Now, FOUR Years in China

Without boring you with my convoluted political views, I will say that living in China gives me a unique perspective on government practices and their subsequent result.  So henceforth in this post, you must assume I’m an expert.  

I have a number of friends who are posting blogs that state “liberal bias” is to blame for Obama’s lead in the polls.  I feel it’s my duty to play devils advocate with a Republican principle of deregulation.

You see, in the early days of broadcasting, some smart folks in the government understood that it’s dangerous for all of a person’s exposure to media to be under the umbrella of one entity.  They enacted laws limiting the number of radio, TV and newspapers a company could own in a given market.  In the past few years, these laws have been slowly eroded so that a large company can own many radio stations and newspapers within the same city.  This obviously leaves the door open for media bias to the left or right to unduly influence a geographic region.  

So in some parts of the world, you may have a state-controlled media and in other parts, you may have company-controlled media.  Both lead to a population who may not have a good view into the truth. Some might even say that my limited choices of U.S. media outlets - CNN and CNBC would taint my interpretation of the truth…it’s probably true.

So while folks are screaming about “socialism”, they are failing to realize is that the laissez faire principles being pushed by Republican party have paved the way for a dangerous amount of media influence.

The sanctity of the U.S. constitution depends on principles which must be defended with some degree of regulation. After all, if I stated specifically what those principles are, this site would not be accessible from my home here…but that’s another topic all together.

Now, while I can supply-side with the best of my Texas friends and family, I would like to say that a little regulation is not a bad thing.  China is a perfect example of how commerce, wealth, self-determination, and free-enterprise always prevails despite any obstacles created by a government.  Just don’t tax my inheritance and my capital gains ;-).

I’m not sure where these are coming from, but here’s another couple….

“Presidency is not a reward…it’s a role”

During my commute home tonight, I was reading a heated political blog where commenters were nastily fighting in support of either McCain or Obama.  I took a break from the screen and rested my eyes. In the midst of this calm moment, a distinguished voice in my head started composing an abstract idea into a pithy quote.  

“Character is defined not by how a man fights for what’s right, but what he does when he discovers he is wrong” - David Black

I’m fully expecting someone to comment “hey…so-and-so said something just like that”.  Give me names and/or texts so I can either spank myself for regurgitating an unconscious old memory, or I can  smugly bask in the knowledge that I had an original thought.

Earthquake.  Yes, I felt it. Yes, we’re ok. I was in the office that was shown being evacuated on CNN.  Everyone in Beijing is ok but we are worried for our friends who have family and friends in Sichuan provence.  Point your good vibes this way.

So I’m heading into the city to eventually end up at a Paul Van Dyk show (see previous entry). In my pocket is a little plastic bag containing contraband for this evenings event.

It contains…

• 3 chewable children’s vitamins
• 2 ibuprofen tabs
• 1 chewable Pepsid Complete tablet
• 1 pair of ear plugs

The vitamins are to counteract the effects smoke, pollution and povide preemptive measures against the effects of the formaldehyde-laced beer here. The ibuprofen is in case a headache flares up after the first 10 minutes of pounding bass. The pepsid addresses the havoc that the ibuprofen and beer plays on my stomach. And the ear plugs are…well, they’re ear plugs.

Those who follow my posts know by now that I’m a bit of a closet fan of electronic music, well, maybe I’m not in the closet considering I’m telling you about it here. One of my favorite DJ/producer/artist dudes, Paul Van Dyk is coming back to Beijing tonight. Unlike last year, when I was sleep deprived and fighting off a headache (common for foreigners working here), I made sure to get extra liquids, extra sleep and extra vitamins. Does that sound like someone preparing for a sporting event? It should. Going to one of these shows usually involves 3 hours of continuous movement to a pounding, 140 beat per minute armageddon of sound.

Anyway, Paul Van Dyk is considered to be one of the top DJs in the world according to the The DJ List which lists him as #2 but he’s been in that stratosphere for so long that overall, he’s probably still considered the most commercially successful DJ in history.

Madeline and I went skiing yesterday. The binding on one of the skiis didn’t work correctly so I took it back to the counter and asked them to look at it. They pulled a screw driver out and tried to get it to work and after a minute of fiddling around, they indeed, got it to hold her boot. He looked up at me with such pride for efficiently fixing the problem.

“Are you freaking insane?!!!!”

In my best Chinese I said…”it still is broken and very dangerous…we need a new pair”. He complied. The ones they gave us were a little better but still very stiff. The tension (DIN) settings showed ~2 which is fine for a beginner like Madeline but I still had my doubts. We just had to have a little bit of faith in the odds that she wouldn’t fall in a way that would injure her..

In the U.S. (or any country that has expensive lawsuits), ski technicians will put the boots in the bindings, make adjustments, then whack the boot out with a rubber mallet to make sure they actually work. In China, they just hand you a pair of skis and boots and send you on your way.

Skiing in China Tip 1: Do a bit of research on things like DIN settings, etc. and don’t let them get away with this dangerous practice. Take the boot, snap it into the binding and test it right in front of them. )

Skiing in China Tip 2: Bring a can of anti-fungal spray and thoroughly blast the insides of the boots. I was prepared this time. The last time I went, I had to throw away my socks afterwards because I couldn’t even keep them in the hotel room. Better yet, bring your own boots.

Like my previous entry about safety, I concluded that a few expensive lawsuits and/or (better maybe) the injury of a high-profile government official’s son would solve this problem.

At the same time, the libertarian in me would be sad to see a wholesale cultural change like in the U.S. where everything, including things only dangerous in the hands of idiots, has to be safe. Yes, my hands have some burns from Chinese New Years fireworks…but it was worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/v/KdV4KH7fBtk

I’ve tried to describe to people what Chinese New Year’s fireworks are like. It’s almost impossible to describe. However, this video which I took near midnight last night captures the essence of it. Note that this just happened to be the street I was driving down….nothing special about it. Multiply this by every street in Beijing and that should give you a sense of the static-like, never-ending, crackling hum in the air. If fireworks really chase off bad spirits, then I guarantee that there won’t be any descending anywhere near Beijing.