Frenchy68

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Everything posted by Frenchy68

  1. I agree with some of your comments, but I think some of the analysis is a little simplistic, mostly due to a Westerner's view of Chinese society. The events of 1989 leading to the June 4th crackdown are a lot more similar to May 1968 in France than to an attempt at a democratic revolution. To this day, most Chinese probably wouldn't want a democracy, or at best wouldn't know what to do with it. This is due to cultural background, where their centers of interest vary greatly from ours (Westerners). In 1989, the students, as you mentioned, first gathered to pay their respect to a defunct party leader (Hu Yaobang). The head of the CCP at the time was Zhao Ziyang, himself a close ally to Hu. Both Hu and Zhao were put in positions of power by Deng Xiaoping. The goal was to lead China towards economic and political reforms. Zhao, up to June 4th, defended the demonstrators. What really happened in 1989 was a the result of a power struggle within the Chinese communist party. The reformers, lead by Zhao and supported by Deng, wanted a more liberated society. The hard liners, led by Li Peng (CCP's #2), wanted a return to more traditionalist maoist values. The latter prevailed. As one of the participants of the hunger strike mentioned one day, the tragedy was caused by the fact that on both sides, extremes prevailed. The students/workers movement radicalized itself towards mid-may, as did the government. Deng, probably more by political survival instinct than by conviction, dropped Zhao and rallied the hardliners in mid-May as well. That was the beginning of the end. After the crackdown, China pursued its economic opening (under Deng's lead), but considerably slowed down its political liberalization. However, today, there is as much dissidence in China as there was then. The aspirations are pretty much the same (fight low level corruption, relax censorship, etc...), but the media utilized is much different. The web is now a formidable weapon which the government finds hard to control. And there is much dissent, not as much against the regime as against low level government corruption. In regards to the West, what can we really do? Well, forcing democratic reforms on China is the wrong thing to do. The huge majority of Chinese do not want democracy. 2000 years of Confucian teaching saw to that. So preaching democracy to the Chinese is like teaching a turtle to sing. Pointless. The West best interest, much like the Chinese, is to see stable reforms go through. The last thing ANYONE needs is an unstable China (see what happened in Russia?). So demanding reforms is fine, it makes local constituents feel all warm and fuzzy. But encouraging them would be much more beneficial to all... China will slowly but surely develop its own brand of a political regime, and who knows, maybe some foreign countries will even be inspired by it. Just my 2 cents. Today (June 4th), everything is somewhat quiet here. The government, in its infinite paranoia, has a myriad of undercover police officers patrolling the major plazas and streets. Where as the dissent is actually online (although they have blocked a load of sites for the anniversary, but there are many ways to work around that). The ones making the most noise about it is the expat community (me included)... Oh, and as far as Tibet is concerned, it will never be independent. And Taiwan will revert to China one day, under a HK kind of agreement. These are my picks, but that's for another thread I guess. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  2. That or 5,000 posts on DZ.com. That seems to be the consensus among experts. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  3. Frenchy68

    Rumors

    I'm sure he would like to apologize, but it seems to me the post was from Radiance, not Shah. Am I missing something? "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  4. Why would they? To my amazement, they are making Shah's point! "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  5. Reading your thread title, I though you were referring to the character of a woman, and my answer would have been en emphatic yes. But reading your post, you seem to describe physical attribute (able to do certain chores physically, etc...), in which case my answer is I don't care at all. I truly don't care if my companion check the oil of a car, and can't understand that anyone would be scared (or attracted) by that "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  6. If one is in the right relationship, there is no reason for this to happen. A relationship should not be synonymous with abnegation of one's individuality and aspirations. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  7. Time for a mid-afternoon cappuccino here in China...
  8. The internet is full of road kills... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  9. Anyone who meets on a regular basis to watch the Chargers play baseball is an imbecile. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  10. Adults who keep journals are weird. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  11. *whisper* run. hide. you are a guy.... so of course that means that you are evil. didn't you know? You're just saying that to be nice... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  12. This is turning our to be one of the most entertaining thread ever! Surely the mods will make it a sticky. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  13. Yup.. the ones who can now forget about dating any skychicks.... and will have to stick to their usual dormat wuffo chicks. I guess I'll have to stick to my semi-wuffo wife (well, she DOES have 13 jumps...). But will I still get another one of your spine-adjusting hug one day? If not, I may have to unleash the wrath of my landing-terror midget friend on you (who incidentally has been spending the last few months recovering from one of his famous landing...) "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  14. Big deal! What it lacked in political correctness it sure gained in entertainment value. Too bad it might have hurt the feelings of the prude brigade, who got distracted from drooling over photos of male genitals... It's ze intanet, peeps. Lighten up... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  15. I'm puzzled as well. I'm all for public slug fests and all, but would love to understand the source of such resentment. Would you mind posting a link or at least the thread title? What's I've read of him so far seems to be quite decent. But I'm obviously missing something...??? He said somethin' about yer goggles looking dumb, yer friends came to the defense. Amazingly enough, that's exactly what I thought happened. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  16. I'm puzzled as well. I'm all for public slug fests and all, but would love to understand the source of such resentment. Would you mind posting a link or at least the thread title? What's I've read of him so far seems to be quite decent. But I'm obviously missing something...??? "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  17. In 1988, at the age of 20, I quit university, packed one suitcase and moved from France to the US, where I lived for 17 years! In 2005, at the ripe young age of 37, I packed 2 suitcases (did take my laptop also), gave up a job paying over $200k/year, a company provided sports car, and the ability to skydive every week end to move to China. Haven't regretted it once. I don't think it has anything to do with age, furniture, or jobs. It's a frame of mind. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  18. Alright - let's see it then ...but then you'd start a thread about posting bejesus, so no "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  19. By far my favorite body part is the bejesus... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  20. 10 years between my wife and I, and sure as hell doesn't seem to bother either one of us. It may be a different tune in 40 years or so, but we'll deal with that then... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  21. ...the gift that keeps giving!
  22. Orgy would be an understatement to describe that thread... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  23. Because they were opposed to India, which was in friendly terms with the USSR. "The enemy of my enemy's friend is my friend..." "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
  24. Well, the good news is you'll go bras-less! As a certified internet mamologist, I would recommend you slam your left index finger HARD with a hammer as quickly as possible. It will immediately alleviate the mammary pain you are currently experiencing. If, however, the discomfort persists, I would then advise you to talk to a plumber. I hope the above helped.
  25. Who needs seals when you can have dolphins! "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."