The "correct" answer for #3 is B?  That's what you should do if you
           want to protect yourself, but I can't believe this is the official
           correct answer.

11/7    Two spaces after a period(.) is grammatically correct.  There is no
        reason to edit them all down to one space.  K?
        \_ The Chicago Manual of Style's Editors disagree w/ you:
           http://tinyurl.com/y6r2qz (chicagomanualofstyle.org)
           \_ All this one person says is that in our WEEB2.0enabled world,
              two spaces is less efficient and he doesn't find it easier to
              read.  In his opinion which he makes clear is just his singular
              opinion.  He also makes it clear that 2 spaces is how many people
              were taught in school (and I'm guessing still are if they're
              taught anything at all).  Certainly the difference is not
              worth editing other people's posts to eliminate what you and
              this one copy editor agree is an unnecessary space.  At no
              point does he say it is grammatically incorrect.  He just doesn't
              like it.
           \_ And here's the techie of WEEB2.0 techie writer types discussing
              it.  You'll note it is a discussion.  There is no right or wrong.
              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style_archive_(spaces_after_a_full_stop/period
              http://preview.tinyurl.com/t3s7d
           \_   _____
               /     \      _n_  ______     ________
               |Oink!|_   _/o  \/      \@  /C.M.o.S.\
               \_____/ \ O_             )=(  ____|_  \____
                           \___/\______/   \ \     \_____ |
                                 ||  ||     ||           ||
               \_ Hmm, I wonder who I should go w/, the CMoS or
                  some anon coward on "teh motd" who posts ascii
                  art in lieu of making an actual argument?
                  \_ The well-reasoned response at top summarizes my feelings.
                     --PP (pig-poster)
        \_ Two spaces are inefficient and should be banned. It uses up too
           much bandwidth and disk space, and aids our country's enemies by
           making us buy more cheap Chinese hard disks and upping our balance
           of trade deficit. Patriots use one space. -John
           \_ You ' ve  convinced me .I  shall  no  longer  use  two  spaces
              after  a  period.In  the  name  of  Freedom  Everywhere , I
              shall  use  just  once  to  save  the  extra  spaces  for  our
              boys  over   there .
           \_ Yup, especially that there is no space after periods in the
              Chinese language.  (Basically there is no space in the
              language.)  In the next round of trade talks we should demand
              Chinese to add spaces in Chinese, or else we would impose high
              tarriffs on Chinese hard disks because of unfair trade practices!
        \_ What about two spaces after state abbreviation and ZIP code in US
        \_ What about two spaces between state abbreviation and ZIP code in US
           addresses?  I can't find an explanation for two spaces on
           http://www.usps.com
        \_ itisfarmoreefficienttogetridofallspacesandpunctuationpleasemake
           futuremotdpostingsformattedlikethisone

11/5    http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/photoessay_1234_images/1031061420_M_103106_china2.jpg
        Chinese model poses with military equipments. SFW.
        \_ page cannot be found
           \_ Works fine for me...
        \_ learn tinyurl
        \_ Is that a heat-seeking missile she is stroking?
        \_ What's the point of this pic?  It's a chick with a missile.

10/20   http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2006-10/20/content_713426.htm
        'Kim told the Chinese delegation that "he is sorry about the nuclear
         test," the newspaper reported.'
        Why do I get the impression that this is a load of bollocks?
        \_ "I'm sorry you're pissed off"
        \_ Why would you trust what he says?
           \_ I wouldn't. I also highly doubt that he said that. It reeks of
              PRC propaganda. You know, the highly scripted attempts at
              impromptu speech that totalitarian media hacks are so very, very
              bad at.
              \_ it's more interesting to think that China can say "Kim Jong
                 Il eats shit and enjoys it", and NK won't do much
        \_ because Kim knows that China is about to throw a big party and
           not in the mood to do anything spoiling the mood (such as having
           3-4 million N.Korean flood across YaLue river and later claim
           that part of China NorthEast part of Korea Proper).   Don't worry
           though, China is not going to take this kind of crap from its
           protectorate.  China will deal with N.Korea when it is time.

