quote:Originally posted by Mucus: BB: I'm around. Just a combination of the term starting up, longer hours at work ahead of a version release at an upcoming conference, and well, Victoria Day slowing me down.
Can we at least call Blayne "B B" thus acknowledging the all important space that only exists in one of our names?
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I'll try to make my addressing more distinct in the future BlBl
Edit to add: Catching up on news, you may be among the few that will especially appreciate this news bit. I don't know how much Cantonese you understand, but that early exchange between the Tsang and Margaret Ng is pretty sweet.
quote:Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was forced to apologise yesterday after claiming to speak for "Hong Kong people" in expressing hopes for an "objective assessment" of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in light of China's economic development.
The chief executive's remarks in the Legislative Council, three weeks before the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement, sparked a walkout by pan-democrats, who accused him of burying his conscience.
The row erupted at a question-and-answer session after Mr Tsang sidestepped a request by the Civic Party's Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee to back the public's demand for vindication of students killed in the crackdown.
"I understand Hong Kong people's feelings about June 4, but the incident happened many years ago. The country's development in many areas has since achieved tremendous results and brought economic prosperity to Hong Kong. I believe Hong Kong people will make an objective assessment of the nation's development."
Ms Ng asked: "Are you saying that as long as the economy is developing well we cannot admit people were killed? Should we bury our conscience to share economic benefits?"
Mr Tsang replied: "My view represents the opinion of Hong Kong people in general, and the opinion of citizens has affected my view. What I have just said is how I feel about the views of the people of Hong Kong."
A government source later called the remarks a slip of the tongue.
Mr Tsang's remarks led to uproar among pan-democrats and drew jeers from the public gallery. Lawmakers took turns to demand he withdraw his statement. "How can you claim you are representing me? You have raped public opinion," unionist Lee Cheuk-yan said. All 23 pan-democrats then walked out and the meeting adjourned for seven minutes before resuming without them.
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: BB: I'm around. Just a combination of the term starting up, longer hours at work ahead of a version release at an upcoming conference, and well, Victoria Day slowing me down.
I generally expect you to post in these type of threads sooner, or start them.
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quote:Originally posted by Mucus: I'll try to make my addressing more distinct in the future BlBl
Edit to add: Catching up on news, you may be among the few that will especially appreciate this news bit. I don't know how much Cantonese you understand, but that early exchange between the Tsang and Margaret Ng is pretty sweet.
quote:Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was forced to apologise yesterday after claiming to speak for "Hong Kong people" in expressing hopes for an "objective assessment" of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in light of China's economic development.
The chief executive's remarks in the Legislative Council, three weeks before the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement, sparked a walkout by pan-democrats, who accused him of burying his conscience.
The row erupted at a question-and-answer session after Mr Tsang sidestepped a request by the Civic Party's Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee to back the public's demand for vindication of students killed in the crackdown.
"I understand Hong Kong people's feelings about June 4, but the incident happened many years ago. The country's development in many areas has since achieved tremendous results and brought economic prosperity to Hong Kong. I believe Hong Kong people will make an objective assessment of the nation's development."
Ms Ng asked: "Are you saying that as long as the economy is developing well we cannot admit people were killed? Should we bury our conscience to share economic benefits?"
Mr Tsang replied: "My view represents the opinion of Hong Kong people in general, and the opinion of citizens has affected my view. What I have just said is how I feel about the views of the people of Hong Kong."
A government source later called the remarks a slip of the tongue.
Mr Tsang's remarks led to uproar among pan-democrats and drew jeers from the public gallery. Lawmakers took turns to demand he withdraw his statement. "How can you claim you are representing me? You have raped public opinion," unionist Lee Cheuk-yan said. All 23 pan-democrats then walked out and the meeting adjourned for seven minutes before resuming without them.
It is item 008, there are also some interesting poll numbers.
"Are you saying that as long as the economy is developing well we cannot admit people were killed?"
