This month has been a busy one for cults. I said before that I don't intend for this to become a political blog, and I certainly don't intend for it to become a cult blog, but when the big news stories of the month include the end of the world and political scandals involving a world leader, it's difficult to write about something else.
I'll start with the end of the world. Now this is a little confusing depending on where in the world you are. You see, if you are in the Americas then the rare appearance of a black moon occurred last month, but in Europe, Asia and Oceania it occurs this month due to different time zones. "What is a black moon and why does it herald the end of the world?" you might ask. Well, a black moon is the appearance of two new moons in the same calendar month. It occurs about every 30 months or so, which means it is not particularly rare but just rare enough to be interesting. The reason why some cults have claimed that this one is going to end the world is that there was also a solar eclipse at the start of September. Doomsday cults have decided that the two rare events occurring in the same month matches descriptions in the Bible of the end of the world and have been spreading the word accordingly. The problem with their theory is that the solar eclipse was only visible in Africa in September, but the black moon makes an appearance in Africa in October... so their not in the same month at all. Obviously it's nonsense and the two events occurring around the same time is just a coincidence, but cults have never needed a particularly strong reasons for spreading doomsday prophesies, which encourage new members to sign up and hand over all of their earthly possessions. The supposed Mayan prophesy that predicted the end of the world in 2012 didn't just inspire a mediocre movie, it also inspired plenty of cons and outlandish claims.
I read about evangelical Christian leaders calling on their followers to hand over all their money because possessions would hold believers back when the day of judgement arrived. I'm not sure how many returned their ill-gotten gains after the prophesy proved to be false, but I'm guessing it was a nice round number. Li Hongzhi tells us that we are living in the dharma ending period and that he alone can save. In fact, he claims to have been responsible for postponing the end of the world, which is rather convenient for him as it means he can announce that the end is coming as many times as he likes and just claim to have saved us once his prediction fails to materialize. You wouldn't think that people would fall for this sort of thing, but not everyone has access to good education and these cults have a way of drawing you in and dulling your critical reasoning. Falun Gong is particularly cunning with this as their main activities involve sitting in uncomfortable poses and emptying your mind for long periods of each day. The more you do that, the higher level you become... but also less questioning and more susceptible to suggestion. These cults tell you that black is white and up is down and eventually you believe them. This means that they can get you to go along with anything, even if it goes against your own self interest. When someone tells you that a black moon means that the world is coming to an end, you might laugh at them but you should probably make sure that they seek help.
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One person who sought the wrong kind of help is the President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye. President Park is the first female president of South Korea, but it seems that she is also under the influence of cult leaders. A recent scandal has broken out in South Korea surrounding Park's friendship with Choi Soon-Sil, who is the daughter of the late mysterious cult leader Choi Tae-min. Mr. Choi has been described as a Rasputin like character and the leader of a Shamanistic cult. He also happens to be the man that President Park thought of as her mentor. The scandal boils down to undue influence wielded by Ms. Choi and money inappropriately obtained and used by her. It has been claimed that Ms. Choi edited speeches written for the Park, despite not having security clearance, and that she used her lofty position in Korean politics to obtain large donations for her two non-profit organizations. President Park has decided to sack all of her senior aids in response to the scandal, which is an odd move which hasn't quietened the public outrage or improved her approval ratings. The whole situation is odd and calls into question who exactly has been running that country since 2012.
Things didn't end well for Rasputin. I doubt that Ms. Choi will meet such a violent end, but a political career has likely been murdered by the greedy fingers of a cultist.
Monday 31 October 2016
Friday 30 September 2016
Allardyce and the Honey Trap
The big talking point for my blog this month can only be one thing: Sam Allardyce's remarkable reign and manager of the England football team. Why was it remarkable, I hear you ask (or not, as it was pretty big news). Well, for one thing, he left the job with a 100% win record, which is a feat that nobody else has matched before. He's also the left with the record for shortest term for a permanent manager: 67 days (1 game). That one game was the sort of comatose inducing performance that drives people away from football and his comments to the press afterwards would be funny if they weren't so depressing. After Wayne Rooney, his captain, spent the entire game puffing away in every area of the pitch other than the area he was supposed to be in, Sam Allardyce announced that Rooney has more experience than him in international football, so it's not for Sam to tell him where to play. The thing is, that is exactly what the England manager is supposed to be doing. If the manager can't tell the players where to play, what good is he? Obviously that sort of cowardice and level of incompetence was enough for Big Sam to lose his job... except that's not why he's gone. The reasons he's been sacked (and is a sacking despite claims of mutual consent) is even more depressing, on multiple levels.
You see, Big Sam apparently had his greedy nose in the money trough and his integrity was for sale... except it wasn't really. The Daily Telegraph, a once well respected broadsheet newspaper, decided to run a long term sting operation to expose corruption in English football. They caught a few assistant managers and people who used to have some connection with the Premier League taking bribes or advising fake Asian businessmen on how to make profits on football transfers as a third party group (which has been banned for a few years). A few bungs were thrown around or discussed, but none of it is really eye catching stuff. They needed a big coup to sell the story and they found the perfect patsy in the new England manager, Sam Allardyce. The thing about Sam is that he likes to brag and hold court and he's got a bit of a history for allegations of dodgy dealings. He also appears to be a bit gullible, judging by the tax scams he's been caught up in. Basically, he was the perfect mark and fell nicely into the laps of the Telegraph's entrapment... I mean investigation.
