Asia

[Sparky]

Zero civilization and culture

What?

Get with the program.

Code: Select all

#include "blind_nationalism.h"
#include "world_view_cylinder.h"
#include "monomania.h"
#include "beloved.h"
#include <iostream>
...
static const bool RIDE_HOBBY_HORSE = true;
bool buy_best_persian_oil = false;
bool culture = true;
...
while(RIDE_HOBBY_HORSE)
{
    Beloved::Ahmadinejad::GOOOOOO();
    ...
    if(buy_best_persian_oil == false)
    {
        culture = false;
        std::cout << "What the genuflect is Kabuki? Is soft war satrap copy cylinder dancing beloved Ahmadinejad!\n";
        //&&&
        Beloved::Ahmadinejad::GOOOOOO();
    }
    else
    {
        culture = true;
        std::cout << "Kabuki is best culture, second only cylinder dancing beloved Ahmadinejad!\n";
        Beloved::Ahmadinejad::GOOOOOO();
    }
    ...
}
...

[Zack Morris]

Speaking of Hong Kong, has anyone heard of the Tang basement scandal? Tang was thought to be Beijing's pick for chief executive. It's not hard to see why. He's certainly the "clever" kind of leader mainlanders would look up to. When forced to confront the scandal, he promptly blamed his wife and forced her to take the blame in a press statement. Rumor has it that she may face jail time for this.

Henry Tang, the man tipped to be Hong Kong's next chief executive, has blamed his wife amid a scandal over a basement built illegally in their home.

The structure under the swimming pool reportedly includes an entertainment suite, a jacuzzi and wine cellar.

The 59-year-old said he would not quit the leadership race despite public criticism.

Hong Kong's next leader, who replaces Donald Tsang, will be chosen by a 1,200-member committee on 25 March.

The seemingly minor scandal has set off a media frenzy rare even for Hong Kong's free-wheeling press, reports the BBC's Juliana Liu.

On Thursday, journalists and protesters besieged Mr Tang's home in the Kowloon district. Cameramen brought cranes to see into the premises while angry citizens gathered outside.

Mr Tang had denied the existence of the basement structure - which violates building regulations - saying that it was just ''a hole in the ground to store things in''.

Local newspapers then published plans of the 200 sq m space, dubbed an ''underground palace'' by one tabloid. In land-scarce Hong Kong, many live in flats a quarter of that size.

The wine cellar became a focal point for public anger as Mr Tang, heir to a textile fortune, is well-known to be a wine lover.

He told reporters at a press conference that he had not handled the matter swiftly.

"I apologise to all Hong Kong people," he said. "It was my wife's idea and I knew they were illegal.''

He has denied trying to cover up the matter, saying he was only trying to protect his wife.

"I ask the people of Hong Kong to give me a chance to serve the people," he said.

The son of a Shanghai businessman, Mr Tang is said to be Beijing's favoured candidate for Hong Kong's top civil servant job.

I guess the mystery of what happened to Ethan Jin has been solved: Henry Tang drilled his way into Ethan's mother's basement and forced him out.

[Ibrahim]

In Guangzhou now. When Hong Kong TV news starts reporting the scandal it just gets blocked out, but while in Hong Kong last weekend I heard a great deal about it. Also another scandal involving the current administrator spending the weekend in Macau among various shady triad types (which is a great way to spend a weekend if you can do it).

All of this is a boon for democratic activists in Hong Kong, but I don't think it will amount to anything. The CCP is playing is pretty mellow, waiting for it to blow over.

Oh, OWS fans will be happy to know that I also saw tent cities set up in posh Central Hong Kong Island protesting some banking scandal here as well.

[Zack Morris]

In Guangzhou now.

What sort of business are you in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very curious. I do love traveling to Asia, as much as I love ribbing the Chinese in particular

Oh, OWS fans will be happy to know that I also saw tent cities set up in posh Central Hong Kong Island protesting some banking scandal here as well.

Is it a banking scandal or is it about the proposed reduction in stock exchange lunch hours?

