"Words can be deleted, but the facts won't be deleted with them."
~ Ai Weiei



On June 13th, 2009, my wife and I were still living in the Chinese city of Changsha. After lunch, I turned on CCTV to catch up on the latest news. There on my TV screen were the CCTV news anchors discussing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory with a visiting Iranian Professor and a representative from the Iranian Embassy. A graphic crawl indicated that CCTV had scheduled ALL DAY extended coverage of the Iranian Election.

After about 20 minutes, the TV went black. Roughly two minutes later, a travel documentary started airing. No mention was made about why the station went dark or the sudden, unannounced change in programming. Curious, this blogger logged onto the internet and discovered that Iranians in Tehran were taking to the streets to protest the election results.

Economic sanctions against Iran? What sanctions? One member of the security council will continue doing business with the current Iranian Government (as well as the DPRK).

...dashboard Mao...

Jon Huntsman Criticizes Mitt Romney Over China Policy Despite Endorsement?
Read More...

It's all about selling SOAP?

Last July, Sarah Palin's documentary The Undefeated opened to an empty theater in Orange County, California (Read More). While on the surface, the movie's box office failure was rather humorous, unfortunately, a majority of journalists missed the point on why the film was released in the first place. It's the same reason that Newt Gingrich, despite his low approval ratings in every national poll, is still campaigning for President.  
When this blogger lived and worked in the People's Republic of China, I discovered that cigarettes and alcohol were used to bribe local government officials. Indeed, the central government actually monitors the sell of expensive cigarettes to gauge the level of corruption in different cities. While the average price per pack was LESS than a dollar, several brands from Yunnan Province cost more than $110s a cartoon. 

Why? Well, cigarettes are a form of hard currency which cannot be individually traced by the government. Thus, local officials accept cartoons of cigarettes, as bribes, without drawing the attention of the central government. 

Economic crimes, such as tax fraud and corruption, routinely appear among the criminal dockets of those given the death penalty. Read More...

Intead of cigarettes, in the United States, special interest groups purchase books and DVDs (in bulk) to support candidates who support their specific agenda. Sarah Palin is a paid political commentator for Faux News. She earns more than six figures a year just giving speeches. As long as she remains a political celebrity, she'll continue selling SOAP. While I have the deepest respect for Senator John McCain, somebody spiked his Kool-Aid in 2008 when he picked Palin as his running mate.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Says He Might Give $100M To Newt Gingrich Or Other Republican?
Read More...

Photo of CCP Building Art, Guangzhou, PRC (August 2008).
Going Rogue: An American Life (Hardcover)

Social Networking = The BORG. IF you're reading this message, you've been Assimilation!

Make your Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie 
before it's too late!

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."
~ Will Rogers
Chairman Mao Watch

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit Myanmar?

FACT: 14 countries physically border the People Republic of China.

Most Americans are unaware of China's unresolved border dispute with India and how this specific issue continues to impact the balance of power in Asia. Read More...

Additionally, in the view of this blogger (shared by an army of journalists and diplomats who actively pay attention to the extremely diverse regional dynamics of Asia), two of those countries, the DPRK (North Korea) and Myanmar are PROXY states of the CCP and the PLA. Any serious discussion or analysis regarding the economic or political future of Burma begins and ends within the gates of power in Beijing.
Read More...

While Clinton's upcoming diplomatic mission to this isolated state is a positive, regional development, folks need to remember that in 2000, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright undertook a similar journey to Pyongyang. With that said, unlike the DPRK, the people of Burma actually hold a wild card in the geopolitical game. Her name is Aung San Suu Kyi.

‎"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
~ Aung San Suu Kyi
Letters from Burma


State Visit Update:
(December 3, 2011)
Clinton allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi
Read More...

...perspective...

Image from interview on CCTV 9 (September 2008).

World History 101?

"Numerous politicians have seized absolute power and muzzled the press. Never in history has the press seized absolute power and muzzled the politicians."  ~ David Brinkley