China’s wobbly transition and How the US Misread China's Gov't

-So what else is new?
Perhaps when Chinese leaders began to speak over the past several years about a new “Beijing Consensus” and the triumph of the “China Model,” that was a warning that the bubble was about to burst. And we’re seeing that hubris play out now, as China’s leaders struggle with the greatest internal crisis since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

The Chinese middle class, whose rise has buttressed political stability, appears disgruntled. Social media in China are alive with complaints about product safety, food safety, air quality (described by U.S. officials as “crazy bad”) and widespread corruption. A crucial social force is increasingly disaffected, and the spread of new social media amplifies this discontent.

China’s wobbly leadership transition - The Washington Post:

Watch Traditional Chinese Instruments in an Orchestra Playing Korean Pop Songs!

-Yes, I'm Erhu 2nd chair. COMPLETE WITH A GONG AT THE END!!! 
Nanyang Polytechnic Chinese Orchestra - Beautiful

In collaboration with Esplanade
A Korean Pop Concert
K-ATTACK!
An Evening full of K-pop hits
Recorded at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

Arranger: Mr. Tan Kah Yong
Conductor: Mr. Mike Chiang

Become a fan on FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nanyang-Polytechnic-Chinese-Orchestra/115186113981
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nyp_co

Under the baton of its resident conductor, Mr Mike Chiang, the NYPCO aspires to achieve even greater heights of excellence each year, having won many accolades since its first foray into music festivals and competitions five years ago. Known for his bold artistic vision and fresh dynamic interpretations of classical Chinese music, Mr Chiang collaborated and struck notes with the NYPCO members to introduce western music, Chinese pop, evergreen songs and even Japanese and Korean pop pieces into the repertoire.

Recently in October 2010, the Orchestra's performance clip of a specially-arranged K-pop Medley was put on YouTube and amassed more than 28,000 views worldwide within a short space of time, making it the fourth most favorite music clip on YouTube for that month! Numerous international websites, including Korean sites, as well as local media, such as The New Paper, featured the success of this viral hit.

Thanks to the nurturing support endowed by the NYP management, the NYPCO has grown from strength to strength, giving the young performers new opportunities and inspiration to hone their musical talents and enrich their learning journey.

In 2007, the Orchestra competed internationally for the first time. At the Australian International Music Festival, the Orchestra set a new record in the Festival's 18-year history for being the first performing group to secure perfect scores from the entire panel of international adjudicators. They were subsequently invited to perform at the Festival's Command Performance at the Sydney Opera House to a standing ovation.

In 2011, the Orchestra clinched another gold medal at the 2011 Asia Pacific Chinese Music Exchange and Competition in Taiwan, despite facing tough competition from Chinese Orchestras from Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The competition was adjudicated by a panel of nine eminent composers, Chinese classical musicians and renowned academics from around the region. NYPCO received the highest marks allocated in the competition.

Students and alumni members of the NYPCO are also privileged to be able to walk the distance in dedicating their musical talents to worthy causes by performing in charity events for the less fortunate. These include performances staged for the Chinese Development Assistance Council's Ready for School Project as well as fund-raising projects in aid of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation and the PAP Community Foundation.

http://youtu.be/yjGwcgDWyGg

New Plateaus in China - Brandon Ferdig's Trip to China in Book Form on Kickstarter!

-SUPPORT THIS Minnesotan!!! 

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Hello folks,

I'm a writer from Minneapolis named Brandon Ferdig. This project is an book/eBook combo about my year in China. I did campaign for this project in February, but fell shy of my goal, and by Kickstarter guidelines you either reach your goal or you get nothing. So here's the Sophomore effort that has taken out all the kinks. 

I moved abroad to gain a more objective view of humanity from outside my culture, and with this in mind, started my blog "New Plateaus" upon my arrival to China. Popular throughout my stay, I used my blog as a jumping off point for this book. But rather than a chronology, this book explores the themes that kept revealing themselves throughout the year--in different settings, in different capacities.

An example was education. My experiences teaching children, visiting universities, and educating factory workers provided a fresh look at education as China addresses it, as America addresses it, and as an endeavor itself.

This book offers seven themes--seven plateaus that were ascended--helping to relate better with the world via these heightened perspectives.

But don't worry. This book isn't too deep.

This book is also just plain interesting because it offers you a look at China from someone on the ground. Living there, I encountered some very weird sights, but just as cool was the everyday: buying a paper, ordering a meal.

All good stuff as China is more and more a world player, yet the news is the only place most ever get to hear about it. 

The book is just plain fun as I got very involved with life there both as a participant--as seen on the video--and by getting to know the citizens.

From the skyscrapers of Hong Kong to rolling hills of Henan province, from a factory worker to a university student, from the disabled person on the street to people I'd meet on the bus, the intriguing and entertaining lives I encountered and stories I heard taught me so much about their lives, and as a result, ours in America as well.

And that's what this book is about--learning about the world & learning about ourselves.

Finally, the eBook will take steps in technology by incorporating footage of my year and also by offering links to related content. There will also be opportunity for you, the reader, to comment or ask questions as you read. Imagine that: getting to ask the author questions on the spot!  : )

But whether a black and white eReader, a tablet, a smart phone, laptop, desktop, or the paperback, the content within will help you see China, America, and yourself in a new light.

I'm excited to have used my time and abilities to bring the world to you. But I need help to finish the process. 

I am self-publishing the book, have hired an editor to help me arrange all my material, and am using a service to design and distribute the eBook. Here is the breakdown of the costs:

$1,530 for my editor who helped me arrange all my writings and proofread all my drafts.

