So now the Chinese TV show presenting their most recent space exploits is saying the US moon landing might have been fake and that they might have not placed a flag there afterall.
Oh, and that the reporters didn't get a confirmation/denial for their accusations.
I've no idea who if anyone they've tried contacting, but I have no doubt they failed.
For a long time I've been giving the Chinese some slack. Well guess what?
The Chinese do not understand that attempting to discredit a simple fact from 30 years ago only makes them look stupid. I will no longer give a damn for their worthless space program. Let them have their propaganda filled national spirit programming. If they make it to the moon it will be a miracle. I believe someone will steal the titanium off the rocket while nobody is watching. Most likely they have a theft alarm strapped on to it, beeping every time someone coughs loudly in a neighbouring province, providing endless frustration to anyone nearby. If only they'd stayed away from the 2 RMB knock-off.
Or maybe the corrupt officials sell the astronauts for slave labor as soon as everyone forgets them. That should be about 2 seconds after the first malfuntion in their space program becomes public - and they can only hide so many. Knowing the Chinese Quality Standards it's going to be sudden, major and catastrofic.
Recall how the Iranese had to Photoshop their launch pictures to convince the outside world 25% of their missiles don't fail? Well China has both, Photoshoppers and cheap shit rockets a-plenty. They are broadcasting the fact their astronauts have the comparable luxury of an onboard toilet. Well, you already knew their rockets were full of shit. They are attempting an EVA for this flight but the Chinese news are much like the onboard space toilets after they clog; you have no reason to believe they succeeded even if they report success.
I wanted to give this story a pass today in the morning. Check what others think about the truthful reporting in China:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_re_as/as_china_space_article
China space mission article hits Web before launch (AP)
If you're not interested, the TL;DR is: "Stupid propaganda monkey didn't know when the rocket was supposed to be launched and reported anyway, including "recorded" radio transmissions."
OP Out.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
..of Asia
I've been having a feeling lately that I honestly don't dig Asia so much. European travelers glorify Asia, as they always have, in a way that makes me a lil' bit sick. I kinda understand the hype, because the culture is so joyful, colorful and somehow more "visible" than European. But is it only like this to "us" or also for "them"? Maybe I should make a survey one day, but frankly I don't have the energy.
Anyways, the reasons why I've been starting to slightly dislike Asia are the culture and the hype around it. The latter is not Asia's fault so much, but then, in a way it is. Who made the tourism? Who made the appealing, yet plastic and meaningless iconography for tourists? Who made the clearly tourist oriented restaurants? Who made the "work hard without a point to just to keep a role" ideal? Well yeah, some argue that the beauty of Asia lies beyond these tourism and other stereotypical issues, but what's there then? The people? Fuck yeah, the best thing in the world.. people. I prefer Space Marine Land Raiders.
It would be a lie to say that I don't want to insult anyone. I don't care. But the fact is that people are still like shit almost everywhere in the world. They do unbelievable stuff to get few bucks, they're friendly to you on a good day only, they're multiplying, pooping (multiplying + pooping is like making potential amounts of shit in the world), fighting, polluting, and not giving a shit about anything - except maybe their forced beliefs. Wow, that's something to jump about? Well no, and people are like that also in Asia. Europe is currently more clean, more exciting culturally (look under the glitter and surface please), the salaries are better, jobs make more sense, education is top notch, the nature is clean etc. Or maybe it's just me, who likes constant change and new things - bored of Asia, so to say.
Actually, I could stop talking about Europe as well. They have their fuck ups. What I mean by Europe here is Scandinavia. I've been feeling, stronger and stronger each day, that Scandinavia is the best place in the world. I want to go back someday for sure.
Anyways, the reasons why I've been starting to slightly dislike Asia are the culture and the hype around it. The latter is not Asia's fault so much, but then, in a way it is. Who made the tourism? Who made the appealing, yet plastic and meaningless iconography for tourists? Who made the clearly tourist oriented restaurants? Who made the "work hard without a point to just to keep a role" ideal? Well yeah, some argue that the beauty of Asia lies beyond these tourism and other stereotypical issues, but what's there then? The people? Fuck yeah, the best thing in the world.. people. I prefer Space Marine Land Raiders.