What the once respected broadsheet newspaper did was decide to throw away any notion of fair play or journalistic integrity and play in the muck where the red tops find their filth to fling. The paper contacted one of Allardyce's agents/mates and set up a couple of meetings with the fake businessmen. During the meetings, the "journalists" got Sam nice and drunk and asked him a bunch of leading questions. Sam said a great number of stupid and embarrassing things, but he got through the meetings without committing and crimes or doing anything particularly dodgy, really. There wasn't much of a scandal, unless you push two unrelated topics together and imply that they were related. During the meetings, Big Sam discussed how people get around the 3rd party ownership rules (3rd party ownership of players is banned) and he negotiated a £400,000 speaking engagement with the fake company. The speaking engagement looks greedy and a potential conflict of interest with his £3 million a year job as England manager, but he did stipulate that he would have to run the job past the powers that be before committing to it. The contract looks like corruption if you stick the revelation next to the discussion about getting around FA rules, as the Telegraph did. They sold the story as England manager for sale and implied that he had agreed a deal to speak to a foreign investment company about how to get around the rules in exchange for a load of money... which was bollocks.
Did Sam do anything wrong and did he deserve to go? Well, he was stupid, said some nasty things and made himself look like a right prat, but he avoided conversations that actually would constitute corruption and didn't accept any bribes. Technically, he didn't do anything wrong but he brought the integrity of the England team down into the gutter as he used his position to scratch around for more money, and he was stupid enough to fall for the honey trap set up by the newspaper. I think, on balance, he deserved to go but he should never have been placed into the position in the first place. He didn't seek out these businessmen, the newspaper sought him out in order to stir up a scandal and sell papers. I think they succeeded on both fronts and they will be patting themselves on the backs. In truth, they should be ashamed of themselves as they've just cost a man his dream job and sold their souls for a few clicks and a short bump in sales. Nobody will ever look at that paper in the same way again, and that's a real shame because it used to be one of the good ones.
You see, Big Sam apparently had his greedy nose in the money trough and his integrity was for sale... except it wasn't really. The Daily Telegraph, a once well respected broadsheet newspaper, decided to run a long term sting operation to expose corruption in English football. They caught a few assistant managers and people who used to have some connection with the Premier League taking bribes or advising fake Asian businessmen on how to make profits on football transfers as a third party group (which has been banned for a few years). A few bungs were thrown around or discussed, but none of it is really eye catching stuff. They needed a big coup to sell the story and they found the perfect patsy in the new England manager, Sam Allardyce. The thing about Sam is that he likes to brag and hold court and he's got a bit of a history for allegations of dodgy dealings. He also appears to be a bit gullible, judging by the tax scams he's been caught up in. Basically, he was the perfect mark and fell nicely into the laps of the Telegraph's entrapment... I mean investigation.
What the once respected broadsheet newspaper did was decide to throw away any notion of fair play or journalistic integrity and play in the muck where the red tops find their filth to fling. The paper contacted one of Allardyce's agents/mates and set up a couple of meetings with the fake businessmen. During the meetings, the "journalists" got Sam nice and drunk and asked him a bunch of leading questions. Sam said a great number of stupid and embarrassing things, but he got through the meetings without committing and crimes or doing anything particularly dodgy, really. There wasn't much of a scandal, unless you push two unrelated topics together and imply that they were related. During the meetings, Big Sam discussed how people get around the 3rd party ownership rules (3rd party ownership of players is banned) and he negotiated a £400,000 speaking engagement with the fake company. The speaking engagement looks greedy and a potential conflict of interest with his £3 million a year job as England manager, but he did stipulate that he would have to run the job past the powers that be before committing to it. The contract looks like corruption if you stick the revelation next to the discussion about getting around FA rules, as the Telegraph did. They sold the story as England manager for sale and implied that he had agreed a deal to speak to a foreign investment company about how to get around the rules in exchange for a load of money... which was bollocks.
Did Sam do anything wrong and did he deserve to go? Well, he was stupid, said some nasty things and made himself look like a right prat, but he avoided conversations that actually would constitute corruption and didn't accept any bribes. Technically, he didn't do anything wrong but he brought the integrity of the England team down into the gutter as he used his position to scratch around for more money, and he was stupid enough to fall for the honey trap set up by the newspaper. I think, on balance, he deserved to go but he should never have been placed into the position in the first place. He didn't seek out these businessmen, the newspaper sought him out in order to stir up a scandal and sell papers. I think they succeeded on both fronts and they will be patting themselves on the backs. In truth, they should be ashamed of themselves as they've just cost a man his dream job and sold their souls for a few clicks and a short bump in sales. Nobody will ever look at that paper in the same way again, and that's a real shame because it used to be one of the good ones.
Wednesday 31 August 2016
Random Topic Of the Month
I haven't been particularly good at sticking to a theme for this blog yet, but I am at least posting more often than once a year. The topic that has taken my interest this month is the start of the football season. We're three weeks in to the budding Premier League season and already the league is being dragged to a screeching halt by international football. I can't think for the life of me why FIFA thinks it's better to interrupt everyone's enjoyment of real football so often during a season when they could just host qualifying groups during each region's off-season. These little morsels of international football between countries who are mostly mis-matched (thanks to a seeding system that should be abolished) do nothing but antagonize clubs and fans.
Another infuriating thing that has come around this week is the transfer deadline. It's another decision made by football's governing bodies that defies logic. Why doesn't the transfer window "slam shut" before the season starts? The way it's done now leaves three weeks for players to be unsettled and teams to be unbalanced or unfinished. Obviously teams can try to get their business done earlier, but how many people do you know that finish their work before the deadline? I suppose it all adds to the soap opera and gives the tabloids a bit more to talk about, plus now deadline day has become a television event on Sky Sports, much like draft day is in America. The last few deadline days have been pretty dull affairs as teams have wised up to getting a settled side together with a full pre-season under their belts and I don't see this one being any different. There are predictions that transfers today will take Premier League spending through the £1 billion, but the money in the game is so ridiculous now that figures like that don't really mean anything... I mean, Aston Villa just signed a Championship player for £15 million!
