37 Comments »

Cromulent said:
SD, I think you just lost the Tom Friedman crowd!
  +1
[Reply]

SD Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
@Cromulent ::
I had the Tom Friedman crowd?
Sweet! Then I guess I should write a book real quick that makes the same basic point 70 different ways … laugh my way to the bank … and then call it a day.
Just kidding Tom {and his crowd} … it’s actually more like 12 different ways.
[Reply]

Cromulent Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
@SD, I did like TF’s book on Lebanon. Of course, that was t-w-e-n-t-y y-e-a-r-s ago. And I had no idea then that he enjoyed fellating ChiComs. If he were writing columns way back when he probably would have renamed the Gang of Four something like Fantastic Four.
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# 19 May 2011 at 7:59 pm

Ha Ha Ha America said:
http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/haha_america/
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[Reply]

Ha Ha Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
“Ha Ha Ha America” is an experimental short film screened at Sundance. It is a totally captioned film with no speaking. Instead, it uses intentional misspellings/odd translations, imagery, and music to show how China is overtaking America economically.
Well worth watching a few times to appreciate. It really conveys the fundamental reasons for the troublesome economic disparity between the U.S. and China.
You can see it in its (brief) entirety via the link above to the Atom Films web site.
  -2
[Reply]
# 19 May 2011 at 11:59 pm

Spank My Monkey said:
AAAWWWSSSEEEOOOMMEEE (awesome) Post!
Now please do one on FraudBank er. ScamBank er. ClickBank!
  +1
[Reply]
# 20 May 2011 at 3:41 am

anonone said:
The American government tortures people? Check.
The American government makes war with non-threatening countries? Check.
The American government imprisons more people per capita than any other country? Check.
The American government disappears people and holds them without trial? Check.
The American government can spy on you without any due process? Check.
The American president can order citizens secretly killed without any due process? Check.
So, tell me, on what moral authority can America tell China what it should do?
Muchly debated. What do you think?   -1
[Reply]

Stella Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 9:19 am
@anonone,
I do not think our author is assigning moral authority to America here. Moral authority as something to be taken up by the individual (most appropriately, the thinking man or philosopher). You as a thinking individual have nicely outlined a list of screwed-up activities perpetrated by the American government. But this nastiness describes every gov’t.
There is a forcefulness and coerciveness (that a word?) inherent in any and every ruling person, deadperson, nation, or class. But who needs coersion when one can use his own hands- and fair trade of his own surplus goods and services- to fullfill his needs and wants?
The sole purpose of regulation by gov’t is to scrape the cream off the top. Let’s get rid of that and let the cream be kept by those who create and produce instead of letting the ol’ poly-tick-ers steal it!
I just floated off the specific topic, I know. So:
Screw that there Li Gang-grene.
  +2
[Reply]

SD Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
@anonone ::
This is the Internet not America chumpstick :: and I made the Western hypocrisy point in the post already so you’re too late anyway.
I’m not in jail for what I’m doing … but I’m banned from America’s social-media-web. Ai Weiwei can use America’s social-media-web … but he’s in jail.
Both of those situations are ridiculous and horrible and not free speech :: but one is much worse than the other. One calls for sustained efforts at improvement … and one calls for immediate and agressive action.
[Reply]

Cromulent Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
@SD,
Now there there, SD. The ChiComs have done an awful lot of good. Some thing have gone awry though they are well-meaning chaps. The national diet Mao put the country on back about 50 years ago had nothing but the best of intentions.
See Mao was worried that his countrymen were getting soft and fat. So he put them thru a strict diet regimen that scolds today call The Great Famine. 45 million or so died but gosh darn it thanks to the Great Helmsman’s leadership a lot of citizens looked awfully sharp at their high school reunions.
  +5
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anonone Reply:
May 21st, 2011 at 2:34 pm
@SD,
I am not denigrating your post in anyway, I am simply pointing out that, as a country, America has lost most of its moral authority regarding human rights.
I am glad that neither you nor I am in jail for our writings – at least not yet. But, the sad fact is, people are being placed in America’s jails for their speech. Furthermore, Federal Agencies and local law enforcement are being used to infiltrate and intimidate peaceful organizations that are fighting against the erosion of freedom and the take-over of America by corporate, military, and policing interests.
The fact that my original post was voted down is another indication of how people in America cannot stand to take an honest look at ourselves relative to the erosion of human rights, civil liberties, and freedom in our own country. There was nothing – nothing – factually incorrect or exaggerated in my post. But it is far easier for most Americans to chant “we’re number one!” than it is to actually look at where we are and where we’re going.
Finally, Ai Weiwei is one of thousands of politically persecuted people in the world. If your readers want to learn how to help him and others, I recommend joining Amnesty International at http://amnesty.org/en/how-you-can-help. Ai Weiwei is covered by them at http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/019/2011/en
  -2
[Reply]

