Folks:
Listen. When I was studying law to become a licensed California lawyer, one of the most fascinating advice I got from an experienced law professor, on the sides from our moot court exercise and practice was this.
The law professor gave me this tip, " If you have the facts on your side... argue the facts; if you don't have the facts on your side, argue the law; and if you neither have the facts nor the law on your side, argue anyway, and talk about "fairness."
How disingenious and prophetic indeed is this piece of advice.
At these Olympics Games in Beijing, we have seen and experienced the nasty, ugly, rude, vulgar, boorish, arrogant bombardment of negative news reporting from the rabid, mad "pit bulls" from the Western mainstream news media, with few rare exceptions.
Former UN ambassador of Singapore Kishore Mahbhubani once opined and wrote :
"China is a closed society with an open mind. America is an open society with a closed mind."
These remarks encapsulate what fundamentally describe the "close-mindedness" and "narrowmindedness" of many of the Western news media "ratpack" and "pit bulls" who are flocking to Beijing in their quest and pursuit to badmouth, derail, distort, tarnish, sabotage, by any means necessary these Beijing Olympics Games. This is news media "piling" overeaching, and euro-racism with vestiges of western neocolonialism and supremacist motives behind this sinister "bad-mouthing."
From amplifying and shilly promoting and publicising the negatives over the positives of these Olympics Games, the Western news media has clearly displayed their institutional racism and white supremacist hubris in the way and manner by which they report and embellish the news and the events as they see and report them through their biased, white-supremacist or Euro-prism.
First, they attacked the foul air, excruciatingly hot summer, the dust from the Gobi desert from being inconducive to staging these Olympics Games; then, they start focusing on the "staged" fireworks computerized visuals during the Olympics opening ceremonies; next, they start attacking the "lip-synching" of the 9-year Chinese girl who sang a Chinese song during these opening ceremonies in lieu of the actual voice of another 7-year old Chinese girl (Did not Luciano Pavarotti also lip-synched it during the recent Turn Winter Olympics Games ? How about Celine Dion or other notable Hollywood singers and their lip-synching).
In the last few days, the big "hooo-hahh" is being spade out in buckets about the Chinese female gymnasts and how they may be under the age of 16, therefore, should be disqualified from the gymnastics competition.
Notorious in this relentless "bad-mouthing" has been the New York Times. Consider that in today's headlines in the NYT, the Times reported on a talented, 26-year-old Chinese dancer who was seriously injured during a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic games just 12 days before the show, and is now facing the prospect of being paralyzed for the rest of her life. Clearly, as tragic as this piece of news, I question the motivation of the NYT to amplify, choreographed, and disportionately reported in these Olympics Games the "gooky," the "yukky," and the "flaky" coming out of Beijing, including but not limited to the opening ceremonies.
Where they can't frontally and legitimately attack and bad-mouth China, the Chinese people, and the Beijing Olympics Coordinating Committee, they are resorting to igniting "backfires" to steer, massage, and spin their relentless China bashing and demonization towards anything that in any way, shape, or form is calculated to tarnish the image of these Beijing Olympics.
For all global Chinese around the world, let's not overlook the motives behind these relentless broadsides, piling, and "badmouthing" from many in the Western news media.
Like my law school professor, who gave me this prophetic advice, I say, "focus on the athletic competition and the competing Olympian athletes."
It is abundantly clear to me that there is evil, sinister, racist, white-supremacist motives being schemed at, directed, orchestrated, staged, and amplified from many Western mainstream news media organizations and the "good ole white boys" who control the "wellssprings" to shaping and reporting the news.
Consider that in the sports arena, the good ole white boys and girls are losing and ceding their once-dominance in the playing fields. So what's next ? They are arguing press access and press freedoms.
The Americans got whacked in their opening game in baseball ("Their favorite pasttime) by the South Koreans; they lost in gymnastics to the Chinese; they got eliminated in soccer; their female tennis stars, the Williams sisters, including Venus, got defeated in tennis, Venus by China's Li Na. In short, America is losing in the Gold medal count; their dominance is evaporating.
Now, they are arguing "fairness" in reporting the protesters, the bad-mouthers, the "mau mau" groups calculating and scheming to derail these Beijing Olympics Games.
For the over 500,000 Chinese volunteers who so magnanimously and magnificently gave their time and efforts in making these Games a success for the visitors to Beijing, foreign and domestic, I salute all of you.
"Hold your heads high !" Inspite of, despite of, and notwithstanding these rabid "pit bulls" from the Western new media ratpacks, chalk it up to the fear of losing and losing "big time" in these Olympics Games in the West, especially America.
Did I hear somebody screaming his lungs away from the Blue Acquarium arena where the swimming competition is ongoing, in support of their last "Great White Hope," namely Michael Phelps ?
Come on, Dude. Gimme a break ! Click on below what the Wall Street Journal is next machinating and dribbling out; talk about a "biased" Western news media :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121868920013240079.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
August 15, 2008
Western Media Step Up Their Criticism of China
Reporter's Detention, Tight Control Stir Up Division Over Freedom
By JASON DEAN and SHAI OSTERAugust 15, 2008
BEIJING -- Frustrations are escalating between the Western media and Chinese officials over the government's handling of the Olympic Games, reflecting deeper divisions over this country's policies.
Tensions bubbled to the surface Thursday at a daily news conference when several reporters confronted Olympics officials over the rough handling of a British television journalist by Chinese security forces, and over why the government hasn't approved applications to demonstrate in specially designated protest zones.
