tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.comments2011-07-17T11:06:22.596-07:00GARAGE LANDKingTubbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-89313374707043403792011-07-17T11:06:22.596-07:002011-07-17T11:06:22.596-07:00Very interesant post.Very interesant post.dazibao rojohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16511590853693746500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-30507187967239232202011-06-22T15:54:09.284-07:002011-06-22T15:54:09.284-07:00Thanks JR. The mafia reference was simply a hook t...Thanks JR. The mafia reference was simply a hook to mention Peter Dale Scott.<br /><br />Kindles are those rotten reading tablets. The one's where you can't make use of your favourite bookmark. I still have a bookmark and letter opener bought decades ago in the local Maoist bookshop, and my super large 2 volume OED was bought at the other Commie bookshop which supported the old Soviet Union.<br /><br />And you comment about cookbooks just killed off Miscellaneous Fact No. 7.<br /><br />Back to normal transmission after I get the other five facts out of my system.KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-42240501714729956212011-06-22T12:32:00.098-07:002011-06-22T12:32:00.098-07:00(4th try to post comment)
I wouldn't dwell on...(4th try to post comment)<br /><br />I wouldn't dwell on the "let's-scratch-each-others-back" phenomenon, KT. It could come across as if you didn't like to be an outsider in that regard. As you wrote yourself, the routine is <i>beyond debate to even the most casual observer</i> anyway. I'd worry more if my own blog's back was being scratched, all of a sudden, and regularly. You can be fairly sure that on the day <i>China-bashing</i> became popular on the blogs, my blog would be found on the opposite side of the field, in search of information that can't frequently be found elsewhere. <br /><br />Anyway - your blog will be permanently on my blogroll (provided that you don't stop posting). The internet is for posts and views <i>outside</i> the mainstream. That's what <b>Al Gore</b> invented it for, is it not?justrecentlyhttp://justrecently.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-72505601999130131672011-06-13T02:49:01.672-07:002011-06-13T02:49:01.672-07:00Wondering if full convertibility of the Yuan RMB c...Wondering if full convertibility of the Yuan RMB can't wait for another thirty years...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-27688756755741094382011-06-10T21:18:39.562-07:002011-06-10T21:18:39.562-07:00All of the great nations in the world own aircraft...<i>All of the great nations in the world own aircraft carriers -- they are symbols of a great nation</i><br />At least they have the <i>symbol</i> of it now. <br /><br />I don't remember the era of <i>Chicom</i> fears myself, but I have an edition of the Reader's Digest on my attic, from 1965, I think, with a beautiful article by a certain Francis Vivian Drake, telling his readers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_theory" rel="nofollow">what it was all about in Vietnam</a>. (It's a copy in German.) Granted - the idea that the US military might have lost <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok" rel="nofollow">its greatest brothel</a> to the communist world was absolutely scary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-84790612660754969672011-06-10T00:48:40.819-07:002011-06-10T00:48:40.819-07:00"open id" seems to work better. - JR"open id" seems to work better. - JRAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-10493754354806050392011-06-10T00:47:48.325-07:002011-06-10T00:47:48.325-07:00[My third try to post this comment, now with "...[My third try to post this comment, now with "open ID rather than with "wordpress account"...]<br /><br />The <i>dark princeling</i> doesn't appear on my radar screen too frequently, so I'm certainly glad to read up here. <br /><br />And I'm glad you caught up with the <a href="http://underthejacaranda.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">Jaracanda Tree</a>. Unfortunately, C.A. doesn't post there as frequently as she used to, not even close, and most of her discussions seem to take place on social media these days - playgrounds I'm staying away from. <br /><br />Just to be clear, I'm not really in the process of writing a book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-36289820778332658492011-06-09T12:46:04.711-07:002011-06-09T12:46:04.711-07:00Thanks JR. I do miss a lot as I don't have th...Thanks JR. I do miss a lot as I don't have the language. Love the idea of health questions and essay readings.<br /><br />Bit tired of my predictable Sino stuff at the moment, so am really going to indulge myself in the next few posts, however non-renumerative. <br /><br />Also, finally caught up with Under the Jacaranda.<br /><br />Best KTKingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-57576456048020867562011-06-09T12:13:31.053-07:002011-06-09T12:13:31.053-07:00CRI's English programs are extremely poor as f...CRI's English programs are extremely poor as far as information is concerned, but the propagandistic message is much more carefully wrapped as used to be the case with Radio Moscow, for example. I can imagine that they find a substantial audience, but I'm certainly not one of them. <br /><br />I prefer to listen to the Chinese programs, which are available both from Albania (at breakfast time on weekends) and directly from China - stuff like "a PLA doctor answers overseas students' health questions", or essays apparently mostly written by overseas Chinese peoples' children read out on the air, in the "Confucius Learning Hall" program. <br /><br />Even that, of course, only with moderation, so as not to get an overdose. My favorite programs are those from China National Radio, which are domestic programs, mostly for the FM-less Chinese hinterland, but also easily audible here in central Europe. <br /><br /><i>I expect much more substantial comments from you *all* the time</i><br />Impossible. I need to save that for a book project, which would pay me 1,000 Euros per page.justrecentlyhttp://justrecently.