Dr. Seuss a racist??
Dr. Seuss, the famed author of children’s books loved by millions of children for generations was also a stridently Anti-Japanese racist. He drew this cartoon in February 1942, a few weeks before the US government started putting Japanese Americans in internment camps. Click on the image to see more of his political propaganda work from this period. Some of it is pretty racist, all is anti-fascist.
Pizza in Pyongyang
A humorous short film produced by South Korean artist Kim Hwang about a North Korean woman who makes pizza in her flat in Pyongyang. Inspired by the first and the only pizzeria in North Korea, which opened in December 2008 in Pyongyang at the orders of Kim Jong-il, this film is meant to poke fun at the absurdity of such a Western style restaurant in a country reliant on international food aid while being so isolated from the international community.
Kim shot the short with the help of 10 North Korean defectors and labeled it “Star Pizza.” He flew to the city of Dandong, China, which borders North Korea, in June 2010 with 500 copies of the DVD and distributed 100 each to five Korean Chinese who regularly visit Pyongyang. They circulated the DVD in the black market in the city.
A month later, Kim received an e-mail with a video clip showing North Koreans making pizza and singing a North Korean popular song with accordion accompaniment. He also received pictures of people with the DVD, pizzas they made, and messages like “We enjoyed the pizzas.” Kim will release a compilation of the entire project in April under the title “Pizza for the People.”
A Chinese mother films her naked 26 year old daughter and posts it on the internet in hopes of finding her a mate. The young woman is apparently even a model and actress, which makes this bizarre act of desperation all the more surprising, especially in a country where the male population is estimated to be 20% larger than the female population due to a cultural preference for male offspring.
While lying naked on a bed covered by a towel the daughter says: “Hello, I am Gan Lulu. To this day, I haven’t had a boyfriend, and it isn’t because I am too ugly, but unfortunately no one wants me, so what to do? So now i am seeking a prospective marriage partner. No matter whether or not you guys think I am special or not, I am actually a rather distinctive person. I am not that annoying, so I don’t believe that there really is no one who wants me.”
It appears that a Chinese TV news report about the Chinese Air Force has used a clip from the American movie Top Gun in an attempt to pass it off as real footage of a “Chinese” fighter jet shooting down an enemy aircraft. The clip in question begins at 1:13. Copyright infringement of Hollywood films is rampant in China but this is a particularly unique and embarrassing example.
Great feature on the North Korean film industry. Check it out.
Although dog meat is commonly eaten in China, it’s a bit unusual to see people skinning Golden Retrievers on the street in Shanghai! Apparently, this fellow’s actions were perfectly legal though, not even a health bylaw violation…
Fresh protests in Beijing. Chinese activists use social media in an attempt to replicate a “Jasmine Revolution” in the mother of all authoritarian countries. Protesters chant “We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness”. Local police and security forces respond swiftly. Is this the beginning of Tiananmen 2.0??
Great report by the BBC on China’s growing international economic reach:
“Travelling across three continents, Justin Rowlatt investigates the spread of Chinese influence around the planet and asks what the world will be like if China overtakes America as the world’s economic superpower.”
Chinese Fish Magician. I am pretty sure he is using magnets.
Today is Kim Jong Il’s “69th” birthday. He claims he was born in 1942 on Mount Baekdu, a volcano on the border of North Korea and China, which holds special importance in Korean culture as the place where the Korean people originated. However, he was in fact born a year earlier in the Soviet Union (although if u ever go to North Korea remember to keep that information to yourself).
Click on the following link for the Korean Central News Agency (North Korean government propaganda “news” website) to read hilarious reports about all the “praise” and “congratulations” the Dear Leader has been getting:
http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm
In particular, read the following articles:
Kim Jong Il Praised by ForeignersKim Jong Il’s Birthday Celebrated Abroad
Palestinian Celebrates Kim Jong Il’s Birthday
Congratulations from Syrian Defense Minister
