11/23/09 -Session 2 - Dube - China: 1949 to 1976

I noticed a news report yesterday that featured a picture of President Obama standing in a wind-breaker-type coat in front the Great Wall. The news report stated that the U.S. government was not pleased with the advertisement. Interesting! It made me recall images of cell-phones and other such advertisement that showed Barack Obama as being a source of inspiration and motivation as far as product sales are concerned.
Are they allowed to use his image without his consent? Have there been any other U.S. presidents that have been portrayed this way
" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/07/white-house-pressures-garment-company-pull-obama-billboard/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529>

I enjoyed watching the Saturday Night Live skit. I am always searching for current events topics reflected in commentary through political satire. I use political cartoons whenever I can to demonstrate to students there are many places to find clues to how people saw/ see their world. They don't have to just listen or watch news on the radio or T.V. U-Tube is a great tool. It also is a great way to demonstrate to students that their favorite comedians can be well-educated, and have opinions about their world and that the more they learn the more they will appreciate what these people have to say.

:~ And isn't it ironic that it is up to the man that determines if he has a boy or a girl, but I guess if the one wife was getting older & couldn't bare more children, then he would need more women to get more sons.

Link to news story.

I found this article recently on Yahoo News. I found even the headline eye-catching. The official in charge of China's leading sports university claims that he is concerned that low levels of physical fitness will lead to China's defeat in a war against Japan in the future. In light of the Japanese invasion during WW2, I can see how this would be a concern. I did find it interesting that Japan is the only nation named as a source of concern by the official. He makes absolutely no mention of the United States, Korea, or even Taiwan. I think this was a revealing statement that the senior officials in the Chinese government still see Japan as the main threat to China physically nearly half a century after the invasion.

Even with the context, it still sounds a bit paranoid to me. But then I also think it's hilarious when an Olympic host country has a named plan to dominate the Olympic Games.

A Chinese website that is affiliated to China's official newspaper People's Daily, reported on March 4, 2010, that according to "Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad 1798-2009", published by the Congress recently, U. S. has sent troops to China for about 30 times since 1843.

The article listed all the incidents in a chronical order.

A friend of mine forwarded me the message. I think it's interesting to share.
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http://www.sina.com.cn 2010年03月04日15:58 环球时报
　　环球网消息 美国国会最近发表的《1798年至2009年美军海外活动事例》(Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad， 1798-2009)，详细记载了美国立国200余年来向海外派兵的情况。其中，自1843年起，美国向中国派兵近30次......

With all the news surrounding Google's run-in's with the Chinese government recently, I thought I'd share this:

China government announces new regulations restricting Internet use
Sarah Miley at 12:59 PM ET

[JURIST] The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology [official website, in Chinese] has issued new regulations tightening restrictions on Internet use by requiring citizens operating websites to submit identity cards and meet with regulators before their sites can be registered. The Ministry maintains that the restrictions [BBC News report], made public Monday, are needed to regulate pornographic websites, which are banned in China, but Internet activists believe that the measures are just another step to tighten government control over Internet use. China froze registration [Register report] of new individual websites without business licenses in December, claiming that appropriate steps were not being taken to prevent the creation of pornographic sites. The ministry says that the December ban will be lifted with the enactment of the new registration policies. The increased restrictions have caused many Internet users to register their websites overseas in order to avoid government regulation.

The new policies come as the Chinese government continues negotiations with Google regarding the Internet company's January threat to discontinue operations in China [JURIST report] due to the country's overarching Internet censorship. Google's action was in response to a cyber attack on its Gmail service in December, which targeted the e-mail accounts of human rights activists in China and drew the ire of rights groups around the world. Google indicated that it would work with the Chinese government to find a way to allow an, "unfiltered search engine within the law as well," but also noted that if an agreement cannot be reached, it may close its offices there and shut down its Google.cn website. China responded [JURIST report] by reiterating its commitment to open Internet, but stressed that international Internet companies must follow Chinese law. A week later, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referenced the threat [JURIST report] by Google in a speech promoting Internet freedom and criticizing censorship, declaring that China "risk[s] walling themselves off from the progress of the next century." Chinese Foreign Ministry [official website, in Chinese] spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu criticized Clinton for her remarks stating that they were harmful to bilateral relations between the US and China.