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-15414031973220532852011-06-08T13:44:59.675-07:002011-06-08T13:44:59.675-07:00JR. Didn't know that. However, I expect much m...JR. Didn't know that. However, I expect much more substantial comments from you *all* the time. Smile.<br />Actually, I did listen to a bit of CRI when I lived in Hanoi. Its soft power message failed to wrap me in its warm embrace, and that was before my long tour of duty in the PRC. Best.KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-33286841036266707242011-06-08T13:21:14.393-07:002011-06-08T13:21:14.393-07:00Really, Albania is not a bad place. China Radio In...Really, Albania is not a bad place. China Radio International (CRI) operates its broadcasting center for Europe there, so you'd never be out of touch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-56263152397934483452011-06-06T19:21:18.560-07:002011-06-06T19:21:18.560-07:00Look forward to giving your site a thorough explor...Look forward to giving your site a thorough exploration. Again, many thanks for your permission. I must pull this offline now and finish it this eve.<br /><br />Best<br />KTKingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-61583998761432463412011-06-06T19:04:08.084-07:002011-06-06T19:04:08.084-07:00Thanks, very kind of you!
Joel
Blog: Asian Gazett...Thanks, very kind of you!<br />Joel<br /><br />Blog: Asian GazetteAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17323738274259327790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-76777647881286839562011-06-03T16:38:51.026-07:002011-06-03T16:38:51.026-07:00Pretty well agree with your remarks incl. the poin...Pretty well agree with your remarks incl. the point that the technocratic-engineering response is not specific to any particular system of govt. I'm no expert on Wittfogel, just using his main argument as a hinge to flesh out some ideas on cultural mentalities, or at least that is was I think I was doing. Want to return to this idea of mentalite after some half decent research, which I didnt undertake here.<br /><br />On a practical note, the valley where I have my rural bolt hole was almost submerged by the State Govt by a bloody mega dam, until the whole project was deep sixed by the Federal govt on enviromental grounds after massive but pretty generous payments for 1,100 properties. (My kingdom would have been surrounded by water, and I would have had an excuse to buy a yacht.)KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-70168669944688849772011-06-02T22:48:29.226-07:002011-06-02T22:48:29.226-07:00Many thanks JR. I will need to digest your comment...Many thanks JR. I will need to digest your comments tomorrow. And yes, Wordpress is an imperative. Thanks for the posting persistance.<br /><br />However must finish my last two paras.<br /><br />Cheers KTKingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-73332503673355161542011-06-02T22:10:53.068-07:002011-06-02T22:10:53.068-07:00P.S.: it took me almost five minutes to get the co...P.S.: it took me almost five minutes to get the commment above posted, KT, and needed to switch to Internet Explorer before it worked at all. (Keeping long comments in a backup editor is a must, especially when commenting on blogspot blogs.) <br /><br />Advice: switch to wordpress.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-47184625942017682692011-06-02T22:07:36.345-07:002011-06-02T22:07:36.345-07:00It seems plausible to me that climate change would...It seems plausible to me that climate change would be the biggest threat to <i>social stability</i>, and a politbureau full of engineers seems to suggest that most cadres on provincial and local levels are mostly engineers, too. "Man will rule over nature", said Mao, didn't he? <br /><br />Another question would be how China would best proceed. You may be damned if you continue to engineer, and damned if you don't. It's not a matter of <i>if</i>, but of <i>how</i>. If engineering is meant to remain an expression of political power, that will probably go wrong. It will, on the other hand, require political power to make the remaining natural resources - plus food, plus healthcare - accessible to everyone in China. That would be political power not for its own sake, but as a means to a useful end. <br /><br />What you quoted from Wittfogel looks plausible to me, too. The English-language Wikipedia entry concerning W. doesn't contain the usual "criticism" category. However, a 1976 article by the <b><i>Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung</i></b> suggests <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/36091265/1976-FAZ-Karl-August-Wittfogel-80" rel="nofollow">that he had never analyzed <i>oriental despotism</i> systematically</a>, and that while he had never abandoned the concept, he wasn't that much in love with it in his later years. <br /><br />A dissertation by Udo Witzens claims <a href="http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/frontdoor.php?source_opus=1937" rel="nofollow">to have refuted the "hydraulic" monocausality for terror and suppression</a>. <br /><br />My own view of the world is more materialist than that of most people I know, but I doubt we can make the hydraulic factor an absolute. There would be no political power - of whichever nature - without volition. You can base many different concepts on engineering - democracy, too. Totalitarian rule over the means of production, or distribution, may