SD Reply:
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:34 pm
@anonone ::
Yeah but …
… you gots to pick your moments.
I could be like …
“Rice crispy treats aren’t healthy just because they’re low fat.”
It’s true … but it’s not necessarily a relevant or helpful comment on this post.
and
I can’t imagine what “moral authority” might mean when you’re talking about populations of 300 million and 1.3 billion … but I’m pretty sure nothing and you can shove it up your ass. These are my opinions :: stated with my authoritah … I’m obviously not speaking for fucking America.
Who is in prison for speech in America exactly? {and if you’re gonna say Bradley Manning then walk away now}.
There are thousands of people jailed or in fear of jail for speech all across the globe :: that is true :: that’s why obvious illustrations like this one should be embraced to get the word out.
[Reply]

Cromulent Reply:
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:43 pm
@SD, anonone might be talkin’ bout Mumia.
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Unicorn Army Reply:
May 22nd, 2011 at 6:18 pm
@Cromulent, in Mumia’s case, the “speech” he’s on death row for is “I shot the motherfucker, and I hope the motherfucker dies,” which is what he said after killing a cop.
  +2

Cromulent Reply:
May 22nd, 2011 at 6:32 pm
You’re preaching to the converted here, UA. I brought him up because folks like anonone that pull outrageous moral equivalencies out of their keister often like to cite creeps like Mumia, Peltier, Black Panthers, etc as their personal Christ-figures.
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anonone Reply:
May 23rd, 2011 at 9:02 am
@SD,
All you have to do is look at what happens at political conventions in America. Hundreds of non-violent protesters arrested and jailed only to have the charges thrown-out after the conventions leave town. You can google it.
Or you could have watched 60 minutes last night. Leaks the benefit the government propaganda machine are not prosecuted; leaks that expose war crimes, torture, and official corruption and incompetence are prosecuted.
And, of course, the government is closing down websites at its will without any due process if it merely suspects the website may be violating copyright laws.
And let’s all look the other way while the government tortures Bradley Manning. “Due process,” the ban on “cruel and unusual punishment”, “innocent until proven guilty” and international conventions against torture are just quaint concepts until you or someone you love is imprisoned or tortured by Taser.
It is mourning in America, alright.
  +1
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Cromulent Reply:
May 23rd, 2011 at 9:27 am
@anonone, You compared us to C-h-i-n-a. Do you get it? Manning will get a fair trial. That won’t happen for our Chinese friend, will it?
And by “non-violent protesters” you wouldn’t be referring to the would-be terrorists at the 2008 GOP convention would you? Sorry, but they weren’t all released. One guy was sentenced to 4 years in the slammer. Bradley Manning is no hero. Brandon Darby is.
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anonone Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@SD,
They arrest poets in China and Dancers in America:
US Park Police arrest dancers at Jefferson Memorial
http://www.americablog.com/2011/05/us-park-police-arrest-dancers-at.htm
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Cromulent Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
@anonone,
You really are quite the tool. Kokesh and the dancers will get their day in court. Tell me, do you think they’ll receive better treatment from the DC Park Police than they would in China?
Ai Weiwei is under the thumb of national ChiCom leaders who have taken a personal interest in his behavior. The video you provide is of some low level Park Police who may or may not have used good discretion. Nobody is going to be putting a bullet in Kokesh’s brain and sending the spent round to his parents.
  +1

anonone Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
@Cromulent,
Justice in America? Surely you jest. There are more people per capita in American jails than any other country in the world. And you think that they’re all guilty? How many people actually get or can afford a trial by jury? Very very few relative to plea bargains. Oh and check out http://www.innocenceproject.org/. And they’re only touching the tip of the iceberg.
In regards to “Nobody is going to be putting a bullet in Kokesh’s brain and sending the spent round to his parents” you haven’t been following the work of our military and CIA. The leaders torture and murder with impunity, and pass around pictures and body parts as trophies.
But, hey, god bless America! Especially our snipers.
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Cromulent Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
@anonone,
Your toolishness knows no bounds. Tell me, is there an Innocence Project in China? Yes or no, please.
Another question: will Kokesh’s persecutors put a bullet in his brain and send the spent round to his parents? Yes or no, please.
And I missed the American version of the Great Leap Forward. When was that exactly?
  0

anonone Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
@Cromulent,
I am not defending China at all – they have been committing Genocide in Tibet for decades. What I am saying is that we need to look at what is going on in our own country as well as the rest of the world. But Americans are willfully blind to growing and expanding police state.
By the way, in America, after the state murders somebody, they generally do give the electrocuted, hung, gassed, shot, or injected body back to the family.
So god bless America! Especially our torturers.
  0

