Justin Franchi Solondz, an environmental activist from New Jersey who spent years evading charges of ecoterrorism in the United States by hiding out in China, was sentenced to three years in prison by a local court on Friday on charges of manufacturing drugs in this backpacker haven.
After serving his time, Mr. Solondz, 30, who is on the F.B.I.Ās wanted list, will be deported to the United States, where he faces charges stemming from what the authorities say was his role in an arson rampage that destroyed buildings in three western states as a member of a group related to the environmental extremist organization Earth Liberation Front. He was indicted in absentia in 2006.
The story of Mr. SolondzĀs life on the lam spanned three continents, involved at least two aliases and ended in a smoky bar in one of the worldĀs most authoritarian countries...
#1
Dumbass. He thought he was above Chinese law just like he thought he was above American law. And why am I not surprised the guy immediately went to a backpacker haven and started selling drugs? One of the nicest things about my city in China is the total absence of tourists and especially backpackers.
#2
No, no. Don't send him back. He is a closet Uigher. Check him out and do what you must.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/28/2009 16:08 Comments ||
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#3
After serving his time, Mr. Solondz, 30, who is on the F.B.I.'s wanted list, will be deported to the United States...
Silly, silly NYT. They're making the assumption that this clown's survival is assured. I think it's a safe bet that Chinese prisons are, well, kinda prison-like, involving short rations, an unpleasant physical environment, and lots and lots of really hard labor.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/28/2009 16:38 Comments ||
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#4
Buh bye, cupcake. Enjoy working on your Mandarin. Be sure to scream about how they are violating your civil rights....the Chinese lap that crap right up.
Just 'cause I'm feeling generous, maybe Mr Solondz (or someone who cares about him) might want to contact this guy. I wouldn't hold my breath that he could do much for him, though, since his best advice to anyone getting arrested in the PRC is "pray."
TIGER Woods' was not just injured by a car smash, but also by his golf-club-weilding wife, according to reports.
Celebrity website TMZ.com claims the PGA star sustained facial injuries when his wife Elin Nordegren confronted Woods about rumours he was seeing another woman.
Woods has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol.
But according to TMZ, the website that broke Michael Jackson's death, Woods had a conversation explaining what happened before the car smash.
"The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up," TMZ claims.
"We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.
"We're told Woods became 'distracted', thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree."
Earlier today, Highway Patrol police said Woods was injured in the accident outside his Florida mansion, so his wife used a golf club to smash out the back window and help get the world's No. 1 golfer out of the vehicle .
Then news broke that the incident was "a domestic issue".
Woods was treated and released from a hospital in good condition, his spokesman said.
Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor told The Associated Press that officers found the 33-year-old PGA star laying in the street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.
She told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and "came out and broke the back window with a golf club".
Woods had lacerations to his upper and lower lips, and he had blood in his mouth, Saylor said.
The chief said Woods was in and out of consciousness when his two officers arrived. He said the officers held Woods to the ground and "when he woke up, he tried to get up and lost consciousness".
He said officers treated Woods for 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Woods was alone in his car when he pulled out of his driveway from his mansion at Isleworth, a gated waterfront community just outside Orlando.
The patrol said alcohol was not involved, although the accident remains under investigation and charges could be filed.
Left unanswered was where Woods was going at that hour.
#20
The chief said Woods was in and out of consciousness when his two officers arrived. He said the officers held Woods to the ground and "when he woke up, he tried to get up and lost consciousness".
Normally, if you're not going to out right kill a tiger, you anesthetize them first before you tag them. As any game warden would before sending them back to the wild in a relocation operation. Badges, she don't need no stinking badges. Of course, if the population is becoming too large, you'll also do a little operation to prevent further reproduction.
#24
Made me LOLz at AOSHQ: 199 Ahhhh...it's so nice to sit back, crack a beer and tune in college football knowing that, at least for this weekend, Tiger Woods wishes he had my life...
Posted by: Lincolntf at November 28, 2009 07:01 PM
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2009 19:35 Comments ||
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Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is receiving treatment for an acute condition of inflammation of the wall of the heart at a Saudi hospital, his doctor said on Thursday.
The doctor said Yar'Adua started complaining of severe chest pains last Friday and preliminary tests suggested acute pericarditis.
It was then decided he should take further tests in Saudi Arabia.
So Saudi sheiks get their heart care at the Cleveland Clinic and Nigerian presidents get their heart care in ... Jeddah. Oh. Okay ...