$850 for a final editing. I'd really like to hire another editor to read and offer feedback once the manuscript is complete. 

$2,090 for an initial printing. 

_____________________________________

Total: $4,470  

I'm hoping for $1,500. But as I'm relying on my own savings for the rest, I'd certainly welcome anything over that!

Thank you so much for reading this and considering helping my project come to life. 

-Brandon

p.s. Kickstarter requires you to pay via Amazon. Like Paypal, it is an intermediary that handles the transaction. If you don't have an Amazon account, you will need to sign up for one. But hey, look at the bright side, now you can get all those books you've been meaning to read: ) 

Elderly Chinese 'Rambo' Blocks Developers with Molotov Cocktails and Booby Traps -Also Chinese Suicide Bombers!

-He's got Camo and all!!! 

A hard-headed pensioner is standing in the way of a £350million development - by refusing to move out of his one-bed flat.

Zou Mingcan, 70 - from Kunming, Yunnan province, southern China - has declared war on the builders and has rigged his sixth floor flat with a series of home-made weapons and booby traps.

Sporting a military camouflage uniform, Zou stands guard on the roof with a terrifying array of Molotov cocktails, bricks and rocks which he pelts the developers with.

In revenge, builders crushed his car and left it flattened outside the apartment block on an island of land.

Planners claim they warned Zou nearly a year ago that the apartment block was scheduled for demolition as part of a huge expansion of the city's upmarket housing district.

"I used to be a builder so I know all their tricks. They won't get me out of here until they pay me proper compensation. I know how much my flat is worth to them so they might as well pay up," said Zou.

Elderly 'Rambo' blocks developers | Orange UK:

Rambo III Best Line EVER!

http://youtu.be/g3bUicXNWz4


What Does a Suicide Bombing Say about Unrest in China? | World Affairs Journal: 

Last Thursday, a Chinese suicide bomber killed three bystanders in a protest over the forced seizure of the bomber’s home by a local government in Qiaojia County, in southwestern Yunnan Province. According to local newspaper reports, the bomber was a woman from Pingzi, a village in the mountainous Baihetan township, who wrapped explosives in the clothes of her 15-month-old baby and detonated them while inside a government office that had demanded she sign over her land. Two of the dead were officials. Sixteen others were injured.

The authorities in Qiaojia initially refused to admit the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber and promised to find and punish the perpetrator. The government also set up a taskforce to investigate.

The official Xinhua News Agency has been more forthcoming. It nowacknowledges that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber but claims the perpetrator was a 26-year-old male, Zhao Dengyong. Authorities say they found Zhao’s DNA at the office and have footage of him arriving at the scene.

What Does a Suicide Bombing Say about Unrest in China? | World Affairs Journal:

8 Photos of Xi Jinping Looking at things from the Tumblr

-Classic! 

Looking at Canned Food.


Looking at Merkel's autograph.


Looking at an American Baby.


Looking important.


Looking at a kilt.


Looking at a Machines part.


Looking at sprouts.


Looking at minority's bounty.

Tons more Xi Jinping looking at things.
There is also a Barack Obama Looking at things... but waaaaaay Cooler.  (not.)

From New York Mag. Obama Feigning interest in Mundane Things.

The Million Dollar Crocodile Official Teaser Trailer 百万巨鳄

-Looks silly. 

The Million Dollar Crocodile Official Teaser Trailer #1 (2012) Chinese Movie HD

Xiao Xing, a general little boy lives in little town, Mei Jia Wu, is his in grade four. He has a best friend named Amao, who is an eight-meters long crocodile. They get alone with each other, peacefully.

Many years, Amao has been living in a local crocodile farm ran by tough Bald Liu who caught Amao from Thailand. But this year, Bald Liu has to sell all the crocodiles cause the poor management. Unfortunately, the notorious tricky businessman Zhao Da Zui bought them all for developing a series crocodile meals. When the crocodiles are going to be killed by slaughters, Amao pulled apart the ropes angrily, and lead all crocodiles fighting for their lives and killed the chef and escaped.
This incident breaks the little town, Mei Jia Wu's quiet and easy life. Xiao Xing and his father Da Wei Wang were all involved.

http://youtu.be/6CzGtyZE93M

Best YouTube Comment:

The Crocodile got tired of eating Americans, so it's eating Asian now.

Monteagudoman77 

New Andy Lau Movie "Switch" A Spy, Insurance Agent, Japanese Gangster and a Mysterious Woman

-I love that "Mysterious Woman." FUNNY! 

Switch Official International Trailer #1 (2012) - Andy Lau Action Movie HD

The action/spy movie "Switch" tells an intriguing story involving two men and two women. Special agent Xiao Jinhan (Andy Lau) and insurance company employee Lin Yuyan (Zhang Jingchu) are on a mission to protect the world-famous drawing "Fu Chun Shan Ju Tu", which is the target of a Japanese gangster (Tong Dawei). Taiwan sweetheart Lin Chi-ling portrays a mysterious women in the film.

http://youtu.be/KB98AlAaBeo

Watch how Chinese Students Prepare for their University Entrance Exam 决战高考，抓紧复习

-Every student is embarrassed. 

http://youtu.be/KSKcZ61A-uA

SHOCKING US Media: Read what they say about Chinese Solar Panel Tariffs and Read what it REALLY means

-Really very sad... 

Patrick Henry: A Patriot, against Excessive
Taxes and all that. Famous for saying
"Give me Liberty or Give me Death."