[Ammianus]

Yet another Nanjing Massacre denialist exposed:

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/201 ... 1000c.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/world ... sacre.html

The Aichi prefectural chapter of the Japan-China Friendship Association filed a letter of protest against Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura on Friday over his remarks earlier this week expressing doubt about the massacre of civilians by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanjing in 1937.

In the letter, the association's Aichi chapter questioned Kawamura's perception of history, saying the United States and European countries, including Japan's then ally Germany, made the Nanjing Massacre known to the world.

Publications by senior Imperial Japanese Army officers also contain descriptions of the Nanjing Massacre, it said.

The group said four representatives led by chapter head Kensaku Ishikawa visited the Nagoya city hall and filed the protest with city officials.

The letter of protest also questioned Kawamura's proposal to launch discussions on the history of Nanjing, noting that his remarks had damaged mutual trust.

In a meeting with a Chinese delegation from Nanjing on Monday, Kawamura said he believes that only "conventional acts of combat" took place in the city at the time, not mass murder or rape of civilians.

In protest, the city government of Nanjing on Tuesday announced it was suspending exchanges with Nagoya, with which it established a sister city relationship in 1978.

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara defended the mayor Friday, telling a press conference, "What Mr. Kawamura says is right. I think the massacre is not true."

"Leading Japanese intellectuals entered Nanjing two or three days after the fall (of the city). They said (later) that they saw bodies but did not see anything like huge piles of bodies there," Ishihara said.

Referring to an estimate that the number of victims totaled 400,000, he said it was "absolutely impossible" for the Japanese army to kill that many people with limited military equipment in a short period of time.

Ishihara said Japanese soldiers may have killed ordinary people amid wartime confusion but he thinks it is "wrong" to call it a massacre.

But a senior official of the Nagoya city government expressed anger over Kawamura's remarks, saying, "He was not supposed to make any personal comments in that kind of situation. The remarks have undermined the friendly ties (with Nanjing) that have lasted more than 30 years."

Yet another festering sore that just keeps on giving!

Its interesting to think what would have happened, if say, the mayor of Frankfurt told an delegation from Tel Aviv that the Holocaust never existed.

[AzariLoveIran]

.

Have Japanese paid any war and war crime reparation to China ? ?

Colonel, have they ? ?

Poor Angela .. poor Angela .. Rhubarb milkin milkin , that "holocaust business"

.

[Ibrahim]

In Guangzhou now.

What sort of business are you in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very curious. I do love traveling to Asia, as much as I love ribbing the Chinese in particular

Me and six other guys went to some factories and looked at machines while a Polish engineer told us why everything as ahead of/on/behind schedule. We don't really do much of anything, but don't tell our clients.

Four of the guys though the other three of us were weird because we only wanted to sample local cuisine and view historical landmarks in Macau instead of whoring. Now I'm back and annoyed that there is snow here.

Oh, OWS fans will be happy to know that I also saw tent cities set up in posh Central Hong Kong Island protesting some banking scandal here as well.

Is it a banking scandal or is it about the proposed reduction in stock exchange lunch hours?

Apparently depositors just lost all their money when a bank folded and the larger bank that bought the scraps won't honor their deposits. Based on what I was told they seemed %100 in the right, but I don't like their chances of getting their money back or causing too much inconvenience.

[Typhoon]

Yet another Nanjing Massacre denialist exposed:

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/201 ... 1000c.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/world ... sacre.html

The statement by the Major of Nagoya was a dumb thing to do.

Some Japanese choose to underplay the Nanjing incident and some Chinese choose to overplay it. The CCP uses it for it's own purposes.

What I find surprising is that some people find this surprising.

It serves as an interesting example of the tribal poo-flinging nature of our evolutionary history.

Between their various 20th century civil wars and misguided Maoism, the Chinese killed far far more of each other than the Imperial Japanese Army ever did.

However, as they are all from the same tribe, it's okay . . . Mao's massive portrait still overlooks Tiananmen Square.

[Typhoon]

Have Japanese paid any war and war crime reparation to China ? ?

Colonel, have they ? ?

. . .

FP | Japan sends China $1.2 billion in aid every year

[Typhoon]

FT | Chinese infighting: Secrets of a succession war

The tale of a billionaire allegedly tortured in a crime crackdown offers a rare glimpse into infighting among the political elite.

