China Readings for March 19th

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

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  • Twitter / @niubi: renowned leftist dog/jingo … – renowned leftist dog/jingoist clown 司马南 sima nan has not sent a weibo in nearly 3 days. http://bit.ly/AvGUa7 article 73’d?
  • 胡锡进的微博 新浪微博-随时随地分享身边的新鲜事儿
  • Twitter / @niubi: 胡锡进:我不喜欢乌有之乡但我并不希望他们网站被封,愿 … – 胡锡进:我不喜欢乌有之乡但我并不希望他们网站被封,愿意他们能继续发声。我不喜欢刘的主张,但我并不希望他坐牢,愿意他像其他“异见人士”一样在中国社会有立身之地。然而中国政治的承受力远没有理想的那么大,大家做事都要有度,破了度,制造多元的建设性就会变成破坏性,反弹就会来。此为真实中国
  • Twitter / @niubi: or as wsj chinese editor @ … – or as wsj chinese editor @LiYuan6 asked on weibo @ hu xujin “春江水暖鸭先知?” r ducks the 1st to know when the spring river water begins 2 warm?
  • Twitter / @niubi: neo-maoists voices online … – neo-maoists voices online shutdown, 艾未未 unblocked on weibo, sina weibo real name implementation a joke. 2 springs this year?
  • 惠崇春江晚景_百度百科
  • Dont Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort « blog maverick– Let me make this as clear as possible1. When you work hard at something you become good at it.

    2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.

    3. When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it

    4. When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.

    Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions and to success, however you define it.

  • Economic Musings – Who is REALLY paying in the $25bil TBTF mortgage settlement– SummaryIt’s hard to believe that such decisions are being made on such a hot button issue.  I suppose the general public sees the $25bil stick and assumes the Banks are being appropriately punished.  In reality it is quite the scam.  The Attorney Generals and White House look like they are dropping the hammer on evil Wall Street TBTF banks while simultaneously sticking up for the average American borrower.  The banks pretend they’re paying the price for past sins (with the money of the victims, the investors).
  • Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods – NYTimes.com– Backpage accounts for about 70 percent of prostitution advertising among five Web sites that carry such ads in the United States, earning more than $22 million annually from prostitution ads, according to AIM Group, a media research and consulting company. It is now the premier Web site for human trafficking in the United States, according to the National Association of Attorneys General. And it’s not a fly-by-night operation. Backpage is owned by Village Voice Media, which also owns the estimable Village Voice newspaper.Attorneys general from 48 states have written a joint letter to Village Voice Media, pleading with it to get out of the flesh trade. An online petition at Change.org has gathered 94,000 signatures asking Village Voice Media to stop taking prostitution advertising. Instead, the company has used The Village Voice to mock its critics. Alissa thought about using her real name for this article but decided not to for fear that Village Voice would retaliate.
  • John Kerry tied to controversial Bain Capital investment – Election 2012 – The Washington Post
  • The Sad and Infuriating Mike Daisey Case – James Fallows – International – The Atlantic
  • China to reform, grow economy, IMF eyes freer yuan | Reuters– China cannot delay tough economic reforms, Vice Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday, underscoring the top leadership’s push for market-based change after the sacking last week of an ambitious provincial leader who wanted a bigger state role in the economy.Li, widely expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier in a leadership transition that begins later this year, promised flexible policies to keep growth brisk and prices stable, with a focus on boosting domestic demand and pursuing structural reforms to make growth more stable and balanced.
  • 华英农业被曝死鸭流入市场形成产业链 两责任人被免职-《财经网》
  • The Banks Win, Again – NYTimes.com– The settlement’s go-easy-on-the-banks approach might be understandable if the banks were still hunkered down. But most of the banks — which still benefit from crisis-era support in the form of federally backed debt and near zero interest rates — passed the recent stress tests, paving the way for Fed approval to increase dividends and share buybacks, if not immediately, then as soon as possible.When it comes to helping homeowners, banks are treated as if they still need to be protected from drains on their capital. But when it comes to rewarding executives and other bank shareholders, paying out capital is the name of the game. And at a time of economic weakness, using bank capital for investor payouts leaves the banks more exposed to shocks. So homeowners are still bearing the brunt of the mortgage debacle. Taxpayers are still supporting too-big-to-fail banks. And banks are still not being held accountable.
  • The Benefits of Bilingualism – NYTimes.com – SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.
  • Water “safe to drink” after oil spill in S. China: government – Xinhua | English.news.cn– Authorities in south China’s Guangdong Province said Sunday they were working to clean oil slicks on a river which might threaten drinking water supply to a four-million-people city.A water supply company in Jiangmen city reported Saturday afternoon that a wide range of oil was found floating near the source of the city’s two waterworks on Xijiang River, said an official with the city government’s information office.
  • Cinda sells 16.5% of shares | Companies | chinadaily.com.cn – The State-owned China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd has sold 16.54 percent of its shares to four investors to raise 10.37 billion yuan ($1.64 billion), and is looking for the best time for an initial public offering in both the domestic and overseas markets.
    The new shareholders are the China National Council for Social Security Fund, UBS AG, Citic Capital Holdings Ltd, and Standard Chartered Plc, the company announced on Friday.
  • China to be hotbed of luxury hotels | Industries | chinadaily.com.cn – Sanya, the southernmost city in China, is trying to make itself into the Miami of the East as part of a plan to attract more tourists from home and abroad.
    Judging by its hotels, though, Sanya may already be a step ahead of the city of pink flamingos and South Beach.
  • Amazon.com: The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag eBook: Chol-hwan Kang, Pierre Rigoulot: Kindle Store
  • Amazon.com: Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West eBook: Blaine Harden: Kindle Store
  • How one man escaped from a North Korean prison camp | Books | The Guardian – wonder how you fact check this?//
    There was torture, starvation, betrayals and executions, but to Shin In Geun, Camp 14 – a prison for the political enemies of North Korea – was home. Then one day came the chance to flee…
  • 西藏强化维稳激励引导 干部表现突出将提拔重用_新闻_腾讯网
  • Suit against Alexander Wang in flux, to be moved to federal court with new lawyer – NYPOST.com – The $50 million lawsuit against Alexander Wang is in flux. Lawyers for former Wang employee Wenyu Lu, who slapped the fashion designer with a suit for allegedly exploitative labor practices, filed a motion Thursday to discontinue the case. The suit was filed in Queens Supreme Court this month, but Lu’s lawyer, Ming Hai, told us the case will be refiled in federal court and handed off to a lawyer specializing in labor law. Hai says he wasn’t fired and will continue to consult on the case. Wang and his brother, Dennis, are being accused of keeping sweatshop-like conditions at his 386 Broadway offices, with employees claiming they worked 16-hour days without overtime pay and suffered injuries and illnesses. Another ex-employee, Flor Duante, claimed she worked more than 90-hour weeks and was fired after filing for workers compensation. A rep for Wang told Page Six, “The claims of sweatshop conditions were completely and utterly untrue in every respect.”
  • Yet Another Reason to Hate the Mortgage Settlement: The Release is Botched « naked capitalism – As hedge fund manager David Einhorn apparently says of companies he sells short, “No matter how bad you think it is, it’s always worse.” And here, the single most important thing in the settlement deal to get right, the release, has, as we and others predicted, proven to be a travesty.
  • Occupy Wall Street 2.0: Protesters Go High-Tech – WSJ.com – Occupy Wall Street’s open-air encampments and spontaneous demonstrations through New York City have been largely organized through Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Now, protesters said, those tools are no longer enough.