"The medical review and tests undertaken at the hospital have confirmed the initial diagnosis that the President is indeed suffering from acute pericarditis.
On Wednesday, rumours spread in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia that Yar'Adua had slipped into a coma or had died while in Jeddah to visit the hospital.
It is his third trip to the Red Sea port in as many months, all believed to have involved hospital visits.
The condition of Yar'Adua, 58, had until now been cloaked in an official veil of secrecy. He is widely believed to have a history of kidney-related disease for which he has previously received hospital treatment in both Germany and Saudi Arabia.
#1
I've had pericarditis. It hurts. A lot. If the inflammation is bad enough the pericardium can start to fill up with fluid, exerting pressure on the heart within, which can become life-threatening if it becomes bad enough. The doctors gave me painkillers and anti-inflamatory drugs, and because the cause was viral, waited for it to go away.
#1
Beyond about 11%, more alcohol doesn't help the beer flavor, so its quality declines. Beer makers overcame this by adding digestives, ingredients that would stimulate the digestion, so you would absorb the alcohol faster.
Oddly enough, the Russians have long had techniques to do just the opposite with vodka, so that they could drink much more, yet absorb it slowly, to mitigate the effects of the alcohol.
#6
Alcohol production requires reducing the batch to clarity, and then adding flavorings. For example, all dark rum was once clear. The Russian process in all in the flavoring. Wonder why Moonshine has little flavor?
Posted by: Slath Prince of the Poles1925 ||
11/28/2009 15:41 Comments ||
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#7
No it doesn't.
The brew was near frozen and ice was removed to increase the alcohol content by removing water.
An example of socia1ist production principles--but not a good one
SELDOM, since the day Adolf Hitler gave the order to produce the Volkswagen, has a car been given such an explicitly ideological mission. But the vehicles that roll, occasionally, off the production line at Venirauto's factory, west of Caracas, will free Venezuelans from the "yoke of capitalism," declares President Hugo Chavez. The factory was opened with great fanfare by the president three years ago. It is a joint venture between Iran and Venezuela, which Mr Chavez predicts will turn his country into a car exporter. It is also intended to be an example of socialist production principles, although its workers see things a little differently.
In December they downed tools over the company's refusal to negotiate a collective contract. Their wages, even at the grossly overvalued official exchange rate, are worth around $25 a day. They complained of poor safety conditions and exploitative work practices. Their supposedly socialist employer refuses to recognise trade unions and has ignored the labour ministry's order to reinstate sacked union activists.
Venirauto's cars are rehashes of clapped-out 1980s models from the imperialist West. The Turpial, a five-door hatchback, is based on the Ford Festiva, while the Centauro saloon is a clone of the Peugeot 405, though both are fitted with a conversion kit allowing them to run on natural gas. Their capitalist-busting claims are based on price: they undercut rival models by around 50%. If you can get one, that is.
The plant has a production capacity of 25,000 vehicles a year, but is struggling (even by official admission) to produce 10,000. There is no dealer network, and no credit facilities are offered--unless Mr Chavez personally orders a batch of cars for some favoured group of public employees.
I'm a little surprised we didn't bail these guys out when we bailed out GM and Chrysler ...
Perhaps it is just as well that the 30,000 customers the government says are waiting for an anti-capitalist car should learn to do without one. When not praising the Turpial and the Centauro, Mr Chavez has been known to rail against the whole concept of car ownership. "The urge to get a car," he told students on one occasion, "is poison to the human soul". With that, he got into his limousine and rode off.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Cadivi still no cut loose cash for imported parts. And because of the control currency, it's always cheeper to import, than to make. Catch 22, Vz style.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/28/2009 7:23 Comments ||
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#2
"fine corinthian bolivarian leather interiors"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2009 10:39 Comments ||
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#3
But hopefully no photon torpedo launchers welded to the roll bar.
France is negotiating to sell a high-tech warship to Russia, which would mark the first time that a NATO nation Ā and a founding member at that Ā sold arms to the country since the fall of the Soviet Union, which the treaty organization was created to oppose.
The Russians are anxiously looking to buy one of FranceĀs Mistral class helicopter carriers, a rapid-deployment attack ship that some fear could be used against countries like Georgia and Ukraine.
"I confirm that we are currently examining an official request from the Russian government for the purchase of a ship of this class," French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Friday at news conference following a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The possible deal has Georgian officials concerned, as the 21,300-ton amphibious assault ship can also carry personnel, armored cars and tanks thousands of miles and would help modernize Russian naval equipment exposed as outdated in its war with Georgia last year, Reuters reported.
