Tag Archives: Propaganda

How Shanghai Saved the Jews

I spent National day in Shanghai with my family, our first leisure trip back since we lived there in 2007. Like Beijing, Shanghai has caught a serious case of fabulous in the past five years. The French Concession, already precious … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on How Shanghai Saved the Jews

Godzilla vs. the SARFT Monster

I’ve been watching a lot of Godzilla movies recently. This isn’t some kind of weird Cable TV accident, like stumbling onto “Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy” at 2AM when you have a microwave burrito in one hand and a vodka … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Godzilla vs. the SARFT Monster

Imagethief movie minute: Wolverines, oil wells and balls of marine brass

For sheer surreality you gotta love Hollywood. And I’m not even talking about the films. Two PR-worthy Hollywood moments to remark upon today. First, the imminent arrival of the needless remake of cold war teen action flick Red Dawn has … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Imagethief movie minute: Wolverines, oil wells and balls of marine brass

Unsolicited advice for Xinhua’s new CNC TV news outfit

To listen to people moan about the fact that China has sixty “Confucius Centers” in the US to America’s zilch-nada in China you’d think the Chinese were wrapping up hearts and minds around the planet while America gets relegated to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Unsolicited advice for Xinhua’s new CNC TV news outfit

A handy cheat sheet for interpreting the Google China story

Should Google have been in China? Did they make the right move in pulling out? Will this influence the Chinese government? What does it mean for foreign businesses in China? Are they evil or not? Who knows? Not me. And … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A handy cheat sheet for interpreting the Google China story

Consultants say hardened Chinese death-nerds are coming for your daughters

Yes, it’s true. Those Chinese death-nerds are everywhere. They’re in your bank account. They’re in the Pentagon. They’re sending naked pictures of themselves to your daughter. And they’re completely invulnerable to all known countermeasures! Or at least that’s the terrifying … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Consultants say hardened Chinese death-nerds are coming for your daughters

Chinese cyberspies? Sheer lies and heinous fabrications!

Alright, I confess I made up the “heinous fabrications” bit. But the “sheer lies” sound bite comes straight from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has clearly worked hard to make sure that its representatives around the world are working … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Chinese cyberspies? Sheer lies and heinous fabrications!

If you’re angry about Guns’n’Roses surely it must be 1991

Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the Global Times, the nationalist tabloid cousin to the staid People’s Daily, which has decided to get indignant about the new Guns’n’Roses album, “Chinese Democracy”. It’s not that the Chinese people don’t have … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on If you’re angry about Guns’n’Roses surely it must be 1991

Tibet and the trouble with unassailable national myths

Outside of Young Frankenstein there isn’t really any such thing as a “good time” for rioting, but this might be an especially bad time for China to have a bout of punishing ethnic unrest. It hasn’t really been a banner … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Tibet and the trouble with unassailable national myths

Was the China corruption website collapse story “newsiness”?

The greatest contribution that comedian Stephen Colbert has made to modern society is the concept of “truthiness”. Reading from the Wikipedia definition, truthiness is: …a satirical term to describe things that a person claims to know intuitively or “from the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Was the China corruption website collapse story “newsiness”?