It would be a lie to say that I don't want to insult anyone. I don't care. But the fact is that people are still like shit almost everywhere in the world. They do unbelievable stuff to get few bucks, they're friendly to you on a good day only, they're multiplying, pooping (multiplying + pooping is like making potential amounts of shit in the world), fighting, polluting, and not giving a shit about anything - except maybe their forced beliefs. Wow, that's something to jump about? Well no, and people are like that also in Asia. Europe is currently more clean, more exciting culturally (look under the glitter and surface please), the salaries are better, jobs make more sense, education is top notch, the nature is clean etc. Or maybe it's just me, who likes constant change and new things - bored of Asia, so to say.
Actually, I could stop talking about Europe as well. They have their fuck ups. What I mean by Europe here is Scandinavia. I've been feeling, stronger and stronger each day, that Scandinavia is the best place in the world. I want to go back someday for sure.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Same guy, same gibberish, new location.
Back online and back to posting. I got my internet working again yesterday. That is not to say it wasn’t working before – it’s just a good opening statement implying a kind of a restrain on posting. The thing is, I was actually without internet only for about 20 hours. But let’s not go into trivial details. I’m back online and that’s all that matters.
The reason I was offline for 20 hours is that I’m now living in a new location. I quit my old job and changed to a new one. And with old job gone, so was the old apartment (which was arranged by the old company). And on Sunday as I left my old place in the afternoon, I had to wait until Monday morning to get the internet transferred to my new address.
The new apartment is in a village area of Hong Kong called Kam Tin (it’s under Yuen Long district). It’s a very, very traditional style area in Hong Kong and if you’re thinking skyscrapers or high-rise apartments, you can stop right there. There’s nothing here that is taller than 10 meters. And I live in ground floor – not 48th like before.
Outside we got dirt, bugs, smells and all the fancy things that make a place authentic and real. Inside, so far, I’ve killed a few ants, one small cockroach, a spider and things I’m not even sure what they were. My building is inside a wall of other buildings with distances from 1 to 4 feet of each others. Building next doors is over 100 years old. My main view in all windows is a brick wall.
I fully-heartedly enjoy this place, however. It’s something completely different, again, from anything I’ve experienced so far. The lifestyle is very different, the people are very different and the whole structure of life here is very different. When you think of Hong Kong you think of skyscrapers, shopping malls and modern big city life. When you think of Kam Tin, you think different.
I haven’t had the chance to take many pictures yet but I will. I was going to today, but we got a nasty rain until now and I didn’t feel like getting wet – again.
In the last two days I’ve gone out four times. Three times I got surprised by rain without me having an umbrella. Fourth time I went out and had an umbrella. It stopped raining after a minute. It’s not an easy life. Also, there was a T8 typhoon warning yesterday, I went shopping for some additional cabinets for my new apartment (the second time I was out). While I was walking outside the wind threw a speck into my eye and it hurt. Typhoons are a serious matter!!
To drag this post once more off-topic, let it be noted that the younger generation of my girlfriend’s extended family now refer to me as 哈囉哥哥 (haalougogo) which basically means Hello Brother (older brother) which I assume is because the only thing I say at family gatherings is “hello” to everyone, as I come in. And then I sit mute until the rest of the evening. Nice.
Anyway, off now. With my current and changed life-situation I’m sure I’ll be posting more, and I’ll be having more to post about too. So tchau!
The reason I was offline for 20 hours is that I’m now living in a new location. I quit my old job and changed to a new one. And with old job gone, so was the old apartment (which was arranged by the old company). And on Sunday as I left my old place in the afternoon, I had to wait until Monday morning to get the internet transferred to my new address.