Since the war, Russia has declared the Georgian territory of Abkhazia an independent nation and sent thousands of troops there. Abkhazia has a coastline along the Black Sea that is next to Russia's coast.
Asked if Russia would used the ship against Georgia, Putin said only that it would use warships where needed, Reuters reported.
Two senior U.S. officials told Fox News the potential sale is not very alarming.
"We would expect France keep its NATO allies in close consultation concerning any potential sale," but overall "this ship wouldn't give the Russians more of an advantage", one official said.
Other NATO members expressed more concern at France's openness to selling Russia weaponry that could be used against NATO forces or allies.
Despite concerns over the negotiations, Fillon said "France is open to cooperation with Russia, including in defense," adding that it makes no sense to discuss including Russia in a joint European economy then fall back on "outdated reflexes," Reuters reported.
Ah yes, the EU economy. And its move away from NATO to the fledgling EU forces.
The Mistral, estimated to cost roughly $450 million to $500 million, could become Russia's biggest international arms purchase.
Putin said Russia had not made a final decision on the deal.
#1
Carriers are nothing but huge targets, which we will very quickly find out during the next shooting war. Sell the Russians all they can carry. Heck, do to them what the Russians did to the Chinese.
#2
This isn't a carrier. It's an smallish amphibious assault ship -- similar to ex Trenton... sold to India.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/28/2009 9:04 Comments ||
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#3
It isn't the ship that should be the concern but the weapons systems, communications, command and control that might be included. Why use spies when you can buy the stuff outright.
As we continue to ratchet up what we consider to be "poverty" in this country, consider the following:
In 1971 44.5% of Americans owned a clothes dryer. Today 61.2% of families living under the poverty line have one. 98.5% of impoverished families have a refrigerator compared to 83.3% of all Americans in 1971. 97.4% of people in poverty have a color TV compared to only 43.3% of Americans in 1971. Impoverished families have air conditioners today at more than twice the percentage that Americans in general had in 1971. In fact, the ownership of these items have been increasing consistently over the past several decades. The "average" American of 1971 might be considered "impoverished" by today's standards.
According to research from Professor Steve Horwitz at Austrian Economists:
The overall lesson is clear: lives for Americans below the poverty line continue to get better in terms of what they are able to put in their households and have to make use of everyday. And do note that the average American household in 2005 was doing much better than its 1971 counterpart. MUCH better - and this doesn't even count medical advances and the like. So whatever one hears about stagnating wages and the like, the bottom line is ultimately what we can afford to buy and have in our households to improve our lives. By those measures, life for the average American is better today than 35 years ago, life for poor Americans is much better than it was 35 years ago, and poor Americans today largely live better than the average American did 35 years ago. Hard to square with a narrative of economic stagnation or decline.
It is interesting how our concept if poverty changes over time. When I was a child in school in a rural area of an East Coast state, many of my classmates in first grade didn't have a home phone. Several of them didn't have indoor toilets and most didn't have electric clothes dryers. Mind you, this was within 100 miles of Washington DC and not West of town in the hills, either. And those folks were "average" because they had electricity. The poor people back home at that time had none. They cooked with wood, heated with coal, used kerosene lanterns, pumped their water by hand and their Daddy would sometimes open the doors of the pickup and turn on the radio so people on the porch could listen.
#1
A well meaning but in the end meaningless comparo. In 1971 100% of the poor lacked high speed internet access.... now xx% sof the poor shop every day with their foodstamp card.
This kinda shit is easy.... in 1971 we didn't have a clothes dryer either.... we did however have Dora, who could also make French Fries and take care of the Beagle dawgs what were around.
o7 Dora.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/28/2009 7:31 Comments ||
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#2
...but, but, Poverty(c) is the 'sin' of the socia!ist mantra. Without poverty how can they brow beat millions of Americans into surrendering the product of their labors and their freedoms. It's all done in the name of the Poor(c)! Guilt, guilt! You are immoral because you have prospered, mostly through application and work, but none the less you prospered while others didn't. Shame, such shame. /sarc off
#3
"Where cultural progress is genuinely successful and ills are cured, this progress is seldom received with enthusiasm. Instead, they are taken for granted and attention focuses on those ills that remain."
