[in partial translation]

There are any number of theories about democracy.  Simply put, democracy is about giving the people to choose through periodic fair elections . An important factor in election is public opinion, and the most important channel that includes public opinion is "media."  Just about everyone uses television, newspapers, radio and the increasingly popular news websites.

... There have been tremendous changes in the American media recently ... especially among the left-wing newspapers ...

Of the daily circulation at the four top newspapers, the right-wing The Wall Street Journal fell 1.9% while retaining the position of top newspaper (2.04 million).  Although USA TODAY has 2.27 million in circulation, many are gift copies at hotels and it is not considered a "serious newspaper" because it is more about sports and entertainment.  The left-wing New York Times fell 3.5% to 1.08 million copies, just over half of the number at The Wall Street Journal.  The Los Angeles Times, which is even more left-wing that the New York Times, fell 8% to 770,000 copies.  The center-left Washington Post fell 3.3% to 650,000 copies.  The other three left-wing newspapers in the top 10 also went down.  Miami Herald fell 8.8% to 260,000; the San Francisco Chronicle fell 5.3% to 370,000; the Boston Globe fell 6.7% to 380,000.  Meanwhile conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's New York Post continued to perform well, increasing 6.1% to 700,000 and surpassing the Washington Post to become the fifth largest newspaper in the United States.

For the record, here are the data on September 30, 2006 from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC's FAS-FAX ending September 30, 2006):

1. USA TODAY, 2,549,252
2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,047,127
3. New York Times, 1,623,697
4. Los Angeles Times, 1,172,005
5. Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News, 1,039,340
6. Chicago Tribune, 937,907
7. Washington Post, 930,619
8. New York Daily News, 780,196
9. New York Post, 708,561
10. Houston Chronicle, 692,586

You can try to reconcile these numbers with Cao Changqing's article.  (Please compare the numbers carefully!!!)  Here is a question: Even if you decided to write an article about the ascendancy of the right-wing newspapers over their left-wing rivals, could you have conceivably written the article above (given the Audit Bureau of Circulations data)?
 
The facts are: the numbers for the right-wing Wall Street Journal and New York Post are exactly what the ABC numbers are, but the numbers for the 'left-wing' New York Times and Los Angeles Times and the 'central/left-wing' Washington Post are way understated.  Cao Changqing must be reading a different set of books altogether.  And he fails to mention that the New York Daily News is ahead of the New York Post, and neither NYDN nor NYP could possibly be considered as "serious newspapers" just as USA TODAY is not.  Still, this is the kind of stuff that passes as a meaningful analysis of American media.

P.S.  Someone asked: "So who is Cao Changqing?"  I refer you to Clean Government Is Not A Core Value For Democracy for an illustration.  There's much much much more about Cao Changqing but you can look it up yourself.  Such is the tristesse of the so-called independent overseas Chinese media. 

“做芳粥子？？？！！！也就我们杂志想得出这样馊的主意！还说他是公共知识分子，在我看来公共厕所还差不多！
嘴脏得不行，智商也有问题。是我，早就他妈地骂丫傻逼了。至蠢，瞧他说的那些话，什么二奶的，他知道什么是二奶吗？
死蠢的猪（这几话不代表我们杂志说，是我个人意见）。去了美国脑袋都变成转基因的了。”
“我曾经造谣:一,方舟子的乳房是义乳;二,方舟子生的孩子因为转了基因没屁眼.
这个事情说我造谣我也不大承认，第一，方舟子确实没有让人看过他的乳房，第二,方舟子确实没有让人看他孩子的屁眼.”

[in translation]

"Interview Fang Zhouzi???!!!  What a stupid idea that our magazine came up with!  Even though they call him a public intellectual, he is more like a public toilet!  He has a filthy mouth and his intelligence quotient is suspect.  If it was up to me, I would have f**king cursed out this stupid c**t.  He is stupid for saying those things.  He talked about mistresses, but what does he know about mistresses?  Damn stupid pig (These are my personal thoughts, and do not represent our magazine).  When he got to America, the genes in his brain must have been mutated.