The new apartment is in a village area of Hong Kong called Kam Tin (it’s under Yuen Long district). It’s a very, very traditional style area in Hong Kong and if you’re thinking skyscrapers or high-rise apartments, you can stop right there. There’s nothing here that is taller than 10 meters. And I live in ground floor – not 48th like before.
Outside we got dirt, bugs, smells and all the fancy things that make a place authentic and real. Inside, so far, I’ve killed a few ants, one small cockroach, a spider and things I’m not even sure what they were. My building is inside a wall of other buildings with distances from 1 to 4 feet of each others. Building next doors is over 100 years old. My main view in all windows is a brick wall.
I fully-heartedly enjoy this place, however. It’s something completely different, again, from anything I’ve experienced so far. The lifestyle is very different, the people are very different and the whole structure of life here is very different. When you think of Hong Kong you think of skyscrapers, shopping malls and modern big city life. When you think of Kam Tin, you think different.
I haven’t had the chance to take many pictures yet but I will. I was going to today, but we got a nasty rain until now and I didn’t feel like getting wet – again.
In the last two days I’ve gone out four times. Three times I got surprised by rain without me having an umbrella. Fourth time I went out and had an umbrella. It stopped raining after a minute. It’s not an easy life. Also, there was a T8 typhoon warning yesterday, I went shopping for some additional cabinets for my new apartment (the second time I was out). While I was walking outside the wind threw a speck into my eye and it hurt. Typhoons are a serious matter!!
To drag this post once more off-topic, let it be noted that the younger generation of my girlfriend’s extended family now refer to me as 哈囉哥哥 (haalougogo) which basically means Hello Brother (older brother) which I assume is because the only thing I say at family gatherings is “hello” to everyone, as I come in. And then I sit mute until the rest of the evening. Nice.
Anyway, off now. With my current and changed life-situation I’m sure I’ll be posting more, and I’ll be having more to post about too. So tchau!
Monday, September 22, 2008
"China" Brand News
So why all the press from China?
Simply because there are so many news items and the numbers are always big doesn't seem to cut it. I'm sure there are other large countries where development has left things behind and news happens. India doesn't seem to get any coverage.
Of course I follow more news of China, specifically, than India - just picking an example here, but I believe there's not so much to go around with. If a fire in a night club kills 40+ (Xinhua through AP on Sunday) or a mining accident kills 30+ due to inhaled gas (AP again, on Sunday) I'm sure to read of it. But not so much of any other developing nation.
It's because China has become unique. It's not any longer a nameless statistic in the developing countries list. It's China. Think if brand goods. You have your miscallenous soap and you have your Dove. You have MP3 players and you have your iPod. And just like with brands, there are several, but people are only interested in few. You have your Zune and if you really pay attention, you might recognize the Zen from Creative. But name three after that? The same goes for localized news. I can tell you there was news from US and China last week. I also know there was news from Finland, but name three more countries?
It's there if you know where to look for it, but the fact is, China now gets coverage for news much smaller in importance and more frequently than many other countries. And since positive things hardly make for gripping news, most items are negative - often with numbers like 30+ or 40+. This is what is contributing to China's track record.
People follow the news about China more. More news includes more bad news which people remember. People recall bad news and read more bad news. China's track record grows worse. See how this works?
There is nothing wrong with reporting accidents, catastrophies, faulty goods or internal strife about China. I'm not saying it's not worthy. But I am saying you should be aware of the spotlight China is under. Hell, just reading my writings you get exposed to a little more China coverage, and much like AP, I seldom write if something trivially jovial occurs.
Please continue enjoying your branded goods, they usually deliver on their promises. As surely as a McDonalds branded food items is going to be unhealthy for you, China news will continue to deliver casualties and problems.
OP out.
Simply because there are so many news items and the numbers are always big doesn't seem to cut it. I'm sure there are other large countries where development has left things behind and news happens. India doesn't seem to get any coverage.
Of course I follow more news of China, specifically, than India - just picking an example here, but I believe there's not so much to go around with. If a fire in a night club kills 40+ (Xinhua through AP on Sunday) or a mining accident kills 30+ due to inhaled gas (AP again, on Sunday) I'm sure to read of it. But not so much of any other developing nation.
