Media Demons

April 2, 2010

When I read it, I laughed. To me, it was obvious.

Definition for propaganda: ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause; also: a public action having such an effect (Merriam Webster.com) Or—manipulation of information to influence public opinion.

In 1948, the CIA established Operation Mockingbird, a program designed to influence the American media to play an important role in the propaganda campaign against the spread of Communism. The CIA recruited journalists, who wrote for The Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine, New York Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Miami News, Chattanooga Times, etc.  By 1953, this CIA network had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies (like the Associated Press and United Press International).

Evidence suggests that Operation Mockingbird (or something like it) exists today. If so, whom would this operation target? After all, Cold War Communism is gone.

The reason I mention Operation Mockingbird in this post is because of something I read in the New York Times today—Journalists’ E-Mails Hacked in China. The first few paragraphs of this piece infer that China’s government is responsible. Later, the piece indirectly mentions there is no way to know who did it. In the last paragraph, we are not sure if Google is partially responsible. As a journalist, why organize the piece this way?

See Google Recycled http://wp.me/pN4pY-2r

Leave a Comment » | America, China, government, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Farewell, My Concubine

April 2, 2010

Chen Kaige, self-trained as a filmmaker, was the director for this award winning 1993 film. Prior to “Farewell, My Concubine“, Chen received modest acclaim for the “Yellow Earth” and “The Big Parade”. With “Farewell, My Concubine,” he won the Palme d-or in Cannes.

Farewell, My Concubine

Although the film is in Mandarin with English subtitles, the story captured me from the beginning. If you are interested in Chinese history, this film spans several decades beginning near the end of the Ch’ing Dynasty. On the surface, it is just a story of two boys who happen to become famous, but have their difficulties like most of us lesser mortals do. However, the setting shows the  transformation of a nation from the Ch’ing Dynasty to a warlord dominated republic, the Japanese invasion of World War II and then Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

I saw this movie a decade ago and I remember this powerful, dramatic story of one man’s life from the day his mother took a knife and chopped off an extra finger on each hand so he would have five instead of the six he was born with.

The main character is apparently modeled after an actual person—Peking Opera superstar Mei Lanfang—some may imagine that Lanfang was ‘gay’. However, he only specialized in male roles. He was married at least three times and had children.

Discover Not One Less

______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.  This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

2 Comments | China, Chinese arts and music, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Flexible China – Inflexible America

April 1, 2010

Imagine a piece in the Op-Ed section of the NY Times, a media bastion for liberal democracy, saying China is more open to change than the United States.

“China may be more open to fundamental political reform than the United States. Since the rule of law in America is based upon the notion that the state itself is constrained by a body of pre-existing law that is sovereign, any thought of rewriting the Constitution is anathema.” Source: The Fault Lines of Democracy

Changes in the United States often end up mired in partisanship between the two major political parties. Consider that the Equal Rights Amendment (proposed in 1921) in America still is not part of the Constitution. The movement to gain freedom for women started in 1841 while changes in China to improve women’s lives started in 1949, when Mao said, “Women hold up half the sky.”

Consider that the juvenile justice system in China is considering changes after a delegation from China came to America to examine what the United States juvenile justice system was like.

Discover more about China Law and Justice System

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China 

Leave a Comment » | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Confucianism, government, legal system, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

An Update about China’s Criminal Justice System

April 1, 2010

Amnesty International (started in 1961) says,” The time is long overdue for China to fall into line with international law and standards on the death penalty and be open and transparent regarding its use of capital punishment.”

My question is, who rules China – the government of China or Amnesty International?  Without taking into consideration the cultural differences that cause the Chinese to appear secretive, Amnesty International’s “demand” is uncalled for. Change takes time and change in China (a culture born about 2205 B.C.) does appear to be taking place. To understand the Chinese better, read what Peter Hessler has to say.

A few years ago, we would not have seen anything like this from China’s state-run English-language newspaper, China Daily, that inmates in China’s 2,700 pretrial detention centers suffer bullying and torture from fellow prisoners and police officers, and some criminal justice experts want a neutral body to take over the centers from the police to curb the abuses.

Meanwhile, the United States was the only nation in the Americas to carry out executions in 2009 with fifty-two executions. Saudi Arabia executed 69 people.  Iran executed at least 112 people in the 8 weeks after the last presidential election (we heard about that since Iran is on the list of evil countries).

See China Law and Justice System 

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

Leave a Comment » | America, China, Chinese Culture, government, legal system, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Double Standard

March 29, 2010

Drug possession is different from bribery. However, I am going to compare the two to make a point that when things happen in China to a foreign national, the reaction is different in the Western media than if it happened in a country like Turkey, a member of NATO.

In Turkey, penalties for violating Turkish laws, even unknowingly, can be severe. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Turkey are particularly strict, and convicted offenders should expect jail sentences with heavy fines.

In China, there is a bribery trial taking place. It has to do with several executives from Rio Tinto Ltd, the world’s # 2 iron ore producer. Stern Hu, an Australian citizen and a Rio Tinto executive, is on trial for bribery and stealing commercial secrets. Hu says he has been treated fairly and admitted guilt.  Yet, the Australian government is concerned about equal treatment in Chinese courts controlled by the Communist Party. Hu may get five years in jail. Source Reuters

In another case in America, Tai Shen Kuo was a spy for China. He bribed a CIA agent who had the highest clearance. Kuo was born in Taiwan but became a naturalized American citizen. Kuo was sentenced to fifteen years in jail and there was no outcry in the Western media. The CIA agent, a Caucasian, got five years.

Do you see the double standard?

See Power Corrupts http://wp.me/pN4pY-40

 

2 Comments | business, China, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »