Mick

I have suspected the Nazi aliens were running things ever since a spiritual exprience I had watching a Star Trek episode where the planet the Enterprise was orbiting was run by Nazis. It was like one of those "Aha" experiences the Gestalt therapists used to talk about. And when you think about it, the word "Gestalt" even sounds kind of Nazi like. . . .

When Li and I met she weighed all of 96 pounds. She put on some weight with her pregnancy, but lost most of it. I think she is about ten to twelve pounds heavier now than she was when we met.

Beautiful photos, Randy. Thanks for posting. I miss China so much and not a day goes by that I don't long to return. The five years I spent there were among the happiest of my life. Alas, my docs tell me I can't fly from here to Atlanta (200 miles), much less to the Middle Kingdom. If I go, it will have to be on the famous Slow Boat to China.

I agree, Carl. Only do it on live TV, every station, and do it very slowly.

When I live in China, one of my solo trips (traveling without my wife along to translate and protect me) was to Macau. I stayed in Zhuhai, took the jetfoil over to Hong Kong, then took the jetfoil back to Macau. I really enjoyed the city. I didn't do any gambling, but visited a few casinos and other areas of historic interest. The Portuguese influence is very apparent.

Man, you got that right. Of course, in his eyes he probably is also China's number one Humble Guy. On the back it might say, "If you haven't read my book on humility, you haven't read anything."

So sorry to hear of this. The Everly Brothers were a big part of the 50s scene especially.

Cizzin' tsapper, awl that thar tawk bout critter watchin' reminds me of uh place jes down the road a peace frum our house. Well, it's a pertty ferr peace I guess, round bout ten miles az uh crow flies or about 15 miles by thuh main roads. I rekkon it's about 12 miles in muh Jeep, if'in you gits muh drift. Anywaze, this here little store is cawlled thuh Black Cat Mawl cause on one side iz uh little beer store and on the uther side iz a two-chair nail saloon, whar thuh wimmin cums tuh have their fainger nails dun up rite nice and have their toe nails clipped. I guess cause thuh little store has these two appendages hangin' off of it, they cawls it a mawl. Anyhows, if'n you want to watch critters, this here is the place to be. It lies halfway between Punkin Center, Alabamer and Mud Hut, Tennersee. I rekkon it is smack dab on the state line cause they got a register at the front and the back and the sales tax is cheaper at one register. Plus, you cain't buy any alkeehawl at the Alabamer register, only at the Tennersee one. Of course, most folks jest wawlk next door tuh git their brewskis. You wawlk in the front door, but you have tuh go out thuh back, cawse thats whar the register iz. Front door is in Alabamer but the back door is in Tennersee. I often set down thar and eat me a Slim Jim or two, whilst I warsh em down with a lukewarm Yoohoo. I watch the local wimmin folk gruntin' and sweatin' trying tuh git their ample tonnage out frum behind the wheel of their compact Ford Focus or climb down outta their tuckered out Chevy Tahoes. Then they make their way into the store with their behinds a shakin' like a dawg passin' uh peach seed. Meanwhile, the men folk mostly just set in the car and either sleep or pick their nose. I can say fer a shore fire fact that more than a few of them Bubbers eat what they mined outta their nostrils. First time I saw one of em do that, I dern near upchucked muh Slim Jim and Yoohoo. I don't know what is worst, watchin' Wanda's jigglin' cellulite or Bubber's nasal-warmed snack. When you make it down cheer fer a visit, I'll be shore to take you over tuh the Black Cat Mawl fer some critter watchin'. I'll imagine you will feel right at home.

I wonder why they lump vehicle gas emissions and garbage burning together. It would seem to me that vehicle gas emissions would fall under fossil fuel combusion emissions and perhaps should be added to the total. Any idea what the reasoning was in terms of why vehicle gas emissions was paired with garbage burning?

I figured they would cost a good bit. I am going to start dropping hints. Li gave me a nice new geetar for Christmas and I can't think of a more appropriate follow up gift for say, my birthday, which comes at the end of April.

I have read about these things for several years as they have been in development. I think they are now hitting the market like gangbusters. I believe Epiphone and maybe Gibson have some of their high end guitars with this standard on them. I wonder how much the individual units cost. Anyone know?

Happy New Year to you as well cuzin' Andrew! May it be a year of great blessing, personal fulfullment, and spiritual uplifting.

That was a really moving clip. Dogs are some of the most remarkable creatures on this planet, both dometic dogs and wild canines like wolves, African Wild Dogs, foxes, coyotes, etc. They are very intelligent and certainly capable of deep emotion.

Was the cat allowed to fly with her in the cabin, Robert? If so, what was the airline? The OP might want to have this info.