10/10   Happy Birthday Taiwan!
        \_ The Chinese "Republic."  Now, that's irony.  Next, they'll be
           calling it the "Free Society of Iran" and "Jewish State of Saudi
           Arabia."
           \_ Imperialist pigs must stop spreading lies about the people's
              glorious socialist revolution.
              -Democratic People's Republic of Korea
           \_ 10/10 is the national day of the Republic of China (capitalist
              Taiwan), not the People's Republic of China (communist Mainland
              China.)
              \_ 10/10 is the celebration of overthrown of Manchu Dynasty of
                 China.  While PRC do not recognize it as a "national day,"
                 PRC does recognize its importance and speech to address the
                 anniversery is typically held.
              \_ REG: Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more
                 than the Romans are the fucking Judean People's Front.
                 PEOPLE'S FRONT of JUDEA: Yeah...
                 JUDITH: Splitters.
                 PEOPLE'S FRONT of JUDEA: Splitters...
                 FRANCIS: And the Judean Popular People's Front.
                 PEOPLE'S FRONT of JUDEA: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters.
                 Splitters...
                 LORETTA: And the People's Front of Judea.
                 PEOPLE'S FRONT of JUDEA: Yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
                 REG: What?
                 LORETTA: The People's Front of Judea. Splitters.
                 REG: We're the People's Front of Judea!

10/10   China to NK: "Bad Boy."
        http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/000954.html
        \_ Informed world to CoxAndForkum: Welcome to the Real World. Please
           leave ill-conceived paranoid right-wing conspiracy theories at the
           door.
           \_ It's a political cartoon, not a conspiracy theory.
              \_ ...implying that the PRK is a puppet of the PRC, hence the
                 conspiracy theory.
                 \_ NK is barely standing thanks to the help China gives it.
                    Hence the puppet.  And the odd public disapproval of NK.
                    \_ While it's true that NK gets most of its supplies via
                       China, puppetry is an inaccurate portrayal. A better
                       portrayal might have indicated the PRC's portkeeper
                       position without implying outright puppetry.
                       \_ um, have you ever heard of "artistic license"?
                    \_ puppet government, by definition, is a government that
                       can not conduct its own foreign policy.  By such
                       definition, N.Korea is *NOT* a puppet government of
                       China at all.  Then again, under such definition,
                       *JAPAN* is a puppet government of United States, as
                       it can't conduct any foreign policy without US'
                       approval, couldn't prosecute military personnel
                       for raping 14 years old girls.
        \_ Has NK returned the humanitarian trains to China yet?

10/10   Happy Birthday, Chinese Republic!
        \_ The Chinese "Republic."  Now, that's irony.  Next, they'll be
           calling it the "Free Society of Iran" and "Jewish State of Saudi
           Arabia."
           \_ Imperialist pigs must stop spreading lies about the people's
              glorious socialist revolution.
              -Democratic People's Republic of Korea
           \_ 10/10 is the national day of the Republic of China (capitalist
              Taiwan), not the People's Republic of China (communist Mainland
              China.)
              \_ 10/10 is the celebration of overthrown of Manchu Dynasty of
                 China.  While PRC do not recognize it as a "national day,"
                 PRC does recognize its importance and speech to address the
                 anniversery is typically held.

10/10   Quick, go check out http://news.yahoo.com What is up with their cover
        photo, with the asians in their underwear? (it's 10:45am PST now)
        \_ 10:47 - It's gone.
        \_ I see a picture of the Chinese Ambassador to the UN.  No underwear.
        \_ Damn it's gone already. It showed about 8 asians standing outside
           all in their tighty-whitey underwears. I might be missing something
           but it definitely seemed like it had nothing to do with the
           story! -op
           \_ Maybe it was for the Chinese Moon Festival.
              \_ When is the chinese melon festival?
                 \_ Never.  See your typical, concave-chested Chinese girl.
                    \_ http://www.sexyimportbabes.com/jade.html (natural)
                       \_ implausible.