-- Odo Marquard, Philosopher
#4
The overall lesson is clear: lives for Americans below the poverty line continue to get better in terms of what they are able to put in their households and have to make use of everyday.
But absence of material goods is not the problem that most vexes the poor. The absence of improvement in their spiritual and moral condition is far more important. Until the spiritual and moral condition is addressed, progress in the material is irrelevant. And government is powerless to address spiritual and moral needs.
#5
In 1971 44.5% of Americans owned a clothes dryer. Today 61.2% of families living under the poverty line have one. 98.5% of impoverished families have a refrigerator compared to 83.3% of all Americans in 1971. 97.4% of people in poverty have a color TV compared to only 43.3% of Americans in 1971. Impoverished families have air conditioners today at more than twice the percentage that Americans in general had in 1971.
How much of the stuff was paid for in 1971 versus today [where everything is put on a credit card]?
#6
#4
Suggesting the poor are morally and spiritually deficient is the language of a spoiled brat that had everything handed to them their whole life. Not saying that's you but if the shoe fits... I think you mean the poor and ignorant, not just "the poor".
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/28/2009 10:40 Comments ||
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#7
If you cut through the poster children and look hard at real poverty in this country you'll find what the greatest contributors to poverty are -
1 - substance abuse.
2 - procreating families before attaining the skills to put a roof over their heads, food on the table, and clothes on their backs.
3 - skipping education opportunities - zombies in the hallways and classrooms.
4 - keeping to the old ways.
Each one of those are self inflicted wounds. Western charity was based not just on helping the poor, but the expectation that the poor would help themselves. With socia!lism, those in power remove the latter from the equation and simply subsidize the poor. When they don't take action to help themselves, they're not victims. They just procreate the next generation of poor.
I would argue that is not necessasrily a wound. The poor Amish bastids got good horses and fine beers. Hell, the southron corollary to the
Amish seem damn happy too, with excellent dawgs, F-150z(glugz), nets of all varieties, and quality, albeit oft ancient, firearms.
Also: knives... they got good knives too.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/28/2009 12:43 Comments ||
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#10
So ifn we are arguing about quality of life vs. what you doing for the country vicer cash income.... things get grayish.
BRB... off to run deh dawg
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/28/2009 12:47 Comments ||
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#11
"Perry Stanford White "
Execpt we aren't talking about high speed internet access and nowhere is that mentioned in the article. That is pretty much a third-grade debate technique. You grab something that isn't even a part of the discussion in an attempt to shift the focus to something completely different.
Clothes dryers are a good example. Most people dried their clothes on a line when I was a kid. Also, most households didn't have two wage earners. They didn't consider themselves living in "poverty" and neither did anyone else.
In 2009, the federal poverty level for a family of 4 is a household income of 22,050 a year. For a single person it is $10,830. Now $22,050 is a lot different in New York City than it is in East Podunk, Arkansas but the federal government makes no effort to qualify that by geographical area in the continental United States.
Probably because as a group they're not poor. Primitive, maybe compared to other parts of the population, but not poor. They are not poster children, and for good reason. They do not want for food, clothing or shelter. They do not look for a handout of such either. They have the capacity and motivation to make their own. If you did a comparative analysis of what they create and own and assign a monetary value to it, you'll find that they are not poor by definition. Considering only a very small number of them even participate in the voting process because they have no need, I can image that being independent of the squalor of the sport, many are happy. They don't covert their neighbors wealth.
#18
But the linens smell so fresh if it's a good day out. (Hauling out the heavy basket of wet laundry, hanging things on the line and bringing them in when dry, folded, was one of my chores for years as a kid.)
#19
note that a lot of HOAs prohibit laundry lines.... appearances over efficiency
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2009 19:27 Comments ||
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#20
Depends on where you live, Frank G. Some states have made those HOA regulations illegal (like Florida).
I just have a couple drying racks because I can't modify my house (rental). They could go outside if I wanted to, but if the weather is crappy I can just set them up inside the house.
#1
In Ukraine, some of the casualties had lungs so severely damaged that they looked black, and internal temperatures as high as 135F, showing an intense chemical reaction. The doctors there, almost as a group, insisted that it *had* to be pneumonic plague, because they knew of no other disease that could do that.
The biggest irony of all of this, is that this is "just" H1N1, though in a mutated form. As such, it is getting a lot more attention because the world health authorities are in heightened alert for H5N1 Avian flu.
H5N1 is still out there, and growing stronger in its endemic territory, trying out vast numbers of its own mutations, each of which are engaged in natural selection competitions with each other and the immune systems of the animals it is attacking.