"... I started some rumors.  First, Fang Zhouzi's tits are fake.  Second, Fang Zhouzi's child was born without an anus due to genetic mutation.  Now I would dissent if you accuse me with starting rumors.  First, Fang Zhouzi has not let anyone see his tits.  Second, Fang Zhouzi has not let anyone see his child's anus." 

[in translation]

Recently, the most popular person on the Internet must be Zhang Yu.  There is one theory: if "hidden rules" exist in the film/television industry, then there must be reasons for their existence.  Thus, there are reasons for them to exist; if you break the "hidden rules," then you are wrong.

That is an interesting theory.  It is even more interesting to note that there is a market for this theory.

According to this theory: if you want to get a film role, you must offer your body because that is the "hidden rule."  If you want a job promotion, you must pay bribes because that is the "hidden rule."  If an actress wants to perform in film without offering sexual favors, then she is breaking the "hidden rule."  If an official wants to stay clean and uncorrupt, then he is breaking the "hidden rule."  From there on, we infer: weak women are destined to be abused, because that is the "hidden rule."  Obedient citizens are destined to be bullied, because that is the "hidden rule."  If the weak women object to the abuse, they are breaking the "hidden rule."  If the obedient citizens refuse to be bullied, they are breaking the "hidden rule."

How can there be so many "hidden rules"?  No wonder people keep saying that the Chinese people are tired and bitter.

On January 27, 2003, the Turkish premier said that the Americans have informed him that they can conquer Iraq militarily in fifteen days.  I believe it.  When the war in Iraq begins, the entire country will be rapidly pacified.  Once the Saddam government falls, the embryonic form of a modern democratic government will quickly come into being with the support of America in the area of the two ancient rivers.  Within five years, this newborn Iraq will stand proudly in the world.  This is what I say.  You just wait and watch for it.

Okay, so maybe it has only been 3-1/2 years and there is still a chance that the prediction will come true.  But of the three options (1) double the bet, as in I know it will happen because what you see right now is transitory; (2) pretend I never wrote this and hope that no one will bring this up; (3) acknowledge that I was wrong and I will try to analyze where I went wrong -- which do you think will happen?

Here is more stuff from Jiao Guobiao in praise of the "public order disturbances"/"mass incidents" after Iraq was overrun by the Coalition forces:

In recent days, the Iraqis have been looting the public institutions, including government offices and foreign embassies as well as the national museum.  The media have condemned the American and British troops for failing to stop the looting.  I believe that this is the way by which the Coalition wants to "tame the people."

The Iraqi looters are like people attending a carnival.  They are like farmers at the harvest celebration, who are trying to reap as much wheat as possible.  This is a release from a longtime repression, a re-possession after a longtime exploitation.

The Coalition should give the Iraqis a suitable period to release their feelings.  If they had watched them over closely just like the former Saddam regime, then the Iraqis would think that one Saddam has been replaced by another Saddam and nothing has changed.  If the old things continue to exist, then what hope is there in life?

Therefore, I believe that the media are wrong to use "looting" and "robbing" so persvasively.  Looting and robbing must have identifiable victims, such as homes being robbed.  Here, the "looting" is only for materials without any owners and this is different from robbing someone's possessions and maybe even hurting the owners.

... The looting by the Iraqis is like the Beijing people looting the Summer Garden back then.  They cannot go near the place in ordinary times, because they were treated as the enemies by the authorities.  Alas, here came a day when they could go and rip the place apart.  So what were they waiting for?

"Looting" is a form of robbery and is not a good thing.  The comforting thing is that it will be over quickly.  For one thing, the Coalition forces and the people of Iraq will undertake the joint task of maintaining public safety.  For another thing, this was just looting without real robberies.  In 1998, Indonesians rioters robbed the Chinese of their properties and abused their women.  Now that is real robbery.

In reviewing the entire process of looting by the Iraqis, this was just a happy celebration among the people.  There were no riots created by violent rioters.  The participants were just the good citizens of Iraq. 