From the New York Times:

The United States on Thursday announced the imposition of antidumping tariffs of more than 31 percent on solar panels from China.

The move by the Commerce Department is certain to infuriate Chinese officials already upset after recent bilateral frictions over China’s human rights policies and its increasingly confrontational approach toward American allies like the Philippines and Japan.

The antidumping decision is among the biggest in American history, covering one of the largest and fastest-growing categories of imports from China, the world’s largest exporter

SolarWorld Industries America, which led the coalition of manufacturers that filed the solar dumping case, welcomed the department’s ruling. The decision “is a very positive step in the process. It’s also in line with what we expected,” said Ben Santarris, a company spokesman. “We consider this a bellwether case. It underscores the importance of manufacturing to the U.S. economy.”

U.S. Slaps Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels - NYTimes.com:

From CARPE DIEM rewriting what the NYT really means:

"The United States Commerce Department said Thursday that it has decided to impose tariffs (taxes) of more than 31 percent onAmericans who purchase solar panels imported from China, after concluding that Chinese producers had generously“dumped” lowered the prices of solar panels on the American market for to less than it costs to manufacture and ship them,saving Americans millions of dollars. 


SolarWorld Industries America, which led the coalition special interest cartel of domestic solar manufacturers that filed the solar dumping case, welcomed the department’s ruling. The anti-consumer decision “is a very positive step in the process. It’s also in line with what we expected as a special interest group of domestic producers seeking protection from global competition,” said Ben Santarris, a company spokesman. “We consider this a bellwether case of the government protecting the self-interest of domestic producers seeking protection against foreign competitors. It underscores the importance of manufacturing special interest groups to the U.S.economy Congress seeking to increase political power, votes and support by catering to concentrated special interests."


CARPE DIEM: Only People Pay Taxes, Not Solar Panels; Commerce Slaps 31% Tax on U.S. Consumers:

Author of "Out of the Blue" and "Red China Blues" Jan Wong On Her Battle With Depression

-It's depressing to write about the Cultural Revolution. 

In her book "Out of the Blue", Jan Wong describes her spiral into depression and her struggle to come to terms with the diagnosis.

http://youtu.be/wGUDexQJtJs

Out of the Blue: A Memoir of Workplace Depression, Recovery, Redemption and, Yes, Happiness

At the height of her career in journalism, Jan Wong's world came crashing down. A story she wrote on a school shooting sparked a violent backlash, including death threats. Her newspaper failed to stand by her, and for the first time in her life she spiraled into clinical depression. She found herself unable to write, but the paper's management thought she was feigning illness, and fired her. Her insurer rejected her claim of depression, and her publisher refused to publish this book.

Out of the Blue is a memoir unlike any other. It is the surreal, wrenching, sometimes hilarious, and ultimately triumphant story of one woman's struggle to come to terms with depression.

Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now

Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at the height of the Cultural Revolution. A true believer--and one of only two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University--her education included wielding a pneumatic drill at the Number One Machine Tool Factory. In the name of the Revolution, she renounced rock & roll, hauled pig manure in the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the United States. She also met and married the only American draft dodger from the Vietnam War to seek asylum in China.

Red China Blues is Wong's startling--and ironic--memoir of her rocky six-year romance with Maoism (which crumbled as she became aware of the harsh realities of Chinese communism); her dramatic firsthand account of the devastating Tiananmen Square uprising; and her engaging portrait of the individuals and events she covered as a correspondent in China during the tumultuous era of capitalist reform under Deng Xiaoping. In a frank, captivating, deeply personal narrative she relates the horrors that led to her disillusionment with the "worker's paradise." And through the stories of the people--an unhappy young woman who was sold into marriage, China's most famous dissident, a doctor who lengthens penises--Wong reveals long-hidden dimensions of the world's most populous nation.

In setting out to show readers in the Western world what life is like in China, and why we should care, she reacquaints herself with the old friends--and enemies of her radical past, and comes to terms with the legacy of her ancestral homeland.

CBS TV: Lucy Liu Stars as Joan Watson in a Modern Day Sherlock Holmes Remake: "Elementary" - Behind the Scenes Preview

-Joan Watson? Nobody believes a Chinese woman's family name is WATSON. 

Go behind the scenes of 'Elementary' starring Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Watch this fall, only on CBS!

http://youtu.be/yrDVSxNycKc

Chinese Buy 15 Million New Cars Per Year, 40K Per Day, Now a Wind-Powered Car?

-Wind-Powered Car 'Could Cut China's Smog' 

A Chinese farmer has invented a wind-powered electric car that he says could save his country from the pollution caused by its rapidly growing car market.  An hour from Beijing, the dusty village of Banjiehe looks an unlikely place to produce scientific innovation.  Its rows of brick, utilitarian houses are surrounded by cornfields and fruit trees.  But in a small tractor workshop, 55-year-old farmer Tang Zhenping has invented the prototype of a car that he believes could revolutionise China's auto industry.

Mr Tang's model - built in just three months for around £1,000 - is electric.  Its engine uses scrap parts from a motorcycle and electric scooter, while its steering wheel, upholstery and headlights all come from a Chinese-made Xiali hatchback.  But what makes the one-seater special is the turbine on its nose.  When the car reaches 40mph, the blades spring into action and begin generating pollution-free power.  "It works just like a windmill," said Mr Tang, who claims the turbine gives his vehicle three times the battery life of other electric cars.