I promised a Premier League preview in my blog post last month, so here's my thoughts on how things might go:
Man Utd: I think that the combination of Mourinho and big money signings will be enough for Utd to win the league this season. They could probably do with another experienced CB and selling Rooney, but other than those issues the squad looks well balanced and Mourinho's methods will be well suited to the club.
Manchester City: I think they will run Utd close. They have wonderful talent in the first team and some interesting options on the bench. They have waltzed through the early fixtures easily enough, but I don't think that they have enough steel through the spine to make it through the tough Christmas schedule unscathed and their defence still looks rather shaky. I hope they fail because I hate the way they've bought their way to relevance and I can't stand Guardiola or his brand of football.
Chelsea: They look solid, seem to have a very astute manager and looked nailed on for a top four finish to me. I don't think that they have enough to really trouble the top two, particularly with Terry and Cahill still the main options at the back, but they will be too good for the other challengers.
Arsenal: Wenger has finally done something about the glaring holes in his squad and seems to be willing to finally get rid of some dead weight. I just don't think it will be enough to compete with the teams who have done much more impressive business. I was tempted to drop Arsenal out of the tip four, but then I watched the entertaining shambles that was Spurs Vs. Liverpool and I realised that neither of those teams has a hope in hell of consistency this season.Arsenal get the nod by default.
At the bottom, I think tales of Hull's demise were premature. I don't like the look of Bournemouth, Watford or Burnley this season. Sunderland will flirt with relegation (as usual) and West Brom will be right down in the mire, but ultimately the three teams mentioned above will get the chop in May.
Those predictions are not particularly scientific or shocking, but I don't think the league is going to throw up any surprises this year. "What about Leicester?" I hear you ask. Well, they're shite and will be lucky to finish in the top half. Without Kante, they're not the same prospect they were last season.
Another infuriating thing that has come around this week is the transfer deadline. It's another decision made by football's governing bodies that defies logic. Why doesn't the transfer window "slam shut" before the season starts? The way it's done now leaves three weeks for players to be unsettled and teams to be unbalanced or unfinished. Obviously teams can try to get their business done earlier, but how many people do you know that finish their work before the deadline? I suppose it all adds to the soap opera and gives the tabloids a bit more to talk about, plus now deadline day has become a television event on Sky Sports, much like draft day is in America. The last few deadline days have been pretty dull affairs as teams have wised up to getting a settled side together with a full pre-season under their belts and I don't see this one being any different. There are predictions that transfers today will take Premier League spending through the £1 billion, but the money in the game is so ridiculous now that figures like that don't really mean anything... I mean, Aston Villa just signed a Championship player for £15 million!
I promised a Premier League preview in my blog post last month, so here's my thoughts on how things might go:
Man Utd: I think that the combination of Mourinho and big money signings will be enough for Utd to win the league this season. They could probably do with another experienced CB and selling Rooney, but other than those issues the squad looks well balanced and Mourinho's methods will be well suited to the club.
Manchester City: I think they will run Utd close. They have wonderful talent in the first team and some interesting options on the bench. They have waltzed through the early fixtures easily enough, but I don't think that they have enough steel through the spine to make it through the tough Christmas schedule unscathed and their defence still looks rather shaky. I hope they fail because I hate the way they've bought their way to relevance and I can't stand Guardiola or his brand of football.
Chelsea: They look solid, seem to have a very astute manager and looked nailed on for a top four finish to me. I don't think that they have enough to really trouble the top two, particularly with Terry and Cahill still the main options at the back, but they will be too good for the other challengers.
Arsenal: Wenger has finally done something about the glaring holes in his squad and seems to be willing to finally get rid of some dead weight. I just don't think it will be enough to compete with the teams who have done much more impressive business. I was tempted to drop Arsenal out of the tip four, but then I watched the entertaining shambles that was Spurs Vs. Liverpool and I realised that neither of those teams has a hope in hell of consistency this season.Arsenal get the nod by default.
At the bottom, I think tales of Hull's demise were premature. I don't like the look of Bournemouth, Watford or Burnley this season. Sunderland will flirt with relegation (as usual) and West Brom will be right down in the mire, but ultimately the three teams mentioned above will get the chop in May.
Those predictions are not particularly scientific or shocking, but I don't think the league is going to throw up any surprises this year. "What about Leicester?" I hear you ask. Well, they're shite and will be lucky to finish in the top half. Without Kante, they're not the same prospect they were last season.
Sunday 28 August 2016
Lister and the Charlatan
This rant will be part of my special look at cults. As my particular area of interest is China, I'm going to focus this addition on the Falun Gong cult (or Falun Dafa as they sometimes call themselves). I never intended for this blog to become quite as politically focused as it seems to be, but the issue of Falun Gong and its importance to international perceptions of China has led to far too many arguments with friends back home (and a few over here, too). I want to put my thoughts about the cult on record so that I can just direct people here instead of having the same arguments over and over again.
First off, Falun Gong is a cult which came out of the QiGong health craze in the 80s and has evolved over time to mostly become a political group with dangerous and bigoted views on many issues. Falun Gong is not a religious group, no more so than your local yoga class anyway. The cult's founder himself, Li Hongzhi, even denies that the group is a religion, despite the US State Department's insistence on categorising the group as such for asylum purposes. The group does take bits and pieces from several religions and mash them all together to create their own confusing doctrines and Li Hongzhi claims to be a god, but there are no churches or prayers or clergymen. The cult only gathers together for protests and for public meditation sessions.