[Typhoon]

In Guangzhou now.

What sort of business are you in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very curious. I do love traveling to Asia, as much as I love ribbing the Chinese in particular

Me and six other guys went to some factories and looked at machines while a Polish engineer told us why everything as ahead of/on/behind schedule. We don't really do much of anything, but don't tell our clients.

Four of the guys though the other three of us were weird because we only wanted to sample local cuisine and view historical landmarks in Macau instead of whoring. Now I'm back and annoyed that there is snow here.

Sounds a bit like the famous Token White Guy Gig

No Suzie Wong for you?

In Japan, some white guys only have to work weekends pretending to be pastors at faux Western style weddings in faux Western style churches.

[Ibrahim]

In Guangzhou now.

What sort of business are you in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very curious. I do love traveling to Asia, as much as I love ribbing the Chinese in particular

Me and six other guys went to some factories and looked at machines while a Polish engineer told us why everything as ahead of/on/behind schedule. We don't really do much of anything, but don't tell our clients.

Four of the guys though the other three of us were weird because we only wanted to sample local cuisine and view historical landmarks in Macau instead of whoring. Now I'm back and annoyed that there is snow here.

Sounds a bit like the famous Token White Guy Gig

No Suzie Wong for you?

In Japan, some white guys only have to work weekends pretending to be pastors at faux Western style weddings in faux Western style churches.

That sounds like a good gig, but I don't think anybody is going to believe me as a Christian pastor.


Suzie Wong is now Svetlana from Irkutsk. Same Triad guys smoking in the corner though.

[Typhoon]

In Guangzhou now.

What sort of business are you in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very curious. I do love traveling to Asia, as much as I love ribbing the Chinese in particular

Me and six other guys went to some factories and looked at machines while a Polish engineer told us why everything as ahead of/on/behind schedule. We don't really do much of anything, but don't tell our clients.

Four of the guys though the other three of us were weird because we only wanted to sample local cuisine and view historical landmarks in Macau instead of whoring. Now I'm back and annoyed that there is snow here.

Sounds a bit like the famous Token White Guy Gig

No Suzie Wong for you?

In Japan, some white guys only have to work weekends pretending to be pastors at faux Western style weddings in faux Western style churches.

That sounds like a good gig, but I don't think anybody is going to believe me as a Christian pastor.

One never knows . . .

Suzie Wong is now Svetlana from Irkutsk. Same Triad guys smoking in the corner though.

Makes sense. Met quite a number of Katerinka's from Krasnoyarsk working as hostesses . . . all well educated but having to go abroad due to a lack of work, or more precisely, lack of pay back home.

[Ibrahim]

In Guangzhou now.

What sort of business are you in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very curious. I do love traveling to Asia, as much as I love ribbing the Chinese in particular

Me and six other guys went to some factories and looked at machines while a Polish engineer told us why everything as ahead of/on/behind schedule. We don't really do much of anything, but don't tell our clients.

Four of the guys though the other three of us were weird because we only wanted to sample local cuisine and view historical landmarks in Macau instead of whoring. Now I'm back and annoyed that there is snow here.

Sounds a bit like the famous Token White Guy Gig

No Suzie Wong for you?

In Japan, some white guys only have to work weekends pretending to be pastors at faux Western style weddings in faux Western style churches.

That sounds like a good gig, but I don't think anybody is going to believe me as a Christian pastor.

One never knows . . .

Suzie Wong is now Svetlana from Irkutsk. Same Triad guys smoking in the corner though.

Makes sense. Met quite a number of Katerinka's from Krasnoyarsk working as hostesses . . . all well educated but having to go abroad due to a lack of work, or more precisely, lack of pay back home.

I get the impression that we in the West are only scratching the surface of how bad things are in Russia. A sauna in Macau might as well be Kublai Khan's stately pleasure dome in comparison.

I've never been one for the sex trade myself, but the desperate or coercive aspects one encounters in certain places make it downright evil IMHO.

[Typhoon]

Asahi Shimbun | S Korean Chocopie causes N Korean labour problems

[monster_gardener]

Asahi Shimbun | S Korean Chocopie causes N Korean labour problems

Thank you Very Much for your post, Typhoon.