10/8    So was the October Surprise a N. Korean underground nuke test?
        http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ustqab.php
        http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218699,00.html
        \_ Hey, seriously, I am a liberal and oppose our invasion of Iraq.
           But in this case, i really think we need to think about use
           military force against the N.Koreans.  It will be a while before
           they actually weaponize the nukes.  Allowing them to have nukes
           is dangerous just because they don't mind selling it to the highest
           bidder!  Further, we need to remove any excuse for Japan get its
           nukes.
           \_ If we use military action against North Korea, it'll be the
              Korean War from 1950 - 1953 all over again, with the strong
              possibility of China backing North Korea (as they did before
              from 1950 - 1953).  That would be World War III.  But yeah,
              other than those pesky details, your idea makes sense.
              \_ Part of any pre-invasion plan will be an understanding
                 between the U.S. and China about N. Korean reconstruction.
              \_ Uhm, no.  History does repeat itself but the cliche doesn't
                 mean it like that.  It's a comment on human nature not history
                 itself per se.  Anyway, the Korean war was part of the whole
                 anti-communist containment/rollback strategy at the time.  No
                 one would consider any such action without China's advanced
                 consent this time.  Totally different situation.  But if the
                 consent this time.  Totally different situation.  But if
                 China were willing to allow an invasion they're much more
                 likely first to simply cut off NK from food and oil if having
                 a nuke-fre NK is their goal.  They could do so at anytime and
                 the fact that they haven't makes me believe they want NK to
                 have nukes.
                 \_ I don't think China wants NK to have nukes.  To China,
                    there is always the risk of the North uniting with the
                    South.  When it eventually happens, Korea most likely won't
                    be as "left" or as communist as it is today.  I don't think
                    China likes to see a non-alley neighbor having nukes.  This
                    downside is not worth the upside of a close alley having
                    nukes.  The upside is not much anyway, given that China
                    itself already has nukes.
                    \_ NK is like the mad dog on the end of China's leash but
                       it is still China's dog.  They have nukes because China
                       let them have nukes.  With out Chinese oil and food aid
                       the place would completely collapse.  The Chinese are
                       more concerned about millions of hungry NK heading to
                       their border than they are about NK nukes.
              \_ "Mr. President, this is not the hour of our weakness. This
                  is the hour of our strength. If the Chinese cross the
                  Yalu, I will make of them the greatest slaughter in the
                  history of warfare. They have no means for giving ground
                  ... air support to the ground troops. And they cannot do
                  it and I do not believe they will."
                 If only Truman had been smart enough to listen to MacArthur,
                 the NK issue would not exist today.
                 \_ In a way, you're absolutely right.  If Truman had listened
                    to MacArthur, human civilization would not exist today.
                    By extension, neither would the NK issue.
                    \_ human civilization wouldn't exist?  Oh please....
                       \_ Truman would have provoked nuclear war.
                          \_ Let's assume this is true.  The US had how many
                             bombs?  Dozens?  A few hundred tops?  China and
                             Russia had how many between them?  And what
                             ability to deliver them outside their own borders?
                             What is much more likely is China either retreats
                             or they nuke back.  If they retreat it's over.  If
                             they nuke back, then Korea becomes a waste land,
                             a lot of people die, we may have nuked China back
                             directly in which case even more people die, then
                             China is forced to capitulate after their country
                             is a wasteland.  So, worst case, China and Korea
                             are gone, best case, Korea/China border is nuked
                             out.  Either way, "The Whole World Is Dead! OMG!
                             WTF! BBQ!" is not a serious proposition.  Of
                             course this all sucks big time if you're Korean
                             or Chinese but that is not the same as "the end
                             of civilization".
                             \_ Heh.  You remind me a lot of George C. Scott's
                                character in Dr. Strangelove.  "Mr. President,
                                I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair
                                mussed!  I'm saying two or three million dead
                                TOPS....err, depending on the breaks!"
                                \_ Whatever.  The point remains.  The world
                                   would not have ended.  The nukes were much
                                   smaller, harder to deliver and fewer in
                                   number.  I'm not saying I'm in favor of
                                   having nuked China at the time.  I'm saying
                                   the sky wouldn't have turned to blood or
                                   rain frogs or everyone's first born male
                                   child died in the night.
           \_ Seconded.  Bomb the crap out of them. --other lefty
              \_ You're kidding, yes?  This is the perfect time for sanctions
                 and other non-military arm twisting and you want to bomb?
                 Iraq was due for an invasion after years of failed sanctions
                 and many on the left wanted to simply end sanctions and walk
                 away because sanctions weren't hurting the right people....
                 I find the whole thing fascinating.
                 \_ Who are you who are so wise in the ways of geopolitics?
                 \_ Sanctioning NK won't hurt the right people either.  You
                    think Kim Jong-Il will starve before all the civilians do?
                    \_ The people are already starving.  Once the army is
                       starving things may change.
                 \_ if China impose a sanction, N.Korea probably will implode.
                    This is of course something YOU want, but it is not
                    something China nor South Korean wants.  Why?  just think
                    in terms of illegal immigration issue... except that
                    million of them going to try to get across the broder in
                    the period of weeks.    Unless you are ready to allow
                    Chinese mow down those N.Korean refugees with machine gun
                    fire, and you have a plan for post-implode N.Korea, I
                    recommend you STFU.
        \_ Yes, Karl Rove planted nuke tech in NK going back to the early
           90s having forseen the need almost 15 years in advance for an
           October Surprise in the 2006 mid term elections.  The man is
           the Devil!
        \_ Just curious, the test was 10:36am local time (N and S Korea).
           About when did news of the test go out on the wire actually?
           \_ About an hour afterwards, based on Google News timestamps.
        \_ world leaders will agree that n korea escalated unnecessarily.
           Dubya and GOPers will talk tough and the intl media for once will
           agree with this posture.
           \_ Why would the international media matter?  Anyway this isn't the
              time to talk military strike.  It is the time to squeeze them
              dry of food, oil, and cash.

