Black and White Cat Comments http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:51:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: michael http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/09/20/98-year-old-woman-sues-schoolchildren/#comment-27 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:25:06 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/09/20/98-year-old-woman-sues-schoolchildren/#comment-27 I can believe the kids. We once went out of our way to help an elderly mainland Chinese woman who arrived on the same late night flight as us in HK. Her daughter didn't show up to pick her up so [against my better wishes] we helped her get a taxi to the same cheap hotel we were staying at. She then demanded that we pay for it and called the cops when we refused. Extremely manipulative and eager to repay kindness with contempt. Never again - we learned our lesson - never try help Chinese people in distress. I can believe the kids. We once went out of our way to help an elderly mainland Chinese woman who arrived on the same late night flight as us in HK. Her daughter didn’t show up to pick her up so [against my better wishes] we helped her get a taxi to the same cheap hotel we were staying at. She then demanded that we pay for it and called the cops when we refused. Extremely manipulative and eager to repay kindness with contempt. Never again - we learned our lesson - never try help Chinese people in distress.

]]> by: MAC http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/09/20/98-year-old-woman-sues-schoolchildren/#comment-26 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:49:11 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/09/20/98-year-old-woman-sues-schoolchildren/#comment-26 If it were the United States, Good Samaritans getting sued would seem more plausible, because people are both more helpful and more litigious. In China, I have a pretty hard time seeing not only the kids helping a stranger, but the parents helping with medical costs if their kids were totally guiltless. Does that sound like the China you know? If it were the United States, Good Samaritans getting sued would seem more plausible, because people are both more helpful and more litigious. In China, I have a pretty hard time seeing not only the kids helping a stranger, but the parents helping with medical costs if their kids were totally guiltless. Does that sound like the China you know?

]]> by: Phil http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/09/03/go-forth-and-multiply-by-one/#comment-25 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:01:50 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/09/03/go-forth-and-multiply-by-one/#comment-25 "(By the way, since "tube-tying" can be done to both men and women, I’m not sure which gender was being threatened.)" Are you really not sure? Check out the last million years of human history all over the globe, and have a guess, who will this male-dominated bureaucracy choose to stick knives into? This is one of the things I find most sickening about the ugly side of the one child policy. Vasectomy is a quick and easy operation. But no. They had to go with cutting open the women. “(By the way, since “tube-tying” can be done to both men and women, I’m not sure which gender was being threatened.)”

Are you really not sure? Check out the last million years of human history all over the globe, and have a guess, who will this male-dominated bureaucracy choose to stick knives into?

This is one of the things I find most sickening about the ugly side of the one child policy. Vasectomy is a quick and easy operation. But no. They had to go with cutting open the women.

]]> by: Chris http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/08/21/a-plane-by-any-other-name/#comment-24 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:14:55 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/08/21/a-plane-by-any-other-name/#comment-24 A fine point. My dear mother said yesterday, as I prepare for an 11-hour Air China flight to London, something along the lines of "Well, Air China, China Airlines - I presumed it was the same thing." Good to see you are back up and running despite being dogged by technical glitches. A fine point. My dear mother said yesterday, as I prepare for an 11-hour Air China flight to London, something along the lines of “Well, Air China, China Airlines - I presumed it was the same thing.” Good to see you are back up and running despite being dogged by technical glitches.

]]> by: chriswaugh_bj http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/08/18/do-they-really-need-to-be-saved/#comment-23 Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:39:52 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/08/18/do-they-really-need-to-be-saved/#comment-23 Well said. Well said.

]]> by: Administrator http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/weve-got-phoenix/#comment-20 Thu, 05 Jul 2007 03:04:59 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/weve-got-phoenix/#comment-20 Charlie - I added the Murdoch bit at the end after I'd finished writing and taken a short break. Sometimes that's a good thing to do, sometimes not. In this case I think my last minute addition was a non sequitur, but since that's what I wrote and posted, I'll leave it there. Charlie - I added the Murdoch bit at the end after I’d finished writing and taken a short break. Sometimes that’s a good thing to do, sometimes not. In this case I think my last minute addition was a non sequitur, but since that’s what I wrote and posted, I’ll leave it there.