The model has a top speed of 70mph.  The farmer says he dreamed of building an electric car for three decades, but was unable to interest government officials or private investors.  He now hopes car manufacturers will take an interest in his prototype.  "I'm not doing this just for the money," he told Sky News. "I dream of seeing my car being driven on highways. I want to serve the people."

In 2009, China overtook the US as the world's biggest auto market.  An estimated 40,000 new cars take to the country's roads every day, and some predict China could have a billion passenger vehicles by the middle of this century.  The environmental results are horribly predictable.  A 2010 Chinese government report said an increase in acid rain, haze and photochemical smog was caused by growth in vehicle emissions.

The government has promised to put five million electric and hybrid cars on the road by 2020, and is heavily subsidising the development of cleaner vehicles.  But sales so far have been disappointing. According to The Economist, only 8,000 were sold last year.

Experts say that Chinese electric cars do not perform well and are expensive to run.  Mr Tang thinks his speedy, wind-powered model could be a solution to both problems.  "I started building it because I was worried about the price of petrol," he said. "But this car could also protect the environment. When I go to the city now I notice that the air really stinks."

http://youtu.be/nQGvXx4rfUY

Watch these Chinese Graduates from Zhejiang University do a choreographed Dance Performance. 浙江大学机自0803毕业季最炫民族风

-Why don't our graduates do this kind of thing??? 

http://youtu.be/u7rf5GJdCe4

US Political Ads Reveal Stimulus Money went to China, Independents Moved, Democrats Object

-You just wish they would do this much research on Obama's record... 

AD NARRATOR [video clip]: Washington promised to create American jobs if we passed their stimulus. But that's not what happened. Fact: 80 percent of taxpayer dollars spent on green energy went to jobs in foreign countries. The Obama administration admitted the truth: that $2.3 billion of tax credits went overseas, while millions of Americans can't find a job. $1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico. Half a billion to a car company that moved American jobs to Finland. And $39 million to build traffic lights in China. President Obama wasted $16 billion on risky investments.

HANNITY: All right. Now, I remember dial ads going as high as 90. Why do you say this is the best one? Is it because the difference between GOP and Democrat is not that great?

LUNTZ: No. Americans for Prosperity figured out that it's not just the emotional reaction to the ad. Does it actually change someone's mind? And we've been going, Sean, to Ohio, to Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, Florida. These are the -- Colorado, Nevada. These are the swing states. And when we showed that ad, the reaction afterward was, "That's what bothers me about Washington, and that's what bothers me about President Obama." It was fact-based, not assertions. You see the facts come up on the screen. There's specific numbers, Sean. Americans for Prosperity unlocked the key -- in this case -- unlocked the key to what makes an independent voter move against Barack Obama, and it's wasteful Washington spending, helping the Chinese, not hard-working American taxpayers. [Fox News, Hannity, 5/9/12]

CHINESE STREET LIGHTS

PolitiFact: Street Lights Were Assembled In U.S. For Domestic Use, But Some Components Were Manufactured In China. Examining a similar claim made in a nearly identical AFP ad, PolitiFact wrote:

As the ad's narrator talks about China, the words, "Stimulus money pays for street, traffic lights ..." "in China ..." appear on the screen, over an image of a traffic light that's slowly layered with the deep red and yellow of the Chinese flag.

The ad was clearly suggesting U.S.-funded lights on Chinese streets. It wasn't until we pulled up the Tribune-Review article we realized the ad's claim could be heard another way.

Oh! Lights built in China, for American streets.

But even that clarification didn't get us to the complete story.

The Tribune-Review article, by Lou Kilzer, a reporter who has won Pulitzer prizes forinvestigative reporting and public service, digs into grant money -- not tax credits, as the ad claimed -- awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It says that tens of millions of stimulus dollars went to replace streetlights and traffic lights across the country with energy-efficient versions -- "made mostly in Asia."

The reason? Certain components of those energy-efficient street and traffic lights, such as light-emitting diodes or LEDs, weren't available in large enough quantities from U.S. manufacturers back in 2010, so the Energy Department issued a waiver to the Recovery Act's "Buy America" provision for those parts. [PolitiFact, 5/3/12]

PolitiFact: AFP's Claim About Chinese Street Lights Is "Mostly False." From the PolitiFact article:

It is clear that the "tens of millions" reflects spending for American-assembled lights that included varying amounts of foreign-made components. But it's an exaggeration to say they were built in China.

None of this evidence supports the strong suggestion in the ad that Americans paid for streetlights on roads in China, or even that they paid to build streetlights in China. Instead, for less than a year, stimulus funds could be used to buy products that used components produced in other countries, including China.

Our ruling

We watched this ad and imagined Chinese street corners with shiny new American-funded traffic lights.

The reality is nearly the opposite: American cities, counties and states bought and installed new energy-efficient street and traffic lights with stimulus grants. Many of those lights contained foreign components, including some from China, but it's simply not clear how much stimulus money went toward those parts during the eight months it was allowed.

The ad's claim has a tiny sliver of truth, but it pairs words and images to create an altogether different impression. We'll have to put the brakes on this traffic light claim, and rate it Mostly False. [PolitiFact, 5/3/12]

Wash. Post: "The Lights Were Assembled In The United States." From The Washington Post:

Americans for Prosperity also asserts that the stimulus bill sent "tens of millions of dollars to build traffic lights in China." The source is the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, but again, the article was much more nuanced. The traffic lights are for the United States market, but the article noted that there is a shortage of American-made light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, so parts are sourced overseas while the lights were assembled in the United States. [The Washington Post, 4/30/12]

FactCheck.org: One Signal Maker "Relocated Some Of Its Manufacturing From Mexico To The U.S." From FactCheck.org, discussing a similar claim made in a nearly identical AFP ad:

Last, the ad claims the stimulus included "tens of millions of dollars to build traffic lights in China." The Department of Energy did spend tens of millions through the stimulus to build and install energy efficient traffic lights around the U.S. Back in February 2010, the department granted a waiver to the stimulus' Buy American requirement with regard to the LED lights that go inside traffic signals after the assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) determined there was insufficient availability in the U.S. to meet demand. A Pittsburgh Tribune Review investigation found most of those components were being purchased from Asia.