10/3    The "Internet" will offer instant verification of claims made
        by politicians w/in 5 years according to Google's Schmidt:
        http://tinyurl.com/l4hsp (reuters.myway.com)
        ... "unless you're in China".
        \_ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22the+largest+island+in+china%22&btnG=Search
        \_ http://tinyurl.com/jad3z (google.com/search)
        \_ The underlying assumption is that those telling you it is
           true or false are acting objectively.
        \_ Internet:  Did Bill Clinton have sexual relations with Monica
           Lewinsky?
        \_ Internet:  Did GWB plead out to a DUI to avoid a drug conviction?

9/28    Sino-US War? (as seen on Slashdot)
        http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2121111&C=america
        \_ Gee, with Chinese generals openly saying they're going to correct
           the error of western domination you're surprised at that?
           \_ ObFastestGrowingEconomySoMustBeOurFriends(c).
           \_ Wow, this is fascinating. I believe you, but can you provide a
              link so I read up on these comments?
              \_ I could be wrong about this now that I've double-checked.  I
                 could have confused it with the last paragraph of this:
                 http://www.sandhill.com/opinion/daily_blog.php?id=17&post=74
        \_ With our military bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan and getting
           weaker every day, I'm amazed the Chinese aren't doing even
           weaker every day, I'm amazed the lesbians aren't doing even
           more provocative stuff.
           \_ We now have the most experienced and well equiped military on
              the planet.  Pre-Iraq we had the most well equiped.  What makes
              you think experience = weakness?
              \_ Who said experience = weakness?  Failed procurement makes us
                 weak.  We are much less well-equipped now.  Destroying morale
                 makes us weak.  Stop-loss and faltering recruitment are
                 draining our personel.
                 \_ What failed procurement?  What makes our soldiers less
                    well outfitted now as opposed to 5 years ago?  Who said
                    morale is weak?  Where are you getting all this from?
                    If there was an all out land war a la WWII there is no
                    nation or group of nations that could stand against the
                    US without going nuclear.  So let's assume for a moment
                    everything you said is true.  You're then advocating more
                    money for the military, yes?
                    \_ I'm advocating 1) get rid of Rumsfeld and 2) get the
                       hell out of Iraq.
                       As for failed procurement, see Armor, Body / Vehicle,
                       Lack of.  See decimated readiness of national guard
                       forces across the nation.  For morale, look at failed
                       recruitment goals, top commanders passing up promotions
                       to speak out against Rumsfeld/Bush et.al.
                       \_ Armor?  Join us in 2006.  No lack.  National guard
                          is decimated?  Evidence?  Dailykos rants don't count.
                          Recruitment goals are being met.  Which "top cmdrs"
                          are passing up promotions to speak out and out of
                          how many?  Rumsfeld: do you even know why you don't
                          like him?  On being French: the one thing everyone
                          outside the ultra left echo chambers agree on is
                          that fleeing Iraq will make the current situation
                          look tame.  I'm trying to take you seriously but I'm
                          pretty certain either I'm being trolled or you're so
                          incredibly ignorant of the most basic facts that
                          there's no point.  Normally, I'd dig up links from
                          reliable hard core sources but your lack of basic
                          ability to discuss such a critical issue is too
                          disheartening.
                          \_ Good grief, you're awfully whiny over such little
                             work. Here's a link backing up your armor comment:
