save face idiot

They are thinking: We have ways to make you talk.

They don’t tell me this but I know how it works. I’ve read Tu Fu’s work. I’ve digested their bone dust history through dynasties.

“Yes, well, we’ll see,” she said. “We need to remind you to remember this very carefully.” Her voice rose an octave.

“The bent nail gets hammered down!”

"Just because you speak our language doesn’t mean you are special. We can revoke your visa and force you to pay a fine. We can put you away where no one will ever find you. We will discuss your situation with our leaders. We have driven the talented people abroad. Some went into hiding but we know where they are and we find them. We always do. We find them in their homes, schools, jobs. Some accepted positions at foreign universities where they form counter-revolutionary groups bent on overthrowing the state by writing articles, stories and books critical of their homeland.” 

Her face resembled nuclear fission. She pounded the table. “They are a disgrace! They are running dogs!” 

“I see,” he said, dropping his eyes to save face.

Shanghai Interrogation

The boy soldier was silent. 

“What’s that for,” the female Public Security Bureau official said pointing to the typewriter on the table.  

“It is for writing letters.” 

They have reservations about letters. Letters, they wonder, looking at each other with jaundiced eyes. Black eyes streaked with exploding blood vessels full of fear and suspicion. 

Letters indicate political insurrection, dissent, forced labor, mandatory abortions, propaganda, civil unrest, turmoil, revolutions, tanks in the street, torture, solitary confinement and executions. 

They see party leaders wringing their pale hands, nervously pacing forbidden cities past stone lions, conducting top-secret meetings trying to figure out what to do, how to put a face on all this. How to manage and manipulate disinformation rivers, how to control floods.

The boy soldier and his comrade save face by maintaining blank, stoic expressions.

They suspect I have connections. Maybe I am a plant, a party member sent to check their unit. Assigned to monitor their methods, their questioning tactics, their subtle use of intimidation, their implications to control and influence peoples' lives for the good of the state.

For all they know I am a subversive. A word terrorist.

“Letters. We will keep an eye on this one,” she said to the soldier.

A writer in Shuangliu, Sichuan, China. 

China blue

Greetings,

Ah, what a beautful winter in China! I don't make much money as a university teacher you understand, so I use it carefully and wisely. Family is big deal here and to avoid relationship clashes of dynastic proportions, I shelled out roughly $200, or a third of my salary, for a round trip train ticket home.

After paying my totalitarian university an exorbitant rental fee for my drab, empty apartment plus electricity and water, I barely had enough left over for soggy onions, fresh spinach, tofu, rice and fruit.

Home is where, they say, the heart is. Well let me give you a little advice about that. I left my heart in San Francisco, ha. Singing, living and playing the blues, which is life's way of talking, I dutifully lugged my broken suitcase home to hearth and kin.

So much guilt, inherent DNA shame and Duty. I am overwhelmed by the heavy burden of my family's expectations.

After fulfilling all my academic responsibilities meaning pass all the students or face the dire consequences given to me by the University Authorities who, will for the sake of Social Stability and Harmonious Educational Reform Committees, remain faceless, nameless and totally obscure, I escaped from my prison.

It took twenty-two long, boring, tedious endless hours sitting in hard seat with three transfers before I reached my province near North Korea. Coltrane train stations were packed out with millions of homeless migrants, laborers and naked freezing prostitutes looking for a John and some of my favorite things like humans without a wing, hope, prayer or a lay text raincoat. The ancient Oracle predicted this reality.

Mothers and fathers formed concentric protective circles around their children to prevent thieves from stealing them. Stolen kids are a HUGE underground economy here as you may or may know. People will gladly pay large sums for a boy because they have a higher value in our free vibrant economy.

Human life is cheap here. Stealing, Selling, Trading and Buying children is how things work.

Speaking of work, I've gotta run because I must help mother with the cleaning, shopping and endless chores. If I don't perform my filial duties she may threaten to sell me. I'll be returning to my other life as a teacher after I report back for Duty and will file another report using a proxy to evade the Great Wall firewall gremlins and spies.

Metta.

 

Chalk it up to experience in a Chinese classtomb.

14 ministries

Greetings,

I work in the Chinese Propaganda Department. There are 14 ministries in the department.
Before the internet there was only one ministry, The Ministry of Truth. 

We, the drudges, have ministries all over the place and it's a huge financial and time consuming operation. Growth causes all of us, and I'm talking about millions, stress, anxiety and proverbial FEAR. 

I am authorized by Sir George Orwell to tell you about four ministries.

George is a good guy. He doesn't accept bribes, cash donations, cars, floral arrangements, luxury apartments on Hainan island with free golf membership and clean educational opportunities for his children at the finest schools money can buy so they will prosper and behave themselves in a harmonious society. 

It comes down to controlling information. Ignorance is strength. We've made some mistakes but we're improving our quality control.

The Ministry of Filters, for example, purifies and validates search engines, links and tags to verify their adherence to the Party line. The Party line is a secure communication system in a Mongolian yurt. It is covered with a thin veneer of high grade ultrasonic vibration-free saran wrap. This prevents exposure to Echelon communication satellite interception. Echelon is a big vacuum cleaner in the sky.

The Ministry of Soup controls emergency eye scans of all Chinese people to determine their thoughts. Thoughts are precious and the Chinese people only have a few centimeters. Thought control is part of our culture.

The Ministry of Culture and Currency is vast. Their responsibility is to provide and maintain a network of fake useless paper currency to create the illusion of value. The currency is embedded with sensors to monitor any and all verbal and non-verbal communication before, during and after any and all exchanges. It is very effective. 

A strong and important subdivision is The Ministry of Advertising. You can easily imagine how pervasive this subtle, subliminal and esoteric form of control is. It creates false needs, wants and desires among the sheep convincing them through thought control how insignificant and meaningless their worthless life is without more consumption behavior.

The ministry develops, maintains and reinforces, especially focusing on the poor lower classes how their lives will be enriched beyond belief if they struggle to raise their expectations. It's a circle game.

They used to walk. Then they wanted a Flying Pigeon bike. Then they wanted a radio. Then they wanted a refrigerator. Then they wanted a washing machine. Then they wanted  a 46-inch plasma television with remote control. Then they wanted a car, house, vacation, free medical care, cheap food, books and incense to worship the dead.

The ministry controls all the people by a large remote device. This device is embedded into every Chinese citizen's cerebral cortex at birth. It is very effective. 

Big Brother is watching. Thank you for your attention.

Metta.

Read more...
 

Orhan Pamuk and Article 301

The Frankfurt Book Fair is honoring writers from Turkey. 

Orhan Pamuk spoke at the Fair about the ongoing struggle writers face in Turkey due to fear, government censorship and draconian oppression. 

In 2005 Pamuk was charged under Article 301 of the penal code after he spoke about the 30,000 Kurds and millions of Armenians killed in Turkey. He was acquitted. 

"...at this moment there are hundreds of writers and journalists being prosecuted and found guilty under this article."

"YouTube, like many other domestic and international websites, has been blocked for residents of Turkey for political reasons,"  Pamuk said, more...

Metta.