However, that waiver was withdrawn on Dec. 1, 2010, after the EERE learned that at least one manufacturer of LED traffic signals relocated some of its manufacturing from Mexico to the U.S., and that the plant had the capability to satisfy the demand from stimulus fund recipients. In November 2010, the Department of Energy reported that Dialight Corp., an LED lighting manufacturer with U.S. corporate offices in Farmingdale, N.J., and a parent company based in the U.K., invested nearly $3 million to renovate its production facility in Roxboro, N.C. The Roxboro plant hired 100 people to engineering, management and direct labor positions. [FactCheck.org, 5/2/12]

Expat Taxes: Democrats want to harm Americans living abroad, tax them, not allow them to return!?

-Truly Unbelievable... Typical Democrat Progressives... 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has a status update for Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin: Stop attempting to dodge your taxes by renouncing your U.S. citizenship or never come to back to the U.S. again.

In September 2011, Saverin relinquished his U.S. citizenship before the company announced its planned initial public offering of stock, which will debut this week. The move was likely a financial one, as he owns an estimated 4 percent of Facebook and stands to make $4 billion when the company goes public. Saverin would reap the benefit of tax savings by becoming a permanent resident of Singapore, which levies no capital gains taxes.

At a news conference this morning, Sens. Schumer and Bob Casey, D-Pa., will unveil the “Ex-PATRIOT” – “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” – Act to respond directly to Saverin’s move, which they dub a “scheme” that would “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”

The senators will call Saverin’s move an “outrage” and will outline their plan to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin even after they flee the United States and take up residence in a foreign country. Their proposal would also impose a mandatory 30 percent tax on the capital gains of anybody who renounces their U.S. citizenship.

The plan would bar individuals like Saverin from ever reentering the United States again.

Senators to Unveil the ‘Ex-Patriot Act’ to Respond to Facebook’s Saverin’s Tax ‘Scheme’ - ABC News:

Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey plan to confiscate Eduardo Saverin's money anyway. tcrn.ch/Mo01bS

— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) May 17, 2012

Bernie Madoff Pal Chuck Schumer Wants to Penalize Facebook Co-Founder for Fleeing Onerous Taxati... bit.ly/LfjhsK #twisters #tcot

— Snarky Basterd (@Snarky_Basterd) May 17, 2012

Chuck Schumer introduces expatriot tax. Since he wants his Facebook money. Good luck with that Chuck.

— Liz T. Goddess (@BlondHousewife) May 17, 2012

Chuck Schumer wants to make the US into a gulag.Seriously he would make a perfect Ayn Rand villain #tcot #cvn zerohedge.com/news/schumer-i…

— M Jacobs (@libneocon) May 17, 2012

There is something definantly wrong with Chuck Schumer. This guy is not right. The elevator doesn't go to the top floor for sure.

— savetheusa (@savetheusa) May 17, 2012

Stories about Chuck Schumer make me want to revolt.

— Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 17, 2012

The animal Schumer and Bob Casey want to punish those who renounce citizenship with an "Ex-Patriot" tax. Why not just forbid travel abroad?

— Gerald J Hanchulak (@Jerryhanch) May 17, 2012

UPDATE: Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Capitol Hill

Dear Sen. Casey and Sen. Schumer:
Irked that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship, you propose, with your “Ex-Patriot Act,” to punitively tax and to permanently bar from ever again entering America men and women who, to reduce their tax liabilities, renounce their citizenship in the U.S.

The very fact that sitting U.S. senators issue such a proposal – the sick reality that representatives of an allegedly free people act as if individuals are serfs bound to a master – the noxious yet proudly paraded assumption by American government officials that a peaceful man’s or woman’s freedom of movement can properly be restricted by a government jealous that it misses the opportunity to seize a huge chunk of that man’s or woman’s earnings – does nothing other than to confirm the wisdom and justice of Mr. Saverin’s decision.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030


Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge:

Bullying in the South China Sea: Filipinos Protesting

-Betraying his motherland! 

MANILA - Hundreds of Filipinos demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in the Philippines on Friday over an escalating territorial row, with the protesters denouncing China's rulers as arrogant bullies.

Waving national flags, the protesters called for Chinese ships to pull away from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea where both nations have had ships stationed for more than a month in an effort to assert their sovereignty.

"Our protest is directed at the overbearing actions and stance of the government in Beijing, which behaves like an arrogant overlord, even in the homes of its neighbours," said rally organiser Loida Nicholas Lewis.

During the peaceful, hour-long rally by about 300 people, the protesters carried placards that read: "China stop bullying the Philippines", "Make Peace Not War", and "China, Stop Poaching in Philippine Waters".

Organisers of the protest in Manila said similar rallies were planned at other Chinese embassies around the world on Friday, including in the United States and Canada.

The territorial row centres on Scarborough Shoal, a tiny rocky outcrop in the South China Sea about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines' main island of Luzon.

