The American Bar Association Mumbles as Beijing Arrests Lawyers
Posted: August 10, 2015 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, China, Diplomacy, Law & Justice | Tags: 2008 Summer Olympics, 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing, China, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, International Olympic Committee, Kuala Lumpur, Olympic games, Winter Olympic Games Leave a comment
Not Such Good American Friends.
Every foreign business or nonprofit in China has to balance its principles with the realities of operating in a dictatorship. But what’s the point of claiming to promote the rule of law in China if your presence and silence serve as political cover for the worst legal abuses?
China’s recent arrests of human-rights lawyers have drawn protests from around the world, but there’s a notable, mumbling exception: the American Bar Association.
“ABA leaders acknowledge that the development of a just rule of law is a continuing struggle in every nation, including the United States.”
— ABA President William Hubbard
State security agents rounded up some 235 lawyers and other legal activists around the country last month, some of them grabbed, hooded and not heard from since. Beijing officials have railed against a “major criminal gang” of lawyers “plotting to stir up sensitive cases.”
Amnesty International staged a protest outside the Chinese embassy to demand the release of over 200 human rights lawyers and activists in China. AFP/ Nicolas ASFOURI
Some brave voices inside China have spoken up for these political prisoners, as have legal groups in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The New York City Bar Association expressed “grave concern” and called on Beijing to “immediately release” those lawlessly detained, more than 20 of whom it cited by name. Read the rest of this entry »
Beijing Announces Addition of ‘White House Fence Jumping’ Event to 2022 Olympics
Posted: August 1, 2015 Filed under: Asia, China, Entertainment, Humor, White House | Tags: 2008 Summer Olympics, 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing, Beijing National Aquatics Center, International Olympic Committee, Kazakhstan, Kuala Lumpur, Parody, satire, White House Fence, Winter Olympic Games Leave a comment
Though controversial, the addition of ‘White House Fence Jumping’ and ‘Freestyle White House Barricade Jumping‘ events to Beijing’s 2022 Olympics is seen as an important effort to bring creativity and excitement to Olympic competition in the 21st century.
A full-scale model of the White House’s newly-erected barricades and pointy fences is being constructed in a top-secret location near Beijing. Government sources declined to comment.
[VIDEO] Pussy Riot Members Freed in Sochi
Posted: February 19, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Law & Justice | Tags: BBC News, Maria Alyokhina, Moscow, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot, Sochi, Vladimir Putin, Winter Olympic Games 1 Comment
One of the Pussy Riot band members, wearing a ski mask told reporters that Sochi was a “political event”
BBC News reports: Two members of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot who were arrested on Monday near the Winter Olympics resort of Sochi have been released.
“There is no space for political protest here…If you want to say something critical you will be detained.”
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were being held on suspicion of theft.
The pair were convicted of hooliganism over a protest song against President Putin in Moscow’s largest cathedral.
BREAKING: Sportscaster Bob Costas is a Zombie, Reports Confirm
Posted: February 11, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Health and Social Issues, Humor, Mediasphere, The Butcher's Notebook, U.S. News | Tags: Bob Costas, Costas, Matt Lauer, NBC, NBC Sports, Olympic, The Walking Dead, Undead, Winter Olympic Games, Zombie, zombie apocalypse Leave a comment
“The evidence has been hard to ignore. To many Zombie experts, it’s no longer just a theory, our findings are now conclusive.”
NBC Sports host Bob Costas will sit out Tuesday’s primetime coverage on NBC, sticking to the cover story that he has “eye infections” in both eyes. Costas began to promote the “infection in his left eye”, disinformation campaign, now that it’s spread to his right eye, experts are increasingly confident that Bob Costas is, unfortunately, a confirmed Zombie.
“It’s only a matter of time before he’ll need to be captured and placed under permanent supervision…”
“The evidence has been hard to ignore. To many Zombie experts, it’s no longer just a theory, our findings are now conclusive.” Said Dr. Benjamin Hendricks, Director of the American Center for the Ethical Treatment of Zombies, in Baltimore, Maryland. “It’s only a matter of time before he’ll need to be captured and placed under permanent supervision…” Adding that no treatment is available for his condition, Dr. Hendricks declined to go on the record about what final measures might need to be taken. “It doesn’t look good,” he said.
On Monday night’s primetime coverage of the Olympics, Costas was having problems resisting the temptation to attack fellow members of the press, use his hands and teeth to rip the flesh of nearby uninfected humans, and eat brains.
Today show host Matt Lauer–having demonstrated no symptoms of infectious exposure– will take Costas’ place.
Celebrating a Century of Murder and Suffering: Soviet Communist Nostalgia at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics
Posted: February 8, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Global, History | Tags: 2014 Winter Olympics, Anti-communist, Berlin Wall, Communism, KGB, Olympic games, RUSSIA, Sochi, Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., Vladimir Putin, Winter Olympic Games Leave a commentThis is in no way terrifying. pic.twitter.com/a4p85ZGf49 (Via @bruce_arthur)
— Jay Busbee (@jaybusbee) February 7, 2014
pundit from another planet 