]]> by: 长舟丫 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/weve-got-phoenix/#comment-19 Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:09:17 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/weve-got-phoenix/#comment-19 I agree THAT strongly. I get dismayed by 1) often silly foreign coverage of China and 2) the outdated sense of cultural isolation (or whatever it is) in China that manifests itself in the "how could a foreigner ever understand China" syndrome. (How could anyone ever understand anything? "Understanding" China's not the point.) I think both of these could be squeezed a bit by a more and more pluralistic mix of voices - both "within country" and without. 世界大同 and all that. Great post, shame I had to subvert the system to get to it :) I agree THAT strongly. I get dismayed by 1) often silly foreign coverage of China and 2) the outdated sense of cultural isolation (or whatever it is) in China that manifests itself in the “how could a foreigner ever understand China” syndrome. (How could anyone ever understand anything? “Understanding” China’s not the point.) I think both of these could be squeezed a bit by a more and more pluralistic mix of voices - both “within country” and without. 世界大同 and all that. Great post, shame I had to subvert the system to get to it :)

]]> by: Charlie http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/weve-got-phoenix/#comment-18 Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:21:51 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/weve-got-phoenix/#comment-18 All the output in the Chinese media at the moment stinks of a balancing act - reality on the one hand, control on the other. I guess to those who matter control remains more important at the moment, but this is sure to start changing. I think this is what makes the Slave story so interesting - it's a nice little test case for the central government about how, while the truth hurts, it perhaps doesn't hurt them as much as feared. There haven't been any calls for the overthrow of the CCP - just calls for transparency. The whole Murdoch thing is a bit of a red herring though - like in so many aspects in China change will come from within. All the output in the Chinese media at the moment stinks of a balancing act - reality on the one hand, control on the other.

I guess to those who matter control remains more important at the moment, but this is sure to start changing. I think this is what makes the Slave story so interesting - it’s a nice little test case for the central government about how, while the truth hurts, it perhaps doesn’t hurt them as much as feared. There haven’t been any calls for the overthrow of the CCP - just calls for transparency.

The whole Murdoch thing is a bit of a red herring though - like in so many aspects in China change will come from within.

]]> by: Yansi http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/06/21/china-and-sweden/#comment-17 Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:37:48 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/06/21/china-and-sweden/#comment-17 Wonderful article. Keep up the excellent work and thank you all the more for the links. Wonderful article. Keep up the excellent work and thank you all the more for the links.

]]> by: Michael http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/06/21/china-and-sweden/#comment-16 Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:12:21 +0100 http://blackandwhitecat.blogsome.com/2007/06/21/china-and-sweden/#comment-16 Wonderful post and an excellent translation. Reading about successful socialist countries makes me ache for all the Americans (my countrymen) who would be so much better off in such a system, and makes me loathe all the more the fundamentalist rightists who claim to represent American Christianity. The Blackstone Group went public yesterday to raise billions of dollars for 'private' equity...how much of that will be taxed? I don't even want to know. Also, I actually live in Sanlitun, so the flower sellers, the chuanr stands, and the stupid foreigners (myself included) are all part of my life. It's nice to see someone remember them, and your friend's observation is spot on. Wonderful post and an excellent translation. Reading about successful socialist countries makes me ache for all the Americans (my countrymen) who would be so much better off in such a system, and makes me loathe all the more the fundamentalist rightists who claim to represent American Christianity. The Blackstone Group went public yesterday to raise billions of dollars for ‘private’ equity…how much of that will be taxed? I don’t even want to know.

Also, I actually live in Sanlitun, so the flower sellers, the chuanr stands, and the stupid foreigners (myself included) are all part of my life. It’s nice to see someone remember them, and your friend’s observation is spot on.

]]>