The Philippines says the shoal is part of its territory because it falls within its exclusive economic zone.

But China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop huge oil and gas reserves, as its historical territory, even waters close to the coasts of other Asian countries.

The nearest major Chinese landmass to Scarborough Shoal is 1,200 kilometres northwest of the shoal, according to Filipino navy maps.

Editorials in newspapers controlled by the ruling Communist Party have repeatedly warned that China is prepared to go to war against the Philippines to end the stand-off.

Chinese authorities also this week ordered tour operators to suspend trips to the Philippines, in what Filipinos have widely interpreted as a form of economic blackmail.

Protesters at Friday's Manila rally said China's actions over Scarborough Shoal should send a worrying signal to other Asian countries about their giant neighbour.

"We just want the international community to understand that if, today, they can do it to the Philippines, they can also bully the other claimants too," said one of the co-organisers of the rally, Jackson Gan.

Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia also claim parts of the South China Sea.

The rival claims have for decades made the waters one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

More than 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed in 1988 when China and Vietnam battled for control of the Spratlys, an archipelago south of Scarborough Shoal.

China's foreign ministry reacted angrily to the Manila protest, accusing the Philippine government of encouraging it.

"It is a wrong action that complicates and magnifies the situation," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing.

"We once again urge the Philippine side... not to take action that will escalate the situation."

Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, told reporters the government did not have a hand in organising the protest.

"It was a decision taken by private citizens who feel out of patriotism that they have to speak on the issue," Lacierda said, adding they were exercising their constitutional right to free expression and peaceful assembly.

www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1200623/1/.html

China’s Burgeoning Aviation Industry, Explained: China Airborne by James Fallows

China Airborne

More than two-thirds of the new airports under construction today are being built in China. Chinese airlines expect to triple their fleet size over the next decade and will account for the fastest-growing market for Boeing and Airbus. But the Chinese are determined to be more than customers. In 2011, China announced its Twelfth Five-Year Plan, which included the commitment to spend a quarter of a trillion dollars to jump-start its aerospace industry. Its goal is to produce the Boeings and Airbuses of the future. Toward that end, it acquired two American companies: Cirrus Aviation, maker of the world’s most popular small propeller plane, and Teledyne Continental, which produces the engines for Cirrus and other small aircraft.

In China Airborne, James Fallows documents, for the first time, the extraordinary scale of this project and explains why it is a crucial test case for China’s hopes for modernization and innovation in other industries. He makes clear how it stands to catalyze the nation’s hyper-growth and hyper- urbanization, revolutionizing China in ways analogous to the building of America’s transcontinental railroad in the nineteenth century. Fallows chronicles life in the city of Xi’an, home to more than 250,000 aerospace engineers and assembly workers, and introduces us to some of the hucksters, visionaries, entrepreneurs, and dreamers who seek to benefit from China’s pursuit of aerospace supremacy. He concludes by examining what this latest demonstration of Chinese ambition means for the United States and the rest of the world—and the right ways to understand it.

 China Airborne

French Fry Brother and the Noodle Dance

-What a bizarre combination. 

China & American French Fried Brother CNN Report Fareed Zakaria "Last Look " politics Educational .http://youtu.be/yav7XYQBVHo

This particular hot-pot restaurant in China makes noodles while dancing! They also give free manicures for girls and shoe shine for guys.

http://youtu.be/6hUx_rb6cQ0

6 Recent Late Night Jokes about Chinese Child Labor: Why is this funny again? @ConanOBrien has the most jokes.

Child not laboring but it looks like he is, so that's what we'll say. Photo from China Digital Times

Today is Bring Your Child to Work Day — or as it's known at the iPad factory in China, Bring Your Parents to Work Day. 
-Conan O'brien 

Today is the 20th annual Bring Your Child to Work Day — or as it's known in China, Thursday. 
-Jimmy Kimmel

Since Saturday, Apple has sold 3 million iPads. So to the Chinese workers who made them — juice boxes all around. Celebrate, kids. Be happy.  
-Conan O'brien

Today President Obama visited a factory in Wisconsin that brought back 100 jobs from China. It's got to be tough for the workers in China who lost those jobs — but kids always bounce back.  
-Jimmy Fallon

A mother in China gave birth to a 15-pound baby. Chinese officials say it's so big, it can do the work of two babies.  
-Conan O'brien

According to USA Today, more Chinese tourists are coming to America. They get to see things they've never seen before: the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, adults working in factories.  
-Jay Leno 

Watch a Rich Chinese Guy Smash his Ferrari GTO into a Taxi, Hitting a Motorcyclist

-Almost every Asian ethnicity! 


Help will be rendered to the family of the taxi driver killed in an accident involving his taxi, a Ferrari and a motorcycle along Rochor Road on May 12.

ComfortDelGro taxi driver Cheng Teck Hock, 52, was pronounced dead on May 13 after he succumbed to his injuries.

Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said Mr Cheng's family will have the cast-iron assurance that they will be provided with all necessary assistance.

Taxi-Ferrari crash late cabby's family to get help - Channel NewsAsia:

The last thing Muhammad Najib Ghazali saw before he was sent flying from his motorbike was the dislodged tyre of a taxi coming straight at him.

 "The taxi passenger has been identified as Shigemi Ito, a Japanese woman in her 20s who is believed to be living and working in Singapore, the Straits Times reported.

A young woman reportedly from China was with Ma in the Ferrari during the crash and she suffered head injuries and fractured her right leg.

“It was horrifying to see the tyre [of the taxi] right before my eyes, and after that I saw the taxi flip,” said the 26-year-old former dispatch rider."