Remind me of signs beggars amoung Uz carry: "Will Work For Food"

Given that starvation is common in North Korea, this would be an ideal currency for NORK workers..........

Eat it before it is taxed.........

[Typhoon]

. . .

I get the impression that we in the West are only scratching the surface of how bad things are in Russia. A sauna in Macau might as well be Kublai Khan's stately pleasure dome in comparison.

Could be.

The great irony is that those who have benefited most from the fall of the SU are the well connected former Commie party nomenklatura:
they've gone from having access to forbidden Western goods and culture to becoming multimillionaires and, in some cases, billionaires.

I've never been one for the sex trade myself, but the desperate or coercive aspects one encounters in certain places make it downright evil IMHO.

The sex trade when involuntary is pure evil.

On the other hand, if it's voluntary then I would argue that it should be legal.

In case anyone gets the wrong idea at a Japanese hostess bar one will receive the following: a drink, a light, karaoke, and conversation.

The rate depends on the level of education and conversation skills of the hostesses.

Inexpensive bar:

4r5HiPGEajU

Different from KTVs in the rest of Asia from what I've heard.

[Ibrahim]

I've never been one for the sex trade myself, but the desperate or coercive aspects one encounters in certain places make it downright evil IMHO.

The sex trade when involuntary is pure evil.

On the other hand, if it's voluntary then I would argue that it should be legal.

I agree. A regulatory system would solve every conceivable problem, while prohibition only exacerbates them.

In case anyone gets the wrong idea at a Japanese hostess bar one will receive the following: a drink, a light, karaoke, and conversation.

The rate depends on the level of education and conversation skills of the hostesses.

This is a business model than no Western businessman understands. They have one on thing on their mind, as a rule, and it isn't karaoke.

[Antipatros]

Mike Blanchfield, Baird presents Myanmar’s Suu Kyi with honorary Canadian citizenship

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le2362491/

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is telling visiting Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird that bogus voters lists are threatening to undermine the upcoming landmark elections in her country.

The revelation added extra gravity to Mr. Baird’s historic visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, where he personally conferred honorary Canadian citizenship on the Nobel laureate and freedom fighter....

Suu Kyi is one of only five people – and the first woman – to be granted honorary Canadian citizenship. Baird’s presentation to Suu Kyi coincided with International Woman’s Day.

Myanmar’s military junta stepped down last year and a new military-backed civilian government, dominated by retired army officers, began steering the country towards democratic reform.

Over the last year, the pace of change has been dizzying at times in this resource-rich – but somewhat backward – South Asian nation of 60 million people.

The Myanmar government has released hundreds of political prisoners, and the media has been given more freedoms. Ms. Suu Kyi’s image is ubiquitous, and her every word is now reported. She attracts huge crowds at rallies.

But Ms. Suu Kyi herself said yet again that the world must continue to subject her country’s rulers to close scrutiny with the goal of forcing more freedom....

[Typhoon]

. . .

In case anyone gets the wrong idea at a Japanese hostess bar one will receive the following: a drink, a light, karaoke, and conversation.

The rate depends on the level of education and conversation skills of the hostesses.

This is a business model than no Western businessman understands. They have one on thing on their mind, as a rule, and it isn't karaoke.

Although some become converts, commenting that it's far more fun and relaxing than being constantly hit upon for a table dance.

In Japan, the business is highly specialized and compartmentalized, catering to every interest imaginable.

So those businessmen seeking skinship can visit soaplands [what used to be called "Turkish baths" for some unknown reason until the embassy objected ], image clubs, etc., or opt for telephone clubs, "delivery health" [recall the famous "Lip my stockings" scene in Lost in Translation], street mongering, or various other venues.

[Zack Morris]

I've never been one for the sex trade myself, but the desperate or coercive aspects one encounters in certain places make it downright evil IMHO.