Wishing all a Merry Christmas, a blessed time in which we celebrate the birth of Light at the darkest time of the year. May that same Light, however we may choose to define it, shine brightly in our hearts and our spirits.

Like cuzin' tsapper, them fellers figgered out most ricky tick that I ain't no blue belly. They sez I was from either Montgomery, Alabamer, Columbus, Gawja, or Jackson, Mississippi. I wuz borned in Huntsville, Alabamer, growed up in Florider, and now I lives in Tennerbama. I guess I tawk more like uh redneck than I figgered I did.

I read that book back in the mid-90s, before I moved to China. It is a remarkable study of a family through the lens of three generations of women. The author's mother especially bore a heavy burden during the Cultural Revolution as i recall. I think the author left China in or around 1977, just after the craziness had subsided. It is a great book and I highly recommend it.

December 21 is the Winter Solstice, shortest day of the year. I recall in the area where we lived they celebrated this, but it was not a big deal like spring festival. I usually didn't participate as the traditional meal in our locale involved Dog Hotpot.

Yummy! That looks mighty tasty. . . . .

When I lived in China, I made numerous friends who were roughly my age, which meant they were around 17 when the insanity began in 1966. Most were reluctant to talk about their experiences and aware of that, I never brought it up. Yet there were a few who did want to discuss it and the stories they told were horrific. I have one friend, a professor of Chemistry, who was a student at Beijing University at the time. He desribed being on the roof of a building with his best friend when the friend, all of a sudden, just took of running and jumped off the building, killing himself. He had been under suspicion of some bogus crime and was being pressured by the Red Guard to write a "confession." Li's family on the mother's side suffered greatly as many were teachers. Wearing the dunce cap was common in Anhui at the time.

Like, whatever man, you know I'm just sayin'. Seriously, man....

A really interesting article in many ways, emphasizing the role of the government's thumb in controlling the media. I taught Journalism to graduate students for four years in China, covering the late 90s and early 2000s. Back then, there was a subtle but consistent push to loosen the political machine's grasp on the media, particularly in print journalism. The university where I taught, although a state university, was founded and largely funded by a wealthy Hong Kong businessman who was originally from the city where the university was located. He pushed strongly for reform in all areas, including journalism. Hence, each year there were several western journalism teachers on the faculty. It appears the move now, at least according to the article, is to ratchet up the control once again. This all is going to be interesting as people in China increasingly get their news from the Internet, just as we do here in the States. Printed newspapers are going out of business in America at a rapid rate. It will be interesting to see if this same trend holds up in China and to what extent the government tries to ramp up the Great Firewall as it relates to the press.

Yes, very sad story. There is nothing profound or significant, other than the 10-year old girl who did it will receive no punishment for it. There is little available treatment in China for mental issues. Seems to be a universal problem. We've certainly have had our share of young nut cases here in the US. You are so right, Dennis. All too often, ours have walked into school buildings and opened fire. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, the movie theatre in Colorado - the list goes on and on. This girl in China was only ten and obviously quite disturbed.

If it wasn't such a sad, critical situation, the notion of going after 500 barbecues is almost laughable. It's like having a mosquito landing on one leg and a rattlesnake crawling up the other, and they are swatting at the mosquito. The street vendors contributions to pollution, when compared to unregulated industry and automobile emissions, is a drop in the bucket. I would imagine the street vendors suffer the most from their grills as they are standing right over them. On top of that, they are out in the bad air at street level all day. It has got to be a really hard way to make a living. I remember how bad things used to be here in the States. Some of us geezers are old enough to remember Love Canal or the time the Cuyohoga (sp?) River caught fire in downtown Cleveland. Some of the worst air in America was right down here in Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham used to be the Pittsburgh of the South, with iron and steel mills humming 24/7. They used to play the Alabama/Auburn game at Legion Field in Birmingham and that's how the game became known as the Iron Bowl. The air was a horror. Yet at its worst it was never quite like what they have in China.

Li's brother sent some photos from Changzhou, in Jiangsu Province, where he lives. In a recent government study, Changzhou had the worst air readings in the entire country. He even joked that he had stopped walking his dog because once outside, even though on a leash, he could no longer see his dog. As I have mentioned before, my first year in China was spent in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. Li and I often dined in the revolving restaurant on the 28th floor of what was then the Holiday Inn. On some days, we could not see the ground. And that was over 15 years ago. I can't imagine how bad it is now. When I first arrived there, I could actually feel burning in my throat on really bad days. I developed bronchitis two weeks after arriving there, and it did not go away until 11 months later when we moved to Shantou, down on the northeast coast of Guangdong.