The main activity carried out by the cult since it was banned in China, in 1999, is protesting and decrying the Chinese government. One such protest involved a group of seven Falun Gong members setting themselves on fire in Tienanmen Square, during which a woman and a young girl (her daughter) died. Several of the other members survived but have been left mutilated and scarred for life. How did Falun Gong respond to such a tragedy? They claimed it was all a conspiracy carried out by the Chinese government and denied that the victims had anything to do with Falun Gong. The cult would like people to believe that the victims of the tragedy were spies and prisoners who were put up to it in exchange for money. A claim about as plausible as the second gunman on the grassy knoll and aliens at Roswell.
The main mediums through which Falun Gong denounces the Chinese government are "news" websites and TV stations set up by the cult (Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty TV), cultural performances and politicians who they have lobbied. Through all of these channels, the Falun Gong cult has spread the accusation that the Chinese government has been extracting organs from living Falun Gong members to sell on for organ transplants. This accusation is horrific and paints the Chinese government as being just as evil as the likes of Hitler. Obviously, such disgusting accusations must have mountains of evidence to support them... except there isn't any. Not one single reputable human rights group or government agency has supported the accusations, because they can't find any evidence. Yes, you can go out and find books or reports that claim to have proof, but the research contained within them is of such a low quality that even a 1st year student at university wouldn't dare hand it in. The main "evidence" surrounds a supposed concentration camp in Shenyang City with doesn't actually exist. Falun Gong sponsored investigations leave no doubt that the Chinese are butchering their members, but all other investigations (including several carried out by the US Department of State) have found no evidence to support the claims. According to Falun Gong, anyone who disagrees with their allegations has either been duped or is on the Chinese government's payroll. That's a typical response one would expect from a cult.
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Throughout this post, I've described Falun Gong as a cult. Why have I done that? Falun Gong members are instructed to cut family ties; they should give up everything in their life that doesn't help the cult or increase their level of cultivation (they cultivate positive karma through meditation); they should never read texts on Falun Gong written by anyone other than Li Hongzhi and should never produce texts of their own; they should never seek medical treatment because illness is a test and Li Hongzhi can heal them with his magic powers; Falun Gong practitioners will go to heaven when they reach the highest level of cultivation whereas the rest of humanity is doomed; no criticism or questioning of the cult is permitted; they believe that homosexuals and mixed-race relationships are the sign of the impending apocalypse. Basically, if you had a check-list for all of the craziness associated with cults, Falun Gong would hit every box.
Cults are widespread and incredibly difficult to root out in China. They target rural communities where healthcare and education is weakest and they prey on the weak. These cults, no matter how harmless they appear on the surface, are ruining people's lives and have killed thousands through their insane teachings and callous practices. China doesn't have a spotless human rights record (even today) but sometimes the groups who denounce the convenient Bogeyman aren't as innocent as they'd like you to think. Just check the facts before you jump on the bandwagon of the latest sensationalist rumours and stories that appear on the internet.
First off, Falun Gong is a cult which came out of the QiGong health craze in the 80s and has evolved over time to mostly become a political group with dangerous and bigoted views on many issues. Falun Gong is not a religious group, no more so than your local yoga class anyway. The cult's founder himself, Li Hongzhi, even denies that the group is a religion, despite the US State Department's insistence on categorising the group as such for asylum purposes. The group does take bits and pieces from several religions and mash them all together to create their own confusing doctrines and Li Hongzhi claims to be a god, but there are no churches or prayers or clergymen. The cult only gathers together for protests and for public meditation sessions.
The main activity carried out by the cult since it was banned in China, in 1999, is protesting and decrying the Chinese government. One such protest involved a group of seven Falun Gong members setting themselves on fire in Tienanmen Square, during which a woman and a young girl (her daughter) died. Several of the other members survived but have been left mutilated and scarred for life. How did Falun Gong respond to such a tragedy? They claimed it was all a conspiracy carried out by the Chinese government and denied that the victims had anything to do with Falun Gong. The cult would like people to believe that the victims of the tragedy were spies and prisoners who were put up to it in exchange for money. A claim about as plausible as the second gunman on the grassy knoll and aliens at Roswell.
The main mediums through which Falun Gong denounces the Chinese government are "news" websites and TV stations set up by the cult (Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty TV), cultural performances and politicians who they have lobbied. Through all of these channels, the Falun Gong cult has spread the accusation that the Chinese government has been extracting organs from living Falun Gong members to sell on for organ transplants. This accusation is horrific and paints the Chinese government as being just as evil as the likes of Hitler. Obviously, such disgusting accusations must have mountains of evidence to support them... except there isn't any. Not one single reputable human rights group or government agency has supported the accusations, because they can't find any evidence. Yes, you can go out and find books or reports that claim to have proof, but the research contained within them is of such a low quality that even a 1st year student at university wouldn't dare hand it in. The main "evidence" surrounds a supposed concentration camp in Shenyang City with doesn't actually exist. Falun Gong sponsored investigations leave no doubt that the Chinese are butchering their members, but all other investigations (including several carried out by the US Department of State) have found no evidence to support the claims. According to Falun Gong, anyone who disagrees with their allegations has either been duped or is on the Chinese government's payroll. That's a typical response one would expect from a cult.
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Throughout this post, I've described Falun Gong as a cult. Why have I done that? Falun Gong members are instructed to cut family ties; they should give up everything in their life that doesn't help the cult or increase their level of cultivation (they cultivate positive karma through meditation); they should never read texts on Falun Gong written by anyone other than Li Hongzhi and should never produce texts of their own; they should never seek medical treatment because illness is a test and Li Hongzhi can heal them with his magic powers; Falun Gong practitioners will go to heaven when they reach the highest level of cultivation whereas the rest of humanity is doomed; no criticism or questioning of the cult is permitted; they believe that homosexuals and mixed-race relationships are the sign of the impending apocalypse. Basically, if you had a check-list for all of the craziness associated with cults, Falun Gong would hit every box.
