Just finished reading a book called "No Wall Too High". It is the story of Xu Hongci translated into English by Erling Hoh. Xu was a young man who joined the communist party of China and was moving up the ranks and was sent to study medicine by the party. He had thought that Mao Zedong and the communist party had fought well against Japan and will lead the country to prosperity. But he became disenchanted by Mao's policies and spoke out. Of course he found out Mao and others in the party do not want to hear this. He was sentenced to hard labor. He was accused of spreading false rumors regarding the regime. After many years and several escape attempts, he eventually was able to escape to Mongolia. It is a fascinating story of survival. But it is also a fascinating illustration of how an authoritarian person and government can make life miserable for millions of people.
Interestingly, Mao suppressed news that shed bad light on him and his policies. He called these "false rumors" counterrevolutionary. Sort of like some leader today calling news that reflect badly on him "fake news". I am, of course, referring to the president of FIFA who said that the accusations of FIFA being corrupt and nontransparent are just fake news. That is what every dictator in third world countries say. Yeah, those dictators and the leader of the free world.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
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I had not heard of this book until now. I didn't realize how old it was, but I wonder why it hasn't been available until recently. The timing seems pretty coincidental, but I'm sure it's a pretty good read. I read that the author died in 2008 and tried to escape 3 times until he was successful. Unbelievable that he kept trying and never gave up. Did he live in Hong Kong all these years?
ReplyDelete-LBOAYM
He went back to China after living in Mongolia for many years. It showed that China is much better in recent years regarding human rights to allow him back in and even gave him a teaching job. However, he could not publish his book in China. Hong Kong was able to publish his book due to more democratic rights in Hong Kong than in China. This book is a translation of the original written years ago in Chinese. The translator was doing research on writing a book on the force labor camps. He came across this book in Hong Kong library and figured he couldn't write a better book and so he just translated it and added some of his own stuff to make the timeline of events easier to understand.
ReplyDeleteI am sure I will have a lot more to say about the Washington Post report about Trump telling classified info to the Russians in their oval office meeting. As much as I hate Trump, for the sake of the country I hope the report is not true. If it is true, Trump is either incredibly stupid or is on the payroll of the Russians. Its almost inconceivable that the latter is true. but then you must wonder why he meets with the Russians in the oval office in the first place? And letting Russian journalists in the meeting but not Americans. The inconceivable is becoming more conceivable everyday!
I'm actually surprised that Trump came out and admitted what he did. I thought for sure there would be some kind of spin and denial about giving information to the Russians. I'm not sure it's a huge deal, since we are supposedly fighting a common enemy. Maybe Trump felt so at ease with his fellow comrades that he forgot that he was actually talking to the Russians!
ReplyDeleteAre you more mad about the Russian situation or that Simone Biles was voted off of DWTS (your favorite show)? To me, I partially blame the judges for giving the baseball player such good scores. I was dumbfounded to see that he received 9's on his first dance, which was no way as good as the routine before him, which also received 9's.
The judges gave him high scores last week as well when, in my amateur opinion, he did not receive such good scores. I argue that he should have gone home before the cowboy. Now, I will say that the two dances he did last night were the best he's done, but there's no way he should be in the finals.
I watch Better Call Saul on Mondays and have really enjoyed this season. The last two weeks have been fantastic. If you haven't watched, I'd recommend it.
-LBOAYM
Yesterday I said that for the good of the country I hoped the Washington Post story was not true. But Trump is not denying it. I would thought that he would deny to the death knowing that there were no American journalists or any Americans other than his own people in the meeting. So maybe the Russians leaked it? McMaster lost my respect with his defense of Trump. So the one good appointment I thought he made that was good is also not good for the country.
ReplyDeleteNow today there is the Comey memo. I would think that the WH will vigorously deny its authenticity since it was written by Comey. But so far not much fighting back. All I know is that if they actually have tapes that Comey should be scarred of, it will be presented already.
I am way more mad about the politics than DWTS. I am not surprised about Biles being out last night nor am I mad about it. In many seasons there would be one person in the finals who should not be there. Bristol Palin comes to mind. So I think Cubs and baseball fans really came out for Ross. So he was going to make the final. The question was who was going to be out. I thought it would be Jenkins since he was about the same as Biles and less known. But I think Biles must have rub people the wrong way. I think in the finals, the person who deserve to win usually does. Biles fans, for example, will now vote for Kordei or Jenkins to prevent Ross from winning. So I think Kordei will win as she should. Biles would not have won anyway. It doesn't matter much finishing second, third or fourth. People only remember who won.
I find myself waiting for shows to come out of Neflix before binge watching them. Like Big Bang Theory, Homeland and Better Call Saul. I am sure it is in my queue already.
So you actually binge watch Better Call Saul? Is last season's Homeland out on Netflix yet?
ReplyDelete-LBOAYM
Rod Rosenstein did the right thing by naming Robert Mueller special counsel to the investigation. I think Mueller will do a good job and get to the bottom of this whole thing.
ReplyDeleteThis guy name Schwartz, who co wrote "The Art of the Deal" with Trump, came on CNN tonight. He had nothing good to say about Trump. He thinks, for example, that when Trump says bad things about others, he is thinking that insult applies to himself. So when he calls Comey a grandstander, he is referring himself as that. If he calls someone weak, he is thinking that he himself is weak. I guess that would apply to fake news since he is spreading fake news himself. Schwartz also thinks Trump will resign sometime along the way and declare victory. He would not allow impeachment or losing reelection. I think the last part is most likely to be accurate.
Yes, I admit to binge watching because I find that easier and more enjoyable than to wait to see what happens in a week. Sure, I have to wait for the next season to come out but then if you watch at the time of broadcast, at the end of the season you have to wait several months also. I am still waiting for Season six of Homeland at this time.