 ... I was a graduate from the Department of Journalism, so I logically became a journalist.  I did that for seven years.  During my seven years as journalist, I worked in investigative journalism, crime reporting and then I became a political journalist.  When I stepped into politics, my eyes were opened up.  Government, public servants, political parties, politicians, businessmen -- how various people betray their allies, distrust each other, refuse to share the wealth or spread around their misfortunes!  How many of those people have a conscience?  If I tell you that Doctor Woo who told you to eat "dog biscuits" is actually a person who spoke the truth from his heart, my readers would say "Huh?"  If I said that you shouldn't believe Anson Chan even if she swore that she was telling the truth, my readers would say "Huh?" too.  Not everybody can accept the truth.  In this case, the politicians think that they are politicians but they are just nobodies, whereas the reporters are small politicians.

... Lau Kong-wah said correctly that there is no politics in Hong Kong.  There is only entertainment.

Politics is just like entertainment, and the media is increasingly becoming entertainment.  How many political news reports show the media style?  The media company bosses only want to make money and they want exposés and scandals.  Social responsibility and public trust have become decorative already.  When the news products are not respected, what becomes of the reporters?  Their positions and wages deteriorate from day to day.  As time goes by, only novices would want to do this laborious but unrewarding job.  Such is the sorrow of this occupation, as well as society as a whole.  Without these experienced and perceptive reporters, how shall the readers expand their vistas and how shall the media fulfill their functions?  So the media become the tools of the rulers, just as Chairman Mao, the government, the politicians and the advertisers wish.

But apart from all this, the media workers are still worthy of respect.  Their rewards are not commensurate with their efforts.  Sometimes, they put in not only their sweat and time, but also their emotions and ideals.

These signs have been the subject of discussion at many Chinese media (People's Daily, Xinhua, Yangcheng Wanbao, Sichuan Daily, etc).  It is even included in a high school exam.
 
A Southern Weekend article titled "Uncivilized behavior of Chinese tourists overseas has shocked senior officials" began this way: "'Chinese persons, please flush toilet,' 'Please keep quiet,' 'Please do not spit' ... these warning signs written in simplified Chinese characters appear frequently in the major destinations for Chinese tourists overseas: France, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, etc.  At a time when tourists are becoming the latest export from China, 'Chinese people' have come to stand for uncivilized and rude behavior."
 
The story is a hoax.  To quote from the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: "the United Nations is based on the principles of the dignity and equality of all human beings and seeks, among other basic objectives, to achieve international co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion."
 
If any country work on the basis that certain individual Chinese persons had engaged in uncivilized behavior and then promptly issue these signs directed against the entire "Chinese people," then this is racial discrimination.  In China, we have seen that signs such as "Resolutely combat the criminal organizations from Henan" and "Beware of Xinjiang pickpockets" being denounced and removed after nationwide public outcries.  So could it be that developed countries like France and the United States would allow these kinds of signs that exhibit clear racial discrimination?  How likely is that?  Do the Chinese media have brains?

1. The so-called luxury apartment is a small two-bedroom small-family apartment measuring just over 600 square feet in area.  It faces the building across the street, not the Hudson River.  The building has a small gym, but no swimming pool.  The residents are middle-class American families.  The apartment is also far away from Central Park, so any claim of park views is absurd.  So too is the claim that the rent is NT$250,000 per month.
 
2. On the day before Thanksgiving, we went to dinner at a French restaurant with friends.  The Mercedes-Benz is not ours.  My friend called a car service in consideration that my wife is pregnant and it was cold in New York City that night.  When we go out, we usually hail yellow taxi cabs in the street.
 
3. My wife's fur cape was purchased by her mother many years ago.  Her mother told her to bring it along this time because it is cold in New York City.  There is another fur coat that my wife bought on our wedding anniversary for NT$30,000 plus.
 
4. Since graduation, I have been on an internship in an American law office in Manhattan. In early September, I went back to Taipei to visit my ill mother, and I delayed my return in consideration of her poor health.
 
5. Finally, I thank everybody for their concern.  But I wish you would respect my privacy and not intrude into our normal lives.  If anyone should distort the truth or make exaggerated claims to smear our reputations, we will take the necessary legal actions.

... Do scantily-clad women actually increase sales in the automotive industry? There is no simple answer.  Given the number of bikinis hovering over street rods, hot rods and import racers at the 2005 SEMA show, you might think the answer was a clear Yes.  One of the exhibitors, Drew Heitner, owner of M&D International, expressed his thoughts on the matter succinctly: "A woman judges her man by the car he drives, but a man judges his car by the women it attracts."