Cults are widespread and incredibly difficult to root out in China. They target rural communities where healthcare and education is weakest and they prey on the weak. These cults, no matter how harmless they appear on the surface, are ruining people's lives and have killed thousands through their insane teachings and callous practices. China doesn't have a spotless human rights record (even today) but sometimes the groups who denounce the convenient Bogeyman aren't as innocent as they'd like you to think. Just check the facts before you jump on the bandwagon of the latest sensationalist rumours and stories that appear on the internet.
Sunday 31 July 2016
Still Afloat
One month on from Brexit and the UK has yet to tear itself apart and sink into the sea. I know that's an exaggeration of the doomsday prophesies, but it seems that most people are determined to carry on as usual... with just a little more grumbling. Business hasn't come to a screeching halt just yet and foreign companies are still looking to invest in the UK. Just last week, I heard about EDF's decision to push on with a huge investment in the Hinckley nuclear power plant (although the British government has delayed its own decision to appease the environmentalists) and a Chinese investment group bought Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club. I'm not saying that two deals means that Brexit is a huge success (nothing has actually happened yet) but it does indicate that people are still willing to take a risk in the country. Whether part of the common market or not, I believe that the UK is still an important market which now has the scope to broaden its sights globally. Hopefully that's a view shared by investment groups and the new government.
Speaking of the new government, that was a very quick transition to a new PM and completely overhauled cabinet. The Tories have shown how to do a leadership change on the fly and Labour have decided to completely ignore the example and make a shambles of their own. By the looks of it, while the Conservatives have opted to quickly shift power from Cameron to a heavyweight hitter from the front bench, Labour have opted for the drawn out and bitter contest between an unpopular leader without much support beyond their base and a guy most people have never heard of. The Labour Party have decided to drag out their election until the party conference, by which time a bitter and divided party might be looking at a snap General Election and another long period in the wilderness. Personally, I think that an election is not only prudent but necessary considering the implications of Brexit and the fact that nobody actually voted for the government we currently have... at least I don't think anyone predicted that Boris Johnson would be Foreign Secretary.
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In movie news, nothing interesting has been released in China for months. A new Jackie Chan movie came out, but it was only available in English on its first day and I happened to be busy on that day. The last film I saw in the cinema was Batman Vs Superman (which I really enjoyed) and I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. I did see the other comic-book blockbuster, but on my computer rather than at the cinema. Looking forward in the year, there is nothing I'm particularly interested in seeing. My friend is desperate to see Suicide Squad, but I'm not that bothered about it and it probably won't be released over here anyway.
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In football news, Man Utd have officially gone insane. They are planning to spend far too much money on a decent, but not spectacular, player in a position they are already well covered in. 100million is more than enough to buy most clubs, so to spend that on one player is utter madness. Pogba might prove to be very good, but you could buy three players who will improve the team together far more than he will on his own for the same price. The world is going mad.
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Speaking of the world going mad, I had a discussion with a friend of mine about a Chinese cult this month. My friend opened the wikipedia page for Falun Gong and started reading out paragraph after paragraph of utter nonsense. I happen to know a little about these things thanks to my degrees, so I couldn't help but laugh when he listed off some of the more outrageous claims made on behalf of the cult. Thanks to my friend, I intend to bore you with my own thoughts on that particular group of nutjobs in the near future and about the prevalence of cults in modern society (particularly Asia). Wikipedia is a dangerous thing when one group gets control over its own page. I would encourage anyone who reads something outrageous on there to consider looking a bit wider on the Internet to discover whether there might actually be any truth to the claims. Cults are very diligent about protecting their image and the stories that come out about them. In that respect (and many others), Falun Gong is very much an Asian cousin of Scientology.
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That's it for now. I don't mean to bore you so much with politics, but sometimes it is necessary. In addition to my special cult edition, I plan to post a preview of the Premier League season and hopefully some more tales from my life in China as well.
Speaking of the new government, that was a very quick transition to a new PM and completely overhauled cabinet. The Tories have shown how to do a leadership change on the fly and Labour have decided to completely ignore the example and make a shambles of their own. By the looks of it, while the Conservatives have opted to quickly shift power from Cameron to a heavyweight hitter from the front bench, Labour have opted for the drawn out and bitter contest between an unpopular leader without much support beyond their base and a guy most people have never heard of. The Labour Party have decided to drag out their election until the party conference, by which time a bitter and divided party might be looking at a snap General Election and another long period in the wilderness. Personally, I think that an election is not only prudent but necessary considering the implications of Brexit and the fact that nobody actually voted for the government we currently have... at least I don't think anyone predicted that Boris Johnson would be Foreign Secretary.
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In movie news, nothing interesting has been released in China for months. A new Jackie Chan movie came out, but it was only available in English on its first day and I happened to be busy on that day. The last film I saw in the cinema was Batman Vs Superman (which I really enjoyed) and I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. I did see the other comic-book blockbuster, but on my computer rather than at the cinema. Looking forward in the year, there is nothing I'm particularly interested in seeing. My friend is desperate to see Suicide Squad, but I'm not that bothered about it and it probably won't be released over here anyway.
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In football news, Man Utd have officially gone insane. They are planning to spend far too much money on a decent, but not spectacular, player in a position they are already well covered in. 100million is more than enough to buy most clubs, so to spend that on one player is utter madness. Pogba might prove to be very good, but you could buy three players who will improve the team together far more than he will on his own for the same price. The world is going mad.