‘The taxi went flying through the air’ - Yahoo! News Singapore:


"Police gave no other details but local media said the Ferrari driver was a financial adviser from Sichuan who was applying for permanent residency and already living in a Singapore penthouse with his family.
Disgruntled locals seized on the incident as another reason to attack the government's immigration policies and the presence of more than a million foreign workers and professionals in the crowded city-state."

AFP: Ferrari crash fuels Singapore anti-foreign sentiment: 

US Political Ads Using China: Dewhurst Vs. Cruz Vs. Addison and 5 Lies

-Caught "red handed" alluding to China. That's silly. 

Watch our ad exposing Ted Cruz's repeated lies about his role as the Counsel of Record for Shandong Linglong, a Chinese company that had already been found liable of stealing intellectual property from American businessman Jordan Fishman before Ted signed on as Counsel of Record.

Hiding from his record of putting profit above principles, now Ted Cruz is lying about Mr. Fishman and denying his role as the Counsel of Record for the Chinese blueprint thieves. The facts are clear: as a result of theft by the Chinese company and Ted Cruz's stall tactics, Jordan Fishman has been forced to lay off 90 percent of his workforce -- all American jobs -- leaving only Mr. Fishman and a part-time employee.

http://youtu.be/w8h1m9BqRV0

Ted Cruz and the Chinese Tire Company

Ted Cruz choose to represent a Chinese Tire Company that was convicted of stealing a tire concept from a 73 year old American Entrepreneur. The tire company is owned by the Communist Chinese Government. Intellectual property and patent theft are a major problem with the Chinese who have made it official government policy to undermine the manufacturing base of America.

http://youtu.be/GhDAc22ioCk

Dewhurst Lie #1:

Ted Cruz is “killing American manufacturing jobs.”

Truth:

This lawsuit has not impacted even a single American manufacturing job. In the 1990s, long before Mr. Fishman filed the lawsuit that David Dewhurst is trying to use to to smear Ted Cruz, Fishman moved his entire mining tire manufacturing to China. Fishman decided two decades ago to use Chinese labor, not American labor, to manufacture tires.

Dewhurst Lie #2:

This case is about an American company vs. a Chinese company.

Truth:

This is a lawsuit between two Chinese factories, both of which manufacture ties. All of Fishman’s mining tires are manufactured in China. He is partners with a Chinese company, GTC, which he stated under oath manufactures all of his tires. His company, he stated, does no manufacturing whatsoever.

Dewhurst Lie #3:

Jordan Fishman is an “American businessman and manufacturer.”

Truth:

While Jordan Fishman is himself an American, his business is not American. His company is based in the notorious tax haven of the Channel Islands in Europe. Fishman has been operating this business offshore for 30 years. It does not manufacture any products, and Fishman testified he spends as much as eight months a year in China running his Chinese factory.

Dewhurst Lie #4:

Ted supports and profits from “Chinese counterfeiting.”

Truth:

If you want to know Ted’s actual record on Chinese counterfeiting, look to a case he argued himself. Last year Ted represented a large manufacturer before the U.S. Supreme Court against a Chinese company that had stolen a U.S. patent. At Ted’s urging, the Court, 8-1, upheld a $5 million verdict against the Chinese counterfeiter and adopted a strict legal standard against those who misappropriate U.S. intellectual property..

Dewhurst Lie #5:

Ted is a “trial lawyer.”

Truth:

Ted is not a trial lawyer, a term that typically applies to plaintiffs’ lawyers who try cases to juries. Ted is an appellate lawyer—a lawyer who argues to courts of appeals and helps ensure that U.S. law is properly applied—and Morgan Lewis is representing the defendant, not the plaintiff, in this lawsuit.

there's 6 more lies...
Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate - Dewhurst’s China Lies:

Australia's Bob Carr in first official China visit, and Now

-They like Rudd because he can speak Chinese! 

Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr has used a visit to China to call for deeper economic ties between the two countries.

Senator Carr has spent the past few days in China and he says it is time to refresh and renew the relationship.

The foreign minister wants greater access for Australian business in China, and he says there is concern at home about the legal framework in the country for doing.

China correspondent Huey Fern Tay reports from Shanghai.

http://youtu.be/mozelQFeD4M

Bashing Bob Fu and the Dalai Lama? Religious Issues and Bashing the little guys

-The American Freedom of Speech mainly protects this kind of ignorance writing.  Two questions... What do YOU believe? and What have YOU done to help Chen Guangcheng? 

WARNING EXTREME NASTY LANGUAGE.

"That, in fact, is how Fu came to embrace Jesus: he approached American Christians when he was a student, and those Christians didn’t need much more of a signal from this wide-eyed Chinese boy to realize he was ready to be taken… taken by the hands of a holy man who bestows upon him that holy soul-healing light.

Fuck that.

Bob Fu is the worst type of Christian.  He is a bad Christian because his primary goal — at least as expressed through Foreign Policy — is to convert non-Christians.

....Years later, he learned that this “famous American evangelist” – whom I imagine is a fecal cousin of Jabba the Hutt, plopping handfuls of shit everywhere he walks, and those little shits growing up to be bigger shits, who in turn spawn shits of their own — circulated tens of thousands of his book, How to Speak in Tongues, causing a divide among those who speak in tongues and those who don’t (imagine fucking that!). And now Bob Fu says this man’s ministry “deeply hurt the cause of the Gospel in China.”

Huh."