It's because China has become unique. It's not any longer a nameless statistic in the developing countries list. It's China. Think if brand goods. You have your miscallenous soap and you have your Dove. You have MP3 players and you have your iPod. And just like with brands, there are several, but people are only interested in few. You have your Zune and if you really pay attention, you might recognize the Zen from Creative. But name three after that? The same goes for localized news. I can tell you there was news from US and China last week. I also know there was news from Finland, but name three more countries?
It's there if you know where to look for it, but the fact is, China now gets coverage for news much smaller in importance and more frequently than many other countries. And since positive things hardly make for gripping news, most items are negative - often with numbers like 30+ or 40+. This is what is contributing to China's track record.
People follow the news about China more. More news includes more bad news which people remember. People recall bad news and read more bad news. China's track record grows worse. See how this works?
There is nothing wrong with reporting accidents, catastrophies, faulty goods or internal strife about China. I'm not saying it's not worthy. But I am saying you should be aware of the spotlight China is under. Hell, just reading my writings you get exposed to a little more China coverage, and much like AP, I seldom write if something trivially jovial occurs.
Please continue enjoying your branded goods, they usually deliver on their promises. As surely as a McDonalds branded food items is going to be unhealthy for you, China news will continue to deliver casualties and problems.
OP out.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tomorrow life is "ho best".
I decided to dig an old draft from the depths of infinite bit-space, and finish it , to commit to our blog in somehow, since I've been recently very lazy with my posting. This is excusing myself, but I tend to do that sometimes, so deal with it or go cry to momma. Anyways, the post.. ;
Malaysia has been criticized by some because of its "tomorrow" culture. Simply put, it means that in Malaysia everything is done "tomorrow" - nothing happens today, now, very soon, or currently. There is just "Today I'm having this and that, but TOMORROW everything is fixed." Sounds great until you realized that this applies to every single thing on every single day, so virtually nothing is ever happening.
In work life this is quite annoying; boss is pushing me to push projects through, and then I have to explain him every day, today and TOMORROW that why the fuck nothing is happening today. Luckily enough, he seems to be quite accepting to the concept of tomorrow as well. I've learned, however, that telling him "next week" is way worse. If you tell "next week", he says "ALWAYS THE NEXT WEEK! CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!", despite its possible/happening/etc or not. 'Tomorrow' answer, however, makes him smile despite the thing happening or not. Strange.
Well. Anyways, I guess the main thing to pick from this post is that making a successful business is quite difficult in Malaysia if you depend on contractors or other outsourced elements, because I'd claim that managing them takes a lot more effort here, than in Hong Kong for example, where everyone is more than eager to work. Culture and motivation issue then, so to say.
Malaysia has been criticized by some because of its "tomorrow" culture. Simply put, it means that in Malaysia everything is done "tomorrow" - nothing happens today, now, very soon, or currently. There is just "Today I'm having this and that, but TOMORROW everything is fixed." Sounds great until you realized that this applies to every single thing on every single day, so virtually nothing is ever happening.
In work life this is quite annoying; boss is pushing me to push projects through, and then I have to explain him every day, today and TOMORROW that why the fuck nothing is happening today. Luckily enough, he seems to be quite accepting to the concept of tomorrow as well. I've learned, however, that telling him "next week" is way worse. If you tell "next week", he says "ALWAYS THE NEXT WEEK! CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!", despite its possible/happening/etc or not. 'Tomorrow' answer, however, makes him smile despite the thing happening or not. Strange.
Well. Anyways, I guess the main thing to pick from this post is that making a successful business is quite difficult in Malaysia if you depend on contractors or other outsourced elements, because I'd claim that managing them takes a lot more effort here, than in Hong Kong for example, where everyone is more than eager to work. Culture and motivation issue then, so to say.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Baby Formula, The Chinese Way
Hey, recall the post I wrote regarding the baby shop? The one where I wasn't completetly convinced all the products were for me?