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Speaking of the world going mad, I had a discussion with a friend of mine about a Chinese cult this month. My friend opened the wikipedia page for Falun Gong and started reading out paragraph after paragraph of utter nonsense. I happen to know a little about these things thanks to my degrees, so I couldn't help but laugh when he listed off some of the more outrageous claims made on behalf of the cult. Thanks to my friend, I intend to bore you with my own thoughts on that particular group of nutjobs in the near future and about the prevalence of cults in modern society (particularly Asia). Wikipedia is a dangerous thing when one group gets control over its own page. I would encourage anyone who reads something outrageous on there to consider looking a bit wider on the Internet to discover whether there might actually be any truth to the claims. Cults are very diligent about protecting their image and the stories that come out about them. In that respect (and many others), Falun Gong is very much an Asian cousin of Scientology.
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That's it for now. I don't mean to bore you so much with politics, but sometimes it is necessary. In addition to my special cult edition, I plan to post a preview of the Premier League season and hopefully some more tales from my life in China as well.
Thursday 30 June 2016
To Brexit or not to Brexit
This past week has been host to the biggest political even in my lifetime. On the 23rd of June, almost 52% of voters in the EU referendum voted to leave. The repercussions came thick and fast with the pound dropping in value by 10% before the result was even announced and leadership crises erupted in the two main political parties. Those who voted to remain (many of whom live in London or Scotland) and EU officials predictably started acting like children who didn't get their way (in the interests of full disclosure, I'm a lukewarm Brexit supporter).
Like many British people with even a modicum of interest in politics, I was glued to the news as the results came in and I've been glued to the news ever since. Unlike those back home, I was able to keep up to date on my phone as I went to work during the day (for the first time, being in China gave me an advantage in following events in Britain). Once it became clear that Leave was going to win with a very small majority, I knew what the next few days were going to be like but I failed to predict quite how pathetic the reaction was going to be. Listening to a Chinese radio station in the car, I heard a report on the referendum and an interview with a young Londoner who was protesting the results. I was equally enraged and embarrassed by her whining.She said that the result was not in her name and that it wasn't what she wanted, so she was demanding a second referendum... laughably missing the point of democracy entirely.There is a case to be made for the result not being entirely overwhelming (particularly as key Vote Leave arguments are already unraveling) but the decision has been made and now it is time to get on with it. The widely publicised online petition calling for a re-vote is equally embarrassing. For those who aren't aware, the petition was created before the referendum and called for a rule to be instated that would require the winning side to have at least 60% of the vote. This petition had something close to 22 signatures before the vote but has swelled to millions of sore losers since the result was announced.
The online news websites I've been reading haven't been much better in their reactions. Most of the reports have been overwhelmingly negative and pessimistic in their predictions. I'm particularly disappointed in the BBC (though not surprised) who have given far more weight to the doomsday prophecies than to any positive articles. They've expended most of their energy talking down the country and putting forward unimaginative scenarios where Britain begs to remain access to the European market and is forced to accept EU rules. The future they paint is one where we leave the EU in name only and nothing else changes. International news organisations haven't been much better. OZY (a website I stumbled across by clicking a link on Football365) has run a couple of editorials and opinion pieces that completely miss the point and misunderstand the issues. The first piece I read was from second generation immigrant from outside the EU who bemoaned the fact that it would be more difficult for others like their family to move to the UK. The author told the story of their relative's foreign husband who had been refused a visa and said that things would get more difficult. I'm in a similar situation (my wife is Chinese) but I think leaving the EU will actually make it easier for non-EU citizens to move to the UK. Without the uncontrollable influx of EU immigration, there will be less need to be so strict on non-EU immigration and I expect the rules to be relaxed, not tightened... but that would be a positive spin on Brexit, so obviously that scenario doesn't get any mention.
Another article, written by an American who was about to leave the UK anyway, whined about Brexit making the UK a more insular place. Maybe it will, or maybe it will force the country to be more internationally focused. The EU is preoccupied with the never ending string of crises within its own borders, so perhaps being outside of that clusterfuck of an organisation will allow the UK to turn its attention to matters further afield. Maybe it won't, but it's too early to make a conclusion either way.
Personally, I see Brexit as a great opportunity for an outward looking UK to show what we're capable of without the EU safety blanket and anchor tied around our waist. I think it's a chance to market ourselves as a truly global country and economy and to negotiate trade deals with the world that benefit us (instead of asking permission from the rest of the EU) and that it will encourage better productivity and innovation within our country. London has been portrayed as the biggest loser in all of this, but even there we have a chance to create a truly international city that looks beyond the borders of Europe. If the politicians are as narrow minded and unambitious as the news agencies and crying protesters in London, then Brexit will be a disaster. If we can find some leaders who are outward thinking and truly believe in the country, then it is a great opportunity. I'm concerned that the politicians we do have are mostly idiots who campaigned for Brexit to further their careers rather than because they actually hold any sort of convictions whatsoever. We'll need a general election to find out for sure.
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Out of Europe twice in the space of a week.
The England football team embarrassed the nation once again on Monday by losing to a nation with a population the size of Leicester. Roy Hodgson correctly recognised the scale of his failure and rightly fell on his sword. The whole Euro 2016 campaign was a shambles. The fatal mistakes occurred before a single English player had even stepped foot in France. Why would you announce a squad designed to play a 4-4-2 diamond formation if you were determined to play a 4-3-3? I know that losing Danny "Bambi on Ice" Wellbeck to injury just before the tournament ruined plan A, but why did he decide to take a squad with 5 center forwards and 1 winger when he was planning to play two wide forwards for the entire competition? Why did he leave Townsend at home only to play a central midfielder on the wing? I could go on all day pointing out the ridiculous decisions that he made, but the point is that he's a professional football manager who has had 2 years to prepare for this tournament and he showed up to France without a clue. My wife couldn't have done much worse. There is going to be a lot of hand wringing over the next few weeks and countless calls for the coaching system in England to have root and branch changes, yet again. The fact is that the England team is full of average players being coached by a clueless manager. Until one of those two tings change (the latter being far easier than the former) our fortunes will forever remain the same.