 ... It served as a reminder that tasteful and tasteless are two different approaches to marketing, but whichever strategy you choose, you have to remember the fundamentals.

Rule No. 1: Know your product. If there is a demand and the quality is there, your product will sell.

Rule No. 2: Know your customer. If the testosterone crowd is your buyer and you want to ignore the rest of the population, then go for it. But never underestimate the female buyer — we play an important part in automotive decisions and are the fastest growing sector in the auto area.

I am not a feminist. I am a female car enthusiast. My argument is not to sever that century-old partnership of beautiful women and beautiful cars. But I do want companies to use some taste and discretion when placing the two together.

(The Sun)  At the Chang'an Motor exhibit, a tall and lovely model was being harassed verbally by a man who reeked of alcohol.  "Miss, why are you standing here?  Are you tired?"  The model ignored him while continuing to smile.  The man persisted: "Miss, you are really sexy!" as he attempted to sidle up to her.  Meanwhile another man was taking photographs of the models at the Shanghai People exhibit, but his camera was focused on the breasts and buttocks.  When asked, "Why are you photographing pretty girls but not the cars?" he said: "If I want to buy a car, I would have gone to the auto dealer.  Why did I come here?  To check out the girls.  It is visually enjoyment and my wife says its okay."

There is also an Internet forum debate at ChineseNewsNet.  The title of the post is "The World Is Watching China, But What Is China Watching?" and contains three photographs but no text.  From the foci of the cameras, the photographers seemed to have no interest in the cars.

Does this prove the low quality of the Chinese people once again?  Well, before you can even think about this question, you need to be aware that the commentators assert that these photographs came from Japan.  As proof, they said that the steering wheel in the car in the background of the third photograph is on the side opposite to the Chinese way.  So the first question is, What kind of person would use photographs of Japanese cameramen in a post titled "The World is Watching China, But What Is China Watching?"  The second question is that notwithstanding these photographs, do you believe that such behavior are commonplace in China?  The third question is that if such behavior is commonplace in China, then is anything wrong with it?  After all, the behavior is just as common in Japan and the United States.  The fourth question is that having dealt with all the preceding questions, what is the proper title for that post?
 
Related link (in Chinese):  国展车模被看客“盯骚”  yWeekend

[in translation]

Singapore Strait Times special correspondent Ching Cheong has been detained in mainland China for over a year, and his wife Mary Lau has been working very hard for his release ...

Yesterday Mary Lau and the Hong Kong Journalists Association held a press conference to defend Ching Cheong.  The reporter from Sing Tao Net asked Mary Lau whether her criticisms of the court charges implied that she has accepted that the verdict document on the Internet was authentic.  Mary Lau snapped back: "You are going to have to ask your webmaster!  SingtaoNet was the first to publish this verdict document.  Why is the Chinese government not after the Sing Tao people responsible for this?  We have consulted with knowledgeable people and they tell us that leaking state secrets leads to three years in jail.  But I have no reason to call for the Chinese government to cause trouble for you."

What are possible scenarios?
 
(1) Sing Tao obtained the documents surreptitiously.  Then they have broken Chinese law.
 
(2) Sing Tao obtained the documents from a verified official source (subject to non-disclosure of the identity of that source) who did so in order to serve an unstated purpose (e.g. establish criminality).  You would think that Sing Tao is ethically required to disclose the circumstances so that their readers can exercise care.
 
(3) Sing Tao obtained the documents from an unverified source (e.g. an anonymous email showed up in the editor's inbox and the attached document seemed 'real').  You would think that Sing Tao is ethically required to disclose the lack of verification.
 
Sing Tao has said nothing about the process.  You can flip a coin among (1), (2) or (3).  I lean towards (2) with the suspicion that parts of the documents could have been edited.  This is a personal opinion.  You must forgive me for speculating -- What else can I do when Sing Tao provides no further information? 

Related Link:  The Ching Cheong Verdict  Joel Martinsen, Danwei.