» Bob Fu, Who Was Instrumental In Freeing Chen Guangcheng, Can Shut Up Now -- Beijing Cream:

Yet that's what this living god seems to think. Speaking in London yesterday (ahead of receiving this year's Templeton Prize today), the Dalai Lama showed just how little he understands the modern world when he said:

I always had the view that Englishmen were mature people, sensible people, law-abiding people.
If such things happen in developing countries it is quite understandable but in England that happened, I really felt ‘Oh’.

While there's something touching about his view of Englishmen, it does suggest he hasn't been reading the papers much for the past, ooh, five decades.

Why do people hear wisdom in the Dalai Lama's empty rhetoric and meaningless tautologies? – Telegraph Blogs:

Chinese TV Show: "心术 Angel Heart" the Chinese ER/Soap Opera

-Try to understand their Chinese through the sobbing.  

海外用户免费收看大陆视频节目
http://www.bigtvusa.com对于一些朋友所提到的片源质量的问题
我们尽量做到youtube系统弥补
并在获得高清视频后第一时间修改
sinapremium谢谢你们的关注 理解 和 支持！

http://youtu.be/o6en9xuw9x0

5 Chinese Cookbooks for the Amazon Kindle

-From Kung Pao Chicken to Fried Rice. 


77 Quick and Easy Chinese Food Recipes: How to Cook Chinese Food with Easy-to-Find Ingredients

In 77 Quick and Easy Chinese Food Recipes: How to Cook Chinese Food with Easy-to-Find Ingredients, Chef Wayne F. Fong puts together a collection of the most popular Chinese restaurant dishes, as well as some favorites from "The Old Country," like Sizzling Rice Soup and Jian Bing, or Chinese Crepes. Other recipes in this book include:

• Egg Rolls
• Hot and Sour Soup
• Spicy Beef Short Ribs
• Kung Pao Chicken
• Shrimp with Garlic
• Restaurant-Style Beef with Broccoli
• Peking Duck
• Sweet and Sour Pork
• And much, much more!
• Cook quick, easy, delicious Chinese Food for your family tonight!!

Ching's Chinese Food in Minutes

If you're hungry for good food but short on time you'll love Ching's quick and easy Chinese recipes. The bestselling author is the master of fresh flavours and simple ingredients and her collection of all-time favourites and exciting new dishes are a delight to cook and share. Why order a take-away when you can deliver your own in minutes?

With her bestselling cookbook, Chinese Food Made Easy, Ching quickly established herself as the new voice of Chinese cooking with her simple and delicious recipes. Ching’s brand new cookbook is packed with quick and easy recipes that you can make in 30 minutes or less. Bursting with flavour, deliciously healthy and nearly always made with everyday supermarket ingredients, her new collection of authentic Chinese recipes is destined to become another kitchen classic.

Chop Suey : A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States

According to food writer Coe, America's taste for Chinese tea goes back more than two centuries, and so does our confusion about the use of chopsticks. In this brief but ambitious volume, he chronicles the back-and-forth story of our relationship to the Middle Kingdom, its people and, above all, its food. Meals eaten by Americans in China in the early years of mercantilism and diplomacy (late 18th and early 19th century) were more European than Asian; the author dates the first record of an American eating indigenous Chinese food only to 1819. The gold rush and other expansionist projects brought thousands of Chinese to American soil along with their culture and their cuisine. Though xenophobia sometimes erupted as violent racism, public eating establishments in some cities began attracting the curious, and fads for such Westernized Chinese dishes as the eponymous stir-fry of the book's title swept urban populations. This short, dense history comes full circle with another American diplomatic mission: Nixon's historic 1972 banquet. Like its subject, the book is a little bit of a lot of different things at once—a solid and comprehensive sampling of a much larger topic.

Quick & Easy Chinese

Throw away that take-out menu and turn to one of the recipes in this wonderful new cookbook. Using readily available ingredients and a few simple techniques, Quick & Easy Chinese brings the delicious flavors of Asia into anyone's kitchen. Included are many familiar restaurant classics like Cashew Chicken, Hot and Sour Soup, and even Fortune Cookies—all simplified for easy home cooking. With a wide range of appetizers, soups, entrees, drinks, and desserts, Quick & Easy Chinese will bring everyone good fortune and good eating.


Fried Rice Made Easy (Chinese Homestyle Recipes)

American's #1 favorite Chinese food The ONLY fried rice cookbook on amazon kindle store. from #1 best-selling Chinese cookbook author - Ming Liu

Enjoy easy & delicious fried rice right at your finger tips all the ingredients are easy to find, the dishes are easy to make You will not find another fried rice cookbook elsewhere Scroll up and and click buy to start enjoying the very best Chinese fried rice!

Introducing #InstaChina: China + iPhone + Instagram = InstaChina. 5 Awesome Shots

-LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! 

In the beijing Rain

© 2012 Jens Schott Knudsen | blog.pamhule.com | Twitter: @jensschott

Beer

© 2012 Jens Schott Knudsen | blog.pamhule.com | Twitter: @jensschott

Lunch Break

© 2012 Jens Schott Knudsen | blog.pamhule.com | Twitter: @jensschott

Bell Tower

© 2012 Jens Schott Knudsen | blog.pamhule.com | Twitter: @jensschott

Centre Street

© 2012 Jens Schott Knudsen | blog.pamhule.com | Twitter: @jensschott

Find tons more great photos at InstaChina!

Tell the photographer how much you like his photos

Back in HK for a bit. China is truly one country, two internets #gfw

— Jens S (@jensschott) May 13, 2012