Yearly Archives: 2006

Googlie Eyes & Google-ish Lies

Right, despite my post yesterday about The Freezing Point… the big big China Watchers news lately seems to be about Google.cn’s launch. Following in the footsteps of MSN and Yahoo, Google has opened a .CN affiliate so all the Chinese can feel special about viewing targetted advertising, country specific searches, and more newsworthy, have their …

January 27, 2006
 // 2 Comments
 // Read More »

A Hundred Flowers Bloom

“Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.” / “百花齐放，百家争鸣” – Chinese Poem I’ve long advocated that “free country” and “free press” go hand-in-hand. A free press acts as a watchdog for the government, assuring that they aren’t misappropriating the public’s money or trust. It might not be a perfect system …

January 26, 2006
 // 5 Comments
 // Read More »

I Hate Minorities

Hell, if that subject line doesn’t give me some hits… perhaps posting some photos of how they “farm” cats for food here in China might. But yeah. The votes are in, no signs of a recount, and despite being OH so many thousands of kilometres away… I would like to firmly shout… ‘WHAT THE HELL …

January 24, 2006
 // Leave a comment
 // Read More »

And It Begins With A Bang

Xiao Nian Kuai Le 小年快乐 (Happy Small New Year) Hey, so it’s all beginning. It’s one week out from the Year of the Dog (ç‹—å¹´) and as such today is considered Small New Year, but you wouldn’t know it from all the fireworks going off. I had foolishly forgotten exactly what I was in for …

January 22, 2006
 // 1 Comment
 // Read More »

Hu’s On First

Here is a meeting between the American President and his National Security Advisor. (We take you now to the Oval Office.) George: Condi! Nice to see you. What’s happening? Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China. George: Great. Lay it on me. Condi: Hu is the new leader of …

January 15, 2006
 // 2 Comments
 // Read More »

Primary Motivation

Right, so I just finished working five straight days at a primary school, and my poor white ass is whipped. My god, is teaching in primary schools ever a different experience than teaching in an additional learning centre like Future School. The school, YuWen (育文), is not far from where I live in JinSanJiao (金三角). …

January 14, 2006
 // 5 Comments
 // Read More »

Tradition Verses Political Agenda

It’s an ever-constant source of amusement to me to think of what it must be like behind that red curtain where the buttons and levers are pushed and pulled by the Wizards of China. I mean, you’ve got this group of people who are charged with the daunting task of keeping things running in one …

January 3, 2006
 // 3 Comments
 // Read More »

All Is Quiet On New Year’s Day

Well, it’s been 2006 for 16 and a half hours… and I really don’t see what’s so ‘new’ about this New Year. In one of the most inactive New Year’s eves I’ve had in my adult life, I did absolutely nothing. Because Future School gave us no time off for the ‘holiday’, I had to …

January 1, 2006
 // 4 Comments
 // Read More »