I have been writing over at MSN Spaces for several years.
I thought it was not bad, because there was no web administrator jumping in to delete stuff.
But it is over.  Last Saturday, it died totally.
In this nation with the most free Internet, this is actually a common event.
Of course, starting a new blog is a very simple matter.
This sort of thing can go on repeatedly, because the costs for both sides are low.
But it is a nuisance for everybody to update their links.
...
So it is not a big deal or loss to move elsewhere.
I am not going to move the original blog posts here, because I am too lazy and beside, I don't see the need.
You should read the latest and most interesting things.
The new location is probably just like MSN Spaces.  It'll be a bit slow, and it does not look like an authentic Chinese-language interface.
But they probably will not be deleting your blog posts every couple of days for the sake of their survival.
The imperfect thing is that it does not provide blog links,
and it has some ads on the right-hand column (I get nothing out of it).
I insist on the following ideas for blogs:
It should be freely accessible to the public, because proxy services are suitable for just a few people;
I will try to make it survive as long as possible;
I will write and link to whatever I want and I will not accept any debate under censorship (or else I shouldn't bother to get on the Internet). 

It has been ridiculed by cynics as the Central Polling Unit for its intensified public opinion survey programme. But the Central Policy Unit has acted to bolster its policy research team to function as the government's "think-tank" on both policy options and public opinion analysis.

The CPU has recently invited applications for the post of senior research officer and two research assistants. Its research team presently comprises four senior researchers and four research officers.

CPU head Lau Siu-kai said: "We have the biggest research team to conduct trend studies about political, social and economic developments of Hong Kong and the mainland. Tracking public opinion is an integral part of governance. With that, critics have second thoughts when they want to claim public opinion is on their side."

(Apple Daily)  By Yu Jie, independent Chinese writer

The first time that I heard the name Pelosi was in the year after the tragedy at Tiananmen Square.  At the time, I heard this piece of news on VOA: this 50-year-old Congresswoman did something courageous by displaying a banner that read: "Dedicated to the martyrs who died for democracy in China" right there in Tiananmen Square.  The result was obvious: she was immediately tackled by a bunch of military police men and then expelled from China.  For the past 16 years, this photograph is prominently displace in Pelosi's office.  Every year when the Chinese democrats attend the 6/4 memorial service in front of the Chinese embassy, Pelosi can often be seen.

This past May, I was attending the Forum On Religious Freedom and Law in Washington DC.  During the time, I also attended a forum of the Laogai Foundation and I met Ms. Pelosi.  She was invited to give the opening address.  She wore a light dress with a bright scarf, and she looked elegant.  By comparison, another "strong woman" of about the same age is Chinese vice-premier Wu Yi, who is stiff, bloated, old and feeble.

Looks and style are connected to the political system and cultural environment: Pelosi's dashing energy reminds people of "freedom" whereas Wu Yi's lack of gender characteristics reminds people of "autocracy."

(Chuiyung) Suzanna Cheung Chui-yung, free-lance reporter from Hong Kong

Those reporters on the China-US beat will know Pelosi.  When I was covering Hong Kong-US and China-US news in Washington DC more than a decade ago, Pelosi is the congresswoman whom the Hong Kong reporters have the most contact with.  She often speaks about Hong Kong issue in Congress. ...

Some Hong Kong reporters may think of Pelosi as an old friend.  For me, she is too political because she is only counting votes in her heart.  At least when I dealt with her, I could not sense any "genuineness" in her at all.

First, let us examine her congressional district and we will know why she speaks about Hong Kong actively.  Pelosi's 8th district covers most of San Francisco city, including the Chinese community.  ... Faced with several hundred thousand Chinese voters, Pelosi obviously has to include the issues that these Chinese care about.  Yet, in terms of what a politician should do within a democratic system, Pelosi's speeches are too empty and showed that she does not know much.

One should not assume that since she is a Democrat who chants "Long Live Democracy" that she must be a human rights fighter.  Actually, she is no different from Hillary Clinton as both are equally experienced and astute.  You listen to their speeches on the Israel-Palestine problem and you realize that they are thoroughly politicians.

There is a big Jewish lobbyist organization known as AIPAC in Washington DC.  The board of directors are all political and business heavyweights and Pelosi is very friendly with them.  Pelosi takes part in their events where she gives speeches to support Israel's "occupation" policies.  The double standards of politicians are clearly revealed here.