Agreed. My closest encounter with the sex trade was at the girly bars in Wan Chai. I was in HK alone for 3 nights and while out carousing and making friends in Lan Kwai Fong, I met a Scottish banker who insisted I had to see them before I left -- not to solicit, mind you, but for the shear novelty factor. We popped our heads into a couple of these places and found a very sorry scene. We hung out for 10 minutes in each, bought the girls overpriced juice shots, and left. All the girls I spoke with were Filipina. I felt sorry for them. They didn't look like they really wanted to be there and I don't think they were allowed to ever leave the bar (they lived somewhere in the back). Their attempts at selling themselves to us were pathetic. Meanwhile the whole time we were in there, the pushy and rude Chinese mama-sans wouldn't stop nagging us to buy a girl.

We ended the night at a place called "Neptune II" at 5 in the morning, a place crawling with sex workers from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, the Mainland, and even further abroad. It's a regular bar that just happens to be the den of prostitutes who fly in on short-term tourist visas and turn as many tricks as they can before leaving. I later found out that the place was famous for incidents of Western men being drugged by thieving prostitutes (sometimes with lethal results). Didn't surprise me. My Scottish banker friend had thousands of dollars skimmed off of his Deutsche Bank company card after being foolish enough to use it there, he told me.

If the girly bars in Wan Chai represent the side of the sex trade that is evil for its exploitation of women, Neptune II only one street over is the other side: conniving, immoral, and unscrupulous women selling themselves to make a quick buck. These girls weren't trafficked in, were much prettier than the ones in the bars, and although they probably came from humble origins, chose a path that most women in their circumstances still would not.

[Typhoon]

Beijing Fashion Week

a.k.a.

National People’s Congress (NPC) and

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC

[monster_gardener]

. . .

In case anyone gets the wrong idea at a Japanese hostess bar one will receive the following: a drink, a light, karaoke, and conversation.

The rate depends on the level of education and conversation skills of the hostesses.

This is a business model than no Western businessman understands. They have one on thing on their mind, as a rule, and it isn't karaoke.

Although some become converts, commenting that it's far more fun and relaxing than being constantly hit upon for a table dance.

In Japan, the business is highly specialized and compartmentalized, catering to every interest imaginable.

So those businessmen seeking skinship can visit soaplands [what used to be called "Turkish baths" for some unknown reason until the embassy objected ], image clubs, etc., or opt for telephone clubs, "delivery health" [recall the famous "Lip my stockings" scene in Lost in Translation], street mongering, or various other venues.

Thank you Very Much for your post, Typhoon.........

image clubs, etc., or opt for telephone clubs, "delivery health" [recall the famous "Lip my stockings" scene in Lost in Translation], street mongering, or various other venues.

Do tell more please........

[Sparky]

Beijing Fashion Week

a.k.a.

National People’s Congress (NPC) and

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC

Let Us Build Socialism Through Heavenly Kitten Heels!

[Ibrahim]

. . .

In case anyone gets the wrong idea at a Japanese hostess bar one will receive the following: a drink, a light, karaoke, and conversation.

The rate depends on the level of education and conversation skills of the hostesses.

This is a business model than no Western businessman understands. They have one on thing on their mind, as a rule, and it isn't karaoke.

Although some become converts, commenting that it's far more fun and relaxing than being constantly hit upon for a table dance.

In Japan, the business is highly specialized and compartmentalized, catering to every interest imaginable.

So those businessmen seeking skinship can visit soaplands [what used to be called "Turkish baths" for some unknown reason until the embassy objected ], image clubs, etc., or opt for telephone clubs, "delivery health" [recall the famous "Lip my stockings" scene in Lost in Translation], street mongering, or various other venues.

"Delivery health" is my new favorite euphemism.

All the girls I spoke with were Filipina.

Filipinos are the main cheap import labor group in Hong Kong, and it's something like %80 women so obviously a lot of them drift from domestic service into the sex industry. It's worth checking out the parks in Central on Sunday when nannies have the day off to see tens of thousands of Filipinas sitting in the park hanging out. It's like the famous scene in Birds.

I hope none of this sounds disparaging because Filipinos are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Hope to make it to Manila someday.


Hong Kong cop I spoke to was talking about the sex trade there, and said that self-employed escorts is an increasing segment of the trade. Plenty of room for victims and cynical operators in the sex trade. He also ethnusiastically recommended Macanese saunas over Hong Kong prostitutes for their superior "services." What a world.