Like many British people with even a modicum of interest in politics, I was glued to the news as the results came in and I've been glued to the news ever since. Unlike those back home, I was able to keep up to date on my phone as I went to work during the day (for the first time, being in China gave me an advantage in following events in Britain). Once it became clear that Leave was going to win with a very small majority, I knew what the next few days were going to be like but I failed to predict quite how pathetic the reaction was going to be. Listening to a Chinese radio station in the car, I heard a report on the referendum and an interview with a young Londoner who was protesting the results. I was equally enraged and embarrassed by her whining.She said that the result was not in her name and that it wasn't what she wanted, so she was demanding a second referendum... laughably missing the point of democracy entirely.There is a case to be made for the result not being entirely overwhelming (particularly as key Vote Leave arguments are already unraveling) but the decision has been made and now it is time to get on with it. The widely publicised online petition calling for a re-vote is equally embarrassing. For those who aren't aware, the petition was created before the referendum and called for a rule to be instated that would require the winning side to have at least 60% of the vote. This petition had something close to 22 signatures before the vote but has swelled to millions of sore losers since the result was announced.
The online news websites I've been reading haven't been much better in their reactions. Most of the reports have been overwhelmingly negative and pessimistic in their predictions. I'm particularly disappointed in the BBC (though not surprised) who have given far more weight to the doomsday prophecies than to any positive articles. They've expended most of their energy talking down the country and putting forward unimaginative scenarios where Britain begs to remain access to the European market and is forced to accept EU rules. The future they paint is one where we leave the EU in name only and nothing else changes. International news organisations haven't been much better. OZY (a website I stumbled across by clicking a link on Football365) has run a couple of editorials and opinion pieces that completely miss the point and misunderstand the issues. The first piece I read was from second generation immigrant from outside the EU who bemoaned the fact that it would be more difficult for others like their family to move to the UK. The author told the story of their relative's foreign husband who had been refused a visa and said that things would get more difficult. I'm in a similar situation (my wife is Chinese) but I think leaving the EU will actually make it easier for non-EU citizens to move to the UK. Without the uncontrollable influx of EU immigration, there will be less need to be so strict on non-EU immigration and I expect the rules to be relaxed, not tightened... but that would be a positive spin on Brexit, so obviously that scenario doesn't get any mention.
Another article, written by an American who was about to leave the UK anyway, whined about Brexit making the UK a more insular place. Maybe it will, or maybe it will force the country to be more internationally focused. The EU is preoccupied with the never ending string of crises within its own borders, so perhaps being outside of that clusterfuck of an organisation will allow the UK to turn its attention to matters further afield. Maybe it won't, but it's too early to make a conclusion either way.
Personally, I see Brexit as a great opportunity for an outward looking UK to show what we're capable of without the EU safety blanket and anchor tied around our waist. I think it's a chance to market ourselves as a truly global country and economy and to negotiate trade deals with the world that benefit us (instead of asking permission from the rest of the EU) and that it will encourage better productivity and innovation within our country. London has been portrayed as the biggest loser in all of this, but even there we have a chance to create a truly international city that looks beyond the borders of Europe. If the politicians are as narrow minded and unambitious as the news agencies and crying protesters in London, then Brexit will be a disaster. If we can find some leaders who are outward thinking and truly believe in the country, then it is a great opportunity. I'm concerned that the politicians we do have are mostly idiots who campaigned for Brexit to further their careers rather than because they actually hold any sort of convictions whatsoever. We'll need a general election to find out for sure.
---
Out of Europe twice in the space of a week.
The England football team embarrassed the nation once again on Monday by losing to a nation with a population the size of Leicester. Roy Hodgson correctly recognised the scale of his failure and rightly fell on his sword. The whole Euro 2016 campaign was a shambles. The fatal mistakes occurred before a single English player had even stepped foot in France. Why would you announce a squad designed to play a 4-4-2 diamond formation if you were determined to play a 4-3-3? I know that losing Danny "Bambi on Ice" Wellbeck to injury just before the tournament ruined plan A, but why did he decide to take a squad with 5 center forwards and 1 winger when he was planning to play two wide forwards for the entire competition? Why did he leave Townsend at home only to play a central midfielder on the wing? I could go on all day pointing out the ridiculous decisions that he made, but the point is that he's a professional football manager who has had 2 years to prepare for this tournament and he showed up to France without a clue. My wife couldn't have done much worse. There is going to be a lot of hand wringing over the next few weeks and countless calls for the coaching system in England to have root and branch changes, yet again. The fact is that the England team is full of average players being coached by a clueless manager. Until one of those two tings change (the latter being far easier than the former) our fortunes will forever remain the same.
Monday 30 May 2016
Time for a change in tack
I think it's fair to say that I'm not much of a blogger. I know that practice makes perfect and that two blog posts in the space of 2 years isn't much practice. I think the problem boils down to the story I've been telling. I do want to share my story and experiences of life in China, but I'm still at the beginning and those events happened more than four years ago. I'm sure you can understand if the desire to talk about those events and my memory of them have waned somewhat and impinged on my desire to update the blog. It's time to stop the excuses, make a commitment and change tack. I am determined to continue the story from where I left off, but I think it would be better to ease myself into bogging by doing what most others do... ranting about stuff.