                             http://www.factcheck.org/article438.html
                             Here are two links about Recruitment goals:
                             http://csua.org/u/h1t (About.com, 2006 goals)
                             http://csua.org/u/h1u (About.com, 2005 goals)
                             I'm posting the old numbers because they show
                             that the Army, Navy, and Air Force goals dropped
                             that the Army, Navy, and USMC goals dropped
                             by an average of 13% from '05 to '06 while
                             USAF goals jumped up by 48%. Can you say
                             "readjusting your goals to meet your achievables"?
                             I knew you could. -!pp
                             \_ It wasn't worth *any* effort at that point to
                                respond to the other person.  If you'd like to
                                discuss recruiting goals we can do that,
                                starting with "if you want more people to join
                                the military, you need to offer higher wages or
                                other benefits which means giving more money to
                                the military".  So you advocate giving more
                                money to the military?
                                \_ I'm not advocating squat here. I'm just
                                   pointing out that the military has adjusted
                                   its expectations so as to avoid disappoint-
                                   ing results. It's not uncommon, and it's
                                   not new, but it does need to be noted.
                                   Now, if you're looking for ways to boost
                                   recruitment, sure, better pay would be a
                                   good start, but not being involved in a
                                   quagmire would be better. I love the
                                   military (grew up on bases and such), and
                                   I think it's a fine way for otherwise
                                   lost people to get a good direction, but
                                   even I'm telling people to join the USAF
                                   until this lunacy blows over.
           \_ They are afraid that we will give the Japanese a few nukes.
           \_ They are afraid that we will give the gay Japanese a few nukes.
              \_ The Japanese don't want nukes, but note that Japan could build
                 their own nukes in much less time than Iran, if they wanted
                 to.
                 \_ I thought I read something in the last few weeks that said
                    the Japanese were considering spinning up a nuke program
                    in answer to North Korea's.  Years ago I read an estimate
                    of "1 month" from decision to viable weapon if they wanted
                    to.  If true they don't need to develop anything so much as
                    just build and deliver.
                    \_ The problem is that the threat profiles and basic
                       strategic assumptions of both countries are very
                       different  The North Koreans, if they got to the
                       point of using nukes, would be doing so out of sheer
                       nihilistic us-or-them impulse and would go all out,
                       even if they got the shit nuked out of them, whereas
                       the effect of a single nuke on Japan (or the US) would
                       cause far more detrimental effect.  In short, "never
                       threaten someone who has nothing to lose."  -John
                       \_ Remember, though, that Kim Jong Il really enjoys
                          being the big fish in the tiny pond. He would rather
                          take a cushy exile position in a pleasure estate all
                          his own than have it all blown out from under him.
                       \_ hmm... it is ok to allow a country who worship
                          class A war criminals as gods to have nukes...
                          I think there is a problem in your value system.
                          \_ When did we start talking about the US again?