This is why I love Cantonese people, I don't think there is another group of Chinese people, even in Taiwan, that would put it this plainly. People from Hong Kong often come across as rude, but at least their BS threshold is lower than the national average. It's sad to me that Hong Kong is probably the only place that holds sincere vigils on June 4th. In Taiwan, even if they cared, they are too afraid of harming their economic interests, and in the Mainland, they are starting to simply forget it ever happened.
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Blayne Bradley
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Because they want to be able to buy certain weapons openly again rather then simply having the french buy it, call it a microwave and sell it under dual use technology.
I should however point out that Japan and plenty of other nations aren't being that much better on the acknowledging embarrassing events in their history.
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quote:I should however point out that Japan and plenty of other nations aren't being that much better on the acknowledging embarrassing events in their history.
Put the USA at the top of that list.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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No, we really aren't at the top of that list. To use an example just from the last post, Japan makes the US look like amateurs at denial, and they aren't the only ones.
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quote:Originally posted by fugu13: No, we really aren't at the top of that list. To use an example just from the last post, Japan makes the US look like amateurs at denial, and they aren't the only ones.
I put the USA at the top of the list not because I think we are the worst but because I am a US citizen. I think we need to clean our own house first and the fact that others are much worse is no excuse for the USA not to deal with our own crimes, which by the way aren't trivial and all far in the past.
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No, I wasn't. I note that the School of Americas was closed in 2001, and became the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
I'm not sure that it's fair to say that SOA or WHINSC represent the total of the war on drugs, either. Can you explain why you apparently do?
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Blayne Bradley
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I was avoiding mentioning the US as I'm Canadian and it would seem like nitpicking and its been overdone but I was trying more to find a more recent/modern national embarrassments and I think the worst thing the US has done domestically was back a hundred to two hundred years back. I think Japans white washing of its history makes anything the US whitewashes since seem like nothing.
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quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: I'd rather he stay in the US. It sounds like he's a republican I could happily vote for. And not just because he's kin.
I heard some Utahns today say they were glad that gay lover was leaving the state. It kinda made me wish he was staying on as governor.
Well, yeah. We need more Red State Governors like him. Fiscally Conservative *and* concerned about equal rights? Shuffling him off to China is crazy.
And the man isn't going to be President. Republicans don't vote for Mormons. (Well, I voted for Romney, but I'm not a normal registered republican.) And Democrats sure as hell don't.
We've already had one Against The Odds president this century, don't think we can count on another.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:[T]o say there was no political consideration in Huntsman's appointment and those of his predecessors would be naive.
He points to JFK appointing Henry Cabot Lodge as ambassador to South Vietnam and FDR sending Wendell Wilkie on a world-wide good will tour as historic precedents. Both were good policy and had the advantage of also being good for the president politically. Much like BHO appointing Huntsman (BHO doesn't seem as natural as JFK or FDR; will it in time? or is it simply not as mellifluous a conjunction of letters).
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: I'd rather he stay in the US. It sounds like he's a republican I could happily vote for. And not just because he's kin.
I heard some Utahns today say they were glad that gay lover was leaving the state. It kinda made me wish he was staying on as governor.
Well, yeah. We need more Red State Governors like him. Fiscally Conservative *and* concerned about equal rights? Shuffling him off to China is crazy.
And the man isn't going to be President. Republicans don't vote for Mormons. (Well, I voted for Romney, but I'm not a normal registered republican.) And Democrats sure as hell don't.
We've already had one Against The Odds president this century, don't think we can count on another.
Ha! Maybe. But if you track the Republican primaries, I think Huckabee had more to do with McCain pulling ahead of Romney than McCain himself. McCain's campaign looked dead in the water, especially after Huckabee barely inched ahead with Iowa. McCain likely carried New Hampshire because Huckabee snagged votes away from Romney yet again. I honestly think if Huckabee hadn't entered the stage the Republicans would have nominated Romney. I think Romney would have lost to Obama, but it would have been a much more interesting race, and no Sarah "icanseerussiafrommyhouse" Palin, which I would have paid money to have avoided.