At Guangzhou University, it is a tradition to celebrate after the mid-term examinations.  This male student attended the party on a Saturday night.  He felt very happy, he drank a lot of wine and then some girls were interested in him and invited him to attend another party.  So he went with them in a taxi to another apartment.  They continued to drink and he took some drugs.

When he woke up, he found himself naked in a bathtub filled with ice.  He looked at his chest, and the letters "Call 110 or you will die" had been written with red lipstick.  There was a phone next to the tub.  He called 110.  He told 110 about his situation and that he had no idea where he was.  110 advised to get out of the tub and check himself in the mirror.  He did and saw nothing unusual.  110 then told him to check his back.  He saw two 9-inch long openings on his lower back.  110 told him to get back into the tub immediately and wait for the emergency team.  The doctors found out that his kidneys had been stolen!  In the black market, a pair of kidneys are worth 300,000 RMB! ...

The real crime committed by Zhu might just be plagiarism or lack of originality.  The kidney theft story is an urban legend that goes back to 1996 (see Snopes).  Zhu did not even attempt to modify the story except to translate the location from Texas to Guangzhou.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu's wife Shao Hsiao-ling, who was seriously injured in a car accident on Saturday night, remained in critical condition as of press time, having to rely on medication and life support after having her left forearm amputated and her spleen removed in hours of emergency treatment at Chi Mei Hospital in the southern county of Tainan.  Hu himself suffered a minor concussion and lacerations to the face.

The accident took place at 7:51 p.m. on a north-bound lane of the second national freeway, at around 325.3 kilometers south of Taipei, where the van carrying Hu, Shao and close sides was slammed by a small sedan. The van rolled over a few times after hitting the car, the police said.

There is now a media-related story (United Daily News):

[in translation]

Yesterday, Apple Daily showed the bloody photograph of Taichung Mayor's wife Shao Hsiao-ling on the front page.  Government Information Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang angrily criticized the newspaper for violating the integrity and right to privacy of Shao.  He has called the Taipei city information office director Lo Chih-cheng and asked Apple Daily to be punished.  He emphasized, "If the Taipei city government won't deal with it, the Government Information Office will step in."

The Taipei city Information Office believes that Apple Daily violated that "child and youth welfare laws" and has referred the case to the Social Welfare Department.  They will hold an interdepartmental meeting to determine the most effective approach based on the existing laws.

But the Social Welfare Department director Chang Shu-wen said that in the absence of specific complaints to show that children or youth were actually negatively affected by the news photographs, the department cannot impose any penalties.

Apple Daily chief editor Chen Yu-hsin responded that Cheng Wen-tsang had overstepped in his criticism which Apple Daily cannot accept.  Chen Yu-hsin said that the photograph in Apple Daily was taken in an open public space before Shao Hsiao-ling was taken to the Chi Mei Hospital.  Furthermore, this traffic accident is an important event that has drawn the attention of the national public.  Apple Daily dealt with this case in no way different from any other traffic accidents in the past. 

Here is the front cover of Apple Daily (the full photograph is here).

Indeed, here is today's Apple Daily bloody traffic accident photograph in Nantou county (see link).

P.S. (SCMP)  Apple sorry for using picture of politician's injured wife.  By Lawrence Chung.  November 21, 2006.

The Taiwanese edition of Apple Daily apologised yesterday for printing a front-page picture of the wife of a popular Taiwanese politician covered in blood after being critically injured in a car accident.

The apology came after sharp criticism from the island's media regulator, the Government Information Office, that it was highly improper to publish such a picture without taking into account the victim's right to privacy.

In a statement issued in Taipei, Apple Daily said it had merely hoped to use the picture to present the actuality of a news scene. "We apologise if readers disapprove or feel uncomfortable about the photograph we published," it said.

(Apple Daily)  November 23, 2006.

[in translation]

Apple Daily declares that the traffic accident was an issue that the people were concerned about and the photograph was taken in a public place, therefore the decision was made to publish the photograph.  In respect to the principal, portions of the photograph were masked.  Apple Daily states that it will listen humbly listen to criticisms from readers and apologizes to the principals and readers.  In the future, we will be more careful about the selection and handling of traffic accident photographs.  We welcome continued reader feedback.