At the center of this fray is Wang Wei, the U.S.-educated Chinese official who has been the public face of Beijing's Olympic organizers. Mr. Wang, an executive vice president of the Beijing Games organizer known as Bocog, was part of the Chinese delegation that bid for and won the 2008 games seven years ago, in part by arguing that the Games would bring positive change, including greater freedom, to China.
At Thursday's news conference, Mr. Wang made an impassioned defense of China's performance as an Olympic host after reporters repeatedly asked a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee if it was embarrassed by China's alleged failure to meet its pledges.
"Some people are not satisfied. That is true," Mr. Wang told reporters. But, he argued, "China is developing quickly. People enjoy more freedom, and they have a lot to say. If you ask the ordinary Chinese on the street they will say the same...You have to believe the majority of the people; otherwise you are misled."
Mr. Wang lashed out at critical foreign journalists. "I think a few, a very few people, come here to speak, to be critical, to dig into the small details...to find fault," he said. "That does not mean we are not fulfilling our promise."
The exchange is part of an intensifying struggle to determine how the Beijing Games are seen and remembered. China's government has steadfastly focused on the highlights of the Games, from a dazzling opening ceremony to the success of Chinese medal winners and the broader athletic dramas such as Michael Phelps's quest for eight gold medals.
But the Chinese government's overwhelming desire for control has attracted close attention from foreign media and visitors alike. Security measures have made it difficult for visitors to reach the pavilions of Olympic sponsors, upsetting companies that have spent tens of millions of dollars on promotional campaigns. The three parks that China's government announced with fanfare in July would be designated for protests have sat empty, while some Chinese petitioners who have applied for permission to protest have been detained.
News conferences at past Olympics have often been contentious, but generally over complaints of poor organization or bad food. In Beijing, the disputes tend to reflect a much deeper disagreement over China's political system and its place in the world.
The disconnect has been further aggravated by official moves that many Westerners see as dishonest, including the discovery that a young girl featured in the opening ceremony had lip-synced her song. The girl whose voice was heard was deemed less appealing for public view.
"The Chinese government's idea of how you impress people is that everything is perfect, even if that means a little bit of deception," said Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School who focuses on media policy and who is in Beijing for the Games. "And that's exactly the thing that drives the Western media crazy, because it seems sneaky."
AFP
Wang Wei, the U.S.-educated Chinese official who has been the public face of Beijing's Olympic organizers.
The IOC has tried to avoid the most sensitive disputes. Giselle Davies, the organization's spokeswoman, tried to stick to sports under a barrage of questions at Thursday's news conference. "We are very pleased with how the organizers are putting up a great sports event," Ms. Davies said. "The organizers have put together an operationally successful event for the athletes. That's what these Games are about."
But Ms. Davies sounded a different note when asked about the treatment of the British TV journalist, who was detained and roughed up Wednesday while trying to cover a demonstration by a pro-Tibet group. Officials have said that officers confused him for an activist. Ms. Davies said such actions wouldn't be tolerated. "We don't want to see it happen again," she said.
Mr. Wang, who received a master's degree in English literature from Rutgers University in New Jersey, has been the Chinese official most consistently in the hot seat. He has generally tried to avoid direct confrontation with reporters. But on Thursday he vigorously parried the aggressive questioning, telling one reporter: "This is not a debate, OK? You have your turn; I have mine."
Mr. Wang deferred questions about the empty protest zones to security officials who have so far refused to disclose how many people have applied for or been denied permission to protest.
According to petitioners and human-rights groups, part of the reason the protest zones have been empty is that the government has discouraged and intimidated Chinese activists and petitioners from applying for permission. Many have been evicted from Beijing, while others are being kept under heavy surveillance.
But many international rights groups and others critical of Beijing have simply chosen to stay away. In some cases, they are making a tactical choice to keep a low profile this time in the hopes of eventually fostering better relations with China's government down the line.
Amnesty International, which has long been critical of China's human-rights record, decided not to come because it assumed none of its members would be granted visas. The group also doesn't want to jeopardize its talks with authorities on sending a research mission to China, said Roseann Rife, deputy program director for Amnesty's Asian-Pacific office.
"We are trying hard not to ruin the option of having a membership section in China at some point in the future," Ms. Rife said.
The environmental group Greenpeace, which has been in China for several years, hasn't tried any of the attention-grabbing stunts that have made it famous elsewhere. Instead, it has issued news releases and held news conferences before the Games to call attention to its cause.
Pro-Tibet activists said they figured they would never be allowed to protest legally because Chinese authorities don't tolerate anything that challenges the sovereignty of Chinese rule over Tibet.
Instead, they have been staging guerrilla-style actions like blockading the entrance to a park with chained bicycles or unfurling free-Tibet banners near Olympic venues. "We felt there was no reason to apply," said Han Shan, the Olympic campaigns coordinator for Students for Free Tibet. "If we did apply, it would it would just be a PR stunt. Our biggest challenge now is keeping focus on what's happening in Tibet."
Meanwhile, at the three parks, life goes on -- albeit under the watchful gaze of the government. At the Purple Jade Park, near one of the Olympic stadiums, dozens of security "volunteers" patrolled alongside a lotus-filled pond. As pensioners gathered to sing old revolutionary songs, two guards with Secret-Service-style ear pieces looked on.
Down in the World Park, tourists admired a collection of miniaturized world monuments such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the pyramids. As Chinese tourists took photos of each other, plainclothes security agents took photos of a foreign reporter.
--Rebecca Blumenstein contributed to this article.
Write to Jason Dean at jason.dean@wsj.com6 and Shai Oster at shai.oster@wsj.com7