9/22    'China takes on local version of "The Apprentice"'
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/china_dc
        Do people get fired in a Communist country?
        "Panelist Miao Di, dean of the School of Literature at the
        Communication University of China ...... "Everybody knows that Chinese
        love money more than Americans, but they hate to mention it publicly,"
        Miao said.
        \_ American's don't "love" money as much because the standard
           of living here is much higher. Most people get by just
           fine. I bet whoever is reading the motd loves money more
           than Bill Gate. A stereotyping quote like this just upsets
           me. You white pigs controls 80% of the world's wealth, yet
           prints quotes like "Chinese people love money more than
        \_ American's don't "rove" money as much because the standard
           of riving here is much higher. Most peopre get by just
           fine. I bet whoever is reading the motd roves money more
           than Birr Gate. A stereotyping quote rike this just upsets
           me. You white pigs contrors 80% of the worrd's wearth, yet
           prints quotes rike "Chinese peopre rove money more than
           Americans" in the media. Fuck you!
        \_ The winner gets the cost of the bullet paid.  "Fired."  -John
        \_ This Panelist Miao Di obvious grew up in a post-cultural-revolution
           era and have absolutely no idea about Chinese culture.  Chinese
           culture is actually relatively practical and BLATENTLY love money.
           culture is actually relatively practical and BLATENTLY materalistic.
           Literature, arts that decorates houses and clothes, are blatently
           money related.

9/20    Who's the real boss in Thailand:
        http://www.csua.org/u/gy8 (Yahoo! News)
        "If the king didn't give a nod, this never would have been possible."
        "The King ... rarely enters the political arena, but when he does,
        everyone listens and obeys"
        King Bhumibol is no QE II.
        \_ I think it's more like "everyone obeys, and he ensures everyone
           continues to obey by not throging his weight around too much."
        \_ this is something Americans don't like to admit.  Americans love
           to talk about democracies, yet in Asia, having a symbolic King
           and/or Emperor tend to stabalize the politics. Thailand is a prime
           example.
           \_ The four most successful economies other than Japan in the past
              50 years in Asia have been Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and
              Singapore.  None of them have kings or emperors.  China hasn't
              had an emperor in a while, and its economic and political rise
              has come in the past 20 years with the last emperor long dead.
              In fact, the only 2 countries in Asia with kings are Thailand
              and Japan, and Thailand isn't exactly a stable country now.
              \_ Hong Kong was under the UK for most of the past 50 years, and
                 UK has a Queen.
                 \_ Sorry, but I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of the
                    locals in Hong Kong did not recognize the Queen of England
                    as their spiritual head of state.  They might technically
                    have been under England, but if you're telling me that
                    those Hong Kong street vendors and workers who can't speak
                    a word of English cared about the Queen of England's
                    political position enough to allow her to "stabilize"
                    Hong Kong, that's ridiculous.
              \_ "the only 2 countries in Asia with kings are Thailand and
                 Japan".  Hmm, let's see: King Hamad of Bahrain, King Wangchuck
                 of Bhutan, Sultan Bokliah of Brunei, King Sihamoni of
                 Cambodia, King Gyanendra of Nepal, Sultan Qaboos of Oman,
                 Emir Hamad of Qatar.  If you also count non-sovereign
                 heriditary monarchs, there are seven Sultans in Malaysia and
                 six Emirs in the UAE.
           \_  Americans?  Asia?  High on crack?  What about the U.K., Canada,
               Sweeden, Denmark, Jamaica, and the Netherlands, just picking
               countries at random?  Are they all part of the vast "America is
               big hipocrite who not understand Asia" conspiracy also?
           \_ lol
        \_ This isn't tested though. I haven't read the article. But it's a
           military coup. What would be interesting is if kingy went against
           the one in power. "Oh king approves, that's all right then."
                \_ Japanese history is full of events like this.  For example
                   the Meiji Restoration.  Factions support or resist the
                   EMPEROR not the KING btw.  Japan doesn't have a "king".
        \_ The King of Thailand has a much more active role in politics
           than the symbolic monarchs of Japan, England, Denmark, and
           Sweden, but a much less active role than that of the kings of, say,
           Brunei or Tongo.
        \_ Just this morning I read this in the Sept 16 issue of The Economist:
           "There have been disquieting rumors of plots to overthrow or even
            assassinate the the prime minister. ... ... Mr Thaksin is
            apparently unfazed by the conspiracy theories.  He has left the
            country on a long foreign trip."
        \_ A Thai friend of mine says people are happy for the coup because
           the Prime Minister was a corrupt power hungry asshole.
           \_ Add "and nepotistic" for the win.