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quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: I generally expect you to post in these type of threads sooner, or start them.
To be honest, I don't know if I would have started this thread anyways. It doesn't seem that the US ambassador to China makes much more of a splash in the Chinese news + China-blogs than, well, the Chinese ambassador to the US makes here.
There's a lot more interesting stuff going on if I had more time to address, like the swine flu response, the upcoming CCP 60th celebrations, June 4th 20th remembrance, and the ongoing currency story with Brazil and China being the latest development.
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: ... "Are you saying that as long as the economy is developing well we cannot admit people were killed?" ...
Actually, I'm a bit dissatisfied with the quality of that initial translation. They kinda make everyone sound kinda curt and dumb while the exchange really was a thing of beauty by Margaret Ng and with Tsang looking like a deer caught in headlights. Here's a better one by an American expat:
quote: "Am I understanding the Chief Executive's meaning? Do you mean to say that as long as the economy is prospering that we should not care about people who were killed? That we should bury our conscience for economic benefits?"
Sometimes the Cantonese-English news translations are not that great which makes me wonder about the quality of the Mandarin ones which I am not capable of checking the quality of. (that last article is worth a read too but more for an American)
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quote:I put the USA at the top of the list not because I think we are the worst but because I am a US citizen. I think we need to clean our own house first and the fact that others are much worse is no excuse for the USA not to deal with our own crimes, which by the way aren't trivial and all far in the past.
To be fair, I don't think anyone here said or even approached suggesting that a) our own crimes are trivial, b) far in the past, or c) that because others' crimes are worse, ours are less bad.
That's what fugu was objecting to, I think. We're simply not at the top of the list. We're tops in importance to you (and me), but that's not at all the same thing as saying we're at the top of the list in national crime-deniars.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:Sometimes the Cantonese-English news translations are not that great which makes me wonder about the quality of the Mandarin ones which I am not capable of checking the quality of. (that last article is worth a read too but more for an American)
I can't speak for news agencies, but I can say that I am often disappointed with the English subtitles during Mandarin speaking movies.
Still Margaret Ng gets my seal of approval for now.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:I put the USA at the top of the list not because I think we are the worst but because I am a US citizen. I think we need to clean our own house first and the fact that others are much worse is no excuse for the USA not to deal with our own crimes, which by the way aren't trivial and all far in the past.
To be fair, I don't think anyone here said or even approached suggesting that a) our own crimes are trivial, b) far in the past, or c) that because others' crimes are worse, ours are less bad.
That's what fugu was objecting to, I think. We're simply not at the top of the list. We're tops in importance to you (and me), but that's not at all the same thing as saying we're at the top of the list in national crime-deniars.
To be fair, I never said the US should be at the top of the list of national crime-deniers. I said only "top of the list". You and fugu seem to infer that by top of the list I meant that the US had committed the most egregious crimes or was in the most severe denial. That wasn't the list I was referring to.
The list I was referring to was ranked on how concerned I think US citizens should be about the denial of national crimes. I think the US belongs at the top of that list.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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quote:I should however point out that Japan and plenty of other nations aren't being that much better on the acknowledging embarrassing events in their history.
Put the USA at the top of that list.
You said "that list" when the quotation you were referring to was talking about "better on the acknowledging embarrassing events in their history".
I understand what you mean after you have clarified, but the meaning of your words was definitely not the same as the position you are advancing now.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: ... I can't speak for news agencies, but I can say that I am often disappointed with the English subtitles during Mandarin speaking movies.
Oh, I wouldn't be surprised. After all, the quality of the Cantonese -> English subtitles are fairly awful too. Comedy is the worst, you'll get these really long sections that get abbreviated. (Especially long and elaborate insults often get reduced to fu** or sh**)
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