Well, in case you haven't been following news of China, here's a tidbit.
There's a big thing being reported, where baby formula has been tainted with melamine. The most recent news from today cite 3 dead babies, over 6200 sick and (from yesterdays news) more than 50 babies in critical condition. Among these are over 150 cases of acute kidney failure
A probe was launched to find out the extent of the problem and it appears that approximately 20% of the companies providing formula are involved. China's largest dairy announced a product recall too.
Want to guess why they would add melamine? They likely used melamine to make the milk appear higher in proteine content. Yeah, that's right, it's most likely not an accident you find a chemical used in the plastic industry in baby milk here in China.
The previous formula-scare is from 2004, when 13 babies died of malnutrition, as the formula was fake and contained no nutrients. Let's see how big the numbers get this time.
Sorry for not posting about Finland, but I'll upload a few choice pics once I get them organized.
EDITED- Sorry. It's the 150 babies hospitalized and over 6200 sick, they are not all in hospitals.
Well, in case you haven't been following news of China, here's a tidbit.
There's a big thing being reported, where baby formula has been tainted with melamine. The most recent news from today cite 3 dead babies, over 6200 sick and (from yesterdays news) more than 50 babies in critical condition. Among these are over 150 cases of acute kidney failure
A probe was launched to find out the extent of the problem and it appears that approximately 20% of the companies providing formula are involved. China's largest dairy announced a product recall too.
Want to guess why they would add melamine? They likely used melamine to make the milk appear higher in proteine content. Yeah, that's right, it's most likely not an accident you find a chemical used in the plastic industry in baby milk here in China.
The previous formula-scare is from 2004, when 13 babies died of malnutrition, as the formula was fake and contained no nutrients. Let's see how big the numbers get this time.
Sorry for not posting about Finland, but I'll upload a few choice pics once I get them organized.
EDITED- Sorry. It's the 150 babies hospitalized and over 6200 sick, they are not all in hospitals.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Later
I'll try to write more tomorrow before I fly to Finland on Sunday.
The wedding party was yesterday, and I'm still dead tired. Happy too.
I just wanted to share a picture of my bride, seeing as we have a new (great idea, BTW) cover pic for the page. Surely more pretty Chinese girls will give more readers?
I have the 80 photos of the photoshoot to sort trough, and the 150 or so pics we took during the dinner, but I'll share one to tide you over.
OP out.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
More for me
Fasting month has just begun in Malaysia, and for muslims it means denial from each thing that is good for man - like sex, alcohol and cigarettes. It also means no eating before... was it... before 19:00 I think, or something like that. Fasting month means, however, nicer lunching for me because halal restaurants aren't filled with hungry Malaysians. They have to starve and worship. How very sad.
Furthermore, this season since 1st of September should mean a big bunch of incoming public holidays, which I'm of course very excited about. Malaysia has the 2nd most amount of public holidays in all of Asia, if I remember correctly - this is naturally due to various ethnic and religious groups represented in the country, and each want their share of free days. Actually it creates a bit of a mess for companies to manage all, since some holidays only consider muslims etc. Simply put - each holiday is lost revenue to some. But guess what? I don't give a flying fuck 'cause all the more for me.
On another subject, OP pointed out last week that our blog doesn't have _that_ many readers actually, so I decided to change the Bruce Lee picture to something more appealing. Enjoy!
Furthermore, this season since 1st of September should mean a big bunch of incoming public holidays, which I'm of course very excited about. Malaysia has the 2nd most amount of public holidays in all of Asia, if I remember correctly - this is naturally due to various ethnic and religious groups represented in the country, and each want their share of free days. Actually it creates a bit of a mess for companies to manage all, since some holidays only consider muslims etc. Simply put - each holiday is lost revenue to some. But guess what? I don't give a flying fuck 'cause all the more for me.
On another subject, OP pointed out last week that our blog doesn't have _that_ many readers actually, so I decided to change the Bruce Lee picture to something more appealing. Enjoy!
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