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.
Wednesday 31 August 2016
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.
---
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.
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