be contested in the course of technical development. <br /><br />Another thought: the struggle for the necessities of life won't necessarily be confined to China. The current disparities in income can hardly be sustained, but they may not need to narrow as much as conventional wisdom would suggest, if China is able to substitute domestic food production by imports. So long as they remain or continue to become a strong net exporter of manufactured goods and material (technically sophisticated stuff included), it could help to absorb some of the blows to "stability" at home. <br /><br />Given the nomenklatura's vested interests, it would seem likely to me that China will continue to seek solutions to its problems internationally, rather than merely at home. After all, the CCP never "opened up" to foreign countries because it loved what it saw there. It was plain necessity, to secure its own survival as a despotic organization.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-90375466088898202282011-05-05T17:30:09.012-07:002011-05-05T17:30:09.012-07:00Good one FOARP. The general silence by the US abou...Good one FOARP. The general silence by the US about its penetration capabilities within the Chinese networld sort of gives me confidence that this is not a one way street with the PRC garnering all the publicity.KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-2604415159274362592011-05-05T03:37:08.670-07:002011-05-05T03:37:08.670-07:00No surprise. I used to work for NUAA - Nanjing Uni...No surprise. I used to work for NUAA - Nanjing University of Astronautics and Aeronautics (worked at NUFE at the same time, hence not in CV). I stayed on campus in a place I was told by a reliable source the telephones were bugged in. The reason for this kind of paranoia? The university was also the place where they were developing China's UAV's, space suits (although apparently they ended up buying those off the shelf from Russia), stealth technology etc.<br /><br />Computer security there was lax as hell though. I remember one conversation a friend of mine had with the guy who was in charge of reverse-engineering the design of the American F-16. He said he was secure against hackers because he had a Windows password. <br /><br />I had always just assumed that the CIA, MI6 etc. were simply all over China's systems. The problem is, of course, there's likely not much for them to find there. We don't want to copy Chinese technology, and if they had any sense whatsoever they wouldn't be keeping serious intelligence (i.e., identities of spies, military plans etc.) on a net-accesible network.FOARPhttp://www.foarp.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-19454891754132097622011-05-05T03:25:10.511-07:002011-05-05T03:25:10.511-07:00Me, I'm not a left winger. I don't believe...Me, I'm not a left winger. I don't believe that we live in countries ruled by corporations, or by secretive elites. Instead, I assume that politicians are a bunch of back-scratching, back-handing people much as you find in the rest of life.<br /><br />That said, Assange's case was weird, and the way companies dropped him and his website stinks of high-level influence.FOARPhttp://www.foarp.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-27448368392473987672011-05-01T14:54:24.361-07:002011-05-01T14:54:24.361-07:00FOARP Here is a pretty neat factoid.
http://www.i...FOARP Here is a pretty neat factoid.<br /><br />http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/suu-kyi-dedicated-follower-of-the-grateful-dead-2277350.html<br /><br />Also Bob Marley.<br /><br />However, Suu Kyi's choice of Lee Perry is disappointing, since my namesake was the founder and exemplary exponent of the Dub mix.If you read up, you will find that Perry definitely had kangaroos in the top paddock.KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-11624027948919377162011-05-01T14:45:11.352-07:002011-05-01T14:45:11.352-07:00Never over estimate the cultural "face" ...Never over estimate the cultural "face" factor, and the inability of individuals in the Chinese net system to admit their security laxity. <br /><br />"No lies, nothing accomplished".KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-24485065552937255102011-05-01T05:40:01.605-07:002011-05-01T05:40:01.605-07:00Frankly, the only victim I could - remotely, very ...Frankly, the only victim I could - remotely, very indirectly, and very unreliably - link to FOX and the Tea Party so far would be Gabrielle Giffords, and I'm not even sure about that link, KT. <br /><br />I agree with you that Beresford would get probably get a visa to enter China. I'm just wondering how long - beyond 30 days - he might have to stay. Had he travelled American intranets, authorities there might have a number of questions to him, as well - and what's a state secret in China depends on the priorities of the day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-61505890435746605672011-04-30T16:13:19.545-07:002011-04-30T16:13:19.545-07:00@Neddy. Thanks for the Wayback thingy which worked...@Neddy. Thanks for the Wayback thingy which worked a treat, and couldn't help but notice that you were a perp on Sinocidal.KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038105257176899121.post-36944443260789999552011-04-30T16:10:39.849-07:002011-04-30T16:10:39.849-07:00JR. Beresford would probably get a 30 tourist visa...JR. Beresford would probably get a 30 tourist visa to China if he didn't announce his profession. He faces far greater danger from The Donald, FOX and Tea Party types who would really enjoy stringing him up by his essentials for sharing his findings with China.<br /><br />Im more interested in views on the face factor noted above.Cheers.KingTubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414648192564955665noreply@blogger.com