Cromulent Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
@anonone,
So then I take it that you agree that there is nothing like an Innocence Project in China. That is because the Communists would never allow such a thing and you know it.
And you did indeed defend China by using a thread about repression in China to bash the US, implying a moral equivalence. Where there is none, of course.
Interesting that you mentioned Tibet, but self-inflicted disasters like the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution don’t merit your approbation. Why would that be?
The US *is* better than China, and the scorecard on civil liberties isn’t even close. And its clear you resent that.
  0

anonone Reply:
May 29th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
@Cromulent,
Hey we just killed 10 children, two women and two men in an air strike in Afghanistan on Saturday. Ain’t America great!
God bless our drones.
What I resent is America’s creeping corporate police state and the fact that people like you can’t see it or even admit to it. China being worse than us is no comfort to me. With the trajectory we’re on, It won’t be long until we catch up to them.
Oh, and Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution? American’s owned slaves not to long ago, so get off your moral high horse. Much of our history is nothing to be proud of.
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Cromulent Reply:
May 30th, 2011 at 6:33 am
@anonone,
And there we have it don’t we? The “corporate police state” crack gives the game away. You might not like the particular plays being called in China. A particular playcaller might rub you the wrong way. But you *like* the playbook. And you think the American playbook is rotten to the core and always has been.
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anonone Reply:
May 30th, 2011 at 11:46 am
@Cromulent,
You truly are foolish, Cromulent. That you can’t or you refuse to see that America’s elections and justice system are being bought and sold by corporations, including the “too big to fail” financial services corporations, is simply an indictment of your own blindness or willful ignorance.
Criticism of the growing corporate-American police state is hardly a promotion of the Chinese-Communist collective state. As we watch corporate law-breaking on a massive scale go un-prosecuted, including stealing people’s homes through illegal foreclosures and using the treasury of the United States as their personal piggy bank, it is easy to see the path America is taking is on a road to a corporate dictatorship.
But, you would have been a fine Royalist during the American revolution, too.
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Cromulent Reply:
May 30th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
@anonone,
Thanks for proving my point. That lefty “corporate” epithet is nearly content free and you manage to use the word 5 times in two paragraphs.
No, I’m not a Royalist. Just a classical liberal. Free minds, free markets for me.
  -1

SD Reply:
May 31st, 2011 at 1:20 pm
@anonone & @Cromulent::
This whole convo is ridiculous.
Everything is fucked … quit pretending you’re on different sides … cause that’s a HUGE part of how “they” control us.
It’s awesome to call out :: and root out :: injustices wherever they appear. But comparing injustices like dick sizes is almost always a pointless fail.
Don’t lock up artists and dissenters … China … you fucks.
Close down Guantanamo … America … you fucks.
See?
No we’re all a happy family again.
# 20 May 2011 at 7:02 am

SEO said:
Great post. Yea Free the man.
  +2
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# 20 May 2011 at 7:37 am

what?? said:
Amazing post. That’s all.
  +4
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# 20 May 2011 at 2:43 pm

bohica said:
salty, you’re a bad seed …
free li gang… er Ai Weiwei!
  +2
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# 20 May 2011 at 5:11 pm

Rafael Marquez said:
I thought you guys might enjoy this tool bar that I found. It’s an Ai Wei Wei toolbar that lets you express yourself like Ai WeiWei
http://fffff.at/ai-weiwei-fuck-off-bookmarklet/
Here’s a sample of what the button lets you do:
  +4
[Reply]

SD Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 5:59 pm
@Rafael Marquez ::
Ha! Classic.
I can think of one or two sites that might deserve just such treatment.
[Reply]
# 27 May 2011 at 10:50 am

SD (author) said:
The Red Machine media reports Ai Weiwei has been released …
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/06/chinese-media-reports-artist-ai-weiwei-released-from-prison.html
Many of Ai’s supporters in China and the West believe his imprisonment was retaliation for the artist’s criticism of the Chinese government and his activism in the realms of free speech and human rights.
“Many” of his supporters think that?
Thanks for that “news” LA Times … make sure you’re fair to both sides.
Oh and also … if you want to be as stupid as fuck … please go ahead an cite a few of his supporters who thought this arrest was about “taxes”.
Ludicrous.
Pretending that a one sided story has two sides is misinformation.
[Reply]
# 22 June 2011 at 1:39 pm

Yakaru said:
Just to keep things up to date, Ai Weiwei has accepted a professorship offered by the Berlin University of the Arts. Hopefully the Chinese Government will let him out. (And hopefully he doesn’t finish up getting deported for traveling in the underground without a ticket or something.)
http://bit.ly/oMheQ8
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SD Reply:
July 20th, 2011 at 3:36 am
@Yakaru ::
They had originally offered that position to me :: but I declined :: so I guess he was their safety pick.
Hopefully the Chinese Government will be swallowed by a giant fish.
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Stoic Reply:
July 20th, 2011 at 6:02 am
@SD,
So is this blog your sunflower seed piece, Mr Salty?
It should qualify if you are familiar with the more ‘out there’ pieces of modern art.
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# 19 July 2011 at 3:23 pm

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