It has maintained its high mortality rate of over 60% of those infected, and needs only one slight modification to turn into the worst plague the world has ever known. It could easily get the critical gene segment from H1N1, or it could come up with it on its own.
And there is very little we can do until it emerges. Likely with an entire city being wiped out in either China or Indonesia.
#2
Heard the other day that people can get re-infected with H1N1 virus after already having the flu. Nasty stuff.
I don't know of any private doctors who are giving the H1N1 shot here--only the county health clinic. They also mention on their info sheet that it is the Federal Government who is providing the free shots. It occurred to me that the Feds want people to know who is providing this vaccine--they want you to think all things come from Washington the next election time.
Among the many great amusements of the Climategate scandal are the myriad imaginative excuses being offered by the implicated scientists and their friends in the MSM as to why this isn't a significant story. Here are some of the best.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2009 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] AFTER claiming to feel great remorse for his part in Khmer Rouge atrocities, the defendant in Cambodia's first genocide trial on Friday surprised the court with a last-minute plea for his freedom, saying he should not have been prosecuted and has already spent ten years in jail.
Kaing Guek Eav, who headed a torture center from which about 16,000 men, women and children were sent to their deaths, seemingly stepped back from previous assertions of responsibility for his actions and expressions of sorrow to his victims, as well as willingness to accept severe punishment.
His Cambodian lawyer, Kar Savuth, went a step further and stunned the tribunal by issuing the trial's first clear call for an acquittal of his client, even after his French lawyer, Francois Roux, denied seeking such a verdict.
Only when directly pressed by a frustrated Judge Dame Silvia Cartwright of New Zealand did Kar Savuth say that in calling for Duch's release he was seeking his acquittal.
After consultations, the judges at the UN-assisted tribunal accepted the plea for acquittal, even though the legal basis for it was unclear.
Acquittal in legal terms normally means a finding that the defendant is not guilty of the crimes he is charged with, while the defense case hinged generally on claims that Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, ought to have any punishment lightened in view of his cooperation with the court and expressions of remorse.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
AFTER claiming to feel great remorse for his part in Khmer Rouge atrocities, the defendant in Cambodia's first genocide trial on Friday surprised the court with a last-minute plea for his freedom, saying he should not have been prosecuted and has already spent ten years in jail.
How much time should be spent in jail for taking part in ending a person's life? Apparently this guy thinks about an hour is OK.
One of the most haunting images I have seen is a photograph of a young Cambodian woman who is being "processed" by the Khmer Rouge before going into one of their camps, probably to be executed. The photo was a simple above-the-waist shot of a distraught woman. What was so shocking was the child's hands barely visible at the bottom of the picture, holding onto her, probably for assurance.
If he was truly sorry, he would have killed himself long ago.
I don't know why the world puts up with these people for longer than it took one of the Khmer Rouge's goons like Duch to put a bullet in the back of a baby's head.
The only lightening his punshment might deserve is a death that is not quite so slow and agonizing as it should be.
[ADN Kronos] . (AKI) - Prosecutors in the Philippines on Friday were expected to charge the chief suspect in this week's massacre that killed 57 people in the south of the country. Andal Ampatuan Jnr, a local mayor and member of a powerful political clan, is currently being held in the capital Manila after he surrendered to the authorities on Thursday.
Ampatuan Jr., son of the provincial governor of Maguindanao, was charged with seven counts of murder on Friday and justice officials said they expected to file more charges.
As investigations were continuing into the killings, president Gloria Arroyo, a key political ally of the Ampatuans, gave the interior secretary permission to suspend all local officials in the province of Maguindanao who may have a role in the crime.
Ampatuan Jr has denied any involvement in the killings, calling such accusations "baseless".
"They are not true. My conscience is clear," he said before being flown out of the province aboard an army helicopter.
Investigators believe the killings were politically motivated, ahead of the 2010 provincial and national elections.
Meanwhile, a local mayor whose wife was among the victims killed in the ambush on the southern island of Mindanao, has filed nomination papers to run for governor.
Ismael Mangudadatu, travelled with a heavy police and army escort on the same road where his wife, sisters, and at least 27 journalists were killed on Monday.
Mangudadatu has now officially registered his candidacy for next year's elections.
"Only death can stop me from running for governor," he told reporters after submitting nomination papers at a local election commission office.