In this post, I am going to share my thoughts and frustrations about the modern movie industry... or, more specifically, the type of movies that get released over here. I'm an avid consumer of films. (There's one movie channel in China that used to show foreign films after 8pm and helped get me through the tough dark days at the beginning of my journey. Well, that and the slightly pervy Wipeout derivatives based around low cut tops and jiggling bits.)
There is very little I enjoy more than going to the cinema or watching a new film at home with my wife . She's hardly seen anything so it's wonderful to be able to show her the films I think everyone should see (a future blog topic right there). When I first arrived in China, I was spoiled for choice due to the prevalence of online media apps and websites in China which used to have a very relaxed approach to copyright infringement. I could fire up the iPad or old laptop and watch almost anything I wanted,TV or film, no matter how new it was. I could even watch a movie before it was released in the west on the odd occasion. Things have changed a lot since those wonderful early days, however. The movie industry has exploded in China and ticket sales are through the roof. The city I live in had two run-down cinemas when I arrived but we now have five cinemas, three of which are far larger and better equipped than the ones I used to go to in England. Pretty much everything is shown in 3D or IMAX or even 4D in China and the screens are packed for new releases. The sheer volume of viewing numbers in China is most clearly expressed by the fact that three domestic films are currently sitting in the top ten list for highest grossing movies of 2016, without much of an audience outside of China,if any. I'm sure the latest X-Men movie will knock one of the Chinese films off the list, but that will be with the help of the Chinese audience together with the rest of the world. This news is wonderful for the movie industry but not so good for me as I surmise that the huge amounts of money involved over here now has caused a tightening of regulations in regards to the online media apps and the death of a handful of them. Now I am victim to the whims of the censors and the choices made by whoever makes choices.
I'm not sure of the intricacies of the decision making process when it comes to the release of foreign films in China, but there is most definitely a trend towards the massive tent-pole blockbusters that the studios produce (mostly comic-book adaptations) and the occasional strange choice of older and low budget films. The appetite for superhero movies borders on the insane over here. I won't pretend to know exactly why the Chinese love them so much, but I'll hazard a guess that the similarities of these stories to the traditional Chinese legends has something to do with it... that and the huge 3D explosions. Anyone who has seen Chinese films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero will know that Chinese culture has often given its heroes incredible powers. Perhaps this long-term exposure to super-powers in Chinese culture and the modern, somewhat western, desire to be someone special in such an enormous country can explain the appetite for comic-book movies and, more sinisterly, the attraction of cults (a much more serious topic for another time).
Although Chinese martial arts films are well known in the West and full of breathtaking beauty and action, there is a much greater variety to Chinese films than just Jackie Chan and kung-fu. I plan to introduce some to you guys over the next few weeks and months as well as giving my opinion on Western movies. I will get back to my experiences and rant about plenty of other topics as well, but hopefully this current tack will get me into the blogging habit.
See you guys soon (I hope)
In this post, I am going to share my thoughts and frustrations about the modern movie industry... or, more specifically, the type of movies that get released over here. I'm an avid consumer of films. (There's one movie channel in China that used to show foreign films after 8pm and helped get me through the tough dark days at the beginning of my journey. Well, that and the slightly pervy Wipeout derivatives based around low cut tops and jiggling bits.)
There is very little I enjoy more than going to the cinema or watching a new film at home with my wife . She's hardly seen anything so it's wonderful to be able to show her the films I think everyone should see (a future blog topic right there). When I first arrived in China, I was spoiled for choice due to the prevalence of online media apps and websites in China which used to have a very relaxed approach to copyright infringement. I could fire up the iPad or old laptop and watch almost anything I wanted,TV or film, no matter how new it was. I could even watch a movie before it was released in the west on the odd occasion. Things have changed a lot since those wonderful early days, however. The movie industry has exploded in China and ticket sales are through the roof. The city I live in had two run-down cinemas when I arrived but we now have five cinemas, three of which are far larger and better equipped than the ones I used to go to in England. Pretty much everything is shown in 3D or IMAX or even 4D in China and the screens are packed for new releases. The sheer volume of viewing numbers in China is most clearly expressed by the fact that three domestic films are currently sitting in the top ten list for highest grossing movies of 2016, without much of an audience outside of China,if any. I'm sure the latest X-Men movie will knock one of the Chinese films off the list, but that will be with the help of the Chinese audience together with the rest of the world. This news is wonderful for the movie industry but not so good for me as I surmise that the huge amounts of money involved over here now has caused a tightening of regulations in regards to the online media apps and the death of a handful of them. Now I am victim to the whims of the censors and the choices made by whoever makes choices.
I'm not sure of the intricacies of the decision making process when it comes to the release of foreign films in China, but there is most definitely a trend towards the massive tent-pole blockbusters that the studios produce (mostly comic-book adaptations) and the occasional strange choice of older and low budget films. The appetite for superhero movies borders on the insane over here. I won't pretend to know exactly why the Chinese love them so much, but I'll hazard a guess that the similarities of these stories to the traditional Chinese legends has something to do with it... that and the huge 3D explosions. Anyone who has seen Chinese films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero will know that Chinese culture has often given its heroes incredible powers. Perhaps this long-term exposure to super-powers in Chinese culture and the modern, somewhat western, desire to be someone special in such an enormous country can explain the appetite for comic-book movies and, more sinisterly, the attraction of cults (a much more serious topic for another time).
Although Chinese martial arts films are well known in the West and full of breathtaking beauty and action, there is a much greater variety to Chinese films than just Jackie Chan and kung-fu. I plan to introduce some to you guys over the next few weeks and months as well as giving my opinion on Western movies. I will get back to my experiences and rant about plenty of other topics as well, but hopefully this current tack will get me into the blogging habit.
See you guys soon (I hope)
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