The victims of the massacre included 27 journalists and seven people who were not part of the convoy. Those seven were believed to have been killed because they witnessed the crime.
Justice secretary Agnes Devanadera told local television that some of the gunmen detained after the attack had implicated the man now being treated as the chief suspect, Andal Amaptuan Jr.
Several other people are being investigated including the police chief of Maguindanao, the southern province where the killings took place.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2009 00:00 ||
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Ever since the reforms began in China, the country's international prowess has been growing. After the Beijing Olympics, more foreigners recognize the excellence of traditional culture of China, while the modern buildings raise the influence of China even higher. After the financial tsunami, the exceptional economic performance of China impressed foreigners. Suddenly, China has turned from a "demonized country" into a "responsible grand nation." Projection, pure projection. Hollywood doesn't know a thing about the PRC. Education is an antidote to this ignorance, but they like having a fantasy world, it's what they do after all.
Meanwhile, in the movie industry, the economic downturn caused many big foreign movie companies to go into debt, even bankruptcy. But the film market in China continued to grow at an annual rate of 60% plus. The Chinese movie market is the biggest in the world and also the one with the greatest potential. So the profit-driven Hollywood movie companies are all heading to this "virgin territory" to grab market share. In order to win the hearts of the Chinese people, many Hollywood movies deliberately inject Chinese elements into their movies. So let us review which Hollywood movies have been intentionally trying to please the Chinese people! In Chinese culture, unrequested gifts from a superior are a sign of deadly weakness. The sort that you'd say "I'm a dumbass if I don't give this guy a dagger while he's sleeping and take his position."
#2
If they understood Marketing 101, they wouldn't have produced all the anti-war drivel that have been box office flops. If they understood marketing like the chaps in console and PC gaming, there would have been a movie along the lines of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare which sold over 12 million copies at over $50 a pop. Anyone doing the math could figure there was real money to be made. No, it's just that for a significant portion of Hollyweird is basically anti-American, the neo-Euros of North America.
Claiming that a Jackie Chan vehicle (Forbidden Kingdom and Rumble in the Bronx) were made to suck up to China is just stupid. Claiming that this is actually a Hollywood movie is a bit of a mistake as well. If you want to talk pandering Jackie Chan movies try Supercop. Fun movie but Michelle Yoeh plays pretty much the same superhero PRC Army spy/cop that she does in Tomorrow Never Dies. Yeah that one made no pretense of being for US audiences but it pandered and it pandered a lot.
Saying that Dragonball was pandering because they hired Chow Yun Fat instead of a big name Japanese star is also stupid. how many can name a big name Japanese star? I suspect Star Trek was pandering to Korea because they hired a Korean to play the Japanese character Sulu. Yet they left off Memoirs of a Geisha which used a Chinese actress to play a Japanese Geisha. Fact is the folks in Hollywood probably can't tell a Chinese actor from a Japanese one. This is not pandering.
And using Pearl Harbor as the example is also stupid. Fact is the Flying Tigers had flight Jackets that said "I am an American" or something along those lines. I suspect a lot of Chinese were aware that the Americans were there friends.
Mulan and Kung Fu Panda are not really pandering to Chinese audiences so much as trying to come up with something western audiences haven't seen yet. Was Lion King pandering to African audiences? Again, these two examples are pretty stupid to include.
The Mummy series ran out of reasonable mummy's to fight. The terra cotta warriors aren't exactly mummy's but its close. Not so much pandering as a last desperate gasp to keep the franchise going. Maybe this one is pandering a bit, but I don't see it that way.
Showing a clean modern city instead of the grim usually displayed for a Chinese city is pandering? Jeez, Hollywood does something different and still gets bashed? This is a bit sad to include Transforms 2. I mean anything that gives this movie any more attention is a mistake.
Tomorrow Never DIes and 2012 clearly pander. I appreciate hearing the details of 2012 so I can avoid it now. I guess a list of 2 movies is lame but come on, there had to be other real suck up movies they could have included.
#7
The Manchurian Candidate remake for example, which used the Manchurian corporation instead of PRC for the brainwashing to avoid annoying the Middle Kingdom.
#10
Microsoft believed that it was better to have pirated copies floating around so that when the nation became wealthy enough they'd be locked in to Microsoft. Still, you can't really get locked in to stolen movies.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is receiving treatment for an acute condition of inflammation of the wall of the heart at a Saudi hospital, his doctor said on Thursday. 
An example of socia1ist production principles--but not a good one
